Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

ury, Massachusetts, were two John
Robertsons, one in 1634 and the other in
1638. One of these may have been the
progenitor of the following line.
(I) Daniel Robertson was born March
17. 1694-95, and died October 25, 1748.
He married, June 24 1719, Lydia, daugh-
ter of David and Lydia (Strong) Lee,
and granddaughter of Jedediah and Freedom
(Woodward) Strong. In the Windham
Probate Records, Vol. II., page 261,
we find the following entry under date of
September 12, 1733: "Daniel Robertson
of Coventry receipt for nine shillings
willed to his wife Lydia Robertson by her
honored grandfather, Jedediah Strong."
Jedediah Strong was born May 7, 1637;
married November 18, 1662, Freedom
Woodward, who was baptized at Dorchester,
Massachusetts, in 1642, daughter
of Henry Woodward, afterward of Northampton,
and "one of the pillars of the
church" there, and Elizabeth, his wife.
Jedediah Strong was a farmer in Northampton
until 1709, when he removed with
his family to Coventry, Connecticut.
There he died May 22, 1733, aged ninety-
six years. During the years 1677-78-79
he was paid eighteen shillings a year for
blowing the trumpet on Sunday summon-
ing the people to church. His wife died
May 17, . Elder John Strong, father
of Jedediah Strong, was born in Taunton,
England, in 1605, from whence he removed
to London, and later to Plymouth.
He was strongly Puritan in his sympathies,
and sailed for the New World on
March 20, 1630, as one of a company of
one hundred and forty in the ship "Mary
and John," which arrived at Nantasket,
Massachusetts, May 30, 1630. The company
settled in Dorchester, Massachu-
setts, of which town he was one of the
founders. In 1635 he removed to Hingham.
and on March 9, 1636, took the freeman's
oath at Boston. He is found as a
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182
resident and a proprietor of Taunton,
Massachusetts, on December 4, 1638, and
was there as late as 1645. He was deputy
from that town to the General Court,
1641-43-44. We next find him in Wind-
sor, Connecticut, which had been settled
in 1636 by some of his Dorchester friends.
In Windsor he was one of a committee of
five leading citizens appointed "to super-
intend and bring forward the settlement
of that place." In 1659 he removed to
Northampton, of which he was one of
the most active founders. There he lived
for forty years, a leader in town and
church affairs. He was a prosperous tanner,
and owned considerable land. His
first wife died on the voyage to America.
In December, 1630, he married (second)
Abigail, daughter of Thomas Ford, of
Dorchester. She died July 6, 1688, hav-
ing been the mother of sixteen children.
He died September 14, 1699, aged ninety-
four years. Thomas Ford came to this
country in the "Mary and John" with
John Strong, and was one of the founders
of Dorchester. He was also one of the
early settlers of Windsor. Connecticut.
He was deputy to the General Court in
1637-38-39-40, and grand juror in 1643.
His wife died in Windsor, April 18, 1683.
He removed to Northampton, Massachusetts,
in 1659, and died there, Novem-
ber 28, 1676.
(II) Ephraim Robertson, son of Daniel
and Lydia (Lee) Robertson, was born
April 5, 1720, and died July 29, 1752. He
married January 5, 1743, Hester Rose,
born August 30, 1721, died January 18,
1804, daughter of Daniel Rose, Jr. He
was born in Wethersfield, Connecticut,
August 20, 1667; married, May 14, 1706,
Mary Foote, born November 24, 1679,
daughter of Nathaniel Foote. Accord-
ing to Savage he settled at Colchester, but
the Foote genealogy says he settled in
Coventry. His father gave him twelve