John
Underhill was born circa 1650. He married
Elizabeth Feake, daughter of
Robert Feake and
Elizabeth Fones. John Underhill died after 18 September 1671 at Killingworth, CT.
ARMS: Argent on a chevron sable between three trefoils slipped, vert, asmany bazants. CREST: On a mount vert, a hind, lodged or. CAPTAIN JOHN UNDERHILL, believed to be descended from a Warwickshirefamily, served as a soldier in the Netherlands, under the Earl ofLeicester, and in Spain and Ireland, under the Earl of Essex. When thatnobleman was executed, Captain Underhill went to Holland, and finally toAmerica in Winthrop's company. Soon after he was training the militia inBoston, which he represented at the first Court of Deputies. Being tooliberal in his ideas of religious toleration, he was disfranchised,November 20, 1637, and banished from Massachusetts. He retreated to NewHampshire, where, in 1638, he was chosen Governor. Again his liberalviews and possibly his Boston enemies compelled him to flee, and he wassoon found in Albany, where he became a favorite with the Dutch of thatplace, who called him 'Captain Hans Van Vanderhill,' and gave him acommand of one hundred and twenty men. He became a noted fighter andslayer of Indians. In 1643 he was a Delegate from Stamford, Conn., to theGeneral Court at New Haven, and appointed Assistant Justice. Settling atOyster Bay, he was a Delegate from that place, 1665, and made Lord HighSheriff of North Riding on Long Island, by Governor Nicholl. TheMatinecock Indians conveyed to him a large tract of land in 1667. Part ofit, named Killingworth (originally Kenilworth, from the place inWarwickshire, Eng., of that name), remained in his family nearly twohundred years. In the Pequot War he was Captain of all the New Englandtroops and so vanquished the Indians as to make it possible for the whitesettlers to live in that region.15 His will was dated September 18, 1671, and he died at 'Killingworth'. atan advanced age. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth(Fones) Feake. Their son, Nathaniel Underhill, was one of the trustees of the town ofWestchester 1720. He married Mary, daughter of John Ferris, Esq., ofLeicestershire, Eng., who was one of the purchasers of Stamford, Conn.,in 1640, and in 1654 removed to Westchester, and became one of the firstpatentees of the town and one of the ten proprietors. The family ofFerris came from Normandy. Henri de Ferrers is written on the famous'Battle Roll,' and received large grants of land from William theConqueror in Straffordshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire. James, agrandson of the colonist, lived on his grandfather's estate when LordHowe took it for his headquarters, and James was made prisoner by theQueen's Rangers, dying from hardship. Their son, Abraham Underhill, of White Plains, N. Y., married HannahCromwell, 'a descendant of that family of Cromwells who at a very earlyperiod possessed estates in Westchester County, N. Y. The severalbranches of the family in America claim descent from the same parentstock as that of the Protector.' Their son, Jacob Underhill, married, 1747, Amy, the daughter of John andHannah Hallock, the granddaughter of John and Abigail (Sweezey) Hallock,the great-granddaughter of William and Margaret Hallock; and descendedfrom Peter Hallock, who married a widow, Mrs. Howell, in England, and was in NewHaven by 1640. Their daughter, Hannah Underhill, married Quinby, the son of William andMary (Quinby) Cornell.