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BRANCH OF THOMAS HART.
THOMAS HART, Farmington. third son and youngest child of Deacon Stephen Hart, of Cambridge, Mass., and Hartford and Farmington, Conn., and his wife, , born 1644, at ; married , Ruth, daughter of Anthony Hawkins,* of Farmington, born October 24th, 1649, at Windsor, Conn. Mr. Hart inherited a portion of his father's homestead, opposite the meeting-house. He was made a freeman by the General Court, at their May Session, 1664. He is on the list of freemen of Farmington, October 12th, 1669; confirmed ensign of Farmington train-band by the General Court, May Session, 1678, lieutenant in 1693, and was deputy to the General Court the same year, was captain, May, 1695, and was appointed on a committee "To return the Thanks of the Court to the Rev. Mr. Samuel Hooker for his great paynes in preaching the Election Sermon, and that they desire him to grant a copy thereof to be disposed and improved by the General Court for the people's good." He was also deputy from Farmington in 1690, 1692, 1694, 1695, 1696, 1697, 1698, 1699, 1700, 1702, 1704, 1705, and 1706, and was chosen speaker of the General Court in 1700, 1704, 1705, and 1706. At the General Court, October session, 1700, "This Court doth allow unto Capt. Thos. Hart, Speaker, thirtie Shillings in pay for his conduct in the General Court in May last;" and at their October session, 1704, it was voted that "This Court allows to Capt. Thos. Hart five and thirtee Shillings in pay as Speaker this session ;" and at their October Session, 1705, it was voted that "This Assembly doth allow to Capt. Thos. Hart, Speaker, Thirtee Shillings for his conduct this session;" also at their May session, 1706, it was voted "That this Court grants unto Thos. Hart, Speaker, Thirtee Shillings." He was appointed commissioner for Farmington by the General Court, in 1692, 1693, 1694, 1695, and 1697. He was appointed justice for Hartford County in 1698, 1701, 1702, 1703, 1704, 1705, and 1706. He was member of the
* Anthony Hawkins was a distinguished man in Farmington. His wife was the daughter of Governor Wells, of
Connecticut. His only son died childless.
[ It appears that the family name "Hawkins", as used here is incorrect. Ruth Hawkins and Anthony Hawkins should instead be Ruth Howkins and Anthony Howkins. Alfred Andrews or his sources, incorrectly corrected 'Howkins' to "Hawkins'. For example, see the copy of Thomas Harts will, which still preserves, Howkins, the original spelling of his father-in-law's surname and his son's first name. The confusion over the spelling has always been with us. It is due to the fact that Howkins is a very rare name, and Hawkins is a fairly common one. Many genealogists have incorrectly "corrected" the Howkins name, increasing the confusion. The two names have entirely different origins. Howkins is derived from the Christian name "Hugh", and actually means "son of little Hugh" (i.e. "Hughkyn's son"). The origin of Hawkins has been debated, though most experts think it derives from "Halkin", (i.e. "little Hal/Henry"). See: http://www.flick.com/onomastikon/England-Surnames/Patronymics.htm According to the footnote above, there are no living descendants of Anthony Howkins with the name Howkins. Anthony Howkins' only son died during King Phillip's War without any children. ]
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