My Ranney family roots in the United States are definitely rooted in Middletown, Connecticut. My 9th great-grandfather, Thomas Rany, immigrated from Scotland about 1658 and settled in Middletown. He married Mary Hubbard, daughter of George and Elizabeth Watts Hubbard, in Middletown in May 1659. He was the first of six generations that were born or lived in Middletown until the Ohio Reserve opened up and the Ranneys migrated westward.
First a little history on Middletown. It is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state. It is 16 miles south of Hartford and was originally included in the County of Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated as a town under its original Native American name, Mattabeseck. A mere three years later, the name was changed to Middletown. This was chosen because the site was approximately halfway between Windsor and Saybrook on the Great River. Middlesex County was formed in 1785. The city was originally a busy saling port and then an industrial center.
The land on the western bank of the Connecticut River where Middletown now lies was home to the Mattabesett Native Americans (also spelled Mattabesec, Mattabeseck, and Mattabesek) and the area was named after them. At the time the first European settlers arrived, the Mattabesetts were a part of a group of tribes in the Connecticut Valley, under a single chief named Sowheag.
Plans were drawn up for the settlement as early as 1646, and the first Europeans arrived from nearby Connecticut colonies in 1650. The town was established in 1651. Life was not easy for these early colonial Puritans; cleaning the land and building homes, and tending farms in the rocky soil of New England was a labor-intensive ordeal. Law, too, was often harsh among the Puritans; offenses legally punishable by death in the Connecticut colonies included, "witchcraft, blasphemy, cursing or smiting of parents, and incorrigible stubbornness of children."
Other Indians, the Pequot Mohegans, arrived in the Middletown area in the latter half of the 17th century. They were traditional allies of the English colonists, but enemies of the Mattabesett and other local tribes. Upon arrival, conflict between them and the local tribes ensued. Sowheag hoped that the colonists would intervene. They did not. Smallpox also afflicted the Mattabesett, lessening their ability to resist and their cohesion as a tribe. Records show that Sowheag was forced to sell off most of the Mattabesett property to the local colonists. By 1676, the Puritans owned all but 300 acres of the former Mattabesett territory. Similar stories of tragic interaction between Native Americans and colonists were common in 17th century New England.
During the 18th Century, Middletown became the largest and most prosperous settlement in Connecticut. By the time of the American Revolution, Middletown was a thriving port with one-third of its citizens involved in merchant and maritime activities. The port's decline began in the early 19th century with strained American-British relations and resulting trade restrictions, which led to the War of 1812. My family (or at least the direct line) left the area at different times between 1790-1810.
As I mentioned, Thomas Rany (or Ranney) was the first of my direct line to live in Middletown. I found this quote about him during my research:
"Thomas Ranney was admitted an inhabitant of Middletown and granted a home there, February 9, 1658, next to that of Thomas Hopewell; who lived on the corner of Main and Church Streets. In 1663 he had located to what is now Cromwell Ct.; he frequently held town offices."
Thomas (1616-1713) and Mary (1642-1721) had 11 children (that I know of). I am descended from their oldest child:
Thomas (1661-1726) who married Rebecca Willett (abt 1663-1731) of Hartford on March 29, 1691 in Hartford. They had 7 children (again, that I know of) and I am descended from their 5th child:
Nathaniel (1702-1766) who married Rachel Sage (1708-1755) on January 16, 1734. They had 8 children, and I am descended from their oldest:
Nathaniel, Jr (1735-1800) who was born in Middletown and married Prudence Willard (1739-1803) on March 10, 1757 in Middletown. Between 1790-1800, Nathaniel Jr and Prudence left Middletown and headed west to Ohio. Nathaniel died in 1800 in Summit County, Ohio. Nathaniel and Prudence had 12 children, and I am descended from their 2nd child:
Comfort (1759-1859) was born in Middletown and married Ruth Lenora Treat (dates unknown). I am only aware of two children they had, and I am descended from the oldest:
Comfort (1788-1823), born in Middletown, married Elizabeth Hubbard (1790-1868) on December 25, 1808 in Haddam, another town in Middlesex County. All of their children were born in Ohio. So they must have migrated immediately upon marrying - between 1808-1809, as their first child was born November 28, 1809.)
"Soon after their [Comfort and Elizabeth] marriage, they removed to Cleveland, Ohio, where Mr. Ranney, who was a ship carpenter by trade, engaged in shipbuilding."Comfort Ranney (1788-1823) was the last of my direct line of Ranneys to be born or live in Middletown, Connecticut. About 150 years of Ranneys.
Sources:
A new and accurate map of Connecticut and Rhode Island, from best authorities. [London, 1780] Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/99466763/>.
Akron and Summit County, Ohio, 1825-1928, Scottt Dix Kenfield, Supervising Editor, 1928
Cronin, William. Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England. 2003, Hill and Wang, New York.
The Hamlin Family, A Genealogy of Capt. Giles Hamlin of Middletown, Connecticut, 1654-1900 by Hon. H. Franklin Andrews, 1900.
Middlesex County Historical Society and Wesleyan University Library's Special Collections Archives. The History of Middletown "Part I: 1650–1800." Prepared by Jeff Harmon. Cited from the City of Middletown website Archived May 15, 2006, at Archive.today January 1, 2007.
Middletown Upper Houses: A History of the North Society of Middletown from 1650 to 1800, C.C. Adams, (New York, 1908)
Warner, Elizabeth. A Pictorial History of Middletown.Greater Middletown Preservation Trust. Donning Publishers. Norfolk, Virginia, 1990.
Wikipedia contributors. (2020, January 21). Middletown, Connecticut. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20:38, February 2, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Middletown,_Connecticut&oldid=936817405
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