(Part One and Part Two cover London beginnings are found under this category) Eaton’s family, that came ot Boston with Davemnport, included his wife Anne, widow of Thomas Yale and his three stepchildren: David, Anne, and Thomas Yale. His brother Samuel came also. Boston treated them well, with Davenport being named to the committee to establish Harvard and a large amount of Eaton’s money being accepted into the colonial treasury. However, they wanted their own colony from the beginning. William Ives had come to Boston on his own earlier, in 1635, and he must have meet and been accepted into the group while they were in Boston.
In March 12, 1638, Davenport and Eaton wrote a letter to the Massachusetts General Court declining further offers of accommodation, hoping that their new colony would stay linked to Boston, “as strong a band of brotherly affection, by the sameness of their condition, as Joab and Abishai were, whose several armies did mutually strengthen them both against their several enemies, or rather joined as Hippocrates his twins, to stand and fall, to grow and decay, to flourish and wither, to live and die together.” (Complete letter in Atwater, 1902).
The group that came on the Hector and second ship numbered 150 adult men and their families but by the time they left for New Haven, their confidence and news of the favorable site found by Eaton the fall before, had helped to grow the group considerably, as many from Massachusetts joined, including William Ives and his bride to be, possibly Hannah Dickerman, along with Nat Turner. The recent conclusion of the Pequot Indian Wars allowed them access to Long Island Sound, otherwise New Haven would have been an inland colony like Hartford.
They settled at the place, Quinnipiack, that Eaton and several others had found. The name (pronounced “Quin-Nippe-Ohke”) means “long water place” in the local Indian language and describes the sweep of the river before it enters the sound. Seven of the party had stayed over the winter before including Joshua Atwater, and possibly his 22 year old brother David. The merchants in the group wanted to ensure a good trading spot for the economic support of the colony and this location had that possibility. The 63 original planters of New Haven met on April 15, 1638 for their first Sabbath observance led by John Davenport. Unlike most colonies, New Haven was not founded on a grant from the English king as the colony did not recognize his authority and this later came to be a problem. They bought the land from the local inhabitants for goods – mostly cloth and tools. (Continued)
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