History of the Donatists

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. The authentic history of the family begins with Thomas, Benedict of Nottinghamshire, England, who was born in 1617. He was an only son, and the name, according to the tradition, had been confined to only sons in the family for'more than a hundred years. In the spirit of his time, impatient of: civil or ecclesiastical Oppression, preierring voluntary exile rather than to endure the cruelties of the Stuarts and Lauds, Thomas Benedict came to New England in 1638. He resided for a time in the colony of Massachusetts Bay, then on Long Island, and afterwards became an influential man in the Connecticut colony.