Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy

Daniel Denton

Male 1632 - Bef 1696  (~ 63 years)


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  • Name Daniel Denton 
    Christened 10 Jul 1632  Coley, Halifax, Yorkshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Died Bef 13/13 Mar 1695/6  Jamaica, Queens, New York, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I2956  Petersen-de Lanskoy
    Last Modified 27 May 2021 

    Father Richard Denton,   c. 19 Apr 1601, Halifax, Yorkshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Abt 1663, of, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 61 years) 
    Mother Maria Duerden,   c. 14 Oct 1604, Heptonstall, Yorkshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Married 21/21 Jan 1625/6  Halifax, Yorkshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F1576  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 1 Abigail Stevenson,   b. Abt 1642, of Newtown, Long Island, New York, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   bur. 15 Oct 1715, Jamaica, Queens, New York, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 73 years) 
    Married Abt 1659  , , New York, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Divorced Yes, date unknown 
    Last Modified 28 May 2021 
    Family ID F1581  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 2 Hannah Leonard,   b. 19 Dec 1659, Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Married 24 Apr 1676  Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Last Modified 28 May 2021 
    Family ID F1582  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • RESEARCH_NOTES:
      1. The periodical "The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record," 120[1989]:10-17, 94-97, 160-163; 121[1990]:221-225, etc., "Descendants of the Rev. Richard Denton," by Walter C. Krumm. I have divided up this article and included each generation with the individual detailed (see notes of Rev. Richard Denton for summary of all other publications and researchers prior to this publication):
      "Daniel2 Denton (Richard1) led a life that was varied and adventuresome by anybody's standard. Baptised in 1632 in Yorkshire, he certainly accompanied his father's family in its migration to Long Island. He seems to have been an active and talented loner. In 1650 he was already performing the duties of Hempstead Town Clerk; the following "blue law" statement begins his historical record in America (HTR 1:56-7):
      "These Orders made, At A Generall Court Held att Hemsteede September ye 16th 1650. And Consented vnto by A full Towne meeting held October the 18th 1650.
      "Forasmuch, As the Contempt of Gods Word And Sabbaths is the desolating Sinn of Civil States and Plantations, And that the Publick preaching of the Word, by those that are Called therevnto, is the Chiefe and ordinarie meanes ordayned of God for the converting Edifying and Saveing of ye Soules, of the Ellect, through the presence and power of the Holy Ghost therevnto promised, It is there Fore ordered and decreed By the Authority of this Generall Court That All persons Inhabiting In this Towne or ye Limitts thereof, shall duely resort and repair to the Publique meetings, and Assemblies one the Lords dayes And one Publique dayes of fastings and thanksgivings appointed by Publique Authority, both one the forenoones And Afternoones...
      "By Ordre from ye Magistrate. Was subscribed. Daniel Dentonius, Clericus"
      The text sounds as if his father had drawn it, but signing it in Latin suggests that at 18 years Daniel had acquired more than the usual education. (His brother Nathaniel could read and write in English; brother Samuel could not sign his name.)
      In 1655-56 Daniel and Nathaniel joined others in founding Jamaica, Long Island, where for many years at various times both men served as Town Clerk, beginning from the original establishment of the town (JTR 1,2 passim; for subsequent appointments see CDM 283, JTR 3:46 et al.). On the town records his name appears most frequently on items wherein town policy was formulated, such as establishing the rate for the hire of bulls, disposal of undivided town property, agreements with local Indians, etc., rather than on land deeds; his public duties seemed to provide his living and consume his time. [GMNJ 24:51 states that Daniel's home lot was in the Southern Quarter of Jamaica; on 18 Feb. 1655/6 Samuel Andrews was granted a houselot next to it.]
      About 1659 or 1660 Daniel did undertake household responsibilities by marrying Abigail Stevenson from nearby Newtown, after which were born his first son and his first daughter, the only children of this marriage. Abigail (born say 1642 - died 15 October 1717 at Jamaica [Rec. 19:59]) was the daughter of Thomas and Anne (___) Stevenson. Daniel Denton was appointed co-administrator of the estate of Thomas Stevenson and guardian of his children 9 July 1668 (New York Co. Wills 1:55; WNYHS 1:25). Anne Graves, Stevenson's remarried widow, made a will 31 December 1670 naming Abigail Denton as her daughter (original will #47 [unrecorded], Historic Documents Collection, Queens College; WNYHS 1:467).
      Daniel was particularly active when English authority replaced that of the Dutch in 1664. The Long Island settlements had to renegotiate their rights of tenure, and for once the towns acted in concert. They carefully selected their delegates to the "Hempstead Convention"; Daniel was one of the two delegates from Jamaica chosen to present their claims to Governor Nicolls (TLJ 1:187), the agent of the Duke of York (who never visited his new realm). The new legal code adopted by this group was known as the "Duke's Laws." The transaction went so smoothly that it was completed in 1665, at the same time when Daniel and Nathaniel Denton invested in the Elizabethtown, New Jersey, Patent mentioned earlier.
      At the end of the decade unspecified business took Daniel back to England. It may have been civic affairs or something personal - settling his parents' estate perhaps. While there he published a book (which survives) entitled "A Brief Description of New York, formerly called New-Netherlands" (21 pages). The subtitle is the table of contents:
      "With the Places thereunto Adjoining. Together with the Manner of its Scituation, Fertility of the Soyle, Healthfulness of the Climate, and the Commodities thence produced. Also some Directions and Advice to such as shall go thither: An Account of what Commodities they shall take with them; The Profit and Pleasure that may accrew to them thereby. Likewise a Brief Relation of the Customs of the Indians there."
      The prologue adds that "Divers Persons in England and elsewhere" induced him to provide this first-hand account of the new colony, or at least the part he had been "an eye-witness" of. Finally, after promising not to exaggerate to feed the expectation of his readers, he enthusiastically compares Long Island to the Garden of Eden! After detailed accounts of flora, fauna, and Indian tribes and customs, Daniel concludes with instructions to prospective settlers how to form a group, obtain patents, and lay out new towns in the territory. Despite abominable typography the book is the first item in English describing Long Island in any detail.
      By late 1670, Daniel was back on Long Island, where on 5 December his signature appeared for the first time on the Jamaica records as Daniel Denton, Senior (JTR 1:45 & 184). But his absence from home cost him his marriage; he discovered that Abigail was pregnant. She had to admit her infidelity, naming Daniel Whitehead of Jamaica (Daniel2, son of Daniel1). Presented by the constable and overseers at the Court of Sessions in June 1672, she stood "accused for her incontinency, & committing Adultery in ye absence of her Husband, then about his Occasions in Europe." From 9 July 1668 when he was appointed co-administrator of the estate of Thomas Stevenson, until 6 September 1670 when as Jamaica Town Clerk he copied a deed, there is no official record of Daniel Denton's whereabouts. We can assume his visit to England occurred during part or even most of that time interval.
      With the evidence against her, Abigail confessed. The lower court sent the case up to Governor Francis Lovelace and his Council, from whom Daniel obtained a bill of absolute divorce on 16 June 1672.*
      The divorce may have motivated Daniel's departure with his two children from Long Island for the next decade. First he moved to Piscataway, New Jersey, near New Brunswick (CEM 23:343), where on 25 August 1673 he was appointed a magistrate (CDNY 2:587). Then on 20 Dec. 1674 he sold out his land interest in Piscataway (Deed Book B:1) and removed to Springfield, Massachusetts (Springfield Town Records 11:121-henceforward STR).
