Sarah Spencer, second dau. of William Spencer and Agnes Harris, born circa 1636-7 at Cambridge, Mass. Her father died in early 1640 at Hartford, Conn. and Sarah was raised at Hartford by her mother and stepfather, William Edwards. In the June 1650 initial distribution of her father's estate, it is stated that Sarah was to reach her 18th birthday in the year 1653, and Richard Lord of Hartford was to hold Sarah's legacy until the first occurred: reaching 18 years of age or marriage. The distribution record implies Sarah was born circa 1636 (i.e., 1653-17 full years=1636). She d. at Simsbury, Conn. Nov. 3, 1691. Her gravestone calls her married surname as "Cass" but also states she died "Aged" 55, meaning "Ætatis suæ" 55. This indicates when she died she was then 54 years old b. on or after Nov. 4, 1636.

By early 1656 (eldest child bapt. Nov. 1656) at not more than 19 years of age, and most likely at Hartford, Conn. where Sarah was then residing, Sarah m. John Case. John is claimed in modern writing to have been "born" July 25, 1616 in the parish of "Aylesham," further expanded to that place in county Kent, England. Any record that claims he was "born" on a specific date in the year 1616 could only be from a record of baptism, not birth. Unfortunately, the village of "Aylesham," in Kent, did not exist until 1929 when it was created as a company town associated with the opening of a coal mine. Also, the original church records for the ancient market town of "Aylsham," in county Norfolk, England do not exist prior to 1653. Although the original handwritten "Aylsham" parish baptism records (in Latin) begin in 1600, they do not exist for the years 1603-1622, 1624-1627, 1631-1632, and 1634-1663. Thus, one can only conclude that the purported date of John Case's birth on July 25, 1616 is a fabricated date. Frankly, at the apparent age of not more than 19 years of age that Sarah Spencer would have married a man supposedly at least 20 years older than herself is not believable. Unlike Sarah, no gravestone for John Case exists to help determine the year of his birth and his recorded death includes no statement of his then age.

On Aug. 17, 1656 at Maspeth Kill in extreme northwest Long Island, then part of Dutch New Netherlands (now part of the Borough of Queens, NY), John Case penned a power of attorney "to his Loving father William Edwards, living at Hartford in New England." This requested that John's stepfather-in-law recover the remainder of the legacy held by Richard Lord granted to wife Sarah in the will of her father, William Spencer. Two witnesses signed the power of attorney, the second being Thomas "Casse."

In 1958 Prof. George McCracken published an article in "The American Genealogist" (TAG 34:65) regarding five Case surnamed men, including Sarah Spencer's husband John and Thomas "Casse", latter the witness to John's 1656 power of attorney. McCracken's opening paragraph asserts "the five men were probably brothers, though we cannot be sure." The present writer, John and Sarah's descendant, does not agree that there was any specific kinship involved, particularly given that if Thomas "Casse" was John's brother he did not participate in witnessing the baptism of his supposed brother's first child.

That John and Sarah (Spencer) Case were residing at Maspeth Kill is complimented by the baptism of their eldest known child, dau. Elizabeth, at the Dutch Reformed Church then located inside Dutch Fort Amsterdam on the then south tip of Manhattan Island. The annotated baptism entry is:

• 1656, 26 Nov; Jan Cees (father, Jan=John Case), Sara Cees (mother, Sara Case); Elisabeth (child); no witnesses.[1]

There is no other entry at that church between 1654 and 1662 that includes John Case or wife Sarah directly, or indirectly, as a witness to the baptism of someone else's child. Sarah and her husband removed to Windsor, Conn. before June 1660 (recorded birth of dau. Mary) and later moved to the western territory of Windsor now Simsbury, Conn.

Sarah Spencer and John Case had ten children; children ii. thru vi. and ix. are of record in the Windsor town records, children vii. thru x. are of record in the Simsbury town records (dau. Sarah in 1676 is recorded in both town records). Matthew Grant's Aug. 17, 1677 record of Windsor births states "John had six children b. in Windsor," which corresponds to the entries for Mary, John, William, Samuel, Richard, and Sarah, with the birth of first child Elizabeth not included, since she was not b. at Windsor but at present-day New York:

• i. Elizabeth Case, bp. Nov. 26, 1656 at the Dutch Reformed Church at New Amsterdam (that part now NY City, NY), d. Oct. 9, 1718 at Simsbury, Conn., Æ 62; m. 1) Joseph Lewis Apr. 30, 1674, by whom she had three children, and 2) John Tuller before 1685, by whom she had five children.

