1024–1025.  Thomas Gilbert was baptized in Yardley, county Worcester, England, on Friday, April 25, 1589, and died in Wethersfield, Connecticut, before September 5, 1659. Elizabeth Bennett was born in England and died in Wethersfield in probably 1659. They were married in Yardley on Wednesday, August 29, 1610. He is the son of Richard and Margery (Morken) Gilbert. They had eight children:

i. Thomas Gilbert was baptized in Yardley on February 16, 1611/12, and died in Springfield, Massachusetts, on June 5, 1662. He married
  1. Mary James on September 17, 1639, in All Saints, Bromwich, Staffordshire, England (about 8 miles from Yardley), they had a daughter, Mary, baptised at Yardley on December 12, 1641; he came to Windsor Plantation in about 1643.
  2. Lydia _____ (no record of this marriage has been found, see details in the text below; The Gilbert Family ... has her as this Thomas's mother, not his wife).
  3. Catherine (Chapin) Bliss on June 30 or July 1, 1655 (marriage contract dated May 23, 1655, Windsor, Connecticut). She was born in England about 1626 and died in Springfield on February 4, 1712/3. She was the daughter of Deacon Samuel and Cicely (Penney) Chapin of Springfield and widow of Nathaniel Bliss (d. 8 Nov 1654). They had four children: Sarah, John, Thomas, and Henry.
ii. Sarah Gilbert was born in Yardley in—say—1615. Her baptism was not recorded. She married in Braintree, shortly after July 14, 1640, to Joel Jenkins, her father's servant, who probably came with the family from England. His will was executed in Malden, Massachusetts, on July 4, 1688, and probated on November 2, 1688. They had seven children: Lydia, Theophilus, Lemuel, Hannah, Ezekiel, Sarah, and Obadiah.
While the baptismal records of the six sons in this family have been found, none has been found for Sarah. Therefore, it is possible that she was a niece. However, she is given the same consideration in Thomas's will as sons Jonathan, Thomas, Ezekiel, and John. Unfortunately, the will does not refer to them as sons or daughter.
iii. Jonathan Gilbert [#512]: He was baptized in Yardley on June 8, 1617, and died in Hartford, Connecticut, on December 19, 1682.
iv. John Gilbert was baptized in Yardley on January 9, 1619/20, and died in Hartford on December 29, 1690. He married Amy Lord. She was baptized at Towcester, Northamptonshire, England, on November 30, 1626; she was the daughter of Thomas and Dorothy (Bird) Lord [#2062/3] of Towcester and Hartford. They had eight children: John, Dorothy, John, Elizabeth, Thomas, James, Amy, and Joseph.
Note that per Ancestors of American Presidents, this family is ancestral to President Herbert Hoover:
  1. John Gilbert m. Amy Lord
  2. Joseph Gilbert m. Elizabeth Smith
  3. Mary Gilbert m. William Minthorn, Jr.
  4. William Minthorn (III) m. Hannah Eldridge
  5. John Minthorn m. Lucinda Sherwood
  6. Theodore Minthorn m. Mary Wasley
  7. Hulda Randall Minthorn m. Jesse Clark Hoover
  8. Herbert Hoover (1874–1964), 31st President
v. Ezekiel Gilbert was baptized in Yardley on February 17, 1621/2. He living in 1664 when he was given a share of his father's estate. He is supposed to have been a mariner. Nothing has been found to indicate that he had a wife or family.
vi. [child]: Buried in Yardley on November 3, 1624.
vii. Josiah Gilbert was baptized in Yardley on November 27, 1625. He married first Elizabeth Belcher; they had ten children: Benjamin, Elizabeth, Lydia, Josiah, Sarah, Eleazer, Moses, Caleb, Mary, and Amy. He married second Mary (Harris) Ward; they had one child: John.
viii. Obadiah Gilbert was baptized in Yardley on June 7, 1629, and died in Fairfield, Connecticut. His will was executed on August 23, 1674, and his estate inventoried on September 16, 1674. He married Elizabeth (Burr) Olmsted. She was the daughter of Jehu Burr and widow of Nehemiah Olmstead. They had three children: Obadiah, Benjamin, and Joseph.

