Notes
Note H432
Index
OLMSTEAD.
Olmstead is an ancient and honorable English surname, derived from the name of a place, as indicated by the etymology of the word. All of the early New England families of the name are descended from the immigrant, James Olmstead, or his nephew, Richard Olmstead. The name was spelled variously, Olmstead, Olmsted, Homestead, Holmstead, Homsted, etc.
James Olmstead, the first of the family in America, was born in England, and came to Boston on the ship "Lion," embarking June 22, 1632, and landing September 16, 1632. He settled at Cambridge where he was admitted a freeman, November 6, 1632, he was one of the proprietors of the town of Cambridge in 1633 and constable in 1634. In 1636 he went with the colony from Massachusetts Bay, and was one of the original settlers and proprietors at Cambridge, Connecticut. His residence at Cambridge was near the site of the famous old Wadsworth House on Harvard Street. He died, September 18, 1640, at Hartford, and bequeathed fifty pounds to the Hartford Church. Children: 1. Nichols, born in England, about 1615. 2. Nehemiah, of Hartford, in 1649. Nephews: Richard, mentioned below; John, settled at Norwich, left no issue.
(I) Richard Olmstead, nephew of James Olmstead, was born about 1609. He was with his uncle one of the original proprietors of Hartford, Connecticut, in 1639. In 1651 he moved to Norwalk, Connecticut, where he became one of the most respected and honored men. With other men from Hartford, he was a purchaser of the township from Roger Ludlow, Esq., of Fairfield, June 19, 1650, and he was first in the town in military command. In the records of Norwalk his name has the oldest date. He was the surveyor for the new town, and the first street to be laid out by him seems to have been Town Street, which extended from Beacham's lane to the crest of Goodman Hoyt's hill, and on this street all of the early planters built. His house was about halfway between the street's extremes. Before the founding of the town, his name, with those of James, Nicholas and John Olmstead., was on the list "of all persons holding land in Hartford, in February, 1639," and in 1650 he signed his name on the petition for the planting of Norwalk; his name was the third mentioned in the governor and company's patent to the Norwalk proprietors, and he received four acres as a home lot, on the east side of Town Street. He served in several public offices, and was the first town clerk for Norwalk. He was forty-two years of age when he came to Norwalk, with his two sons, James and John. In 1653 he was representative to the general assembly, May session, and also served in twelve more sessions until 1679. He also served as commissioner of the peace, or town judge. He married twice, according to his will, which was dated September 5, 1684. He died, probably in 1680, surviving both wives. Children by first wife: 1. James, 2. John, mentioned below, 3. Daughter, died young
(II) Lieutenant John Olmstead, son of Richard Olmstead, was a small child when his father moved to Norwalk, and doubtless under two years of age. He was baptized December 30, 1649. He married, November 11, 1670, Mary, daughter of Thomas Benedict. Children: 1. John. 2. Mary. 3. Sarah, married Jonathan Abbott. 4. Rebecca, married Samuel St. John 5. Daniel., mentioned below. 6. Jane, married Benjamin Wilson. 7. Richard. 8. Eunice. 9. Deborah.
(III) Daniel son of Lieutenant John Olmstead, with Richard Olmstead and others of Norwalk and Milford, Connecticut, bought the township of Ridgefield, September 30, 1708, from Catoonah, sachem of the Ramapoo Indians of the State of New York, paying one hundred pounds for twenty thousand acres. Both he and his brother moved to that place. He married Hannah Ketchum, of Norwalk, May 9, 1711. Children: 1. Daniel, born February 9, 1712. 2. Samuel, mentioned below. 3. Nathan, march 7, 1716. 4. Ambrose, May 9, 1719. 5. Hannah, July 16, 1721. 6. Jonathan, December 8, 1723. 7. Elizabeth, February 3, 1727. 8. Ezekiel, 1720.
