Our Fike and Andrew New England ancestors came to North America seeking religious freedom. Their families were English Puritans who broke off from the Church of England in the late 1500s. Beginning with the Mayflower pilgrims in 1620 as many as 20,000 Puritans came to the New world in search of religious freedom..
The first of our Puritan ancestors to arrive in New England were William Bradford, Thomas, and his son Joseph Rogers who came in 1620 on “The Mayflower”, link here. and founded the Plymouth Colony. The next group settled in the Massachusetts Bay colony, near present day Boston between 1630 and 1640.
As the population increased around Boston harbor, groups of settlers relocated and founded towns further from the coast in search of more farmland. Our ancestors were the original founders of many communities on the Connecticut River. Some followed William Pynchon in 1636 and founded Springfield Mass. Another larger group followed Thomas Hooker in 1635 and founded the town of Hartford further South in the Connecticut river valley. Smaller groups of families settled in newly formed communities in Eastern Massachusetts.
Through this group we are distant cousins of the poet Emily Dickinson, Winston Churchill, The Goodrich family of the B.F. Goodrich Tire Company, and the Kellogg family of the Kellogg Cereal company.
If you are visiting New England you can stop by the Old Hadley Cemetery in Hadley MA and The Old Burying Ground in downtown Hartford CT to see monuments and headstones of some of our 17th century immigrant ancestors. Just outside the public library in Springfield MA is a bronze stature of our ancestor Deacon Samuel Chapin that was erected in the 19th century by one of his descendants.
Both of Daniel Wells’ grandfathers, David Chapin and Joshua Wells, were Revolutionary War Patriots, link here. The following group is related to us through Daniel Hamner Wells on the Andrew side of the family:
Nathaniel Dickenson
Nathaniel Dickinson (3 May 1601 – 16 June 1676) born in Billingborough, Lincolnshire. He married widow Anna Gull in the mid-1620s and they had at least twelve children, the first five of whom were born in England. He and his family likely emigrated between 1636, at which point they still appear in the parish register at Billingborough, and 1638, when they appear in the records in Wethersfield, Connecticut
In the late 1650s, he and a group of fellow dissenters from the Wethersfield church organized a new settlement in Hadley, Massachusetts. In 1660, Dickinson was appointed town clerk of Hadley. He became the first permanent settler in the town and also surveyed the neighboring towns of Amherst, Belchertown, and Hatfield where he lived for a few years after moving to Hadley to help get the town started up.
Three of Nathaniel’s sons, John, Joseph, and Azariah, were killed in King Philip’s War in 1675 and 1676. Nathaniel died shortly after them on June 16, 1676.
Nathaniel Dickinson Memorial Plaque in Old Hadley Cemetery, Hadley MA
His original headstone is no longer visible, but a descendants group erected the memorial plaque attached to a boulder now standing on his gravesite. Nathaniel is our shared ancestor with the poet Emily Dickinson.
Samuel Chapin
“The Puritan” -The artist was Augustus St. Gauden and it was commissioned by Chester W. Chapin, Springfield’s railroad magnate, in 1885. The statue was originally unveiled on Thanksgiving Day in 1887 in Stearns Square, and remained there for twelve years before being moved to its current location. In moving the statue, the beautiful bronze fountain and pink granite bench that were constructed to compliment the artwork were relocated to other parts of the city. The working model is now owned by the Carnegie Museum of Art.
“The beginning of the Chapin family is altogether creditable. We may well be satisfied that it should start with this genuine old Puritan and what he did, with his fellow pioneers, to open the American Continent and on it found a city and to establish a model Christian Republic. The rolls of heraldry, even if they could show the name linked with royal or princely blood, would add nothing to the true nobility of its origin. It belongs peculiarly to this country, and the sphere of its highest dignity and honor was no doubt ordained to be here. Our chief anxiety should be to maintain and advance its true nobility by lives and deeds worthy of such a father.” – Aaron L. Chapin, President of the Chapin Family Association, at the unveiling of the Chapin Statue at Springfield, MA on 24 November 1887.
Samuel Chapin and his wife, Cicely, came from England with three sons and two daughters in 1635. He probably landed at Boston, which was then, as it is now, the chief port of New England. They probably settled immediately in Roxbury. Roxbury was founded a few years earlier, in 1630, by William Pynchon. It soon became a small village of from two to three score families, most of whom came from Nazing, London, or the west of England. Possibly it was because he had friends among the latter that determined Samuel to settle in Roxbury. Samuel held land as early as 1639, as is shown by the Roxbury land records.
Like most of the early settlers, Samuel Chapin must have been principally a farmer, although undoubtedly, he had to turn his hand to many other pursuits as occasion required, which was in fact very often. In 1636 Samuel, then comparatively a young man, was very probably one “of the Roxbury people” who worked on the fortifications at Cornhill in Boston. In the fall of that year the General Court met at Roxbury, thus giving Samuel a chance to see its workings. During his stay in Roxbury the Pequot War took place, which resulted in making it possible to settle with safety in Western New England as at Springfield. The Chapins lived in Roxbury till the close of the year 1642.
In 1636 William Pynchon, then a resident of Roxbury, led a party of about a dozen families to the Connecticut River, where he founded a settlement then called Agawam, but which four years later was renamed Springfield, after his home in England. Most of the settlers took up farming, as there were many fertile meadows along the banks of the Connecticut, while Pynchon for the most part engaged in the fur trade. The settlement grew slowly at first, but by the time the Chapins arrived, it had become a village of respectable size for New England in those days.
As he had in Roxbury, as at Springfield, Samuel was primarily a farmer, but of course here also he had to do all sorts of other things besides. He soon became one of the leading men in the government of the town and held many public offices during his life including Selectman, Auditor and Magistrate and he was Deacon of the church.
Samuel Chapin lived to be an old man and having borne for over twenty years the burdens of government, now in his declining years withdrew from the center of political affairs. He slowly handed over the reins to the younger men in town. Samuel died 11 Nov 1675; according to the diary of his son Japhet, “My father was taken out of this troublesome world the 11th day of November about eleven of the clock, 1675.” His widow, Cicely, died 8 Feb 1683.
Samuel had an inventory of his estate performed for his will. The total sum of his goods, not including his land, was over 45 English pounds. His wife’s estate was inventoried in 1682 for her will and the goods were then valued at over 100 English pounds.
The map below shows the early New England colonies with the settlement’s dates of formation:
The settlements that developed along the Connecticut River in the 1630s were the result of a search for fertile farmland more than a search for religious freedom.
Thomas Hooker, a prominent minister in Newtown (Cambridge), Massachusetts, harbored clear democratic leanings, but was not an outspoken dissident. While helping his congregation to find a more promising physical environment, Hooker played by the rules and received permission from the authorities to lead a migration into the west. In 1635 and 1636, nearly 1,000 people moved from the Massachusetts Bay area into lands claimed by the Dutch in the Connecticut Valley. A settlement was established at Hartford, followed later by villages at Wethersfield and Windsor, where a small Pilgrim community already existed.
In the autumn of 1635, a company, consisting of sixty men, women and children, from the settlements of Newtown and Watertown, in Massachusetts, commenced their journey through the wilderness to the Connecticut River. On their arrival, they settled at Windsor, Wethersfield, and Hartford.
Hartford Founder’s Monument at Old Church Graveyard
If you get a chance to visit Hartford you can visit the Old Church Graveyard and see the Founder’s monument. We are descended from the following founders who have their names carved there (well at least the men’s names):
John and Agnes Webster
Thomas and Alice Welles
Matthew and Elizabeth Marvin
John and Rachel Steele
Thomas and Elizabeth Judd
John and Dorothy Tallcott
Matthew Marvin
Matthew was baptized March 26, 1600 and died December 20, 1678. He was a founding settler of Hartford and Norwalk, Connecticut.
He was the son of Edward and Margaret Mervyn of Great Bentley. He is mentioned in the will of his father, receiving the mansion named Edons alias Dreybrockes and land called Hartles and Brocken Heddes with the condition that he pay his mother yearly for the rest of her life. He most likely lived with her until her death in May 1633. Matthew was “sydeman” of the parish of Great Bentley in 1621, overseer in 1627, and senior warden in 1628.
Matthew Marvin was among the so-called “Adventurers Party” of twenty-five men who set out to explore the area that would become Hartford, led by John Steele in October 1635, prior to the departure from Cambridge of the Rev. Hooker’s party in May 1636, and was one of sixteen founders living in Hartford in 1635 prior to the arrival of Hooker’s party. He resided at the corner of Village and Front Streets. He was a surveyor of highways from 1639 to 1647. In 1648, he was given a cash reward for killing a wolf. He owned land at Farmington and may have lived there a short time.
Marvin went to Norwalk as one of its original settlers in 1650. His home in Norwalk was next to the meeting house. He was a wheelwright. Marvin served as Deputy for Norwalk to the Connecticut General Court in 1654.
