Two Somerby Frauds, Or “Placing the Flesh on the Wrong Bones”

Paul C. Reed, “Two Somerby Frauds, Or ‘Placing the Flesh on the Wrong Bones,’” The American Genealogist 74[1999]. [LINK]

Search for the Passengers of the Mary and John 1630

Source: Burton W. Spear, Search for the Passengers of the Mary and John 1630, Volume 13 (Toledo, Ohio: Burton W. Spear, 1990).

[page 30]

Unanswered Questions on the English Ancestries and Birthplaces of the “Mary and John” Families of 1630.

EDWARD ROSSITER

According to NER Jan. 1984, p. 4-16, he was the son of Nicholas ROSSITER (d. 1 Apr. 1608) & Eliza _____ (bu. 28 Apr. 1608), of Comb St. Nicholas, Somerset, but no wills have been found.  His grandfather was Philip ROSSITER & (1) _____, of Combe St. Nicholas and his great-grandfather was Richard ROSSITER (1463-1529) & Elizabeth PERYE, dau. of William PERYE & _____, dau. of John FRYE.  No wills found.

Parish records of Combe St. Nicholas before 1678 are lost & Edward Rossiter left no will.

There is a Dr. CAMPBELL, a genealogist in Combe St. Nicholas who is claimed to have a great deal of information on the ROSSITERs, FRYEs & TORREY family, all of that village.  Ref: NER Jan. 1937, p. 145-151.  (See Vol. 3, p. 43)

[page 94]

THREE GENERATIONS OF DESCENDANTS OF WILLIAM BLAKE OF DORCHESTER, MASS.

William BLAKE – Bpt. 10 July 1594, Pitminster, Somerset.  He died, 25 Oct. 1663, Dorchester, Mass.  He married, Agnes BAND, 27 Sept. 1617, Pitminster, prob. widow of Richard BAND & dau. of Hugh THORN.  He was granted land in Dorchester on 14 May 1636 and he became a freeman and a member of the church on 14 Mar. 1639.  It is not known when he came to New England.  (Vol. 12, p. 79)

Children of William BLAKE & Agnes (THORN) BAND (Vol. 12, p. 79)

1. John BLAKE – Bpt. 30 Aug. 1618, Pitminster.  He died, 25 Jan. 1688/9, Boston.  He married, Mary (SOUTHER) SHAW, 16 Aug. 1654.  He was one of the executors of the will of Governor John WINTHROP in 1676.  No issue.

2. Anne BLAKE- Bpt. 30 Aug. 1618 (twin?), Pitminster.  She died, 12 July 1681, Boston.  She married, (1) Jacob LEAGER of Boston, who died, 24 Feb. 1662/3 & (2) _____ HALLOWELL.  Her tombstone is in the Boston Society.

Children of Anne BLAKE & Jacob LEAGER (Vol. 11, p. 79)

a. Bethia LEAGER- Bpt. 6 Oct. 1651, Dorchester, Mass.  She m. Fearnot SHAW, blacksmith, s. of Joseph SHAW of Weymouth, Mass.  She had two children: Jacob, b. 6 Nov. 1672.  (2) John, b. 30 Mar. 1678, who m. Mercy SMITH.

b. Hannah LEAGER- B. 14 Nov. 1655, Boston.  She d. 13 Oct. 1690.  She m. (1) John WALKER, brick burner, a. 1676, s. of Thomas & Ann WALKER of Boston.  The had one dau., Hannah WALKER, 25 Apr. 1677, who prob. never married.  Hannah LEAGER m. (2) Thomas PHILIPS of Boston, perhaps s. of Nicholas PHILIPS, by whom she had one child, Hannah PHILIPS, 7 Sept. 1690.

3. William BLAKE Jr.- Bpt. 6 Sept. 1620, Pitminster.  He died, 3 Sept. 1703, Milton, Mass.  He married, (10 [sic] Anna _____, whose name does not appear until 1665 & (2) Hannah TOLMAN, 22 Nov. 1693, Milton, who d. 4 Aug. 1729, dau. of Thomas TOLMAN (M&J passenger) & widow Sarah LYON.

Children of William BLAKE Jr. & (1) Anna (Vol. 12 p. 8)

a. Samuel BLAKE- B. 14 May 1650, Dorchester.  He d. 1719, Taunton.  He m. Sarah MACEY, dau. of George and Susanna MACEY of Taunton.  He had seven children: (1) Priscilla, who m. John SMITH, 1700, s. of Nathaniel SMITH.  (2) Samual Jr., b.a. 1680, who may have m. Sarah PITTS.  (3) Edward, b.a. 1689, m. Anna HANOVER.  (4) Susanna.  (5) Sarah, m. Joseph TOPLIFF.  (6) Hannah.  (7) Jerusha.

b. Anne BLAKE- Bpt. 7 Mar. 1651, Dorchester.  d.y.

c. Anne BLAKE- B. 6 Mar. 1652/3, Dorchester.  Died, 9 May 1722, Taunton.  She m. Thomas GILBERT, 18 Dec. 1676, Boston, s. of John & Jane GILBERT of Taunton.  Eight children: (1) Hannah, b. 28 Sept. 1677, m. William PHILLIPS.  (2) Sarah, b. 11 Aug. 1679, m. John WILLIS.  (3) Mary (twin), b. 11 Aug. 1679, m. Joseph WILLIAMS.  (4) Thomas, b. 11 July 1681. d.y.  (5) Nathaniel, b. 19 July 1683, m. Hannah BRADFORD.  (6) Mehitable, b. 5 May 1686.   (7) Susanna, b. 1687, m. William HODGES.  (8) Experience, b. 1689, m. John TOWNSEND.  (Ref: Gilberts of New England, pt. 1, p. 81)

d. Mary BLAKE- B. 20 Mar. 1654/5, Dorchester.  She m. (1) Joseph LEONARD, 1679 & (2) _____ WILLIS.  Seven children by first husband: (1) Mary, b. 2 Oct. 1680.  (2) Experience, b. 18 Mar. 1682.  (3) Joseph, b. 28 Jan. 1684.  (4) Mehitable, b. 22 Aug. 1685.  (5) Edward, b. 2 Nov. 1688.  (6) William, b. 26 Mar. 1690.  (7) Silence.  (Ref: Savage 3:80)

e. William BLAKE- B. 22 Feb. 1656/7, Dorchester.  Soldier in 1675 & 1690.  Died before 1699.

f. Nathaniel BLAKE- B. 4 July 1659, Dorchester.  Died, 5 Oct. 1720, Milton.  He m. Martha MORY, dau. of Walter MORY.  Seven children: (1) William, b. 21 July 1696, m. Hannah _____.  (2) Nathaniel Jr., b. 26 Feb. 1697/7, m. Elizabeth EVANS.  (3) Simon, b. 1 June 1700, m. Hannah BADCOCK.  (4) James, b. 18 Sept. 1702, m. Abigail TUCKER.  (5) Joseph, b. 27 July 1705.  (6) David, b. 12 July 1707.  (7) Jonathan, b. 12 July 1707.

[page 80]

g. Edward BLAKE- b. 13 Apr. 1662, Dorchester.  He died, 1737.  He m. Elizabeth MORY, 26 June 1696, sister of his brother’s (Nathaniel) wife.  Six children: (1) Anna, b. 7 Apr. 1697, m. _____ STEARNS.  (2) Edward Jr., b. 22 July 1697, m. Elizabeth FRENCH.  (3) Aaron, b. 23 Feb. 1699/1700.  (4) Mary, b. 13 Jan. 1701/2.  (5) Elizabeth, b. 5 Apr. 1704, m. _____ BELCHER.  (6) Moses, b. 6 Aug. 1706, m. Hannah HORTON.

h. Experience BLAKE- B. 17 June 1665, Dorchester.  He <sic> m. Eleazer CARVER, s. of John & Millicent CARVER.  Res: S. Bridgewater.

i. Agnes BLAKE- B. 29 Sept. 1667, Milton.

j. Susan BLAKE- B. 20 July 1670, Milton.  D. 4 May 1676.

k. Mehitable BLAKE- B. 2 Apr. 1673, Milton.  She m. William BRIGGS Jr., 16 June 1696, of Taunton.

4. James BLAKE- Bpt. 27 Apr. 1623, Pitminster.  Died, 28 June 1700, Dorchester.  He married (1) Elizabeth CLAPP, a. 1651, dau. of Dea. Edward CLAPP & Prudence CLAPP, who died, 16 Jan. 1693/4, age 61.  He m. (2) Elizabeth SMITH, 17 Sept. 1695, dau. of Henry 7 <sic> Judith SMITH & widow of Peter HUNT.
He built a house in 1650 in Dorchester that still stands today [...]

5. Edward BLAKE- His will: 31 Aug. 1692, inventory, 3 Nov. 1692.  He m. Patience POPE, dau. of John & Jane POPE of Dorchester [...]

[page 81]

References:

BLAKE Family, A Genealogical History, William BLAKE of Dorchester, by Samuel BLAKE, 1857.

A Record Of The BLAKES Of Somerset, by Horatio G. SOMERBY.

Increase BLAKE Of Boston, His Ancestors & Descendants, With A Full Account of William BLAKE Of Dorchester, by Francis E. BLAKE, 1898.

