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SISSON, Charles G.,
Man of Great Enterprise.
Arms—Per fesse embattled or and azure, three
griffins' heads erased counterchanged.
Crest~A griffin's head erased or.
Motto—Hope for the best. (The motto, Si
sonent tubae paratus. has been sometimes used over
the crest).
This family name was probably derived
from Soissons, a province of France, the
progenitors of the English branches
doubtless having come to Britain vsrith
William of Normandy. In the poll tax
returns of Howdenshire (Yorkshire) for
the year 1739 the following names are
found : Johannes Sisson, Robertus Cis-
son, Henricus Sisson, Thomas Cysson,
and William Cisson. An English gene-
alogist concludes that in one instance the
name is derived from Syston, a populous
village in Leicestershire, but here again
the real origin leads to France. The English
Sissons were, as a rule, non-conformists
and engaged in commerce.
(I) Richard Sisson, the first of the
name in America, is of record at Portsmouth,
Rhode Island, where on May 17,
1653, he was admitted a freeman of the
town. On July 2, 1653, he was on a jury
that found in the case of Thomas Bradley
(discovered dead on the highway)
"that by extremity of heat the said
Thomas was overcome and so perished by
himself in the wilderness." On July 6,
1658, he bought of William Hall one
three-hundredth of the island of Quononoquett
(Conanicut), and one three hun-
dredth of Dutch Island, and two years
later he disposed of this property and a
like amount in the same locality. In 1667
he served on the grand jury, being then at
Dartmouth, Massachusetts, and in 1668,
at the age of sixty or thereabouts, he gave
the following testimony: "John Archer,
being at my house, did speak as foUow-
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
eth, and said the deed of gift made by
Namumpan to John Sanford and himself
was a cheat, and the intent thereof was
to deceive Namumpan, squaw Sachem, of
her land ; and they were to have both corn
and peague to secure her land, from
Wamsutta or Peter Talman, and was to
resign up the deed at her demand." In
1671 he was surveyor of highways. He
died in 1684. The inventory of his estate
amounted to £600 igd, and included one
Indian servant, valued at £10, and one
negro servant valued at £28. His wife
Mary died in 1692. They were the parents
of six children: i. George, of whom
further. 2. Elizabeth, born April 8, 1650;
married, 1670, Caleb Allen. 3. James,
died in 1734; married Elizabeth Hathaway.
4. John, died in 1687 ; married Mary
. 5. Anne, died in 1713, married
Peleg Tripp. 6. Mary, died in 1674; married
Isaac Lawton.
(II) George Sisson, son of Richard and
Mary Sisson, was born in 1644, and died
September 7, 1718. About 1667 he went
with his father to Dartmouth, and after
remaining a few years returned to Portsmouth.
In 1671 he was on the grand jury
at Dartmouth, and in the same year was
on a committee to view the damage done
the Indians by the horses and dogs of the
English. In this year, too, he sold prop-
erty in Portsmouth for three-eighths of
one share in Dartmouth. George Sisson
in 1684 was on a jury which found a verdict
on a dead Indian "that he murdered
himself," etc. On June 24, 1687, he was
appointed administrator of his brother
John's widow, Mary. In the same year
he was constable, in 1688 grand juryman,
in 1690, 1702, 1705, and 1707 deputy, and
in 1703 justice of the peace. His will,
made August 20, 1718, disposed of an
estate of £451 i8s. 8d., the homestead
farm given to Richard, his eldest son.
This property, lying in Portsmouth,