      His arrival at Springfield coincided with an acute Indian crisis; King Philip's War broke out in mid-1675, and many frontier settlements suffered from severe Indian attacks. Springfield's turn came on 5 October; the town and its inhabitants came close to annihilation. Daniel and the two children most certainly were living there already, perhaps in rented accommodations. Less than seven months later on 24 April 1676 he remarried, this time to Hannah Leonard, the 17-year old daughter of John and Sarah (Heald) Leonard of Springfield. He demonstrated further his intention to remain by petitioning to be admitted as a resident; permission was granted along with forty acres of land "providing he continue five years in the town..." (STR 3:92). The Springfield authorities also granted him permission to perform surgery within the town limits (STR 1:185). They voted him an annual salary as schoolmaster (1678-81) and established a range of tuitions for the school, depending on whether he taught students only to read English, to write it, or to do both (STR 3:96). (It is not clear whether he replaced incumbent William Maddison or became a second schoolmaster in the town.) At least two additional grants of land on the outskirts of Springfield were given to him on condition that he improve the properties (STR 3:186 & 11:143). In the local government he served several terms as a Selectman and was chosen clerk or recorder of their meetings (Henry M. Burt, "First Century of History of Springfield, Mass." [1899], p. 559; STR 11:152). In short, Daniel Denton quickly became as much a part of the community of Springfield as he had been of Jamaica. (Burt, op. cit., presents much about Daniel's six-seven year stay in Springfield, all drawn from local sources, especially the STR.)**
      Despite (or because of) this great flurry of achievement (which included fathering three more children with his new wife), Daniel once again experienced family trouble. His firstborn, Daniel, Jr., as a teenager, was proving troublesome, perhaps in part because his stepmother was not much older than he. The first indication came when young Daniel was baptized in the Flatbush (Long Island) Dutch Church (1679); his sponsors were a Dutch couple, and his family in Massachusetts seems not to have participated (Flat. Fr. Baps. 1:12). Two years later he eloped to Rhode Island and married without his father's knowledge (Old Hampshire [Co., Mass.] Probate and Court Records 1:216).
      The eldest daughter, Abigail, married more conventionally in 1682 and presented her father with his first grandchild less than a year later (Boston Transcript, 26 October 1914, 19 May 1915).
      Daniel, Sr.'s sojourn at Springfield ended as abruptly and inexplicably as his stay in New Jersey. By April 1682, Daniel's name reappears in the Jamaica Town Records. On 5 January 1682/3 minutes of the Springfield Town Meeting declared their grant of land to him forfeit, "he not fulfilling the terms" (STR 3:109). On 16 April 1684, he sold the rest of his property in Springfield to one Benjamin Knowlton. The Jamaica Town Meetings of 13 June (either 1683 or 1684) and 25 November 1684 voted him fifteen acres of land and permission to resettle amongst them with his new family (JTR 1:117, 155). The 1683 "List of the Towne Estate of Jamaica" already showed him with six head of livestock and an estate value of £56 (DHNY 2:522). Once again they appointed him Jamaica Town Clerk and his name reappeared on documents and records. He was appointed a town commissioner (JTR 1:138), and he and Hannah, his wife, witnessed numerous documents, land agreements and the like. Daniel received grants of land from the town, perhaps in payment for services, while he and Hannah sold parcels from time to time. Daniel, Jr. was also in Jamaica during this time, for a condition of land sale in 1686 was that "the house [was] to be finished by Daniel Denton, Jr." But the joys of returning to old friends and associations must have been tempered by the early deaths of his first two children: Abigail in 1689 and the troublesome Daniel c.1690, both from unlisted causes.
      The exact date of Daniel's own death is unrecorded, but this item from the Jamaica Town Records (1:390) supplies a clue: "13 March 1695/6 Daniell Denton, latte of Jamaica Seanor now deseast..." Like his brothers he, too, died intestate and there was no administration on his estate. It is unknown when his wife Hannah died, but it is possible she remarried and is the Hannah "Simon" [read "Seaman?"], deceased, named in the 1718 estate settlement of her mother (Donald L. Jacobus and Edgar F. Waterman, "Hale, House and Related Families," 1952, p. 678-682).
      Children of Daniel and Abigail (Stevenson) Denton:
      i. Daniel, Jr.3, b. say 1661 or 1662.
      ii. Abigail, b. say 1663, d. 4 Aug. 1689 (Reg. 5:353); m. Benjamin Stebbins of Spring-field, Mass., 9 Oct. 1682 (Frank Farnsworth Starr &James J. Goodwin, Various Ancestral Lines of James Goodwin and Lucy (Morgan) Goodwin, 1915, 2:44 identifies Benjamin.).
      Children of Daniel and Hannah (Leonard) Denton (birthdates are from Burt, op. cit., p. 131):
      iii. Hannah, b. 5 Aug. 1677, prob. living 1719; according to Combes (p. 13) she m. (1) say 1697 John Seaman of Hempstead, (2) 1699 Samuel Smith of Jamaica. The first marriage is apparently based on the 1698 census (see below), but is not in Mary Thomas Seaman, "The Seaman Family in America" (1928), and may be confused with her mother's remarriage. For the Smith marriage and possible children see "The American Genealogist" 25:67, 77-8.
      iv. Samuel, b. 29 Sept. 1679.
      v. Sarah, b., d. Nov. 1681 (Burt, loc. cit.).
      Eardeley and Combes list three additional children of Daniel and Hannah: vi. Elizabeth, vii. Thomas, and viii. Alice, but William Derel Denton reports that George Combes after checking the original Eardeley manuscript found no basis for including them. These three putative children would have been born in Jamaica. The "Return of Marriages, Christenings & Burials in The Town of Jamaica F[or] 7 Years Preceding 1688" (DHNY 3:197) shows no christenings or burials in Daniel's household, but there may have been reasons why none of these children was christened. A special case can be made for Alice, since such a person does appear in two records. In the Hempstead Census of 1698 (page 1, column 4) appears the name "Els Denton" below "John Seman Jr" and "hannah seman" Alice Denton "of Jamaica" was married on 26 Dec 1709 to Thomas Thurston at the Newtown Presbyterian Church (Newt. 29).
      Footnotes:
      *On the first Wednesday of October 1672 Mrs. Denton petitioned the New York General Court of Assizes concerning remarriage. Expressing a great sense of grief and sorrow for her miscarriage against her "late" husband, she had undergone the censure of the law. But she pointed out that since the divorce he was at liberty to remarry. Citing the temptations of a single life, and the need of support for herself and three children on five shillings a week plus what she could earn, she pleaded that in a short time she would become a charge to the town. For that reason she asked permission to remarry. The court acceded, and that same month Abigail married Whitehead, bringing their firstborn child with her. Her two Denton children stayed with their father. Abigail bore at least six children to her second husband. (ECM 1:132 n. 1, which also contains further references.) This was not the end of the Whitehead/Denton connection, for in his will, proved 1704, Whitehead left bequests to his three Denton step-grandchildren: Daniel £6, and Abigail and Deborah each £12. Then in the next generation a member of another branch of the Dentons, Jacomiah, married Abigail Waters, whose maternal grandmother was Elizabeth Whitehead, daughter of Daniel and Abigail.]