[page 121]

THE ROSSITER, TORREY, FRY & COMBE FAMILIES OF COMBE ST. NICHOLAS, SOMERSET.

The village and parish of Combe St. Nicholas, Somerset provided a number of families who came to New England between 1630 and 1640.  Edward ROSSITER came first, with his family on the “Mary & John” in 1630.  He was one of the Assistants of the Massachusetts Bay Company and one of the most prominent passengers on that ship.  He was followed in 1640 by the TORREYs and FRYs.  A great deal of credit for this article, and particularly the photos and map, is due Miss Patricia PEARCE, of Shepton Beauchamp, Somerset, who visited Combe St. Nicholas and searched the records in the Somerset Record Office, Taunton.

THE ROSSITERS

Edward ROSSITER may have come with his wife _____ COMBE, daughter of John COMBE and brother of Joesph [sic] COMBE, but she may have died in England because there is no record of her in New England.

Evidently, Rev. John WHITE of Dorchester, Dorset, loaned Edward ROSSITER considerable money to prepare for his journey to New England.  The total debt was 106 pounds, 9 shillings & 9 pence and it was partly paid by Edward’s son, Nicholas, before their departure.  But when Edward died on 23 Oct. 1630, there was still 15 pounds, 25 shillings due Rev. WHITE.  Among the charges was 47 pounds, 13 shillings & 4 pence, for the passage of 13 passengers (3 pounds, 13 shillings & 4 pence each).

Following is an attempt to identify these people.  The five unknown passengers may have included, Edward’s wife (if she was still living), grandchildren and servants.

1. Edward ROSSITER

2. Son, Nicholas ROSSITER, who later returned.

3. Wife of Nicholas ROSSITER, who later returned.

4. Edward ROSSITER, son of Nicholas, who later returned.

5. Son, Bray ROSSITER.

6. Wife of Bray ROSSITER.

7. Daughter, Jane ROSSITER.

8. Son, Hugh ROSSITER, who later returned.

Plus five unidentified passengers.

[page 124]

THE FRYS

George FRY, came with his brother-in-law, William TORREY.  He was possibly the son of the George FRY who witnessed the will of Joseph COMBE of Combe St. Nicholas, 21 Mar. 1619/20.  The FRYs were also related to the ROSSITER & COMBE families.

THE COMBES

Although no member of the COMBE family of Combe St. Nicholas has been found that came to New England, they married into the above families.

THE WADFORD FARM & MILL OF PHILIP ROSSITER

Edward ROSSITER’s great-grandfather, Richard ROSSITER, was the first proved land owner in Combe St. Nicholas.  When he died in 1529 he owned 4 messuages & 543 acres here.  At that time his son Philip (Edward’s grandfather) inherited 4 messuages, 31 acres of meadow, 312 acres of pasture & 200 acres of woodland.  In the 1583 Survey of the parish (SAS/SE86), “Philipus ROSSITER, gent. (farmer or husbandman) owned a dwelling and a new tucking mill.  He paid 17 pounds a year to the Lord of the Manor (Wells Deanery).  The other freemen of Combe were William BONNER, gent.- 15 pounds, William JEANES- 12 pounds, John BUETT- 2 pounds, John WALROD- 4 pounds, John DEWNELL- 20 pounds and _____ MALLETT- 12 pounds.

[photo]

Wadeford House (16th) of Philip ROSSITER

[page 125]

Philip ROSSITER’s house was called Wadeford and the fulling mill (woolen mill), which has been carefully restored, still stand today in a hamlet about 3/4 miles SE of Combe St. Nicholas.  This is one of seven mills within a few miles of each other on the River Isle, the others all being grist mills for corn.

[photo]

Fulling Mill At Wadeford, Once Owned By Philip ROSSITER

Court Roll – 27 July 1608 – To the court came Thomasin CLARKE, William ROSSITER (brother or cousin of Edward?) and John CLARKE and surrendered a tenement called a “ten acre tenement” in the tithing of XII sect. granted again to John and Jane MARDEN.  (The three named above were witnesses.  Ref: ADD/277.)

1641, Nicholas ROSSITER, gent., of Combe (son of Edward, after Nicholas returned to England), holds for 3 lives, his property on lease – Anne, Jane & Mary ROSSITER, all daughters of Nicholas.  Ref: ADD/302.

THE LOWER CLAYHANGER FARM OF THE FRY FAMILY

The FRY family held a lease in 1574 (and possibly earlier) on the Lower Clayhanger Farm, less than a mile NE of Wadeford, where Philip ROSSITER lived.

[photo]

Entrance To Farmyard Of Lower Clayhanger House Of FRY Family

[page 126]

The Lower Clayhanger house, which is still standing today, is in the “Listed Buildings”, p. 1-2, ADD/281, dated, 1608.  In the 1583 Survey of Combe St. Nicholas, rents were paid in Clayhanger tithing by: Robertus WARRYE- 13 pounds, John COGAN- 14 pounds, Symond KNIGHT- 2 pounds, Matthew GILLETT- 13 pounds, Thomas KNIGHT- 12 pounds and John GILLETT- 3 pounds.

NOTE:     Savage says there was a Matthew GILLET who came on the Mary & John in 1634, first settled in Dorchester and then in Windsor in 1636.  Banks says he came on the Mary & John in 1634 but settled in Salem.  Stiles’ History of Windsor does not list him.

Today the house is a private residence, with Hamstone mullioned windows, a kitchen with a bread oven and a mullioned window in the rear wall.  The roof was renewed in the early 19th century.  The walls are two feet thick.  The original date of the house cannot be placed because of work in 1940 destroyed much of the dating evidence.

Court Roll, 9 Oct. 1593 – To this court came John FRY and Agnes, his wife, and Isabella, wife of Richard SCREVEN.  John FRY holds by right of his wife, Agnes, one tenement called a “ten acre tenement”, with the apprutenances in the tithing of Betham, to remain now of the said Isabella, by the names of Agnes COMBE and Isabella COMBE (daughters of John COMBE, deceased), John FRY and Agnes and Richard and Isabella SCREVEN, surrendered each and all into the hands of the Lord and all estates and interest in the said premises, with the intent that John FRY might be able to receive them again.  Whereupon at this same court, the said John FRY, came and took from the Lord at the Steward’s hands, the said apputtenances, to have and to hold, for the lives of John FRY, Joseph COMBE and William COMBE, sons of the late John COMBE.  Ref: ADD/257.

27 Sept. 1597- George FRY came to Court of Combe and leased land called “Wagges”, for the lives of George and his brother, John FRY of Ewell and John FRY, son of Lawrence of Stolfird.  Ref: ADD/265.

15 Oct. 1608- To this Court came Dorothea (RICHARDS) FRY, wife of John FRY, the younger, gent., of Chehanger (Clayhanger), and took the reversion of one cottage, with curtilage, one acre of same, under Old Auster (A Celtic site for the farm, developed by the Saxons and always treated with great respect because of its great age as a site.), all held by John FRY, the younger, for the term of his life.  To have and to hold for the lives of Dorothea, William FRY, son of William of Plymouth, Devon, yeoman, John RICHARDS, son of John of Churchstation, Devon.  Ref: ADD/281.

[page 127]

HAM FARM, HOME OF THE COMBE FAMILY

In 1599 Thomas COMBE at Ham Farm held 20 acres.  This about one and one half miles N of Combe St. Nicholas.  This was by “old Austet”, and ancient Celtic site.  This farm is now occupied by Mr. HUTCHINGS.

[photo]

Mr. HUTCHINGS at Ham Farm with Shep & Sam

Search for the Passengers of the Mary and John 1630

Source: Burton W. Spear, Search for the Passengers of the Mary and John 1630, Volume 12 (Toledo, Ohio: Burton W. Spear, 1989). [WorldCat]

[page 72]

BLAKE ENGLISH ANCESTRY FROM CHART IN WILTSHIRE

The following BLAKE ancestry was taken from a 4 ft. by 12 ft. chart, on file at the Wiltshire Record Office, in Trowbridge, Wilts., England.  It lists many lines not noted below to about 1800.  The line below supposedly traces to Humphrey BLAKE of Over Stowey, Somerset, ancestor of Elizabeth SAUNDERS, wife of Henry WOLCOTT.  Following is the introductory inscription on the chart:

“The genealogy of the ancient and worthy family of BLAGUE, BLAAKE or BLAKE, of great antiquity in the county of Wilts, where they had large possessions in Quemberford, Calne and Ililcot with a fair manor house called PINHILLS, now the seat of the family, a younger branch, from where they transplanted themselves into Hampshire and settling at East Town, were owners of that and divers other manor from whence the BLAKEs of Middlesex, etc. are immediately descended faithfully collected out of the several visitation books of the said counties remaining in the College of Arms and deducted to the issue of Daniel BLAKE of London, Anno 1690″.

