Ralph Keeler (-1672)

Ralph KEELER

Sex: M

Birth: ABT 1613 in Lawford, Essex, England

Death: 10 SEP 1672 in near Hartford, Windham Co, Connecticut

Occupation: Carpenter

Will: 20 AUG 1672 Norwalk, Fairfield Co, Connecticut

Religion: Congregational

Probate: 5 NOV 1672 Norwalk, Fairfield Co, Connecticut

Event: Settled 1640 Hartford, Hartford Co, Connecticut

Event: Moved 1650 to Norwalk, Fairfield Co, Connecticut

Note: His name is on the Founders' Monument in Hartford.

Keeler Family: Ralph Keeler of Norwalk, CT. and some of His Descendants states in Appendix A   "Shane O'Neil, Earl of Tyron, Hereditary Lord of the North Ireland, soldier, bully, braggart, cousin of St. Patrick, friend of Queen Elizabeth of England and enemy of all the world besides, brought his fighting career to a sudden end at Antrine late in 1567 when he insulted Sir James Keelor, who ran his sword through O'Neil, hacked off his head and carried it to Henry Sidney, Lord Deputy of Ireland, and it was through his efforts that several rebellions were suppressed in Ireland.  He was given or granted the Abbets in Lawford by Queen Elizabeth in 1575 as his reward and he remained the rest of his life in England.  He was the grandfather of Sir Ralph Keelor, born in Devon County in 1613. "  This same book also states that on the Great Card Index compiled around 1956 there were some 20 Keelers living in the Lawford, Essex, England area in the 1500 to 1700 period. In the 1881 Census there are no longer any Keelers living in Essex. DNA Research now confirms that the Samuel Keeler family from New Jersey, and the Ralph Keeler Family from Essex are not related.

SOURCE: "The First Wife of Ralph Keeler of Hartford and Norwalk, Connecticut," by Gale Ion Harris FASG, "The American Genealogist," Col. 80, No. 3 (Jul 2005) p.177-187 cites:

(a) "History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield," by Donald Lines Jacobus (Fairfield, CT, 1930-1932) 1:355-357.

(b) "Hartford Town Votes, 1635-1716," CT Hist. Soc. Coll. (Hartford, 1897) 6:19, 20, 24.

(c) "The Colonial History of Hartford," by William DeLoss Love (Hartford, 1914) p.182-184, 254, and William S. Porter's map, "Hartford in 1640," bound between p.118-119.

(d) "Grant, Webb, Warner, Holmes," by Frank Farnsworth Starr, NEHGS "Register" (1910) 64:83-84, citing Norwalk Deeds 1:60.

(e) "The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633," by Robert Charles Anderson (Boston, 1995) 2:804-805; 3:1954-1956.

(f) Fairfield Probate District, no. 3562, 1672. FHL film 1,018,760.

(g) "Genealogical Gleanings in England," by Peter Wilson Coldham, "National Genealogical Society Quarterly" (1980) 68:117.

(h) "Sarah Treadwell-Whelpley-Keeler," by Wesley B. Keeler, "The American Genealogist" (1982) 58:32-34.