The surname Lockwood is of very ancient origin and is mentioned in the Domesday Book. It is a place name, and th family has several branches in England, in Staffordshire, Yorkshire, county Essex and Northampton. The coat-of-arms borne by Rev. Richard Lockwood, pastor of Dingley, Northampton, was: Argent, a fesse between three martletts sable.
(I) Robert Lockwood, immigrant ancestor, came to New England about 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. He was admitted a freeman, March 9, 1636-37, and was the executor of the estate of one Edmund Lockwood, supposed to have been his brother. He removed to Fairfield, Connecticut. He was recorded as a settler there, as early as 1641 and died there in 1668. He was admitted a freeman of that state, May 20, 1662. He was appointed sergeant at Fairfield in May, 1657. He is said to have lived for a time in Norwalk, Connecticut. He married Susannah ————, who married (second) Jeffrey Ferris, and died at Greenwich. Children:
- Jonathan, mentioned below;
- Deborah, born October 12, 1636;
- Joseph, August 6, 1638;
- Daniel, March 21, 1640;
- Ephraim, December 1, 1641;
- Gershom, September 6, 1643;
- John;
- Abigail, married John Barlow, of Fairfield;
- Sarah;
- Mary, married Jonathan Heusted.
(II) Lieutenant Jonathan, son of Robert Lockwood, was born in Watertown, Masschusetts, September 10, 1634, died May 12, 1688, in Greenwich, Connecticut, in his fifty-fourth year. He married Mary, daughter of Jeffrey Ferris, who married, late in life, Mrs. Susannah Lockwood, widow of Robert Lockwood, and Jonathan's mother. Jonathan signed a paper on January 1, 1657, at Eastowne, in the New Netherlands, in which he promised allegiance to the Dutch governor as long as he lived within his jurisdiction. He lived in Stamford, Connecticut, October 16, 1660, and in 1665 he sold his estate there and moved to Greenwich. He was made a freeman here in 1670. He was assistant in May, 1671, and in 1672 was "one of the twenty-seven proprietors." He represented the town in the legislature for four years. At his death, the people met in town meeting and passed resolutions deploring the loss of so valuable a citizen, and he was greatly mourned. He was deputy to the general assembly several times. He was appointed by the court, with three others, to determine the boundary line between Greenwich and the colony of New York, from Mamaroneck river to Hudson river. On May 9, 1688, he made a deed, a division of property, and named his wife and children. This was three days before his death. His wife, after his death, made provision for her children, when about to marry Sergeant Thomas Merritt, of Rye, June 5, 1696. Children:
- Jonathan, born about 1663;
- Robert;
- Gershom;
- Still John, about 1674;
- Joseph, mentioned below;
- Sarah;
- Abigail.
(III) Joseph, son of Lieutenant Jonathan Lockwood, was born in 1675, in Stamford, Connecticut, died 1759, aged eighty-four, at Poundridge, Westchester county, New York, where he moved in 1743. He was admitted a freeman, February 7, 1697. He married (first), May 19, 1698, Elizabeth Ayres, who died December 16, 1715. He married (second), August 10, 1716, Margery, born October 4, 1683, died January 2, 1736-37, daughter of James and Hannah (Scofield) Webb. Children by first wife:
- Joseph, born March 15, 1699, mentioned below;
- Hannah, March 24, 1701;
- John, September 18, 1703;
- Nathaniel, April 1, 1706, died young;
- Elizabeth, May 15, 1708;
- Israel, June 4, 1710;
- Mary;
- Reuben, December 15, 1715.
By second wife:
- Nathaniel, May 20, 1717;
- Nathan, March 25, 1719;
- James, July 15, 1722.
(IV) Joseph (2), son of Joseph (1) Lockwood, was born March 15, 1699, at Stamford. He moved with his father to Poundridge in 1743, and here he died June 15, 1757. He was one of the proprietors of the Stanford Patent, which was granted in 1685. He married Sarah, born April 1, 1706, died in 1790, daughter of Joshua and Mary (Pickett) Hoyt. Children:
- Eliakim, born February 28, 1728-29;
- Joseph, June 30, 1731, mentioned below;
- Elizabeth, March 7, 1733;
- Gilbert, 1736, died 1740;
- Ebenezer, March 31, 1737;
- Rachel, January 19, 1739;
- Mercy;
- Hezekiah, killed by a fence rail, aged seven years;
- Prudence.
(V) Captain Joseph (3), son of Joseph (2) Lockwood, was born June 30, 1731, in Stamford, died March 17, 1792, at Poundridge. Joseph Lockwood was elected town clerk of Old Poundridge in 1760. He was chosen captain of a military company, and his commission was issued September 13, 1775. On June 10, 1775, a list of men who went from Manchester to Ticonderoga under him is given by him. He was chosen as one of the competent officers by the committee of safety at New York. He was unanimously chosen chairman of the first meeting of the congregation of the Presbyterian Society at Poundridge in 1760. He married Hannah Close, who died December 22, 1806, daughter of Solomon Close, of North Salem, New York. She married (second) Captain James Richards, of New Canaan, Connecticut, a wealthy man, who died at New Canaan, May 17, 1810, aged eighty-seven, after being blind for several years. Children:
- Hannah;
- Sarah, born 1761;
- Joseph, December 3, 1764;
- Solomon, August 28, 1766, mentioned below;
- Prudence, 1767;
- Mindwell, married Jotham Waring;
- Mercy;
- Matilda, died young;
- Matilda, married Seth Kellogg;
- Nancy, married Henry Jones.
(VI) Solomon, son of Captain Joseph (3) Lockwood, was born August 28, 1766, at Poundridge, died March 19, 1841. He married Mary Close, of Greenwich, born April 16, 1770, died May 6, 1848, daughter of Odle Close. Children:
- Bethia, born June 21, 1791;
- Odle, May 4, 1793;
- Leander, November 21, 1794;
- Joseph, September 23, 1796;
- Hannah, March 9, 1798;
- William, September 14, 1800;
- Catharine Mary, October 13, 1802, married John L. Silliman, died April 17, 1879 (see Silliman VI);
- Sarah Elizabeth, September 10, 1805;
- Solomon, September 5, 1810, died September 22, 1811.