THE NAME OF GROTON. 1 53 



(I. 43). Downing subsequently sold it to his nephews John 

 Winthrop, Jr., and Adam Winthrop, on July 23, 1644, when 

 he speaks of it as " his farme of Groton." The sale is duly 

 recorded in the Suffolk Registry of Deeds (I. 57). 



According to " The New England Historical & Genealogical 

 Register" (XXIV. 56 note) "for January, 1870, Graten 

 (elsewhere in the text called Groton) was the name of a pre- 

 cinct in Roxbury. Here stood (1750) the 'Grey Hound,' a 

 well known tavern, and a favorite resort of the Sons of Lib- 

 erty, a few years later." It was a corruption of Greaton, the 

 name of the man who kept the " Grey Hound " tavern in the 

 neighborhood. 



Mr. Grenville Lindall Winthrop, a descendant of Governor 

 John, in modern times has given the name of Groton Place to 

 his country seat at Lenox; and his younger brother, Mr. 

 Frederic Winthrop, has given the name of Groton House to 

 his country place at Hamilton. 



The following item from the " Boston Daily Advertiser," 

 September 6, 19 10, gives the latest intelligence in regard to 

 the old manor house : 



Groton Place, in Suffolk, England, where John Winthrop, first Mas- 

 sachusetts governor, was squire and patron of a church living before 

 he and his son sailed for America in 1630, is to be sold at auction 

 this week. The old manor house has long been gone, a modern 

 house occupying the place, which has been occupied by tenant farm- 

 ers. The old church stands, and a sturdy mulberry tree from which 

 numerous cuttings have been transplanted to New England. 



The name of the town has proved to be so auspicious on 

 this side of the ocean that it has been repeated in the States 

 of Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, Ohio, New York 

 and South Dakota. With the exception of the town west of 

 the Mississippi, I have visited them all, including the one in 

 England. 



In these several visits I have interested myself to learn the 

 local pronunciation of the word. I have asked many persons 

 in all ranks of life and grades of society in regard to the mat- 

 ter, and without exception they have given it " Graw-ton," 



