A graduate of St. Catherines, Cambridge in 1623, Rev. Richard Denton came to New England circa 1635. Before coming he was a preacher in Halifax England. The Cambridge University listing for Richard Denton says: "Sizar of St. Catherine's Easter, 1621-23-24, priest 8 June 1623, Deacon at Peterborough 9 March 1622-3. Curate of Coley Chapel, Halifax, for some years." ("Sizar" is defined as an undergraduate student.)
From New England Genealogical Reg. 11/241: Rev. Richard Denton came to America from the Parish of Owram, North England on the ship "James". (Note: No ship record has been discovered.) He lived in Wetheresfield and Stamford, Connecticut. The J.S. Denton papers show baptismal records of Nathaniel and Timothy sons of Rev. Richard Denton "in Parish Church of Bolton, England." The famous preacher, Cotton Mather, born 1663, speaks of Rev. Denton in his early memoirs: "Rev. Denton was a highly religious man with strong Presbyterian beliefs. He was a small man with only one eye, but in the pulpit he could sway a congregation like he was nine feet tall." From "Narratives of New Netherland, 1609-1664" a letter to the Classis of Amsterdam from Johannes Megapolensis and Samuel Drisius dated August 5,1657: "At Hempsted, about seven leagues from here, there live some Independents. There are also many of our own church, and some Presbyterians. They have a Presbyterian preacher, Richard Denton, a pious, godly and learned man, who is in agreement with our church in everything. The Independents of the place listen attentively to his sermons; but when he began to baptize the children of parents who are not members of the church, they rushed out of the church." From another letter dated Oct. 22, 1657 the same writers continue: "Mr. Richard Denton, who is sound in faith, of a friendly disposition, and beloved by all, cannot be induced by us to remain, although we have earnestly tried to do this in various ways. He first went to Virginia to seek a situation, complaining of lack of salary, and that he was getting in debt, but he has returned thence. He is now fully resolved to go to old England, because of his wife who is sickly will not go without him, and there is need of their going there on account of a legacy of four hundred pounds sterling lately left by a deceased friend, and which they cannot obtain except by their personal presence." The history of Hempstead, Long Island makes many references to the Dentons and their marriages and big families. The men were active in the local militias fighting the Indians and they developed excellent military experience that prepared them for officer commissions when they moved on to the Virginia frontier. He married and had the following children: Sarah DENTON
(For more documented information about Rev. Richard Denton and his family, please see the articles by Dr. Walter Krumm in the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. 117, numbers 3 and 4.)
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