• ii. Mary Case, b. June 22, 1660, d. Aug. 22, 1725 at Windsor, Conn., Æ 66; m. 1) June 22, 1679 at Simsbury, William Alderman, by whom she had five children, and 2) Mar. 30, 1699 at Simsbury, Sgt. James Hillier, by whom she had no known child.

• iii. John Case, Jr., b. Nov. 5, 1662, d. May 22, 1733 at Simsbury, Æ 71; m. 1) Mary Olcott Sept. 12, 1684, by whom he had one child who d. young, and 2) Sarah Holcomb before 1694, by whom he had six known children.

• iv. William Case, b. June 5, 1665, d. Mar. 31, 1700 at Simsbury, Æ 35; m. Elizabeth Holcomb before 1689, by whom he had seven children. The widow m. 2) John Slater at Simsbury Mar. 10, 1703/4.

• v. Samuel Case, b. June 1, 1667, d. July 30, 1725 at Simsbury, Æ 59; m. 1) Mary Westover, by whom he had twelve children. Mary d. at Simsbury Sept. 27, 1713, and Samuel m. 2) Nov. 8, 1721 the widow Elizabeth (Owens) Thrall, by whom he had one additional child.

• vi. Richard Case, b. Apr. 27, 1669, d. Apr. 27, 1746 at Simsbury, Æ 80; m. Sept. 1, 1701 Amy Read of Concord, Mass., by whom he had seven children.

• vii. Bartholomew Case, b. Oct 1, 1670, d. Oct. 25, 1725 at Simsbury, Æ 56; m. Dec. 7, 1699 at Simsbury, Mary Humphrey, by whom he had seven children.

• viii. Joseph Case, b. Apr. 6, 1674, d. Aug. 11, 1748 at Simsbury, Æ 75; m. Apr. 6, 1699 at Simsbury, Anna Eno, dau. of James Eno, Jr. and Abigail Bissell. She was b. Apr. 10, 1682 at Simsbury and d. there June 10, 1760, Æ 79. Eight children of the family.

• ix. Sarah Case, b. Apr. 20, 1676, d. May 2, 1704 at Simsbury, Æ 29; m. Nov. 9, 1699 at Simsbury as the second of his three wives, Joseph Phelps. Two children of the marriage.

• x. Abigail Case, b. May 4, 1682; m. Sept. 1, 1701, Jonah Westover, Jr., by whom she had four children.

Following Sarah's death, John Case m. Elizabeth Moore, the widow of Nathaniel Loomis who had d. at Windsor, Conn. Aug. 19, 1688. Elizabeth was the dau. of Dea. John Moore and purportedly his wife Abigail Pinney of Windsor, b. at Windsor July 23, 1638. She had 14 children by first husband Nathaniel Loomis, survived her second husband and d. at Windsor July 23, 1728, Æ 91, the day of her 90th birthday. There were no children by this second marriage.

John Case d. testate Feb. 21, 1703/4 at Simsbury. He left a lengthy will and codicil in which all ten of his children are mentioned, nine who were still living. The executors were John's brother-in-law Samuel Spencer and son John Case, Jr. There is no known gravestone. It is believed John is interred in an unmarked grave next to first wife Sarah Spencer.

One of the more interesting aspects of the Case family of Simsbury, Conn. is that beginning in the third generation it was common for close Case cousins to marry. This continued for many generations thereafter, with one descendant (Dr. Erastus Ely Case) his own close cousin five times over.

[1] In Dutch-English translation sites with audio word sounding, "Cees" is pronounced as "Case." Five months later in the same church record is the baptism of Huybert, the 6th baptized child and second oldest surviving son of Gerrit Hendricksen (Gerrit, son of Hendrick) and his wife Marritie Lambertse (Marritie, dau. of Lambert Moll), the Dutch founders of the Blauvelt family in America.

Revised 5/14/2014; further revised 4/24/2017; minor edit 1/22/2024