The main source for the information Thomas Gilbert and his family comes from The Gilbert Family—Descendants of Thomas Gilbert .... However, the dates, places, and relationships given above are taken from The English Origin of Thomas Gilbert...; they are based on more recent research of English parish records. Most significantly, the former maintains that Lydia Gilbert, who was convicted of witchcraft and presumably hanged, was the wife of Thomas [Sr.] while the latter shows this to be very unlikely, proposing instead, that she was the second wife of his son, Thomas [Jr.]. The author of the latter wrote:

The English origin of Thomas¹ Gilbert has not been previously discovered. Since all his children were born before he emigrated, it should be possible to find him in an English parish—if the parish register survives. Here the CD-ROM version of the LDS International Genealogical Index [IGI] is invaluable since it permits a large-scale search of all English counties. Hence I ran a search for any entries that showed a Thomas Gilbert as a parent in England in the 1600s. Because the surname is very common, I found many children born to men named Thomas Gilbert in this period. However, since the immigrant had sons named Ezekiel, Josiah and Obadiah, I searched specifically for them. I was able to locate a Thomas Gilbert who had three such children baptized at Yardley, co. Worcester, in the proper time period. I then made a full search for all Gilbert entries up to 1650 on a microfilm of the Yardley parish register (Family History Library [FHL] film #1,520,013)....

Richard and Margery (Morken) Gilbert were living in Yardley parish when their children were born (1576–89). (Yardley is now a suburb of Birmingham lying to the southeast of the city center. It was originally in Worcestershire county, but became part of Birmingham in 1911. The old church in Yardley is dedicated to St.Edburgha.) Likewise, their son, Thomas, married Elizabeth Bennett in Yardley, and the records of the baptisms of all of their children (except Sarah) are there (1612–29). Later, in the Connecticut Colony, their son, Jonathan owned a farm between the present city of Meriden, Connecticut, and the old Kensington parish of Berlin, Connecticut. He named this farm Meriden and the name also appears in his will of 1682. There is a parish named Meriden about 12 miles ESE of Birmingham, very close to Yardley. One could hyphothesize that the Connecticut farm was affectionately named after the English parish. Something must have happened to cause them to uproot and move to America in about 1638 when Jonathan was about 21. For Jonathan to have such an attachment to the name Meriden, the family must have lived there satisfactorily during his late teen years.

The Meriden, Connecticut, home page gives the following. "Meriden, originally a part of Wallingford, was settled in 1661 when Jonathan Gilbert of Hartford was granted by the Connecticut Colony "a farm to ye number of 300 acres of upland and 50 acres of meadow." Mr. Gilbert called his farm "Merrideen" or "Merridan." The source of the name is the Meriden Farm, Warwickshire, England.

The earliest mention of Thomas Gilbert in any New England record is found in Boston Town Records (vol. 2, page 49 of the printed records). This is a record of grants of land to 32 men at Mt. Wollaston, formerly in the town of Braintree, but now within the limits of Quincy, Massachusetts. The record in part is as follows:

The same 24th day of twelfth month February 1639/40 [note: at that time, March was still the first month of the year]... and at the same meeting there was granted to Thomas Place of Mount Wollystone for five heads 20 acres there upon the covenant of 3s per acre.... The like to Thomas Gilbert of the same for 7 heads 28 acres there upon the same covenant of 3 shillings per acre.
Thomas Gilbert's name stands eighth in the list of grantees, a position presumably of no significance. The expression "seven heads" means that his family consisted of the husband, wife, and six sons, the female children not being considered in the grant. He had also a servant or employee named Joel Jenkins. [This last sentence is incorrect because Thomas's eldest son, Thomas, did not accompany the family to the Colony; therefore, the "7 heads" was somehow alloted for Thomas, wife, five sons, one daughter, and one employee.] It thus appears that Thomas Gilbert with his large family and a servant was engaged in farming upon a grant of new land within the limits of the present town of Quincy from 1639 to 1646 (date of a petition against him; see next paragraph) or a little later. In 1668 the heirs of Thomas Gatlive of Braintree sold to Lieut. John Holbrook all their rights to the mill, mill-ponds, water and water courses, commonage, feedings, messuages, tenements or dwelling houses, together with 40 acres of upland lying near the said mill within a common fence, bounded with the said mill brook and pond toward the north and easterly with the land of Goodman Gilbert. [Suffolk County Deeds , vol. 5, p. 526.] Lands of Gregory Belcher are mentioned in this deed. As the site of the mill is known, the location of Gilbert's land can be approximated.

The site of the mill is marked at "Fort Square" (Granite and Pleasant Streets) in Quincy, Massachusetts and was probably directly north of Gilbert's land. There is a small "Gilbert Street" nearby. See the blueprint of land grants at Old Braintree, 1640–45, drawn in 1940 by Waldo C. Sprague of the Quincy Historical Society.

