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Rebecca Wood died WFT ESt. 1683-1776. She was born on 9 April 1682 in Middleboro, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of Samuel Wood Sr. and Rebecca Morton.

Anne Wood died WFT Est. 1689-1782. She was born on 20 January 1687/88 in Middleboro, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of Samuel Wood Sr. and Rebecca Morton.

Jabez Wood died WFT Est. 1691-1780. He was born on 29 September 1690 in Middleboro, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. He was the son of Samuel Wood Sr. and Rebecca Morton.

Elizabeth Wood died WFT Est. 1692-1785. She was born in 1691 in Middleboro, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of Samuel Wood Sr. and Rebecca Morton.

Samuel Wood Jr. was born on 19 September 1684 in Middleboro, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. He was the son of Samuel Wood Sr. and Rebecca Morton. Samuel Wood Jr. died on 13 July 1747 at age 62 years, 9 months and 24 days.

Thomas Fairchild Sr. was born circa 1615 in England.² He married Sarah Seabrooke, daughter of Robert Seabrooke, before 1639 in England.^3,4,5 Thomas Fairchild Sr. married Catherine Craig after October 1653. Catherine was from London. Thomas Fairchild Sr. died on 14 December 1670 in Stratford, Fairfield County, Connecticut.²

Thomas Fairchild/Fayerchild/Fayrechild, was born in England and one of the first settlers at Stratford in about 1638/39. Apparently his family was an ancient one in England with a coat-of-arms that indicated the members were in the Crusades from A.D. 1096 to 1400. The name was Fairbairn in Scotland and most likely changed to Fairchild or Fayrechild when the family moved to England. Thomas is listed both as Fayrechild and Fairchild in the old records of Stratford.⁴

Thomas most probably married his first wife, Sarah Seabrooke (or Sebrooke) in England. She was a daughter of Robert Seabrooke. Her oldest sister married Thomas Sherwood and they came to Massachusetts in 1634 on the ship "Ipswich" from England. It is thought that perhaps Thomas Fairchild and his wife Sarah, her father Robert Seabrooke and two more of his daughters could have come to America at the same time as the Sherwoods. Alternatively, it is thought that Thomas "may have joined the Blakeman Colony at Weathersfield and had come to Stratford in 1639." Since Thomas and Sarah's first child, Samuel, was born 1639/40 and been said to be the first white child born in Stratford, they would have arrived in Stratford no later than this year. (see Fairchild Genealogy, pp. 9-10)

Thomas appears on a list in the earliest book of land records noting every man's fence in the old field which designated their piece of land (Vol. 1, page 6 and 7 of Stratford Land Records). He is also on the "List of House Lots and Their Owners" covering a period from 1650 to 1668 with no earlier entries found. On the Map of Stratford his home lot can be seen as #16 and he later owned his father-in-law Robert Seabrook's property designated #23.⁴

He was one of the most prominent and respected men of Stratford and one record called him a "merchant." In 1654, he was apppointed by the General Court, along with Thomas Sherwood and the Constables of Stratford, "to press men and necessaryes" from the town for the "then proclaimed" Narraganssett War, and in 1657 the Court appointed him as a "leather-sealer for Fairfield." Among other positions, he was a Deputy to the General Court from Stratford in April 1646, Sept. 1654, May 1655, Oct. 1655, Oct. 1658, May 1659, Oct. 1659, May 1660, May 1664, Oct. 1664, and Oct. 1665. He was nominated for an Assistant in 1663 and for three years following, but never elected. In 1664 he was appointed a Commissioner which would be similar to a modern Justice of the Peace, and was reappointed several times thereafter.⁴

A statement by a Dr. Trumbull has often been repeated that "Mr. Fairchild was the first gentlemen vested with civil authority" but this was "erroneous since the Colonial Records clearly show that William Hopkins was appointed in Jan. 1640 to be a Commissioner to join with Mr. Ludlow in all Executions in their Particular Court, which must have been the first."⁶To read a bit more about the Fairchild Family History click the icon.^7,8,3

Sarah Seabrooke was the daughter of Robert Seabrooke. Sarah Seabrooke married Thomas Fairchild Sr. before 1639 in England.^1,2,3 Sarah Seabrooke died after October 1653 in Stratford, Fairfield County, Connecticut.

Samuel Fairchild was born on 31 August 1640 in Stratford, Fairfield County, Connecticut. He was probably the first white child born at Stratford.¹ He was the son of Thomas Fairchild Sr. and Sarah Seabrooke. Samuel Fairchild married Mary Wheeler, daughter of Moses Wheeler, before 1681. Samuel Fairchild died in 1704 in Stratford, Fairfield County, Connecticut, at age 63 years.

Sarah Fairchild was born in 1642. She was the daughter of Thomas Fairchild Sr. and Sarah Seabrooke. Sarah Fairchild married Jehiel Preston.¹