1. RICHARD BLAGUE of Blake (Not found).  He married Ann, daughter of William (COLE?).

2. HENRY BLAGUE of Blake.  Heir.  He married Elizabeth, daughter & co-heir of Edward DURANT.

3. WILLIAM BLAGUE of Blake.  Heir.  He married Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. William POWER.

4. HENRY BLAGUE of Blake.  Heir.  He married Margaret, daughter & heir of William BILLETT.

[page 73]

5. ROBERT BLAGUE, Esq. of Quemford (hamlet, one half mile S of Calne, Wilts, 18 miles E of Bath).  He married Avice, daughter of John WALLOP, Esq. of Farley, Southampton.

6. JOHN BLAGUE, Gent.  Second son.  He married Margaret DYNCHAN, DINHAM of Dentham.

7. DAVID BLAGUE.  Heir.  He married Joane MALLETT.  He had a son, John BLAGUE, Abbott of Cirenester, Gloucestershire.

[page 74]

8. WILLIAM BLAGUE of Lacock, Wilts (8 miles W of Calne).  He married Margaret, daughter of William BROWNE of Wablyn.

Children

a. Martin BLAGUE of Winchcomb, Gloucestershire.  He married Catherine, daughter of George VAUGHN of Herfordshire.

b. John BLAGUE- See below.

9. JOHN BLAGUE.    “From whom the BLAKEs of Somerset are descended of which family Major General Robert BLAKE the famous soldier and sea commander.”  No arms listed.  This line from generations 6 through 9 do not agree with the lines in SEARCH FOR THE PASSENGERS OF THE MARY & JOHN-1630, Volume 11, p. 62-66.

*****

The following line from the Wiltshire chart connects to some William BLAKEs of Eastontown, Southampton, that fits the genealogy in the above mentioned, Volume 11:

6. ROBERT BLAKE of Calne, Wilts.  He was the son of Robert BLAGUE & Avice WALLOP (See #5 above).  He married Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas INGLEFIELD of Inglefield, Berkshire & Margery, daughter of Richard DANVERS, Esq. of Cadworth, Northamptonshire.

7. ROGER BLAAKE, Esq. of Caivne (Calne?), Wilts.  He died, 1556, age 57 (b. 1499).  He married Mary BAYNARD, daughter of Philip BAYNARD, Esq. of Lackham, Wilts.  Roger and his sister, married a brother and sister.

Children

a. Thomas BLAAKE, Esq. of Tynnells, Wilts.  He married Edith, daughter of Thomas IVY, Esq. of Westkein (sp?), Wilts.

b. Sibil BLAAKE.  She married Henry BULL of Wilts.

c. John BLAAKE.  He married Jane CLARKE of Shaw (sp?), Wilts.

d. Joane BLAAKE.  She married Anthony GODDARD of Hartham, Wilts.

e. William BLAAKE- See below.

f. Mary BLAAKE.  She married edward LANGRIDGE of Langride, Southampton.

g. Robert BLAAKE of borough of Carone (sp?).  He married Alice, daughter of Robert SMYTH of Lackock, Wilts.

[page 75]

8. WILLIAM BLAKE of Eastontown als Essington, Southampton. Fourth son.  Deceased, 1582.  He married Avice, daughter of Sir Gervace RIPLEY, knight of Ripley, Southampton.  Their figures appeared in a stained glass window in the church of Enham (sp?), Southampton, in the parish of Eastontown in 1622, seat of the branch of the family in Scituate (not found).

[photo]

Figures of William BLAKE, and his wife, Avice RIPLEY, in stained glass window, in Eastontown parish church in 1622.

9. WILLIAM BLAKE.  Second son.

Children

a. William BLAKE.  See below.

b. Peter BLAKE.  Second son.

c. Nicholas BLAKE.  Third son.

10. WILLIAM BLAKE of Eastontown (estate of Eastontown, Southampton?).  He married Anne, daughter of Thomas TUFT (sp?) of Chilbolton, Southampton.   (Chilbolton now appears to be in county, Hants, 3 miles south of Andover.).  No issue listed.

[page 76]

The last three William BLAKEs, numbers 8, 9 & 10, appear to connect to the BLAKE Genealogy printed in the SEARCH FOR THE PASSENGERS OF THE MARY & JOHN-1630, Volume 11, p. 62-63.  The following is copied from this source:

VII.  WILLIAM BLAKE – He lived in White parish, Wilts and died in 1471.  After his death his widow and two sons moved to Hampshire and settled in Andover, on the estate called, “Eastontown”, formerly part of the estate of her husband’s mother, Avice WALLOP.

Children

1. William BLAKE- See below.

2. Robert BLAKE- He lived in West Enham, Andover.  He married, _____ SNELL.

VIII.  WILLIAM BLAKE – He lived in Andover, White Parish, in Old Hall in Eastontown.  he also had lands in Knights Enham (occupied by his brother in 1504).  He married Mary, daughter of Humphrey COLES of Somerset.  His will probated, 20 June 1547.

Children

1. Nicholas BLAKE- Of Old Hall.  His will, 1547, names wife, Margaret and children, William, Edmund, Alice and Elizabeth.

2. Humphrey BLAKE- No doubt named after his grandfather.  See below.

3. Alice BLAKE- She married, _____ CABULL.

IX.  HUMPHREY BLAKE – In Somerset in early 1500′s and settled in Over Stowey.

X.  JOHN BLAKE, THE ELDER – Born, 1521.  Buried, 10 Dec. 1576, Over Stowey.  He married Joan or Jane _____.

XI.  ANNE BLAKE – Born about 1549, Over Stowey.  She married Thomas SAUNDERS.  They lived in Lydeard St. Lawrence, Somerset and were the parents of Elizabeth SAUNDERS, wife of Henry WOLCOTT.

****

[page 77]

BLAKE ANCESTRY FROM CHART IN UNITARIAN CHAPEL, CREWKERNE, SOMERSET, 1989

The following ancestry of the BLAKE family of Somerset, England was copied from a chart on exhibition in the Unitarian Chapel, crewkerne, Somerset, in June 1989.  It was prepared by Mrs. Eleanor DIXON, a BLAKE descendant, from Bridgewater, Somerset.

This ancestry contradicts the BLAKE ancestry in Volume 12, p. 62, which states the BLAKE line to Elizabeth SAUNDERS, wife of Henry WOLCOTT, comes through William BLAKE (d. 1471), son of Robert BLAKE & Avice WALLOP.  The ancestry below claims the correct line is through John BLAKE (d. 1504), son of Robert BLAKE & Avice WALLOP and brother of William BLAKE (d. 1471).

JOHN BLAKE of Nether Wallop, Hants.  Born, 1430.  Died, 1504.  He married, Margery _____.  His brother, Robert BLAKE of Calne, Wilts., was his heir and overseer of his will.

Child

1. Humphrey BLAKE of Over Stowey, Somerset.  Buried, 28 Dec. 1588.  Will, 19 Nov. 1558, proved, 11 May 1559, Taunton.  He married, Anne _____.  He bought Tuxwell, near Spaxton, Somerset in 1556.

Children

1.1 John BLAKE, the elder of Plainsfield (manor).  Born, 1521.  Buried, 10 Dec. 1576.  Will proved, 25 Jan. 1577.  He married, Joan _____.

Children

1.1.1 Humphrey BLAKE, the elder of Over Stowey.  Buried, 1619 (in Over Stowey church).  Will, 1618.  Clothier.  He married, (1) Agnes JAMES, 1578 & (2) Ann _____.

Children

1.1.1.1 Humphrey BLAKE, gent., of Plainsfield.  Bpt. 13 Nov. 1580.  He married, Elizabeth GILES of Wellington.

1.1.1.2 John BLAKE of Over Stowey.  Bpt. 25 Apr. 1583.

1.1.1.3 Richard BLAKE.  Bpt. 7 Sept. 1585.

1.1.1.4 Jone BLAKE.  Bpt. 23 Sept. 1587.

1.1.1.5 Robert BLAKE.  Bpt. 8 June 1589.

1.1.1.6 Arthur BLAKE.  Bpt. 27 June 1592.  Died, 25 June 1592.

1.1.2 William BLAKE.  Buried, 1642.  He married, Ann _____.  He bought Cattridge, 1586.

1.1.3 Richard BLAKE of Stogumber, Somerset.  Born, 1562/3.  He married, (1) _____ & (2) Grace NAPCOTT, 29 May 1589, Over Stowey.

1.1.4 Robert BLAKE.  Born, 1566.  Died, 1626.  He married, Eleanor BROWNE of Taunton.

1.1.5 Alice BLAKE.  Born, 1569.  She married James RICHARDS.  From this couple descended emigrants, William BLAKE, Thomas RICHARDS and the TORREY brothers.  (See volume 11, p. 109-110.)

1.1.6 Ann BLAKE.  She married Thomas SAUNDERS (They were the parents of Elizabeth SAUNDERS, wife of Henry WOLCOTT).

1.1.7 Isobel BLAKE.  She married Thomas SELLECK.  (They lived in Gaulden Manor.)

1.1.8 Mary BLAKE- Born, 1558.  Died 1560.

1.2 John BLAKE, the younger of Plainsfield (manor).  Buried, 21 Aug. 1572.  He married Christian JUGG, 18 Aug. 1558.

Children

1.2.1 Mary BLAKE.  Born, 1558.  Died, 1600.

1.2.2 Elizabeth BLAKE.  Born, 1561.

1.2.3 John BLAKE.  Died, 1563.

1.2.4 Anne BLAKE.  Born, 1567.

1.2.5 Richard BLAKE.  Born, 1570.

1.3 Agnes BLAKE.  She married, _____ MANNING.

1.4 Eleanor BLAKE.  She married, _____ LANGHAM.

[page 78]

1.5 Alice BLAKE.  She married, George SLOCOMBE.

1.6 Thomas BLAKE.  His will, 1580.  He married Isobel _____ of Wedmore.

1.7 Robert BLAKE of Bridgewater.  He died, Oct. 1592.  Will proved, 1592.  He married, Margaret SYMONDS of Taunton.  She buried, 1600.

