The Town of Essex
Middlesex County, CT
HAYDEN Narrative
Copied from a narrative given to the Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, Indiana by Goodspeed Bookstore, Feb. 5, 1979. Typed and submitted to Hayden Family Homepage 21 Jun 1996 by Chris Yoder, 203 Lakeshire Rd, Battle Creek, MI 49015.. email cyoder@mail.tds.net
Hayden.
The history of the Hayden family- at least so far as it relates to the Essex,Connecticut branch- to which you and I belong, is wrapped up in romance and tradition- poetry and supposition.
It starts in with the fairy story of the "three brothers" so prominent in the history of the early settlers of this country.
John, James, and William, three little brothers,- at least so supposed and recorded- came to this country in the good ship "Mary and John" with Markhams Church in 1630.
Why she was called the "good ship" I do not know, unless it was that she was fortunate enough to survive the perils of the deep which was no mean stunt in those days.
Now if she had been termed the "Speed-well" or even the "Good-speed" there would have been some reason for it.
And it is also worthy of note that when they did come they brought their church with them- they took no chances- others had preceded them- and
"Amidst
the storm they sang,
And
the stars heard and the sea:
And
the sounding aisles of the dim
woods
rang
To
the anthem of the free."
"The
ocean eagle soared
From
his nest by the white waves seer,
And
the rocking pines of the forest
roared
This
was their welcome here."
Evidently the reception did not appeal to the Hayden brothers.
As
stated above
John, James and William are supposed to have been
brothers- but so far as we have any reliable
information,
they might have
been second cousins or even no relation at all and
the
statement that
they came on the "Mary and John" is merely a
supposition
also, based upon
the fact that they were at early date found
associated
with those that we
know did come on that ship- perhaps they were
steerage
passengers and did
not get listed - This, however, we do know:- they
were
all recorded as
"freeman" in Dorchester, Mass. in 1634 and, from the
fact that they
considered Dorchester neither conducive to their
health
nor to their
happiness:- for John is recorded as a "freeman" in
Braintree,
Mass. in
1640: James likewise in Charlestown, Mass. in 1637:-
and William turns up
in the land of "Nutmegs" as a "freeman" at Windsor,
Connecticut
in 1640.
One
would naturally
suppose that some of the Windsor Haydens,
sailing down the Connecticut river and seeing the
"beauties"
of Essex and
the advantages of a location there might have settled
in that place and
have become the Ancestors of the Essex branch of the
family, so called.
I am, however, inclined to think otherwise for the following reasons:-
In
April, 1899
I received a letter from Jabez Haskell Hayden of
Windsor, Conn. at that time 87 years of age, in which
he states, that he
has been unable to find any connection of the Windsor
Haydens with those
of Essex, although he had spent 60 years in tracing
out
the descendants
of the Windsor branch. he published in 1888 a
genealogy
of the family, but
it was almost entirely confined to the descendants of
William.
The descendants of James of Charlestown were quite numerous but they seemed to have flocked by themselves.
-Coat of Arms-
You are
no
doubt familiar with the "Cut-away", the "Prince
Albert" and the "Tuxedo" and may not be posted as to
a "Coat of Arms".
The Hayden family had one - in fact lots of the - as
the Heraldic records
of old England show. The one that appealed to me the
most, was the one
granted to john Heydon by Richard I, the Lion
Hearted,
so called. I am
unable to describe it in heraldic language, but in
plain
English is was,
"a spotted dog sitting on top of a side board fence
gazing
at a cat"
underneath is the Motto,
-Virtus
sola nobilitat-
-"Virtue
alone
makes one noble"-
Whether
this
referred to the Heydon family - or was an encomium
on the dog - or derogatory to the cat, I do not know.
It is a matter of
regret that no direct connection of the Haydens of
America
with those of
old England has ever been found, although a great
amount
of both money
and time has been spent in the endeavor.
John Hayden first appears in Lyme, Connecticut.
Land records "Vol. 2, p.270 in 1701" as purchaser of land from Henry Roland. (In those early days, Essex, Lyme and Saybrook were practically identical when speaking of location.
Now this John is the first Hayden that you and I can put our hand on and say kindly, affectionately and without fear of contradiction:-
"John, you belong to us! You are one of us - now where did you come from?"
Nothing whatever is recorded regarding his
residence prior
to the
purchase of land in Lyme (sic*), but from the
similarity
of names in this
family with those of the Hayden family in Braintree,
it would seem to be
good ground from the supposition- if not for the
assumption-
that John of
Lyme 1701 was a descendant of John of Braintree 1640.
On May 10, 1703, John Hayden and Mary Hayden, his wife conveys the land bought of Henry Roland to Martha Blaque (Lyme Land Records, Vol.2, page 331).