      **An interesting letter survives from this period written by the Rev. Edward Taylor of Westfield (ten miles west of Springfield) to Increase Mather in Boston: "Sir, I am desirous to inquire after your advice & direction concerning the printing a MS of Mr. Daniel Denton's [father] who settled with the chch at Stamford, & was Mr. Mitchel's Pedagogus or tutor, he having fully prepared a small treatise by his own hand, about 353 pages in 8vo, for the Press, before he dyed, stiled a Divine Soliloquy, or the Mirror of 1. Created Purity, 2. Contracted Deformity, 3. Restored Beauty, & 4. Celestial Glory (all which are Piously, Solidly, Pathetically, & Practically handled in good Language). A press hath been sought after for it, by his son now with us, but the price Mr. Pforster demanded discouraged the owner, as being above his ability. Mr. Sherman & Mr. Higginson, who have perused it, incoroage its printing, & also think it will carry itselfe through the Press, & I am perswaded as much. Wherefor, Sr. if you could help in the case, I would desire the same of you & shall, if you desire, send you the Script to peruse...?" (Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Fourth Series, 8:60). It would seem that Daniel had been given or had inherited this manuscript mentioned in Cotton Mather's eulogy of Rev. Denton. Perhaps Daniel brought it back from England in 1670 and this was his first chance to seek publication of it. It has since disappeared."

      2. Citation Information: Judd, Peter H. "Genealogical and Biographical Notes: Haring-Herring, Clark, Denton, White, Griggs, Judd, and Related Families." New York: P.H. Judd, 2005. (Online database. NewEnglandAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2005.) The statements are sourced, but I did not copy them yet. The following is only a partial excerpt of the full transcript in the notes of Richard Denton:
      "Richard1 Denton, b. 1603 in Yorkshire, England, prob. bp. 19 April 1603 in Warley, near Halifax, Yorkshire, England, where a Richard, son of a Richard Denton, was christened; d. 1662-63, possibly in Essex, England; m. ____, probably after graduation from Cambridge in 1623-24.
      According to Walter C. Krumm, no record has been found of Richard1 Denton's leaving the Anglican Church nor of his emigration to New England, although the latter event was certainly after the birth of his fifth Child, in 1634, when the first settlements in the Massachusetts Bay Colony had most lots taken and out-migration was underway...
      Children of Richard1 Denton and wife, all born England
      i. Tymothie2 Denton, bp. 1627, at Turton, Lancashire, where his father was identified as "preacher"; no further record.
      ii. Nathaniel2 Denton, bp. at Turton, Lancashire 1628/29.
      iii. Samuel2 Denton, bp. 1631 at Coley, near Halifax, Yorkshire, England.
      iv. Daniel2 Denton, bp. 1632 at Coley.
      v. Phoebe2 Denton, bp. 1634 at Coley; no further record."
      [The list doesn't seem complete since the statement above makes reference to a son Richard whom is not listed in the author's compilation of children.]

      3. Miscellaneous comments from Worldconnect accessed 14 Feb 2010:
      "Daniel was the author of "A Brief Description of New-York: Formerly Called New-Netherlands . . ." (London: Printed for John Hancock and William Bradley 1670; New York: Gowans, 1845) This promotional tract was written to encourage English settlement of territories lately seized from the Dutch and gives an account of the geographical features and general economy of the country surrounding New York, relates some customs of the native inhabitants and offers incentives and advice to prospective settlers. It was reprinted in the New York Times in 1900. It said: "A second, perfect copy of this book previously unknown to bibliographers came to light at the sale of Lord Ashburton's library in November 1900. Mr. Brayton Ives paid $525 for this copy. When Ives collection was sold in March, this same copy resold for $615. A copy of this book is in the possession of Columbia University library." "In 1650 he was made town clerk of Hempstead, where his father was pastor, and in 1656 he held the same position in the town of Jamaica. When his father removed to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Denton remained on Long Island and in 1664 he became one of the grantees of a patent at Elizabethtown, NJ. In 1665 and 1666 he served as justice of the peace in New York, appointed by Governor Nichols. He married Abigail Stephenson who bore three children and from whom he was divorced in 1672. The two elder children remained with their father, while the infant, Mercy, accompanied her mother, who subsequently remarried. Denton left New York for England in 1670 (which may have occasioned his divorce), and there he evidently participated in settlement enterprises and possible in the newly acquired (by the English) fur trade. "A brief Description of New-York" is a twenty-five page pamphlet describing the topography, climate, soil, fauna and flora, settlements, crops, products, trades and occupations of the area between the Hudson and Delaware rivers and includes Manhattan Island, Staten Island and Long Island. He also included in this pamphlet some anecdotal relations of Indian customs and society. Quite understandably, he did not describe the Indians as a threatening presence, noting that: "It hath been generally observed, that where the English come to settle, a Divine Hand makes way for them; by removing or cutting off the Indians, either by Wars one with the other, or by some raging mortal Disease." From his will: "In the name of God, Amen. I, Daniel Denton of Goshen in Orange County, being mindful that the hour of death is uncertain, and also that it behooves every man to set his house in order ... I give my half last division lot of land lying by the land of William Jackson, deceased, and by the land of James Steward, and as much of my personal estate as may be necessary to my executors to pay debts. I leave to my wife Sarah 100 Pounds and my Indian wench, 'Bet' and my negro girl and the use of the best room in my dwelling house and 1/2 my homestead and six cows and my household goods for bringing up my young children and the labor of my negro man for ten years. I leave to my daughter Sarah 100 Pounds when of age. I leave to my son Samuel 300 acres of land of that tract which I lately purchased from Mr. Grahams, lying by the North River in Ulster County, to be run lengthwise of the said tract by the line of Rev. Silas Leonard's land, with the dwelling house and buildings thereon. I leave to my son Gilbert 250 acres of said tract to be run lengthways by the land of his brother Samuel. I leave to my sons Joseph and James the rest of said tract. I leave to my son Jonas my whole right that I have at Newburgh in Ulster County and 100 Pounds, when he is of age. I leave to my son John my homestead that I now live upon in Goshen with the dwelling house and buildings. Also my equal half East Division Lot of land to be run off the north west end and he is to pay to my daughter Sarah 150 Pounds. I leave to my son Daniel my East Division lot of land in Goshen known as Number 9 with the saw mill and other improvements. I leave to my son Thomas my half East Division Lot of land known as Number 5 in Goshen, with the house thereon. I leave to my wife Sarah and daughter Sarah all my bed and table linen. I do order that the Lime Stone Hill in the above said tract and a Public road down to the landing upon the north river shall be common to my four sons, Samuel, Gilbert, Joseph, and James. The wood on the same is to be sold to help defray debts. The rest of my estate to all my children. I make my sons Samuel and John and my brother-in-law, Daniel Everitt, executors." Dated July 30, 1750. Witnesses: John Witlaw, Samuel Denton, John Broadhead. Proved November 7, 1750. (Note: For information concerning the East and West Divisions of land in Goshen County, please refer to 'History of Orange County' by Eager." [KP note: Is this really the will of this Daniel? The dates are too late for a christening of 1632 and the children are not right.]

      4. The periodical "The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record," 120[1989]:10-17, 94-97, 160-163; 121[1990]:221-225, etc., "Descendants of the Rev. Richard Denton," by Walter C. Krumm. I have divided up this article and included each generation with the individual detailed:
      "In 1989 there is a need to revise and update the data on the first generations of Dentons in America. Many old records have been newly published and otherwise made available, making possible a more detailed and accurate account of the Rev. Richard Denton and his immediate descendants. This statement does not denigrate the work of earlier researchers, without whose efforts quantities of unique data would have disappeared. First and foremost was Walter BION Denton (1857-1941), who for fifty years diligently collected Denton data, especially as elicited from Denton descendants. His notes, files, and correspondence (unedited and unindexed) are held in the Burton Historical Collection of the Detroit Public Library. Easier to use and resulting from separate research is William A. D. Eardeley's "Manuscript of Notes on the Denton Family in America" (1936; he died the same year). The original document of 289 pages is held in the Queensborough Public Library in Jamaica, New York, but photocopies are available elsewhere. In the same year George D. A. Combes, who had worked with Eardeley in compiling data, produced his manuscript "Genealogy of the Descendants of Rev. Richard Denton of Hempstead, L.I., for the First Five Generations." As Hempstead Town Historian and acknowledged expert on early Hempstead history, Combes was able to refine and clarify Eardeley's material. Both manuscripts are honest, valuable works.
      More recently several partial histories of the Dentons in America have appeared. Best known is a 94-page pamphlet entitled "Some of the Descendants of Rev. Richard Denton" (1959) by Edythe Whitley, a professional genealogist in Tennessee. Walter Womack, himself a Denton descendant and publisher of the pamphlet, admitted to the numerous inaccuracies it contained but died before he could make the corrections. This is especially regrettable since later Denton family historians have accepted this work and repeated its errors in the opening chapters of their otherwise soundly researched efforts.
      Currently there are many genealogists at work trying to fill out the Denton family record. Representative of this work are Carroll M. Miller (died 1985) and Tom Jarvis (died 1988) of Dallas, both of whom have diligently amassed data and generously shared their findings with their many correspondents. But the Dean of Denton genealogists today is William DEREL Denton (born 1908) of Elizabethtown, New York. His 50-plus years of interest in the history of the Denton family have brought him into personal and/or postal contact with all of the above researchers. Both his files and his correspondence are voluminous, and his generosity in sharing his time and information is unstinting. One of the best recommendations for the work which follows is that "Bill" Denton has agreed to help edit the text.
      Currently many Denton researchers are duplicating each other's work by mining the same sources, and often are unable to test the accuracy of earlier "statements of fact" and "family traditions." The time has come to publish a new Denton Family History that incorporates all of the latest available data and dispels the accumulated myths. The article "Who Was the Rev. Richard Denton" which appeared in the July and October 1986 issues of "The Record" was a beginning in this effort. [KP Note: The 1986 article was later updated by the same author in 2004, which I have transcribed and included in the notes of Richard Denton in my database; it is best not to use the 1986 earlier edition.] The present article starts with biographies of Richard's three sons who fathered Denton families (the second generation in America); it will continue into the fifth generation.
      The author acknowledges the immense work done by his predecessors. Recognizing that a genealogist's work is never done, he knows that this current work is only another step toward a comprehensive family picture. He hopes there are no errors, but will not be surprised when some are found. In that spirit he welcomes communications from other Denton historians.
      When the Rev. Richard Denton sailed back to England in 1658, he must have felt discouraged; unable to live on his earnings on Long Island or to find better pay in Virginia, he and his wife were returning to England to receive a bequest of £400 awaiting them there ("Ecclesiastical Records, State of New York" 1:411). Apparently he left in America little or no property for his sons to inherit, and he could expect never to see them again. Yet the Presbyterian Church in America has regarded him as their first minister ("Encyclopedia of the Presbyterian Church," ed. Alfred Nevin, 1884, p. 183-4), and his descendants number in the thousands.
      It is possible to reconstruct much of Denton's immediate family from English records. As a subsidized university student he was almost certainly unmarried when he was graduated from Catharine's Hall, Cambridge in 1623/4. The next mention of him, found in the baptismal record of his son in July, 1627, identifies him as "preacher at Turton," a small chapelry in Bolton Priory, Lancashire. This suggests that he married c. 1625 (no record has been found) and that his son was born a year or so later. St. Peter's Parish Church, Bolton, has only these two Denton entries (Lancashire Parish Register Society Publications 50:107, 114):
      "Tymothie Denton, son of Mr. Denton, preacher at Turton baptised 23 July [1627]."
      "Nathaniell Denton of Turton, son of Mr. Denton 9 March, baptised [1628/9]."
      Denton's predecessor at Turton, Gilbert Astley, was buried at Bolton on 27 Jan 1625/6 suggesting that his own term began there soon after.
      The next baptisms show that by 1631 the family had moved to Coley Chapel in Halifax Parish, Yorkshire, 25 miles east of Bolton (records compiled and anglicized by the West Yorkshire Archive Service):
      "Samuel, son of Richard Denton, Minister of Coley, 29 May, 1631"
      "Daniel, son of Richard Denton, Curate of Coley, 10 July 1632"
      "Phoebe, dau. of Richard Denton, minister of Coley, 30 Nov. 1634"
      Christening usually took place within a few weeks after birth unless sickness postponed it or fear of imminent death hastened it. Tymothie and Phoebe are never heard from again, suggesting that they died young, or if Phoebe survived Childhood, she may have married in an unrecorded ceremony in the New World. Between 1635 and 1640 the Dentons arrived in America although a record of their crossing is lacking; birth records of additional Children, if any, have not survived. Later records in America do show that when the parents returned to England in 1658, three, possibly four, sons remained behind:
      Nathaniel, Samuel, Daniel, and maybe Richard, Jr.,(1) in that order.
      Rev. Richard1 Denton, born 1603, probably the one baptised 19 April 1603 at Halifax, Yorkshire; died in England 1662-63 (tradition). For his career see REC. 117:163-6, 211-8. He and his wife (unidentified) were the parents of at least these Children:
      i. Tymothie2, b. 1627; no further record.
      ii. Nathaniel, b. 1628/29.
      iii. Samuel, b. 1631.
      iv. Daniel, b. 1632.
      v. Phoebe, b. 1634; no further record."

      5. The book "The Early Settlement of Stamford, Connecticut 1641-1700…," by Jeanne Majdalany, pp. 158-59:
      "DENTON, Rev Richard - b1586, d1662, m1 ___, m2 ___.
      The Reverend Richard Denton came from Owram, Yorkshire and was on the James with Matthew Mitchell, arriving in Watertown, MA by 1634. He was in Wethersfield, CT in 1635 and was the leader of the first group of settlers in Stamford in 1641. His house was later that of John Bishop. He also led the group that went to Long Island in 1644, and then returned to England in 1659. Cotton Mather wrote a glowing account of him (cf. Huntington). Descendants:
      A. John - b1618.
      B. Daniel -.
      C. Timothy - bc1627.
      D. Nathaniel - bc1628, d1730 m Sarah
      E. Richard - d1658, m1657 Ruth Tileston.
      F. Samuel - d1714, m Mary Smith.
      References: Edythe Whitley, "Some of the Descendants of Rev. Richard Denton"; Frances Isabel Denton Womack, "The Denton Genealogy."

      6. From the internet accessed 15 Jan 2019: "The Origins of Reverend Richard Denton (1601-c.1662)," 20 September 2018, by R. Riegel [Citation: http://www.analent.com/Denton/OriginsOfRichardDenton.pdf]. Note the original PDF should be consulted online since it contains extensive images, extractions, and reproductions of the various sources and documents which cannot be reproduced in this transcription. There is also a copy of the PDF attached to Richard Denton and his family's entry in Family Search:
      "After reviewing the dubious assertions that Helen Windebank was Richard Denton's wife, I decided to revisit the original documents used to establish basic dates and people in Reverend Denton's life. While doing that research, I discovered several problems with those dates that make them unlikely to be correct. I also discovered evidence that a Richard Denton, likely the Reverend, married Maria Duerden on January 21, 1626 in Yorkshire. Of course, the births of at least 18 Richard Dentons in England between 1585 and 1605 complicated the analysis.
      Birth. Two years are generally given for the birth of Reverend Richard Denton - 1586 and 1603. But both of those dates are based on circumstantial evidence and both are questionable. They were likely derived by a process of elimination at times in the past when fewer parish records were available for easy (or even laborious) review. When those dates were first proposed, between the 1840's and 1920's, the aggregation of records on the internet obviously did not exist and the only way to research church records in England was to make visits to churches or libraries by horse, carriage, train or ship or by the exchange of correspondence that could take weeks or months.
      The 1586 birth date appears to come from "The History of Long Island from the Discovery to the Present Time" by Benjamin F. Thomson in 1843 at p. 19:
      Mr. Denton was born of a good family, at Yorkshire, England, in 1586, and was educated at the university of Cambridge, where he graduated in 1623, and was settled as minister of Coley Chapel, Halifax, for the period of seven years... [H]e probably arrived in New England, with Governor Winthrop, in 1630...
      He returned to England (says the Rev. Mr. Heywood, his successor at Halifax) in 1659, and spent the remainder of his life at Essex, where he died in 1662, aged 76. The cause of his departure from America is involved in mystery, particularly as he left behind him his four sons Richard, Samuel, Nathaniel and Daniel...
      Thompson gave no source for his 1586 date and I have found no baptismal records to support that date. That same date was repeated in "Ecclesiastical Records, State of New York," Vol III, (1902) in a footnote on page 1464.
      The 1603 birth date appears to come from the "Dictionary of National Biography," Vol XIV, (1888), p. 380:
      DENTON, RICHARD (1603-1663), divine, was born in 1603 in Yorkshire, and lived at Priestley Green [near Halifax in Yorkshire]. He took his B.A. degree at Catharine Hall, Sherlock Court, St. Catharine's College, Cambridge University Cambridge, 1623. He became minister of the chapel of Coley, near Coley Hall... Here he remained about seven years ...
      This 1603 date is supported by a Warley Parish (also known as Warley Town) baptism record for:
      "April 10 [1603] Richard Rich: Denton War[ley]” in the West Yorkshire County Record Office, Newstead Road, Wakefield. That record is cited by Walter C. Krumm in his article "Meeting the Reverend Richard Denton (1603 - 1663?)" appearing in the "Connecticut Ancestry," journal published by the Connecticut Ancestry Society, Inc., Vol. 47, No. 2, Dec. 2004.
      The 1603 date also appears in Alumni Cantabrigienses, Part I, Vol II, John Venn (1922) (a biographical list of Cambridge University graduates) which cites the Dictionary of National Biography as one of its sources at p. 34:
      DENTON, RICHARD. Matric. sizar from St Catharine's, Easter, 1621. B. 1603, in Yorkshire. B.A. 1623-4. Ord. deacon (Peterb.) Mar. 9, 1622-3; priest, June 8, 1623. C. of Coley Chapel, Halifax, for some years. Went to New England, e. 1638. Preacher at Stamford, Conn.; and at Hempstead, Long Island, for 15 years. Returned to England, 1659. Said to have died at Hempstead, Essex, 1663. Author, Soliliquia Sacra. (Felt, 515; J. G. Bartlett; D.N.B.) [Emphasis added.]
      “Sizar” means “[a]n undergraduate at Cambridge... receiving financial help from the college and formerly having certain menial duties.” Oxford Dictionaries. Presumably, if Reverend Richard Denton received assistance to attend Cambridge, his father was not rich enough to pay for his entire education. “Felt” refers to Joseph B. Felt's The Ecclesiastical History of New England (1862). J. G. Bartlett (1872-1927) of Boston supplied biographical accounts of Cambridge students who emigrated to New England prior to 1650. Alumni Cantabrigienses, Vol 1, p. xviii. And, “D.N,B.”stands for the Dictionary of National Biography.
      Note that the foregoing biographical entry is not a quote from a Cambridge University record. Rather, it is a 1922 compilation of information from various sources including the Dictionary of National Biography (1888) as stated above. In fact, the preface to Volume I of the Alumni Cantabrigienses discusses some of the difficulties encountered while developing the biographical information.:
      As this [the Matriculation Register for the entire university of Cambridge] is the only official record of membership, it ought to be complete and trustworthy. Unfortunately it is neither the one nor the other. Very many names of students who undoubtedly came into residence are omitted altogether. Indeed one negligent Registrary has emphasized his term of office (1590-1601) by failing to record any matriculations at all...
      [The University records] give no personal information, beyond the very vague suggestion as to social status, afforded by the fact of matriculation as fellow-commoner, pensioner, or sizar. It is from the College Admission Registers, exclusively, that we can obtain such facts as parentage, birth-place, age, school, and so forth... [A description of the records available from each college then follows:]
      (9) St Catharine's [the college attended by Reverend Richard Denton]. Commences about 1627; but is scarcely more than a list of names, ... Note that the student records for St. Catharine's College, which Rev. Richard Denton attended, did not begin until 1627, several years after he graduated.
      Dates. Dates in England prior to 1752 can be confusing and ambiguous. See the Lancashire Online Parish Clerks Project:
      Prior to 1752, the Julian calendar was in use in England. In this calendar, the new year began on 25 March each year, so 31 Dec would be followed by 1 Jan of the same year, and 24 Mar would be followed by 25 Mar the following year. This applied up to 31 Dec 1751, after which the Gregorian calendar was adopted. 31 Dec 1751 was followed by 1 Jan 1752.
      To solve this problem, the Lancashire Online Parish Clerks Project uses a dual date for the period from 1 January to 24 March of each year:
      To avoid any ambiguity, we record dates between 1 Jan and 24 Mar of each year prior to 1752 as dual dates. So for example, 31 Dec 1746 is followed by 1 Jan 1746/7, 2 Jan 1746/7 and so on until 24 Mar 1746/7, then 25 Mar 1747.
      The Alumni Cantabrigienses used a similar system but said:
      Sometimes, however, this is not possible, and then we have to leave the exact date ambiguous. Thus, when any one is said, in these volumes, to have died 'Feb. 15, 1615,' it is meant that we simply do not know whether this should stand 1614-5, or 1615-6. A number of these puzzles have been left us, the Dictionary of National Biography itself being a notinfrequent offender.
      In addition, determining what year written in a church record was actually intended can also pose issues. The Lancashire Online Parish Clerks Project describes the problem as follows:
      Sometimes the minister would not record the change of year correctly, forgetting to do it until a few days later. The information presented on our website will normally reflect the change of year at the point where it should have occurred, not necessarily where the minister wrote it.
      And, the Alumni Cantabrigienses said:
      The principal difficulty one has to face is this. In taking a date, from an ordinary history of the popular kind, we often do not know what the author means. Has he simply copied some contemporary record - parish register, tombstone, etc. - or has he tacitly substituted the modem reckoning? Wherever we can determine which he has done we have substituted the double date in order to avoid confusion.
      Finally, the CCEd Clergy of the Church of England Database displays only a single year in its dates and does not explain whether that is the actual date shown in the historical record or whether it has been adjusted from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar.
      The foregoing issues suggest viewing all dates from this period with extra caution.
      Ordination as a Deacon and Priest. The Church of England's records for Rev. Richard Denton appear under his given name Richard (CCEd Person ID: 33942), but also under the given name “Roger” (CCEd Person ID 134825), and both entries must be viewed to see all of his records. The reason for this error in names is not clear. While Rev. Denton's record under the name Richard indicates that he was ordained as a deacon at Peterborough Cathederal on 9 March 1622, his record under the name Roger indicates he was ordained a deacon a year later on 9 March 1623. Venn also gives his ordination as a deacon as 9 March 1623 (Gregorian) in Alumni Cantabrigienses. Rev. Denton's “qualification” to be a deacon was noted as “literate” which meant that he had not yet earned his degree from Cambridge but that the bishop judged he had sufficient education to qualify for ordination. See CCEd Clergy of the Church of England Database.
      The Church of England's CCEd database also states that Rev. Richard Denton was ordained as a Priest on 8 June 1623, the same Gregorian date given by Venn and only three months after being ordained a deacon. But Rev. Denton's record in Venn's Alumni Cantabrigienses indicates that he received his B.A. degree from Cambridge in 1624 (Gregorian), while the CCEd database gives 7 March 1628 for his graduation date. (That 1628 graduation date is exactly the same as the CCEd date given for his appointment as Curate at Turton and likely in error.) Typically, a university degree was required for ordination as a priest and one year would pass between ordination as a deacon (1623) and ordination as a priest. In addition, about nine out of ten B.A. degrees were awarded in January but, when awarded after March 25th, were technically called Ad Baptistam (A.B.) degrees. See Alumni Cantabrigienses, Vol 1, Venn (1922), p. xvi. Therefore, Rev. Denton's ordination as a priest was more likely to have been in June 1624 after his graduation from Cambridge and receipt of the typical B.A. Degree in January, 1624. In fact, mental contortions are required to explain all of these inconsistent dates unless one makes just one simple correction to Rev. Denton's ordination date as a priest from 1623 to 1624.
      In the 17th Century (and even today) priests could not be ordained in the Church of England until they were at least 23 years old (called the “canonical age”). (See “Sources of Personal History,” “Ordinations” in the Preface to Alumni Cantabrigienses, Vol 1, (1922), p. xii and Canon C-3-6 of the Church of England. Also see The Oxford History of the Laws of England, Vol. 1, R. H. Helmholz (2004), p. 273 et seq.) If Rev. Richard Denton was ordained in 1624, then he should have been born no later than 1601. Thus, a birth date in 1603 would have precluded his ordination. The Preface to Alumni Cantabrigienses, Vol 1, (1922) says the church records of ordinations indicate that ordinations “almost invariably” occurred within a year or two after the ordinand turned 23.
      The Church of England database indicates that Rev. Denton was not officially given his own church until 7 March 1628 (likely 1629 under the Gregorian calendar) when he was appointed Curate of St. Bartholomew's (later renamed St. Anne's) Church in Turton, Lancashire. The record for that appointment notes he had his Bachelor of Arts degree from Cambridge. The St. Anne's web site, however, states that Rev. Denton became an incumbent in Turton in 1627. And, the baptism record for Rev. Denton's first son, Tymothie, at nearby St. Peter in Bolton on 23 July 1627 states that Rev. Denton was already a preacher at Turton. The St. Anne's web site also indicates that Rev. Denton held an M.A. (Master of Arts) degree. While I have found no other source for that M.A., it could explain where Rev. Denton was during at least some of the years between 1624 and 1627.
      A list of all the Richard Dentons I could find who were born in England between 1585 and 1606 is included at the end of this document. Below is a list of those baptized between 1595 and 1601: (Baptism Date Location Father's Name)
      Denton Richard 29 Jun 1595 St John the Baptist, Halifax, Yorkshire, WR
      Denton Richard 21 Sep 1595 Holborn, London Richard Denton
      Denton Ric. 18 Apr 1596 Royston, Yorkshire
      Denton Richard 12 Nov 1599 Fishlake, Yorkshire, WR Edward Denton
      Denton Ric 1 Jan 1600/1 Tonbridge, Kent Wm Denton
      Denton Richard 19 Apr 1601 Halifax, Yorkshire, WR Henry Denton
      “WR” = West Riding, Yorkshire
      As stated above, Reverend Richard Denton was a priest at St. Anne's Church in Turton, Lancashire from 1627 to 1631. The following is a list of “Incumbents at Turton” from the St. Anne's web site:
      Incumbents of Turton
      1596 Gilbert Astley/Aston
      1610 "Well supplied with ministers"
      1627 Richard Denton M.A.
      1632 Mr Boden
      Walter Krum in his "Descendants of the Rev. Richard Denton," (The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, 120 [1989]: 10-17, 94-97, 160-163; 121 [1990]: 221-225) states:
      It is possible to reconstruct much of Denton's immediate family from English records. As a subsidized university student he was almost certainly unmarried when he was graduated from Catharine's Hall, Cambridge in 1623/4. The next mention of him, found in the baptismal record of his son in July, 1627, identifies him as "preacher at Turton," a small chapelry in Bolton Priory, Lancashire. This suggests that he married c. 1625 (no record has been found) and that his son was born a year or so later. St. Peter's Parish Church, Bolton, has only these two Denton entries (Lancashire Parish Register Society Publications 50:107, 114) [emphasis added.]:
      "Tymothie Denton, son of Mr. Denton, preacher at Turton baptised 23 July [1627]."
      "Nathaniell Denton of Turton, son of Mr. Denton baptised 9 March [1629]."
      Marriage. While Walter Krum did not find any record of Reverend Denton's marriage, four records of men named Richard Denton marrying in Yorkshire in 1625 and 1626 do exist.
      The first indicates that “Richus” (Richard) Denton married Maria Duerden in Halifax, Yorkshire on January 21, 1626 (using the Gregorian calendar). The surname “Duerden” was variously spelled as Durden, Dearden and Deurden. A Maria Durden was baptised in Heptonstall, St. Anne's Church, Turton, Yorkshire about 5 miles west of Halifax, on 14 Oct 1604. This Maria Durden/Duerden's father's name was Thomas. A Thomas Duerden is also shown in the Clergy of the Church of England Database (CCEd) as a Curate in Rochdale, Lancashire in 1592. Rochdale is about 15 miles from both Heptonstall where Maria was baptised and Bolton where Rev. Denton became a Curate by 1627. Rochdale is also in an area that, at various times, has been part of the counties of West Riding, Yorkshire and Lancashire. In fact, the Church of England describes Rochdale as being in the county of “Lancashire, West Riding, Yorkshire.” Two more daughters of Thomas Duerden were baptised in Heptonstall, Sara on 1 April 1607 and Grace on 20 January 1610. The CCEd comments about Rev. Thomas Duerden say: "Clasisified in 1592 amongst 'no graduates, but preachers, honest men'.”
      There is also some evidence that the Heptonstall, Halifax Denton and Durden families knew each other. An Agnes Dentone was married to Robert Durden in Halifax in June, 1572. In addition, a Richard Duerden was baptised in Halifax on 10 January 1601/2 to a father named Richard in Sowerby which is only a mile or two from Warley where Rev. Denton was born. This Richard Duerden would have been Rev. Denton's age, they may have known each other and, perhaps, even attended Heath Grammar School together. This young Richard may also have been Maria Duerden's cousin. And, a Richard Dearden (perhaps young Richard Duerden's father) was a Governor of the Heath Grammar School (1624-26) in Halifax which Rev. Denton had likely attended before leaving for Cambridge in 1621. Heath Grammar School: A Popular History of the Grammar School of Queen Elizabeth, at Heath, Thomas Cox (1879), p. 121.
      A second marriage record indicates that a Richardi Denton (who died 23 Mar 1653/4 in Normanton) married an Editha Oatly on June 29, 1625 in Wragby, Yorkshire, but I could find no record of her birth. There are records, however, for the birth of a son named Richard on 25 Nov 1627 in Normanton, Yorkshire and another son named William on 23 Dec 1631 in Normanton.
      A third record indicates that a Richard Denton married Margaret Patterson in Costessey, Norfolk in July, 1626. A Margaret Patterson was baptised October 11, 1601 in Gressenhall, Norfolk to Jon Patterson. Records indicate, however, that this Richard Denton died in Feltwell, Norfolk on 12 Dec 1626.
      A fourth record appears in The Registers of the Parish Church of Adel in the County of York, George Lumb (1895). That entry on page 22 reads as follows: “Mariages in the yeare 1625. May 11. Richard Denton maried Susanna Coates, they being both of this pish.” The entry for this marriage on FreeReg.org indicates that Susanna Coates was a “servant to the Parson of Adle [sic]” and the church was named St. John the Baptist. Adel is a village about 14 miles northeast of Halifax, Yorkshire and is now a suburb of Leeds. (See maps infra.)
      While the Adel Parish Registers say Susanna Coates was "of this parish," there are also records for two Susanna/Susan Coates baptised in England around that time. A Susanna Coates was baptised December 30, 1593 in Fulborn, Cambridgeshire to Christofer Coates and a Susan Coates was baptised August 19, 1604 in Petworth, Sussex to Radulphj [sic] Coates. In addition, the baptism records for St. John the Baptist Church in Halifax include two children of a Richard Denton from Adel: George baptised 26 Mar 1626 and Mary baptised 1 Aug 1629.
      The marriage of Reverend Richard Denton in the 1625-26 time frame would fit neatly with his graduation from Cambridge in 1624 and the birth of Reverend Denton's first son in 1627. Earlier in the 1620's, other Richard Denton's married:
      1. Jana Nicoll (bp. 30 Nov 1589 in Huddersfield) at St. Peter in Huddersfield, Yorkshire in 1620,
      2. Sara Hall (bp. 7 Dec 1600 in Mirfield) at St. Mary in Mirfield, Yorkshire in 1621 and
      3. Bridget Hancock (bp.1602 in Worcestershire) in London in 1622.
      Records for those marriages also appear at the end of this document.
      Helen Windebank. A record does exist for the marriage of a Richard Denton to a Helen Windebank on 16 Nov 1612 at Southwark, St. Saviour in Surrey, England (near London). (That record is included at the end of this document.) Since searches do not reveal other records for a “Helen” Windebank, this “Helen” is likely “Ellen Windebank,” baptised on 5 February 1593 in Hurst, Berkshire and the daughter of a Thomas Windebank. See A History of the Parish of Hurst in Berkshire, Rev. John Wimberley (1937). If this Helen or Ellen had married Reverend Denton in 1612, why was their first child not born until fifteen years later, in 1627? And, why would Reverend Denton start college at Cambridge nine years after their marriage?
      In addition, searches reveal only one other Helen or Ellen Windebank who was baptized in England between 1583 and 1603. Her name was “Ellyn Windebanke” and she was baptized on 1 Feb 1597 (perhaps 1598 under the Gregorian calendar) in Cornwall, about as far from Yorkshire as one could get.
      Given there were eight Richard Denton's baptised in England between 1588 and 1593 alone, Rev. Denton was not the only Richard Denton Helen or Ellen could have chosen to marry. If one were to believe Reverend Richard Denton had been born earlier in the 1590's and had been married between 1610 and 1620, three Richard Dentons married three other women during that period:
      1. Grace Mawde (bp. 12 Dec 1591 in Halifax) in 1612 in Elland, Yorkshire,
      2. Eleanor Guy in 1615 in Southwark, St. Saviour, Surrey and
      3. Susan Bouthoumley (bp. 1592, 1595 or 1598 in Elland) in 1618 in Elland, Yorkshire.
      Records for those marriages also appear at the end of this document.
      Marriages Summary. In light of the foregoing evidence, the most logical conclusion would be that Reverend Richard Denton married Maria Duerden in 1626. And, a marriage at a Yorkshire church in 1625 or 1626 shortly after Rev. Denton graduated from Cambridge in 1623/4 and then worked on his Masters degree, coupled with the birth of his (their) first child in 1627, simply makes the most logical sense in light of the evidence available, as suggested by Walter Krumm, supra.
      Which Richard Denton was the Reverend? There were four Richard Dentons born in Yorkshire between 1595 and 1601 who may have been the Reverend Richard Denton. The Richard Denton born in Fishlake in 1599 was the only Richard born in Fishlake between 1520 and 1640 except for a Richard Denton born to a Richard Denton on 4 Mar 1632. (There were fewer than 30 baptisms in Fishlake between 1600 and 1640.) It seems likely that the Richard born in 1632 was the son of the Richard born in 1599 which makes it unlikely this Richard Denton was the Reverend.
      A “Rychard” Denton married Jane Greenold in Royston, Yorkshire in 1624. There was then a John Denton born in Royston in 1628 to a father also named “Rychard” Denton. If this “Rychard” Denton was the "Ric. Denton" baptised in Royston on 18 Apr 1596 then it is unlikely this Rychard or Ric was the Reverend Denton.
      There was a Richard Denton baptised at St. John the Baptist in Halifax on 29 June 1595. There was also a marriage of Rich Denton to Susan Bouthoumley in Elland, Halifax in 1618 and the birth of a Jana Denton to a Richard Denton in Elland on 25 July 1624. In addition, if this Richard were the Reverend, he would have been 29 years old at the time of his ordination in the summer of 1624. That age would have put him 6 years past the age (23) at which Anglican priests were "almost invariably" ordained.
      Finally, there was a Richard Denton (the son of Henry Denton) baptised in Halifax on 19 April 1601. If this Richard was the Reverend, he would have been 23 years old if he was ordained in June 1624. Because church records were not always accurate, it is likely that the year shown in the CCEd database for his ordination (1623) is wrong. After all, the Church database suggests he was ordained a priest before he had graduated from Cambridge and before he had been a deacon for a year, contrary to Canon Law. And, while the Church database noted Rev. Denton's qualification to be a deacon as “literate,” it did not give that same qualification for becoming a priest only three months later. Also, while Rev. Richard Denton is noted on the St. Anne's, Turton web site as being a preacher there in 1627, the Church of England's database states his appointment to Turton and his graduation from Cambridge were both on 7 March 1628 (1629 Gregorian). And, the Church of England database erroneously lists Rev. Richard Denton's appointment as Curate at Coley under the name Roger Denton in 1633 (1634 Gregorian) although Rev. Richard Denton was at Coley by 1631. Correcting the year Rev. Denton was ordained a priest to 1624 gives a more natural progression of his career and a progression that complies with Canonical and Parliamentary law: (1) matriculation at Cambridge in 1621, (2) ordination as a deacon in March, 1623, (3) graduation from Cambridge in January, 1624, (4) 23rd birthday on 19 April, 1624 and (5) ordination as a priest in June, 1624 at age 23 and one year after becoming a deacon.
      Coley. After serving at St. Anne's Church in Turton, Rev. Denton became the minister at Coley Chapel in 1631. Coley is several miles northeast of Halifax. The Church of England records (which erroneously show his given name as Roger) state that he was appointed Curate at Coley on 5 February 1633 (1634 under the Gregorian calendar). Rev. Denton and his family lived nearby at Priestly Green. While at Coley. Rev. Denton and his wife had five more children. Three of those children are listed in the Descendants of the Rev. Richard Denton, by Walter C. Krumm in The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, 120[1989]:10-17, 94-97, 160-163; 121[1990]:221-225:
      The next baptisms show that by 1631 the family had moved to Coley Chapel in Halifax Parish, Yorkshire, 25 miles east of Bolton (records compiled and anglicized by the West Yorkshire Archive Service):
      Samuel, son of Richard Denton, Minister of Coley, 29 May, 1631
      Daniel, son of Richard Denton, Curate of Coley, 10 July 1632
      Phoebe, dau. of Richard Denton, minister of Coley, 30 Nov. 1634
      But Walter Krum missed two more children of Rev. Denton:
      Peter who was baptised on 6 January 1637 (Gregorian calendar) at Coley, and
      Mary who was baptised on 21 June 1638 at Hipperholme, a chapel only about a mile from Coley.
