Thomas Sherwood ★

1580s–1630s

Born around 1586 in England. Sailed for New England in April 1634 aboard the Frances with his wife Alice and four children, and settled at Wethersfield, Connecticut, as a carpenter. Fought in the Pequot War of 1636–1638.

1640s–1650s

Sold his Wethersfield land in 1640 and moved to Stamford, then by 1648 to Fairfield, Connecticut, where he bought and sold land. Won two slander suits on the same day in 1645. A deputy to the Connecticut General Court in 1650, 1653 and 1654. Wrote his will in July 1655 and died that year.

A Fairfield Carpenter

Thomas Sherwood was born around 1586 in England and sailed for New England in April 1634 aboard the ship Frances with his wife, Alice, and four children, settling first in Wethersfield, Connecticut, where he worked as a carpenter, and fought in the Pequot War of 1636–1638. He sold his Wethersfield property in 1640 and moved on to Stamford and then, by 1648, to Fairfield, Connecticut, where he bought and sold numerous parcels of land through the early 1650s, including two neighbors' dwelling houses and their surrounding fields. In 1645 he won damages in two separate slander suits on the same day. He sat as a deputy in the Connecticut General Court in 1650, 1653 and 1654, and in 1654 served on a Connecticut committee raising men for a military expedition to Narragansett. Thomas wrote his will in July 1655, leaving his daughters Ruth and Abigail ten pounds apiece and a home and land to his son Izhak; his estate, appraised that September, included 140 pounds of real estate and a small library of books. His grave is lost, but a cenotaph honours him and his two wives in Fairfield's Old Burying Ground.