Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy

John Close

Male Abt 1600 - Abt 1653  (~ 53 years)


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  • Name John Close 
    Born Abt 1600  of Grinton, Yorkshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Died Abt 1653  of Fairfield, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I180  Petersen-de Lanskoy
    Last Modified 27 May 2021 

    Family Elizabeth,   b. 1606, of Grinton, Yorkshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 4 Sep 1656, Stamford, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 50 years) 
    Married Bef 1632  of Grinton, Yorkshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Hannah Close,   b. Abt 1632, of Grinton, Yorkshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 6 Oct 1695, Greenwich, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 63 years)
     2. Joseph Close,   b. Abt 1634, of Grinton, Yorkshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Bef 23 Aug 1660, of Stamford, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 26 years)
     3. Thomas Close,   b. Abt 1637, of Grinton, Yorkshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 12/12 Feb 1708/9, Greenwich, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 72 years)
     4. Mary Close,   b. Abt 1642, of Stamford, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 7 Apr 1714, Stamford, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 72 years)
    Last Modified 28 May 2021 
    Family ID F173  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • RESEARCH_NOTES:
      1. FHL book 929.273-K727kf: "Knapp's N' Kin, The Ancestral Lines of Frederick H Knapp and Others," compiled by: Frederick H Knapp, Rt. #2, Box 438C, AB Hwy, Richland, Missouri, 65556; 1987; Revised/Updated 1991:
      "The Close line:
      The name Close is of agricultural origin, though intimately associated with ecclesiastical usage, in which it is applied specifically to denote the precinct of a Cathedral or Abbey. Lower's "Patronymica Brittanica" defines it as follows:
      "Close, any piece of ground that is enclosed with hedge, wall or water." The word is from the Latin clausus, past participle of claudo, and meaning closed, enclosed or surrounded. The spelling of the name has varied with the custom of the times and the degree of literacy of its writers, Cloos, Closse, Closs, Clos, Clusse, Cluss, being various renderings of the name now used as Close.
      The name of Close in New England first appears in the will of William Frost, of Fairfield, Connecticut, dated 6 Jan 1644, where one Goodman Close is mentioned as having one of the testator's heifers. John Close died at Fairfield, Connecticut in 1653, and is buried there, and left surviving him his widow, and four children. His widow, Elizabeth, married afterwards, George Stuckey, of Windsor, Connecticut and later found in Stamford, Connecticut.
      According to research of the records in England, the family in the Parish Registers for County York, England, seem to indicate that John Close and his wife, Elizabeth, were born in Grinton Parish, County York, where the family attained considerable prominence about 1606; came to America about 1642, and finally settled in Fairfield, Connecticut. All of his children were born in Grinton Parish, Co York, England. The name is still found in America today; having many descendants of this particular line."

      2. FHL book 929.273-K727kf: "Knapp's N' Kin, The Ancestral Lines of Frederick H Knapp and Others," compiled by: Frederick H Knapp, Rt. #2, Box 438C, AB Hwy, Richland, Missouri, 65556; 1987; Revised/Updated 1991:
      "Joshua Knapp, our second generation ancestor, moved to Stamford, Connecticut with his father, Nicholas, in 1646. He married in Stamford and lived there for sometime. In 1663, he moved to Greenwich, Connecticut where he was admitted Freeman in 1669, making his home there until his death in 1684. He and his father-in-law, John Close, were among the first 27 landowners in Horseneck Borough of Greenwich, and was styled the "27 Proprietors of 1672." The original Indian deed for the Horseneck Plantation is still in existence and is dated 1 Feb 1686, but this deed was not recorded until sometime in 1701, and is found in the Greenwich Record today. The deed was witnessed by Joshua Knapp, David Waterbury, and John Close; signed by seven Indian Chiefs as follows: (Then known as Bedford Parish)
      Rumppanus- (mark)
      Pakohchero- (mark)
      Kowaconussa- (mark)
      Kauko- (mark)
      Querrecqui- (mark)
      Peattun- (mark)
      Testified to by:
      Wesskum- (mark) - Chief Sachem
      Of this transaction, originally agreed to by all, 27 Apr 1675, Joshua and others divided up the purchased tract among themselves, their children and others selected..."

