1. From The History of Ancient Windsor, Vol. II, by Henry R. Stiles, p.434:
LOOMIS, Joseph [prob. b. abt 1590; was a woolen draper in Braintree, Co. Essex, England; sailed from London 11 Apl., 1638, in the Susan and Ellen; arrived at Boston 17 July, 1638]; first appears in W(indsor) subsequent to 1639; land grant (see p. 160, Vo l. I); name does not appear at Dorchester, and the Old Church Register gives date of his son John's admission to W. Ch. 11 Oct. 1640. Probably he was of Mr. Huit's Company, 1639, and was the "_____ Loomys" adm. to W. Ch. same date as his son John . - O. C. R. He m. in Messing, County Essex, Eng., 30 June, 1614, Mary White, bp. 24 Aug., 1590. He d. [25 Nov.], 1658; wife d. 23 Aug., 1652.2. From "A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England," by James Savage, Vol. 3, p. 112: LOOMIS, JOSEPH, Windsor, was not first at Dorchester perhaps, and the fam. tradit. that be came in the Mary and John is wrong; and more likely is it, tho. no evidence is found, that he accomp. Rev. Ephraim Huet, in 1638, and brot. s. Joseph, John, Thomas, Samuel, and Nathaniel, beside ds. Mary, w. of John Skinner, wh. when wid. m. 13 Nov. 1651, Owen Tudor; Elizabeth wh. m. 20 May 1641, Josiah Hull; and one wh. m. Nicholas Olmstead. His w. d. Aug. 1652, and he d. 1658.
3. From "Genealogies of Ancient Windsor": LOOMIS (LOMYS), JOSEPH: Sen. from Bristol, England, or its vicinity, first appears in W. subsequent to 1639; whether he come to New England earlier than this is not known. This name does not appear at Dorchester, and the Old Church Record gives the date of his son John's admission to the Windsor church, as October 11, 1640. It is possible that he may have been a member of the company that accompanied Mr. Huit in 1639. He was accompanied by a wife and the following children, all born in England: John; Joseph, jr.; Thomas; Nathaniel; Samuel; Elizabeth, m. Josiah Hull, May 1641, and moved to Killingworth; Joseph, sen. d 1658; his wife d. Aug., 1652, had eleven children.
4. From "The Descendants of Joseph Loomis (1590-1658) in America, by Elisha S. Loomis, 1908: "JOSEPH LOOMIS, son of John and Agnes Loomis, was probably born before 1590, England; married in Messing, Co. Essex, England, June 30, 1614, Mary White, bap. Aug. 24, 1590, (See NEHGS Register, Vol. 55, pp. 28-29, for copy of Register of Shalford, England, marriages and baptisms), d. Windsor, Aug. 23, 1652.
Mary White was a daughter of Robert and Bridget (Allgar) White of Messing, Co. Essex, England, who were married June 24, 1585."
"Joseph was a woolen-draper in Braintree, Essex county, England; sailed from London April 11, 1638, in the ship Susan and Ellen, and arrived at Boston July 17, 1638, tarrying about 1 year at Dorchester, Mass., it is thought. It is mentioned in the town records of Windsor, Vol. I, that on the 2nd of Feb., 1640, he had granted him from the plantation 21 acres adjoining Farmington river, on the west side of the Connecticut river, this 21 acres including the site of the first English settlement made in Conn.; also several large tracts of land on the east side of the Connecticut, partly from the town and partly by purchase.
"He therefore probably came to Windsor in the summer or autumn of 1639, and he is generally supposed to have come in company with Rev. Ephraim Huet, who arrived at Windsor, Aug. 17, 1639. He brought with him five sons, all of whom were freemen, Oct. 7, 1669, and three daughters. His house was situated near the mouth of the Farmington River on "The Island," so called because at every great freshet it became temporarily an island by the overflowing of the Connecticut River."