A petition of 14 of the men of Braintree, dated May, 1646, was addressed to the General Court "for the prswading or forcing Thomas Gilbert either to forbeare feeding yt iland or upland with certaine medowes of their environs, or else to lett it on reasonable termes to the petitioners." The Court determined that an order of Court made in 1643 applied to this case. [See Records of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, vol. 2, p. 49 and vol. 3, p. 67.]

Around 1651 three of Thomas's sons, Jonathan, John and Josiah, moved from Braintree to Wethersfield (now Glastonbury, Connecticut) and leased a farm from Lt. John Hollister of Nayaug. At an unknown time Thomas [Sr.] (and presumably his wife) also moved to Wethersfield and assumed the operation of the farm. Thomas was clearly in Wethersfield by August 17, 1658. On that date a petition signed by him and others in support of Lt. Hollister was presented to the Governor and Magistrates of the Connecticut Colony.

Governor John Winthrop, Jr., who for many years was governor of Connecticut, son of the Governor John Winthrop who was founder of Massachusetts, practiced medicine as well as politics. His medical journal has been preserved. In it is an entry indicating that Winthrop attended or prescribed for Thomas Gilbert in his illness in 1659 and giving his age as 77 years (while his age reckoned from the Yardley baptismal records would be 70).

The inventory of the estate of Thomas Gilbert, accepted by the court on October 4, 1659, is on file at the State Library, Hartford. There is a copy of it, made in 1663, in volume two of the records of the Particular Court and Probate, page 127, probate side. The other documents concerning this estate are also copied in this volume, the original papers having perished.

The estate of Thomas [Sr.] consists of 78 entries with a total value of £189.7s.6d. It included: 16 cattle, 5 oxen, 3 horses, 11 pigs, bees; amounts of wheat, corn, oats, hemp, cheese; and a large assortment of tools and farm implements. Household effects were a bed, three pillows, bedding, a chest with "waring clothes wolen and lin'g"; a "forme" [table?], two stools, one chair, wooden ware, tubs, spoons, and trenchers [flat boards that served as plates], earthenware, tinware, pewterware, brassware. It also included a bible; it is possible that Thomas or his wife could read. Charges against the estate include:

Payd of this to Mr. Hollister for rent due him
      from the estate for 59 [1659] 		  £21:00:00
To charges of funeralls for him and wife 9:17:06
To what payd Rich Treat for a debt due 5:06:10
To a debt payd Jonathan Gilbert 29:03:10
To severall other debts due from ye estate pd 54:19:05
To payd Obadiah & others for worke about the
      preserving of things & Thrashing, etc.		 13:06:05
To what payd John Bernard: Dicks & Hayward 2:05:00
To Josiah Gilbert as a Legacy 7:00:00
To Obadiah Gilbert as a Legacy 7:00:00
To what R Hollister is to have left on the farme 20:00:00
Leaving a residue of 19:08:07
The sume of Nineteen pounds and eight shillings & seven pence is to be divided To Jonathan, Thomas, Ezekiel and John Gilbert, three pounds seventeen shillings and Ten pence apiece & to Sarah Jenkins Three pounds seventeen shillings & three pence: to by payd when they shall com & demand it of the sayd Jonathan Gilbert and John Gilbert. ...

All seven of Thomas's adult children are mentioned in the probate of his estate. It would be interesting to know why only Josiah and Obadiah were left legacies of £7.

This information is taken from The Gilbert Family... where it is written about Thomas [Sr.]. The author believes that it applies to Thomas [Jr.].

Francis, Henry, and John Stiles, brothers, were early settlers in Windsor, Conn. Previous to February 28, 1640/1, Francis Stiles held lands described as follows: "A homelot granted by the plantation, with some additions, thirteen and a quarter acres, bounded north by William Gaylord, Jr., south by John Stiles, west by Rocky Hill, east by his own meadow; also nine acres of meadow lying east of his home lot; also some addition in upland, thirty-two acres towards Pine Meadow, bounded north by Joseph Clark, south by Mr. St. Nicholas; also fifteen hundred acres east of the Great River."

About the time that Thomas Gilbert came to Windsor, Francis Stiles was preparing to remove to Stratford and had sold to William Hayden about 26 acres of his 32-acre piece of upland, and on January 24, 1644/5, he sold the remainder, about five acres, to Thomas Gilbert. The deed contains the words "upon good consideration to me secured," which indicates that Gilbert paid little or no money down. Some years later and prior to August 20, 1652, this lot was in possession of John Drake, Sr., and had upon it "a Seler," house, garden, and fencings. These improvements were probably the work of Thomas Gilbert and probably built before April 22, 1649. The "Seler" was in all probability Gilbert's first habitation in Windsor, an underground house or dugout, commonly used by the first settlers, because it could be quickly and easily constructed, and thus afford shelter until a frame house could be built.

