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John Hand was born in 16ll in Stansted, County of Kent in England ofunknown parents. The Hand manuscript says that he was born atMaidstone, Kent- Stansted or Landsdale may have been the name of thehome. However, subsequent records make it apparent that John Hand wasborn at Stansted, County Kent which is now near London. John Hand married Alice Gransden2*, daughter of Henry and AliceGransden of Turnbridge 4* , Kent. Alice was baptized at Turnbridge 28Nov, l613 - the daughter of Henry and Alice Gransden. Henry ofGravesend, Gentleman, and Alice Hatcher of Westminster (now London),widow, were married at the Parish Church of St. Martin's- le-Grand the12th of June, l609. That wooden church was dedicated in 1050, andwould now-if extant- be in the shadow of the mighty St. Paul'sCathedral when the sun was in the West. The district is and was thencalled Cheapside near Westminster. St. Martin's may have been burnedin the Great Fire of 1666. The ancestry of Alice Grandsen Hand hasbeen published with interesting details. It is apparent that thisgeneration of Henry and Alice Gransden were people of property andsome wealth whether or not Alice had property in her own right afterthe death of Henry. John and Alice Gransden Hand came to Lynn, Mass about 1636. The familymoved to Southampton, Long Island before the 7th March, l644 whereJohn was listed as a whaleman or whale fisherman. At that time thetown had 44 male inhabitants. The Hands apparently left Southampton tobe original settlers and founders of Easthampton according to therecords there. Thomas Talmage whose daughter married Thomas Hand, s/oJohn and Alice Hand, was also among the original heads of families atEasthampton. John Hand is mentioned several places in the originaltown records of Easthampton from 1651 to 1657. The Hamptons are nowexpensive summer places for the rich and famous. It is said in the Hand Manuscript at CMCHGS that there were no serfsin old Kent [in old England] and that men of Kent had property and anindependence of spirit that goes with property. The point is well madeby Paul Kendall3* that by the 15th century the county of Kent wasdifferent in that the land was divided by inheritance among the sonsand if no sons with the daughters. A legal principle then calledgavelkind was used already in the 15th century. That means Kent didnot follow the inheritance principle of primogeniture which followedinto this country in Virginia for several centuries- the law that theoldest son inherited everything. Kent County did not have the practiceof villeinage either which was a requirement of service to a lord forworking a piece of land. These changes in law and custom split upwealth in land among more people, and lead to more people of wealthand property albeit smaller shares for more people. The county of Kent was very different from other places in England inthat respect. With the experience of the ownership of land came anattitude of independence. It cannot be too much emphasized that inowning land a man and his family had the independent opportunity totake care of themselves, and the right to fail as well. That is a factwhich operated throughout our history while there was cheap land to bebought,- and operates today among us- not perhaps in the same measure.However, in some states in this country such as Virginia the law ofprimogeniture was in use for a long time. Numerous original settlersof Easthampton were Kent families. John Hand was one of the originalnine grantees. John Hand had financial interest in property in Kent even after comingto the English colonies. His property interests were in Tunbridge, anew market town, in Kent near the river Medway- about 20 miles SE ofLondon; and also at Ashford in Rootern, middle Kent. So even thoughJohn Hand was a man of some property in old England he and others likehim left old England for opportunity in the new English colonies. An 1887 publication of records of Easthampton lists the various piecesof ground owned by John Hand. The earliest is that of 1652 being 4acres in the `little plain.' There are thirteen pieces of land listedfrom _ acre up to 18 acres. The total acreage of the lands were sixtyeight+ acres much of which John was able to pass on to his son,Thomas. It should be pointed out that early Eastern towns were whatwere later called townships with a large piece of land to use fortheir residents. The towns divided those lands over years as they wereneeded or could be used. Lands were distributed by the town officers. John Hand was a native of Kwent County, a land owner in the parishesPunbridge and Ashford, in that County. He signed himself "yeoman", andthus was ranged in that sturdy class, which was the true strength ofEngland and which made her power invincible on many famous battlefields. The first distinct trace of him in America was in Marc, 1644,when he was enrolled in the 3rd ward of Sothampton, Long Island. Hewas one of the little company, who soon took up the new settlement,first called by them Maidstone, an now East-Hampton. He was one of thenine original patentees or grantees of East-Hampton. In 1657 he wasone of the delegates to Hartford, Connecticut, for the purpose ofbringing East-Hampton under that government, and for the furtherpurpose of having goodwife Garlick tried on charges of witchcraft. Heracquital was presumably by consent of the delegates, and probably notreally objectionable tp their fellow townsmen. John Hand is understood to have died on or about Jan. 24, 1669. Hiswid., Alice afterward m. Capt. Codnor. The inventory of his estateincluded 1 great Bible, 2 small Bibles, 1 Psalm book, 1 fowling piece,1 carbine, 1 pistol and 2 swords.
Karl-Heinz
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