John Atwater was the son of Christopher Atwater (1521 - 1573). He was baptized in Royton, Lenham, Kent, England, on Wednesday, March 5, 1567, and died in Royton, in October, 1636 and is buried in the Lenham Church Yard. His children all went to new England but he stayed home in England. Administration of his estate was granted to his son, Joshua on November 29, 1636. He married Susan Narsin in Lenham on Sunday, December 3, 1598. Susan died in Royton in January, 1637. They were both buried in the churchyard at Lenham. John Atwater died without a will. His wife requested that the administration of the estate be done by their son, Joshua. She died about two months later.
John Atwater's name was spelled in different ways throughout his life. His marriage entry in the copy of the register of Lenham Church stored in Canterbury was: 1598, Dec. 3d. John Water and Susan Narsin marryed. On the burial register it is Attewatter. In the order of the administration of his estate, granted to his son Joshua, it is both Atwater and Attwater. His own signatures on the annual reports as written as warden of Lenham Church for three successive years all read Atwater. John and Susan had three children:
1. Ann was born before 1610. She married Samuel Caffinch of New Haven.
2. Joshua was baptized in Lenham on June 2, 1611, and died in Boston, on May 16, 1676. He married Mary Blackman, daughter of Rev. Adam Blackman, on May 6, 1651. They had 10 children but only two daughters had surviving families. His will was proved in Boston on May 24, 1676. Joshua was one of the seven men who accompanied Theophilus Eaton from Boston to look for new settlement. The seven remained in a hut at what is now the sourtheast corner of Church and Meadow Streets in New Haven to make observations thru the winter. His allotment in the 1643 division of land was 20 acres from the first division, 4 acres in the neck, 16 acres in the meadow and 64 acres for the second division. His annual rate for this land was 1 pd., 11 shillings, and 6 pence. His estate was valued at 300 pds. He lived in a house on the Corner of College and Chapel Streets and was listed as attending the 1644 New Haven Court. Joshua was a merchant in Ashford, England and knew Eaton and Davenport, emigrating with them. He continued as a merchant in the New Haven Colony, was its treasurer, and was its magistrate in 1658. In 1655 he moved to Milford and in 1659 to Boston, retaining his house in New Haven on what is now Fleet Street until 1665 when he sold it to his brother David.
3. David was baptized in Royton in Lenham, Kent, England, on October 8, 1615, and died in Cedar Hill, New Haven, on October 5, 1692. He married Damaris Sayre and they had ten children: Mercy (1647-1683), Damaris (1649-1711), David (1651-1735), Joshua (1652-1681), John (1654-1748), Jonathan (1656-1726), Abigail (1659-), Mary (1662-), Samuel (1664-1742), Ebenezer (1666-).
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