The American ancestor of the Heath family of Amsterdam, New York, was Bartholomew Heath, of Haverhill, Massachusetts, who settled there prior to 1645.

He was of English birth and ancestry, although there is no definite record of the date of his arrival or the place from which he came. He most likely arrived in America with other members of the family and was temporarily located in some of the smallest settlements, where there were no early records kept until 1645, when he appears in Haverhill.

Elder Isaac Heath, of Roxbury, came in the ship "Hopewell," 1635. His brother, William, of Roxbury, came from London in the ship "Lion," 1632, with wife Mary and five children. There is no evidence that he was related to these men, but the probability is that he was. Bartholomew had a brother, John Heath, who left bequests to the children of his brother, but named in his will no family of his own. He was also of Haverhill. This branch of the family migrated to New Hampshire, where they are of frequent mention.

In the town of Hampstead, they were both numerous and prominent. The revolutionary rolls of New Hampshire bear the names of twenty-three Heaths who served in the continental army, and they are particularly noticed as being present at noted battles.