Thomas Miner

Thomas MINER (1608 –  1690) was a founder of Charlestown and Hingham Mass and  New London and Stonington, Connecticut, and the author of one of the few diaries to survive 17th Century New England. The Diary of Thomas Minor is a lasting memorial. Although the entries are terse and never give details, they do give us a glimpse into his daily life and community activities. He  is Alex’s 10th Great Grandfather, one of 2,048 grandfathers in this generation in the Miner line.

Thomas Miner was born in Chew Magna, England, on April 23, 1608. His parents were Clement MINOR Sr. and [__?__].  He emigrated to Salem, Massachusetts in 1629, aboard the Lyon’s Whelp (See the story of the voyage here). He quickly moved to Watertown, and then on to Charlestown, after typhus fever broke out in Salem.  He married Grace PALMER on 23 Apr 1634 in Rehoboth, Plymouth, Mass.   In 1636, the Miners moved to Hingham.  After several years in Hingham, the family moved south to the Wequetequock area of present-day Stonington, Connecticut, where Miner and his son Ephraim helped found the Road Church. In about 1653, Miner bought land west of Stonington, across Quiambaug Cove near present-day Mystic, and built a house for his family. His diary covers  the years 1653 to 1684 and was published in book form in 1899. Thomas died on 23 Oct 1690 in Stonington, CT. He is buried with his wife Grace in Stonington’s Wequetequock Cemetery. The founders monument in Stonington has one side dedicated to him.

Thomas wrote back to England  about 1683,  in investigation of his ancestory and received
A (False) Herauldical Essay Upon the Surname of Miner

Grace Palmer was born 9 May 1612 in England.   Her parents were Walter PALMER and Ann Elizabaeth SHORT. The first record we have of Grace Palmer is found in the “Record Book of the First Church in Charlestown” (Mass) when she, her father and her step-mother were admitted to membership on 1 June 1633.  Until her father married Rebecca Short in 1633, Grace, being the oldest child and daughter, probably was “mother” to her three younger brothers and one sister.  The name “Grace” was not one used often in the days of her birth and it is thought by some that she may have been named for her Aunt Grace Palmer, wife of Abraham Palmer,  who some believe was a brother to Walter, though no proof of that relationship has been found.  Grace died two weeks before her husband on 12 Oct 1690 in  Stonington,  CT.

Children of Thomas and Grace:

	Name	Born	Married	Departed
1	John Minor	30 Aug 1635 Charlestown, MA	Elizabeth Booth 19 OCT 1658 Stratford, CT	17 Sep 1719 Woodbury, Litchfield, CT
2.	Clement MINER	4 Mar 1637/8 Hingham MA	Frances BURCHAM (Widow of Isaac Willey) 26 Nov 1662 . Martha Wellman 20 Feb 1672/3 . Joanna [_?_].	8 Oct 1700 New London, CT
3.	Thomas Miner	10 May 1640 Hingham MA	Unmarried	19 April 1662 Narragansett, RI
4.	Ephraim Miner	3 May 1642 Hingham	Hannah Avery 20 Jun 1666 Stonington, CT	16 May 1724 Stonington, New London, CT
5.	Dr. Joseph Miner	25 Aug 1644 Hingham	Mary Avery 23 OCT 1668 New London . Bridget Chesebrough (Widow of William Thompson) 7 Dec 1709 Stonington, CT	1 Feb 1712 Stonington, New London
6.	Judah Miner	ca. 1646 Listed in books and the essay but unconfirmed in records
7.	Manassah Miner	28 Apr 1647 New London	Lydia Moore (Daughter of our ancestor Miles MOORE) 26 Sep 1670 New London . Frances West 20 Apr 1721 Stonington	22 Aug 1728 Stonington
8.	Ann Miner	28 Apr 1649 New London	-	13 Aug 1652 Stonington (the first registered death in Stonington)
9.	Mary Miner	5 May 1651 New London	-	24 Jan 1660/61 Stonington
10.	Samuel Miner	4 Mar 1652/3 Stonington	Marie Lord 15 Dec 1681	Jul 1682
11.	Hannah Miner	15 Sep 1655 Stonington	Thomas Avery 22 OCT 1677 Stonington	about 1692

Miner was active in public affairs in both New London and Stonington. He and his sons fought in King Philip’s War.

