52 ANCESTORS in 52 WEEKS, #10 - Robert BOLTWOOD

Following the challenge of writing 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, issued by Amy Johnson Crow, here is my 10th installment, for Robert BOLTWOOD, the immigrant settler, my 9th great-grandfather on my maternal lines.

Robert BOLTWOOD, b. abt 1620, possibly in Essex, England, where the name was apparently known from the 1200s.  He is listed in several early New England history books as having immigrated first to Connecticut area in about 1643 when he would have been in his early 20s; he is first recorded there, and was a Sergeant.  He quickly moved to Massachusetts, and was an early settler in likely Wethersfield MA.  

By 1646 he had married Mary GERNOR (or Gernow), who was an early Massachusetts-born child in about 1626 in Northfield. The new Boltwood family apparently moved to Hadley where all - or some of the first-born children were born: one son, and 4 daughters.  

Robert had some land in Glastenbury (the eastern part of Wethersfield) - "a grant of a pond and quantity of land adjacent from an Indian chief Peckhaun."  [p.409, History of the Town of Northfield, Massachusetts, by J. H. Temple and George Sheldon, published by Joel Munsell, 82 State St., Albany, N.Y., 1875].  

He was a first settler of Hadley, Massachusetts, and was made a Freeman on 26 March 1661.  He is listed as having land grants, by 1663, in Hadley.

Children of Robert and Mary:
 - Mary* [direct ancestor], b. 1646, m. James BEEBE 20 Oct 1667, 4 ch
 - Samuel, b. 16 Apr 1648, m. abt 1670 Sarah Lewis, 10 ch
 - Sarah, b. 9 Nov 1649, m. Isaac Warner
 - Martha, b. 1651, m. (Lt.) Daniel Warner
 - Lydia, b. bef 1671, m. John Warner

Quite a bit is written about Robert & Mary's only son, Samuel, and some of their children. However, I don't yet have the children of the younger 3 girls who married the 3 Warner men - who are likely brothers.  But I haven't researched to determine if it is true that the Warner men were brothers, nor how they might have been related, where they lived, nor who their parents were.  Research is never done! 

I have a few more clues to research, and I'd love to know more about Robert, one more of our early immigrants from England.  

If you have any information or questions about Robert BOLTWOOD or his wife and children, I'd love to hear from you.  You can contact me via calewis at telus dot net, and/or leave a comment below.  And then, I'll get back to doing more research on Robert and his family.