Robert Treat , Gov.

He was Assistent of the New Haven Colony in 1659 until 1665, and then in 1673. He was a Captain and representative in Philip's War, and Commander in Chief. After the death of Gov. Winthrop in 1676, we was made Deputy Governor (under Gov. Leete) and a commissioner of the United Colonies of New England. At the death of Governor Leete in 1683, he succeeded him as Governor. After the overthrow of Sir Edmund Andros, Robert Treat succeeded him as the head of all the Northern provinces, where he served for 15 years until he retired from old age. [Savage 4:327]. It has been rumored that he had 21 children, but only about half that number have been accounted for. Savage suggests the number may be his natural children added to the previous children of his first wife. He was over 83 years old at his second marriage, so no children from her are likely. ========================================================================== The following appears in the Dictionary of American Biography IX:633-4: TREAT, ROBERT (1622?-July 12, 1710), colonial governor, was born at Pitminster, Somerset, England, the second son of Richard and Alice (Gaylard) Treat, or Trott. His exact date of birth is unkonwn; if his epitaph is correct, he was at least two years old at the time of his baptism on Feb. 25, 1624/5. The family emigrated to America and by 1639 was settled at Wethersfield, Conn., where Richard Treat rose to a position of prominence. Although only a youth, Robert took part in the settlement of Milford in 1639-40. Because many early records of the town and of the New Haven Colony are lost, the first steps in his public career cannot be traced. By 1653 he was being regularly elected deputy from Milford to the General Court of the colony and in the following year was chosen lieutenant and chief military officer of the town. From deputy he advanced to magistrate in 1659 and was annually reelected until 1664, when he declined to serve. In the vain struggle to prevent the absorption of the New Haven Colony by Connecticut under its charter of 1662 Treat took a fairly active part, and, although he represented Milford in the General Assembly of Connecticut in 1665, he remained for some time unreconciled to the union and determined to emigrate. He became leader of the group from the former New Haven Colony that settled Newark, N.J., and from 1667 until 1672 was deputy from that town to the Assembly of East Jersey. He also served as magistrate and recorder of Newark. But eventually he returned to Milford and was chosen an assistant of Connecticut in 1673. In the meantime his military capacities were gaining recognition. In 1661 he had become captain of the Milford train band and on his return from Newark was promoted to major. In the summer of 1675 he was appointed commander in chief of the Connecticut troops operating against King Philip. Although too far away at the time to prevent attacks upon Northfield and Springfield, Mass., he took an active part in the defeat of the Indians at Hadley. In the following winter campaign in Rhode Island he again commanded the Connecticut contingent and distinguished himself in the successful attack upon the Indian stronghold. He lacked conventional military training, yet he proved an adept leader in Indian warfare. The colony rewarded his services in May 1676 by electing him deputy-governor, and after the death of William Leete in April 1683 he advanced to the governorship. His first problem was the settlement of a boundary dispute with New York, which resulted in the loss by Connecticut of the town of Rye. Soon a more serious threat to the colony appeared with the creation of the Dominion of New England. Connecticut refused to admit the validity of the writs of quo warranto issued against its charter in 1685 and 1686, and, when Sir Edmund Andros reached New England, Treat followed as long as possible a policy of postponement and delay. But resistance was futile, and at a meeting in Hartford, Oct. 31, 1687, Andros assumed authority over Connecticut. For the second time Treat found a government of which he was an important member absorbed by a more powerful neighbor. Although appointed to the council of the Dominion, he took little part in its administration. Upon the overthrow of Andros at Bostin in 1689 Connecticut restored its government under the charter, which, owing largely to Treat's wise management, had never been legally invalidated. He continued as governor until 1698, carrying on the conservative traditions of the colony. In 1692, when Gov. Benjamin Fletcher of New York claimed superior authority over the Connecticut militia, Treat and the Assembly sent Fitz John Winthrop to England to gain recognition of their military independence. The successful accomplishment of this mission brought Winthrop great popularity, and in 1698 he was elected governor. The aging Treat stepped down to the deputy-governorship, where he continued to serve until 1708, two years before his death. In 1647 or before, he married Jane Tapp, the daughter of Edmund Tapp, one of the leaders in the settlement of Milford. She died in 1703, survived by seven of their eight children. Two years later, on Oct. 24, 1705, he married Elizabeth (Powell) Hollingsworth Bryan, the daughter of Michael Powell of Boston and widow of Richard Bryan, a Milford Merchant. Her death occurred in the spring of 1706. According to the standards of seventeeth-century Connecticut, Treat was a wealthy man. He became a large landholder and was owner or part owner of saw and fulling mills in Mulford. Pious and orthodox, he was highly respected in the community, yet gained a reputation for good nature and humor in personal contacts as well as for firmness & wisdom in public affairs.