1632 -  Thomas was a founder of the First Church of Charlestown, his name appearing 34th on the roll. Two years later he was granted four acres of land at the line of Newtown, now Cambridge, and by 1637 owned a 10 acre plot.  Thomas Minor received lot 18 in the first division of land at Mystic side, now Charlestown, MA. on the sixth of the first month 1637. His future father-in-law Walter PALMER, receiving lot 15.

4 Mar 1633/34 - Thomas was made a freeman in Charlestown, Mass.

1636 -   The young couple moved once again, settling in Hingham, MA where they remained until 1645.  Thomas’ first child, John, was baptized in 1635 before they moved to Hingham.  During their years in Hingham, their sons Clement, Thomas, Ephraim and Joseph were born.

1645 – Thomas joined John Winthrop Jr.’s colony of Massachusetts Puritans in the settlement of New London, CT.   During the years that Thomas lived in New London, his son Mannassah and his daughters Ann and Mary were born.  Manassah was the first white child born in New London.

May 1649 – At the session of the General Court,  the following regulations were made respecting Pequot:

1. The inhabitants were exempted from all public country charges — i.e., taxes for the support of the colonial government — for the space of three years ensuing.

2. The bounds of the plantation were restricted to four miles each side of the river, and six miles from the sea northward into the country, ” till the court shall see cause and have encouragement to add thereunto, provided they entertain none amongst them as inhabitants that shall be obnoxious to this jurisdiction, and that the aforesaid bounds be not distributed to less than forty families.”

3. John Winthrop, Esq., with Thomas MINER and Samuel LOTHROP as assistants, were to have power as a court to decide all differences among the inhabitants under the value of forty shillings.

4. Uncas and his tribe were prohibited from setting any traps, but not from hunting and fishing within the bounds of the plantation.

5. The inhabitants were not allowed to monopolize the corn trade with the Indians in the river, which trade was to be left free to all in the united colonies.

6. ” The Courte commends the name of Faire Harbour to them for to bee the name of their Towne.”

7. Thomas MINER was appointed ” Military Sergeant in the Towne of Pequett,” with power to call forth and train the inhabitants.

May 1649 – By Colonial appointment Thomas Minor served as Magistrate or Justice, in the town of New London,

Sep 1650 – Thomas Minor and Jonathan Brewster were made the first deputies to the General Court (the Legislature) from Pequot, now New London, CT.

1652 –   Thomas moved to Pawcatuck, now Stonington, CT, and became a founder of the town with three associates:  William Chesebrough, Thomas Stanton, and his father-in-law, Walter Palmer.  On the grounds of Wequetequock Cemetery there is a monument honoring these four men.  In Stonington, Thomas built a house on land granted to him, which he later relinquished to Walter Palmer, there having been some confusion during which time the land was also granted to someone else who sold it to Mr. Palmer.

1652 –  A general apprehension existed throughout the country that the Indians were preparing for hostilities. The Narragansetts were especially regarded with suspicion, and preparations were made in the frontier towns to guard against surprise. At Pequot the town orders were peremptory for arming individuals and keeping a vigilant eye upon the natives. Watchmen were kept on the look-out both night and day. A fresh supply of ammunition was procured and the following directions published :

” July 8, 1652.
” Forfeiture of false raising of an alarum, £10.

” Forfeiture of not coming when an alarum is raised, £5.

” Forfeiture of not coming to there pticnlar squadron, £5.

“It is agreed y’ it shall be a just alarum when 3 gunnes are distinctly shot of, and the drum striking up an alarum.

“If the watchmen here a guun in the night, they well considering where the gunn was firing if they conceive to be in the Towne may raise an alarum.

” For the seting of a gunn for a wolfe they y* set a gunn for that end shall acquaint the constable where he sets it that he may acquaint the watch.”

Three places in the town were fortified, the mill, the meeting-house, and the house of Hugh Caulkins, which stood at the lower end of the town, near the entrance of Cape Ann Lane. The inhabitants were divided into three squadrons, and in case of an alarm Sergt. Miner’s squadron was to repair to Hugh Caulkins’, Capt. Denison’s to the meeting-house, and Lieut. Smith’s to the mill.