That pioneer Joseph Loomis spelled his name Lomas is conclusively proven by the rare document of which the insert opposite is a photographic copy. Notice, this signature occurred 6 yrs. before his death. This being his own writing it seems as though he held, in his riper years, that it should be written Lomas and not Loomis. If he was descended from, or related to, Helias Lumhals, whose land grant appears on page 78 herein, then possibly his reason for doing so was well-founded. Moreover , his eldest son, Joseph, m. 2ndly, Mary Chauncey, and this grant, on page 78, was a quit claim to Henry Chauncey and others, of Norwich, so that it appears as if the Loomises and the Chaunceys were somehow related--at least, acquainted. This being granted, Mary Chauncey, Joseph's 2nd wife, was very probably a descendant of one of these Chaunceys mentioned in the above land grant, and therefore a distant relative, a "cousin" some degrees removed, of Joseph Loomis. There being no conclusive evidence, we leave the reader to form what opinion he may both as to the spelling of the name and the relationship between Joseph Loomis and Mary Chauncey.
5. Further from "Descendants of Joseph Loomis: He died Nov. 25, 1658, as appears from the following record: Deposition of Joseph Hills of Charlestown, taken 30 July, 1639: "Joseph Hills of Charlestowne, in New England, Woollen Draper, aged about 36 yeares, sworne, saith upon his oath that he came to New England undertaker in the ship called the Susan & Ellen of London whereof was master Mr. Edward Payne, in the yeare of our Lord one thousand six hundred thirty and eight, the 14th yeare of the raigne of our Souraigne Lord the King that now is and this dpt knowes that divers goods and chattells , victualls & commodities of Joseph Loomis late of Brayntree in the County of Essex, Woolen-draper, wch were put in three butts, two hogsheds, one halfe hogshed, one barrel, one tubb & three firkins, transported from Malden in the County of Essex to London in an Ipswch Hye, were shipped in the said ship upon the eleventh day of Aprill in the yeare abovesayd, and this deponent cleared the said goods wth divers other goods of the said Joseph Loomis and other mens, in the Custome-house at London, as may appeare by the Customers bookes, and this dept saith that the said goods were transported into New England in the said ship where she arrived on the seaventeenth day of July in the yeare aforesayd."
In Vol. 2, Records of Particular Court for the colony of Connecticut, p. 116, there is an inventory of the estate of Mr. Joseph Loomis, deceased Nov. 25, 1658, in which it is stated that there is a debt in England against Mr. Loomis's estate amounting to 12 pounds, 14 s. 8d.
Found in Original Records, Vol. 2, page 115-116, and in the printed Digest of Manwaring, Vol. I, page 135. He died Nov. 25, 1658: Inv't. ae178-10-00. Taken by Henry Clark, John Moore. Ct. Records, p. 115. 2 Dec. 1658. An agreement for a Division of the Estate by the Children of Joseph Loomis, Dec'd and approved by this Court of Magistrates to be an equal Division. To Joseph Loomis, to Nicholas Olmsted, to Josiah Hull, to John Loomis, to Thomas Loomis, to Nathaniel Loomis, to Mary Tudor, to Samuel Loomis. This agreement of the children of Mr. Joseph Loomis respecting the division of the Estate of ye father deceased , approved by the Court 2 Dec. 1658: We whose names are hereunto subscribd doe by these presents testify that it is our mutual and joynt agreement to attend an equal division of the Estate of Mr. Joseph Loomis, Our father, lately deceased, wch said estate being distributed in the equal prption we doe by these presents engage to set down Satisfied and Contented respecting any future trouble or demands about the foresaid estate now presented by Inventory to ye Court of Magistrates. Witness our hand, 2nd December, 1658. Joseph Loomis, Josiah Hull, Thomas Loomis, Mary Tudor, Nicholas Olmsted, John Loomis, Nathaniel Loomis, Samuel Loomis.
In the Records of Particular Court for the colony of Connecticut, vol. 2, p. 115, is recorded the agreement of the children of Mr. Joseph Loomis respecting the division of the estate of said deceased, as approved by the court Dec. 2, 1658. This agreement is signed by the children in the following order:
Joseph Loomis.
Nicholas Olmsted (husband of Sarah Loomis)
Josias Hull (husband of Elizabeth Loomis)
John Loomis.
Thomas Loomis.
Nathaniel Loomis.
Mary Tudor.(*)
Samuel Loomis.
