Robert was born at Pitminster, Somerset, England. He was the second son of Richard and Alice (Gaylard) Treat, or Trott. His exact date of birth is unknown; if his epitaph is correct, he was at least two years old at the time of his baptism on February 25, 1624/25.
The family emigrated to America and by 1639 was settled at Wethersfield, Connecticut, where Richard Treat rose to a position of prominence.
Although only a youth, Robert took part in the settlement of Milford in 1639-40. Because many early records of the town and of the New Haven Colony are lost, the first steps in his public career cannot be traced.
By 1653 he was being regularly elected deputy from Milford to the General Court of the colony and in the following year was chosen lieutenant and chief military officer of the town. From deputy he advanced to magistrate in 1659 and was annually reelected until 1664, when he declined to serve.
In the vain struggle to prevent the absorption of the New Haven Colony by Connecticut under its charter of 1662 Treat took a fairly active part, and, although he represented Milford in the General Assembly of Connecticut in 1665, he remained for some time unreconciled to the union and determined to emigrate. He became the leader of the group from the former New Haven Colony that settled Newark, N. J. , and from 1667 until 1672 was deputy from that town to the Assembly of East Jersey. He also served as magistrate and recorder of Newark.
But eventually he returned to Milford and was chosen an assistant of Connecticut in 1673. In the meantime his military capacities were gaining recognition. In 1661 he had become captain of the Milford train band and on his return from Newark was promoted to major. In the summer of 1675 he was appointed commander in chief of the Connecticut troops operating against King Philip. Although too far away at the time to prevent attacks upon Northfield and Springfield, Massachussets, he took an active part in the defeat of the Indians at Hadley.
In the following winter campaign in Rhode Island he again commanded the Connecticut contingent and distinguished himself in the successful attack upon the Indian stronghold. He lacked conventional military training, yet he proved an adept leader in Indian warfare. The colony rewarded his services in May 1676 by electing him deputy-governor, and after the death of William Leete in April 1683 he advanced to the governorship.
His first problem was the settlement of a boundary dispute with New York, which resulted in the loss by Connecticut of the town of Rye. Soon a more serious threat to the colony appeared with the creation of the Dominion of New England. Connecticut refused to admit the validity of the writs of quo warranto issued against its charter in 1685 and 1686, and, when Sir Edmund Andros reached New England, Treat followed as long as possible a policy of postponement and delay. But resistance was futile, and at a meeting in Hartford, October 31, 1687, Andros assumed authority over Connecticut. For the second time Treat found a government of which he was an important member absorbed by a more powerful neighbor. Although appointed to the council of the Dominion, he took little part in its administration.
Upon the overthrow of Andros at Boston in 1689 Connecticut restored its government under the charter, which, owing largely to Treat's wise management, had never been legally invalidated. He continued as governor until 1698, carrying on the conservative traditions of the colony. In 1692, when Gov. Benjamin Fletcher of New York claimed superior authority over the Connecticut militia, Treat and the Assembly sent Fitz John Winthrop to England to gain recognition of their military independence. The successful accomplishment of this mission brought Winthrop great popularity, and in 1698 he was elected governor.
According to the standards of seventeenth-century Connecticut, Treat was a wealthy man. He became a large landholder and was an owner or part owner of saw and fulling mills in Milford.
The aging Treat stepped down to the deputy-governorship, where he continued to serve until 1708, two years before his death.
(Lang:- eng, Vol:- Volume 1, Pages 361. Reprinted in 2015 ...)
Pious and orthodox, he was highly respected in the community, yet gained a reputation for good nature and humor in personal contacts as well as for firmness and wisdom in public affairs.
On Christmas Day, 1647 he married Jane Tapp in Milford, with whom he had eight children. Jane died on October 31, 1703. He then married Mrs. Elizabeth (Powell) Bryan, the daughter of Elder Michael and Abigail Powell of Boston, on October 24, 1705. She was twice widowed before marrying Gov. Treat. She died on January 10, 1706.
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