Rev. James Noyes

Rev. James Noyes was born at Newbury, Massachusetts, on 11 March 1640, the son of Rev. James Noyes of Newbury and Sarah Browne Noyes. A Harvard graduate of 1659, he went to Stonington, Connecticut, in 1664. He was ordained there on 10 September 1674 and married Dorothy Stanton Noyes the following day. Their children included Deacon John Stanton Noyes.[1,3]

Noyes served as a chaplain during King Philip’s War. Yale’s historical research identifies a 1676 letter in which he sought another Indigenous captive for enslavement; he already held four captives. In 1701 he became one of the founding trustees of the Connecticut college that later became Yale.[4]

His long ministry at Stonington continued into his final year. He preached his last sermon in November 1719 and died on 30 December.[3]