On September 12, 1647, Francis Stiles sold all his remaining holdings in Windsor to Robert Saltonstall, gentleman, of Massachusetts, and describes part of it "as at present in the tenure of Thomas Gilbert and John Bancroft." Clearly Gilbert leased more of the land than the five-acre lot which he purchased. It is not clear that the tenure terminated at the time of this sale or of the next in 1648, but it is probable that it terminated on or soon after November 24, 1648, when Saltonstall sold his Windsor holdings to Nicholas Davison of Charlestown, Mass. On March 31, 1665, Mr. Davison's widow sold the land to Josiah Ellsworth, and it continued in that family down to recent times. It is the land that lies about the Judge Oliver Ellsworth house, near Hayden's Station, in the northern part of Windsor. It is therefore possible to locate Thomas Gilbert's first residence in Windsor rather closely.

The Ellsworth House is owned and maintained by the Daughters of the American Revolution and may be seen on certain week days. Its location is indicated on the "Map of Haydens", 1885. See the Record of the Connecticut Line of the Hayden Family by Jabez H. Hayden, 1888; also Stiles, Ancient Windsor, maps facing pp. 145 and 149, vol. 1.

In the month of March or April, 1649, Thomas Gilbert associated himself with Henry Stiles, and this, although with entire innocence on Gilbert's part, led to great misfortune to himself and his family. Stiles was a man of mature age, being past fifty, without wife or family, and boarded in Gilbert's house. Mrs. Gilbert performed many services for him in making and repairing his clothing, tending him in sickness and the like. There is not the slightest trace of any discord or ill feeling of either party to this arrangement. On November 3, 1651, Henry Stiles was accidentally shot in the back and died in consequence of the wound. It was on a training day and the trainband, according to the tradition preserved by President Ezra Stiles, was waiting upon Gov. John Winthrop when he was embarking for England to obtain the Connecticut charter. This charter was obtained in 1662. Therefore this tradition cannot be correct. Tradition apart, the death of Henry Stiles did occur at the time and in the manner related, as the records of the Particular Court, held December 4, 1651, attest:

Indictment of Thomas Allyn. "Thomas Allyn, thou art indited by the name of Thomas Allyn that not having that due fear of God before thine eyes for the preservation of the life of thy neighbor, didst suddenly, negligently, carelessly cock thy piece, and carry the piece just behind thy neighbor, which piece being charged and going off in thine hand, slew thy neighbor to the great dishonor of God, breach of the peace, and loss of a member of this commonwealth. What sayest thou, art thou guilty or not guilty?"

"The inditement being confessed, you (the jury) are to Inquire whether you finde the act to bee manslaughter or homicide by misadventure."

"The said Thomas Allyn, being Indited for the fact, the Jury finds the same to be Homicide by misadventure."

"The Court adjudges the said Thomas Allyn to pay to the country as a fine £20 for his sinful neglect and careless carriages in the premises and that he shall be bound to his good behavior for a twelve- month and that he shall not bear arms for the same term."

"Matthew Allyn Acknowledgeth himself bound to this commonwealth in a Recognizance of £10 that his sonne Thomas Allyn shall carry his good behavior for the space of a year ensuing."

The jury who brought in this just verdict numbered ten, four of them residents of Hartford, six of them residents of Windsor. This fact should be remembered in connection with another trial, soon to be related.

Thomas Gilbert brought in a bill against the estate of Henry Stiles. This bill shows that Gilbert, although careful and methodical in his business matters, could not write his own name, for he signs with his mark, a large "T". The account bears witness to the relations of Gilbert and his wife to Henry Stiles. It is more probable that Thomas Gilbert, after the sale of Francis Stiles's land in 1648, went to live in the house of Henry Stiles, than that Stiles went to live with Gilbert, because he was a landowner and Gilbert seems not to have been at this particular time. Of course both theories may be incorrect. They may have done these things as neighbors, without change of abode.

Who Was Lydia Gilbert?

The Gilbert Family ... maintains that Lydia Gilbert was the wife of Thomas [Sr.], the father of this family, based largely on circumstancial evidence. In contrast, The English Origin of Thomas Gilbert ... maintains that Lydia was most likely the second wife of his son, Thomas [Jr.], based of the following items.

Therefore, this author believes that Lydia Gilbert was the second wife of Thomas [Jr.] of Windsor, not the wife of Thomas [Sr.] of Wethersfield. However, convictions for witchcraft were such a shocking and memorable part of America's early history that some of the details of Lydia's fate will be presented here.