      3. The book "Ye Historie of ye Town of Greenwich with Genealogical Notes …," by Spencer P. Mead with the assistance of Arthur S. Kimball (Camden, Maine; Picton Press), pp. 517-18:
      "According to "Hotten's Lists of Emigrants to America," Phettiplace Close came to Virginia in 1608, and was granted a patent of one hundred acres of land on the James River, in the Corporation of Henrico, in 1626. In response to an inquiry as to him, the secretary and librarian of the Virginia Historical Society, under date of May 29, 1908, states that he has no "evidence to show whether Phettiplace Close (Clause) left a family ... As the name does not appear here later, I think it probable that he was one of the numerous settlers, who succumbed to disease, or was killed by the Indians."
      The name of Close, in New England, first appears in the will of William Frost of Fairfield, Connecticut, dated Jan. 6, 1644, where one Goodman Close is mentioned as having one of the testator's heifers. (See "Manwaring's Abstract of Hartford Wills," vol. I, page 13.) Goodman Close probably died at Fairfield about 1653, and left him surviving, his widow, Elizabeth, and the following children: Hannah, Thomas, Joseph, and Mary. His widow afterwards married George Stuckey, and had one child, Elizabeth Stuckey.
      George Stuckey bought land at Windsor, Connecticut, in 1640, sold out in 1645, removed to Fairfield, where he married the widow Close, and later removed to Stamford, Connecticut, with his step-children. His wife died at Stamford, Sept. 4, 1656. He died at Stamford, Sept. 28, 1660, leaving a will, which is recorded in the Stamford Land Records. The will is dated Aug. 23, 1660, and makes mention of the Close children, namely, Mary Close, Thomas Close, Hannah Close, and Joseph Close, then deceased. On the settlement of his estate, Nov. 6, 1660, Mary Close was represented by her guardian, which shows that she was not twenty-one years of age at that time. According to the records, the Close family in New England, in 1660, consisted of Hannah Close, who, June 9, 1657, married Joshua Knapp, Thomas Close, and Mary Close, who, June 25, 1668, married Samuel Holly.
      A search of the Parish Registers for County York, England, seems to indicate that Goodman Close was born in Grinton Parish, where the family attained considerable prominence.
      Thomas Close above referred to settled permanently in Greenwich, Connecticut, and was one of the original patentees named in the patent granted to the Town of Greenwich by the General Assembly in May, 1665. He married Sarah, daughter of Richard and Ann (Husted) Hardy, in 1669. He died in Greenwich in 1709, leaving a will, dated Dec. 3o, 1708, which was probated in 1709. He was a member of the General Assembly in 1701.
      GOODMAN1 CLOSE, b. about 1600, in County York, England, m. Elizabeth ___, b. about 1606, in England, came to America about 1642, and finally settled in Fairfield, Connecticut, where Goodman Close died in 1653. His widow afterwards married George Stuckey, and died in Stamford, Connecticut, Sept. 4, 1656. Her children by her first husband were:
      -Hannah2, b. about 1632, m. June 9, 1657, Joshua Knapp, and after his death she married John Bowers.
      -Joseph, b. about 1634, d. without issue before 166o.
      -Thomas, b. about 1637, m. Sarah, daughter of Richard and Ann (Husted) Hardy, in 1669, he d. in Greenwich, in 1709.
      Mary, b. about 1640, living April 15, 1725, m. June 25, 1668, Samuel Holly."

      SOURCES_MISC:
      1. Not mentioned in the book "The Great Migration Directory, Immigrants to New England, 1620-1640," by Robert Charles Anderson, NEHGS, 2015.

      2. FHL book 929.273-K727kf: "Knapp's N' Kin, The Ancestral Lines of Frederick H Knapp and Others," compiled by: Frederick H Knapp, Rt. #2, Box 438C, AB Hwy, Richland, Missouri, 65556; 1987; Revised/Updated 1991. It has a family group sheet of this family noting its sources of information as:
      -Encyclopedia of Biography.
      -NK Gen. (1953).
      -NK Gen. Suppl. (1956).
      -Hist. of Greenwich, by Mead.
      -Will of Wm. Frost (1644).
      -Patronyminca Brittanica-Lower.
      -List of Immigrants to America, by Hotten.