Thomas Lord, 11-times great-grandfather (52 Ancestors, week 18)

Thomas Lord > William Lord > Benjamin Lord > Andrew Lord > Huldah Lord > Caleb Chapman > Pamela Chapman > Melchior Walters > Freeman Walters > Florence Eugene Walters > Cecil Lloyd Walters > Charles Lloyd Walters

Thomas Lord, son of Richard and Joan Lord, was born in England around 1585. Philip Lord, Jr, a direct descendant of Richard Lord, has done extensive research on the Lord family. He concludes that the Lord family was of middle class and fairly well off based on the property listed in Richard's will and other clues which he talks about on his website.

Thomas Lord and his family left England spring of 1635 aboard the ship Elizabeth and Ann and arrived in Boston harbor in July 1635. Thomas, age 50, traveled with his wife Dorothy and 7 of their 8 children. The eldest son, Richard, had arrived in the New World sometime earlier, probably to prepare the way for the rest of his family. Richard had been granted land in the town of Newtown (later called Cambridge) and the family probably lived with him for the first winter. The passenger lists says the Thomas is a "smith" which would have been a very valuable occupation to the colony and there are later records that show his eldest son, Richard, to have been a metal smith.

In the fall of 1635, some of the colonists, under the leadership of Rev. Thomas Hooker, were looking to move. The group was already becoming too large for the town and space was becoming limited. A location up the Connecticut River was selected for a new settlement. By spring 1636, preparations were made. Most of the supplies would be shipped from the Boston Harbor and up the Connecticut River. On May 31, 1636, one hundred colonists, a group which included the Lord family, along with 160 cattle began to walk the 100 mile trail to their new home in Hartford, Connecticut.

It is believed that Thomas died around 1655 as there are not further records relating to him, but he had certainly died by 1663 when the records of Hartford include an order to his wife, Dorothy, to maintain a section of fence, an order that would have certainly been directed to Thomas if he had been alive.

Sources: Some of the Ancestors of the Reverend John Selby Frame and his wife Clara Winchester Dana, compiled by Julia Locke Frame Bunce, Ancestry.com; Passenger Lists from packrat-pro.com/ships/shipnames.htm; Philip Lord’s site at living-in-the-past.com