Although I find the census exciting and can spend hours exploring and talking about them I realize they can be tedious to some people - so I won't bore you with my census research (too much anyway).
Over the past two decades I gathered and compiled information on the early Oviatt families in Connecticut and the surrounding states. My research is recorded in my genealogy software starting with Thomas Oviatt born in 1626. I believe our Oviatt line is connected with the first Oviatt families of Connecticut since John P. Oviatt was born in Connecticut and migrated a few miles north into Massachusetts. Connecticut was the hub of the first Oviatt families.
Along with bits and pieces of valuable information and facts I have also encountered stories – stories that raise more questions than offer answers. With any research it is important to weigh the information presented. In 1916 Charles H. Oviatt writes an example of this. In an attempt to explain the origin of the Oviatt name he connects the emigrant John Uffitt and Thomas Uffitt with Thomas Oviatt. There are ship records that show the latter Uffitt emigrant sailed from London on June 30, 1632 and once in the new country joined the outspoken Reverend Hooker. He cites that in 1635 and 1636 Mr. Oviatt was a part of an exploration and founding of Springfield. Quite possibly his reference was to Thomas Uffitt and not Thomas Oviatt. He continues by stating that in 1639 Thomas joined the newly organized town of Milford, Connecticut where his relatives, the Bryan’s and Baldwin’s lived. He states that the son of Thomas Oviatt also named Thomas married but died childless. According to the recount by Charles H. Oviatt all of the early Oviatt families are derived from Thomas’s son John. He also mentions the connection to Bryan’s, a wealthy and prolific family. There are records showing that Thomas Uffitt married Isabelle Bryan in England but this should not be confused with Thomas Oviatt, b 1626 in Tring, Hertfordshire, England who was married to Frances Bryan and immigrated to the United States and died in Milford, Connecticut in 1691.
The emigrant ancestor Thomas Oviatt was born about 1626 -Christened 16 July 1626 - at Tring, Hertfordshire, England, to Thomas and Alice Bryan. They had long desired to immigrate to America to join his relatives. Alice Bryan, mother of Thomas Oviatt, was a sister to Alexander Bryan, of Milford, Connecticut. They were the children of Thomas Bryan and his second wife Francis Bowling.
What must life have been like for Thomas and Frances – why did they immigrate to the new world? Their country was in a state of economic, political, and religious tumult, and they saw great potential in the New World. They were displeased with the Catholic Church and all of England, so they came to the Colonies to start anew, and create what was, in their eyes, the perfect society. James I, who believed in the divine right of kings, thought he was allowed to disobey Parliament because he answered to no one but God. He started a conflict that finally sparked a civil war lasting seven years, during which time the government unsympathetically persecuted its citizens, driving many of them out of the country. Religious warfare had become extremely gory, and the amount of bloodshed was immense, simply because of each side's belief that any killing of the enemy was good since God was on their side. People did not know where to turn, and began looking toward the North American Colonies.
Thomas and Frances Bryan Oviatt finally immigrated to America. Because of their relationship to the Bryan’s, they may have taken a ship to the West Indies, as many immigrating to America did, there to await a ship of Alexander Bryan, Thomas's uncle who was a very wealthy ship owner of Milford, Connecticut running ships to and from the Indies.
Thomas and Francis's eight children were all born in Milford, Connecticut where they settled: John, Ester, Amy, Frances, Samuel, Abigail, Thomas and Dorothy.
Records state that Thomas was one of the wealthiest citizens of his day. On 15 September 1665 he witnessed a treaty between Ockenuga, a Sagamore Indian, and Richard Baldwin of Milford. Thomas visited England again, for on a return trip he brought a letter dated 30 August 1684 from a Mrs. Susanna Garment to relatives in Milford. This letter is now in an antiquarian collection in Connecticut. Thomas must have visited his father or arrived shortly after his death in England. In 1686 there was a record of a widow Oviatt in the area and Sylvester Baldwin (a relative) sued for the right to take over the household of Thomas Oviatt (father of Thomas b 1626) who was deceased. Sylvester was a descendant of Thomas Bryan also.
Thomas Oviatt died at Milford 25 May 1691. The date of his wife's death is not known. Of the three sons of Thomas and Francis – John, Samuel and Thomas Oviatt, only Samuel and Thomas married and had children. John died as a youth. Samuel, the son of Thomas and Frances Bryan, born 24 November 1672, married at Milford about 1694 to Mary Baldwin. Samuel and Mary were the parents of six children: Samuel (1685), John (1700), Alexander (abt. 1702), Esther (1703, Mary (1706), and Giles (1709). The third son of Thomas and Frances was Thomas, born August 1670 and married at Milford 7 June 1705 to Lydia Kellogg, widow of John Clark. She was born in Norwalk, Connecticut 1 April 1676, daughter of Daniel and Bridget Bouton Kellogg. Thomas and Lydia were the parents of eight children: Thomas (1706), Joseph (1709), Abigail (1712), Amy (1716), Giles (1720), Benjamin (1722), Frances (1725), and Samuel (1727). The family moved to New Milford, Connecticut, about 1724. Thomas died 13 January 1741 at New Milford and Lydia died 4 July 1742 at New Milford. There are records to show that the last child, Samuel, was born at New Milford.
From reviewing the information above it is easy to see how difficult it is to delineate and separate the Oviatt families. The names of Samuel, Thomas were popular family names. To add to the confusion, note that the first-born son of Samuel and Mary also named Samuel married and had children that often overlapped the dates of his Uncle, Thomas and his wife Lydia.
All of this adds to the interest that surrounds the first Oviatt families of Connecticut.
