The earliest mention of this family is of Jonas Weed, who came with the fleet of 1630 and was made a freeman, May 18, 1631. He was dismissed from the church of Watertown to that of Wethersfield, March 29, 1636 (Savage vol. IV, page 51). [James Savage, A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England.] He was of Stamford, Fairfield county, Connecticut, in 1642, and remained until he died, in 1676, his estate being inventoried June 5 of that year. He names in his will four sons, John, Daniel, Jonas and Samuel; four daughters, Mary, Dorcas, Hannah and Sarah. His widow Mary died early in 1690.
(II) John, son of Jonas and Mary Weed, was of Stamford, Connecticut. He married Joanna, daughter of Richard Westcoat, and had Jonas, born 1665; Daniel, 1669; John, Samuel, Joseph, Isaac, Mary and Hannah, the last four dying young.
(III) Jonas (2), son of John and Joanna (Westcoat) Weed, was born February 7, 1665; married and had issue.
(IV) Jonathan, son of Jonas (2) Weed, was born April 15, 1684. He married Mary ————, and had
- Josiah, born October 14, 1716;
- Silas, July 11, 1719;
- Mary, March 23, 1722;
- Jonas, October 4, 1727.
(V) Josiah, son of Jonathan and Mary Weed, was born October 14, 1716, and met an accidental death at the age of sixty years. He lived at New Canaan, Fairfield county, Connecticut, the place of his birth. He married, at Stamford, Connecticut, April 15, 1742, Abigail, born in New Canaan, February 28, 1723, daughter of Nathaniel and Mary Bouton; granddaughter of John and Sarah (Greggory) Bouton, of Norwalk, Connecticut, and great-granddaughter of John Bouton, son, it is supposed, of Count Nicholas Bouton, a Huguenot, who fled to England and was among the emigrants sent by the government to America on the condition that all swear allegiance to the crown of England. He embarked from Gravesend, England, in the barque "Assurance," July, 1635, and landed at Boston, Massachusetts, in December, 1635, aged twenty years. He lived in Boston, Hartford and Norwalk, Connecticut, where he was influential and prominent in public life; deputy to the general court, and other offices. He had three wives, John (2) being the son of the second, Abigail Marvin, daughter of ———— Marvin, who came from London, England. Children of Josiah and Abigail (Bouton) Weed, with dates of baptism:
- Margaret, March 16, 1743;
- Eunice, February 5, 1744;
- James, June 20, 1745;
- Abigail, December 14, 1746;
- Josiah, June 11, 1748;
- Hannah, May 9, 1750;
- Hannah, August 11, 1751;
- Sarah, April 16, 1753;
- Josiah, March 3, 1754;
- Levi, February 22, 1756;
- Mary, December 25, 1757;
- Jonathan, March 12, 1760;
- Sarah, January 17, 1762;
- Dorcas, October 23, 1763;
- Daniel, see forward;
- Abigail, December 4, 1768.
(VI) Daniel, son of Josiah and Abigail (Bouton) Weed, was born in New Canaan, Fairfield county, Connecticut, September 2, 1765, died in 1853. He was a soldier of the revolution along with fifty-three others from Connecticut by name of Weed. He enlisted first in Captain Webb's company, Ninth Regiment Connecticut Militia, at New York, 1776; he was discharged September 6, 1776. He was a member of Captain Mill's company, Colonel Enos' regiment, 1778. He was on the roll of revolutionary pensioners in 1840 from New Canaan, Connecticut, and his age given as seventy-four years. He married (first) March 12, 1787, Hannah Raymond, who died May 17, 1792: married (second) ———— Benedict, who lived one year after marriage and died without issue; married (third), a cousin of his second wife, Martha Benedict, who died in Fairfield county, Connecticut, in 1843, an old lady. Children by first marriage:
- Daniel, went to Delaware county, New York, when a lad of twelve years, became a successful farmer and business man; left issue, now deceased;
- Sarah, died in old age, unmarried;
- Harvey, see forward.