He died in Norwalk on December 20, 1678. He is listed on the Founders Stone bearing the names of the founders of Hartford in the Ancient Burying Ground in Hartford. He is buried at the
East Norwalk Historical Cemetery, Norwalk, Connecticut.
John Steele
John was baptized 12 Dec 1591 in Fairstead, Essex, England, and died 27 Feb 1664/65 in Farmington, CT. He married Rachel Talcott 10 Oct 1622 in Fairstead, Essex, England. She was the daughter of Hartford founder John Talcott and Anne Skinner. She was born abt. 1600 in Braintree, Essex, England, and died 24 Oct 1653 in Farmington, CT.
John Steele emigrated from Fairstead, Essex, England in 1633 along with his brother George Steele, another founder of Hartford, first residing in Cambridge, where he was made freeman 14 May 1634. He owned nine parcels of land in Cambridge, was Deputy to the General Court of Massachusetts for Cambridge in 1635, and was appointed Massachusetts Bay Commissioner for new settlements on the Connecticut River 3 March 1635/6.
He was the leader of the so-called “Adventurers Party” of twenty-five men who set out to explore the area that would become Hartford in October 1635, prior to the departure from Cambridge of the Rev. Hooker’s party in May 1636, and was one of sixteen founders living in Hartford in 1635 prior to the arrival of Hooker’s party.
In the Hartford land inventory of February 1639/40 he held four parcels: two acres on which his dwelling house stood with other outhouses, yards and gardens located on the main street, north of the home lots of Elder William Goodwin and Samuel Stone; two acres in the Little Meadow; three acres and thirty perches in the North Meadow; and twenty-one acres, three roods and twenty-two perches.
He was the Recorder (town clerk) for Hartford beginning in 1640 until 1645, and became Recorder for Farmington when he removed there in 1645.
Governor Thomas Welles
Thomas Welles was born abt. 1590 in Tidmington, Worcestershire, England, and died 14 Jan 1659/60 in Wethersfield, CT. He married Alice Tomes aft. 05 Jul 1615 in England. She was born abt. 1590 in Long Marston, Gloucestershire, England, and died bef. 1646 in Hartford, CT. He the married our ancestor Elizabeth Deming abt. 1646 in Hartford, CT. She was born abt. 1595 in England, and died 28 Jul 1683 in Wethersfield, CT.
Thomas Welles emigrated to the American colonies from Burmington, Worcester, England in 1635, first residing in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he held one house in the town 8 February 1635/6.
He removed to Hartford in 1636 where he held in the land inventory of February 1639/40: seven acres and two roods on which his dwelling house stood with other outhouses, yards or gardens including two acres for the house lot, two acres and two roods of upland, and three acres of meadow; one parcel of ninety acres; twelve acres lying in Hockanum; and three acres and fourteen perches in the swamp by the Great River.
He was one of the most important and influential men in Connecticut. On his arrival in Hartford he was immediately made a magistrate of the colony at the General Court, serving in that position 1637 to 1653. He was Treasurer of the Colony 1639, 1648, 1649, and 1650; and Secretary 1641, 1643, 1644, 1645, and 1647. He lived in Hartford until 1646, when he removed to Wethersfield.
He served as Moderator in February 1654, following the death of Governor John Haynes, Deputy Governor Hopkins then being in England. He was elected Deputy Governor 1654, 1656, 1657, and 1659, and was Governor of Connecticut in 1655 and 1658. He was a Commissioner of the United colonies 1649, 1654, and 1659 he was on the war committee for Wethersfield in 1653.
Gov. Thomas Welles died in Wethersfield 14 January 1659/60, his inventory being taken 30 January of that same year. He is buried in the “Ancient Burying Ground” in downtown Hartford.
Governor John Webster
Webster was born in Cossington, Leicestershire, England, August 16, 1590, the son of Matthew Webster (1548–1623) and his wife, Elizabeth Ashton.
In the early 1630s, he traveled to the Massachusetts Bay Colony with his wife Agnes and five children, settling in the area of Newtowne (now Cambridge, Massachusetts). He left in 1636, in all probability with Thomas Hooker and his adherents, to settle Hartford, Connecticut. His first public office was as a member of a committee that joined with the Court of Magistrates in determining the course of war with the Pequot Indians. He was chosen from 1639 to 1655 to be magistrate, and in 1655 he was chosen as Deputy Governor of the Colony of Connecticut. In 1656 he was elected governor, and he served as first magistrate from 1657 to 1659.
In addition to his service as Governor of the Connecticut Colony, John Webster was one of the nineteen men representing the towns of Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor in 1638-39 who participated in the drafting and adoption of the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, a document that is widely acknowledged as establishing one of the earliest forms of constitutional government.
A split amongst the church members in Hartford grew when the current minister at the First Church in Hartford, Samuel Stone, declared that the requirement that stated only parents that had both taken communion should be allowed to have a child baptized would be removed, and non-communicants would be allowed to vote. John Webster, among others, were a part of a council that agreed that this was not acceptable. Reverend Stone chose to ignore this sentiment, and the issue was taken up with the General Court in Massachusetts. The Court ruled that although Reverend Stone had been too strict in ignoring the majority of his parishioners, he was right in liberalizing the baptism ritual. It was also found that those who disagreed with Stone could remove themselves to a location in Massachusetts to practice how they saw fit. This eventual location chosen was Hadley, Massachusetts, and in 1659, a new community was built there. Webster lived there for less than two years, for in 1661 he contracted a fever and died.
Emmeline Woodward’s Colonial Ancestors
Emmeline Woodward’s ancestors were English and Welsh immigrants to New England during the European settlement during the 17th century. She was born in Massachusetts where she converted to Mormonism as a young woman and relocated to Nauvoo to join the main body of the Saints. Emmeline was the first of her family to move West from New England. Her grandfather, Elisha Woodward, served in the Revolutionary War as private in Capt. Ichabod Leonard’s company from Taunton, Mass., on the Rhode Island Alarm. He was born in Taunton and died in Petersham, Mass.
Clement Briggs was the first of our Woodward immigrant ancestors to arrive in New England. He came in 1621 on the “Fortune”, the second ship to Plymouth Plantation. John Thorndike is one of two of our ancestors who was buried in Westminster Abbey in London. Thomas Wakely and family were victims of Indian attacks at their homestead in Maine during King Phillips War. Henry Morgan the Welsh buccaneer who is immortalized as the Captain Morgan of the spiced rum fame is my 9th Great- Uncle.
The following are brief biographies of some of our Woodward immigrant ancestors:
Clement Briggs
Clement Briggs arrived at Plymouth in the 55-ton ship “Fortune” on 9 Nov 1621. The “Fortune,” Thos. Barton master, was the second ship to come to the new colony.
Governor Bradford in his “History of the Plymouth Plantation” says: “In November, about that time twelfe month that themselves came, ther came in a small ship to them unexpected or looked for, in which came Mr. Cushman (so much spoken of before) and with him 35 persons to remaine and live in the plantation. Most of them were lusty young men, and many of them wild enough, who little considered whither or aboute what they wente. The plantation was glad of this addition of strength, but could have wished that many of them had been of beter condition. I shall remember one passage more, rather of mirth then of waight.
On the day called Christmas-day, the Gov. called them out to worke, (as was used,) but the most of this new-company excused themselves and said it went against their conscious to work on that day. so the govr. tould them that if they made it a matter of conscience, he would spare them till they were better informed. So he led-away the rest and left them; but when they came home at noone from their worke, he found them in the streets at play, openly; some pitching the barr, and some at stoole-ball, and shuch like sports. So, he went to them, and tooke away their implements, and tould them that was against his conscience that they should play and others worke.”
Clemente Brigges was allotted one acre of land in 1623. “These lye beyond the first brooke to the wood westward.” and 22 May 1627 he received one of the four “heyfers” which were brought over in the ship “Jacob”. He was named in the records as one of the 58 “purchasers” and “Old Comers” of New Plymouth.
In Bradford’s letter of 1631 to John Winthrop he is mentioned as having removed to Dorchester. From Dorchester he removed to Weymouth, before 1633, where his oldest son Thomas, was born in 1633.
Nathaniel Woodward Sr.
He was born in England, 1587. Judging from the ages of his sons, he must have married in England around 1610. Nathaniel had at least three sons, possibly four, all born in England, by his first wife who died before he came to Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony, about 1633. Around 1638, he married Margaret Jackson.
He was a carpenter by trade, but also worked as a surveyor running boundary lines, including those between Massachusetts Bay Colony and its neighbors, Plymouth Colony and Connecticut, and was sometimes called a “mathematician.” By 1661 he and his wife Margaret had sold all of his property in Boston.
Nathaniel Woodward Jr.
He was born in England about 1613 and emigrated to Boston with his father around 1633. His first wife was Mary Jackson of Boston, Lincolnshire, England. It’s uncertain whether he married her in Old England or New England, but likely the latter, around 1640, when she was admitted to the Boston church as “Mary Woodward the wife of our Brother Nathaniell [sic] Woodward.”