Severe restrictions were laid upon the trade with the Indians in the river, which was to be confined to Brewster’s trading-house. No individual could go up the river and buy corn without a special license, which was only to be given in case of great scarcity. Happilv no alarm occurred, and all fear of ‘an Indian war soon died away. But Mr. Brewster was allowed for several years to monopolize the Indian trade. This granting of monopolies was perhaps the greatest error committed by the fathers of the town of Stonington in their legislation.

1653 – Thomas then bought some land situated on Quiambaug Cove from Cary Latham.  In his diary, Thomas tells of his building his house at Quiambaug.  His first published month, November 1653, and the following month, December of the same year, indicate very clearly his life in Stonington.  During the following months, one can follow the building of his home:  “I had 9 peeces to hew”,  “I made an end of hewing of timber”, “goodman redfield was making our backe for our Chimbloy and wensday the 22nd our backe of our Chimbly was ended goodman Redfild has 22 s and 6 d for doing the stone walle”, “I had newly raised my roofe of my house”.

Click Here to See Google Maps Satellite View of Thomas Miner’s Quiambaug Homestead

From 1658 to 1662 Thomas was a party to a dispute whether Stonington was part of Connecticut or Massachusetts.

Stonington was now settled, albeit somewhat sparsely. Stanton was on the Pawcatuck River, Walter Palmer on the east side of Wequetequock Cove, Chesebrough in Wequetequock and Stonington Point, Amos Richardson at Quanaduck, Hugh Calkins owning Wamphassuc Point, Isaac Willey owning Lord’s Point, Minor in Quiambaug, John Mason owning Mason’s Island and adjoining mainland up to Pequotsepos Brook, Denison in Pequotsepos, Gallop on the Mystic River, and Park in Mystic. Nearly all of the waterfront was taken, showing the keen interest of the settlers in seafood, salt marsh hay, and trading.

The inhabitants now faced difficulties: being accepted as a town by either Connecticut or Massachusetts, settling the old boundary disputes, deciding how to treat the remnants of the defeated Indian tribes, and providing for their own religious needs.

The settlers of Stonington, who had received various grants from Connecticut and New London, had no government and had resolved their affairs by discussions among themselves. They wanted a body of laws to guide them in their decisions and they also felt that the community needed the protection of a colony. Under the leadership of Chesebrough, who had been New London deputy to the Connecticut Court for several years, they petitioned the Court to be recognized as a township and also to permit them to establish a separate church. It was defeated, largely because of the opposition of New London, which wanted the town to extend eastward to the Pawcatuck. A second petition was likewise defeated.

Thwarted in their ambitions by Connecticut, the inhabitants of Mystic and Pawcatuck petitioned Massachusetts for the privilege of a township, twenty families now being settled in this place. This petition was backed by Captain George Denison, who had influential friends in Boston. This also failed. A second application was made and denied, with the suggestion that the matter be referred to the Commissioners of the United Colonies and that in the meantime they manage their own affairs. In 1658 the Massachusetts General Court resolved that the territory between the Mystic River and the Pawcatuck River be named Southertown and belong to Suffolk County, Massachusetts. The plantation was to extend into the interior eight miles from the mouth of the Mystic River. Captain George Denison and five others were appointed to manage prudential affairs; Captain Denison, William Chesebrough, and Thomas Minor were appointed commissioners to handle small causes. Walter Palmer was appointed constable.

In 1662 Governor John Winthrop, Jr., obtained a new charter for Connecticut from Charles II. It set the eastern boundary of Connecticut at the Pawcatuck River, putting Southertown back in Connecticut. William Chesebrough was elected the first deputy from Stonington to the Connecticut General Court. The name Southertown was changed to Mystic and shortly thereafter to Stonington. The old boundary dispute was finally settled; future disputes would arise between Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Oct 1664 and May 1665 – By Colonial appointment Thomas Minor served as Magistrate or Justice, in the town of  Stonington

May and Oct 1665; Oct, 1677;  Oct 1670;  Oct 1672;  May, 1677;  May and Oct, 1679; May, 1680: and Oct 1689 – Thomas served as deputy to the Connecticut General Court from Stonington.    He was selected Commissioner in dealings with the Indians and settlers inasmuch as he had mastered the language of the Indians so he could act as interpreter in dealings between them and the white settlers.