Child

1.7.1 Humphrey BLAKE of Bridgewater.  Born, 1573.  Died, 1625.  His will, 1625.  He married Sarah WMS. (WILLIAMS) of Pawlett, Somerset.

Children

1.7.1.1 Humphrey BLAKE of St. Giles, Cripplesgate, London.  Born, 1600.  Died, 1679.  Will, 1679, at Somerset Record Office.

1.7.1.2 Admiral Robert BLAKE.  Born, 1598.  Died, 1657.  Unmarried.  His will, 1653.

[page 79]

WILLIAM BLAKE OF DORCHESTER, MASS.

William BLAKE (1594-1663) of Dorchester, Mass. shares his BLAKE ancestry with Elizabeth SAUNDERS (1584-1655), wife of Henry WOLCOTT of Windsor, Conn.  They were grandchildren of John BLAKE (1521-1576) of Over Stowey, Somerset.  See Volume 11, p. 64-66.  The parents of Elizabeth SAUNDERS were Thomas SAUNDERS (d. 1609) of Lydread St. Lawrence, Somerset and Anne BLAKE (b.a. 1549) of Over Stowey.  The parents of William BLAKE were William BLAKE (d. 1642) of Pitminster, Somerset and Ann.  Anne BLAKE and William BLAKE (the elder) were brother and sister, so Elizabeth SAUNDERS and William BLAKE (the emigrants) were first cousins.

William BLAKE was born in Pitminster and he was related to another emigrant from that village, Thomas RICHARDS.  Thomas RICHARDS, was no doubt, a grandson of James RICHARDS, who died in Pitminster in 1608, and Alice BLAKE, daughter of John BLAKE of Over Stowey and sister of Anne BLAKE (mother of Elizabeth SAUNDERS.

It has been claimed that William BLAKE of Dorchester, brought his family on the “Mary & John” in 1630, but no prooof has been found.  There is no early record of him in Dorchester and he being a prominent person, age 36, it would have been unlikely for him not to be mentioned if he had come in 1630.  There is supposedly a Cleveland Genealogy that claims he sold a house in Aisholt, Somerset (3 miles south of Over Stowey), in January 1630 and went to America, but no proof is given.  He was granted land in Dorchester, Mass. on 14 May 1636 and he became a freeman and a member of the church on 14 March 1639.

William BLAKE was baptised, 10 July 1594 in Pitminster, Somerset and he died, 25 Oct. 1663, Dorchester, Mass.  He married Agnes BAND, 27 Sept. 1617, Pitminster.  She was probably baptised, 12 June 1594, Pitminster, daughter of Hugh THORN and the widow of Richard BAND, whose will was written in 1616 and probated, 8 Jan. 1621.  Agnes died, 22 July 1678, Dorchester, Mass.  William BLAKE remained in Pitminster until 1624 but his whereabouts between 1624 and 1636 are not known.  He possibly moved to Aisholt, Somerset.

On 14 May 1636, William BLAKE, with William PYNCHON and six others signed articles to form a plantation at Agawam (Springfield) on the Connecticut River.  He remained in Dorchester and died there in 1663.  He and his wife were probably buried in the Old North Burying Ground on Upham’s Corner, in Dorchester, but their tombstones have not been found.

Children of William BLAKE & Agnes THORNE (BLAKE-1898-2)

1. John BLAKE- Bpt. 30 Aug. 1618, Pitminster, Somerset.  Died, 25 Jan. 1688/9, Boston.  He m. Mary SOUTHER, 16 Aug. 1654, Boston, dau. of Nathaniel & Alice SOUTHER & widow of Joseph SHAW of Weymouth, who d. 13 Dec. 1653, 12 days after his marriage.  Mary d. 7 Jan. 1693/4, Boston.  John was a Boston merchant and a man of high social standing.  He was one of the executors of the will of Gov. John WINTHROP in 1676.  He evidently died without issue (Savage).

2. Anne BLAKE- Bpt. 30 Aug. 1618 (Prob. a twin), Pitminster.  Died, 12 July 1681, Boston.  She m. (1) Jacob LEAGER of Boston (as his second wife).  He d. 24 Feb. 1662/3, Boston.  He was a tailor.  She supposedly m. (2) _____ HALLOWELL, but was widowed again.  She was buried at the Third Church of Boston and her tombstone is now in the Bostonian Society.  She had two children: (1) Bethia LEAGER (b. 1651) who m. Fearnot SHAW, a blacksmith, and they had 3 children & (2) Hannah LEAGER (b. 1655) who m. John WALKER, a “brick burner”.  One dau. who prob. did not marry.

3. William BLAKE- Bpt. 6 Sept. 1620, Pitminster.  He d. 3 Sept. 1703, Milton, Mass.  He m. (1) Anna _____ & (2) Hannah TOLMAN, 22 Nov. 1693, Milton, dau. of Thomas TOLMAN (Mary & John passenger) and Sarah & widow of George LYON.  (See TOLMAN, volume 9, page 27).  Hannah d. 4 Aug. 1729.  He had 8

[page 80]

children by his first wife: (1) Samuel BLAKE (b. 1650) who m. Sarah MACEY and they had 7 children, (2) Anne BLAKE (Bpt. 1651). d.y., (3) Anne BLAKE, (b. 1652) who m. Thomas GILBERT and they had 6 children, (4) Mary BLAKE (b. 1654) who m. (1) Joseph LEONARD by who she had 6 chilren.  She m. (2) _____ WILLIS, (5) William BLAKE (1656), soldier who may not have married, (6) Nathaniel BLAKE (b. 1659).  He m. Martha MORY and had 7 children, (7) Edward BLAKE (b. 1662).  He m. Elizabeth MORY and had 6 children, (8) Experience BLAKE (b. 1665.  She m. Eleazer CARVER, (9) Agnes BLAKE (b. 1667), (10) Susan BLAKE (b. 1670) & (11) Mehitable BLAKE who m. William BRIGGS.

4. James BLAKE- Bpt. 27 Apr. 1624, Pitminster.  He d. 28 June 1700, Dorchester.  He m. (1) Elizabeth CLAPP (b.a. 1651) dau. of Dea. Edward CLAP & Prudence CLAP.  She d. 16 Jan. 1693/4, age 61.  He m. (2) Elizabeth SMITH, 17 Sept. 1695, dau. of Henry & Judith SMITH and widow of Peter HUNT.  He built a very substantial houe off Cottage Street in Dorchester about 1650 which remained in the BLAKE family until 1825.

[photo]

HOUSE OF JAMES BLAKE IN DORCHESTER

In 1895, due to street widening, the Dorchester Historical Society moved this house to Richardson where it is now being maintained by the society.  James BLAKE had 6 children by his first wife: (1) James BLAKE (b. 1652).  He m. (1) Hannah MACEY & (2) Ruth BACHELLOR, (2) John BLAKE (b. 1656).  He m. Hannah _____ and had 7 children, (3) Elizabeth BLAKE (b. 1658).  She m. Jeremiah FULLER and had one son, (4) Jonathan BLAKE (b. 1660), d.y., (5) Sarah BLAKE (b. 1665), d.y., (6) Joseph BLAKE (b. 1667).  He m. Mehitable BIRD.  Eleven children.

References:

NER Jan. 1891, p. 35-38.

NER Vol. 89, p. 285-187.

Lineal Ancestors of Rhoda (AXTELL) CORY, 1937, Vol. II Pt. 1, p. 121.

BLAKE Family, by Samuel BLAKE, 1857.

BLAKEs of Somersetshire, from notes of Horatio G. SOMERBY, 1881.

Increase BLAKE of Boston, by Francis E. BLAKE, 1898.

*****

[page 101]

OVER STOWEY, HOME OF THE BLAKE FAMILY OF SOMERSET

Over Stowey Somerset was the home of the BLAKE family in the 16th and 17th centuries.  Here are buried the ancestors of Elizabeth SAUNDERS, wife of Henry WOLCOTT: her maternal grandfather, John BLAKE, the elder (d. 1578), and her great-grandfather, Humphrey BLAKE (d. 1558).  It is believed John BLAKE was buried in the church but his stone was removed and it may be the illegible memorial in the bell room.  There is a large stone in the aisle of the church for Humphrey BLAKE (d. 1619), brother of Anne BLAKE, mother of Elizabeth SAUNDERS.

