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Paternal
Lineage: Susannah5, Joshua4, John3, John2, John1
  PARMELEE, bef.1554-aft.1729 Related Families:  Russell | Howell | Plaine | Edwards | Stone
Migration: East Sussex, ENG>Guilford, CT

 

        (1)  John Parmelee, probably born before 1554, buried 1 May 1583 at All Saints Church, Lewes, East Sussex, England, died 1583 in the same place.  He was married 11 January 1572 at All Saints to Alice Russell.  There is no record to indicate that she remarried.

Their known children, all baptized at All Saints:

  1. Margaret, baptized 22 October 1573
  2. Catherine, baptized 30 January 1578, buried at All Saints on 3 April 1579
  3. John, mentioned below

 

        (2)  John Parmelee, was baptized 27 September 1584 at All Saints Church, Lewes, East Sussex, England, died 8 November 1659 at New Haven, Connecticut.  His will was probated 3 January 1659/1660 at New Haven.  John was married first on 15 May 1608, at All Saints Church to Anne Howell.  He was a bricklayer in England and was the patriarch of the American Parmelee family.
        John is listed as 55 years old on the passenger list of the St. John under Capt. Richard Russell, setting sail from London on 20 May 1639 and arriving July 10-15 at New Haven Colony. If other members of the family were aboard, they are not on the passenger list. John was among the signers of Guilford's Plantation Covenant on 1 June 1639. The village, just east of New Haven, was settled that fall. His home lot was at the north end of the Village Green, the site now occupied by the Congregational Church. John was voted a freeman on 22 May 1649. He and his family returned to New Haven where he was admitted as a freeman there on 8 August 1659. He appeared at a New Haven hearing in 1647 to testify about a shoemaker's shoddy workmanship.
        John's wife when he immigrated to America in 1639 has widely been believed to have been Hannah Wilbur, buried at St. Michael's on 20 February 1634, whom he married second on 29 April 1630, at St. Michael's Church. Yet no record of her death has been found in Connecticut nor is she listed on the ship's passenger roster. The Guilford marriage records of daughters Hannah and Mary do not give their mother's name, only John's. Family historians have probably been correct in calling Hannah the mother of these two girls, but erroneously assumed that she came to Connecticut.
        John was married the third to Elizabeth Holter on 1 June 1635 at St. Michael's, buried there 1 September 1637.  Their son John could have been named for his grown half-brother John who left two years earlier for America. John, the father, may have thought that he would never see his grown son again and named this infant for him so that he would still have a namesake in England.  Even if not, it was not uncommon to give more than one child the same name in those days (often one was called "the Elder" or "the Younger").  Elizabeth Parmelee's burial is recorded twice, in 1637 as the "daughter of John," and in 1638 as the "daughter of John and Elizabeth."  The first entry is probably for Martha since John would have been married to his next wife, Joane, when young Elizabeth died, hence the burial entry reading "daughter of John and Elizabeth."
        John was married fourth to Joane Cobden on 3 April 1638, at St. Michael's Church. She probably died in England because there is no mention of her in Connecticut.
        John is recorded as setting sail from London on 20 May 1639.
        John's last wife was Elizabeth, widow of Daniel Bradley, whom he married in 1653 at New Haven. She died in January 1683 at New Haven, Connecticut. Her maiden name may have been Sheaffe but this has not been proven.  Her third husband was widower John Evarts, died 1669, whom she married 27 May 1663 at Guilford, Connecticut.

Children of John Parmelee and Anne Howell, all baptized at All Saints Church, Lewes, East Sussex, England:

  1. John, buried at All Saints on 16 December 1609
  2. Elizabeth, baptized 3 December 1610 at All Saints and also 2 December 1610 at St. Michael's Church, Lewes, buried at All Saints on 16 February 1612/1613
  3. John, mentioned below
  4. George, baptized 11 December 1614, buried at All Saints on 14 April 1615
  5. Anne, baptized 17 March 1616, probably died young
  6. Mary, baptized 5 June 1620, probably died young

    7. Johan/Joane, buried at St. Michael's on 30 July 1628
Children of John Parmelee and Hannah Wilbur:
  1. Hannah, baptized 20 May 1632 at St. Michael's, living as late as 1693; married at New Haven, Connecticut, on 30 September 1651 to John, born 1613, died 1681, son of Robert and Adeline Johnson. They had nine children.

