Tradition has it that in the year 1692, there came from the Channel Isles to New London , Connecticut, a lad named Eleazar {Eleaser} Bishop {Bischopp}. Two stories have come to us regarding his coming.
First:
The lad, Eleazer, at about the age of seven years, was playing by the shore of the Isle of Guernsey or Jersey (as both islands are mentioned in the narrative) with a large handsome dog. It was probably a seaport and he was playing near the wharf when the Captain of a British ship which had called there, saw the dog and was so determined to secure it that he sent men ashore with instructions to bring the dog aboard under any circumstances. The boy refused to be parted with his companion and so both dog and boy were brought on board the ship which was bound for America. Before the long voyage across the Atlantic had ended the ship's crew had so won the affection of the dog, that it was willing to remain on board and as the Captain had no further use for the boy, whom he had kidnapped, he determined to dispose of him at the first opportunity. Arriving at the port of New London, he was able to attain his purpose and dispose of the lad to one Richard Dart, a tailor of New London, who paid for the boy's passage by giving the captain a yoke of oxen.
Second:
Eleazer ran away from his home in the Isle of Jersey, was a stowaway on a British ship bound for America, and at the age of fourteen found himself in New London in the home of Richard Dart, who took the boy as his own and brought him up in his own family. It is recorded that two companions of Eleazer Bishop, one, Deshon, and the other, John Eharpe [Sharpe?], were brought by a British Ship to New London, Conn., and a wealthy farmer, Richard Dart, paid for young Bishop's passage as recorded above.