It is believed that the above order indicates the relative ages of the sons. This conclusion is founded upon the sentiments generally prevalent at that period with regard to the rights of seniority, and is confirmed by several circumstances.(*)The ages assigned to the children of Mrs. Skinner indicate that she was older than John Loomis. See Fem. Branch, Loomis Gen., Vol. I, p. 108. presumed to be descendants of Joseph Loomis, but whose connection with him I have not yet been able satisfactorily to establish. It is hoped that future researches may enable us to recover most of the names which are now deficient in this record.
6. From Charles Edwin Booth, 1910, "One Branch of the Booth Family Showing the Lines of Connection with One Hundred Massachusetts Bay Colonists." Self-published, New York (online at GenealogyLibrary.com). [Although self-published, the book is heavily documented. See list of resources below, for the "Loomis" section only. He takes descendants to six generations; I obviously stop quoting with the second (where we daughter-out with Sarah).] Beginning on p. 210: LOOMIS. "Joseph Loomis came on the Susan and Ellen to Boston, July 17, 1638, and after staying a year in Dorchester, he is supposed to have accompanied Rev. Ephraim Hewitt to Windsor, Aug. 17, 1639. He was b. 1590. d. Nov. 25, 1658, in Windsor. m. Mary White, June 30, 1614, in Shalford. bap. Aug. 24, 1590. d. Aug. 23, 1652."
7. Joseph Loomis was a woolen draper, a merchant engaged in the purchase of cloth from the many weavers who wove on hand looms in their cottage homes.
He had a store in Braintree, Essex, Eng., stocked with cloths and other goods which a draper usually dealt in. These products he sold both wholesale and retail to tailors and consumers in general.
Braintree and near-by towns were centers of the cloth manufacture, as many weavers from Flanders had been induced to come to England by Edward III and they had been followed by others in the latter part of the sixteenth century, who had settled in Essex, not far from Braintree, in 1570. Joseph Loomis was in prosperous circumstances and his father-in-law, Robert White, was a man of considerable means for those times. Elder John White was a son of Robert White, and the wives of John Porter and Elder William Goodwin were also daughters of Robert White.
Joseph Loomis settled at Windsor near the junction of the Farmington river with the Connecticut, on the island. The island was high land and so called because it became an island at every great freshet of the river. His house has been in the perpetual possession of the family down to the present time and is probably the oldest one now standing in Connecticut, which is still owned by the descendants of the pioneer builder. It was on this island that Capt. William Holmes and a few other men of the Plymouth colony established a trading house in 1633, which was the first permanent English settlement in Connecticut.
Joseph Loomis was Deputy in 1643, 1644. In Feb. 1640 he had granted him 21 acres on the west side of the Connecticut river; he also had several large tracts on the east side, partly from the town and partly by purchase.
Descendants of Joseph Loomis built the Loomis-Chaffee Institute in Windsor, Connecticut, an endowed school for boys located at the south end of Island Road. Northeast of the main buildings is the old Joseph Loomis house (primate) in excellent condition. A girls' department was added later called Chaffee School. (A Loomis and a Chaffee married.) Elias Loomis was a major contributor to the school.
While digging for the Institute buildings, remains of a dugout cabin were found; the earliest type of refuge made by the settlers. According to records, Joseph Loomis took up his claim there in 1639 and died in 1658. It is not known whether he built the dugout, the only one remaining to modern times, or even the salt-box ell of the house. Tradition is that this was his house built before 1652 and the main part of the house was built in 1688 to 1690.
In a few instances whole families came to the U.S. The Loomis family was one that did and paid their own passage which required 5 or 6 pounds. Those who paid their own passage were among the productive groups in England's working population such as farmers and skilled workers.
She was the daughter [p. 433] of Robet White of Messing and Bridget Allgar, who was bp. 11 March 1562, and was dau. of Wm. Allgar of Shalford, Co. Essex, Eng. - Ext. from Parish Rec. of Messing Communicated by Henry D. White of N. Haven, Conn. She was prob. a sister-in-law of John Porter, another prominent Windsor settler. He d. [25 Nov.], 1658; wife d. 23 Aug. 1652.
Mary White and husband Joseph Loomis lived next door to her sister, Anna (White) and her husband, John Porter, in the town of Windsor, Connecticut. They had adjoining lots.