Mashamoquet Purchase Renamed Pomfret, Colony of Connecticut 1713 and Connections to Mary Richards (1675-1732)

Mashamoquet Purchase Renamed Pomfret, Colony of Connecticut 1713 and Connections to Mary Richards (1675-1732)

It is with thanks to Ellen Douglas Larned and her 1874 works about Windham County, Connecticut that we know confidently as much as we do about my ancient grandmother, née Mary Richards.

Ellen Douglas Larned from the blog posting

(https://blogs.gatehousemedia.com/newenglandhistory/2014/03/26/ellen-larned/)

She is known today as Windham County's most famous historian and a native of Thompson, CT. Ellen Douglas Larned was born on July 13, 1825 to George and Anna Larned. She had three siblings, George, Joseph and Mary.

Miss Larned is most known for her exacting histories of Windham County, volumes 1 and 2, which are still used today by students and others for research. Topics that were of great interest to her were those seemingly of less importance to many. To put it succinctly, life as she saw it in small rural colonial times. ...

I feel Mary Richards must have been a pragmatic, indomitable woman.  On the single page, reproduced below, a husband, a brother-in-law and a man who was almost certainly my ancient grandfather appear and lend their identities to support a petition in 1713 to the Connecticut General Assembly in recognizing and naming Pomfret, Connecticut.  That's not to say that the details are definite but the facts are clear.  

There are many other details about this place and times in Larned's works.  These men and others are numerously linked through the pages in The History of Windham County, Connecticut.  Fortunately 'vital statistics records' supplement the perspective on life and death for women, children and men although certainly not completely.

 [Larned Ellen D  Windham CT Vol 1 (p191) Gates-Warner-Truesdell 1713 Naming Pomfret 1874]History_of_Windham_County_Connecticut_16 annotated 2024-06-08

Mary Richards was born in Dedham (MS) in 1675. Her father died when she was ten years old.  At eighteen (1693) she married Benjamin Fairbanks.  Evidence by father's probate proceedings.  She had at least two children before Benjamin died.  

In 1697 she married Richard Truesdell while still in Dedham.     She had five children by him before he died in 1707.  "Richard Trufdell dyed adjacent to Woodstock October 24th 1707", [Woodstock VR-CT p13 1913].  She was thirty-two.  Does 'adjacent' imply 'Mashamoquet/Pomfret'?  Mary died in Ridgefield, CT March 25th, 1732.

The following are relevant excerpts from [Woodstock VR-CT 1913] found by various 'name' variants.

John 'Trufdel' son of Richard 'Trusdel' by Mary his wife born October 7th, 1704, [Woodstock VR-CT p11 1913].  This is the only birth to Richard and Mary recorded in Woodstock VR-CT suggesting  the latest they arrived in Woodstock/Pomfret.

Thomas 'Trufdel ' son of Ebenezer Trufdel & Rachell his wife born November 1st, 1711 [Ibid p17].  Ebenezer-96 (Wikipedia) is documented Richard's younger brother.

 

According to town records of Woodstock (VR-CT) she married Samuel Gates in February 12, 1709/10. 

Samuel Warner's second marriage to Mary Davis-? as documented in [Linzee p276 1913] is missing from the Wikitree (6/14/2024) Warner-6707 

Mary Davis - several candidates as Samuel Warner's second wife

Examine at sources in Mary Davis-4876 - [Linzee 1913] ... right name wrong Mary? 

Making Sense of Dates in Colonial America