About 1648, they removed to Taunton, Massachusetts. By 1655, Mary had died, and Nathaniel Jr. returned to Boston for a time. By 1664 he had married Katherine ______ and moved back to Taunton.
Like his father, Nathaniel Jr. was a carpenter. (It’s also possible that he was the surveyor, and not his father, but it’s difficult to sort out the records for the two Nathaniels.) Both Nathaniel Jr. and his wife Katherine died sometime after 14 September 1686, when they deeded property to their son James.
John and Robert Crossman
John Crossman was born in 1588 in Somersetshire, England. He married Elizabeth who died in England. This is the John Crossman of Somersetshire in the Rhode Island Quaker records listed him as born 1588, resided Taunton prior to removal to Providence. John Crossman purchased land in Taunton, Mass. in 1639. “Crossman Hill” near Taunton, Mass. is named for the early settler John Crossman. He was banished from Massachusetts for bad language:
“Whereas the Court & jury did not agree in Crossmans case, who is now a prisonor for blasphemy, & so, it necessarylie cominge to this Court to be determined, the Court, on a full hearing of the case, uppon the evidence given in doe order & determine as follows, vizt: that the sd Crossman be severely whipt in open market place, & imediately after to be burnt in his forehead with the letter: B: & also to be banished forever out of or jurisdiction” (Vol. III, p. 328 MBC). 1651, Oct. 24.
The Taunton History (1893) says that John Crossman came from Somerset County, England, when he was about 50 or 51 years old and settled in Taunton, Massachusetts, where he was one of the original 46 purchasers of land from the Indians.
1677: Land records of Providence, RI: “This Deed witnesseth that I John Crossman of newport on Roadisland in ye Collony of Roadisland and providence Plantations, Marriner: Have for Seaverall good Causes and Considerations moving me thereunto, have Bargained and sould & doe for my selfe, my heires, executrs, Administrators, & Assignes make over Bargaine and sell for forty shillings in silver in hand payd all my Right of land in ye Towneshippe of providence in ye Collony aforesayd: To John Easton and Walter Clerke for ye use and Benneffitt of the people called Quakers in sd Roadisland & theire Successors: with all prievelledges & Appurtenances what Soe Ever, as, fences or fencing Stuffe, house or Ruinge of house or Stones to Builde with being upon or on ye shore side of ye sayd Land: with all & singular ye abovesd Conveinances, As it Ley at a place Called Cow-Cove Chiefely bounded upon ye Sea or River; which sd Land soe Bounded, with sd prieveledges; I doe afirme my selfe to be ye just and Lawfull owner; and doe therefore for Ever, warrant unto ye sd John Easton & Walter clerke & theire foresd Successers against me.
John (his mark) Crossman, L.S.”
His Son Robert Crossman: Biography from New England Ancestors.org
“Robert Crossman was born 1 Nov 1622 St. Andrews parish, Devonshire, England. He came to America with his father about 1634 and settled in Dedham. It was also in 1642 that he began to accumulate land in the Dedham area. On May 26, 1649 along with Anthony Fisher, Robert made claim to a mine for metal ore. He worked as an apprentice to Joseph Kingsbury who eventually became his father-in-law.
He moved to Taunton, MA in 1653 with his wife and daughter and built an Iron Works there. They bought their home on Dean Street from Captain Foster. He was a carpenter and considered a very skilled mechanic. Known as “The Drum Maker of New England” and as “The Gun Maker” he fitted the soldiers from Taunton with guns and drums for the Canada Expedition under Sir William Phipps, Captain Samuel Gallup’s Company in 1690. Robert’s youngest son, Thomas, was a part of that expedition.
As a testament to his great skill, the townsmen of Dedham enlisted him to build a water mill for them in what was to later become Wrentham, MA on June 28, 1672. He was also in demand as a surveyor for the new highways needed for the commerce that was developing.
Joseph Kingsbury
Joseph Kingsbury was born in 1600 in Boxford, Suffolk, England. Joseph Kingsbury (1605-1676) married Millicent Ames in 1628 in Boxford, Suffolk, England and settled in Dedham, MA and their daughter, Sarah Kingsbury (1635-1686) married Robert Crossman (1622-1692) on May 25, 1652 at Dedham, MA and moved to Taunton, MA. Joseph was christened on 9 Feb 1641 in Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts.
About 1635 they sent an exploring party up the Charles River and established a settlement at Watertown. John and Joseph Kingsbury were part of this party. The community flourished and they quickly organized in what was referred to as a “Contentment” recording all important events. The Kingsbury brothers were apparently of strong pioneer stock and considered Watertown too crowded. A small band of like-minded individuals again used the Charles River which turned South just beyond Watertown and settled in what is now Dedham.
In 1638 he was not admitted to the Dedham Church because he was “too much addicted to the world,” but on the 9th of the 2nd month 1641 the church was persuaded of his repentance and faith and he was received.
Joseph died in May 1676 at the age of 76 in Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts. Joseph was buried in Old Burying Ground about Jun 1676. Some have suggested that, in keeping with his long feud with the church and town fathers, Joseph was buried in the Norfolk Cemetery. However, he did give the land for the Dedham Cemetery and most likely he and his wife were buried there. At this time in American history, it was very seldom that one would have a grave stone of any kind as they were very expensive. Thus, he would have had a wooden marker if any and this has been lost to the elements and time.
Thomas Wakely
Thomas came to America on the ship Recovery of London. He was living in Hingham MA in 1635. He bought thirteen acres of land, on the “nect of houselots” of Mr. Pritchard; besides which, he owned several other parcels.
He and his son John had houses and land on the south side of Goose Cove; which, in 1661, they sold to Thomas Riggs, and, with another son (Isaac) and a son-in-law (Matthew Coe), went to Falmouth, Maine, where they purchased a large tract of land, on which they settled, and remained till the destruction of the place by the Indians in 1675, when Thomas Wakely and his wife Elizabeth, and John and his wife and two children, were barbarously slaughtered by the savages. Elizabeth, daughter of John, was carried off; but after some months’ captivity, was taken by Squanto, the Saco sachem, to Major Waldron at Dover, where she subsequently married Richard Scamman, a Quaker.
Following is an account of the Wakelys in Maine:
“The Wakelys came from Cape Ann, and had originally settled in 1661, at Back Cove, on the west side of Fall Brook, where a son-in-law, Matthew Coe, died. The eldest son, John, had removed to the east side of Presumpscot river several years before the melancholy event which terminated his life; his farm was about three-quarters of a mile below the falls, and between the farms of Humphrey Durham and Jenkin Williams; his house fronted the river ‘and stood within about a gun shot of said Durham’s house.’ His father and mother from their advanced age had probably taken up their residence with their eldest son, or had gone there at this time in consequence of the general alarm. He is spoken of by Mather as a worthy old man, ‘who came into New England for the sake of the gospel,’ and had long repented moving into this part of the country so far out of the way of it.”
KING PHILIP’S WAR, 1675-76
King Philip was the chief of the Wampanoag Indians and the son of Massasoit, the chief who had befriended the Pilgrims and celebrated the first Thanksgiving in 1620. King Philip resented the intrusion and domination of the colonists and led an uprising of several tribes, including the Narragansetts, in 1675-76, terrorizing New England in what would become known as the bloodiest Indian War ever to take place there. By the time the war ended 52 out of 90 New England settlements had been attacked, 12 completely destroyed. King Philip himself was trapped and killed in Aug. 1676.
“The first visitation of their vengeance was upon the family of Thomas Wakely of Falmouth, about a week after the affray before mentioned. This unsuspecting family was composed of Thomas Wakely and his wife, his eldest son, John, his wife, who was far advanced in pregnancy, and their four children. They killed the old man and his wife, his son John and wife, with three of their children, in a cruel manner, and carried one daughter, Elizabeth, about eleven years old, into captivity. Next day Lt. George Ingersoll, who had perceived the smoke, repaired to the place with a file of soldiers to learn the cause. He found the body of John’s wife and the fhree chidlren with their brains beaten out lying under some planks, and the half consumed bodies of the old man and his sife near the smouldering ruins of the house. Why this family was selected for a sacrifice we have no means of determining; the Indians committed no further violence, but immediately withdrew to a distant place. The daughter Elizabeth was some months after carried by Squando, the Saco Sachem, to Major Waldron at Dover, where she subsequently married Richard seamman, a quaker.