Children by third marriage;
- Dorcas,
- Hannah,
- Polly,
- Martha, all died unmarried;
- John A., a banker;
- Rev. William B., a Congregational minister of Norwalk, Connecticut, author of a "Book of Sermons"; he graduated at Yale College, class of 1830.
(VII) Harvey, son of Daniel and Hannah (Raymond) Weed, was born in Fairfield county, Connecticut, in 1790, died in Schenectady, New York, 1859. After leaving Connecticut, he settled first in Galway, Saratoga county, New York, in 1817. Here he followed the occupation of farming and engaged extensively in lumbering, and being successful in his business enterprises, became one of the substantial men of the town. In 1836 he came to Schenectady. When the Mohawk and Schenectady railroad was extended to Utica, he was in charge of the first train that ran over the road. He remained with the railroad company eight years, then established a mercantile business, corner of Jay and Union streets, Schenectady. During his long residence in Schenectady he became well known and popular with all classes and ages. He was an active member of the Presbyterian church, and like his father was a Jacksonian Democrat. By energy and thrift he acquired a comfortable fortune, and he erected a comfortable home in Schenectady, where his son, William Harvey, now resides. He married, in Fairfield, Connecticut, Hannah Smith, born 1793, died 1889, aged ninety-six years. She was a remarkably energetic and able woman, strong in character as well as in body, and retained all her powers and faculties until the last. She was a communicant of the Episcopal church. Her parents, Joseph and Mary (Waterbury) Smith, of Fairfield county, Connecticut, both died in old age, and are buried in the Smith cemetery at Talmadge Hill, Connecticut. They were members of the Episcopal church. Children of Harvey and Hannah (Smith) Weed:
- Hanford, born 1810, died at Albion, New York, 1852; married (first) Sarah Kenyon, died, at the age of thirty-seven; married (second) Elizabeth Kenyon; left Mary J., who married and left issue, and Sarah E., who died, aged eighteen. Frances, daughter of Sarah E., died in Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1906, wife of H. T. Lattimer.
- Lorenzo Smith, born 1813, in Connecticut, died in New Jersey, 1885; he was a merchant of Schenectady from 1843 until 1859; later of Albany, New York; removed to Jersey City, 1871; he was a successful man of business, a Presbyterian and a Democrat. He married Susan Cornwell, born in Broadalbin, New York, in 1817, died in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1895, daughter of Ashabel and Ann (Warren) Cornwell, of Connecticut and New York state. Children:
- Edwin Harvey, born August 13, 1841; educated in the Union School, Schenectady, became a clerk in Albany; in 1873 went to New Jersey, where he lived until the death of his aunt, Mary A., who was the housekeeper for her aged brother, William Harvey Weed. He then returned to Schenectady, where he cares for his uncle's business interests and comfort. He married, 1880, Marie Price, born of Welsh parentage, in 1848, died 1898; the mother of three children, all of whom died in infancy.
- Susan A., married David Whitlock Hull, resides in Jersey City, New Jersey, and has a daughter, Augusta, married.
- William Harvey, see forward.
- Joseph E., born 1827, died 1856, unmarried.
- Mary A., born 1829, died April 6, 1909, at the brother's home in Schenectady; unmarried.
(VIII) William Harvey, son of Harvey and Hannah (Smith) Weed, was born in Galway, Saratoga county, New York, October 23, 1820, the first child of the family born in that state. He was an able, reliable business man and was for several years manager for Colonel Furman, of Schenectady. He later associated himself with the dry goods firm of Barringer & Company, of Schenectady, and after their retirement was salesman for the H. S. Barney Company. He remained with the latter firm until the death of his father in 1857, when he succeeded to the business the latter had established at the corner of Jay and Union streets, Schenectady. He continued the business from 1857 to 1887, when he retired with a competence. He resides in the home built by his father at 504 Union street. He has led an active, useful life, and now, at the age of ninety, is remarkably well preserved and active in mind and memory. He is a member of St. George's Episcopal Church, and a Democrat. He never married.