We must not ascribe to English law alone the inhuman laws concerning witchcraft. The witchcraft delusion prevailed throughout Christendom from the early days of the Church down to the eighteenth century. The absolute belief in the reality of witchcraft and of its divinely ordained punishment was based upon the Hebrew code and held enthralled all Christian Europe. To deny it was the greatest of heresies. Mr. Taylor, in the monograph already mentioned, treats of this phase of the subject. For more extensive discussions, the reader may consult History of the Warfare between Science and Theology, by Andrew D. White and History of the Inquisition by J. Henry Lea and other works.

Lydia Gilbert's Conviction of Witchcraft

The dismal roll of witch hangings in Connecticut begins with that of Alse Young who was hanged May 26, 1647. No witches were ever burned in New England. Mary Johnson of Wethersfield went the same way in 1648, and on March 6, 1651/2, John Carrington and his wife Joan were convicted., There is a record showing that both were executed. The fifth victim was Lydia, wife of Thomas Gilbert of Windsor. We shall give as full an account as possible of her case.

Who Lydia Gilbert's accusers were is unknown. Whether ignorant gossip or private enmities brought this ghastly charge upon her, it is impossible to say. That the charge of procuring the death of Henry Stiles could be brought against her seems incredible, when everyone of mature age in Windsor must have known that Henry Stiles met his death by the carelessness of Thomas Allyn, three years before. But this charge was brought against her. She was charged with other witchcrafts besides this, and it may be that she was one of those unfortunate women to whom suspicion of witchcraft clung, for reasons which cannot now be stated. The evidence upon which Lydia was convicted, and the names of the witnesses against her, are unknown. The juror's oath, the names of the jury and the names of the magistrates who heard the case are on record, as well as the indictment and the verdict. Six of the magistrates and jurymen were residents of Windsor, five of Hartford, and the rest belonged to Wethersfield. The Court considered the case in a special session beginning November 28, 1654. The jury brought in the indictment and the records seem to show that they brought in the verdict as well. These two functions of a jury are separate in our time, but in 1654 it was not so. This seems repugnant to our ideas of justice. We should like to hope that the Court proceeded after the ancient English manner, receiving the indictment from the jury, hearing the evidence and deciding in accord therewith.

The Juror's Oath
You do sware by the Ever living god that you will diligently enquire & faithfully present to this Court what soe Ever you know to bee a Breach of any Established Law of this Jurisdictyon so far as may conduce to the glory of god and the good of the commonwealth as allso what Oreginall offences you shall Judge meete to be presented, as you expect helpe from god in Jesus Christ.

The Indictment
Lydea Gilburt thou art here indited by that name of Lydea Gilburt that not having the feare of god before thy Eyes thou hast of late years or still dust give Entertainment to Sathan the greate Enemy of god and mankind and by his helpe hast killed the Body of Henry Styles besides other witchcrafts for which according to the law of god and the Established Law of this commonwealth thou Deservest to Dye.

The Verdict
Ye party above mentioned is found guilty of witchcraft by the Jury.

All the authorities upon the witchcraft cases state that she suffered death. An accusation or even the suspicion of witchcraft was so deadly a thing that persons involved fled from the Colony in dread haste if possible. Ten years later, Katherine Harrison of Wethersfield was convicted by a jury, but public opinion had so far changed that the ministers were called in to advise, and although their advice was for technicalities only, the magistrates were divided in opinion and after a year's imprisonment Mrs. Harrison was allowed to go to Westchester in New York jurisdiction. There is no evidence that there was any intervention in behalf of Mrs. Gilbert. The governor of the Colony did not have the power of reprieve or pardon at this time. An appeal to the General Court was possible, but there is no record of such an appeal in this or in any of the witchcraft cases. An appeal to Parliament would have been beyond the means of the defendant, and impossible to obtain on other grounds. England had seen more than seventy executions in one county in the space of one year under the law of 1603. It is doubtful if Lydia Gilbert escaped. She may have suffered the penalty either in the jail yard at Hartford or more probably on the lot at the corner of Albany Avenue and Vine Street in Hartford, where the public gallows is known to have stood a little later. Perhaps the huge, ancient elm tree whose trunk and roots were removed about 1913, when in its vigor, witnessed the sad scene. It is incorrect to say, as does George L. Clark in his History of Connecticut, that the witches were hanged on the rocky ridge where Trinity College now stands. The ridge, however, was a place of execution during the Revolutionary period.

Note that the entry for the Gilbert family on pages 252-3 of volume 3 of the Encyclopedia of Connecticut Biography, History, and Momoir gives a completely incorrect accounting of who this Thomas Gilbert is.

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