Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

fields, town lots, and to lay out every
particular man's proposition, according to
his allotments and the directions of the
Governor, for the avoiding of all contro-
versies and disputes concerning the same,
having had certain notice of the good
experience, knowledge, skill and faithful-
ness of John Brockett in the surveying
and laying out of land." As a reward for
his services in the above instance he was
allotted a portion of land in Elizabeth,
which he held until 1670, when he sold it
to one Samuel Hopkins. During the
time he was surveying in Elizabethtown
(from December, 1667, to 1670), John
Brockett lived there, and became an important
member of the community, and
was chosen, with John Ogden, Sr., to rep-
resent the town in the House of Bur-
gesses.
One of the Connecticut religious papers,
published in 1868, refers to John Brockett
as follows
:
John Brockett, the eldest son of Sir John
Brockett, of the County of Herts, England, who
was a well known loyalist of the time of Charles
I., becoming convinced of the truth of the Gospel
as preached by the Puritans, relinquished his
birthright and all his prospects of honor and
fame, joined himself to the little company of
Rev. John Davenport, emigrated to New England
and settled at New Haven in 1637. Of him, as
of Moses, it could be said that he preferred to
suffer affliction with the people of God than to
enjoy the pleasures of Sin for a season.
There is no record of his marriage.
However, a seat was assigned in the
church to "Sister Brockett" in 1646. It
is supposed that John Brockett married
in England, in 1640 or 1641, during which
time he returned to England for a visit.
He did not. however, bring his wife to
America until 1644 or 1645. He was appointed
surgeon in King Philip's War,
and was deputy to the General Court of
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
212
Connecticut during the years 1671, 1678
1680, 1682, and 1685.
In the autumn of 1669, John Brockett
was one of the men appointed by the one
hundred settlers of YYallingford, an offshoot
of the New Haven colony, "to man-
age all plantation affairs in ye said vil-
lage." In the first allotment of land in
YYallingford, John Brockett received
twelve acres, and his son John, eight
acres. His house lot was "No. 1 at the
extreme south end of the village 40 rods
long and 20 rods wide, subsequently extended
to Wharton's Brook." He was
one of the thirteen men who founded the
Congregational church at Wallingford,
deciding "that there be a church of Christ
gathered to walk according to the Congregational
way."
John Brockett died in Wallingford,
Connecticut, on March 12, 1690. at the
age of eighty years. His children were
I. John, of further mention. 2. Benjamin,
born February 23, 1645, died the same
year. 3. Be Fruitful, twin of Benjamin.
4. Mary, born September 25, 1646; mar-
ried Ephraim Pennington. 5. Silence,
born January 4, 1648; married, at Mil-
ford, October 25, 1667, Joseph Bradley.
6. Benjamin, born December, 1648; mar-
ried Elizabeth Barnes. 7. Abigail, born
March 10, 1650; married John Payne, January
22, 1673; died July 4, 1729. 8. Sam-
uel, born January 14, 1652 ; married
Sarah
Bradley. 9. Jabez, born and died in 1654.
10. Jabez, born October 24, 1656; married
Dorothy Lyman.
(II) John (2) Brockett, son of John
(1) Brockett, the progenitor, was born
in New Haven in 1642, and baptized January
31, 1643. He was educated at Oxford
University, in England, for the medical
profession. Upon returning to America
he began to practice in New Haven,
but soon located at Muddy River, near
: