John Warner of the "Increase"

John Warner

Hartford, 1636; Farmington, 1648

It is possible that there is no more confused character in early New England genealogy, than that of John Warner of the "Increase". In absence of fact, there is a sense of urgency to provide what is absent through words such as "probably" and "perhaps", and phrases such as "this could be". Unfortunately, these words are often dropped when the anxious researcher quotes the original sources.

The emergence at a later date of one of these missing facts, should cause the entire fallacy to fall, like the foundation block of a child's tower being removed. A more accurate analogy would be that of the newspaper which misprints a fact on page one of section "A", and corrects the mistake in fine print on page 27 "J". In our case, the fact which has emerged, is that of the identity of John Warner, commonly known as "of Farmington", as one and the same with John Warner "of the Increase". The fact came to light as a result of a hand-written document which can still be found in the archives of the Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Connecticut. Comparison of the text with a typed document found in the collection at the Daughters of the American Revolution Library in Washington D.C., shows that the hand-written document in the CHS manuscript collection is a later version of the same, which is listed as the work of "James Alfred Warner, of Brooklyn, NY from 1924 to 1927, and of West Simsbury, CT from 1927 to 1945. I here take the liberty of quoting the section of revelation from the CHS manuscript, page 1:

quote

Arrives in New England

Hottens list of emigrants to America period 1600 to 1700, gives a list of passengers credited to the ship "Increase", Robert Lea, Master, sailing from London, Eng. spring of 1635. On this list appears the name of John Warner, 20, also the individual names of several families, among them that of Symon Stone, wife Joan, and 5 children, Symon Ayres, wife Dorothy and 8 children, and Mathew Marvyn, wife Elizabeth and 5 children.

Next following the name of the youngest Marvyn child and included in same group with that family are the names of "Jo Warner" 20, and "Isack More" 13, evidently two boys sponsored by the Marvyn's. In after years a grand-daughter of Isaac's married a Marvyn descendant.

Mathew Marvyn settled in Hartford and in 1637 his elder brother Reinhold came over and also settled in Hartford. In 1648, John Warner sold his property in Hartford, and bought a "New House", a home lot and other lands in Farmington, of Reinold Marvin, who the account says "was a fellow passenger with John on the Increase".

end quote

(Gar-Note: The documented sited may be found on microfilm in the State of Connecticut Library, Hartford, CT. It actually indicates that a witness to the transaction was "a fellow passenger on the Increase". land records Vol 16, page 136)

A brief timeline of John Warner, as extracted from Mr. James Alfred Warner's wonderfully researched account:

spring of 1635 - leaves England aboard "Increase"
Feb 28, 1636 - listed among the 106 townsmen of Watertown, along with Symon Stone, Simone Eire, and Joseph Mosse, all fellow passengers of the Increase.
1636 - John Warner granted 7 acres of plowland at "Beverbroke"
summer 1636 - 40 inhabitants of Cambridge and area are granted permission to found Hartford, among them Simon Eire, Isack More, and John Warner.
May 1637 - Pequot War ordered - John is among the 37 men levied from Hartford.
Feb 1639 - 3 parcels of land in Hartford, including a house "Lot 64" on the north side of Little River, near what is now Main Street, are recorded as belonging to John Warner.
1648 - John buys land in Farmington from Reinhold Marvyn.
October 13, 1652 - first church established in Farmington
March 15, 1656 - John takes covenant at Farmington church, his daughter Sarah baptized that day
May 16, 1658 - "Daniel and Thomas, children of John Warner, which were not 13 years old when their father did enter the covenant, were baptized."
October 1671 - The General Court grants John Warner and Thomas Barnes of Farmington 50 acres of land each for their services as Pequot soldiers. Some time later, John gave his 50 acres to his son-in-law, William Higginson.
1674 - John granted land in Mattetuck, but died before removing there.
March 1678/9 - Thomas(2), John(2), and Daniel(2), sons of John(1) were granted lots in Mattetuck when the plantation was authorized. (lots 23, 18, and 20 respectively).
1679 - John dies in Farmington. His will, filed in 1680, names his children John, Daniel, Thomas, and Sarah, as well as his wife, Margaret.

Now, the duty befalls us, with these facts revealed, to begin to correct some of the many errors about this man.

First, let us lay to rest, that this is not the John Warner who married Ann Norton.

The marriage of John Warner to Ann Norton, in Hartford, occurred on June 28, 1649. This was no doubt, John(2) son of Andrew (1). In 1656, John "of Farmington" is found with at least three children standing in church in Farmington. Daniel and Thomas are presumed by the statement above to have passed the age of 13 by 1648, but to not have been 13 in 1656. This would place their births between 1643 and 1645. During these times, John and Ann "of Saybrook" were busy in their own city bearing children there.

Some of the places which give misguidance are: Genealogical and Family History of the State of Connecticut (1911), pg. 746 -- which refers to John Warner "who sailed in the ship 'Increase' in 1635" and "performed service in the Pequot war", as the one that "In 1649 he married (second) Ann, daughter of Thomas Norton, of Guilford."

Memorial History of Hartford, CT" -- which says John married Ann Norton, of Guilford, in Hartford. (received by email 10MAR92 from Don Weymouth)

Barbour's Families of Early Hartford, CT -- (reprinted 1977) , pg. 632 -- John Warner died 1679, mar/1 (?), Mar/2, 1649 Ann Norton dau of Thomas Norton of Guilford. Mar/3 Margaret."

Elisha S. and Lavina (Locke) Andrus: Their Ancestors and Descendantspg. 147-8 -- "John Warner d.1679 Farmington, Connecticut; the name of his first wife is unknown; the second, whom he m. 28 June 1649 was Ann(a) NORTON, daughter of Thomas NORTON of Guilford . . . yet there is some evidence of John's having a third wife, Margaret, who survived him." -- (Gar-Note: Yes, a WILL naming his wife is "some evidence", I suppose!)

The other great controversy in print -- those scoundrels in Rhode Island, who have "Stolen" John Warner "of the Increase"!

The Descendants of Andrew Warner by Lucien Warner & Mrs. Josephine Nichols (1919), pg 6 -- I quote: "Another was John Warner, who came on the ship 'Increase' in 1635, and settled in Providence, R.I., in or before 1637, at which time he signed a "Compact" in that place. Later he went back to England with his family, but his son John returned to Rhode Island in 1655. . . . . The fourth (immigrant) was John Warner, who appears among the original proprietors of Hartford in 1639 and later was one of the original settlers of the town of Farmington"