Illustrious ancestors from the Colonies

There are so many significant persons in our ancestry that it has become tedium to sift through all of the documents and photos.  I find myself wishing that there was a simple way to present the lineage from all parents in a visual way to show how they are interconnected in history.  My mother and father's ancestors surely knew each other.  There just weren't that many people around at that time!  Ancestors from both sides played prominent roles in the founding and leadership of places such as Hartford, New Haven, and Providence.  Sometimes their names are juxtaposed on monuments or in graveyards.

Here is one monument that features several names of our direct ancestors, located in Hartford Connecticut.

Thomas Welles (10th great grandfather - paternal), John Bidwell (9th great grandfather - paternal), John Hopkins (7th great grandfather - maternal), Thomas Judd (9th great grandfather - paternal)

A list of names on the monument:  http://josfamilyhistory.com/stories/founders-monument.htm

The Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford

The Founders of Hartford

The original Founders Monument is located in the Ancient Burying Ground, also sometimes referred to at the "Old" or "Center" Cemetery. The cemetery is located at the rear of the First Congregational ("Center") Church at the corner of Main and Gold Streets in Hartford. The original brownstone Monument erected in 1837 was replaced by one of pink Connecticut granite in 1986. The Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford maintains a list of names found on the new monument and biographical information about each of the Founders.

The Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford maintains a list of names found on the new monument and biographical information about each of the Founders. Those descended from an ancestor who settled in Hartford before February 1640, may be eligible for membership.   http://www.ctstatelibrary.org/node/3531

New Haven, Connecticut

I have traced several branches of our family tree back to New Haven during colonial times.

Capt. Daniel Hall, my maternal 7th great grandfather, lived in nearby Wallingford with his wife Thankful Lyman from Middletown, CT.  Abraham Hall, my 6th great grandfather, lived in New Haven with his wife, Sarah Doolittle. Abraham is buried in Center Street Cemetery, Wallingford, which is close to Doolittle Park.

Capt. Daniel Hall > Abraham Hall > Medad Hall > Elisha Hall > Alfred King Hall > Andrew A. Hall > Ada C. Hall > Horace C. Crofford > Virginia M. Crofford > Teresa Zaun Austin

John Hopkins, my 7th great grandfather (maternal), operated a grist mill in New Haven built by his father Stephen Hopkins of Hartford.

Lt. John Hopkins > Mary Hopkins > Abraham Hickcox > Jared Hickcox > Hannah Hickcox > Anna Dillingham > Horace C. Crofford > Horace C. Crofford > Virginia M. Crofford > Teresa Zaun Austin

Some of our ancestors, both maternal and paternal, are buried in a famous graveyard on what is now called, "Center Church on the Green."  The original cemetery is gone, but many of the gravestones are preserved underneath the church building.
http://www.newhavencenterchurch.org/history.html

I will add the names of our ancestors buried there as I discover them.

From my maternal grandfather's lineage:

Eleazer Brown 1642 - 1714 (my 8th great grandfather)

Sarah Buckley Brown 1640-1723 (my 8th great grandmother)

From my paternal grandfather's lineage:

Nathaniel Bradley 1661-1745 (my 7th great grandfather)

Ruth Dickerman Bradley 1668-1725 (my 7th great grandmother)

Alice Prichard Bradley 1625-1692 (my 8th great grandmother)