The Minor Family of Somerset

Savage: John Stanington, s of Thomas the first was wish by th
e Conn. governmto be educ. for an Ind interpret and teacher, an
d sent by his father to Harvard Coll 1661, but not long eno, stu
d. there to partake in the honors. He prob. lern. more by pract
ice and exper. of acquaint with the unlet. natives; was Freeman
d 166, liv at S 1670-9 prob had some of the same name, as he wa
s coll, sen. a capt in Philip's war, and much empoy in every thi
ng relat. to theInd.
Stanton: John Stanton b 1641, in Hartford, Conn; m 1664, Hanna
h Thompson; d Oct 31 1713, in Stonington, Conn John Stanton wa
s a pupil of that famour old school teacher of the Puritans, Eli
jah Carlet. In 1654, he and John Minor, son of Thomas Minor, wr
e selected by the Court of Commissioners to be educted for teach
ers of the Gospel to the Indians. Both young men,however, ultim
ately left their sutdies, and devoted themselves to other pursui
ts.
In664, John Stanton became the first Recorder of the town of So
uthertown (now Stonington). The same year he married Hannah Tho
mpson. She was, undoutedly,either a daughter or Sister of th
e Rev. William Thompson Jr, whose father wasRev Wm. thompson o
f Braintree, Mass. The younger William was appointed in 1657, t
o be a missionary to the Pequots, and resided in Stonington an
d New London until 1663, when he went to Surry County, Virginia. H
e is believed to have returned and died in sonington, as his gra
ve is in the old burial ground atWicketequock Cove.
Feb. 18, 1675, John Stanton was commissioned captain of one of t
he four Connecticut regiments in King Philip's War. He serve
d withdistinction in this war, and was in command at the time o
f the capture of Conchet, the chief so.chem of all the Narrrogan
setts. This service was acknoledged by the "Courte" in the remi
ttance of a fine imposed in 1675. The curcumstances as follows
. He, as agent of Stonington, with five slectmen (of whom Thoma
s Stanton was one), presented a petition and protest to the Gene
ral Assembly of Connecticut, on behalf of the town. They protes
ted against certainlaws deemed by them unjust to their rights
, peace and liberty. For so doing,one of them, Capt. Denison w
as fined 10 pounds and forbidden to hold office.Another one, M
r. John Stanton "the towne's agent, for management of his agency
, is fined ten pounds for that boldness, to be paid at the latte
r end ofsummer, at Boston, in money or corn, according to order
. "Meanwhile come thewar, and in May, 1677, the fine not yet pa
id was revoked.
May 10, 1710, a deed of trust was executed in favor of Capt. Joh
n Stanton and four others, bywhich the eastern part of the Mohe
gan lands was forever settled on the Mohegon tribe, under the re
gulation of said five and their successors, "so long asthere sh
all be any Mohegans found or known of alive in the world."
"a few years before his death, Capt John Stanton gave his real e
state to his sons by deed, as folllows: to Joseph he gave the ho
mestead farm in Stonington; to Johnand Thomas he gave all his l
ands in Preston. Theophilus was not living then. John and Thom
s settled on the lands in Preston. His will, dated 1713, confi
rms these gifts of land. In 1737, his son John, then of Presto
n, applied to the Probate Court in New London, for an equitabl
e division of the Preston lands between him and his brother Thom
as. "The homestead farm in Stonington is on the banks of the Mys
tic river. The site of Capt. John's mansion is still to be seen
. His farm of 300 acres adjoined John Gallup's on the West an
d Capt George Denison's on the North. A map of it, made by Capt
. Denison in 1661, in connection with his own and other farms, i
s still in possession ofthe Denison family living on their ance
stral homestead. The Pe-quot-se-pasbrook ws the dividing lin
e between the Stanton and Denison lands. The present owner of C
apt. Joh's lands is Joseph Stanton