(IV) Samuel son of Daniel Olmstead, was born March 27, 1715, died June 10, 1788. He married, April 15, 1737, Abiah, born March 7, 1716, daughter of Ebenezer
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and Sarah Smith,. She died April 30, 1796, of cancer, aged eighty years. He was seventy-four years of age when he died. Children: 1. Daniel, born June 7, 1738. 2. Abiah, January 19, 1739. 3. Sarah, 1744. 4. Samuel, October 29, 1746. 5. Ebenezer, 1748. 6. Hannah, January 8, 1750. 7. Jared, mentioned below.
(V) Jared, son of Samuel Olmstead, was born July 1, 1753, died May 28, 1825. In the Connecticut Historical Society Collections, page 195, vol. VIII, record is given of his service in the Revolution, as ensign in Captain Davis Olmstead's company, Colonel Nehemiah Bardsley's regiment, Fairfield, 1779. The first federal census, 1790, shows that he as living at Ridgefield, Connecticut. The Olmstead family was very numerous at that time. He married, November 30, 1772, Hannah, born May 10, 1753, died February 28, 1826, daughter of Gideon and Rachael Betts, of Ridgefield,. Children: 1. Lewis, mentioned below. 2. Nathan, born April 1, 1776. 3. Jonas, January 31, 1778. 4. Hannah, March 3, 1780. 5. Betsey, March 3, 1782. 6. Sally, May 21, 1784. 7. Polly, May 21, 1780. 8. Rachel, march 18, 1788. 9. Lucy, April 24, 1790. 10. Jared, February 14, 1793. 11. Hiram, May 28, 1795.
(VI) Lewis, son of Jared Olmstead, was born March 19, 1774, died Otego, New York, November 9, 1847. He married 1794, Sarah, daughter of Trowbridge and Sarah Bennett, of Ridgefield; she died April 23, 1855, at Otego, New York. Children: 1. Philo, mentioned below. 2. Lucy, born July 14, 1797. 3. Rosanna, February 28, 1800. 4. Betsey D., December 7, 1801. 5. Anna L., October 14, 1804. 6. Carlisle, September 9, 1807. 7. Orrin L., October 14, 1809. 8. Jared, August 19, 1811. 9, Sarah, June 28, 1814. 10. William B., September 7, 1816. 11. Jonas, December 19, 1818. 12. Lucy M., July 13, 1821.
(VII) Philo, son of Lewis Olmstead, was born November 11, 1795, in Ridgefield, Connecticut. He as educated in the district schools and when a young man of twenty-one came to Meredith, New York, where he bought a farm and besides making agriculture his occupation followed the trade of blacksmith. He later removed to Delhi and from there to Walton, but during his last years he lived at Hancock, New York, where he died in 1874. He married, March 9, 1817, Phoebe Gray. Children: 1. Deborah Ann, born 1818, died young. 2. David Gray, July 20, 1819, died August 11, 1846. 3. Hiram, mentioned below,. 4. Sarah, April 26, 1823.
(VIII) Hiram, son of Philo Olmstead, was born at Meredith, New York, February 20, 1821, died in 1896. He received his early education in the public schools and was graduated from the Academy of Delhi. During his boyhood he worked on his father's farm when not in school. Later he was a surveyor and a teacher. From the time of his marriage until his death he conducted a farm in the town of Walton, Delaware county, New York. In politics he was a Republican, and in religion he was a Congregationalist. He married, in 1848, Sarah Elizabeth, daughter of Levi Hanford, a farmer of Walton, with whom they made their home. Her father was born in 1792 in Fairfield, Connecticut, of an old family, the early generations of which are given elsewhere in this work. When he was sixteen years old he came to Walton with his father who bought a farm there, and when he came of age his father divided the farm with him. To this land he added more by purchase and he cultivated his place until the time of his death in 1888. He married a distant relative, Cynthia, daughter of Samuel Hanford, also a farmer in Walton. Levi and Cynthia had children: 1. George M., born in 1818. 2. Sarah Elizabeth, 1827. 3. Mary Stevenson, 1833. Children of Hiram and Sarah Elizabeth Olmstead: 1. Mary, born 1850. 2. Charles, 1853. 3. John, 1856. 4. Henry, 1864. 5. Julian Hanford, 1868. 6. Sarah Elizabeth, widow of Hiram Olmstead, resides at Walton (1912).