Individual Details

William Peck

(1601 - 4 Oct 1694)

William PECK (originally spelled with a final "e" but later dropped) was one of the original proprietors [founders] of the New Haven, CT colony, his autograph (signature) being affixed to the fundamental Agreement or Constitution dated 4 June 1639, for the government of the infant colony. [This is said to have been one of "the first examples in history of a written constitution organizing a government and defining its powers."]

He was admitted a freeman of the colony on 20 Oct 1640; was a merchant by occupation, and a trustee, treasurer, and the general business agent of the Colony Collegiate School, established on the basis of the Hopkins Fund.

From 1659 until his death, he was a deacon of the church in New Haven.

Events

Birth1601London, England
MarriageAbt 1622London, England - Elizabeth
Immigration26 Jun 1637America from England on the ship Hector
MarriageAft 1683New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut, British America - Living
Will9 Mar 1689New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut, British America
Death4 Oct 1694New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut, British America
Probate11 Oct 1694New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut, British America
BurialThe Old Burial Ground Under the Center Church In New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut, British North America
Occupationmerchant

Families

SpouseElizabeth ( - 1683)
ChildRev. Jeremiah Peck Sr. (1623 - 1699)
ChildLieut. John Peck (1638 - 1724)
ChildJoseph Peck (1641 - 1718)
ChildElizabeth Peck (1643 - )
SpouseLiving

Notes

Immigration

With his wife, Elizabeth, and his son, Jeremiah, William PECK emigrated from England to America probably in the company of Governor Eaton, Reverend John Davenport, and others, in the ship Hector, arriving at Boston, from London, on the 26 Jun 1637. This company was principally from the city of London, where Mr. Davenport had been a celebrated minister, and consisted of many wealthy merchants, and others of great respectability from London, and of farmers from Yorkshire, Hertfordshire and Kent, and some from Surrey and Sussex. They had suffered much from the intolerance and persecution of Archbishop Laud during the reign of Charles I, and the object of their emigration was the unmolested enjoyment of civil and religious liberty.

Taken from: Genealogical Account of the Descendants in the Male Line of
William Peck, One of the Founders in 1638 of the Colony of New
Haven, Conn. By Darius Peck, 1877

Probate

William PECK's will, dated 9 Mar 1688 (1689 as now dated), was left for probate on 11 Oct 1694, and is recorded in the Probate Records of New Haven, Book II, Pg. 176.

Burial

His gravestone, however, is in the new cemetery in the northern part of the town, having, with the monuments and tombstones of others whose graves are covered by the church, been removed thither in 1821.

Endnotes

1. Darius Peck, compiler, Genealogical Account of the Descendants in the Male Line of William Peck One of the Founders in 1683 of the Colony of New Haven, CT (Hudson, CT: Bryan & Goeltz, Steam Book Printers, 1877).

2. Darius Peck, compiler, Genealogical Account of the Descendants in the Male Line of William Peck One of the Founders in 1683 of the Colony of New Haven, CT (Hudson, CT: Bryan & Goeltz, Steam Book Printers, 1877).

3. Darius Peck, compiler, Genealogical Account of the Descendants in the Male Line of William Peck One of the Founders in 1683 of the Colony of New Haven, CT (Hudson, CT: Bryan & Goeltz, Steam Book Printers, 1877).

4. Darius Peck, compiler, Genealogical Account of the Descendants in the Male Line of William Peck One of the Founders in 1683 of the Colony of New Haven, CT (Hudson, CT: Bryan & Goeltz, Steam Book Printers, 1877).

5. Darius Peck, compiler, Genealogical Account of the Descendants in the Male Line of William Peck One of the Founders in 1683 of the Colony of New Haven, CT (Hudson, CT: Bryan & Goeltz, Steam Book Printers, 1877).

6. Darius Peck, compiler, Genealogical Account of the Descendants in the Male Line of William Peck One of the Founders in 1683 of the Colony of New Haven, CT (Hudson, CT: Bryan & Goeltz, Steam Book Printers, 1877).

7. Darius Peck, compiler, Genealogical Account of the Descendants in the Male Line of William Peck One of the Founders in 1683 of the Colony of New Haven, CT (Hudson, CT: Bryan & Goeltz, Steam Book Printers, 1877).

8. Darius Peck, compiler, Genealogical Account of the Descendants in the Male Line of William Peck One of the Founders in 1683 of the Colony of New Haven, CT (Hudson, CT: Bryan & Goeltz, Steam Book Printers, 1877).

9. Darius Peck, compiler, Genealogical Account of the Descendants in the Male Line of William Peck One of the Founders in 1683 of the Colony of New Haven, CT (Hudson, CT: Bryan & Goeltz, Steam Book Printers, 1877).