Humphrey BLAKE purchased large estates in this area and he became lord of Plainsfield Manor and was patron of the churches of Over Stowey & Aisholt.  The Plainfield Manor was owned, in large part, by the BLAKE family for over 200 years.  This manor house, one mile south of Over Stowey is now in Spaxton, and its name has been changed to the Courthouse Farm House.  It is occupied by Mr. & Mrs. Ron DALLEY & Mrs. Beatrice May PITTY.  Up to 1921 there was a fireplace in this house that bore the BLAKE coat-of-arms but it was removed that year and taken to Yeovil, Somerset.

[page 102]

[photo]

OVER STOWEY CHURCH – 1989

[photo]

TOMBE OF HUMPHREY BLAKE – DIED 1619

[photo]

FORMER PLAINSFIELD MANOR HOUSE, MRS. PITTY (l.) & MRS. DALLEY (r.) 1989

[page 112]

CALNE, WILTSHIRE, HOME OF THE BLAKE FAMILY

The BLAKE family, from whom Anne BLAKE, mother of Elizabeth SAUNDERS, wife of Henry WOLCOTT descended, lived in Calne, Wiltshire for centuries.  They left the area in the 18th century.  The ancestral home of the BLAKE family was the manor house of Pinhills.  The BLAKEs acquired the manor of Pinhills in the 14th century.  They were not ennobled with exalted titles but they could boast of noble lineage, for their alliance with the families of FIENNES and DANVERS, they were descended from the worthy founder of New College, Oxford and Winchester College.  The BLAKE family became the most prominent in the borough and they sent members to Parliament as early as 1381.  By the begining of the 16th century the faily had spread into several distinct branches, but all living in the neighborhood of Pinhills.

The 12th century church of St. Mary The Virgin, in Calne, was built on the site of a previous Saxon church.  On 21 April 1628, the Norman tower collapsed and it was replaced by the present, magnificent 120 ft. tower.

The great-great-great grandparents of Anne BLAKE (b.a. 1549) were Robert BLAKE of Calne and Quenberford and his wife, Avice WALLOP (d. 1474) of Southampton, Hampshire.  Both are buried in the Calne church.  There used to be a stained glass window of the chancel, in which he appeared, with a surcoat charged with his Armorial bearings.  His wife appeared in a long robe with a scarf embroidered with arms of her family.  This window was destroyed when the steeple crashed to the ground in 1639.

In the British Museum (Harl. M.S. No. 1443, fol. 258) there is a drawing of two kneeling figures copied by John WITHIE, in the year 1616, from the chancel windows of Calne church.  The male is represented in a tabard, with arms of BLAKE, singly.  On the mantle worn by the female is Gules a bend argent with a cresent for difference.  A sketch of this window is included in this volume under the chapter titled, “BLAKE English Ancestry From Chart in Wiltshire.”

In the Civil War in the 1640′s the BLAKEs sided with the Parliamentary forces, against the Crown.  At the time, Henry BLAKE, and his wife, Abigail STRINGER, occupied the Pinhills manor house.  In 1643, he decided to fortify the house and he garrisoned it with musketeers.  He was aided by Colonel MASSEY, Governor of Gloucester, who surrounded it with a moat.  Then he constructed an additional outer ring of water, traces of which are still visible today.

[page 113]

[photo]

Present Pinhills Manor House, Built About 1650

When the Royalists in nearby Devizes learned of these fortifications under construction, they sent a raiding party that surrounded the house.  Believing their situation was futile, the defenders surrendered.  A few weeks later the Royalists demolished the house and drained the moat.

The present house which stands at Pinhills, just beyond the moat, was built from the ruins of the old manor house.  It was supposedly built by Ambrose BLAKE, son of Henry, and he was there the year after the Civil War.  The last BLAKE of Pinhills left the ancestral home and died, 10 July 1731, in Bristol.  His daughter, Frances, erected an impressive memorial to her father in the Gaunt or Mayor’s Chapel at Bristol.  He is called, “Henricus BLAAKE de Pinnells”, and his name appears with the arms of the family.

******

Further Observations on the Ancestry of Colonel Thomas Ligon of Henrico County

Source: Neil D. Thompson, “Further Observations on the Ancestry of Colonel Thomas Ligon of Henrico County,” Virginia Genealogist 38[1994].

[page 48]

Fifteen years ago there was published in this journal a useful correction to what had previously been published concerning the descent of the immigrant Thomas LIGON from the family of LYGON of Madresfield, co. Gloucester,¹ and thus from the Lords BERKELEY and other notable medieval English families.  The authors apparently did not notice that John SMYTH of Nibley had covered the ground before them² and omitted a number of important documents in their account.  Having been requested to review the proposed line by a descendant,³ and since the promised further account which had been planned never appeared, it seemed appropriate to review the line of descent from William LYGON of Madresfield to the immigrant with the additional information.

William LYGON of Madresfield, born in or about 1512,⁴ died at Madresfield 8 Sept. 1567 and was buried at Great Malvern “in the high chancel” 2 Oct. 1567.⁵ His will, dated 22 Aug. 1567 and proved 12 Aug. 1568,⁶ named his eldest son Richard as executor and entailed upon him the lion’s share of the family lands.  His second son Thomas was named in the remainder after Richard’s heirs male.  He did not mention his three younger sons, his three elder daughters (all married by then) or his wife, though she

──────────────────────────────

¹ Michael J. Wood and Gary Boyd Roberts, “Four Thomas LYGONs (LIGONs): An Abstract of New Findings,” The Virginia Genealogist, v. 22 (1978), pp. 353-55.  These notes do not concern themselves with the career and family of (Col.) Thomas LIGON in Virginia.

² John Smyth, of Nibley, The Lives of the BERKELEYs … (3 v.; Gloucester, 1883-85), v. 2, p. 178, 183-84.

³ Brice M. Clagett, Esq., of Washington, D.C., who has kindly granted permission to publish the findings separately in advance of the appearance of his book on the ancestry of his children, to be published next year.

⁴ Inquisition post mortem of (Sir) Richard LYGON, Public Record Office, Chancery Ser. 2, 109:74 (Gloucester), 110:172 (Worcester), which shows William LYGON age 44 in 1556.

⁵ Great Malvern, Worcestershire, Parish register, unpaged.

⁶ Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 15 Babington (1568).

[page 49]

did survive him.

As early as 1529 he contracted to marry Eleanor DENNIS,⁷ daughter of (Sir) William DENNIS of Dirham, co. Gloucester, by his wife Anne, daughter of Maurice, Lord BERKELEY.⁸ She was dead by 2 March 1585/6 when the administration of her intestate estate was granted to her three younger sons, Thomas, Hugh and Francis LYGON; the probate documents are lost but the act book preserves the date.⁹ She was probably residing on the LYGON dower lands in co. Gloucester.

As Richard LYGON, eldest son and heir, was age thirty years and more when his father’s inquisition post mortem was taken,¹⁰ thus born in or before 1537, and if three of Richard’s four sisters were married by 1567, so born by 1547, we pay [sic] place the birth of Thomas LYGON, second son, in about 1545.  He was buried at Elkstone, co. Gloucester, as “Thomas LIGON, Gent.,” on 14 Aug. 1603.¹¹ No probate record appears to exist for him but there seems to be no reason to doubt the list of his seven children given by Smyth, who would have known his eldest son Thomas, receiver for his cousin Henry, Lord BERKELEY, personally.¹²

Thomas LYGON married his cousin Frances DENNIS, daughter of Hugh and Katharine (TRYE) DENNIS of Puchlechurch, co. Gloucester.¹³ She survived her husband and died at Caludon, co. Warwick, and was buried 30 Jan. 1634/5 at Walsgrave-on-Sowe in the same county;¹⁴ her will, dated 17 Oct. 622 [sic] and proved 1 June 1625,¹⁵ mentions only two children, her sons Thomas, named executor, and Richard.

──────────────────────────────

⁷ William D. LIGON, The LIGON Family and Connections (2 v.; Hartford, Conn., 1947-57), v. 1, p. 45, dates the marriage contract to Autumn 1529, probably from the original in the Madresfield archives.

⁸ Smyth, op. cit., v. 2, p. 178.  For a family pedigree see also (Sir) John Maclean and W.C. Heane, ed., The Visitation of the County of Gloucester … (Harleian Society, Publications, Visitation ser., v. 21; London, 1885), pp. 50-51.

⁹ Consistory Court of Gloucester, Act Book, 1585.

¹⁰ Inquisition post mortem of William LYGON, Public Record Office, Chancery ser. 2, 148:1 (Worcester), 149:128 (Gloucester).

¹¹ Elkstone, Gloucestershire, Parish register.

¹² Smyth, op. cit., v. 2, p. 184.

¹³ Maclean and Heane, op. cit., p. 51.

¹⁴ Walsgrave-on-Sowe, Warwickshire, Parish register, unpaged.

¹⁵ Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 70 Clarke (1625), in which it is said that she is residing at Merson, co. Wilts.

