Simon HUNTINGTON
Biography

SIMON, for so tradition has named him, was born in England, and married, probably, Margaret Baret, of Norwich, or its immediate vicinity, in England. He died, while on the voyage to this country, of small pox, in 1633, and his body was consigned to its ocean grave.

With the exception of those mentioned in the Appendix of this work, he
was, undoubtedly, the ancestor of all the Huntingtons on this continent ; and it is much to be regretted that no record can now be found, to tell us of his parentage, his character, or of his estate. What has been believed respecting him, and what is most probable, a few lines will trace.

Beyond doubt he was an Englishman. Tradition has quite uniformly made
him a Norwich man ; and as uniformly, has ascribed his removal to this country to the persecutions to which nonconformists were subjected, during the high handed administrations of Laud and the first Charles. The character of his immediate descendants is perhaps in proof of both statements ; they were thoroughly English in their feelings, affinities, and language ; and that they were as thoroughly religious, their names and official connexion with the early churches in this country abundantly attest.

Tradition has, also, with great uniformity, ascribed to him a family consisting of his wife Margaret and three sons, Christopher, Simon and Samuel; and has placed his leaving England in the year 1639 or 1640; and made the landing of his family at Saybrook, Ct., himself having died off the coast, though his body, it claims, was brought ashore and buried at the mouth of the Connecticut.

These traditions we have endeavored to verify and authenticate, but the attempt, after much endeavor, has not only utterly failed, but has resulted in an absolute disproval of nearly all which they claim. No record has ever been found of the immigration into Saybrook, in the years mentioned. No record exists to show that the Huntingtons were at Saybrook, before they are recorded as living in Massachusetts. The church records of Roxbury, Mass., contain the earliest record of the Huntington name known in New England ; and is in the handwriting of Rev. John Elliot himself, the pastor of that ancient church. It is a "record of such as adjoined themselves unto the fellowship of this church of Christ at Roxborough, as also of such children as were born unto them under the holy covenant of this church, who are most properly the seed of the church." This is the record of Margaret Huntington.

Margaret Huntington, widow, came in 1633. Her husband died by
THE WAY OF THE SMALL POX. SHE BROUGHT CHILDREN WITH HER. The blank in this record, where the number of her children should be found,
is much to be regretted. Positive certainty in regard to their number, we may not now be able to attain.

Margaret Huntington, as is supposed, though I have been able to find no record to attest it, married in 1635 or 6, Thomas Stoughton, then of Dorchester, Mass, and moved to Windsor, Conn. Her husband became a prominent man, being the deputy from that ancient town, several times, to the General Court. Whether she had any children by him does not appear, from the Roxbury or Windsor records, nor is her death to be found at Windsor. Her husband died in Windsor, March 25, 1661.

Of the birth place or residence of Simon, it is not probable that anything can be learned. There is nothing existing among his descendants, which can be relied upon as conclusive, regarding his English home. The different coats of arms which have been shown, furnish no such evidence. he different coats of arms which have been shown, furnish no such evidence. They have been imported quite recently, or designed from the blazon of some dictionary of heraldry, and only show that the name Huntington had been honored in England. But until it can be shown that SIMON, whom we accredit as the ancestor of the American Huntingtons, was descended from one or the other of these titled families, the arms themselves are of no historic use. Nor is there any thing reliable in the tradition that Simon was from Norwich, in England. Having examined the minutest records of that city, found in our largest libraries in this country, including that well nigh exhaustive work, Bloomfield's Topographical History of Norwich, in which the name, even, appears but once, I am forced to relinquish this tradition as useless to us in determining the origin of the family in England.

A genealogical memoir of the Huntington family in this country: embracing all the known descendants of Simon and Margaret Huntington, who have retained the family name (1863)
Author: Huntington, E. B. (Elijah Baldwin), 1816-1877
Subject: Huntington, Simon, 1583-1633; Huntington family
Publisher: Stamford, Conn., The author



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