Person Page - 112

6. Samuel Sackett, born and christened at Springfield, Mass., in 1653, was the oldest child of (3) Simon and Sarah Bloomfield Sackett. No further record of him has been found and it is probable that he died in infancy and was buried at Springfield.

7. Capt. Joseph Sackett, 1656–1719, son of (3) Simon and Sarah Bloomfield Sackett, was born at Springfield, Mass. After the death of his father in 1659 his childhood home appears to have been with the family of his grandfather Bloomfield. From early manhood to old age he was a resident of Newtown, Long Island, N. Y., where for many years he was a member "in full communion" and office bearer in the Presbyterian Church. His name appears frequently in lists of Road Commissioners, Assessors, Collectors and Supervisors of his town. The Colonial and Documentary Histories of New York show that he was commissioned by successive Governors of the Colony as Ensign, Lieutenant and Captain of Long Island troops. His name is also to be found in lists of recipients of Royal Patents or land grants, and of commissioners selected and appointed to adjust town and county boundary disputes, so prevalent and troublesome in the early history of New York and Connecticut.
     Capt. Joseph Sackett was thrice married. His first wife, who was the mother of all but one of his children, was Elizabeth Betts, daughter of Capt. Richard Betts. The name of his second wife, who lived but a short time after the date of her marriage, is unknown. His third wife, to whom he was married in 1711, was Mercy Whitehead, widow of Capt. Thomas Betts, a brother of his first wife.
     Capt. Richard Betts, the father of Elizabeth, the first wife of Capt. Joseph Sackett, was born in Hertferdshire, England, in the year 1613. He came to New England about the year 1635, and in 1636 settled in Newtown, Mass., from which place, prior to 1642, he removed to Ipswich, where he remained until about 1654, when he removed to and became a permanent resident of Newtown, Long Island, N. Y. There he soon acquired prominence and influence, and for upwards of half a century participated largely in public affairs. In the revolution of 1663 he bore a zealous part, and after the conquest of New Netherlands by the English was a member from Newtown of the Provisional Assembly held at Hempstead in 1665. He was "High Sheriff of Yorkshire, upon Long Island." from 1678 to 1681. For a long series of years he was a magistrate, and several times a member of the "High Court of Assise." then the supreme power of the colony. His name is honorably mentioned in upwards of thirty distance paragraphs on the pages of "Rikers Annals of Newtown," the last of which reads as follows:      Daniel Whitehead, 1603-1668, the grandfather of Mercy Whitehead, the third wife of Capt. Joseph Sackett, was the founder of the Long Island branch of the Whitehead family. He came to New England with the early colonists and migrated to Long Island, N. Y., during, or previous to the year 1647, under which date his name appears amount the proprietors of Hempstead. In 1650 he purchased land in Smithtown, and later, in Oyster Bay, in Huntington, and on Lloyds Neck. Riker says that "he located at Mespot Kills, was a reputable citizen and one of the seven persons to whom the first Newtown Patent was granted." He was chosen a town surveyor in 1668 and died on his farm at Mespot Kills in November of that year. He was at the time of his death one of the two Overseers, or Chief Magistrates of the town.
     Major Daniel Whitehead, son of above and father of Mercy Whitehead (Betts) Sackett, was married to Abigail Stephenson, daughter of Thomas Stephenson, and settled in Jamaica, of which town he was one of the patentees. According to local historians he was a man of enterprise and wealth. Politically he was a Jacobite. The ancient records show that he was a magistrate, a member of the committee of safety, a representative in the Colonial Assembly and a trustee of the parish church. His will, dated November 13, 1703, and proved October 30, 1704, disposes of land in Jamaica, Hempstead, Oyster Bay, Flushing, Orange County and Suffolk County, all in the Colony of New York.
     In the list of grievances enumerated in the historic anonymous pamphlet published in New York and republished in London in 1700, attacking Leysler's administration, the following appears:      On May 19th following, Stephen Van Cortlandt, Mayor of New York, in writing to Sir Edward Andres an account of the progress of the Leysler revolution mentions the fact that he, with Captain Jackson, Daniel Whitehead and several others had been obliged to "flye from their homes to escape imprisonment at the hands of Leisler."
     When in 1711 Capt. Joseph Sackett and Mercy Whitehead (Betts) were married, the former was 55 years of age and had 10 children, while the latter was about 48 years of age and had 9 children. These, with their son Samuel, born to them in 1712, made an even score. Sixteen of the number married and had children, and nearly all the sons as well as the husbands of the daughters became men of prominence in their day and generation; while among their descendants have been Governors of States, Cabinet Officers, Bishops, Authors of note, Judges, Generals and Ministers of the United States to the principal Courts of Europe.
     Capt. Joseph Sackett's will, dated September 20, 1719, and admitted to probate December 22 following, is witnessed by Nathaniel Woodward and Peter Berrian. It reads as follows:      22. Simon Sackett, b. in 1678, d. in 1718; m. a Miss McGaw.
     23. Joseph Sackett, b. in 1680, d. Sept. 27, 1755; m. Hannah Alsop.
     24. Anne Sackett, b. in 1681, d. Sept. 30, 1757; m. Benjamin Moore.
     25. Elizabeth Sackett, b. in 1683, d. Sept. 1716; m. Joseph Moore.
     26. Richard Sackett, b. in 1686, d. May 8, 1737 [sic: 1727]; m. Elizabeth Kirtland.
     27. John Sacket, b. in 1688, d. Dec. 31, 1728; m. Elizabeth Field.
     28. Sarah Sackett, b. in 1689, d. in 1766; m. Joseph Moore.
     29. Abigail Sackett, b. in 1695, d. Dec. 8, 1751; m. John Alsop.
     30. William Sackett, b. in 1696, d. Aug. 29, 1761; m. Mary Jones.
     31. Patience Sackett, b. in 1700, d. in 1772; m. John Lawrence.      32. Samuel Sackett, b. Mar. 2, 1712, d. June 5, 1784; m. Hannah Hazard.