Nathaniel Ely (also Nathaniel Eli) (1605 – December 25, 1675) 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 ...

Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

and Norwalk,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. He served as a deputy of the General Court of the

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 ...

from Norwalk in the October 1656 session. He was born in 1605 in

Tenterden Tenterden is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ashford in Kent, England. The 2021 census published the population of the parish to be 8,186. Geography Tenterden is connected to Kent's county town of Maidstone by the A262 road an ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He was the son of the Reverend Nathaniel Ely and Susan Dowle. He came to America, sailing from

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

aboard the ''Elizabeth'', in 1634. He originally settled in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

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 ...

Settlement of Hartford

In June 1636, Reverend

Thomas Hooker Thomas Hooker (July 5, 1586 – July 7, 1647) was a prominent English colonial leader and Congregational church, Congregational minister, who founded the Connecticut Colony after dissenting with Puritan leaders in Massachusetts. He was know ...

led a group of about one hundred people including Ely to Hartford. He served there as a constable in 1639, and as a selectman in 1643 and 1649.

Settlement of Norwalk

Roger Ludlow Roger Ludlow (1590–1664) was an English lawyer, magistrate, military officer, and colonist. He was active in the founding of the Colony of Connecticut, and helped draft laws for it and the nearby Massachusetts Bay Colony. Under his and John M ...

purchased the land that would become Norwalk in 1640. Ludlow contracted with fourteen men for the original planting of Norwalk. In 1649, Ely and Richard Olmsted became the first two settlers.Norwalk v.1
/ref> He served in the General Court of the Colony of Connecticut representing Norwalk in 1656. He lived in Norwalk until 1659. He then moved to Springfield,

. He served as a selectman there in 1661, 1663, 1666, 1668, 1671 and 1673. After 1665, he was a tavern keeper. He is listed on the Founders Stone bearing the names of the founders of Hartford in the

Ancient Burying Ground The Ancient Burying Ground (or Phinney's Lane Cemetery) is a historical cemetery at Phinney's Lane in Barnstable, Massachusetts. It is the oldest cemetery in the village of Centerville, and the only surviving civic element of its colonial ori ...

in Hartford, and he is also 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ely, Nathaniel 1605 births 1675 deaths American Puritans Connecticut city council members Deputies of the Connecticut General Court (1639–1662) Settlers of Norwalk, Connecticut Massachusetts city council members Founders of Hartford, Connecticut Politicians from Springfield, Massachusetts People from Tenterden Saloonkeepers Businesspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts