Thomas Burnham

Thomas Burnham (1617 – June 24, 1688) was a lawyer and colonist, who was born in England and migrated to the American Colonies sometime prior to 1645.

[1] One of his decedents and author of his 1884 genealogy, Roderick Henry Burnham, believes that his family came from Hatfield, Herefordshire, England.

[5] Burnham successfully defended a school teacher, Abigail Betts who had been accused of blasphemy, claiming "Christ was a bastard" and she could prove it through the scriptures.

Burnham successfully defended her by asserting that blasphemy was not a capital crime in England, and thus could not be one in Connecticut under its charter.

[7] In 1659 he purchased from Tantonimo (sometimes spelled, Tan-tonimo), Chief sachem of the Potunke Native Americans, a tract of land now covered by the towns of South Windsor and East Hartford, on which he afterward lived, and a part of which is still in possession of his descendants.

Their children were all born in Hartford, and the dates below are based on research by historian Roderick H. Burnham [8] with minor updates by genealogist Mary Pitkin:[1]