The following is an account of a witness to the aftermath of the Indian attack on the Wakelys:
“Indian War in Maine, 1675 – Letter of Lieutenant Ingersol
“Yesterday morning, being the 9th of September, was heard three Gunes, and was seen a great smoke up in the River above Mr. Mackworth’s; whereupon I caused an alarme, but could not get the Soldiers together, by reason of which I was uncapable for that day to know the cause therof, and what the issue might be; but this day, being the 10th of the said month, haveing strengthened my selfe, I went up with two fils, and when I came to the place, I found an house burtn downe, and sic persons killed, and three of the same family could not be found [The family of Mr. Thomas Wakeley, who lived at Presumpscot An old Man and Woman were halfe in, and halfe out of the house neer halfe burnt. Their owne Son was shot through the body, and also his head dashed in pieces. This young man’s Wife was dead, her head skined, she was bigg with Child, two Children haveing their heads dashed in pieces, and laid by one another with their bellys to the ground, and an Oake planke laid upon their backs. While we were upon this discovery we saw a smoke, and heard two Guns about one Mile or more above, in the same [quarter]. We judge there be a company of Indians, but how many we know not; therefore I would entreat Major Pendleton and your selfe to send to me, each of you, a dowzen men. I shall then goe to see whetehr it be according as we thinke or noe. Pray post this away to Major Walden. Thus thaking my leave, I subscribe my selfe,
Your loveing friend, Leif: George Ingersol” Sept. 10, 1675.
John Thorndike
John Thorndike was a Puritan who migrated to America, but he was also the brother of an important figure in the Church of England, and this would bring him to be buried at a landmark in London.
John was born in 1603 to Francis Thorndike and Alice Coleman in Great Carlton, England, which is in Lincolnshire. He had at least one brother, Herbert. While Herbert studied theology at Cambridge, John fell in with the Puritans and migrated to America, possibly with the 1630 Winthrop fleet. In 1632, John was one of 12 men named as living in the newly founded town of Ipswich (known as Agawam); the list also included John Winthrop, Jr., who later became the governor of Connecticut.
John eventually settled in Salem, and in 1636, he married Elizabeth Stratton. They would have six daughters and one son born between 1636 and about 1653. One of John’s daughters, Elizabeth, married a man named John Proctor who would later be executed by hanging during the Salem witch hunt in 1692 (Elizabeth died 20 years before this).
John appears on many town records in Salem; one reference was a court case in 1636 involving a man named John Adams who was apparently his indentured servant, because he had him whipped for running away. In 1640, a man named John Stone brought suit against John for “defamation.” And in 1645, he appeared in court trying to avoid training for military duty by pleading that he suffered from “weakness of body and [age].”
John’s wife Elizabeth died sometime in the 1650s or 1660s. On July 29, 1668, John made out his will and stated that he was proposing “to go this year to England.” He did make the trip, bringing daughters Martha and Alice with him (ages 17 and 15). John’s brother Herbert had become Canon of Westminster Abbey. The family from America stayed in Herbert’s living quarters at the Abbey, and John died there in November 1668. Herbert had his brother buried in the Abbey in a grave in the East Cloister. When Herbert died in 1672, he was buried next to his brother. John’s daughters had stayed with their uncle after their father died and were mentioned in Herbert’s will which left them a “considerable provision” as long as they didn’t return to the Puritan colony in America.
For many years, the area of the Cloisters with John and Herbert’s graves was covered by a ramp leading up to the Church; when it was removed in 1998, no trace of the graves could be found. But in 1723, the inscription had been recorded in a history of the Abbey:
Herbert Thorndick, Canon of this Church,1672
John Thorndick, 1668
Isabella Finney’s (Fike ancestor through Electa England) third and fourth great-grand-parents (my 9th and 10th) were some of the earliest immigrants from England to the New World. They include two of the 102 passengers of the Mayflower who arrived in 1620 and established the first permanent European settlement in New England.
In this section I will list our known Finney English immigrant ancestors in the order they arrived in New England. It begins with our Mayflower ancestors and continues until Andrew Newcomb arrived in 1663. These immigrants were my 10th or 11th great-grandparents. They were all born in England during the time of William Shakespeare or in the next generation.
Most of them came to New England in pursuit of religious freedom. Several were part of the Pilgrim Separatist group who came from Leiden in the Dutch Lowlands. Several were members of John Lothrop’s congregation who settled in Scituate, North of Plymouth, later in the 1630s.
Isaac Robinson
Our next arrival was Isaac Robinson who was a son of Rev. John Robinson and Bridget Whyte. Rev. Robinson was a pastor of the Separatists and moved to Leiden with the Mayflower congregation to escape English persecution. Isaac was born in Leiden in 1610.
Reverend Robinson died in Leiden in 1625. Isaac crossed the Atlantic with his widowed Mother and two Brothers in 1631. By that time the Great Migration was in full swing and there were English settlements along the Massachusetts coast. The Robinson’s settled in Scituate located on the Atlantic coast between Boston and The Plymouth Plantation. There he married Margaret Hanford in 1636
The Robinsons relocated to Barnstable with the Rev. Lothrop congregation in 1639. Where Isaac lived to the age of ninety-four in 1704.
Robert Shelly and Judith Garnet
“Robert Shelly came to New England on the ship Lion which sailed 21 June 1632 and landed in Boston on 12 September 1632. Judith Garnet came in the ship Frances which sailed from Ipswich, England, the last of April 1634. Her age is given on the ship’s list as twenty-six. In September 1634 she was admitted to the first church at Boston as “our brother John Coggeshall’s maidservant.”
Robert and Judith were living in Scituate, Plymouth Colony, MA, soon after Rev. John Lothrop arrived. Lothrop kept careful church records, of which the following relate to the Shelleys: “The Houses in the plantation of Situate…since my coming…No. 39 was Robert Shellyes, 1636.” “Goodman Shelley joyned 14 May 1637.” “Isaac Robinson & Margaret Handford contracted at Mr. Hatherlyes 27 June 1636, and by him Robert Shelly and his wife from Boston marryed here 26 September 1636.”
Robert had a farm in Scituate in 1636, on the Third Cliff near Gillson’s windmill. Plymouth Colony records show: Nov. 5, 1638 “Robert Shelly & John Winter desire to be admitted freeman at the next Genral Court.” 1 Feb. 1639/40, Robert Shelly of Scituate took oath of allegiance and fidelity.” In October 1639, he, with Mr. Lothrop and other members of the church, moved to Barnstable, where he was living in 1670.
Another record shows that he was listed among those able to bear arms, in 1643. On 5 Jan. 1643/4, Thomas Hinckley, Thomas Lothrop, Henry Cobb and Isaac Robinson drew up a list of those who were then inhabitants of Barnstable, and among the forty-five householders was “Robert Shelley, from Scituate 1639.” Mr. Lothrop’s Barnstable church records state: “Judith Shelly joyned by dismission from the church att Boston, 25 August 1644.” Otis says in Barnstable Families: “Robert Shelly was an easy, good-natured man and cared little how the world moved. He was however, an honest man, a good neighbor and a sincere Christian.” Judith, on the contrary, was “proud, tenacious of her own opinions.”
These conclusions of course are based upon the records of John Lothrop, whom Judith defied: “Goody Shelley excommunicated 4 June 1649 & cast out of the church, though absent for she would not come, setting att naught the messenger of the church sent to her, principally for slaundering of 2 systers, Syster Wells & Syster Dimmock, saying Sister Dimmick was proud & went about telling Lyes, but could never prove anythinge by any Testimonye. And also affirming that myselfe & Brother Cobb, to my syster Wells at her house didd talk of her…Continued from tyme to tyme to affirme as cpmfodemt;u as of sje jadd jadd a s[orot pf Reve;atopm. saying also that I had confessed it, and after did denye it; and that all the church knew it was soe, but durst not or would not speake. And that I deserved rather to be cast out then shee, for shee was innocent but I was guilty. She would never be convinced of any of her conceived Jealousyes, and was wondrous perremptorye in all her carriages, many times condeming the Breathren that they dealt not with her in a way of God. Wee had long patience towards her & used all the courteous intreatyes & persuasians, but the longer wee waited the worse shee was.” Reverend Lothrop goes on to say that Judith was resentful because some of the church women had not invited her to one of their “Christian meetings.”
Nothing further can be found concerning Judith after her excommunication by Mr. Lothrop, whose stern Puritanism is well known. In 1653 he had fifteen-year-old Hannah Shelley and David Linnell whipped, which Otis says was because David had courted her without her father’s permission. Judith’s name is not mentioned, but Otis did once use the word “parents.” David and Hannah were married the next year by John Lothrop and raised a large family. In 1634 Robert was made a freeman of Barnstable. In 1669 his wife, then Susanna, was a witness to the will of Richard Foxwell in Barnstable, and was apparently on good terms with her sister-in-law, Anne Shelly. Lothrop says Anne “came into the land in 1632.” She married Richard Foxwell in 1634 as his second wife.
Robert Shelley’s will of 11 March 1688/89, was recorded on 22 October 1692:
This next group are ancestors of Electa England on the Fike side of the family:
Mayflower passengers Thomas and Joseph Rogers
Thomas and Martha Jordan Lynde
Deacon Thomas Lynde came from Dunstable, England and emigrated to Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1634 with his second wife, Margaret (Martin) Jordan Lynde, two sons Ensign Thomas and Henry Lynde , and daughter Mary. He was made a freeman in Charlestown in 1634/35. He served as a member of the first board of selectmen in Charlestown and served for fourteen years. He was deputy to the General Court for eight years, the first time in 1636 and the last time in 1632. He was a malter by trade and was constantly connected to town business.