[page 50]

The son Thomas LYGON, born in or about 1577 (aged 44 “or thereabouts” in 1621),¹⁶ was buried at Walsgrave-on-Sowe as “Mr. Thomas LIGON from Stoke” on 20 Dec. 1626.¹⁷ He married there 18 Aug. 1623¹⁸ Elizabeth PRATT (“Mr. Thomas LIGGINS and Elizabeth PRATT from Caludon”), baptized at Stoke-Biggin, co. Warwick, 10 Oct. 1602,¹⁹ buried at Walsgrave-on-Sowe as “Elizabeth LIGON” 19 Aug. 1631,²⁰ daughter of Dennis or Dionis PRATT and his wife.  The nuncupative will of Denis PRATT, undated but proved 21 July 1614,²¹ left everything to his wife Ann “to bring up the children”; the estate was a small one and it appears that Elizabeth PRATT was well below the social level of her husband, for she is not called “Mrs.” at marriage, at burial or in her estate proceedings.  John Smyth does not mention any prior wife for Thomas LYGON and, given the short period of time between marriage and the birth of the son Thomas (less than five months) it is likely that Elizabeth PRATT had been a housekeeper or maidservant for Thomas LYGON and was impregnated by him.

Administration of the estate of Thomas LYGON “of Stoke in the County [sic] of the City of Coventry” was granted to his widow Elizabeth 16 Feb. 1626/7.²² Stoke and Walsgrave-on-Sowe are suburban parishes to the City of Coventry while Caludon was part of the ancient parish of St. Michael’s, Coventry; since the early registers of St. Michael’s are destroyed, it is good that the LYGONs seem to have had their baptisms, marriages and burials at Walsgrave-on-Sowe (sometimes “Sowe,” a short form, is found).

Administration of the estate of Elizabeth PRATT alias LIGGON of Aldridge, co. Warwick [Aldridge is in fact in co. Stafford] was granted 30 Aug. 1631 to Richard LIGGON, paternal uncle of Thomas and Joan LIGGON, children of the said Elizabeth.²³ Thomas had been baptized 11 Jan. 1623/4 and Joan 3 April 1625 at Walsgrave-on-Sowe as “of Caludon.”²⁴ While John Smyth

──────────────────────────────

¹⁶ Chancery Depositions, Elizabeth I-Charles I, Group 3, Bundle E 20, Suit 23, one of several valuable discoveries made by Mr. Michael Wood for the previous summary.

¹⁷ Walsgrave-on-Sowe Parish register.

¹⁸ Ibid.

¹⁹ Stoke Parish register, unpaged.

²⁰ Walsgrave-on-Sowe Parish register, unpaged.

²¹ Consistory Court of Lichfield, Original wills, 1614.  The register entries for 1614 in the Stoke Parish register are virtually illegible.

²² Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Admon. Act. Book 1625-27, p. 133.

²³ Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Admon. Act Book 1631-33, p. 48.

²⁴ Walsgrave-on-Sowe Parish register, unpaged.

[page 51]

satisfies himself with saying that Thomas and Elizabeth “hath issue” and does not name or pursue the two orphans,²⁵ the fact that the young Thomas LIGON was a cousin both to the Lord BERKELEY and to Governor (Sir) William BERKELEY [Margery (LYGON) BERKELEY, the Governor's paternal grandmother, was the eldest daughter of William and Eleanor (DENNIS) LYGON]²⁶ would go far to explain the patronage which brought him to Virginia, and, given the lack of any other qualifying Thomas LIGON/LYGON of the proper age in England, and the names that the immigrant (Col.) Thomas LIGON gave to his children and the positions of responsibility and authority held by the latter at an early age in Virginia,²⁷ gives no reason to doubt the identification made by Messrs. Wood and Roberts as the correct parentage for the immigrant.

──────────────────────────────

²⁵ Smyth, op. cit., v. 2, p. 184.

²⁶ Ibid., v. 1, p. 261; v. 2, p. 184.

²⁷ The best summary of the life and career of (Col.) Thomas LIGON in Virginia is in John Frederick Dorman, ed., Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia, 1607-1624/5 (3rd ed.; Richmond, 1987), pp. 356-57.

Ancestry of Edward Wales Blake and Clarissa Matilda Glidden

Source:  Edith Bartlett Sumner, Ancestry of Edward Wales Blake and Clarissa Matilda Glidden with Ninety Allied Families (Los Angeles: published by the author, 1948).  [WorldCat]

[page 1]

ARMS of the Wiltshire BLAKEs:

Argent, a chevron between three garbs sable.

CREST: On a chapeau gules, turned up ermine, a martlett, argent.

This coat of arms was borne by Admiral Robert BLAKE on his ships, as his personal arms.

The BLAKE family of Wiltshire, England, took its name from Blakeland, a parish in that county. Francis E. BLAKE in “Increase BLAKE and his Descendants” says: “For several year the writer has had a very pleasant correspondence with Edward J. BLAKE, Esq, of Crewkerne, Somerset, [a descendant of John BLAKE, a brother of our William BLAKE of Pitminster] who in his endeavors to trace his own ancestry has made extensive and apparently exhaustive research…. He believes with many others that there is sufficient substantial evidence to indicate that they were from Over-Stowey, not many miles distant from Pitminster.”

The first recorded mention of the family is in 1286:

ROBERT^I DE BLAKELAND was assessed on the Wiltshire Roll of Subsidies granted in 1286 to King EDWARD I. His son or grandson:

ROBERT^II DE BLAKELAND had a residence in Calne, Wiltshire. He was assessed on the Wiltshire Subsidy Rolls in

[page 2]

1347 for a large amount to meet the requirements of EDWARD III. By his wife Anne, daughter of William COLE, he had:

HENRY^III BLAKE, who dropped the “de” from his name, and the termination “land.” He married a daughter of Mr. Edward DURANT. They had a son:

WILLIAM^IV BLAKE, who married Elizabeth, the daughter and heiress of Mr. Thomas POWER.  Their son:

HENRY^V BLAKE, of Calne, married Margaret, daughter of “Mr” BILETT. (The title Mr. denoted gentry.) Son:

ROBERT^VI BLAKE, of Calne and Quemberford, married Avice, daughter and heiress of John WALLOP, Esq. of Southampton, Hampshire, and acquired by her large estates in that county. (“Esquire” indicated the next higher rank to “Mr.”) Avice died on 10-29-1474, and she and Robert are buried inside the church at Calne, where in stained glass windows he is represented as habited in armor, with a surcoat charged with his armorial bearings.  Avice appears in a long robe with a scarf embroidered with the arms of her family: Gules, on a chevron argent, two crescents. Chil.:

• 1 Gilbert^vii. D. unm.
• 2 Alexander, D. unm.
• 3 John, 1434-1504. Inherited the est. Bur. in church at Nether Wallop. Will of 2-24-1504 proved 4-24-1504.
• 4 Robert. Succeeded John to Wiltshire estates. D.1515. M. Margaret, dau. of Sir Thomas ENGLEFIELD.
• 5 William. See below.
• 6 Alice.
• 7 Joan.

WILLIAM^VII BLAKE lived in White Parish, Wiltshire, and died in 1471. After his death the widow and two sons removed to Hampshire and settled in Andover on the estate called Eastontown, formerly part of the estate of her husband’s mother Avice WALLOP.

• 1 William^viii, eldest son and heir. See below.
• 2 Robert, of West Enham in Andover. M. _______ SNELL.

WILLIAM^VIII BLAKE lived in Andover, White Parish, in Old Hall in Eastontown. He also had lands and tenements in Knights Enham (occupied by his brother Robert in 1504). He married Mary, a daughter of Humphrey COLES of Somerset. His will was probated on 6-20-1547. Children:

• 1 Nicholas^ix, of Old Hall. Will, 1547, names wife Margaret; sons William, Edmund; daus. Alice, Elizabeth.
• 2 Humphrey. See below.
• 3 Alice. M. _______ CABULL.

[page 3]

HUMPHREY^ix BLAKE lived in Somersetshire in the early part of the sixteenth century. He purchased large estates in Over-Stowey, Somerset, where he became Lord of the Manor of Plainfield, and patron of the churches at Over-Stowey and Aisholt. Plainfield Manor was owned in a large part by the BLAKE family for over two hundred years. “Pleasantly situated on the east side of Quantock Hills, it consists of four hamlets in Marsh Hills: Adiscombe, Ely Green, and Plainfield. The manor house at Plainfield, a mile from the church, has the BLAKE arms over the fireplace in the great hall.” In 1910 it was occupied by a farmer tenant of the Earl of Egmont. In 1555 Humphrey BLAKE added the adjoining manor of Tuxwell, which he bought of George SYDENHAM. He was buried in Over-Stowey on 12-28-1558. His will, made on 11-19-1558, was probated on 5-11-1559. Among the bequests were twelve pence for each priest attending his funeral, and a sum for repairs to the church. Agnes BLAKE, his widow, was buried on 6-24-1585.

From the fact that there were two sons named John, it is thought that Humphrey may have had two wives.

