Wendy Barnes recently shared an image she found while conducting research for the Essex Historical Society on the Pratt family of Essex. Volumes 1-4 of the Old Saybrook Land records (originals in Hartford) are kept in the vault of the Deep River town clerk. Anyone is allowed to go thru them to do research. They start around early to mid 1600’s. As you can see, the penmanship of the town clerk (1900’s), Mr L’Hommedieu is fantastic. Anything Griswold always catches my eye because I descend from Edward. It was the April 2nd 1679 entry which made me smile. Matthew Griswold being paid for creating the tombstone of Lady Alice Boteler – wife of George Fenwick. The tomb is in Cypress Cemetery in Old Saybrook & is the oldest in Old Saybrook. I sent this entry to the Director of the cemetery. He said he’d heard about Matthew but never had any proof of his involvement – he was delighted to see this. Thought you guys might find it interesting.
Entry Transcription: The lands of Mathew Griswold: four acres of meadow lying near the Raged Roke [Ragged Rock] bounded on the Southeast to the great cove and southwest to the meadow of Alexander Chalker and on the northwest by a creek and stake and on the northeast by the meadow of Richard Raymond senior.
In the ox pasture four hundred and fifty pound right, one hundred of which belongs to Francis Griswold and his successors.
April 2nd, 1679
Received of Thomas Buckingham of Saybrook agent for Benjamen Batten Esq of London and in payment for the Tombe stone of Lady Alice Boteler of Saybrooke. That is to pay the full and just summe of Seven pounds sterling. I say received by me $35. Mathew Griswold Senior.
Lady Boteler Fenwick
Lady Alice Boteler, for whom Matthew Griswold, Sr. most likely carved the headstone described in the land record at left, was also known as Lady Alice Apsley Boteler Fenwick. She was an early 17th-century noblewoman and a co-founder of the Saybrook Colony in Connecticut (not Massachusetts). She was the daughter of Sir Edward Apsley and acquired the courtesy title “Lady” from her first marriage to Sir John Boteler.
She and her second husband, Colonel George Fenwick, arrived at the mouth of the Connecticut River in 1639, making her one of the first European noblewomen to brave the primitive conditions of early New England settlement. Fenwick was one of 15 English lords to receive a deed from the Earl of Warwick for English settlement in the New World. The Earl of Warwick and his deed holders intended that Saybrook would become a place of refuge for Puritan aristocrats if King Charles returned to the throne.
Lady Fenwick died in 1645, shortly after giving birth to their second daughter. After her death, George Fenwick was said to be too distraught to remain in the New World. He and his two young daughters, Elizabeth and Dorothy, returned to England.
Lady Fenwick was originally buried on Tom Hill at Saybrook Point, but her remains were disinterred in 1870 to allow for railroad development. She was reinterred with an elaborate ceremony at Cypress Cemetery in Old Saybrook, CT, where her marker and local memorial tributes remain today.
The Fenwick family’s connection to the Griswolds goes beyond just the carving of Lady Fenwick’s headstone. Matthew was an associate of George Fenwick and when Fenwick departed for England following the death of his wife, Matthew Griswold promised that he and his family would tend to her tombstone on Saybrook Point. Earlier this year, more than 381 years later, Matthew Griswold (10th), his son Matthew (11th), and grandson Matthew (12th) headed an effort to collect funds from the Griswold family to reimburse Cypress Cemetery Association for the restoration work to Lady Fenwick’s grave.