May, 1666 – Thomas received a Colonial grant of 100 acres of land and in October, 1667, 50 acres more; such grants were made to those who had performed distinguished public service.  His last two children, Samuel and Hannah, were born 4 March 1652 and 15 Sept 1655, respectively.

“This 24th of Aprill, 1669, [From his diary]  I thomas Minor am by my accounts sixtie one yeares ould I was by the towne & this yeare Chosen to be a select man in the Townes Treasurer The Townes Recorder The Brander of horses by the generale Courte Recorded in the head officer of the Traine band by the same Courte one of ffoure tht have the charge of the milischia of the whole Countie and Chossen and sworne Commissionor and one to assist in keeping the Countie Courte”.

1675 – Thomas was a lieutenant in the Narragansett Campaign of King Phillip’s War in  1675-76.  He reportedly took part in the “Great Swamp Fight” near Kingstown, RI even though he would have been 67 years old.  Almost all of the able-bodied men of Stonington were engaged in the Indian wars of their time.   Thomas was appointed Member of a Court Martial to meet in New London, January 2, 1676.

Jul 1685 -  Appointed Chief Military Officer of the Mystic Trainband.  During King Phillip’s War, Thomas served as a Lieutenant and was referred to that title in February and in April of 1676.  In August, 1676, he was called Captain, although in later years, he usually is mentioned as Lieutenant.

Sometime during the mid 1600s, perhaps about 1683, Thomas Miner wrote back to England to answer the question whether the surname should be spelled with an “e” or an “o”,  In return, he received the this linked manuscript. It purports to explain the origin of the name by noting that a Henry Miner of the Mendip Hills in Somerset was given a coat of arms by Edward III for his services for the up-coming war with the French.

The reason (as Garcillasso sayeth, page 432) is this: Edward the third going to make warre against the French took a progress through Somersett and coming to Mendippe Colles Minerary, Mendippe Hills in Somersett, where lived one Henry MINER [1] his name being taken both a denominatione loci et ab officio, who with all carefullness and loyalitie having convened his domestic and menial servants armed with battle axes, proffered himself and them to his master’s service, making up a complete hundred.

This Henry was said to have been a miner, or mine operator; therefore, the name should be spelled with an “e.”  Since receieving the scroll in 1683, our line of Miners have used an “e’”  The essayist went on to give the descent from Henry (said to have died in 1359) to Thomas and cited Thomas’s children. The coat of arms is colorfully displayed at the top of the scroll.

For over a period of perhaps some three hundred years, descendants of  Thomas Minor, as well as students and writers of history and genealogy, have accepted a certain coat of arms and the seventeenth-century essay detailing Thomas’s heritage as fact.

The authenticity of the scroll and the coat of arms remained unquestioned until the fall of 1979 when some 75 descendants journeyed to Chew Magna, Somerset, England, Thomas’s birthplace, to commemorate the 350th anniversary of his departure for America. To recognize the occasion, a marble plaque honoring Thomas Minor was affixed to an inner wall of St. Andrew’s Church where he was baptized in 1608. His coat of arms was to have been placed above the plaque, but this was delayed pending approval by the bishop following the customary search and recommendation of the College of Arms.

In late November 1979, the Chester Herald, D. H. B. Chesshyre, M.A., F.S.A., of the College of Arms sent a letter to the Vicar of St. Andrew’s Church, stating he had “found no references to the Miners of Chew in any of the Herald’s visitations to Somerset and, thus, no confirmation of the arms which appeared to be very similar to those of a family of Mynors of Uttoxeter – but with a different crest.” Accordingly, he would not recommend the display of the arms in question. Details are described in “The Curious Pedigree of Lt. Thomas Minor”. Much the contents of this document and the coat of arms it presents are FALSE.  If a family history has been a fiction for 327 years doesn’t that become real for us?   Plus, we have a story to tell when people want to spell our name with an “o”!

