Matthias Sention Sr. (also spelled Sangins, Sension, Senchion, and later as St. John) (August 9, 1601 – October 19, 1669) was a founding

settler A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a Human settlement, settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among ...

of Dorchester,

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, of

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, of Wethersfield, Connecticut and of Norwalk, Connecticut.Norwalk Vol. 1
/ref> Matthias was the son of Christopher St. John (c. 1581 – June 19, 1629) and Joane (Nee?) St. John. He was the grandson of Thomas St. John, Esquire (1564–1625) and Jane Mathew and great-nephew to Sir William St. John, Knight of Highlight and his wife Eleanor (de Port-St. John) St. John of

Lydiard Tregoze Lydiard Tregoze is a small village and civil parish on the western edge of Swindon in the county of Wiltshire, in the south-west of England. Its name has in the past been spelt as Liddiard Tregooze. The parish includes the small village of Hoo ...

. He was the great-grandson of Christopher St. John, Esquire (1547–1616), Lord of Uchel-olau until his death, and his wife Elizabeth Bawdrip. This St. John family came from a small, now abandoned, feudal village called Uchel-olau (High-light in English),

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

shire,

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. Thomas St. John, Esquire removed to

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after he was admitted to

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, one of the four

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in 1577. Mathias' father, Christopher St. John was raised in London no later than 1584 and married about 1600. Matthias appears to be his first born child. Sir William St. John, Knight his great-uncle was a member of the

Virginia Company of London The Virginia Company of London (sometimes called "London Company") was a Division (business), division of the Virginia Company with responsibility for British colonization of the Americas, colonizing the east coast of North America between 34th ...

and recorded in the early census records of

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. Sir William was back and forth between London and

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until Matthias and his uncle Matthew came to America permanently. Sir William was a Vice Admiral in the

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and had his own ships. Matthias' occupation as a chandler likely refers to ship chandler a service he probably provided for his great-uncle, lord of Uchel-olau. Matthias and his uncle Matthew have been merged into 1 person in the 1907 St. John Genealogy book.

Settlement in Massachusetts Bay Colony

He came to Dorchester, in the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...

in 1632. He was named a

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on September 3, 1634. He received a grant of twenty acres of land there on January 14, 1635. In 1638, he sold his house to a Mr. Withington, and in 1639, he sold his land to Withington too.

Settlement in Connecticut Colony

He moved to

Connecticut Colony The Connecticut Colony, originally known as the Connecticut River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became the state of Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636, as a settlement for a Puritans, Puritan congregation o ...

in 1640. He was granted land ten rods wide and 18 rods deep adjacent to the palisades (the protective fence of the settlement). In 1643 and 1644, he served as a member of a

Grand jury A grand jury is a jury empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify. A grand ju ...

. Matthias is listed as a settler in Wethersfield as early as 1648. Jonas Weede sold Matthias his land in Wethersfield in 1640. On several occasions he served on a jury, and was also himself challenged in court in Hartford. In some cases, the issue was either a debt owed of or to him. On one occasion, he was brought before the court accused of selling "syder to Indians by which they was Drunke". On another occasion he won a judgment against Stephen Beckwith for defamation. In February 1658, Thomas Wickham bought Matthias' land in Wethersfield. He moved to Norwalk in 1654. In 1657, he is recorded as working with Isacke More, and Edward Nash to "make and provide a good and sufficient wolfe-pit." The record states that Matthias was chosen in 1660, as a townsman "to act and agitate all such affairs and occasions as the orders of the court authoriseth and that for the Yere ensuinge." He is listed on the Founders Stone bearing the names of the founding settlers of Norwalk in the

East Norwalk Historical Cemetery __NOTOC__ Established in , the East Norwalk Historical Cemetery is Norwalk's oldest cemetery, and many of the area's first settlers are buried there. The cemetery is owned and maintained by the Third Taxing District, formally known as the East Nor ...

Notable descendants

Matthias Sension is the ancestor of many people with the surname St. John in America. The name was changed in the early 1700s. * John St. John (Governor of Kansas) * Matthias Sention Jr., founding settler of Norwalk *

Mark Sension Mark Sension (also Mark St. John) (1630 – August 12, 1693) was an early settler of Norwalk, Connecticut. He was a deputy of the Connecticut General Assembly of the Colony of Connecticut The Connecticut Colony, originally known as the Connec ...

(1630–1693), deputy of the

Connecticut General Assembly The Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member House of Representatives and the 36-member Senate. It meets in the state capital, Hartford. The ...

from Norwalk (1672, 1676, 1678, 1684) * Stephen St. John (1735–1785), member of the

Connecticut House of Representatives The Connecticut House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an equal number of districts, with each ...

from Norwalk (1778, 1780–1785) * Stephen St. John, member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from Norwalk (1805, 1806) * Frederick St. John Lockwood, member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from Norwalk (1865, 1866, 1872)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sention, 1, Matthias 1601 births 1669 deaths American people of Welsh descent American Puritans Burials in East Norwalk Historical Cemetery Settlers of Norwalk, Connecticut English emigrants to Massachusetts Bay Colony

Matthias Matthias is a name derived from the Greek Ματθαίος, in origin similar to Matthew. Notable people Notable people named Matthias include the following: Religion * Saint Matthias, chosen as an apostle in Acts 1:21–26 to replace Judas Isca ...

People from the City of London