Children of Humphrey [and Agnes?], order not known:

• 1 John^x, “the elder,” 1521. See below.
• 2 Robert. Of the Manor of Tuxwell. D.1592. M. Margaret SYMONDS (Her will proved 1600.)  Children:
  • 1 William^xi, of Tuxwell in 1600.
  • 2 Anstice. M. Robert BOCKINGE.
  • 3 Humphrey. Twice mayor of Bridgewater, Eng. D.1625. M. Sarah² (Humphrey¹) WILLIAMS.  Had 10 or 12 chil., among whom were: (S.C.Hist.& Gen.Mag.,39:103; 40:42)
    • 1 Robert^xii, 1599. D.1657, unmar. M.P. for Bridgewater, 1640-5. Famous admiral.  Bore coat of arms of Wiltshire BLAKEs on his ships as personal arms.
    • 2 Benjamin, 1614. D.c1689. Went to W.I. with Adm. Sir William PENN.  Commanded ship at Santa Cruz in 1657. Received large grants of land in South Carolina. Clerk of the Crown and Peace for South Carolina in 1687, etc.  Probably the only son:
      • 1 Joseph^xiii, b. Eng. D., S.C., 1700. Deputy Landgrave and twice Gov. of S.C.  “A man of property; devoted much of his fortune to the cause of immigration, and brought over to Charlestown, S.C., 1660, a company of men who ranked with the best in the land.” (Burke: Prominent Fams.of U.S.A., pp. 79-81.) M.1698, Elizabeth² (Daniel¹) AXTELL.
        • 1 Rebecca^xiv, 1699. D.,1719. M., 1717, George² (Gov. Thomas¹) SMITH.
        • 2 Joseph, 1700. D.,1751. M.,1720, Sarah² (Daniel¹) LINDREY; 5 chil.
• 3 Thomas. Inher. Tuxwell Manor. M.1569, Agnes CASTLEMAN.
• 4 John, “the younger.” M.1558, Christian JUGG.
• 5 Agnes. M. _______ MANNING.
• 6 Eleanor. M. _______ LANGHAM.
• 7 Alice. M. George SLOCOMBE. Had dau. Joane.

[page 4]

JOHN^X BLAKE “the elder” was born in 1521 and died in 1576. The name of his wife was Jane, who died in 1595.

He succeeded to the manor of Plainfield and to other estates. He received by will the patronage of the church at Aisholt, County Somerset. In his will of 11-26-1576 he bequeathed to his son Richard the advowson of the Over-Stowey church. John was buried on 12-10-1576, and Jane, his widow, was buried on 6-17-1595, both in the chancel of the church at Over-Stowey.

Children of John and (presumably) Jane:

• 1 Humphrey^xi. M.1578, Agnes JAMES.
• 2 William. See below.
• 3 Alice. M.1569, James RICHARDS.
• 4 Anne. M.1573, Thomas SAUNDERS.
• 5 Elizabeth. M. 1571, Robert SELLICK, son of Vicar SELLICK of Over-Stowey.
• 6 Richard, bap. 1-1-1563. (M.1589, Grace NAPCOTT?) Son was Vicar of Over-Stowey in 1611. Bur. in chancel.
• 7 Robert, bap. 5-12-1566. No further record found.

WILLIAM^XI BLAKE received by his father’s will, Plainfield in Over-Stowey, Bishops Lydiard, and Padnoller in Spaxton Parish. No subsequent trace of him is found on the Over-Stowey parish registers. The Taunton, Somersetshire, manor rolls show that a William BLAKE bought lands in Pitminster, Somerset, in 1586, which would correspond, perhaps, with his marriage. The Pitminster parish registers begin in 1544 and are very well preserved, yet there is not a single BLAKE entry until 1588, when Grace BLAKE was baptized. The logical inference is that there were no BLAKEs in Pitminster before 1588, and that this William BLAKE who appears in Pitminster for the first time in that year is the same man whose name disappeared from the Overton-Stowey registers.

A William BLAKE was buried in Pitminster, 6-13-1642. A widow Anne BLAKE was buried there on 8-14-1644.

Children, as written in Pitminster parish registers:

• 1 Robert^xii BLAKE (perhaps a son). M., Pitminster, 1617, Sara WICHAM.
• 2 Grace, d. of Will^m BLAKE, bapt. 9 day of February 1588.
• 3 Eme, d. of William BLAKE, bapt. 3rd of December 1592.
• 4 William BLACK, son of William BLAKE, Bap. Xth Day of July, 1594. This is the immigrant WILLIAM¹ BLAKE.
• 5 John BLACK, son of William BLACKE, was Bap. the XIXth day of June, 1597. (D.1645. Grandfather of famous Rev. Malachi BLAKE who was in Monmouth’s Rebellion.)
• 6 Añe BLAAK, daughter of William BLAAK was baptized the sixteenth day of October 1600. (She m.1628, Thomas BIDGOOD.)
• 7 Richard BLAAK, son of William BLAAK, was baptized seventeenth day of Aprill, 1603.

[page 5]

The account in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 1857, Vol.11:181, giving the parents of Mr. William BLAKE of Dorchester, Mass., as Giles and Dorothy [TWEEDY] BLAKE, of Little Baddow, Essex, England, was corrected in Vol. 45:35, but has unfortunately been accepted by many compilers of this line of BLAKEs.

WILLIAM¹ BLAKE, the immigrant to America, was the son of William and Anne BLAKE of Pitminster, County Somerset, England, born according to one writer on 6-5-1594. He was baptized in Pitminster, 7-10-1594.  The Pitminster register states: “William BLAKE was married to Agnis BAND, widow, the XXIJth day of September, 1617.”  She may have been a daughter of Hugh THORNE, and the widow of Richard BAND of Batherford. William BLAKE died 10-25-1663, and his widow, Agnes, died 7-22-1678, both in Dorchester, Massachusetts.

The years between 1624 and 1636 are unaccounted for. During that time his son Edward was born, but where is not at present known. Search of the records of the church at Aisholt, in which his grandfather John BLAKE had an interest, might reveal much. It might also be pointed out that his second cousin, the famous Admiral Robert BLAKE, was a contemporary of his – perhaps William sailed with him before deciding on New England as his future home.

It has been asserted that the BLAKE family came with the Winthrop Fleet, in the Mary and John, but they are not on the passenger list. The Cleveland Genealogy, without giving the authority, says William sold a house at Aisholt in January 1630, and then sailed for New England. At any rate, William BLAKE had the first allotment of land granted in Dorchester, Mass., on 5-14-1636. He joined Dorchester First Church before 3-14-1639, the date on which he was accepted a Freeman of Massachusetts Bay Colony. Only proprietors and church members could become Freemen, with the privilege of the franchise, and eligible to hold office.

Specimens of his writing and fac simile of his will may be found in “Increase BLAKE, His Ancestors and Descendants,” which says this about him: “There is no record in Pitminster, or evidence of his residence between the year 1624, when his son James was baptized, and 1636, when he was found in America. There is no foundation whatever for the assertion that he came in 1630 in the Mary and John… Considering the prominent position which he subsequently occupied in Dorchester, it does not seem plausible that he could have joined any settlement in this country without so making his worth known to his associates that his name would appear upon its records. In the absence of the positive evidence it is reasonable to suppose that he came to New England in the fall of 1635 or the early months of 1636, and remained at Dorchester or Roxbury, making the acquaintance of Mr. PYNCHON in May 1636, when they … drew up and

[page 6]

signed the articles of association at Agawam, now Springfield, Mass., which agreement is still preserved…. There can be no doubt that he was a man of integrity, and above the average intelligence of his neighbors. He served the town in various capacities: Constable, 1641; on the committee to build the new meeting house, 1645; Selectman 1645 to 1647, also 1651; and he was one of five men who were given authority to make assignments of lots and manage affairs of the settlement in general.”

The Springfield agreement stipulated: “William BLAKE shall have sixteen polls in bredth for his home lott, and all the marsh in breadth abuttinge at the end of it to the next high land, and three acrs more in some other place.”

In Dorchester he served as Clerk of the Militia, and in 1646 was a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts — unless this was his son William, of Milton, Mass., who was then twenty-six.  In 1656 he was chosen Dorchester’s first Recorder, for which he received twenty shillings per year, and was rate free.

His will was dated 9-3-1661, one of the bequests being: “Unto the Towne of Dorchester twenty shillings to be bestowed for repairing of the buring place, soe swine and other vermine may not añoy the graues of the saints, provided it be repaired within one yeare after my decease.” (In 1664 a committee of Selectmen was appointed “to gett the burying place well and sufficiently to be fenced in, and to demand of John BLAKE twenty shillings given by his father in his last will … to that end and vse.”) Half his estate was to go to his beloved wife; the other half to be divided equally among his five children — “not that I disrespect my eldest sonne, as he hath ben and is soe dutiful a child vnto me as any of my children, but because he hath least need of it, and he hath no charge.”  (See John-2.)

His great-grandson James-4 BLAKE wrote in his Annals of Dorchester: “This year died Mr. William BLAKE who had been clerk of the Writs for the County of Suffolk and Recorder for the Town in 1656, and continued in office about eight years. He was also Clerk of the Training Band. He died the 25th of the 8th mo.:
1663, in his 69th year…”

Soon after his death his widow, Agnes BLAKE, removed to Boston, probably to live with her son John, or perhaps with her only daughter Anne, already the widow of Jacob LEAGER. The Dorchester church record of 2-6-1670 states: “Sister Agnes BLAKE (the wife of William BLAKE, deceased), she having removed her dwelling to Boston, was dismissed to Joyne to the theird Church in Boston.”

