Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

of the "Wethersfield Inn."' Famed for
his hurculean strength and physical endurance,
be became a factor of prominence
in the community. He died on
September 19, 1749. He was the son of
John Francis, and grandson of Robert
Francis, who was recorded in Wethers-
field annals in the year 1645 (see Stanley
line hereof).
Deacon Ebenezer Stillman, who married
Rhoda Francis, was a prosperous and
industrious shoemaker. He was choirmaster
of the Wethersfield church, from
1813 until his death, December 1 1, 1854.
"He was a genial and lovable man."
His father, Captain Joseph Stillman,
was born October 21, 1739; married
(first) in 1760, Sarah, daughter of Timothy
and Sarah (Walker) Wright. He
resided in the hotel he had inherited from
his father, and grandfather, George Stillman.
In 1714, it was known as the '"Mansion
House," and was destined to become
prominently historic, as having housed
General Washington when, during the
Revolution, he came to Wethersfield, and
at this house (referred to by some as
Stillman's Tavern) he gave a dinner to
his friends. Captain Stillman died January
17, 1794. His wife, Sarah, died December
21, 1780, aged forty.
Captain Nathaniel Stillman, father of
Captain Joseph Stillman, was born July
1, 1691. His second wife was Sarah,
daughter of Captain Joseph and Sarah
(Doty) Allyn, formerly of Plymouth.
Sarah Allyn was a granddaughter of
Edward Doty, of the "Mayflower." Cap-
tain Allyn was a successful merchant,
possessing a business of much volume.
His daughter, Sarah, was born in Wethersfield,
August 17, 1708. In 1740, Cap-
tain Stillman was appointed quartermaster
of Connecticut Troop, and in the same
year became its captain. He died January
1, 1770, leaving an estate appraised
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at seventeen hundred and ninety-three
pounds. His widow died March 4, 1794,
aged eighty-five.
His father, "Mr." George Stillman, the
progenitor of the American lines of this
family, was born probably in Steeple
Ashton, Wiltshire, England, about 1654.
Before his immigration, he was by trade
a merchant tailor, and the first American
record relating to him is in the annals of
the Hadley settlement, where he was one
of three men who were tendered the dis-
tinctive appellation of "Mr." Well educated,
enterprising, and possessed of some
wealth at the outset, he is reputed to
have eventually become the richest man
in Hadley. He was elected several times
to the office of selectman, and in 1698
represented the town in the Massachusetts
General Court. He is stated to have
kept a hotel, which probably was that
owned by his wife's father, Lieutenant
Philip Smith. It was a stockaded house,
and had a hiding place behind the chimney.
There the regicide judges, Goffe and
Whalley, were secreted during their stay
in Hadley, at the time of King Philip's
War. Owing to the dangers to which
his family were exposed, and possibly
because of his wealth, he was persuaded
that Wethersfield was a more desirable
place of residence. So, to Wethersfield
he went, a factor of some importance in
this connection probably being the fact
that the relatives of his second wife lived
in Wethersfield. In that town, shortly
after his removal from Hadley, George
Stillman established himself in mercan-
tile business, which soon expanded into
a considerable volume of trading by him,
not only locally, but internationally. He
developed an extensive trade in horses,
rum, molasses, et cetera, shipping these
to buyers in the West Indies. His store
was stocked much more completely than
were the majority of country town stores