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Note: From the book by Payne Kenyon Kilbourne: 'The family settled in Wethersfield, on the west side of the Connecticut River, six miles below the present city of Hartford, where the subject of this notice spent the remainder of his days, and where he was long a useful and prominent citizen. On the 24th of September, 1647, at the ageof 23 years, his name occurs for the first time upon the Wethersfield records - he having been appointed Collector of the Tax Rates at that date. His first record as a land-holder bears date May 20, 1649. On the 8th of March, 1654, Mr. Kilbourn was appointed a member of the committee to run the boundary line between Wethersfield and Mattabossett,or Middletown, and three years subsequently he was chosen a member of a new committee for the same work. On the 2nd of April, 1655, John Kilbourn and Thomas Wright were appointed 'to run ye line betwixt Hartford and Wethersfield upon ye second day of next week.'' In may, 1657, he was confirmed by the General Court 'to be Sergeant at Wethersfield,' and from that time forward he is almost uniformly designated upon the Town Records as 'Sergeant Kilbourn.' At the October Session of the General Court, 1660, Sergeant Kilbourn took his seat in that body, for the first time, as a Repesentative from Wethersfield. He was a member at seven staed and special session, during a most interesting period of our colonial history. In May, 1661, Sergeant Kilbourn being in attendance, an address to the King was presented to the Court for consideration by a committee previously appointed for that purpose. It was approved; and a committee was appointed to draw up aPetition to His Majesty, and to 'compile and methodize the address as they shall judge most convenient, provided ye substance be still attendedand retained.' The petition and address were perfected; Governor Winthrop was appointed the Agent Colony to present them to the King - and 500 pounds were set apart for the furtehrance of the great object contemplated. These measues resulted in procuring the famous Charter of 1662 - by far the most liberal and republican instrument of civil government that the world at that date had ever seen. Under its benign auspices, the people of Connecticut continued to live and flourish until the adoption of our present State Constitution in 1818 - a period of 156 years. Sergeant Kilbourn was a member of the Legislature during nearly every regular and special session, from the date of the first propositionfor the Address and Petition, to the time when the Charter arrived in theColony - September, 1662; and it is fair to presume that he was a deeply interested participant in those important measures that resulted in the comparative freedom of the colony in which he had laid foundations of a Home for himself. At the May Session of the General Court, 1662, Sergeant Kilbourn was appointed by that body a member of the Colonial Grand Jury - an office which he continued to hold until the organization of the counties, in May, 1666. He was subsequently often a Grand Juror of Hartford County; also of Particular Courts, and Courts of Magistrates. In May, 1677, he was on the 'Jury of Life and Death' at Hartford. In town affairs, our ancestor was conspicuous for a period of nearly 40 years. Besides being a Collector, Lister and Constable, he was a Selectman for eleven years between 1657 and 1681, inclusive. During this period, a by-law was in force, providing that no person should be elected to the latter office for more than two years in succession. He also served on many important committees. In October, 1675, in the midst of the general war with King Philip, John Kilbourne petitioned the Council of War to be released from the office of Sergeant, which he had held for 18 eyars; and it was ordered that when Major Talcott should procure a suitable person in his place, he should be released. Died: According to the Wethersfield Record, John died "of his age about 80 years, as nigh as could be come at."
Sergeant married Naomi UNKNOWN about 1650 in Wethersfield, Hartford, CT. Naomi was born in 1624; died on 1 Oct 1659 in Wethersfield, Hartford, CT. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Sergeant married Sarah BRONSON after 1 Oct 1659 in Wethersfield, Hartford, CT. Sarah was born in 1629 in Earls Colne, Essex, ENGLAND; died on 4 Dec 1711 in Wethersfield, Hartford, CT. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
John married Susannah HILLS on 4 Mar 1672/73. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
John married Elizabeth MITCHELL on 12 May 1702. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Family/Spouse: Unknown HALE. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Ebenezer married Grace BULKLEY on 20 Sep 1692. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Family/Spouse: Joseph CRANE. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
George married Abigail ATWOOD on 16 May 1689. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Other Events and Attributes:
Note: The settlement of Litchfield was commenced by Captain Jacob Griswold, from Windsor, Ezekiel Buck, from Wethersfield and John Peck, from Hartford, all of whom removed their families into the township during the summer of 1720....The first meeting of the Inhabitants for the choice of Town Officers was held Dec. 12, 1721. The only person "admitted an inhabitant" at this meeting, was Mr. Joseph Kilbourn, from Wethersfield, who had recently purchased one-thirtieth part of the township.
