The Humphreys family in America - citizen hylbom blog

744
GRANTS OF LAND TO MICHAEL HUMPHREY.
"One parcel! given to ye said M. H. by the Inhabitants of Simsbury, when the lands was disposed of by the
Inhabitants of Simsbury to these who were accepted by said Inhabitants; ye grant was to said Humphries Twenty
Accres at Samon Brook; and to lyem Division with the rest of ye lots and bound to ye same articles as the rest;
onely he was exempted from buildinge or living on ye sd land if he go cause, else the said M. H. is bound to cary
one his part of fenceing with ye rest and his first Division in the first meadow was the Third Lott according to his
choice a butt on Northwesterly on George Sandrs his Meadow Lott and Northeasty on Nathaniel Holcomb his lot
Northerly and Southerly ends of said lot abutteth-at the upland and being not squar at either end; it was deemed
something above forty rods in length the breadth of said pearcles of land is Thirty rodd; the said land by estimation
is seveen accres & Three Rood be it more or less.
Malacacos
viz. one parcle more of land in Malacakes Meadow which is tlie sd Michall Humphries second division; which was
in length 40 perches in Breadth thirty Rodds; aboutts North Westerly on Georg Sandsrs lot easterly on Nathaniell
Holcomb his lot Alias now is by exchang of lotts Thomas Griffin Northerly and southerly on the Comons; which
sd land is by estimation seveen acres and an halfe, be it more or less.
One parcell of land more—in the five Accre medow belonging to Michall Humphries his Heyrs and assignes
for ever, abutts Northwesterly one daniell Adams his Five Accres lot eastwardly on Nathaniell Holcomb his lot;
Northerly and Southerly on the commons, the said lot in Breadth is tweenty eight rods and in length Thirty perches
and the porche is Five Accres Twenty eight perches, be it more or less— coppyd out, June 7. 1687
Mrs. Sarah M. Churchill, one of the assistant editors of this work, was born August 18, 1836, in East.
hampton, Mass. Her father. Dr. Atherton Clark, was a lineal descendant, in the sixth generation, of Thonias Clarke,
master's mate of the Mayflower. Her mother, Harriet Smith, was the daughter of Dr. Enos Smith, of Ashfield,
Mass., who traced his ancestry to Lieut. Samuel Smith, who, with his wife and four children, came to New England
in 1634; was one of the early settlers of Wethersfield, Ct. ; and in 1659 removed to Hadley, Mass.
In girlhood Sarah was guileless, truthful, and of a loving, happy nature. She early became a Christian, and
at the age of fifteen united with the Congregational Church.
She graduated from the Classical Department of AVilliston Seminary in 1855, in a class of over forty students,
among whom she ranked among the foremost.
In May, 1869, she came to this city, at the invitation of the late Dr. D. P. Holton, to assist in his extensive
genealogical researches, and remained several years in his employ. Here she developed that aptitude for, and skill
in the prosecution of genealogical studies, which have so markedly contributed to thg perfection of the present work.
She was married December 9th, 1S74, to Capt. William B. Churchill, then in the service of the American
Tract Society, in this city. He died January 4th, 1883, aged fifty -four years. He was a member of the Church of
the Strangers, and she joined the same in June, 1875, continuing in its fellowship and communion until her decease
on the morning of May 27, 1885.
Her dying confession of faith was m these words: "Jesus is my hope and righteousness."
On May 29th, with Christian services and burial, she was laid to rest beside her husband and parents, in
West Side Cemetery, at Guilford, Ct. It was the blossoming time of the lilies of the valley, and loving friends
placed their pure, fragrant flowers in her casket and on her newly.made grave.
The chief feature of Mrs. Churchill's character was conscientiousness. It pervaded her whole life, and her
whole life-work. Especially in this genealogy, which occupied several of the later years of her life, was this trait
prominently brought to the notice of those who were associated with it. Had she belonged to the Humphreys
family, she could not have been more enthusiastic and devoted, more exact and painstaking than she was in unravel-
ing its tangled webs. Especially noticeable was this conscientiousness in the loving care and exactness with which—
in the last days of her life, when she saw, but with unfaltering heart, the approach of death—she "placed her
(genealogical) house in order," arranging, docketing and annotating the whole vast amount of accumulated m.aterial,
so that, at her death, it became not only possible, but easy, for her assocuites to carry on the work which she had
so well commenced.