Surname Saturday ~ BLACKMAN of Stratford, Connecticut

BLACKMAN /  BLAKEMAN

Adam Blackman, my 10^th great grandfather, is of unknown origins, but it is thought he might be from Staffordshire, England. He matriculated at Christ’s College at Oxford University on 28 May 1617 at age 19.  He was ordained as a priest of the Church of England, and he preached at Great Bowden, Leicestershire and in Derbyshire.  During the 1630s he began to follow the Puritan movement. 

It is not known when he came to New England with his family.  He might have traveled under an assumed name since he was a “non-conformist”.  In 1638 he lived at Scituate, Massachusetts. A plantation was ordered in Connecticut in 1639 and Rev. Adam Blakeman was installed as the first minister at Stratford.  He was granted a four acre house lot across from the meetinghouse.  He served as minister there until his death on 7 September 1665. 

His daughter, Mary, is my 9^th great grandmother, and his grandson, Joshua Atwater, is my 8^th great grandfather.  Rev. Blakeman’s will mentions Joshua Atwater:

“Item.  Concerning my books which I intended for my son Benjamin, seeing his thoughts are after another course of life--that his thoughts be not to attend the work of Christ in the ministry, my wish is that my son Atwater (son-in-law) make his son Joshua a scholar and fit him for that work. I give unto him all my Latin books; but if not they shall be put into my estate and disposed of as my wife any my overseers shall think fit."

Some resources for Rev. Blackman:

The Descendants of Reverend Adam Blackman (1598 - 1665) and His Wife Jane, by Ellwood Count Curtis, Galactic Press, 2006

History And Genealogy Of The Families Of Old Fairfield, by Donald Lines Jacobus,   (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1976) Pp. 81-84

History Of Stratford, Connecticut, 1639-1939 by William Howard Wilcoxson,  (The Stratford Tercentenary Commission, 1939) Pp. 69, 80-81. 

My BLACKMAN genealogy:

Generation 1:  Reverend Adam Blackman, born about 1598 in England, died 7 September 1665 in Stratford, Connecticut; married to Jane Unknown.  Six children.

Generation 2: Mary Blackman, born about 1635, died 9 March 1709 in Salem, Massachusetts; married 6 May 1651 in Stratford to Joshua Atwater, son of John Atwater and Susan Narsin.  He was baptized 2 June 1611 in Lenham, Kent, England and died 16 May 1676 in Boston, Massachusetts. Ten children.

Generation 3: Joshua Atwater m. Rebecca Unknown

Generation 4: Rebecca Atwater m. Lemon Beadle

Generation 5: Rebecca Beadle m. John Becket

Generation 6: Hannah Becket m. Joseph Cloutman

Generation 7: Mary Cloutman m. Abijah Hitchings

Generation 8: Abijah Hitchings m. Eliza Ann Treadwell

Generation 9: Abijah Franklin Hitchings m. Hannah Eliza Lewis

Generation 10: Arthur Treadwell Hitchings m. Florence Etta Hoogerzeil

Generation 11: Gertrude Matilda Hitchings m. Stanley Elmer Allen

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ BLACKMAN of Stratford, Connecticut”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 18, 2017, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/06/surname-saturday-blackman-of-stratford.html: accessed [access date]).