Genealogical and Family History
of the
STATE OF MAINE

Compiled under the editorial supervision of George Thomas Little, A. M., Litt. D.

LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY
New York
1909.

[Please see Index page for full citation.]

[Transcribed by Coralynn Brown]

[Many families included in these genealogical records had their beginnings in Massachusetts.]

STOCKING The family bearing this patronymic is one long resident in Great Britain, and probably descended from some Saxon named Stock or something like it, the name of Stocking apparently signifying "Son of Stock." The name of the immigrant after he reached America is spelled indifferently on the rolls....Stocken, Stockin and Stocking. Only one Stocking is known to have emigrated to this country, and all of the name claim descent from the same ancestor. The family is noted for the independence of action and thought of its individual members, and for its patriotic attitude in the wars of the country. (I) George Stocking, the immigrant and common ancestor of all the Stockings in this country, was born in county Suffolk, in the southeast part of England, about 1582. He and his wife and four children wre dissenters and were in the company with Rev. Thomas Hooker, which sailed from England in the ship "Griffin," and landed in Boston, Sept. 3, 1633. George Stocking settled in Cambridge, where in 1635 he built a house at the corner of the present Holyoke and Winthrop streets. May 6, 1635 he was made a freeman. He joined the colony of one hundred souls headed by Rev. Thomas Hooker which traveled on foot from Cambridge to Connechent river and founded Hartford. He was a prominent proprietor and on the first distribution of lands he received twenty acres, "on the south side of the road from George Steels's, to the south meadow," and other grants later. In local affairs he was an active man; was selectman in 1647; surveyor of highways in 1654-62; chimney viewer in 1659, and was excused from military duty in 1660 owing to "great age." He died May 25, 1683, aged one hundred and one years, it is said, and his name is inscribed on a large monument erected to the memory of Hooker's party, and which now stands in the old Center Church burying ground in Hartford. He married, in England, his wife Anna, the mother of his children. After her death he is understood to have married (second) Agnes (Shotwell) Webster, widow of John Webster, governor of the colony. His children were: Samuel, Sarah, Lydia and Hannah. (II) Deacon Samuel, only son of George and Anna Stocking, was born in England and came to America in 1633 with his parents and three sisters. In 1650 he removed from Hartford and became one of the founders of Middletown, Connecticut, and was one of the three signers of the Indian deed of Middletown. His house stood in upper Middletown, now the town of Cromwell. [trans note: this would be included in "Middletown Upper Houses," found on Jane's website]. The Middletown church was organized in 1668, and he was elected its first deacon. He was a member of the general court in 1658-59-65-69-74-81; and in King Philip's war he was a sergeant. He was an extensive ship-builder and owner. He died Dec. 3, 1683, and the inventory of his estate subsequently taken amounted to 648 pounds 8s. 8d. He married, May 27, 1652, Bethia, daughter of John and Jane Hopkins, and granddaughter of Samuel Hopkins, one of the signers of the "Mayflower" compact, in 1620. She married (second) James Steele, of Hartford. Children: Hannah, Samuel, Bethia, John, Lydia, George, Ebenezer, Steven, Daniel, and Joseph and Nathaniel who died young. (III) George, sixth child and third son of Deacon Samuel and Bethia (Hopkins) Stocking, was born in Middletown, Feb. 20, 1664. He remvoed from Upper Middletown to East Middletown (later Chatham, now Portland) before 1710. He died Feb. 17, 1714, and was buried in the old cemetery in Portland. He was one of the committee to build a church, and gave bond March 17, 1710, for the faithful performance of the work. His wife Elizabeth married (second) Deacon Sam. Hall, of East Middletown, and died there Nov. 16, 1787. Children: Steven, Elizabeth, Samuel, Bethia, George and Nathaniel. (IV) Captain George (2), fifth child and third son of George (1) and Elizabeth Stocking, was born in Upper Middletown, Aug. 6, 1705, settled in Middle Haddam, and died there in 1790. He had a gristmill in Middle Haddam, the fourth parish of Old Middletown, before 1740. He was commissioned captain of the militia in 1752, and responded to the "Lexington Alarm" as a member of Capt. Eleazer Hubbard's company which marched from Glastonbury. He married March 1, 1727, Mercy Savage. Children: George, Abner, John, Mary, Hezekiah, Lucy, Martha, Reuben, Mercy (died young) and Mercy. (V) Reuben, eighth child and fifth son of Capt. George and Mercy (Savage) Stocking, was born in Middle Haddam, where he was baptized Feb. 12, 1744. He served as a lieutenant on the privateer "Sampson," in the revolutionary war; was taken prisoner and confined in a British prison ship in New York harbor, and finally released after suffering great hardship. He was afterward taken by Algerine pirates in the Mediterrean, loaded with chains, and held for ransom; being eventually released by the vigorous operations of Commodore Decatur. He resided in Enfield, Connecticut, and thence removed to Chardon, Ohio, where he died Oct. 25, 1828, aged eighty-four. He married, Sept. 19, 1765, Sarah Hurlbut, who died at Hambden, Ohio, Feb. 24, 1840, aged ninety-six. Children: Reuben, Samuel, Lucy, Steven, Sally, Vinia, Hezekiah, George, Fanny (died young) and Fanny. (VI) Samuel (2), second son of Reuben and Sarah (Hurlbut) Stocking, was born Dec. 17, 1767, and was a prominent ship-builder in Middle Haddam. He left that place and was a resident successively of Hartford, Suffield, and Enfield, Connecticut, and Cleveland and New Hagerstown, Ohio. He was killed by being thwon from a carriage by runaway horses in 1847, while on a visit to his son. He married (first) April 7, 1789, Mary Ann Belden, a niece of Sir Thomas Belden, of England, who spent some years in Hartford, CT., and built the old Belden House. Had she survived her uncle she would have inherited his estates as Lady Mary Ann. She died May 13, 1805, and Samuel married (second), in 1806, Madame Irene de Mont Fredi, a French woman of considerable property, who owned a market garden near Hartford, and did a prosperous business. Children of 1st wife: Almira (died young), Marion, Emily, Amelia, Sarah Ann, Caroline Ramsdell, Almira and Mary Ann. Children of 2d wife: Julia Belden, Samuel Marvin, Charles and Hester Ann. (VII) Caroline Ramsdell, fifth daughter of Samuel and Mary Ann (Belden) Stocking, born July 7, 1799, married April 15, 1824, Jacob Carter, of Concord, New Hampshire.