Some discussion is ongoing about
exactly when and how William got here. Two major contenders are only
three years apart. The Windsor Historical Society claim he came in
1630 aboard the good ship Mary and John; another
authority aboard the Susan and Ellen in 1633. Concrete
evidence is lacking since ships seldom had a manifest then. Lists were
compiled after the fact. One researcher works compiling ships lists
from that era and asserts that over 25,000 people claim to have come
here on the Mary and John. A sturdy vessel, that. In any
case, William's name is on a brass plaque in Windsor indicating he
was an original settler of that town. I guess that is close enough. He
certainly didn't swim over. Windsor is the oldest Town in the state. Its original land
has spun off several other towns. Tobacco was the main crop grown there
starting in 1640. Brickmaking was also big until the 60s of this century.
The town now tends to be overshadowed by Hartford which is only 7.5 miles
away and coming closer. These first settlers were
Puritans, mostly from the middle classes and fairly well to do. They
quickly established the town of Windsor on a solid footing. By 1640 it was
quite thriving. William Filley's home lot can be
seen in the upper left corner of the map above. At this time all the
area around this town was wilderness and populated by several tribes of
Algonquian speaking Native Americans who did not take kindly to the new
people. One reason was that the confluence of rivers
was considered a sacred place to the native people and new settlers
saw it as prime land for farming and commerce. Conflict was
inevitable. Complicating the matter was the
animosity that existed between tribes. The tribe within whose territory
Windsor stood were friendly to a degree because they saw the settlers as
a protection against the more warlike Pequots and Mohawks.
The settlers for their part looked after their own interests and
did not treat the Native people very well. The
Europeans were here to stay and made their intentions clear by forcing
the native people back further and further by force of arms, disease,
trickery, and sheer numbers. William Filley married
Margaret Cackney in 1642 and together they produced nine children, three
of whom were boys and six girls. That all of these children survived their
childhood was quite unusual for that time. All married once
save Abigail which also speaks for their hardiness. Child bearing was
especially hard on women in those times when medicine was primitive and
sterile conditions unknown. Consider Margaret, the mother of these
children. She married at age twenty one, bore nine children, and died
shortly after the birth of the last one when she was forty-four. Half
her life was spent raising children. These were tough, determined
people. Our particular line stems from Samuel, the first
born. The descent of the other boys seems to have been neglected. I
will return to Samuel.
Filley
The Filley Family from Great Britain to America
t is general consensus among
Filley/Philley researchers that the first settler of that name in
this country was William Filley. He settled in Windsor, Connecticut
probably in 1633. He is listed on Windsor records as having purchased land
in 1634. An extensive search done by a professional genealogist in England
failed to locate him there, but indicated the name was found mostly in
Devon, just east of Cornwall. 