Joseph married Dorothy BUTLER on 4 Jun 1696 in Wethersfield, Hartford, CT. Dorothy (daughter of Deacon Deacon Samuel BUTLER) was born in 1676 in Wethersfield, Hartford, CT; died on 19 Aug 1709 in Litchfield, Litchfield, CT. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Joseph married Hester GIBBS on 29 Jun 1710 in Wethersfield, Hartford, CT. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Abraham married Sarah GOODRICH on 26 Oct 1699. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Dorothy married Joseph BIRGE on 6 Nov 1721 in Litchfield, Litchfield, CT. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
DNA: MKM
Captain married Abigail STOCKWELL on 12 Nov 1723 in Litchfield, Litchfield, CT. Abigail was born on 3 Dec 1701 in Suffield, Hartford, CT; died on 20 May 1748 in Litchfield, Litchfield, CT. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Captain married Anna UNKNOWN after May 1748. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Jonathan married Sarah DICKINSON in 1737 in Litchfield, Litchfield, CT. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Buried: Find A Grave e-Memorial
James married Sarah BISSELL on 12 Sep 1733 in Litchfield, Litchfield, CT. Sarah was born on 3 Feb 1713 in CT. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Note: Brockville was called 'Elizabethtown' when this ancestor lived there From Payne Kilbourne's history of the Kilbourn family: 'He was esteemed as a man of integrity and sound judgment, and was much employed in settling the estates of deceased persons. In May, 1769, he was commissioned by Gov. Pitkin , as Lieutenant of the first military company in Litchfield. On the breaking out of the Revolution, he, (in common with many prominent and influential men in his native town) steadfastly adhered to the cause of the king. He is spoken of by those who remember him, as a man of uncommon energy of character, and was accustomed to speak with great freedom and often with severity relative to what he considered the 'rebellion;' yet none were more liberal or humane to those who were suffering in the cause of their country. (Kilbourne relates that Benjamin was cashiered by the Conn. legislaturefor speaking against the revolution, and that it ordered the Attorney for the county to prosecute him) 'He continued to reside in Litchfield until some years after the close ofthe war, when he removed with most of his family to Elizabethtown, hear Brockville, Upper Canada - being determined, as he said, to 'lay his bones on King George's soil.' DNA: MKM Note: On the breaking out of the Revolution, he (in common with many prominent and influential men in his native town,) steadfastly adhered to the cause of the king. He is spoken ofby those who remember him, as a man of uncommon energy of character, and was accustomed to speak with great freedom and often with severity relative to what he considered the "rebellion;" yet none were more liberal or humane to those who were suffering in the cause of their country. The following paragraph from the hon. R.R. Hinman's "War of the Revolution," shows the nature of the charges preferred against him, and at the same time exhibits the novel cas of a "King's Attorney" informing against and prosecuting a subject for adhering to the king's cause. "Hon. Andrew Adams, attorney of the king for Litchfield County, informed that Benjamin Kilbourn, who was Lieutenant in the 1st Military Company in Litchfield, had at sundry times declared that he wished there were ten hundred thousand regular troops then landed in the Colony, and that he would join then to subdue the Americans who were in a state of rebellion; that the commanding officer who fired upon the town of Falmouth, treated the inhabitants too mildly and gently, much more so than he would have done if he had had the command; that he would join the regulars, and would kill some of the inhabitants, etc. etc. The Legislature cashiered the said Benjamin for his offences, and an order was given to fill the vacancy in said company. And said Attorney was ordered by said Assembly to prosecute the said Benjamin for his offences." (Proceedings of General Assembly, Special Session, Dec., 1775. He continued to reside in Litchfield until some years after the close of the war, when he removed with most of his family to Elizabethtown, near Brockville, Upper Canada - being determined, as he said, to "lay his bones on King George's soil." As he was making preparations to remove, a neighbor expressed surprise that, at his age, and after the cause of differences between him and some of his fellow townsmen had been removed, he should resolve upon emigrating to so distant a section of the country; to which he responded with characteristic zeal and earnestness - "Blood! Col. B., I want to breathe some of King George's air before I die!"
Lieut. married Hannah STODDARD on 5 Dec 1751 in Litchfield, Litchfield, CT. Hannah was born about 1732; died on 3 Oct 1756 in Litchfield, Litchfield, CT. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Lieut. married Lucy BISHOP on 20 Mar 1757 in Litchfield, Litchfield, CT. Lucy was born about 1736 in Litchfield, Litchfield, CT. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Family/Spouse: Thomas GOODWIN. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Ruth married Nathaniel CULVER on 23 Nov 1752. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Solomon married Anna PALMER on 8 Apr 1756 in Litchfield, Litchfield, CT. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Died: The cause of death for Charles is listed as, "Run over by a cart."
Family/Spouse: George MARSH. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Family/Spouse: Zechariah WHITMAN. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]