The
children
of John Hayden and Mary, his wife, are recorded
(Lyme Records, Vol. 2, page 201) and were:
Ebenezer
b.
October 8, 1698
Jedediah
b.
December 14, 1700
Nehemiah
b.
January 16, 1703
Administration of the estate of John Hayden deceased, late of Saybrooke was granted January 7, 1723 to Ebenezer Hayden and Samuel Doty both of Saybrook (Guilford Probate Records Vol. 1, page 163) - granted at the request of Mary Hayden in a letter dated December, 1723 stating that she is under great indisposition of body by reason of lameness.His wife was supposed to be a Mary Griffin - why I don't know.
It is a
tradition
in the family that John Hayden was a bricklayer
and was drowned while going from Saybrook to Essex
with
a scow loaded
with bricks- that John himself was loaded is a mere
matter
of conjecture
- there is information however that might lead to
such
an inference -
Among the claims recorded as paid by the
Administrators
was "To cash paid
Mr. Blaque for sundry victuals and drinks that the
men
had that went to
search for father".
Victuals
1
s. 4 d.
Drinks
16 s
-
Totals
17 s. 4 d.
from which it might be inferred that they went prepared to furnish John with what he would most desire in case they found him alive - but why so much money was squandered on victuals the record gives no explanation.
At any rate there seems to be no doubt but that John came to an untimely end: and that
"Not a
sound
was heard- not a funeral note
As his
corse
to the rampart was hurried;
Not a
soldier
discharged a farewell shot,
O'er the
grave
where our Ancestor was buried."
"Lightly we'll
talk of the spirit that's gone,
And o'er
his
cold ashes upbraid him-
But little
he'll reek, if we let him sleep on,
In the
grave
where accident laid him."
In Guilford Probate records this letter is on file addressed to
"Mr.
John Hayden
living at Seabrooke in Kanatycot Collony in New
England- dated
Mallcrekow
September 2 the 1709.
My
honnible
father and mother I giving my duty to you both, my
love to my brother and sisters,
my respcts
to all my onkels, cosens, and ants, my loving onkle
Ebenezer Ingraham and ant
Chalker.
these
lines are to let you know I am in prison."
This goes to show that while our relative's moral character and spelling was at low ebb, his affection for his kinspeople was up to the general.
Nehemiah:-
son of John- b. January 16,1703 is supposed to have married Temperance Pratt. He died July 2nd, 1774. Administration of his estate went to Uriah Hayden and Temperance Hayden.
Guilford Pro. Records V. 12, p. 343, Aug. 2, 1774
His children were:-
Uriah
b. Jan. 10th, 1732
John
Elias
Eliakim
Esther
Ann
married
a Pratt
Temperance
"
Job Winslow
And here it is where you and I must part- genealogically speaking - you looking back on Eliakim as your noble ancestor and I as Uriah as my g.g. grandfather.
As it may perhaps be of interest to you to know how I came in to the Hayden Family, I will give you a short cut to my ancestor.
Uriah b.
Jan.10,1732
married
Ann Starkey December 2, 1754
Nehemiah, son of Uriah
b.
December
4, 1755 died May 29, 1791
at the island of Barbados. Why he should have gone
off
there to die, when
they have such a nice quiet burial ground in Essex to
lie in, I am unable
to say. He married Sarah Sill - dear Sarah - I wish I
knew who she was. I
have never been able to trace her.
He had quite a number of children - in fact- a whole kit of them.
Horace, son of Nehemiah
b. in
1786,
married in 1818
Nancy
Green of east Haddam, Conn.
He also
had
a flock of children - a dozen more or less.
Nancy Green Hayden
b. Oct.
29,1820
married at
east Haddam,Conn.
George
Edward Goodspeed. son of Joseph Goodspeed, a
descendant of Roger Goodspeed of Barnstable 1640 and
on January 14, 1845,
your humble servant appeared on the scene and was
duly
named after his
two grandfathers.-
signed "Joseph Horace Goodspeed"
Boston, May 18th, 1914
And now a few words in closing regarding:-
ELIAKIM
The first mention we have of Eliakim is in
II Chronicles Chap.36 verses 4-5.
"And the King of Egypt made Eliakim, his brother, king over Judea and Jerusalem, and so turned his name to Jehoikim- he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord."
From the above it will be seem that while he was no great shakes in the sight of the Lord - yet he had the ability to hold his job eleven years
And again, I call your attention to the similarity of names with those of the Braintree Haydens-
II Kings, Chap.23, verse 34
"His father's name was Josiah and his mother's name was Zebudah."
