Timothy Jerome ⁵⁸

  General Notes:

Timothy came from the Isle of Wight (According to family tradition) to New England about 1709. He settled first in Corchester, Mass., but lived in Windham, Conn. by 1713. by 1717 he was a resident of Wallingford (now Meridaen), conn., being one of the first settlers. He was sergeant of a train band, and was recorded as a Freeman on 30 April 1730.

The Jeromes came to New Cambridge, CT. (now called Bristol, CT) from Wallingford, CT. about the year 1741. There were three Jerome brothers: Timothy, William and Zerubbabel. Another brother, Samuel, later moved to New York State. These brothers were the sons of Timothy and Abigail Jerome, progenitors of many distinguished descendents, among them, through their son Samuel, Winston Churchill ( in the sixth generation). Abigail's son, Timothy Jerome, was the ancestor of Chauncey Jerome II, the famous clockmaker. Capt. Timothy was supposed to have had 10 children. The early spelling of Jerome was Jearom.

The name of Jerome first appears, so far as at present learned [1896], in the early records of various parishes in the Isle of Wight, as far back as 1503. In 1540 the name is found amoung the martyres of thereign of Queen Mary, when Rev. William Jerome, a graduate of Oxford, was burned at the stake on account of his religious; and in 1624 one Sephen Jerome is mentioned as the theologian in England.
Though tracing back the Jerome ancestry with certainty to the Isle ofWight, it would appear from sundry indications that its origin was French rather than English. Exactly when they came, or what were the influences which caused them to come over from France to England , we cannot tell. The fortunes of war may have drifted them tither in one of the frequent invasions of the Isalnd, or they may have come to seek refuge from the troubles existing in their own country.
After the massacre of St. Barholomew in 1572, a tremendous tide of emigration began to sweep out of France, culminating only with the reignof Louis XIV, when in the year 1681 thousands of French Huguenots, onbeing deprived of their rights, fled to England for safety and protection. Many of them settled in the Isle of Wight. There has always been in the family a tradition and belief that its ancestors were of theHuguenots, and from [the fact that there were already Jeromes in the Isle of Wight, it is reasonable to assume that the new comers settled there in order to be near relatives who had previously emigrated.
The parish records of Andover, Winchester, Gadshill, Whitwell, Kingston, St. Nicholas Chapel, Carishbroad Castle - all contain the name of Jerome, and numerous wills are on file, many of which bear christian names that reapear frequently after the settlement of the family in America.

Mr. P. C. Jerome of Ashbourne, England, remembers hearing from his father who was born over one hundred years ago, that he was descended from a French Huguenot family. Mr. Jerome also has in his possession and old French family seal - evidently two or three hudred years old. In the chevron of this seal are clearly discernible wheat sheaves, coinciding exactly with the coat of arms found in quite another quarter by Mr. Thomas Spencer Jerome, son of the late David H. Jerome, ex-govenor of Mich., representing wheat sheaves and unmounted cannon.

Another coat of arms with which one of two old Jerome wills is sealedrepresents a shield argent, with three bull's head erased - crest a forearm erect, holding in the hand a cross Moline- an emblem adopted by Moline, the founder of an order or society of Jesuits in Spain.

A sister of Mr. Jerome learned in the Isle of Wight that two of a Jerome family there- John and Stephen- emigrated to America, and it is onrecord that about 1730 they received a royal grand of a monopoly of salt making in the Colony of Connecticut, bestowed upon them because they were skilled in the Manufacture of Salt. John and Stephen located at Branford, Conn., and make Salt form sea water. Afew years later thebusiness was removed to Lynn, near the mouth of the connecticut river. Descendants of these brothers are now living at or in the vincinity of New London.
Salt works were in operation in the parish of Northwood, Isle of Wight, more than two hundred years ago [1896], and it is not unlikely that Northwood may be the place from which the tow brothers emigrated tone new world. A few years earlier than this, howver; about 1710 - Timothy Jerome, form whom we trace directly back, came to America fromthe Isle of Wight and settled at Wallingsford. He was said to have come from near the salt works; but what the conneciton was, if any, between him and John and Stephen is not yet known. Timothy Jerome was a man of Large propery and influence in the town in which he lived. He was born in the year 1688 and died in 1750, sixty tow years of age, leaving a widow, Abigail, four sons -Timothy Jr., Zerubable, William and Samuel; also three Daughters Abigail, Elizabeth and Isabel.

He left a large estate, and by his will, the widow Abigail, and his son Samuel were named as executors. The will was probated at New Haven and is still among the records there. It begins as follows:

" in the name of God, Amen. This 8th day of March, in the 22d year ofthe reigh of our Sovereign Lord King George ye second, Anno Domini 1748-49, I Timothy Jerome of Meriden in Wallingford, in Connecticut Colony in New England, being in the Sixty-First year of my age, and tho sound in body and mind, yet calling to my mind my own mortality, do make, consitute and ordain this to by my last wWill and Testam't. And first of all, I recommed my soul into ye hands of Almighty God in Hipe of his eternal mercy through Jesus Christ, and my body to ye dust by decent Christian "buriall", at ye descretion of my Executors herinafternamed"

The inventory of this estate contains many items of interest, notablyfour slaves - Pomp, Rose, Jenny and Prince, valued at over H1000(sic). That slvery was countenanced in those days is shown by the fact that the minister of the town was himself a slave holder. Wallingford Church records mention thte baptism of two slaves belonging to SergeantTimothy Jerome and the funeral of another. The widow Abigail whose second husband was Jacob Deming, also bequeathed slaves to ther children.

Several old books, probably brought from England, show Timothy to have been a man of some education and perhaps literary taste.

Timothy married Abigail Rich, daughter of Nicolas Rich and Abigail Greene, in 1709 in Wenham, Essex, MA. (Abigail Rich was born on 2 Oct 1687 in Wenham MA,⁵¹ died on 18 Nov 1771 in Farmington, CT ⁶⁰ and was buried in Bristol South Side Cem ⁶¹.)