General Notes

Ancestral File Number:<AFN> 4JDW-HR
Some records say born 1580/81 or Jan 6 1589/90. Arrived aboard the "Maryand John" with the Dorchester Company in 1630. Left from Plymouth,England with master Capt. Squeb. On 20 March 1630 the ship Mary & Johnsailed from Plymouth, England, with 140 passengers. The families were allrecruited by the Rev. John White of Dorchester, Dorset. (John White wasthe Minister of Holy Trinity Church in Dorchester, Dorset). Nearly all ofthese families came from the West Country of England, i.e. counties ofSomerset, Dorset and Devon. The ship landed in Nantasket on May 30, 1630two weeks before the Winthrop Fleet arrived. Then the ship went on andfounded one of the first towns in Massachusetts: Dorchester, in 1630.Many of the same settlers later founded one of the earliest towns inConnecticut: Windsor, five years later. (Mary & John Clearinghouse). Thepassage costs were 5 pounds per adult, 10 pounds per horse and 3 poundsper ton of freight.

He was one of the first 24 freemen at Dorchester, becoming a freeman in1631. To become a freeman one had to be a church member.

When he was living in Windsor, he was shown as the owner of two cows onan order to erect fencing, and was granted at court an additional year ofwork to erect fencing for a hog-park... "Feby. 1639. Because the workmenare much taken up in making a bridge and a meeting house, the Courtgrants Thomas Ford a year longer for fencing in his hog park."

Some records say that Thomas moved from Windsor in 1644 to Hartford wherehe ran an Inn. He was visited at his Inn by John Winthrop, Jr. on Nov.17, 1645, as recorded in his diary. The Inn was sold to Thomas Cadwell in1652. In 1656 Thomas bought the home lot of William Hosford, and in1658/59 the Arthur Williams house and lot. 1667; he helped settle theestate of Nicholas Denslow. In 1669 he helped settle the estate ofElizabeth Denslow, and in 1770 inventoried the estate of Rev. JohnWarham. If this is our Thomas, he must have moved to Northampton about1671, or 1672.

Thomas is listed on the Individual Record in the LDS file as a possibleson for John Ford and Mrs. John Ford, or as a possible son of NicholasFord and Jelyan Long, or of William Ford and Alice Hurlbutt or of ThomasFord or John Ford. Nicholas & Jelyan (Longe) are possible and credited asparents in the Genealogy of the Clark, Clayton Cook Families. John livedin Somerset, so it is a possibility, but no wife given.

Thomas removed to Windsor, Conn. in 1636, then to Northampton, MA in1659, according to one source, or in 1672 according to another. He diedthere on Nov. 9, 1676.

Among the many sources of information on Thomas Ford, he was listed asvery active in town affairs wherever he lived. Also he seems to have beenvery prosperous, and successful in land and house holdings. If one wantsto see quotes from all the sources of information on Thomas Ford seeWorld Connect record put on by Alice Raven RAVEN GENEALOGY AND FAMILYHISTORY at the site for Thomas Ford, 22 born Jan 1580/81 in Bridport,Dorset bap 6 Jan 1589/1590; father; John Ford, Sr. b abt 1557 inPowerstock, Westmilton, Dorsetshire Eng.; mother Ellynor Waldron, b. abt1558; married (1) Joan Way, 13 Dec. 1610; M. (2) Elizabeth Charde 19 June1616; m. (3) Ann (Sanford?) Scott, 7 Nov, 1644.


Six Presidents of the United States were descended from Thomas Ford -Judge Henry N. Blake.

NOTE: a lot of information in this file is not proven
-Dale A. Updike

Some records say born 1580/81 or Jan 6 1589/90. Arrived aboard the "Maryand John" with the Dorchester Company in 1630. Left from Plymouth,England with master Capt. Squeb. On 20 March 1630 the ship Mary & Johnsailed from Plymouth, England, with 140 passengers. The families were allrecruited by the Rev. John White of Dorchester, Dorset. (John White wasthe Minister of Holy Trinity Church in Dorchester, Dorset). Nearly all ofthese families came from the West Country of England, i.e. counties ofSomerset, Dorset and Devon. The ship lande