Samuel LATHROP
Biography

Lathrop.

Samuel Lnthrop, or Lothrop, as the name was then generally spelled, (with the pronunciation Lotrop,) was a son of the Rev. John Lothrop, who had preached in London to the first Independent or Congregational Church organized in England, as successor to Mr. Jacob, under whose ministry the church was formed. The congregation was broken up by ecclesiastical rigor, and Mr. Lothrop suffered an imprisonment of two years duration, from which he was released only on condition of his leaving the country. He came to America in 1634, and was the first minister both of Scituate and of Barnstable. Samuel was his second son, and probably about fourteen years of age when the family emigrated. His marriage is recorded at Barnstable, in his father's hand-writing : "My sons Samuel and Elizabeth Scudder marryed aft my house, Nov. 28, 1644." Samuel Lothrop was a house-carpenter, and found occupation for a time in Boston, from whence he went to New London, then called Pequot, in the summer of 1648. Just twenty years later he removed to Norwich, where, after a residence of more than forty years, he died, Feb. 29, 1700.

His nuncupative will, made five days before his decease, was witnessed by Rev. John Woodward and Dea. Simon Huntington, and proved in the Prerogative Court the succeeding April. He had nine children. John, the oldest, was probably born in the Bay State ; the others in New Lon don. They were all by his first wife, of whose death there is no record.

His second wife, whom he married at Plymouth in 1690, was Abigail, daughter of John Doane. She survived him, and lived to the great age of 103 years. On her hundredth birth-day a large audience assembled at her house, and a sermon was preached by the pastor of the church. At this time she retained in a great degree the intelligence and vivacity of her earlier years.

At the time of her decease, the descendants of her husband amounted to 365.

John Lothrop, the oldest son of Samuel, married Ruth Royce. Eliza beth, the oldest daughter of Samuel, was united at the same time to Isaac Royce. This double marriage was solemnized in the court room at New London, Dec. 15, 1669, by Daniel Wetherell, Commissioner, the presiding officer of the court. It was not uncommon for the bench and bar to be thus enlivened with a wedding during the interludes of business.

Incidental testimony leads to the conclusion that Nathaniel Royce sub sequently married Sarah, the second daughter of Samuel Lothrop, forming a third nuptial link in the two families. These young people all went to Wallingford, and were early settlers in that plantation.

Samuel Lothrop had three other sons, Samuel, Israel, and Joseph. Samuel was joined in wedlock, Nov., 1675, to Hannah Adgate. Israel Lothrop and Rebecca Bliss, Joseph Lothrop and Macy Scudder, were married the same day, April 8, 1686. These three brothers settled in Norwich.

The Lothrops, or Lathrops, who look back to Norwich for their ancestry, like the Huntingtons and Hydes, have become so numerous that a mere outline of the branches, if it were possible to follow them in their numerous emigrations and connections, would occupy many pages. The name will frequently occur in this history, and only a few prominent per sons can be noticed here.

Colonel Simon Lothrop, third son of Samuel 2d and Hannah (Adgate) Lothrop, born in 1689, was a man of more than ordinary local renown. He commanded one of the Connecticut regiments in the successful expeditions against Annapolis and Louisburg, and was valued for his judgment in council as well as for his gallant bearing in the field. At one period he was left for a considerable time in the chief command of the fortress at Cape Breton.

Col. Lothrop was of a prudent, thrifty disposition, fond of adding land to land, and house to house. There was a doggerel song that the soldiers used to sing after their return from Capertoon, that alludes to this propensity...

Col. Lothrop died Jan. 25, 1775, aged 86. He was an upright man, zealous in religion, faithful in training up his family, and much respected and esteemed for his abilities and social virtues. His wife was a Separatist, and he carefully abstained from any interference with her predilections, but was accustomed every Sunday to carry her in his chaise up to her meeting, half a mile beyond his own, — then return to his own place of worship, and after the service was over, go up town again after his wife.

Col. Lothrop was the father of Simon and Elijah Lathrop, who were prominent inhabitants of the town, and for a long period proprietors of the mills at Norwich Falls.

17 Feb., 1745. The house of Samuel Lothrop Esq. of Norwich was burnt at night, and almost all its contents destroyed, Tho loss estimated at 2000 Old Tenor. [Boston paper.]

Israel, the third son of the proprietor Samuel, was the father of seven sons and three daughters. William, the second of these seven sons, born in 1688, was one of the old worthies of the town-plot. He lived to the age of ninety years, and had ten children, all of them sons. The young est but one of this train was the Rev. John Lathrop, a distinguished minister of Boston, but born at Norwich, May 6, 1739. After completing his education at Princeton, he became for a time an assistant to Mr. Wheelock in his Indian school at Lebanon, but in 1768 was ordained to the pastoral charge of the old North Church in Boston. This church having been demolished by the British while they had possession of Boston, the society united with the new Brick Church, and Mr. Lathrop became the pastor of the United Society. He published a variety of sermons, and died in 1816, aged seventy-five.

Joseph Lothrop, the fourth and youngest son of the first Samuel, had a family of nine daughters, assisting largely in bringing the sexes in the Lothrop series to an even balance. He had also four sons, the youngest of whom, Solomon, died at the age of twenty-seven, leaving an only son, Joseph, who has become extensively known as Rev. Joseph Lathrop, D. D. of West Springfield, Mass. He was born at the Lothrop farm upon- the west bank of the Shetucket, Oct. 20, 1721. His mother was Martha, daughter of Dea. Joseph Perkins.

Dr. Lathrop was the pastor of one church sixty-three years, and for a long period was regarded as the patriarch of the Congregational churches of New England. As a preacher he was remarkable for the variety of his illustrations and his improvement of daily occurrences. A large proportion of his sermons, which have been published in seven volumes, are upon anniversaries and striking events. He died Dec. 31, 1820, aged eighty-nine years.

Hon. Samuel Lathrop, M. C. from Mass. from 1818 to 1826, was one of his sons.

The following is the oldest Lothrop inscription that is extant and legible in the Norwich graveyard :

" Here Lyes Buried ye Body of Mr. Israell Lothrup ye Husband of Mrs. Rebekah Lothrup, who lived a life of exemplary piety & left ye Earth for Heaven March ye 28, 1733 in ye 73d year of his age."

History of Norwich, Connecticut: From Its Possession by the Indians to the Year 1866 Author Frances Manwaring Caulkins Publisher By H.P. Haven, 1874

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