      Copies of the Halifax Bishop's transcripts for those baptisms appear at the end of this memo.
      The Reverend Oliver Heywood (1630-1702) later succeeded Reverend Denton at the Coley church in about 1651. Rev. Heywood stated that Reverend Richard Denton was the Curate at St. John the Baptist Church, Coley, Yorkshire for about 7 years, at which time he emigrated to New England. Rev. Heywood's substantially contemporaneous recollection would place Rev. Denton and his family at Coley from 1631 to about 1638. See The Rev Oliver Heywood, His Autobiography, Diaries, Anecdote and Event Books, Vol IV, Horsfall Turner (ed.) (1885), pp. 11-12.
      Emigration. While some authors have asserted that Rev. Denton had migrated to Watertown, Massachusetts and Wethersfield by 1635, those assertions have been made without citing evidence and are unlikely. For example, Sherman W. Adams, a contributing author to Henry R. Stiles' 1904 book The History of Ancient Wethersfield, Connecticut, Vol. 1, took conflicting positions about Rev. Denton's arrival date in Wethersfield. On pages 20-21, Sherman claimed that Rev. Denton was with six other men who went from Watertown to Wethersfield on May 29, 1635. But on pages 135-136 Sherman said that Rev. Denton “came from Watertown, Mass., in 1638.” And, he noted it was strange that his name did not appear along with six other Wethersfield founders on a Court document dated April 26, 1636 authorizing the formation of a church in Wethersfield.
      We know, however, that Rev. Denton's daughter Mary was baptised at Hipperholme (only about a mile from Coley) in June of 1638 with his occupation as “minister” noted at the end of that baptism entry. And, we know that Reverend Heywood wrote that Rev. Denton remained at Coley in Yorkshire until about 1638 (the same date adopted by Venn in his Alumni Cantabrigienses, Part I, Vol II, (1922)). Rev. Denton's migration to New England was likely prompted by the appointment of Richard Marsh as the new Vicar of Halifax in April of 1638 and the re-imposition of preReformation Church of England liturgical practices. See “Century of Revolution,” Halifax Minster. In fact, Rev. Oliver Heywood who succeeded Rev. Denton at Coley in about 1651 said:
      Mr. Denton ... was a good minister of Jesus Christ, affluent in his worldly circumstances, and had several children. He continued here about seven years; times were sharp, the bishops being in their height. In his time came out the book for sports on the Sabbath days. He saw he could not do what was required, feared further persecution, and therefore took the opportunity of going into New England. He returned to Old England about 1659, and lived and died in Essex. In his time the chapel at Coley was enlarged." Memoirs of the Rev. Oliver Heywood, B.A., Rev. Richard Slate (1827) , p. 20.
      We also know that Rev. Denton's name does not appear on the passenger lists for the many ships sailing from England to America in the 1630's. See the Pilgrim Ship Lists Early 1600's. Most of those passenger lists for the late 1630's are for journeys from London, Southampton and Bristol. And the number of those lists available becomes smaller and smaller from about 1636 forward. But there was another port closer to Coley at Hull, Yorkshire and only about 70 miles away from Coley. Another Yorkshire minister named Ezekiel Rogers from Rowley reportedly organized a fleet of eight to eleven ships from Hull to Massachusetts in 1638. The English Ancestry of Richard Belden of Wethersfield, Connecticut, Paul Reed and John Sharp, in The American Genealogist (2001), p. 20. But, again, the passenger lists for those ships are not yet available, presuming they still exist.
      Reverend John Sherman was one of the six members of the Watertown church who founded the Wethersfield church in April 1636 where he was the minister until he moved to Milford, New Haven between November 1639 and May, 1640. The History of Ancient Wethersfield, Connecticut, Vol. 1, Henry Stiles (1904), p. 135. In 1638, Reverend Denton became the seventhmember of the Wethersfield church as noted by Henry Stiles, ibid., p. 136: “This seventh member may have been the Rev. Richard Denton, who came from Watertown Mass., in 1638.” The distinction between the original six members of the Wethersfield church who had come from Watertown in 1636 and the later seven members was also noted by Rev. E.B. Huntington in his History of Stamford, Connecticut (1868) at p. 14 where he said “"The church at Wethersfield had only seven voting members, six who had come from Watertown, and one who had joined them.”
      Because Rev. Denton's daughter Mary was baptised in Halifax in June of 1638, Rev. Denton and his family must have spent very little time in Watertown, if any at all. In fact, there is no record Rev. Denton was made a “freeman” (a church member and voter) in Watertown.
      When Rev. Denton and his family arrived in Wethersfield in 1638, the church was in the midst of a dispute among its members. That dispute ultimately led to a split, with many Wethersfield families (including Rev. Denton's) arranging in November of 1640 to purchase land from New Haven which they later named Stamford. Rev. Denton did receive a deed on April 10, 1640 for 15 acres of land in Wethersfield. The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, 1636-1776, (Hartford 1850-1890) Vol 1, p. 63. The move to Stamford occurred in the summer of 1641. History of Stamford, Connecticut, ibid.
      But by 1644, Rev. Denton, his family and many of his parishioners were on the move again, this time to Hempstead on Long Island. In 1647 the original settlers of Hempstead created a written record of their original 1644 allotments of land which included a list with the names of those settlers. Rev. Denton was on that list along with his sons Nathaniel, Daniel and Samuel. His son Peter was not included because he had died in 1637, six months after his birth. But a new son, named Richard Denton, Junior was included. The Early History of Hempstead, Long Island, Charles Moore (1878), pp. 6-8.
      Richard Denton, Jr. does not appear on any of the original Bishop's Transcripts of baptisms in Halifax between 1624 and 1640, nor does he appear among the baptisms in Lancashire from 1611 to 1635. Although the earliest baptism recorded in Stamford was for Jonathan Bell in September 1640-41, there are no baptisms recorded for any Dentons in Stamford. History of Stamford, Connecticut, Huntington (1868), p. 155 et seq. Nevertheless, Richard, Jr. does appear on the list of Hempstead settlers in 1644. The only other location Richard Denton, Jr. might have been born would have been Wethersfield. Unfortunately, none of those Wethersfield records remain:
      The total absence of any church records during the first sixty-two years of its existence leaves us in complete ignorance of Wethersfield's religious history during that period... The History of Ancient Wethersfield, Connecticut, Vol. 1, supra, p.135.
      In 1656, Nathaniel (b.1628/9) and Daniel (b.1632) Denton are both shown on a certificate for the purchase of Jamaica on Long Island. But Samuel (b.1631) and Richard, Jr. remained in Hempstead after their parents returned to England in 1658. Then, in 1685 Samuel is shown as owning 240 acres while Richard, Jr. is shown as owning only 50 acres. Richard, Junior's smaller land holdings suggest he may have been the younger brother. History of Long Island, Thompson, Vol 2, 3rd ed., (1918), pp. 494, 584. Given this evidence, it seems most likely that Richard Denton, Jr. was born in Wethersfield circa 1640.
      The full list of Reverend Richard Denton's children f