William or Wingle JOHNSON

                   Historical and research information in notes.
Probably of Dutch descent, no known ancestors, see notes for clarification.

HE IS SAID TO HAVE BEEN OF WALLINGFORD, CT. HE EMIGRATED TO AMERICA IN APPROXIMATELY 1660 AND SETTLED IN NEW HAVEN. IN DEC, 1664, HE MARRIED SARAH HALL, DAUGHTER OF JOHN AND JANE (WOLLEN) HALL. HE WAS ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OR ORIGINAL PROPRIETORS OF WALLINGFORD, IN 1670, AND ONE OF THE SIGNERS OF THE COMPACT.IN THE TOWN RECORDS OF NEW HAVEN, HE IS SOMETIMES MENTIONED AS "WINGLE" JOHNSON, AND IS RECORDED AS "HUSBANDMAN" AND "PLANTER". HE DIED IN 1716, AND HIS WILL IS RECORDED AT NEW HAVEN.Most of the information contained in these notes comes from the works of a Johnson ancestor who did considerable research on the line of William Johnson and related families. I have used this data to preserve for my siblings and for those who follow a little of history. After spending nearly six years of my life travelling and researching these families, I sometimes feel that I have lived their lives through hardships and prosperity. There have differences of opinion as to whether William Johnson was of English or Dutch ancestry. The greatest evidence supports the belief that William was Dutch. There were three Johnson brothers, Robert, John and Thomas, who came to America from near England in 1635. They were Puritans under Ezekiel Rogers. Robert and Thomas settled at New Haven, Connecticut and John moved on to Rowley, Massachusetts. Donald Jacobus, an eminent genealogist, stated that "there is no evidence to prove that William Johnson was the son of Thomas who had only two sons, Thomas of Newark and Jerimiah of Derby.Jacobus continued to state "that there is reason to suppose that two of the Johnsons of Connecticut were of Dutch descent. "Old Richard" Johnson who died 25 March 1679 and whose estate was administered was referred to as "Dericke Johnson. After payment of debts, the remainder of the estate went to William Johnson. No metion is made of the relationship between them but it is evident they were not father and son. Richard is called "Dericke" and William sometimes appeared on early records as "Wingle" or "Windle" Johnson. It is pretty safe to assume they were of Dutch descent and very likely they were uncle and nephew."Judge Samuel W. Johnson of Wheatridge, Colorado, in his book "The History and Genealogy of the Johnson Family", felt it was impossible to trace the ancestry to any of the three English Johnson brothers. Some genealogists have tried to make a connection of William to them but without much success. One stated that William came to America in 1660 however there is proof that William owned property in New Haven as early as 1651. William and his brother John arrived in New Haven in about 1645. Both were active members of the Colony. Judge Johnson believed that William, Richard, and John, with other settlers, may have been a Dutch group who came to Brandford and Wallingford, Connecticut and then went to New Haven.According to Judge Johnson, his father's sister told him that according to tradition his the family had come from the Hanover district of Germany. The name "Windle" is a from of the Dutch name "Wendel". Research showed that the Wendel family of America was from the Ryneland or Delphland area of Holland. A Windall of New Haven was probably related to the Wendels of New York, and the New York family was from Emden, at one time part of Holland, and now in the province of Hanover Germany. "At a meeting of the General Court (New Haven town records-1658) , Deacon Miles endorsed one Windall, a Dutchman, for admission to the Colony. Miles was closely associated with Windle Johnson and uncle Dericke and took their recommendation of Windall because he was a relative of theirs." Whether of not Judge Johnson's assumption that Windle, John and Dericke Johnson were closely connected with the Dutch who came to New Haven may be a fact, it does seem certain that they were of Dutch ancestry, if for no other reason than they were known at first as Windle and Dericke the Dutchman, in a community largely composed of English settlers.William Johnson, known also as Windle and Wingle Johnson, probably arrived at Manhattan in about 1644
. He first went to Wallingford Connecticut and then to the New Haven Colony, settling there in 1645. He acquired a lot in New Haven in 1651 and in 1652 assigned it to his brother John. In 1666 William bought a lot from his Uncle Richard and later sold it to John Winus. In 1668 he purchased about 10 acres from Samuel Whitehead. The town alloted him 40 acres on the west side of town and made him a second grant in 1682. William was one of the signers of the original compact for the settlement of Wallingford, Connecticut, and was one of the original proprietors there. Although he owned property in Wallingford, he continued to live his life in New Haven. He joined the 1st chuch of New Haven in 1688. Was a member of the New Haven training band (1665); sergeant (1665); constable (1683); road reviewer (1676); road overseer (1680); and freeman (1669). William married Sarah Hall, daughter of John Hall and Jane Wollen, on 11 December 1664 at New Haven, Connecticut. The Hall family was an established family of the area and John was one of the early immigrants to America. To their family were born 14 children. Son, Isaac, born on 27 October 1672, is the descendant line. William died in New Haven in 1716 and Sarah probably died about the same time in New Haven.