| Notes |
- It was at the height of the tyrannous reign of Carles the First, and the persecutions of Laud, the prelate of the English Church, who sought to exterminate Puritanism at the dissolution of the Parliament of 1629, that multitudes of Protestant non-conformists emigrated to America, seeking refuge in a country where they might have freedom of conscience and worship. The great emigration began in 1630 and continued until about 1640. Among these seekers for religious freedom were Eaton and Davenport's company, "of good characters and fortunes."
JOSEPH NORTHRUP, it is said on good authority, was a member of that company. They came from England in the ship "Hector and Martha, " (or "Hector and Martin") landing at Boston, July 26, 1638. The emigrants of that period were, in great part, men of the professional and middle classes. The bulk, however, were God-fearing farmers from Lincolnshire and Eatern counties. Eaton and Davenport's company were mostly from Yorkshire, Hertfordshire and and Kent. It cannot now be determined from which county Joseph came -- perhaps from Yorkshire' and if of Sir Richard Saltonstall's company, as it sometimes has been asserted, this is highly probable.
Sir Saltonstall's company had spent some time at Wethersfield, CT, having come there from Watertown, Mass., but later came to New Haven. The Eaton and Davenport company, meanwhile, had sailed down the coast from Boston, in search of a good harbor, until they came to New Haven, where they found the object of their search, and remained at New Haven about a year.
In 1639, members from both companies formed the settlement of Milford, CT. The Hertfordshire and Yorkshire emigrants seems to have tended to Milford, while others went to Guilford. Rev. Peter Prudden, of the Saltonstall company, whose wife was from Egton, Yorkshire, went to Milford. He was much beloved, and many Yorkshiremen followed him.
On Nov. 29, 1639, the little company who had come to Milford from New Haven signed a document which laid the foundation for their government of the "plantation." It read: "Those persons whose names are hereunto written are allowed to be Free Planters, having, for the present, the liberty to act in the choice of public officers, for the carrying on of public affairs in this plantation." Church membership was a conditon of admission as a "Free Planter." Fourty-four persons signed as such. Joseph Northup, who was one of the company, was not then a church member, but with nine others was permitted to sign under the names of the full-fledged Free Planters. At a General Court (town meeting), held Nov. 24, 1640, the place was named "Milford." On Jan. 9, 1642, Joseph joined the First Church of Milford (organized at New Haven, Aug. 22, 1639, just before they came to Milford), and thereby became of right a member of that privileged class. He was married to Frances Norton about 1647. He died Sept. 11, 1669, thirty years after the settlement of Milford.
The Governor and company granted a Patent to Milford, dated May 22, 1713. The names of the Northrups, attached to the Patent (the original of which is in the handwritng of Jonathan Law, Esq., afterward Governor of Connecticut) in the order in which they signed, are as follows: John, son of Jeremiah; Zophar and Jeremiah, sons of Joseph; Jeremiah, Jr.; Joseph, James and Moses, sons of Joseph, Jr.; Amos and Joel, sons of Samuel; Daniel and William, sons of the first Joseph.
The Colonists of Milford lived at a period when there was danger from hostile Indians. Their settlement was made shortly after the Pequot War. Although they purchased their lands of the tribes in possession, and sought their friendship, yet they soon saw indications of hostility, and as a protection built a palisaide of logs enclosing a mile square, within which they had their dwellings. The Indians became hostile in 1645-6, and guards were kept day and night. They went to church, carrying their rifles with them. The Indians were again troublesome in 1653. In 1700 there was much danger. It was a time of general alarm throughout the country for four or five years. The colonists of New Haven and Milford had all along purchased from the Indians the lands they settled upon, and in every way treated the Indians kindly and fairly, but the hostility of these sons of the forest was awakened by their fears of the growing numbrs and power of the whites, and the dawning consciousness that sooner or later they would inevitably be driven from their ancient homes. If they could have written history, it would go far to justify their hostility.
In 1647, Joseph Northrup married Mary, daughter of Francis Norton, who came to Milford from Wethersfield with the Rev. Peter Prudden and his party. Joseph died Sept. 11, 1669. His will was dated Sept. 1, 1669. It mentions of his children only Joseph, Samuel, Jeremiah and John. Codicil to his will says, "My mother shall have a living in my house as long as she lives" -- perhaps meaning his wife's mother, Mrs. Norton. His wife survived him, and made her will Jan. 24, 1683; mentions Joseph, Samuel, Jeremiah (omits John, who probably was dead), Zophar, Daniel, William and Mary -- the latter two being in their minority -- also her mother Norton. Inventory of her estate dated Feb. 28, 1683. All their children were born in Milford, CT.
The surname Northrup was spelled as here given in the earliest records and inscriptions on tombstones -- rup -- sometimes -rupp, and occasionally roop, and more often -rop, although this last termination was not common at an early period. Joseph, his son Joseph and his sons, James, Joseph and Moses, and most of their descendants, spelled the name Northrup. Northrop, however, was the common form in England.
--The Northrup-Northrop Genealogy, A. Judd Northup, 1908
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Abt 1623 - 1669
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