Children

1. John Miner

John’s wife

John spelled his name Minor and so did most of his descendants. On 23 Sep 1654, John Stanton and John Minor were selected for teachers of the Gospel to the Indians. Both young men, however, left their studies.

History of New London county, Connecticut, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men (1882) by Hurd, D. Hamilton

The commissioners of the United Colonies were in 1650 appointed agents of the Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians in New England ; in pursuance of which, in 1657, they proposed to Rev. Richard Blinman to become the missionary of the Pequots and Mohegans, offering him a salary of twenty pounds per annum which he declined.

The same year they employed the Rev. William Thompson, son of the Rev. William Thompson of Braintree, Mass., to preach to the Pequots at a salary of twenty pounds per annum.

He came to Southertown in 1658, and began his labors with Harmon Garret’s company, and was assisted by Thomas Stanton as interpreter. He continued to preach to the English and Indians for about three years, and then went to Virginia.

After this the commissioners, in 1662, invited the Rev. Abraham Pierson, of Bradford, Conn., to remove his habitation to Southertown, and to apply himself in a more special way to the work of preaching the gospel to the Pequots, but he declined.

Previous to this, and in the year 1654, the commissioners of the United Colonies, at the request of the Connecticut members thereof, provided for the education of Mr. John Miner with the Rev. Mr. Stone, who was to fit him as a teacher and missionary to the Pequot Indians.

Soon after Mr. Thompson left the commissioners, in 1664, instructed the Connecticut members to employ this Mr. John Miner to teach the Pequots to read ; but whether he was so employed or not does not appear. The commissioners also, in 1654, offered, at the expense of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, to educate Thomas and John Stanton, sons of Thomas Stanton, the interpreter-general at Cambridge, Mass. The object was to fit them as teachers for such Indian children as should be taken into college to be educated. They accepted the commissioners’ offer and entered college, but did not remain long enough to graduate, nor does it appear that either of them was ever engaged in teaching the Indians.

The efforts of the English to civilize and Christianize the Pequots were not very successful, the reasons for which may be more easily imagined than described. The agents of the London Missionary Society did not wholly neglect them, for as late as 1766 they employed Mr. Hugh Sweatingham to teach the Pequots, at their school-house at Mashantuxet, at twelve pounds per annum. They also employed Mr. Jacob Johnson to preach to them at five shillings elghtpence per sermon.

About a year later John moved to Stratford, CT where he on 19 Oct 1658 married Elizabeth Booth. She was born in Stratford on 10 Sep 1641, a daughter of Richard and Elizabeth of Stratford. A dispute over the replacement of the first pastor, the aging Mr Blackman, arose. The followers of Israel Chauncey remained in Stratford while the followers of Zechariah Walker received permission to start a new plantation at Woodbury in May of 1672. John Minor settled in what is now Woodbury, CT in the spring of 1673 where he was town clerk for about 30 years before dying there on 17 September 1719. Elizabeth died on 24 October 1732.  John served as Deputy for Stratford, Oct 1676, and for Woodbury Nov 1683. He and Elizabeth were the 4GG of Ulysses Grant.

2. Clement MINER (See his page)

3. Thomas Miner

“Thomas first fell sick at Narraganset as he was looking the mares … Thomas departed (this life) sabath being 20 he buried the 22 [April] 1662.

4. Ephraim Miner

Ephraim’s wife Hannah Avery was born 11 Oct 1644 in Gloucester, Essex, Mass. His parents were James Avery and Joanna Greenslade. Hannah died 22 Aug 1721 in Taugwonk

Ephraim lived at Stonington, CT, was a farmer, freeman, 1669, deputy to the general court, 1676, 1677, 1681, 1690093, 1699, 1701-05, 1713; lieutenant of train band. He served in the King Philip war and for his service received arable land and cedar swamp in Voluntown, CT.  (See Great Swamp Fight – Aftermath for details) Ephriam was thirteen years old when his family left Hingham. There he had known eleven year old Hannah Avery, daughter of James Avery. Ten years later they were married after the Averys moved to Groton. He faught in King Philip’s War when he was thrity-three. He left ten children, and was buried at Taugwonk.