Christopher and Mary Middleton Grant
Christopher Grant was born in 1610, married in Mary Middleton in England. They arrived in Watertown, Massachusetts by 1634 where his eldest daughter was born. The family remained in Watertown for the remainder of Christopher’s life. He was a glazier and there are town records of the town paying him to provide windows for the meeting house and to make bullets. The first descendant to move from Watertown was his granddaughter Mary who married Ebenezer Chadwick.
Thomas and Anna Baker Bayes
Thomas Bayes was born in 1615 in Norfolk or Dedham in Essex, England. He was a ships’ carpenter. He came to America and in 1636 was living at Dedham, Massachusetts. In 1638 was chosen Selectman of Dedham. On Christmas day 1639 he married Anna Baker.
In 1648 he was living at Boston and sometime between that date and 1652 he moved to Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard. In 1652 he was chosen Hog Warden of Martha’s Vineyard and in 1655 he was chosen as Constable. He was leader of the Train Band in 1656 and again from 1661 to 1663. In 1661 he submitted to the government of Thomas Mayhew on Martha’s Vineyard, but 1673 participated in the ‘Dutch Rebellion’ against the Mayhew government. In 1676 he was chosen Selectman. He died between 4 February and 31 May 1680.
John and Christiana Phinney
John Phinney arrived in at Plymouth in 1638 with his wife Christiana, his mother, his brother Robert, and his sister Catherine. Tradition has it that his father died while crossing the sea. He was one of the proprietors of the town of Plymouth, December 2, 1639.
John Phinney lived in Plymouth for several years; his two sons by his first wife were born there. He next moved to Barnstable, Mass. where seven of his children were born, and eventually to Bristol, R.I.
He had seven sons. The eldest, John, Jr. (ancestor) settled in Barnstable and founded what is known as the Barnstable branch of the family; his descendants have usually spelled their surname “Phinney.” Josiah made his home in Plymouth and thus established the Plymouth line. Jonathan, Jeremiah, and Joshua all went to Rhode Island with their father, and their descendants form the so-called Bristol branch. The Phinney spelling is sometimes found in the Plymouth and Bristol lines also, especially in the later generations.
His wife Christian died September 9, 1649, and he married (second) at Barnstable, July 9 or June 10, 1650, Abigail Coggin (or Cogan), widow of Henry Coggin. She was buried May 7, 1653.
Mr. Phinney married (third) June 26, 1654, Elizabeth Bayley, of Barnstable. He was constable at Barnstable. He became interested in that fertile region about Mount Hope Rhode Island and he removed in his later years. “Mr. Phinney with his townsman Major Walley, became interested in the fertile region about Mount Hope, RI (now Bristol, RI) where he removed after holding the office of constable in Barnstable.
‘Mother Phinney,” his mother, died at Plymouth, April 22, 1650, aged upwards of eighty. His brother Robert settled also at Plymouth, where he was a town officer and deacon; married, September, 1641, Phebe Ripley; died January 7, 1687-88, aged eighty, and in his will bequeathed to the children of his brother John and others, having no surviving children. John died in 1702 in Bristol, RI.
John and Joan Shepard Chadwick
John Chadwick appears to have arrived sometime after 1640. He first settled in Watertown and moved to Malden in 1653 or 1654.
John married Joan Shepard, the daughter of Jacob Shepard, sometime before 1645. Joan died in Malden on 11 July 1674. John died, probably in Malden, sometime between 21 December 1680 and 05 April 1681. Tradition has it that John was buried in Bell Rock Cemetery.
William and Mary Lynde Weeks
William Weeks was in New England by 1638. He married Mary Lynde after his arrival and the family had relocated to Martha’s Vineyard by probably sometime between 1646 and 1652.
In 1655 he was granted land “near the pines in the middle of the island.” It is known that he was married at that time because of a deposition by Goodwife Weeks, dated Dec. 25, 1655, but her given name was not noted. It may be that he brought his children with him, or they may have been born after his move to Martha’s Vineyard. Sometime before 1658 this wife died. In later divisions between 1664 and 1669 Williams Weeks continued to receive a share in the common lands.
In 1667, while on a trading voyage from the Vineyard, William and his son William had their vessel wrecked at Quick’s Hole and the vessel and all its cargo looted by the Wampanoags of the Elizabeth Islands. He went to court to attempt recovery of damages. They were rescued by John Dixey who told the Governor of New York about the incident. He, in turn, wrote to Governor Mayhnew to deal with the Wampanoags and require restitution of the vessel and its stolen cargo.
Several suits against William indicate that he operated a tavern. He appeared in various business and litigation activities between 1684 and 1687. In 1688 he sold his real estate interests in Homes Hole to Isaac Chase. A final sale in December of that year seems to be his last transaction. Between that date and August 3, 1689, he died, as his widow, Mary, sold the home lot and he is referred to as being deceased.
Robert Linnell
Robert Linnell, born c.1584, was in his fifty-fourth year when he made the voyage from London, England to America. He was known as “Mr. Linnell” when he arrived at Scituate, a fact that gives some support to the belief that he was known and respected even in England before coming to this land. Mr. Linnell took the oath of allegiance to the King and of fidelity to the colony on 1 Feb. 1638 and was admitted a freeman on the 3rd of December of that same year. (Amos Otis; Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families Vol. 2, p. 151). It was among the men of Kent that he first settled, men who may have been neighbors at one time before their removal to London and then to America. It is said that their choice of a settlement at Scituate may have been because the cliffs of that seaport reminded them of the cliffs of Dover in Kent.
That Kent was well known to Mr. Linnell is evidenced by the fact that his second wife, Penninah Howes was the daughter of John Howes, the parish clerk of Eastwell, Kent. It is probable that her mother was John Howes’ wife Alice. Penninah’s sister, Hannah, was the wife of the Rev. John Lothrop whose congregation in London had refused to accept the King as head of the Church. This conflict had resulted in the imprisonment of the Rev. John Lothrop for two years. Upon his release, many members of the congregation made their move to America with him to be able to worship as they chose. That Penninah belonged to the congregation in London can be shown by the report of her being questioned by the Ecclesiastical Court along with others in the congregation in 1632. There she stated that only God was Lord of her beliefs.
It is probable that Robert Linnell had also been in London and a member of Lathrop’s congregation. He must have been married to his first wife (unknown name) at this time. His first four children were probably born in England during the years 1627 (Otis’s estimate of son David’s birth date) to 1633/34. Why Robert did not leave London with the remainder of John Lothrop’s congregation is not known. There may have been a connection with the death of his first wife; perhaps they waited for the the birth of a son Shubael whom Amos Otis names as a child in this family. Otis states, “I name him (Shubael) as his son and probably born in this country, though there is no record of his birth either in Scituate or Barnstable” (Otis, Gen. Notes, Vol. 2,p.152).If, indeed, Shubael was born in this country, he was the son of Penninah; for she had become Robert’s wife before the passage to America. Kerry Bate omits Shubael in his listing of Robert’s children and names Bethia, bap. 7 Feb. 1640/41, as the only child of Penninah (Kerry William Bate, The Ebenezer Hanks Story, 1962, p.164). Shubael has been retained in this history because there are references to such a person in later events. However, we cannot know which of Robert’s wives was Shubael’s mother.
The reunion of the Linnells with the Rev. John Lothrop and his flock in Scituate must indeed have been joyous, especially for Penninah Linnell with her sister, Hannah Lothrop. The sixtieth entry in John Lothrop’s records of the church at Scituate was that “My Brother Robert Linnell and his wife having a letter of dismission from the church in London joyned to us September 16, 1638.”
Robert Linnell was one of those who petitioned to be granted land in another area of the colony. They wanted to develop their own close-knit group, observing their religious practices according to their interpretation. Land was granted to this group first at Sippican; but there seem to have been problems connected to this location and a new grant was given for removal to Mattacheese. On “June 26, 1639, a fast for the presence of God in mercy to go with us to Mattacheese” was held with a Thanksgiving celebration when they had all arrived in that place now known as Barnstable.
The list of 45 townsmen and voters in 1640 included Robert Linnet, and in 1643 those able to bear arms also included David Linnet, by this time 16 years old. Capt. Miles Standish was placed in charge of this militia. They were expecting trouble with the Indians.
At the town meeting in 1641 “Mr. Thomas Lothrop and Bernard Lombard were appointed measurers of land,” and authorized “to lay out all the lands that the several inhabitants are to have laid out, and to bound them with stakes.” The land thus measured to Mr.Linnell ranked him one of those with large holdings. “His house lot, Lot #9 of the original town plan, contained ten acres and was bounded northerly by the harbor, easterly by the lot of Thomas Lumbard, southerly by the highway, and westerly by the home lots of William and John Casely. He also owned three acres of planting land in the Common Field, three acres of meadow at Sandy Neck, nine at Scorton, a great lot containing sixty acres, and rights of commonage”. It was here that Mr. Linnell lived for twenty-four years until his death in January, 1662. These were years of carving a home and a living out of the wilderness, a quite different life from that in London and Otis notes that he died a poor man.
