Formerly New Scituate, Ashford was settled in 1710 and incorporated as a town in October of 1714.
The Old Connecticut Path, an early Native American thoroughfare, crossed what is now the Ashford Common. Later, the Boston and Hartford Turnpike provided a direct route through Ashford from Boston to Connecticut, making it at one time a thriving community. Later routes bypassed the area, causing a decline in the population. This is probably the area where the Kings were living when Ezekiel ran away from home.
Nathaniel Millard (1672-1740), Bethiah Garnzey’s great-grandfather, had extensive land dealings in Ashford, Connecticut, where between 1718 and 1726 he bought up lots and rights to the extent of about a thousand acres in the southwestern part of town. Apparently, he bought this land as an investment or speculation for he was never indicated as a resident of Ashford. Between 1726 and 1740, his lots were sold one by one to settlers or other buyers until only three were left as part of his estate. (Ashford, Conn. Deeds, passim)