5. Joseph Miner

Joseph’s first wife Mary Avery was born 19 Feb 1648 in Gloucester, Essex, Mass. Her parents were James Avery and Joanna Greenslade. Mary died 2 Feb 1708 in Stonington, New London, CT.

Joseph’s second wife Bridget Chesebrough was born 25 Mar 1669 in Stonington, New London, CT. Her parents were Nathaniel Chesebrough and Hannah Denison. She first married 7 Dec 1692 in Stonington, New London, CT. to William Thompson (b. 9 Apr 1664 in Stonington, New London, CT – d. 13 Jun 1705 in Stonington, New London, CT) 28 Nov 1720 in Stonington, New London, CT.

Joseph lived at Stonington and was a farmer and physician. He became a freeman 1669; deputy to the general court, 1696, 1706; selectman, 1694-98, 1704, 1709, 1719. He served in King Philip war and for his services received arable land cedar swamp in Voluntown, Connecticut. (See Great Swamp Fight – Aftermath for details)

Thomas Minor records in his diary, March, 1667/8: “wensday the 18, we made an End between Jossepth and Marie Averie.”

On the Stonington town books in the following:

Joseph, son of Thomas Minor and Marie, daughter of James Averie of New London, married the 23d of October [1668] by Lieut. James Averie.

7. Manassah Miner

Manassah was the first white child born in New London, Connecticut.

Manassah’s wife Lydia Moore was born 6 Oct 1644 in Stonington, New London, CT. Lydia died 12 Aug 1720 in Stonington, New London, CT.

10. Samuel Miner

Samuel was born 4 March 1652/53. His father wrote to Winthrop 17 January 1652/3 “at this time think meet to acquaint you with the present trouble that I and my wife is in though an unfit time to trouble her in the condition she is in.”

11. Hannah Miner

Hannah’s husband  Thomas Avery was born 6 May 1651 in New London, New London, CT. His parents were James Avery and Joanna Greenslade. Thomas died 5 Jan 1736 in Montville, New London, CT.

Thomas served in King Philip’s War and was a successful Indian interpreter. During the latter part of his life he removed to Montville, Conn.

Thomas-3 Avery may have for a short time at Stonington, but most of his life was spent at New London, forst on the east side of the river in what is now Groton, and later in the North Parish, now called Montville. May 12, 1681, he was made a freeman of New London; May, 1693, he was commissioned captain of the train band on the east side of the river, New London; in 1694, he was deputy ot the general court.

It is evident that James Avery and Thomas Minor had a clear understanding concerning the marriage portions to be given to their children. One the twenty-sixth of December, 1677, Captain James Avery and his wife, Joanna, executed a deed which was owned and subscribed before Thomas Minor as commissioner. The deed ran as follows:

     This prsnt writing witnesseth to all it doe or may concerne that I James Avery of the couonty of New London, in ye Collony6 of Connecticott for divers good reasons & considerations known to myself and with my wife Joane Avery’s consent fully give to my sonn Thomas Avery and his wife Hannah Avery my whole right of my parcell of land that I borght of Amos Richardson of Stonington be it more or less wh formerly was laide out and bounded to Mr. Obadiah Bruen of New London and also thirtie acres of upland upon Poquanys Plaine as it was formerly bounded to me from the swamp to the river, moreover one halfe of one hundred acres of upland and meadow as it was carried out and bounded and recorded to me at Pachauge next to Mr. Thomas Stanton, sen., his land. Also a piece of land joyning to Mr. Nehemiah Smith his playne lying betwixt Nehemiah Smiths land & ye comon I say all and every of these tracts and parcels of land I I doe give grant pass over alyeanate & confirm all my whole right and title to my sonn Thomas Avery & his wife Hannah Avery with all the privilledges & appurtenances to them belonging to them their heirs, executors and assigns forever to have & to hold possess & enjoy to use & improve for their best advantage provided that if either he or she shall have occasion to sell any one or more of these particular tracts or parcells of land they shall first make tender of it to the said Thomas Avery’s Brothers and if they accept of the profer to give a rational price for it to sell it to no other person I doe hereby bind my other sonnes to make him or her the like tender upon the same terms and to the ture performance of and to every particular hereof we set our hands & seals this 26th of December, 1677.