These twenty-four years in Barnstable saw many changes in the Linnell family. In the records of the Rev. John Lothrop,
David Lynnell and Hannah Shelley (our ancestors) were married by Mr. Prince March 9,1652. David and Hannah had violated the old law, enacted by the Pilgrim fathers, “That if any shall make any motion of marriage to any man’s daughter, or mayde servant, not haveing first obtayned leave and consent of the parents or master so to doe, shall be punished either by fine of corporal punishment or both at the discretions of the bench”.
David and Hannah were summoned to appear at a meeting of the church. They appeared May 30, 1652, and there in the presence of the whole congregation confessed their fault. “They were both, by the sentence and joint consent of the church, pronounced to be cutt off from that relation which they hadd formerlye to the church by virtue of their parents covenaunt.” The action of the church was an accepted proceedure; but the action of the civil court just three days later added anguish and shame.
In the list of presentments made in the civil court by the “Grand Enquest” dated June 2,1652 neither David Linnel nor Hannah Shelley were indicted; yet, on the next day, June 3, 1652, the Court condemned “both of them to be publicly whipt at Barnstable, where they live,” and the sentence was executed at Barnstable five days afterwards, that is on the 8th day of June, 1652.
This was only the fourth case that had required the interposition of the authority of the magistrates in the thirteen years the town had been. The possibilities of embarrassment and grief in this close-knit society were great. The fact that the love of David and Hannah withstood this test and that they were married in March of the following year is cited by Otis as a story having as much romantic interest and poetic appeal as the story of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins. Even so David did not join the church again until in the final years of his life; Hannah never did.
Robert Linnell’s death on 23 January 1662 completed the first generation of this family in America.
Robert Linnell’s will reads as follows:
“The last Will of Robert Linell Deceased the 23 of January 1662 I give to my wife my house and home lott soe long as shee lives a widdow; alsoe…all my household stuffe and plow and Cart and two Cowes and a calfe for ever; I give my house and home lott to David and his heires after my wife either Dieth or marrieth
alsoe my mersh att sandy necke I give to David and his heirs for ever and my lot by John Casleyes; I give my ground and mersh att the lower end of the pond att Mattakeessett to Abigail; I give to John Davis my two oxen to find my wife wood and to mow my marsh and plow my ground for her for two yeare if she Remaine a widdow so longe; if she marryeth before the two yeares bee out then to bee free; I give to Bethya one Cow to have it when my Will; It is my will that the swamp I bought of Thomas Lewis to goe with my house lott; Robert Linell”
“The tearme; and a Calfe in the third line in the originall was put in since the man Deceased.
Thomas Laythrop
Trustrum Hull “
The home lot, dwelling-house, and some articles of personal estate, were appraised by Thomas Lothrop and Thos. Lewis at L55,4,6. He owed Mr. Thomas Clark L1,10 shillings, and some other small debts, and the Court ordered March 3, 1662-3, that Joseph Lothrop and Nathaniel Bacon “bee helpful to the Widdow Linnel in seeing the debts payed either out of the whole or pte of the estate.”
Otis evaluates the Linnell family with a sermon on wealth by stating that “Mr.Linnel died a poor man. His sons had been nursed in the lap of ease, and wanted that energy of character which is indispensable for success in life… The parent may bestow wealth, it is soon dissipated– little will be inherited by the grandchildren. The tax lists exhibit the folly of bequeathing wealth to thriftless children, to those who have not been educated to be temperate, honest, industrious and frugal”. The inference here is that sons David and Shubael were less than contributing members of society and that they dissipated the estate that was left to them by their father.
On Oct.20, 1669, Penninah Linnel complained to the Court that “David Linnil had possessed himself of the house and land given to her by her deceased husband, Mr. Robert Linnitt, and had given her no satisfaction for the same. The Court ordered that he give her satisfaction for the same before the next March Court, otherwise the Court order that he shall be disposed of the same. As no subsequent action was taken the presumption is that David did make the required satisfaction”. The date of Penninah’s death is not known.
Second Generation (The First Generation in America was Robert Linnell)
David Linnell (Robert-1)
b. c.1627, England d. bet.14 Nov.1688 date of will and its probate on 9 Mar. 1652/53. m. Hannah Shelley 9 Mar. 1652/3
David was 25/26 years old when he married Hannah, a lass of 16 years. Otis notes that “our ancestors encouraged early marriages. He who married at eighteen was admitted to all the privileges, and required to perform all the duties of a citizen; while, he that remained single, had to tarry till he was twenty-four to be enrolled as a townsman”. While David had been listed as able to bear arms for ten years, he had waited to marry for some time. The romance between David and Hannah had blossomed; it had received the public censure of public whipping and exclusion from the church rolls and privileges; yet they had moved on into marriage.
Hannah was the daughter of Robert and Judith (Garnet) Shelley. Otis describes Robert as “an easy, good-natured man, who cared little how the world moved. He was, however, an honest man, a good neighbor, and a sincere Christian. His wife Judith Garnet was before her marriage a Boston woman– a member of the church there, proud, tenacious of her own opinions, and had little control over her tongue, which ran like a whip-saw, cutting everything it came in contact with”. Judith’s tongue got her into problems with the women of the community, and an excommunication by the church on June 4,1649 for speaking ill of other women. It was in this environment that Hannah grew up and out of which she married David. Clearly, she was the independent daughter of an independent mother.
Little mention is made of David’s mature life. He was chosen “hayward of the General field” in 1679 but seems to have held no other function for the general good of the community. It seems probable that his estate was very small at the time of his death.
David’s will is dated 17 Nov. 1688 and was proved 6 March 1689. To his sons Samuel and Elisha, and to his daughters Hannah Davis, Experience, Susanna, Abigail and Mary, he gave one shilling. The land was to be divided in thirds among Jonathan, John, and David’s wife Hannah. She was to have the lower room in “my now dwelling house during her widowhood and all the Rest of my Estate in what kind so ever it be to be at her own dispose. She to be sole executrix.” Jonathan was to have the house and to pay his brother John half of its worth. It is probable that Hannah continued to live in Barnstable until her death in 1708 but that Jonathan had already moved to Eastham as early as 1687. How early John moved to Hyannis Port is not known but his marriage to Ruth Davis in 1695 may indicate the time of establishing residence there.
Hannah’s will, dated 2 Feb.1708/09, probated 5 Apr.1709, mentions as beneficiaries Abigail Linnel; Mary Sergeant [Sargent], wife of John; Experience, wife of Jabez Davis; Susanna, wife of Eben. Phinney; and her grandaughter Hannah Davis; daughter of Dolar. She signed with a mark and appointed John Phinney, Jr. as executor.
Andrew Newcombe
Lt. Andrew Newcomb was born in 1640 Wolborough, Devon, England. His parents were Andrew Newcomb, Sr. and Susan Cock. He married Sarah Young about 1661. After Sarah died, he married Ann Bayes (our ancestor) in 1676. Andrew died 20 Aug 1708 in Edgartown, Dukes [Martha’s Vineyard], Mass.
Sarah Young was born about 1642 in Kittery, Maine. Sarah died about 1674 in Kittery, Maine. The name of his first wife, Sarah —, whom he married about 1661, has been found but once upon record. From deeds at Exeter, N. W., Vol. 3, p. 80, it appears that “Andrew Newcombe, of Hogg Island (Now Appledore Island, the largest of the Isles of Shoals located about seven miles off the Maine/New Hampshire coast so called from its rude resemblance to a hogg’s back) on ye Ile of Sholes,” fisherman, for £52 in merchantable fish, sold Henry Platts, of same place, with consent of his wife, Sarah, house on Hog Island (not described) 19 July 1673, in the 25th. year of Charles the Second, deed recorded 21 July 1673. From the foregoing it would seem that Mr. Newcomb had previously lived upon Hog Island and after the purchase of his house in Kittery he removed his family to the mainland.
Andrew Newcomb was born about 1640 in England. He was living in 1666 in Isles of Shoals. The Isles of Shoals are a group of small islands and tidal ledges situated approximately 10 miles off the east coast of the United States, straddling the border of the states of New Hampshire and Maine.
“Kittery is the least quantity of land of any town in the county. To the town of Kittery was attached the north half of the Isles of Shoals; was then and has ever since been attached. This portion of Kittery was ‘the N 1/2 Of ‘the Isles of Shoales. This north half consisted of two islands, Hog Island and Smutty Nose (alias Church) called Georges -part or northerly part of the group. These isles contained the better land but Star Island, on account of their convenience for the fisheries, was very early lined with fishing stages and studded with fish houses–taken up before 1660. Majority of people lived upon the northerly islands. “While the Church, Court House and principal Ordinary still remained on Smutty Nose, about 1629 the southerly half of the Shoals was reclaimed from Mass., and annexed to N. H., the new Province, and a large part of the inhabitants of the northerly half removed across the harbor to Star Island. No less than 40 families crossed over from Hog Island at the time. Courts ceased to be held on Smutty Nose after 1684.”
