Robert Seeley, also Seely, Seelye, or Ciely, (1602-1668) was an early

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

settler in the Massachusetts Bay Colony who helped establish

Watertown Watertown may refer to: Places in China In China, a water town is a type of ancient scenic town known for its waterways. Places in the United States *Watertown, Connecticut, a New England town **Watertown (CDP), Connecticut, the central village ...

, Wethersfield, and

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...

. He also served as second-in-command to John Mason in the Pequot War.

Early life

Robert Seeley was born in Bluntisham-cum-Earith,

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popu ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1602. His father William was a joiner (cabinet maker) . In 1623 Robert moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, where he became an apprentice cordwainer (shoemaker). He married Mary (unknown maiden name) Heath Mason, widow of William Heath, widow of Walter Mason, in 1626 and began attending the church of the

minister John Davenport that same year. On 16 September 1627 Robert and Mary's only child, Nathaniel,Seeley Genealogical Society was baptized at St Stephen's Parish, Coleman Street, London.

The Great Migration

In 1630 Robert, Mary and Nathaniel sailed with

John Winthrop John Winthrop (January 12, 1587/88 – March 26, 1649) was an English Puritan lawyer and one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led t ...

as a part of the original Puritan expedition to Massachusetts. Soon after arriving in the New World, Seeley became one of the original forty settlers of

, one of Massachusetts' earliest Puritan communities. He employed his training in surveying by laying out many of the plots for the settlers. He was granted

freeman Freeman, free men, or variant, may refer to: * a member of the Third Estate in medieval society (commoners), see estates of the realm * Freeman, an apprentice who has been granted freedom of the company, was a rank within Livery companies * Free ...

status in 1631.

Wethersfield and the Pequot War

In 1633 or 1634, Seeley joined a ten-man expedition led by John Oldham to the Connecticut River. The group soon established Wethersfield, the first English settlement on the Connecticut River. Oldham's death in 1636, presumed by the colonists to be at the hands of the

Pequot The Pequot () are a Native American people of Connecticut. The modern Pequot are members of the federally recognized Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, four other state-recognized groups in Connecticut including the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation, or t ...

, helped touch off the Pequot War in 1637. Seeley served as second-in-command to Captain John Mason in the war. He was severely wounded by an arrow to the head in an attack on a Pequot fort along the

Mystic River The Mystic River is a riverU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 in Massachusetts, in the United States. In Massachusett, means "large estuary," alluding to t ...

. Captain Mason, who called Seeley a "valiant soldier", wrote of the incident, "Lieutenant Seeley was shot in the eyebrow with a flat headed Arrow, the Point turning downwards. I pulled out the arrow myself." Seeley carried a permanent scar from the wound.

New Haven

When his old friend John Davenport arrived in Massachusetts, Seeley joined his group and helped establish the

New Haven Colony The New Haven Colony was a small English colony in North America from 1638 to 1664 primarily in parts of what is now the state of Connecticut, but also with outposts in modern-day New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. The history of ...

in 1638. Seeley served as New Haven's first town marshal and lieutenant of the militia. He was generally known in the community as Lieutenant Seeley. He also participated in

Theophilus Eaton Theophilus Eaton (January 7, 1658) was a wealthy New England Puritan merchant, first Governor of New Haven Colony, Connecticut, co founder of that same colony and co founder of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. His brother, Nathaniel Eaton, w ...

's exploratory expedition in Long Island Sound.

Later life

In 1659 Seeley briefly returned to England, living there until 1662 when he returned to the New World and settled in New Amsterdam (present-day Huntington, New York) on Long Island. He died in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 1668. In 1695 his heirs received of land in Watertown, resolving a suit which Seeley had filed 60 years earlier after settling in Wethersfield. In the suit he had claimed that he had not been given the area promised to the original settlers of Watertown. Seeley's son Nathaniel was killed in the build-up to the

Great Swamp Fight The Great Swamp Fight or the Great Swamp Massacre was a crucial battle fought during King Philip's War between the colonial militia of New England and the Narragansett people in December 1675. It was fought near the villages of Kingston and W ...

during

King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England coloni ...

Honors

* Robert Seeley's name is featured on three historic plaques listing town founders, in Watertown, Wethersfield, and New Haven. * He is listed on a historic plaque at the base of a statue honoring John Mason as one who helped achieve victory for the colonists over the Pequot.

References

*''A Brief History of the Pequot War'' by Major John Mason, with an Introduction by the Rev. Thomas Prince (Kneeland and Green, Boston, 1736) *"The English Life of Robert Seely" by Ralph M. Seely in ''The New England Historical and Genealogical Register'' (July 1962) *''Huntingdon Town Records'', Vol. 1 by Charles R. Street (1887) *"The Pequot War," http://www.colonialwarsct.org/1637.htm, from ''The Society of Wars in the State of Connecticut'' website *''The Public Records of Connecticut'', Vol. 1 by J. Hammond Trumball (1850) *''Records of the Colony and Plantation of New Haven from 1638-1649'' by Charles J. Hoady *''Seely History'' by

Montell Seely Montell is a given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Montell Douglas (born 1986), British sprinter and former British record holder for the 100 metres * Montell Griffin (born 1970), American boxer * Montell ...

and Kathryn Seely (Community Press, 1988) *''Watertown Records'' by the Watertown Historical Society (1894) Scott, C. S. (2012). The Eel Catcher's Travels: Robert Seeley, 1602-1667. Carol Seeley Scott.

External links

The Pequot War
fro
1736 version of John Mason's account of the Pequot WarThe Winthrop Society
is a hereditary organization made up of the descendants those who arrived on the Winthrop Fleet or other Great Migration ships before 1634.
Passenger list of the Winthrop Fleet
(spelling is ''Seely'' on this list) {{DEFAULTSORT:Seeley, Robert 1602 births 1668 deaths American Puritans People of colonial Massachusetts People from Bluntisham History of New Haven, Connecticut New England Puritanism Watertown, Massachusetts Wethersfield, Connecticut Settlers of Connecticut Pequot War Kingdom of England emigrants to Massachusetts Bay Colony