Notes on Lt. John Hollister
"The Settler". It is believed that John Hollister was born in England in 1612 and emigrated to America in 1642. He is thought to be a son of Roger Hollister, who married December 28, 1607, Alice Fisher, and owned Stinchcombe Manor in
Gloucestershire, England. His father, John Hollister, had purchased Stinchcombe and Bradstone Manors in 1608. John Hollister's name first appears as a juror in the court at Wethersfield held March 2, 1642. He was admitted as a freeman there in
1643. He was a deputy in 1644, and again in 1645, and he represented the town
many times until 1656. In February, 1656, he was appointed with others by the General Court to give 'the best and safe advise to the Indians, if they agreed to meet and should crave their advice'. John Hollister was a Lieutenant in March of 1658,
when he applied to the General Court as to the charges of the church at Wethersfield against him, for which he had been excommunicated by the Reverend John Russell. As a result of this controversy, in which his father-in-law, as well as Richard
Treat and John Deming took his side, Mr. Russell and his adherents were disgraced and removed to Hadley. Lt. John Hollister was appointed collector in Wethersfield March 14, 1660. He became a large landholder in Wethersfield, especially in that
part across the Connecticut River to theeast, which became the town of Glastonbury."
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