He, the ancestor of the American family, came to America, as early as 1634 being then twenty-one years old, and became one of the founders of Guilford. No record of the ship on which he came to America. It is supposed he came with relatives or friends and being a minor his name was not recorded as was often the case. He brought with him a Bible dated 1691, which is still in possession of the family. Unfortunately the first page, which may have recorded his father's name, are missing. First records of him, Book Apxl Court Records, in Guilford under the date August 14, 1645, records Mr. Thomas Betts, member of the church and took their oath. He received several allotments of land being one of the original forty settlers. He must have joined the colonists from overland. Besides the births of his children there is little about him from 1644 to 1657. On November 17, 1657, he sold his "outland" and three days later his home lot. He removed to Milford, where he remained until 1660, when he purchased the home lot of Nathaniel Eli and Ralph Keeler in the town of Norwalk, which was ever afterwards his home. He was made a freeman October 13, 1664, which made him eligible for office and proved him a church member. His taxable estate was valued in 1671 an 146 pounds 10 shillings and he appears in the 1672 census with the largest family in town, consisting of eight children.∼His name appears in a list complied in 1656 of the original settler of Norwalk; it appears again in R. R. Himan's 1846 "Catalogue of the names of the First Puritain Settlers of the Colony of Connecticut" (pp. 18-19).

Thomas owned land valued at 146 pounds, 10 shillings in 1673.

Thomas Jr., his eldest, owned land valued at 10 pounds (p. 61).

Thomas Betts on 12 Dec 1687 participated in a drawing for lots of land "over Norwalk River, below the path leading to the meadow field," "to be granted to those only who are proper inhabitants," and was number 4, receiving 4 lots. John Betts was number 7, receiving 11 lots;

Samuel Betts received 35,

Thomas Jr, 40, and

Daniel, 44 (pp. 82-83).

Hall, Edwin. Historical Records of Norwalk, Connecticut with a Plan of the Ancient Settlement and of the Town in 1847. Norwalk, CT: James Mallory, 1847.

He is mentoned again in The History of Guilford and Madison Connecticut by Bernard Christian Steiner (Google books, http://books.google.com/books?id=ZNYLAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Thomas+Betts%22&dq=%22Thomas+Betts%22& lr=&pgis=1, original edition 1897), page 125:

"Thomas Betts was one of the first settlers and of the smaller class of planters. He removed to Milford in 1657 and sold his accommodations to George Highland. In 1660 he again removed to Norwalk, where he died in 1688, aged about 70."