JUDGE GEORGE FLINT

BIOGRAPHY

AS RECORDED IN:

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF
TOLLAND AND WINDHAM COUNTIES CONNECTICUT.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PROMINENT AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS AND OF MANY OF THE EARLY SETTLED FAMILIES
PUBLISHER: J.H.BEERS & CO., CHICAGO; 1903 P. 232

JUDGE GEORGE FLINT. Most of the early New England families are of pure English descent, and especially those who settled in and about Boston and Salem. We have, however, in the Flint family, representatives from the Welsh strain of Anglo-Saxon blood. The gentleman whose name forms the caption for this article is a worthy representative of the family, living in the town of Thompson, Windham county, where he has been for years the efficient probate judge of the town, and one of its leading agriculturists. He is at the present time living in the enjoyment of a well-earned rest, having the confidence and esteem of the friends whom he has made by a life of unexampled probity and uprightness.

George Flint was born in Worcester county, Mass., Oct. 17, 1832. As stated, he is able to trace his lineage in direct line from one of the early settlers of Salem, Thomas Flint, who, well authenticated tradition says, came from Wales to America in the early part of the seventeenth century. He is of record in the town of Salem in 1650, but is believed to have arrived in America much earlier, as certain evidences point with much force to the possibility of his mother having been here as early as 1642. It is certainly true that Thomas Flint was among the first settlers of Salem village, that part now known as South Danvers. The Christian name of his wife is known to have been Ann. His death occurred on April 15, 1663. His children are on record as follows: (1) Thomas. (2) Elizabeth was born April 30, 1650. (3) George, born Jan. 6, 1652, settled in Reading, Mass., and married (first) Elizabeth, daughter of Nathaniel and Elizabeth Hutchinson; she was born Aug. 11, 1662, and died March 6, 1697. His second wife, whom he married March 2, 1699, was Mrs. Susannah Gardner, who died in March, 1720. George Flint died June 23, 1720. He was the father of ten children, all by the first marriage; and one of his sons, Nathaniel, born Jan. 4, 1694, married Dec. 20, 1720, Mary Stearns, of Lynn, Mass., and in 1722 moved to Tolland, Conn.; he was the father of ten children. (4) John, born Oct. 3, 1655, lived in Salem Village, where he died in the year 1730; his wife's name was Elizabeth. Two of his sons, John and Joshua, settled in Windham, Conn., about the year 1716. John, the first of these, was born Feb. 8, 1681, and married for his first wife, May 5, 1709, Christian Reed, who died Sept. 27, 1721. He then married, March 14, 1722, Lydia, daughter of Jonathan and Susannah Gennings (or Jennings), whose birth occurred in 1695. To the first marriage were born Mary, Samuel, John and Rufus; the second wife became the mother of Joseph, Jonathan, Nathan, Sibyl, Gideon, Mary, Abigail and Lydia. Joshua, the other brother mentioned above, settled in Windham county. He was born Oct. 28, 1689, married in October, 1715, Deborah Ingalls, of Andover, and had twelve children. (5) Anna, born Dec. 25, 1657, died in April, 1663. (6) Joseph, born in 1662, was married Aug. 6, 1685, to Abigail Howard. They passed their lives in Salem village, and were the parents of eleven children, of whom Nathaniel, born Dec. 11, 1688, settled in Windham, Conn., about 1716. On Feb. 17, 1715, he (first) married Sarah Cutler, of Salem, who died Dec. 20, 1726. He then married on May 22, 1727, Mary Davis, who died Feb. 22, 1728. His third wife was May Abbe. The four children of Nathaniel, all born to the first marriage, were: Sarah, Nathaniel, Abigail and Eunice.

There is record of the children of a John Flint and his wife Martha (Davis), baptized in the old Thompson Church, as follows: Davis, July 29, 1739; John, July 26, 1741; Aaron, April 8, 1744; Martha, Sept. 21, 1746; Davis (2), March 29, 1749; John (2), Aug. 9, 1752; Aaron (2), Sept. 29, 1754; and Joseph, June 23, 1756.

