Thomas Munson signs the Fundamental Agreement

After the 1637 Pequot War, Thomas Munson was given a plot of land to call his own on the plantation and was made a “freeman” in the community. His first land was in Hartford and he stayed there for a little over a year. Sometime in 1639 he sold that plot of land and moved to the New Haven colony. As it was written in The Munson Record, Vol 1:

“Previously to the date of these records, February, 1640, Thomas Munson had quit the Hartford plantation and cast in his lot with the settlers at Quinnipiac. [this blog writer’s note: “Quinnipiac” sounded like and has come to be spelled “Connecticut.”] Such experiments were numerous . The Historical Catalogue of the First Church, Hartford, gives the names of 147 early members ; seventy-four of them, including Thomas Munson, are said to have removed to other settlements. The men who had a sight of Quinnipiac while engaged in the Pequot War, were enthusiastic over the place. (1)

New Haven had been established in 1638 and on 4 Jun 1639, a Fundamental Agreement, the original constitution of the Colony, had been signed by the 63 “free-planters” who had bought the land on that plantation. They decided that any other men who bought land on the plantation would also be expected to sign the Agreement. Soon after the Jun 4 signing, Thomas Munson moved to New Haven and was the sixth signer of the new group who were added after the original signing. (2)

Some of the signatures on the New Haven Fundamental Agreement.

A close-up view of Thomas Munson’s signature on the Fundamental Agreement.

(1) The Munson Record, Vol 1, p 5.
(2) ibid.
(3) ibid. p 61.