Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

the following manors: Manor of Almeshoebury,
Letchworth, Rathamsted, Ayot
St. Lawrence, Ayot St. Peter, Offiey Mag-
na, Mandlesen, Spain's Hall. Brockett
Hall, the ancestral home of the family,
was located in Wheathamstead, County
Herts, originally described as Watam-
stede, inthe Domesday Book. This estate
originally adjoined Hatfield, which is noted
in history. In the year 131J, Brockett
Hall was the meeting place of the Barons
in their war against Edward II.
\ tradition which has existed for two
hundred years in New Haven, traces the
ancestry of the progenitor of the Amer-
ican Brocketts, John Brockett. to this
famous English family above mentioned.
John Brockett is thought to have been
the eldest son of Sir John Brockett, of
Brockett Hall, Hertfordshire, England,
disinherited because of his sympathies
with the Puritanism then gaining a strong
foothold in England. Because of perse-
cution of Puritanism in England and fam-
ily disagreement, John Brockett came to
America, in 1637.
(I) John Brockett, who is the first of
that patronymic to be mentioned in records
in this country, was born in Eng-
land in 1609, and came to America in
1637, probably in the ship "Hector,"' arriving
in Boston, June 26, 1637, in company
with Rev. John Davenport and
Theophilus Eaton.
It is said of the little band which ac-
companied the Rev. John Davenport,
"They were gentlemen of wealth and
character , with their servants and household
effects. They were for the most
part from London, and had been bred
to mercantile and commercial pursuits.
Their coming was hailed at Boston with
much joy, for they were the most opulent
of the companies who had emigrated to
Xew England." These men were un-
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOCKAPHY
211
willing to join the Massachusetts Colony,
ami explored the coast of Long Island in
search of a site n which to settle. They
selected a tract of laud near the Quin-
ipiac river, the site of tin- present city of
New Haven, and left seven of their number
to hold it for the winter. In the
-|)iiiiL, r of the following year, the Rev.
Mr. Davenport, and a company of men.
among whom was John Brockett, reached
the site, bought the ground from the In-
dians, and set up an independent government
or "Plantation Covenant," founded,
as were all the early governments of New-
England, on a stern religious basis. They
called the town which they founded, New-
Haven. In the early Colonial records of
Xew England and New Haven, the name
of John Brockett appears more often than
any other name with the exception of
Theophilus Eaton. He was a man of im-
portance and influence in the civic organ-
ization, and because of his ability and excellent
judgment was often called upon
to represent the community. In the set-
tling of difficulties with the Indian tribes
of the neighborhood, he was appointed
"one of a committee of four to investigate
and advise with the Indians." He was
also appointed commissioner to settle the
question as to boundary lines between the
Connecticut Colony at Hartford and the
New Haven Colony. John Brockett was
skilled and well known as a civil engineer
and surveyor, and his services were often
needed in the town. In June, 1639, he
laid out the square which is now the center
of the city of New I laven in nine equal
sections, calling forth mention in the
Colonial Records for the perfection of his
work. Shortly thereafter the governor of
New Jersey deputed John Brockett "to
lay out, survey, and bound the said
bounds of Elizabeth Towne (now the city
of Elizabeth, New Jersey), the planting