WYLLYS, George, governor of Connecticut, born in Fenny Compton, Warwick, England, about 1570; died in Hartford, Connecticut, 9 March, 1645. He was liberally educated, and after a course at one of the English universities settled on his large estate in Knapton, Warwick. He ardently espoused the cause of the Puritans, and in 1636 sent his steward. William Gibbons, with twenty men, "to purchase and prepare for him in Hartford. Conn., an estate suitable to his rank," on which Gibbons was directed to build a house, and prepare for the reception of his master's family. Wyllys arrived in 1638, and at once became an important member of the colony. He was a framer of the constitution in 1639, and at the first election that was held under it was chosen one of the six magistrates of Connecticut, holding office until his death. He was chosen deputy governor in 1641, and governor in 1642. Governor Wyllys was famed for his social and domestic virtues, his simplicity of man-nets, and his love for civil and religious liberty.--His son, Samuel, magistrate, born in Warwick, England, in 1632 ; died in Hartford, Connecticut, 30 May, 1709, came to this country with his father in 1638, was graduated at Harvard in 1653, and in 1654 was elected one of the magistrates of Connecticut. In this office and the corresponding one of assistant under the charter of Charles II. he was retained by annual election for more than thirty years. On his estate, and in front of his house, the charter of Connecticut, ac cording to the common account, was concealed in a large hollow tree, to secure it from Sir Edmund Andros (see ANDROS, EDMUND, and TREAT, ROBERT), and it remained there until his deposition from the governorship on the accession of William and Mary. This tree, which was called the Charter Oak, was said to be 1,000 years old. There is a legend that when Governor Wyllys's steward, Gibbons, was about to cut it down, a deputation of Indians remonstrated, and it was allowed to remain. It stood for 169 years after the charter was concealed in it, but was prostrated by a violent gale of wind in August, 1856.--George's grandson, George, secretary of the colony of Connecticut, born in Hartford, Connecticut, 6 October, 1710; died there, 24 April, 1796, was the son of Hezekiah Wyllys, who was secretary of the colony in 1712-'30. George was graduated at Yale in 1729, and, in consequence of the failure of his father's health, was chosen secretary pro tempore in 1730, becoming his successor in 1734. He held that office for sixty subsequent years, during which he attended every session of the legislature. He was town-clerk of Hartford from 1730 until his death, became a captain of militia in 1738, and held a commission of lieutenant-colonel in the French war in 1757. Notwithstanding the fact that he was in active sympathy with the loyalist element during the Revolution, his tenure of office was not interrupted. He married Mary, daughter of Reverend Timothy Wood-bridge.--Their son, Samuel, soldier, born in Hartford, Connecticut, 15 January, 1739; died there, 9 June, 1823, was graduated at Yale in 1758. He was appointed lieutenant-colonel of Colonel Joseph Spencer's regiment in 1775, commanded a regiment at the siege of Boston, and in January, 1776, became a colonel in the Connecticut line, serving throughout the Revolution. He then returned to Hartford, held several civil offices, and in 1796 succeeded his father as secretary of Connecticut, which post he held until failing health caused his resignation in 1809, when the office had been occupied by his grandfather, his father, and himself, in uninterrupted succession for ninety-eight years. He was a mere-bet of the Connecticut academy of arts and sciences, and for many years brigadier-general and major-general of militia.