THOMAS HUNTINGTON was probably the fourth son of Simon and Margaret, though we have no record of the date of his birth. He was not of age in 1650, and was probably born in 1632 or 1633.

He appears to have resided in Windsor, Conn., as he purchased land there in 1656, and in 1658 was employed to mend a boat, and in 1660 was a fence viewer. He next appears on the records of the town of Branford, in 1663. He married, probably, for his first wife, a daughter of Wm. Swain, of Wethersfield, and later of Branford; and for his second wife, Hannah, a daughter of Jasper Crane, merchant, who had moved from New Haven to Branford in 1652, at the settlement of the latter town. It will, perhaps, indicate, not doubtfully, his character that he secured, in that day, an alliance with two such families. The fathers of both of his wives were leading men, both in religious and civil affairs; having been the first deputies to the general Court of Electors from Branford, in May, 1653, and for the next four years; Mr. Swain having been a delegate from Wethersfield, previously to his removal to Branford. That he was not unworthy of the alliance, the record also shows. In 1665, when, to avoid an unpleasant controversy which had arisen between the Branford people and their neighbors, on the union of the New Haven and Connecticut colonies, the Branford people decided to remove beyond the jurisdiction of these two colonies, we find his name among those who subscribed the new compact. In that instrument they bind themselves to provide "with care and diligence for the maintenance of the purity of religion professed in the Congregational churches of Connecticut." The subscribers had been alarmed by the admission into the civil offices of the union, of men not connected with the Christian church.

These new adventurers, having the purity of religion mainly in view, in 1667 located themselves on the banks of the Passaic, in New Jersey, and laid there the foundations of the thriving city of Newark.

Among the pioneers of that new settlement, Thomas was a prominent man. In 1677 he was appointed constable. In 1683 he was one of the townsmen, the first officers in the colony. In 1684 he was one of a committee appointed to treat with the Governor, in regard to a supposed infringement on the rights of the town. In 1685 he was one of the deputies from Newark to the general court of the province of New Jersey.

As Samuel, his son, was made in 1694 a proprietor, which office his father had held, it is probable that Thomas was not then living. The last record of him that appears on the book, is that of 1685; the absence of his name from the list of those who, in 1689, contributed to the support of preaching, is pretty good evidence that between these years he had died.

His widow, Hannah, married John Ward, first of Branford, and afterward of Newark. And there is on record a deed of land, in which this Hannah is named his wife, in 1695.

CHILDREN

1. SAMUEL, probably born in Branford, Conn., and married Sarah _______.
2. HANNAH. Her grandfather, Jasper Crane, mentions this daughter in his will, calling her his granddaughter. No other record of her has been discovered.





Sketch (with slight modifications) taken from 1915 Genealogical Memoir published by the Huntington Family Association.
Thomas is H.N. 1.4