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Descendants of Richard Platt

Generation No. 1

1. RICHARD³ PLATT (GEORGE², SIMON¹)^1,^1,^1,^1,^1,^1,^1,^1,¹ was born September 28, 1603 in Ware, Hertfordshire¹, and died Abt. February 13, 1684/85 in Milford, Connecticut¹. He married MARY WOOD^1,^1,^1,^1,^1,¹ January 26, 1628/29 in Roydon, Essex¹, daughter of JOHN WOOD and JANE (WOOD). She was born November 10, 1605 in Roydon, Essex, and died March 1675/76 in Milford, Connecticut¹.

Notes for RICHARD PLATT:
Recent research has confirmed that he was born in Ware, Hertfordshire, the son of George Platt.

Milford -

Ware was a market town which was a hotbed of Puritanism in the early 17th century. The famous Rev. Charles Chauncey, who would later be president of Harvard College, was vicar of Ware from 1627-33, emmigrating to England in 1638. Richard Platt
was no doubt influenced by his preaching. In his will he left a Bible for each of his 24 living grandchildren. He was no doubt educated at the Grammar School at Ware, and probably became a tailor like his father and grandfather, as he was
apprenticed in 1629.

In 1639 he was a freeplanter in Milford and his home lot was #38, consisting of 4 acres and 1 rod, near the corner of the present West Main and Cherry streets.

Quaker Genealogy on the Internet -

Many from the Bay Colony chose to leave for New Haven with Eaton and Davenport, among them a company headed by Peter Prudden. Perhaps the son of Thomas Prudden of King's Walden, Hertfordshire and a kinsman of William Thomas of Caerleon,
Monmouthshire, Prudden was the minister of the Providence Island Company. In 1637 with fifteen Hertfordshire families - among them Edmund Tapp of Bennington, Hertfordshire, James Prudden, William Fowler, Thomas and Hannah Buckingham, Thomas
Welsh, Richard Platt, Henry Stonehill and William East - he left England for Massachusetts and went with Davenport's group to Connecticut in March of 1638.

From "Platt Lineage" -

He landed at New Haven in 1638, with his wife and four children.

After his arrival, he acquired possession, among others, of several acres of land in what is now (1891) the best part of the Elm City (it was on the south side of Chapel Street, near College Street, adjoining the ground of Peter Prudden) in
what was called "the Hertfordshire quarter."

Among the first settlers of Milford, November 20, 1639, arriving with four in his family. He and his sons John and Josiah are among the original purchasers and proprietors of New Milford. His name is on the list of free-planters of Milford in
1646. He was chosen deacon in the first church in Milford in 1669. His daughters Mary and Sarah probably died before he made his will in 1683, for in it he makes bequests to their children instead of to them.

He left to one of his heirs a legacy "towards bringing up his son to be a scholar."

He appears on the records as one of the witnesses to the will of Peter Prudden.

His estate was estimated at about Ł600.

His burial place is unknown, no stone has been found to mark his grave. It was probably in his orchard.

His name is on the coping stones of the Wapawang memorial bridge in Milford, commemorating the early settlers.

Topographical Dictionary-

Parish of Aldenham, Hertfordshire

Parish of New Haven, Conn.

IGI-

Marriage to Mary Wood is registered at Ware and at Roydon, on the same date. He is called "Deacon".

Huntington Historical Society -

"Records of the Colony and Plantation of New Haven 1638-49", by Charles Hoadley, states: "Rich Platt - an estate worthe Ł200 - twenty acres in the First Division - four acres in the Second Division". Part of his property consisted of a plot on
the south side of Chapel Street near College Street, adjoining lands of Peter Prudden in the so-called "Hertfordshire Quarter".

This fact undoubtedly influenced his early participation in the beginnings of the settlement of Milford within the limits of the New Haven Colony and located 10 miles west of New Haven itself, on the shores of Long Island Sound. The colony was
under the leadership of Peter Prudden, a former Anglican priest, and a group of faithful adherents from Hertfordshire who had emmigrated in 1637. It was only natural that the Platts, coming a year thereafter, would gravitate to this settlement
of their old neighbors.

The Prudden movement from New Haven was not one of dissatisfaction but stemmed from a desire to organize their own church body and town structure. Prudden, who was only 37 at the time, patterned the town after New Haven but was somewhat more
tolerant concerning church membership. In 1639 the group acquired the Indian title and on November 20, 1639, some 44 church members were franchised as "free planters". Among them was Richard Platt, with his wife Mary and their four oldest
children, Mary, John, Isaac and Sarah.

At Milford Richard owned House Lot #38 in the northeast sector of the settlement, somewhat south of the north line of the palisades and consisting of a 4-acre, 1-rod plot. Even after moving to Milford he retained some of his New Haven property.

In 1646 the Indians were on the war-path and for protection the Milford settlement was fully palisaded. Each household was required to provide one watch for sentry duty every fifth day.