27 Mar 1672 – Andrew deposed regarding the price of fish in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts. At that time his age was stated to be 32 years or there about. Richard Endell of the Isles of Shoals had brought a case against Jonathan Wade of Ipswich, for fish and oil delivered to Wade for several years. The case turned on the price of fish in 1666; and to this Andrew Newcomb made affidavit, which is now on file among the court papers at Salem, Mass. This is how we know Andrew’s birth year.
Andrew Newckum aged thirtey tow yeares or theare aboutt Swaren and Saith that in the year 1666 the prise off ffish wass Sett and mad at the Illes off Showles marchanabell fish–thirtey tow Railles per quntel this deponent then Receued Seuerall poundes in marcha fish att the prise Corrantt aboue Rightin and this deponent Knew no other prise Corrantt Butt that aboue Rightin and fforder Saith nott
Taken upon oath 27 : 1 mo
[16]72 Wm Hathorne Assist
The earliest record found of Andrew Newcomb’s purchase of land in this country is upon deeds at Alfred, York Co., Maine, Vol. 2, page 162, date 20 Apr. 1669, from which it appears that Daniel Moore of Portsmouth, blacksmith, for £58 sold Andrew Newcomb of Kittery, York Co., Me., fisherman, a dwelling-house in Kittery, near Thomas Spinney’s and formerly in the tenure and occupation of James Emberry (Emery), also. 6 acres of land adjoining the house at Emberry’s (Emery’s) Point.
The house and land, as above, “next to the land of Spinney’s of Kittery side,” were sold 7 July 1674 to John Cutt of Portsmouth; and he sold the same 8 Jan. 1674/75 to Samuel Fernald, who bequeathed them, 1698, to his son, Nathaniel; and Nathaniel, again, in 1743, to his Son, Nathaniel. This place in Kittery, York Co., Me., is on the southeast side of the mouth of Spinney Creek, and bounded westerly by the Piscataqua River, [the boundary between Maine and New Hampshire] about half a mile from the city of Portsmouth and was owned and occupied by Miss Sally Carter in 1874. From this description, it looks like the site is occupied by the Great Cove Boat Club today.
He also appears to have owned other land at Kittery, record of purchase not found. York Deeds at Alfred, York Co., Me., 3/123-4 —
“William Hearle and wife Beaton of Portsmouth, for valuable sum of money and goods, sell John Fernald of Kittery, Shoemaker, all that parcel of land which was formerly in possession of Adrew Newcomb, lying in Kittery near unto and butting upon ye Broad Cove commonly called Spinny’s Cove, containing 20 acres, being 40 rods broad butting upon said Core and having the land of Christian Ramix (Remich) on the South side. and the land of John Saward on ye North side, and so runs 80 rods east into the woods; which said land was sold by William Hilton unto the said Andrew Newcomb.” Deed acknowledged 1 Feb. 1680 and recorded 26 Apr. 1683.
Mr. Newcomb, held the office of constable and was living at the Shoals or in Kittery in 1671, as shown by the following from York Court Records, Book E, page 51:
September 8, 1671 — Marke Roe complaynd of by Andrew Nucum Constable of ye Yles of Shoales for threatening to break his bones and tearing of his shyrt, & other uncivill behayors towards him, in the execution of his office, upon his serueing of an Attachment: from the … for the breach of his bonds And further the Constable complayns of seuerall Oaths sworn by the sd Roe in comeing ouer, who upon examination the sd Marke Roe confesed before mee yt hee was provoaked to sware seurall oaths
Edw Rishworth Asst
16 May 1672 – Probate at Exeter, first file, Edward Carter’s estate owed Andrew Newcomb 12 shillings
Among the court papers (filed in covers at office of deeds) at Exeter, N. H., is an original bond given by Mr. Newcomb, in which he agrees to appear at next county court at Dover, the last Tuesday in June 1673, to answer complaint of Francis Small
“for withholding the Hull of a ffishing shallop of sd Smalls receiued of Thomas Trickle by virtue of sd Small’s order,” The case came to trial 26 June 1673, at which time Lydia Green testified that she heard Small agree with “Andrew Newcombe of the Ile of Shoales that he would carry on one quarter part of A fishing voyage at ye Ile of Shoales in the Shollop that the said Andrew Newcombe recd of Mr Thomas Tricky pr order of sd Small and this was sometime about Nouember or December last past.” The case was withdrawn, there being no cause for action.
At the time of his residence upon the Shoals they were places of resort, and the Church, Court House and principal Ordinary being located upon Smutty Nose or Church Island, together with the fishing industry, in which Mr. Newcomb was engaged, caused the islands to be preferred for residences until later, when the mainland became more thickly settled.
“Att a County Court houlden at Wells for the County of Yorke July 7, 1674, the Worshipfl Major Tho. Clarke, Praesident, Major Bryan Pendleton, Mr. Geo. Munjoy, Edw- ReCor. Assotiates.
Mr John Cutt is plantiffe in an action of debt Contra Andrew Newcom Defendt. In ye action Capt. Davess is taken off and Capt. Charles Frost is put in his place. The Jury finds for ye Plantiffe 16:00:0 one halfe in marchtble fish & ye other halfe in refuge fish, according to bill: 5″ Damage & costs of Court 25 & 6d.”
Mr. Newcomb removed from Kittery and Isles of Shoals in the year 1674 or early in 1675. From the foregoing it will be seen that after the decision of the Court at Wells (7 July 1674) he turned over to John Cutt his house and land in Kittery and, his wife having died previously, he took his seven young and motherless children to a more favorable location, for it is possible that the Indians had become troublesome in Maine, as King Philip’s war broke out in June 1675. and this may have influenced him in his decision to move. He settled at Edgartown, on the Island of Martha’s Vineyard, the same year, where he became a proprietor and at various times received shares in the divisions of lands in that town and where he and his wife both died.
Ann Bayes was born about 1658 in Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. Her parents were Capt. Thomas Bayes and Anna Baker. Ann died in 1731 in Edgartown
Andrew was a Lieutenant in the Martha’s Vineyard militia. Mr. Newcomb was chosen Lieut. of Militia 13 Apr 1691, and that he was in command of fortifications is shown from the following:
Andrew Newcomb, Commander of the fortifications: who had such number of men as occasionally were ordered by the chief Magistrates.
“All debts to the king, customs, excise, wrekes &c. were the care of the collector, and the ordinarie let at 10 Ib. per annum, viz. custome & excise.
Andrew Newcomb became a prominent citizen of Martha’s Vineyard. He was juror at quarter court at Eastham 25 Sept. 1677 and 28 Dec. 1680; foreman of grand jury Sept. 1681, June 1700 and 1703 and 7 Mar 1704; constable in 1681; was chosen 25 Nov. 1685. with two others, “to make ye governors rate of three half penny upon ye pound”; tithingman 10 May 1693; selectman 1693/94; and overseer 16 Mar 1693/94. His name appears many times upon record as witness to deeds, etc. Upon the records of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., he is in nearly every case called “Mr.” a title then conferring more honor and distinction and doubtless commanding higher respect than that of “Hon.” today.
Here’s an example of the high esteem in which he was held:
Maj. Wait Winthrop in a letter to Gov. Phips, no date but received 21 Oct 1692, mentions “Mr. Newcomb”; and in a letter Simon Athern to the Governor and Council Oct. 1692 says: “being sensable of much troble on marthas vineyard for want of dew settlement of the affairs of that Iland And Considering the present state of persons and things there I humbly shew that if Mr. Andrew Newcomb be made Cheefe Justice And Mr. Joseph Norton & Mr. James Allen Justices there who are reputed welthy and having such influence in the people there, will be most Reddy way to settle your government there.”
There are reasons for believing that he was a merchant several and perhaps many years. On 18 Feb 1683 he paid Nathaniel Fryer £3: 11s. in feathers. Land Records, Edgartown, Dukes Co., Mass., Vol. I, p. 219.
“Received this 18th of February 1683 from Mr. Andrew Newcomb of Edgartown upon Martin Vineyard the sum of three pounds, eleven shillings in feathers for account of my father Nathaniel Fryer in full of all debts dues and demands from the beginning of the world to this day. Received pr me Joshua Frier.
“Joshua Frier acknowledged the above written receipt this 18th day of Feb., 1683-4. Before me,
Matt Mayhew, Justice of Peace.”‘
Court Records (Edgartown).
“Special Corte held this 16th December 1684, Mr. Andrew Nurcom complayneth agaynst Amos an Enden for Inbaseling or purloyning away Sider & Rum. They joyne ishew before the Court to his the sayed Nucom great treble to the damag to ye vallew of seven pounds & twelve shillings.