So I feel that we can look back with fond feelings for our relatives in the early days- and see, as it were, as the shades of evening fell upon the plains of Zebulon- Josie and Zeb calling Eli- and little Knee High Miah to their side and teaching to them,
"Now I lay me down to sleep."
And so endest the first Lesson.
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*Sic above- in family descendants manuscript written
by Joseph Hill
Hayden prior to 1844 which refers to the
forebear John Hayden as "John
Hayden from Boston"- (21 Jun 1996- Chris Yoder,
203 Lakeshire Rd, Battle
Creek, MI 49015.. email
75757.3371@compuserve.com)
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correspondence with Hayden manuscript-letter to
Goodspeed
from Mr.
Dwight:
R.
Henry W. Dwight
67
Franklin Street
Boston
May
28th,
1914
My Dear Joseph, of Many Colors!
Mostly white, and True Blue- No Yellow!
If I had your gift for putting things in a sweet and pleasant way, I would not sell my services for ten times what I am getting, and I would write many articles pertaining to The Dwight Collection, and I would have fun reading them before appreciative audiences.
Your little brochure on the Hayden family, in which you acknowledged relationship to your obedient servant, is a charming effort, and I am delighted to have it.
Why
don't you
telephone me Sunday morning, say about nine
o'clock, and ask me if I am going to be at home, and
come out and see
some of my old papers, and look at the Hayden lines,
which include famous
old Revolutionary boatbuilders, etc.
Very truely yours,
signed- R Henry W Dwight
Joseph H. Goodspeed Esquire
84 State Street
Boston,
Mass.
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letter to Goodspeed from Jennette Hayden Sears:
15
Circuit Road
Chestnut
Hill
My dear Mr. Goodspeed,
The extremely interesting (if somewhat frivolous) history of the branch of the Hayden family with which you and I are intimately connected reached me safely last Friday and has given me very keen enjoyment.
Your kindness in looking up our relationship and having its record put in such convenient and attractive form is thoroughly appreciated by me and it would have been more promptly acknowledged but for the birthday (and celebration later) of a small but important person in our family.
Indifference
to records establishing important facts regarding
family matters seems almost to have been a custom of
the Hayden family:
for as far as I know,, no record was kept of the date
when my paternal
great grandfather Eliakim Hayden left Connecticut and
came to Rhode
Island.
I
regret deeply
that I did not get definite facts from my father
during his lifetime, but he shared the indifference
of
certain members of
his family to such a degree that he seldom touched
upon
the question of
ancestry, and considered the clerical (I think)
member
of the Connecticut
branch of the Hayden family- probably your friend
Jabez
Haskell Hayden of
Windsor- who frequently importuned him for aid in
instigating
family
records, an unmitigated nuisance.
I do not even know whether the Rebecca Keeler whom my great grandfather Eliakim married was a Connecticut woman or a Rhode Islander, but I may be able to ascertain this from my mother.
My
grandfather
John Keeler Hayden married Catharine Allen of an
old Long Island family and was born, lived and died
at
Great Neck, L.I.
as did also his son and my father Nehemiah Hayden and
my aunt Nancy
Keeler Hayden, my father's older sister.
This Nancy Hayden born May 9, 1811, was the oldest daughter and second child of my grandfather John K.Hayden and his wife Catharine Allen and was undoubtedly named for your maternal grandmother Nancy Green which would go to prove that my grandfather had known that lady as his aunt.
I
seriously
object to the aspersions cast upon our common
ancestor John- the John who laid bricks and had the
misfortune
to figure
in the marine disaster which ended his useful career.
Even though he did
at one time write a letter which established his
temporary
residence in
his own language as a "Prison" may we not consider,
in
the light of the
"poetry and supposition" to say nothing of the
"romance
and tradition"
encircling the family records that our ancestor was
using
that poetic
license which would come so naturally from a person
of
his artistic
achievements, and referred to some temporary bondage
of his free spirit?
It is delightful to come in closer touch with the earlier members of ones family, but in transcribing the events of their lives let us not forget that it is our duty to
"Be to
their
virtues ever kind
And to
their
faults a little blind."
Some day I hope that you and Mrs. Goodspeed will come to Chestnut Hill and see the very few family pictures (not portraits) which I possess, notably that of your great-grandfather Nehemiah.
With regards to Mrs. Goodspeed, and my very many thanks for the time and care you have given my share of the family genealogy, believe me..
Very sincerely yours,
Jennette Hayden
Sears
May 25, 1914
P.S. My
husband
read this letter and criticized the adjective
"frivolous", saying your description was humorous,
not
frivolous; but I
prefer my "frivolous" as depicting the light and
graphic
touch with which
you transformed dry facts into droll recital!
J.H.S.
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