Richard was chosen deacon of the first church in 1669. His will, dated 1683, has not been located among the early probate records of Connecticut, but is said to have mentioned his five sons and the children of his daughters Sarah and Mary,
leaving some presumption of their earlier deaths.

Some of his sons relocated. John and Josiah were among the original proprietors of New Milford, north of Danbury; John later moved to Norwalk. Isaac and Epenetus moved to Huntington, while Joseph remained at Milford. Although in 1962 Platt
descendants are scattered among 32 states [and Mexico!], there still remains a core of the family maintaining possession of parts of their original Milford holdings, descendants of Richard's sons Josiah and Joseph.

TAG -

He was less than five years old when his father died, and in George's will his house was devised to his wife Mary and at her death was to go to Richard.

He was doubtless educated at the Grammar School at Ware and may have been a tailor like his father and grandfather. In 1629 he had an apprentice, indicating he was in some trade at the time.

Richard's profound Puritan beliefs were probably influenced by Rev. Charles Chauncy, Vicar of Ware from 1627 to 1633, who emmigrated to New England in 1638, was a teacher at Plymouth and President of Harvard College from 1654 to his death on 19
February 1672.

On 13 July 1629 there was an "Order that Richard Platt of Ware and his apprentice be brought before certain justices, that some order might be taken to end the differences between them."

Richard and his wife disposed of their lands and houses at Ware by a final concord signed at Westminster on 25 April 1638, receiving Ł42 for the premises. They may have had to stay in or near London while awaiting passage, and sailed to New
England either in the latter half of 1638 or the first half of 1639.

His property in New Haven consisted of an estate worth Ł200; 20 acres in the first division of lands; 4 acres in the "Neck"; 12 acres of meadow; 48 acres in the second division, and paying a yearly rate of Ł1. He evidently had a comfortable
estate and lived in the "Hertfordshire" quarter of the town, with William Fowler, Mr. Peter Prudden, James Prudden, Edmund Tapp, the Widow Baldwin, Zachariah Whitman and Thomas Osborne. He gradually sold his property after moving to Milford.

He joined the church at Milford on 29 January 1640, and his wife on 15 August 1641.

He was often asked to act as witness to wills; on 26 July 1656 he witnessed the will of Rev. Peter Prudden. As Mrs. Selleck points out (Miner Family, p. 147), "he was a man of high character and deeply religious, and was chosen deacon of the
Milford Church in 1669. When his daughter Sarah was widowed, and prior to her second marriage, he cared for her and her children, and the court records refer to his extreme care and liberality in conserving the estate of his... grandchildren".

The inventory of his estate was taken on 13 February 1685.

The will of Deacon Richard Platt of Milford is an important document. It was dated 4 August 1683, and after the usual religious preamble, contains the following clauses:

More About RICHARD PLATT:
Burial: February 13, 1684/85, Milford, Connecticut
Christening: May 06, 1604, Ware, Hertfordshire¹
Education: Emmigrated 1638
Occupation: Deacon, Landowner
Religion: Puritan

Notes for MARY WOOD:
TAG -

Joined the church at Milford on 15 August 1641.

More About MARY WOOD:
Burial: March 24, 1675/76, Milford, Connecticut¹
Christening: November 10, 1605, Roydon, Essex¹
Religion: Puritan

Children of RICHARD PLATT and MARY WOOD are:

2.	i.	MARY⁴ PLATT, b. 1629, Roydon, Essex; d. June 17, 1669, Middletown, Connecticut.
3.	ii.	JOHN PLATT, b. 1631, Ware, Hertfordshire; d. November 06, 1705, Norwalk, Connecticut.
4.	iii.	ISAAC PLATT, b. April 10, 1633, Ware, Hertfordshire; d. July 31, 1691, Huntington, Suffolk Co. (Long Island), New York.
5.	iv.	SARAH PLATT, b. 1636, Ware, Hertfordshire; d. May 15, 1670, New Milford, Connecticut.
6.	v.	I EPENETUS PLATT, b. 1640, Milford, Connecticut; d. Aft. September 01, 1693, Huntington, Suffolk Co. (Long Island), New York.
	vi.	HANNAH PLATT¹, b. 1643, Milford, Connecticut; d. Aft. December 28, 1702, Norwalk, Connecticut?; m. CHRISTOPHER COMSTOCK¹; b. Abt. 1644; d. December 28, 1702, Norwalk, Connecticut..

More About HANNAH PLATT:
Christening: October 01, 1643, Milford, Connecticut

7.	vii.		JOSIAH PLATT, b. 1645, Milford, Connecticut; d. January 01, 1724/25, Milford, Connecticut.
8.	viii.		JOSEPH PLATT, b. 1649, Milford, Connecticut; d. Bef. March 21, 1703/04, Milford, Connecticut.

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