    2. Mary, probably born about 1634, died 16 March 1667;  married at Guilford, Connecticut, on 16 September 1660 to Dennis Crampton, born 1630, died 1689.  They had three children.
Children of John Parmelee and Elizabeth Holter, whose records are at St. Michael:
  1. Elizabeth, baptized 1 February 1635, may have been buried 5 September 1637, but probably 13 April 1638
  2. John, baptized 30 August 1637, buried 12 December 1637
  3. Martha, baptized 30 August 1637, possibly buried 5 September 1637
Child of John Parmelee and Joanne Cobden, recorded at St. Michael's:
  1. Rachael, baptized 5 November 1638, buried 10 November 1638, her burial is the last Parmelee entry found thus far in Lewes.

 
 

        (3)  John Parmelee, baptized 6 September 1612 at All Saints Church, Lewes, East Sussex, England, died 31 January 1687/1688 at Guilford, Connecticut.
        He was the first member of the family to immigrate to America, arriving four years before his father. "Jo. Palmerley" is listed as a 22-year-old passenger on the Elizabeth and Anne. Master Roger Coop/Cowper/Cooper was at the helm when it left the Port of London on April 13, 1635, and arrived at the Charlestown section of Boston late that spring or early summer. No other family members are listed on that roster. He was one of the original settlers of Guilford, his first home lot being a 1.5-acre parcel on the east side of Crooked Lane, the fourth lot north of Buck Lane. He took the oath of freeman in Guilford on Feb. 14, 1649/50, a little less than a year after his father did. He became the drummer of the train band, the colony's chief defense unit, and served as sexton for many years, "warning" settlers to meetings and church services by beating his drum. His name appears in Guilford's town records, being sued in 1648 by a fellow planter who complained that John's hogs had rooted through his corn, and for reporting to train band practice while intoxicated on 1 January 1656/1657.
        John was first married to Rebecca (it has not been proven that her last name was Eaton) probably in England. She died 24 or 29 September 1651 at Guilford, Connecticut
        John was married second in Guilford in 1651 to Anna, buried 30 March 1658 at Guilford, the widow of William Plaine. In 1649 William, another signer of the Plantation Covenant, became the first person executed in New Haven after being found guilty of sodomy and "corrupting boys."  John and Anna had no children.
        In February 1658/1659, John took for his third wife his step-daughter, Hannah Plaine, died 8 January 1687/1688, the daughter of William and Anna Plaine/Plane.
        John's ten children make up the major branches of the largest North American Parmelee family. He had 74 grandchildren.

Child of John Rebecca Parmelee:

  1. Nathaniel, born in Guilford, Connecticut, in 1645, died in 1676;  married Sarah French on 24 October 1668; removed to  Killingworth, Connecticut; they had 3 children.
Children of John Parmelee and Hannah Plaine, all born in Guilford, Connecticut:
  1. John, born 25 November 1659, died 21 or 27 March 1725 at Guilford; married Mary Mason on 27 June 1681 at Guilford. He had 7 children.
  2. Joshua, mentioned below
  3. Caleb, born about 1663; married Abigail Johnson on 11 April 1690 at Guilford; married second Abigail Hill on April 23, 1693, at Guilford. Many genealogies say he died in 1714 without citing a source, but he probably lived long enough to marry Mary Durham on 11 January 1737/1738. She is often listed as son Caleb Jr.'s third wife but Caleb Jr.'s estate papers refer to Jemima as his widow, and Jemima's tombstone at Branford calls her the "relict of Caleb."  He had 7 children.
  4. Isaac, born 21 November 1665, died 13 January 1748/1749, at Guilford, married Elizabeth Highland on 30 December 1689, at Guilford. He had 9 children.
  5. Hannah, born 5 November 1667;  married Tahan Hill in November 1688; and Thomas Merrill on 25 May 1693 at Saybrook, Connecticut. She had 6 children.
  6. Stephen, born 6 December 1669, died 4 April 1736, at Newtown, New York; married Elizabeth Baldwin on 20 June 1693 at Guilford.  He had 11 children.
  7. Job, born 31 July 1673, died 6 March 1765, at Guilford;  married Betty Edwards on 11 March 1699 at Guilford.  He had 7 children.
  8. Priscilla, born 8 May 1678, died 10 December 1692, at Guilford.
  9. Joel, born about 1679/1680, died 20 July 1748 at Durham, married Abigail Andrews on 30 June 1706 at Durham. He had 11 children.

 
 

        (4)  Joshua Parmelee, born about June 1663, died in June 1729 in Guilford, Connecticut;  married Elsie/Alse/Alice Edwards on 10 July 1690 at East Guilford; he married second the widow Hannah (DeWolfe) Stone in 1716, at Guilford. He had 13 children. Parents of:

  1. Susannah, born 19 January 1693; married 31 May 1716, Joshua Stone, born 3/6 May 1692, died 20 May 1730

 
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