“In ye case betwene Mr. Andrew Nurcorn plantife Amos Endian defendant we find ye defendant gilty of one cask of Rum containing 12 gallons, and one pound & twelve shillings damage with costs of Corte.”
From Records at Albany, N. Y.-N. Y. Col. Mss. 34: part 2, p. 35-3ce
“Insula Martha Vineyard. I under written doe confess and acknowledge to owe and to be Indepted unto Richard Sarson his heirs &c ye summe of thirty eight pounds ffive Shillings and three pence money to be paid unto ye aforesaid Richard Sarson his heirs &c, upon ye Bottome of ye Shipp Betty now in the Harbour of ye above Island being for wages paid to the men of ye Shipp Betty as witness my hand this 13th ffebry 1684-5
Rob: Right
Witness
Andrew Nucombe
Thomas Harlock
The abovesaid Capt Robert Right acknowledged the abovewritten to be his act & Deed the day & year abovesaid
Matt Mayhew
Chiefe Magistrate.”
“Insula Marthas Vineyard. I underwritten doe obleidge myself my heires &c to pay or cause to be paid unto Andrew Newcombe Junior three pounds Money to his heirs &e upon Demand, being soe much due for three Months wages on ye Shipp Betty of Carolina, Capt Robt Right commandr: as witness my hand this 13th ffebry 1684-5
Robt Right
Testes
Stepen Hussey
Andrew Neucombe Senior.
Court Records (Edgartown) p. 71.
“At Court Sept 30, 1690
“September 24, 1690, Andrew Newcomb haueing legally purchased a neck of land caueled Job’s neck of ye Sachem thereof, ye Sachem haueing given legall conuayance to sd Andrew Newcomb being ye trew and proper oner of ye sayd neck, one Jobe an Indian hauing noe just nor lawfuli caues therefore hath trespassed on ye sayd neck by tilling, improfing, moing, and to his own use converted the benefitt of sayd land thereby not only berefing sayd Andrew Newcomb of such benefitt which he ought and might lawfully make of ye same but deffaming his just title thereunto whereby ye sayd Newcomb hath ben lett and hindred from a dew Improfement thereof and his title to the same questioned to his great dammage and lose of which he doubteth not to make this Court sencible and humbly prayeth relefe in his sd caus and shall eaver pray yo” humble Supplyant (not signed) “In ye case pending betwene Andrew Newcomb plaintife and Jobe the Indian defendant, the verditt of ye Jury is We find for ye plaintife Six pence dameg and Cost of Court”
Andrew (2) Newcomb bought of Indian Job 24 Sept. 1690 a tract of land called “at Saprataine” or in the deed called “Sopotaminy,” Martha’s Vineyard records. Court Records (of Edgartown) p. 95.
“Court of common pleas holden at Edgartown, Oct. 3, I693. Andrew Newcomb complaineth against Jacob Washaman and notick quanum alis Elizabeth queon Sachem his wife in an action of trespas on the case for Refusing to give to sd Andrew Newcomb posesion of certain land in Edgartown containing one neck of land caled Sapotomane.
“The humble petytion and declaration of Andrew Newcomb to their Majesties honoured Court seting Octobr 3d. 93 humbly sheweth that whereas the sd Andrew Newcomb procured a deed of sale of Jacob Washaman & Elizabeth his wife of the neck of land called Sapautamane whereby sd Jacob was legally… end
“In the case depending between Andrew Newcomb plaintife and Jacob Washaman an indian defendant, the Jury find for the defendant and cost of Court.”
“Court of Quarter Sessions, holden at Edgartown, Oct 2d 1696 by their Majesties’ Justices for Martha’s Vineyard.
“Dick alias Soo-ah-chame, an Indian, being legally convicted of lifting the door of Andrew Newcombs’ dwelling house at Edgartown off from the hinges and entering into the house, being late in the night, thereby disturbing and frighting the people of the house, is adjudged to pay the summe of three pounds to said Newcombe and to stand committed until payed.”
“October 4″ 27th 1684 voted that Mr. Newcomb Joseph Norton and Thomas Butler are chosen to make up ye accounts of ye men that hav, done any Seruice for ye Town or Layed out any money for ye town and to make a Rate and to sett all things to Rights and to make all Rates for this year.”
Maj. Wait Winthrop in a letter to Gov. Phips, no date but received 21 Oct 1693 mentions “Mr. Newcomb”; and in a letter Simon Athern to the Governor and Council Oct 1692 says:
“being sensable of much troble on marthas vineyard for want of dew settlement of the affairs of that Iland And Considering the present state of persons and things there I humbly shew that if Mr. Andrew Newcomb be made Cheefe Justice And Mr. Joseph Norton & Mr. James Alien Justices there who are reputed welthy and having such influence in the people there, will be most Reddy way to settle your government there.
Mr. Newcomb’s first purchase of land on Martha’s Vineyard was made 13 Feb. 1677 of John Daggett, for £25, 10 acres land, “according to the bounds thereat as it was layed out, unto John Freeman, Blacksmith, and to him granted by the said town; as likewise half a Commonage in the said townshippe; for him, the said Andrew Newcomb, to have and to hold the aforesaid land and p’misses, with the now dwelling house thereon standing and being, with all and singular the outhouseing barnes shoppes hovells fence and fencing stuff on the said land and p’mises being.”
This land situated on the south side of the village, together with a house-lot, he sold Israel Daggett for £40, 3 Feb. 1702. May 13, 1686, he bought of Jacob Washaman and Notickquanum (also written Wonnottoohquanam) alias Elizabeth, his wife, Sachem, and Queen of Nunpauque, for £5, a piece of land called Job’s Neck, alias Sapotem or Sapotamane, running into a pond on south side of the township, bounded southerly by pond, easterly and westerly by coves of water to Mill Path (also written Milne Path). He sold this land, Job’s Neck, 22 Jan. 1701/02, to his son, Simon, one of the witnesses to the deed being Peeter Newcomb. He sold for £22 land at Sanchacantaket, bought of Misam alias Wabamuck; and in 1700 he sold the land, later occupied as a famous camp-meeting ground on Martha’s Vineyard. (Vol. 3, p. 320.)
In June 1703 he, with others, gave Samuel Holman, the tanner, a lot of land “to encourage him in his business.” Mar. 10, 1709-10, Thomas Harlock sold lands bought of “Mr. Andrew Newcomb, late deceased.” He owned the land in Edgartown upon which the Court House was afterwards built.
Mrs. Newcomb’s name is in the earliest preserved list of church members, 13 July 1717; also in the list of 24 Jan. 1730-1. She received in 1680, by will of her father dated 4 Feb. 1679-80, £50; also, a three-eighths interest in his real estate, which was increased by rights of her sister bought by Mr. Newcomb in 1686. Of the Indian lands of Capt. Bayes Mr. and Mrs. Newcomb owned, in 1688, three and a half shares at Sanchacantaket, near the camp-meeting ground ten acres at Pompineches Neck, and one half-share on the Island of Chappauiddick.
In 1710 Mrs. Newcamb sold 5 acres of land near the court house in Edgartown, formerly from her father, and in 1716 she, “widow, Relict of Andrew Newcomb, late of Edgartown,” sold her stepson, Simon(3) Newcomb, for £20, land in Edgartown. In 1728 she sold her dau. Mary “all my household goods, to enter upon at my decease.”
Mr. Newcomb was chosen Lieut. of Militia 13 Apr 1691, and that he was in command of fortifications is shown from the following:
“University of the State of New York, etc. New York State Library Albany, N. Y. May 15, 1896.
Andrew Newcomb, Commander of the fortifications: who had such number of men as occasionally were ordered by the chief Magistrates.
“All debts to the king, customs, excise, wrekes &c. were the care of the collector, and the ordinarie let at 10 Ib. per annum, viz. custome & excise.
“A Nantucket commanded As chief Magistrate Capt: John Gardener James Coffin Justices of peace William Gayer William Worth “Capt. John Gardener, Collector, and his charge was all dues for the king. Ye chief Magistrate in the County, present, had a casting voice in (a word illegible) Dedimus potes tatem to Matthew Maphew to Administer the Oath to all the Magistrates and officers Civil & military in Dukes County. Dated 20th. Augt. 1691. Ret 20 March following.
“Judges, John Gardener, James Coffin & Richd Sars (on) (two last letters missing in the original),br> Common Pleas.
G. R. Hatch.”
Andrew Newcomb appears to have died without making- a will, and no inventory or settlement of his estate has been found upon record. By his first wife he had seven children, all of whom appear to have been born in the vicinity of Kittery, Me. By his second wife there were eight children, all of whom were married and had families, and although no record of their births has been preserved yet their relationship as brother and sisters, also that they were children of Andrew and Anna Newcomb, has been authenticated by a plea for partition of land and brought 1 Oct. 1731, in which all, or nearly all of the children and heirs are named.