Who Was Andrew Warde?

Just who was Andrew Warde? Most people who live or were raised in Fairfield are well aware that Roger Ludlowe was the founder of our town. One of the town's two high schools and one of its three middle schools are named after Ludlowe.

However, I'd venture to say that Andrew Warde's biography and legacy is not nearly as famous as that of Ludlowe.

Andrew Warde High School was the second public high school to open in town due to a burgeoning population back in 1956. Exactly a half-century later, the school is now known as Fairfield Warde, but ask anyone in town about Andrew Warde, and I'm sure you'll get a blank stare.

We know he was born in Homersfield in Suffolk County, England in 1597, and he was one of the founders of Wethersfield and Stamford, Connecticut. His tombstone states that he was "an honored citizen of Fairfield, Conn. where he died in 1659."

The inscription on his tombstone at the Old Fairfield Cemetery further reads, "Member of a comission graunted to sev'al p'sons to governe the people att]conecticott by the General Court of Massachusetts Bay under John Winthrop Jr. Governor 1635~1636."

Andrew Warde married Hester (or Esther) Sherman February 1, 1618 (or 1619) in Woodbury, Litchfield County, Connecticut. She was the daughter of Edmund Sherman and Joan Makin. She was born April 1, 1606 in Dedam, Essex, England, and died February 28, 1665 (or 1666) in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Their 10 children were Abigail, Edmund, William, Anne, Mary (who married John Burr), John, Sarah (who married Nathaniel Burr), Andrew, Samuel, and Esther. Abigail married Moses Dimon, and their daughter, Abigail Dimon, married Samuel Smedley, Sr., November 30, 1700, in Stratford, Connecticut. I'm sure you recall Smedley House at Warde.

The entire list of Andrew Warde's descendants can be found online. I think today's students would be wise to find out the rich biography of their school's namesake. Although the "Andrew" has been dropped from the school name, "Warde" still remains to remind us of our past and his vital role in the history of Fairfield.

Paul