Signed seaaled and delivered

in the presence of                     James Avery

William Mead                        Joane Avery

Jonathan Avery

(New London Deads.)

Thomas Minor and Grace his wife had already deeded, Dec. 17, 1677, 150 acres of land to their daughter Hannah and her husband, Thomas Avery:

     To daughter Hannah Avery, during her natural life and to her husband Thomas Avery during his natural life although my said daughter should die before him and in case my daughter shall have any child or children at the time of her departure then living it shall be theirs forever to have and to hold possess and enjoy to use and improve with all the meadows joining to it, I say all the one hundred and fifty acres of upland and meadow as it was laid out to me with all the privileges & appurtenance belonging thereunto. And in case my daughter should die without any child then she shall have by deed full power to dispose of it to any one or two of my son Clement Minor, his sonnes as she shall see meet. Provided it shall not prevent her husband of it during his natural life if she die before her husband. I say my one hundred and fifty acres of upland and meadow lying at Anagomenacunuck as it was laid out to me and bounded and recorded at Hartford and in Stonington books of records. And hereinto we set our hands and seals this seventeenth day of December one thousand six hundred and seventy and seven.

Witness

James Noyes                         Thomas Minor

Samuel Avery                        Grace Minor Acknowledged before James Avery Commissioner.

Thomas Avery was in the King Philip war of 1675, and, for his services, hat lot No. 10 of arable land and lot No. 154 of cedar swamp allotted to him in Vol.untown. He was in the ill fated Fitz-John Winthrop expedition of 1690 which was to advance from Albany by way of Lake Champlain to Montreal. In his diary, Winthrop gives an account of the difficulties that they encountered. Under the date of Aug. 4, 1690, is found the following:

“I consulted with the officers & twas concluded to march forwards, & then devided our provition, wch was about 35 cakes of bread for each souldr, besides pork, which was scarce eatable. At this post (Saratoga) i left Liut Tho. Avery with some souldrs tp gaurd our provition to us wch was coming up the river”. (The Winthrop Papers, Massachusetts Hist. Col., Fifth Series, 8:314).

For an account of this expedition, see Avery’s “History of the United States and Its People,” vol. 3, pages 263, 264.

The latter part of his life he lived near the Mohegan Indian reservation. On the 22d of June, 1720, Capt. Thomas Avery and his brother Capt. James Avery were appointed interpreters for the Mohegans in a suit then pending before the governor and council. In 1721, Caezer, the sachem of the Mohegans, conveyed to Thomas Avery 160 acres of land in consideration of the kindness shown them by Captain Avery and his family. Upon this land Thomas Avery lived; the house he built there is still standing. About ten years before his death, in consideration of love and good will and on account of the infirmities of age, he conveyed this land to his son, Abraham.

The last entry of accessions to the church of New London during Mr. Bradstreet’s ministry reads: “Sept. 10, 1682, Thomas Avery and wife were added to the Church.” They were among the organizers of the church of the North Parish, afterward called Montville. Their names appear first on the list of original covenanters. Before the North Parish could enjoy religious services, a long-standing quarrel had to be settled. October, 1721, the parish petitioned the general court for liberty to form a separate church.

Sources: -

1. Thomas Minor Family History
2. Thomas Miner Wikipedia Entry
3. The Miner Branch of the Hubbards
4. “Biography of Walter Palmer“. Walter Palmer Society.
5. Miner, John A. and Miner, Robert F. “The Curious Pedigree of Lt. Thomas Minor“. New England Historical and Genealogical Register Sources: New England Historic Genealogical Society. July 1984, pg 182-185.
6. “An Herauldical Essay Upon the Surname of Miner“. In possession of the Connecticut Historical Society. Hartford, Connecticut.
7. Stonington Historical Society “In Search of the First Settlers“ by Geraldine A. Coon (From Historical Footnotes, November 1999)
8. http://qb.mindhenge.org/
9. http://www.packrat-pro.com/stevens/min.htm
10. http://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/Thomas_Miner
11. http://qb.mindhenge.org/ - History of Quiambaug Cove
12. History of New London county, Connecticut, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men (1882) by Hurd, D. Hamilton