Pinney Genealogy

I hope my genealogy stuff is helpful. I have many surnames that might be part of your family.
They are listed here.

Here are my Pinney Links LINKS

The Pinney Coat of Arms (Top of page) is registered and officially documented in Burkes General Armory. There are a few variations of earlier Clans registered elsewhere but this is the most reliable.
Burkes General Armory describes it as such:

Coat of Arms: Three crescents or, issuing from each a cross-let fitchee argent, on a field gules.
Upon the escutcheon is placed a grated helmet in profile with five bars with a mantling gules and or.

CREST: upon a wreath gules and or, an arm in armour embowed, the part above the elbow in fesse proper, the hand holding a cross-let fitchee argent.

MOTTO: Amor Patriae (Love your native Land)

You can see a diagram of the parts of a Coat of Arms

The Pinney Name

Pinney is a surname that has been in use for many centuries and admits few possible derivations. For example, it may stem from the celtic "Pin" or "Pen" signifying "a range of hills" and therefore the name bestowed upon those living in such localities.

There are Pinneys involved in the Monmouth Rebelion who were sentanced by Judge Jeffreys to hang. Their sentance was commuted. There are many old records of the name found in other obscure places. Our lineage goes back to the mid 1400's with a man named John Pinney. But further back are different spellings of the name like Pynne, Pinne, Phinney, Pynny, and Pinee that goes back to the 1100's.

Click here for a chart that starts with John Pinney.

John Pinney was born in the 1400's. His will is dated 1543 and names his children and one grandchild. John's sons William the Elder and William the Younger didn't have children at that time. It was found that John's grandson William had a father named William. So we are not sure if the Elder or the Younger is his father.

John, William (Elder or Younger), William, John the Elder, Humphrey.
Humphrey is the settler who founded Windsor.

In the 1620's some citizens bound for the new world came together to form a church. These people sailed on the "Mary and John" in March of 1630 arriving at the mouth of Boston Harbor seventy days later, on May 30, 1630. The Captain feared to run the boat aground if he sailed up the Charles River as planned, because there were no charts for the waters. He instead left the passengers on shore miles from their intended destination. The settlers were forced to transport 150,000 pounds of livestock, provisions and equipment 20 miles overland to their final destination. Humphrey Pinney was among these people as was George Hull, the father of Humphrey's future wife.

Click here for a passenger list (inconclusive) of the Mary and John.

The group of about 100 people settled first in Dorchester. An Indian chief named Attawanot came to the settlers to invite them to settle the fertile Connecticut River Valley, then known to the locals as Matianuk. It was the hope of the Indians that the settlers would scare off the warring Pequots. So they set out across land for 100 miles to settle near the mouth of the Farmington River (then called Tunxis River) where it runs into the Connecticut River. The land they settled is now Windsor Connecticut and the Congregational Church there still operates today.

Click here for a history of Windsor, Connecticut's first town.

Humphrey came to the new world twice. There are those who believe he did not sail on the Mary and John but came at a later date. This is what I believe really happened:

3/??/1630 -- The Mary and John leaves England with Humphrey Pinney and George Hull without their families.
5/30/1630 -- The Mary and John arrives at Boston Harbor.
?/??/???? -- Humphrey had to wrap up some business in England and so he volunteered to retrieve the family of his friend George Hull. He returned to England before December 1631.
12/7/1631 -- Humphrey's Uncle Edmond writes his will.
2/7/1632 -- Humphrey probates Uncle Edmond's will in England.
4/5/1632 -- Humphrey's father John Pinney the Elder writes his will.
12/28/1632 -- John Pinney the Elder dies.
??/??/1633 -- There is a record in Somerset of Humphrey's marraige to Mary Hull.
5/??/1633 -- Humphrey sails from Weymouth England to return to The New World with the Hull family including his new wife Mary.
7/24/1633 -- Humphrey arrives in Dorchester and gives George his family.
5/14/1634 -- Humphrey marries Mary again in Dorchester.
(she was not yet 16 years old)
5/14/1634 -- Humphrey becomes Freeman in Dorchester.
1/4/1635 -- Humphrey is granted 20 acres between Dorchester and Roxbury.
3/30/1635 -- Son Samuel was born in Dorchester.
April 1635 -- The long trek to Windsor began.
12/16/1640 -- Son Nathaniel was born in Windsor.

Humphrey arrived with all his friends and upon settling he received notice of some business in England he had to wrap up. He also wanted to retrieve the family of his friend George Hull. So he returned by Dec of 1631 to England. His father and his uncle both wrote their wills while he was there, not knowing he would return to the new world.
After his father and uncle died, Humphrey returned to Boston on a ship sailing from Weymouth in May of 1633 with a "Mr. Cogan and Mr. Hill", and the Hull family, arriving in Boston on July 24, 1633. He went to George's Dorchester home that was set up to receive the whole family and had a reunion.
Humphrey was married to Mary, George's daughter. They all lived in the Dorchester home until the church got news of the Indian invitation from Attawanot the Indian Chief to settle the Connecticut river valley "where two rivers meet". They had experience having already created the town of Dorchester and this was Humphrey's chance to make a new name for himself in a new place.
So Humphrey took his baby son and very young wife with 100 people to create a new town in the wilderness.
Windsor.

NATHANIEL PINNEY (1640-1676) a native of Windsor Conn, son of Humphrey the settler, was the best friend and "White Brother" of Uncas the Mohegan.

ABNER PINNEY (1750-1804) a native of Simsbury Conn, served during the Revolutionary war as a drummer in the 18th regiment, Connecticut Malitia.

ABRAHAM PINNEY (1750-1804) a native of Simsbury Conn, was a Lieutenant at the Battle of Lexington.

ELEAZER PINNEY (1753-1804) a native of Ellington Conn, was a Sergeant in the Burgoyne Campaign.

ISAAC PINNEY (1741-1832) a native of Windsor Conn, was a Private in the Connecticut Line.

ISAAC PINNEY (1716-1790) a native of Windsor Conn, was a Captain in the Connecticut Line.

The first census taken in 1790 lists thirteen individuals bearing the name of Pinney as living in Connecticut, each of whom is represented as the head of a family.

I can be mailed to at

S. Clark Pickens

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