Rev. James Noyes

A minister's education and public responsibilities

The account of James Noyes's Harvard education includes payments made in wheat, malt, barley, butter, cattle and a barrel of beef. He also performed work associated with the college hall. These entries, reproduced in a later family history, make his education visible as a series of transactions rather than simply the statement that he graduated in 1659.

Born on March 11, 1640, James was the son of the older Reverend James Noyes of Newbury, Massachusetts, and Sarah Brown. The distinction between father and son matters: it was the younger James who became the long-serving Stonington minister and a founding trustee of the institution later called Yale. He and his brother Moses entered Harvard in 1656.

James came to Stonington, in southeastern Connecticut, in 1664. His formal ordination followed on September 10, 1674, and he married Dorothy Stanton the next day. His work there continued for more than half a century, spanning the establishment of the church, the growth of local families and repeated conflicts involving the colonial settlements.

He served as a chaplain and physician on a military expedition led by George Denison. A surviving 1676 letter also places him directly within the enslavement of Native captives. As discussed in Yale's historical research, Noyes complained about the people allotted to him: two girls, a sick mother and an ill or disabled man. He wanted a healthy young man and connected the complaint with payment for his wartime service. The letter records his expectation of compensation in the form of captive people.

In 1701, Noyes was among the founding trustees of the Collegiate School that became Yale.

The later biographical account dates his last sermon to November 22, 1719. He died on December 30. His son John subsequently served as a deacon in the Stonington church.

James’s birthplace is recorded as Newbury, Massachusetts, and the family record distinguishes his son as Deacon John Stanton Noyes.

The burial listing places Rev. James Noyes at Wequetequock Burial Ground, Stonington, New London County, Connecticut, United States.