Gravestone of Ensign Nathaniel Sperry, East Side Burying Ground
Marker Number: 321
Name: Sperry, Nathaniel
Death: 09/08/1751
Military Service: Veteran (probably French and Indian War)
Other: Age 56
Ensign Nathaniel Sperry a the son of Nathaniel Sperry and Sarah Dickerman and a grandson of Richard and Dennis Sperry, original settlers of Woodbridge in the early 1640s. He is among the first people known to be buried in a Woodbridge cemetery (earlier family and community members most likely having been buried in the New Haven burying ground, now the New Haven Green). He is buried in the East Side Burying Grounds alongside several immediate family members, including his daughter Lois (who died eleven days after her father, “in her 26th year”), and son Simeon. His grandson Nathaniel III is also buried nearby, however the marker for his grave is no longer standing.
Ensign Nathaniel was buried in the East Side Burying Ground when he died at age 56 on September 8th 1751. His 20 year-old daughter-in-law Deborah Tolles Sperry (wife of Nathaniel Sperry II) along with his grandson, Deborah’s infant son Medad Sperry, died just a few days prior on September 4th 1751 and are buried next to him.
Ensign Nathaniel Sperry and his wife Sarah Wilmot Sperry were married on December 25th 1719 and had eight children:
The family of Ensign Nathaniel Sperry and Sarah Wilmot Sperry
Ensign Nathaniel Sperry’s grandchildren include the children of his daughter Sarah, who married Ebenezer Tolles; his daughter Rachel, who married David Johnson and remarried after his death to Captain James Peck, Jr.; his son Nathaniel II, who remarried after his first wife and son’s death, to Mary Dickerman; his daughter Lydia who married Charles Hine; and his son Simeon who married Patience Smith. These grandchildren include:
The children and grandchildren of Ensign Nathaniel Sperry and Sarah Wilmot Sperry (click image to enlarge)