38th Generation

Family of Rev. Peter Bulkeley (5819) & Grace Chetwood

5938. Rev. Gershom Bulkeley. Born in Jan 1635/6 in Cambridge or Concord, MA.¹ Gershom died on 2 Dec 1713 in Glastonbury, CT.¹ Education: Harvard 1655.¹⁵

Gershom’s parents and older siblings landed at Boston in midsummer, 1635. Jacobus¹ notes that “When he was born some months later, the name of Gershom was bestowed on him. This was not a family name on either side, but was chosen from the Bible to commemorate the fact that the child was born far from home;—for quite naturally England was still looked upon as home. Gershom means “an exile”; ‘I have been a stranger in a strange land.’ (Exodus, II. 22)”
Colonzal Records. He was appointed Chirurgeon to the army Oct 1675, and added to the Connecticut Council of War (King Philip’s War); reappointed Chirurgeon to the army, May 1676; wounded by a shot from the enemy, Mar 1676, on Major Treat’s expedition northward; was granted £30 by the Council for his good service to the country, Jan 1676/7; was granted liberty, Oct 1677, to transport 200 deer skins out of the Colony to be exchanged for medicines. He served as Deputy for Wethersfield to the Connecticut General Court, May 1679. In Oct 1686 he was licenced to practice physic and chirurgery. He was a Justice of the Peace for Hartford County under Gov. Andros in 1687.¹

Obituary: From Jacobus’ Bulkeley Genealogy:¹
The will of Rev. Gershom Bulkeley, dated 26 May 1712, in his own handwriting, calls him “Practitioner in Physick” and contains a long preamble, beginning: “I, ye said Gershom Bulkeley, having much more than twenty years walked upon ye very mouth of ye grave, under so great infirmity, yt I cannot but wonder how I have all this while escaped falling into it, have not been wholly umnindfull of yt wch nature and common prudence calls for in such cases. But in ye meantime sorrowful changes from ye right hand of ye most High have passed over me, and some yt I had hoped would have survived me have prevented me and left me behind them, whereby, with some Incident considerations I am moved to alter some things wch otherwise I should not have done. And therefore, remaining still, though very weak in body yet of sound mind and memory, I do now make this (I hope) my last will and testament, hereby revoking and annulling all former wills whatsoever made by me: In ye first place, Casting myselfe upon ye Riches of Sovereign Grace, (if God have wrought any truth in my most deceitfull heart,) I commit my sinfull soul into ye mercifull hands of my most Gracious Lord & savior Jesus Christ, whom God hath exalted by & at his own Right hand, to be a Prince & a savior, to give Repentance and Remission of sins unto Israel. To him therfore I fly for both, with ye humble and comprehensive Petition of ye Publican, God be mercifull to me a sinner. And my body I commit to ye dust, as it was, to be (as near to my late dear wife, as conveniently may be,) decently but obscurely buryed without much cost or Ceremony. I neither deserve nor desire those things, yet desire a part in ye first & better Resurrection of ye Just.
"And as for these few poor children wch I shall leave behind me, in a most sinfull and calamitous world, to grapple with difficult times, ye best bequest I have for them, is Luthers short, but significant and pertinent prayer, Tu Domine, [...], Serva, Doce. To him therfore I commend & give them all, humbly beseeching him, That he will graciously accept them and theirs, & make them all his own, & faithfull to him to ye death, & be their Portion; a God & Father to them in Christ his Son, from generation to generation, Amen."
The will bequeaths to son Edward all his law books and manuscripts; to son John his religious books and manuscripts, referring to those written by his grandfather, his father, and himself; to daughter Dorothe the rest of personal estate, including negro maid Hannah; son-in-law Thomas Treat Executor; bequests to son Charles’ daughter Hannah Goodrich, to daughters-in-law Hannah Avery and Rachel Wolcott, and to son Edward’s wife Dorothe; to brother Peter's children,—Gershom, Peter, Grace, Margaret, and Dorothe, said Grace to have “my great red rugge wch was her mother’s.” To grandson Richard Treat, son of Thomas and Dorothe, all his books and manuscripts concerning medicine and chemistry, and a Latin and a Dutch Grammar; “together with all my vessels and instruments useful, whether of glass, brass or copper, iron, stone or earth”; provided he hold and pursue his inclination to that study. To deceased daughter Catherine Treat’s only child, Catherine Treat. A codicil, dated 24 Nov 1713, states that Thomas Treat having died, Gershom's daughter Dorothe Treat is to be sole Executrix; will proved 7 Dec 1713.

On 6 Oct 1659 Gershom married Sarah Chauncy, daughter of Rev. Charles Chauncy (5 Nov 1592-19 Feb 1671/2) & Catherine Eyre (-23 Jan 1667), in Concord, MA.¹⁴ “Mr Gershom Bulkely and Mrs Sara Chance weare maried 6. octob. 1659”. Born on 13 Jun 1631 in Ware, England.¹⁰ Sarah died in Wethersfield, CT, on 3 Jun 1699; she was 67.¹

Their children include:

		i.	Peter Bulkeley (Died young) (7 Nov 1660-)
		ii.	Dr. Charles Bulkeley (ca 1663-1692)
		iii.	Peter Bulkeley (ca 1664-ca 22 Nov 1701)
		iv.	Dorothy Bulkeley (-1757)
		v.	Katherine Bulkeley (-bef 1712)
		vi.	Capt. Edward Bulkeley (ca 1677-27 Aug 1748)
		vii.	Rev. John Bulkeley (ca 1679-9 Jun 1731)

5939. Eleazer Bulkeley. Born ca 1638.¹ Education: Harvard class of 1658 but did not graduate.¹⁵

Eleazer was a member of the class of 1658 at Harvard, but did not graduate. He was named in his father’s will of 1658, and died probably not long after, unmarried.¹

5940. Dorothy Bulkeley. Born on 2 Aug 1640 in Concord, MA.¹

5941. Dr. Peter Bulkeley. Born on 12 Aug 1643 in Concord, MA.¹ Peter died in 1691 in Fairfield, CT.¹ Education: Harvard class of 1660 but did not graduate.¹⁵

Peter married Margaret [Bulkeley]. Margaret died bef 1691.¹

Their children include:

		i.	Grace Bulkeley (ca 1672-)
		ii.	Margaret Bulkeley (ca 1674-)
		iii.	Capt. Gershom Bulkeley (ca 1676-9 Apr 1753)
		iv.	Peter Bulkeley (25 Dec 1683-18 Jul 1753)
		v.	Dorothy Bulkeley (ca 1687-1734)

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