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Genealogical and Family History of the State of Connecticut: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation. Volume 1 Robert Coe. immigrant ancestor, was born in Suffolkshire, England , in 1596 . With his wife, Anna , born 1591 , and their three sons, he sailed from Ipswich, Suffolkshire , in company with seventy-nine others, in the ship "Francis ," John Cuttinham , master, April 10, 1634 . They reached Boston in the following June , only six years from the date of the first settlement in the Massachusetts Colony. Robert Coe settled with his family in Watertown , near Boston , and was made a freeman there, September 3, 1634 . In 1635 "all the towns in the Bay began to be much straightened by their own nearness to one another." So, leave being granted by the council, several families from Watertown, Newton and Dorchester formed settlements at Windsor, Hartford and Wethersfield . Robert Coe settled in Wethersfield , which was purchased from the Indians. On account of some difficulty which arose in the church, he and several others agreed to move to Rippowams (Stamford) . Andrew Ward and Robert Coe purchased the land for the settlers. In the autumn of 1643 a deputation was sent from Stamford to Long Island , to examine the country and in the spring following, Robert Coe , Richard Denton , pastor of the church at Stamford , and several others, formed the first English settlement at Hempstead, Long Island . In 1652 he removed to a place called Mespat , and aided in establishing a settlement named Middleburg, now Newtown . He was a magistrate during his whole residence there, and took a leading part in all the affairs of the town. Early in 1656 he, with several others, commenced a settlement in Jamaica . He was magistrate of the town and represented it in the general convention at Hartford , May, 1664 . He continued to be one of the most active and prominent men in public affairs till about 1672 , at which time he was seventy-six years old. The time of his death is not known. Children: John , born in England in 1626 ; Robert , mentioned below; Benjamin , born in England in 1629 . ---Submitted by Tina Hursh |