David Atwater

   Find a Grave ID: 29919757.

  General Notes:

The background on their immigration is probably typical in the history of the times. David's father, a warden of the church at Lenham, died within six months of his wife in the midst of the "eleven years tyranny' of Charles I and the purging of Puritans from the Church of England by Archbishop of Canterbury William Laud. Ashford, which was named in letters to the King on several occasions by William Laud as a hotbed of Puritan activity, lies about nine miles from Lenham. While Lenham is not mentioned specifically, it is evident that the children of John Atwater were 'infected' by Puritanism, and with the death of their parents in 1636/7, it behoved them to leave the country for the New World and a chance to practice their religion.

Lenham is a town and parish in Mid-Kent, between Maidstone and Ashford, deriving it's name from the river Len and Ham, which signifies a town. The parish registers of St. Mary's, the old church of Lenham, record the baptisms of David, Joshua, and Ann, the baptism of their father, their parents marriage, and their parents burials. The wills of their ancestors stipulate burial in the churchyard of Lenham church.

'Royton' is a district in the parish of Lenham. The name applies to a section of the parish which had an organization of its own in ealry times, and a market regularly held within or near its limits. Royton is mentioned as early as 1259, when Simon Fitzadam was in possession of the manor of Royton. His successor was Robert de Royton, who took his surname from this place. The manor was purchased by Robert Atwater early in the reign of Henry VIII and it was in the possession of his descendants through his daughter for several centuries. In 1901, in the year of the writing of Atwater's History, Royton Manor was somewhat of a tourist attraction in Kent. In 1968 it was listed as an English Heritage Building and today has been totally refurbished into a beautiful country home.

While it's never been clearly established when David emigrated, it was very possible that he arrived in Boston in June of 1637 with his brother and sister. Shortly thereafter David settled, and became one of the first proprietors of New Haven, Connecticut. A 1641 map of New Haven shows a town lot assigned to David Atwater. He appears on the records of New Haven several times, but most notably in 1685 when he is on a list of the names of the Proprietors of New Haven and "besides the town assigned to him, as to each of the original settlers, the plantation assigned to David Atwater in the original division of lands among the planters was in the Neck, between Mill and Quinnipack rivers, at the north side of what is now the city of New Haven." (Atwater, page 55.) The farm, then called East Farm, is now Cedar Hill, a neighborhood of New Haven. (Wikipedia.)

David married Damaris Sayre March 10, 1647/48 and together they had ten children living out their life at Cedar Hill. Some believe that he is buried on his farm at Cedar Hill, but it is more likely that he was buried in the Center Church on the Green Churchyard. See his Find A Grave Memorial# 29919757 for more information about this churchyard. ^732,820

  Research Notes:

Evidently it was his brother Joshua who was in the advance party of seven who spent the winter of 1637-8 at Quinnepiack, having been led there in the fall by Theophilus Eaton to explore the possibilities of establishing a settlement there.

http://billives.typepad.com/ives_family_history_blog/2007/04/thomas_atwater_.html for more information on the Atwater lineage.

  Events

• Burial: Center Church on the Green Churchyard, 1692, New Haven, Connecticut. Find A Grave Memorial# 29919757

David married Damaris Sayre, daughter of Thomas Sayre and Margaret Aldrich, 10 Mar 1646/47 in New Haven, Connecticut. (Damaris Sayre was born in 1625 in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England, died 1 Apr 1691 in New Haven, Connecticut and was buried in New Haven, Connecticut.)