John Flint, son of John, was the grandfather of Judge George Flint. He grew to manhood and became a large landowner and farmer in Thompson Center, where he spent his long and useful life. He participated in the War of the Revolution as a privateer on the high seas, a branch of the service which according to the best historians, did equally as effective work in securing independence as the land forces. John Flint died in Thompson, and was buried in the cemetery at that place. He married Rhoda Keith, whose remains also lie in the Thompson cemetery, and they became the parents of seven children, namely: Betsy, born May 6, 1786, married Benjamin Wilson, and died at Douglass, Mass., in 1809; Polly, born March 27, 1788, married Andrew Sherman, and died in 1814; John, born March 19, 1791, participated in the war of 1812, and died in 1832; Rhoda was born June 29, 1793; Lydia, born Jan. 24, 1796, married Abel Bump; Jessie K. was born Sept. 21, 1798; Noadiah was born March 21, 1801.

Noadiah Flint was the honored father of Judge George Flint. He was reared amid the environment of a refined Christian home and received a good district-school education. He grew up on the homestead farm, and on attaining his majority went to Killingly, where he entered the mills at that place, working principally in the carding department, until ill health compelled him to relinquish that kind of work. He then went to Worcester county, Mass., locating at North Oxford, and spent a year in a mill. In 1833 he returned to Thompson and spent five years in the mills of this locality, in 1838 buying the farm on which he spent the balance of his life. He died in 1882, and the remains of himself and wife repose in Putnam Heights cemetery. Mr. Flint was a man of quiet habits and of singularly correct life, his influence being given to the betterment of society along all proper lines. His political affiliations early in life were those of a Whig, and he naturally drifted into the Republican party upon its organization, continuing to support it by his vote to the date of his death. In religious connection he held membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, as did also his wife. He was not a man to seek public office, but during his life time cheerfully administered some of the unpaid offices of trust in the town of Thompson.

Mr. Flint was married in Killingly, Conn., March 22, 1829, to Sarah S. Carey, a native of Johnston, R.I., and daughter of Chad Carey, a descendent of John Carey, who settled in Johnston in the year 1635. To the marriage of Noadiah and Sarah S. Flint were born three children, the eldest dying in infancy, unnamed; George was the second; and William H. is now living in Thompson. The latter became the father of Mrs. George D. Ross, Mary and Mrs. S. Alice Clements. The mother of this family survived her husband seven years, dying at the ripe age of eighty-three years, in 1889. She was a woman of blessed memory, strong in her conjugal relations, one who made the home the brightest spot on earth for her family.

Judge George Flint passed the days of his youth in aiding in the labors of the farm and acquiring a fairly good elementary education in the district schools of Thompson, where the family had moved when he was less than one year old. He left school at an early age, and thus cannot be said to be an educated man in the sense of having had elaborate scholastic training, but being possessed of a keen and observant mind, and early acquiring a healthy thirst for knowledge, he in time became educated in the very best sense of the word, and is looked upon as being one of the best read men in the town of Thompson. Judge Flint has occupied himself largely in agricultural pursuits, remaining on the old homestead and tenderly caring for his parents until they passed away. His own health finally breaking owing to the rigor of farm labor, he gave up the pursuit of agriculture in 1901, sold his farm, and has since then been enjoying a retired and quiet life. His public life was distinguished by close application to the duties of his office, and a splendid fidelity to the trust imposed in him. His first connection with the office of probate judge of Thompson was in 1873, and he has been continuously administering the office since that time, a period of some thirty years, possibly eclipsing, in length of service, any former incumbent. During this long time he has probated many large estates, in all of which he has given general satisfaction. Judge Flint has also filled the office of selectman, for a single term, and for thirty years was a member of the board of relief, during twenty-seven years directing the sittings of the board as chairman. It is unnecessary to say that the honest and upright life which Judge Flint has passed in Thompson has attracted to him a very large circle of stanch friends. In political faith he supports the policies promulgated by the Republican party, to which he has always given the most sturdy support. In his whole career of thirty years in public life the Judge has never asked for a single vote. The impending retirement of Judge Flint from the office of probate judge on account of having reached the age limit is regarded with genuine regret throughout the community, his administration of that office having been of such a high character. The Judge's kind and genial manner has endeared him to all who have come in contact with him.

In 1887 Judge Flint was married, in Thompson, to Gertrude I. Dowling, who was a daughter of William Dowling, and who died in 1889, leaving one child, George Lincoln, who is a student in attendance at Putnam high school. Mrs. Flint was a woman who combined many noble qualities, and was greatly devoted to her husband and son, who, in return, idolized her. Since her death the Judge has lived true to her memory, his home being presided over by Mrs. Lottie Card, sister of his wife.

Reproduced by:

Linda D. Pingel – great-great granddaughter of Cyrus White of Rockville, Ct.

Return to Main Page