Chapter
XXXVIII
ST. JOHN
Matthias St. John was the first of the line in America. He was born in 1603 in St.Botolph, Bishopgate, London. In early years in America the name sometimes appears as Sension.
Matthias St.John was in Dorchester, Massachusetts in 1631. He was made a free man there on Sept.3, 1634 and on June 14, 1635 he received a grant of 20 acres of land. In 1640 he moved to Windsor, Connecticut, but did not stay long and moved on to Weatherfield, Connecticut.
In a "Catalogue of the Names of the First Puritan Settlers of the Colony of Connecticut", by R.R.Hinman, Matthias St.John appears as Matthias Senchion, 1640. In 1655 he is shown as Matthias Sention, Sen. among the First Settlers of Norwalk, Conn.
His home lot in Norwalk was 4 acres and was bounded east by Common land, west by Town's Highway, north by Samuel Hale's home-lot, south by Matthew Camfield's home-lot.
Matthias St.John died in Norwalk in Nov. 1669. His estate amounted to 300 lbs. and Ralph Keeler was one of the witnesses to his will.
The children of Matthias and Elizabeth (???) St.John were:
1. Matthias, b. 1630; d. 1728.
2. Mark, b. 1633; d. Aug. 12, 1693.
3. Samuel, b. 1635; d. Jan. 14, 1685.
4. Mercy.
Mark St.John, born in 1633, is listed among the Norwalk home lot owners in 1656. In 1655 he married Elizabeth Stanley, the youngest daughter of Timothy Stanley of Hartford. She was born in 1635 and died at Norwalk in Jan. 1693.
At the Mar.5, 1657 Norwalk Town Meeting Mark St.John (Sension) and three others were to provide a good and
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sufficient wolfe-pitt. In 1673 "The Estates of Lands and Accommodations of ye town of Norwalk" shows the estate of Mark Sension to be 252 lbs. On Jan.3, 1687 it was 302 lbs. Which made his estate the third largest in a list of 78. He was a Norwalk deputy in 1672, 1676, 1678 and 1684. He died at Norwalk on Aug.12, 1693.
Sarah St.John, daughter of Mark and Elizabeth Stanley
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St.John, was born at Norwalk, Conn. on Jan.18, 1659. On Mar.10, 1681 she was married to Samuel Keeler, son of Ralph Keeler. She died at Ridgefield, Conn. on April.15, 1714. See the Keeler Lineage.
Bibliography
History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield
by M.A.Jacobus.
Ancient Historical Records of Norwalk, Conn. by Edwin
Hall.