Quotation from Symonds’ “History of South Boston” : “This family of BLAKEs in all their generations have been distinguished for their piety, for their great accuracy in matters of fact. Many of them have held important offices of honor and trust in the community, and no records of past events are more reliable than those kept by them. The Annals of Dorchester, written by James BLAKE, are historical documents of the first importance, and no surveys and plans are more complete and accurate than his.”

[page 7]

Children of William and Agnes, as given in the Pitminster parish registers:

• 1 John². “1618: John BLAKE, sonne of William BLAKE, and Ane BLAKE daughter of William BLAKE was baptised xxxth of August.” D.,Boston, 1-25-1689. He left his houses and lands in Boston to John³ (James²) BLAKE. Joined Anc. & Hon. Artillery Co., Boston, 1642. Exec. of Gov. John WINTHROP’s will, 1676. M., Boston, 1654, “age 36,” Mary² (Nathaniel¹) SOUTHER, widow of Jospeh² (Abraham¹) SHAW; 1 dau., Hannah, 1757-1759. TORREY-BLAKE Gen. says: “Probably m. dau. of Edward BRECK of Dorchester, c1640; she d.1645, leaving chil.”
• 2 Anne. Bap., 1618, w. John, above. D.1681, “ae 63.” Her tombstone now in possession of the Bostonian Society, having been taken from the Granary Burying Ground. M. 1st, bef.1651 (as 3d wife), Jacob LEAGER of Boston (1603-1663). M.2nd, [William?] HALLOWELL.
  • 1 Bethiah LEAGER, 1651. B. in William BLAKE Sr.’s house in Dorchester. M. Fearnot SHAW; 3 chil.
  • 2 Hannah LEAGER, 1655. M.1st, John WALKER. M.2nd, Thomas PHILLIPS; 1 dau.
• 3 William, “sonne of William BLAKE was baptised 6th of September 1620.” D., Milton, Mass., 1703.  Kept an inn in Milton, Mass. (Joined Anc. & Hon. Artillery Co., 1646?) M.c1649, Anne —— (alive 1680); 11 chil. See Americana, Vol. 31, for descendants. M.2nd,1693, Hannah² (Thomas¹) TOLMAN (1640-1729), (the widow of George LYON); no chil. Overseer, James’ will, 1700.
• 4 James, “sonne of William BLAKE was baptised 27th April 1624.”
• 5 Edward, c1625. Prob. youngest, but baptism not found. John² BLAKE called him brother in will, 1689.  D.Milton, Mass., 1692. M.,c1653, Patience² (John¹) POPE, (d.1690); 6 chil. See Bangor, Me., Hist. Magazine, Vol. 2:1-18, and N.E. Register, Vol. 89:284, for descendants.

JAMES² BLAKE was baptized in Pitminster, County Somerset, England, 4-27-1624. He married in Dorchester, Mass., “about the first of January, 1652,” Elizabeth, daughter of Edward CLAPP of Dorchester. She was born in Dorchester, in 1634, and died there on 1-16-1695, “in her 61st year.” (See CLAPP.) James married again, on 9-17-1695, Mrs Elizabeth HUNT of Rehoboth, Mass. Mrs. HUNT was the daughter of Henry SMITH from Norfolk County, England, and had married Peter HUNT in 1646. James died on 6-28-1700 in Dorchester.  James came to America with his parents about 1636, but the first record found is his marriage in 1652.  The next year he was made Freeman. He is said to have built the first house in Dorchester Neck, in 1650, which was of such a substantial character that in 1669 the town voted to build for its minister “such a house as James BLAKE’s house, namely 38 foote in length and 20 foote wide and 16 foote between its joists….”

Edward Rossiter, Colonist, of Dorchester, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Source: Meredith B. Colket, Jr., “Edward Rossiter, Colonist, of Dorchester, Massachusetts Bay Colony and
the Rossiter English Lineage,” New England Historical and Genealogical Register 138[1984]:4-16.

1. INTRODUCTION

Edward Rossiter of Combe St. Nicholas, co. Somerset and of Dorchester, Massachusetts, gentleman, one of the Assistants of Governor John Winthrop, came to this country in 1630, but died that year. Of his children, three would become forebears of descendants in America: Bryan or Bray, noted physician, ancestor of the Rossiters of America; Jane who married Thomas Gilbert; and Joan who married Nicholas Hart. Information about Edward appears in Meredith B. Colket, Jr., “Edward Rossiter, His Family, and Notes on His English Connections,” The American Genealogist (13[1937]: 145-151).

Even though Edward’s place of origin in New England was known, it had not been possible to determine the identity of his ancestors. There were several stumbling blocks. The original parish registers of the parish prior to 1678 have not survived; neither have Rossiter wills that might have helped reconstruct the pedigree. Original documents that are available are chiefly in Latin, while some that are frail, torn or faded have been deciphered with the use of an ultraviolet lamp. Fortunately, Combe St. Nicholas was on a manor, and many of the manorial court rolls have survived and have been dep[osited in the Somerset Record Office, Taunton, co. Somerset. Fortunately, too, Edward Rossiter and his immediate male-line forbears possessed landed estates of sufficient size to require inquisitions post mortem (also in Latin). These inquiries, addressed to local inhabitants called jurors, determined the land owned by the deceased at the time of death. The deceased were usually tenants in chief of the king.

Through the enthusiastic interest and support of Mr. Charles Fitch-Northen, a scholar of Paignton, Devon, appropriate records in Latin as translated by him, and other records, have been made available for the preparation of this article. A descendant of Edward Rossiter, he was stimulated by the appearance of the article in The American Genealogist years ago. We owe a deep debt of gratitude to him for the thoroughness of his research and for his suggestions. The organization of this article, the points of view expressed, the interpretation of evidence and the conclusions drawn are the sole responsibility of the compiler. Photocopies of the essential records, the basis of which this study has been made, are being deposited in the library of the New England Historic Genealogical Society for future reference.

II. THE ROSSITER SURNAME AND EMBRYONIC BEGINNINGS

The surname Rossiter (or Rosseter as it is often written) was spelled variously before the end of the
sixteenth century. We find Rocetre, Rocetor, Rocestre, Rossa, Rosseltur, Rosy, Roucetre, Roncetre, and very early De Roffa, De Rocester and De Rochester. Charles Wareing Bardsley in A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (London, 1901) declares the derivation of Rossiter in most cases is probably from a place name, "of Rochester."

It is known that, before surnames were inherited, clergy from the See of Rochester in Kent were named Roffa, De Roncestre, De Rochester, and appointed to benefices in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset. Solomon de Rochester (his name was written variously) was named Justice in Eyre, Devon, in 1303.

A Feet of Fines recorded at Exeter, co. Devon 52 Henry III (1267/8) shows that Solomon de Roucester and his brother William had interest in land at Hamne, a village just east of Taunton (Emanuel Green, Pedes Finium: Commonly Called Feet of Fines for the County of Somerset: Richard I to Edward I, AD 1196 to AD 1307, Somerset Record Society, 6 [1892]: 216). In 9 Richard II (1385/6), a William Roucestre was involved in a dispute over land in Knoll and “Chafcombe.” Chaffcombe parish is a short distance southeast of Combe St. Nicholas (Green, Feet of Fines: 21 Edward III to 20 Richard II, AD. 1347 to AD. 1399, ibid., 17 [1902]: 128, 129).

III. THE PRESUMED FOREBEARS OF THE ROSSITERS OF COMBE ST. NICHOLAS AND THE ROSSITER COAT OF ARMS

In 1445 and again in 1448, a Richard Roucetre was one of two to present a rector to the Church of Stoke (Walton in Gordano), co. Somerset (H. C. Maxwell-Lyte and M. C. B. Dawes, eds., The Register of Thomas Bekynton, Bishop of Bath and Wells, 1443-1465, ibid., 49 [1934]: 36, 37, 93). A person having the right to determine the holder of a church benefice was obviously a person of some prestige in the community.

This Richard Roucetre was apparently the Richard Roucestre who had married by Martinmas 26 Henry VI (1447) Joan Peion, daughter and heiress of Roger Peion. Roger’s wife was also Joan. The evidence for the relationship is the following Somerset fine:

26 HENRY VI (1447-8). 325. At Westminster in the octave of St. Martin between Henry Perot querent; and Roger Peion and Joan his wife and Richard Roucestre and Joan his wife, daughter and heir of the said Roger, deforciants; for two messuages, forty acres of land, ten acres meadow, and ten acres pasture, in Southbarough (and land in Dorset). Roger and Joan his wife acknowledged the right of Henry; for this Henry granted the same to Richard and Joan his wife and their issue, and if they die without issue then to remain to the right heirs of Roger (Green, Feet of Fines: Henry IV to Richard III, ibid., 22 [1906]: 119).

There are two reasons to suspect that Richard was a forebear of the Rossiters of Combe St. Nicholas: one concerns land ownership; the other the subsequent adoption by prescriptive right (or long-time use) of a coat of arms that uses a pheon, an apparent pun on the surname Peion (the family through whom the Rossiters presumably inherited property). Second, Southbarough, the place named in the fine, is quite obviously the parish of South Barrow, co. Somerset. Later Rossiters, specifically Joan Rosseter, wife of William Hartgill, inherited property at “Barow,” probably the same place.

The coat of arms was argent on a chevron of gules, three pheons or. Now a pheon is a little used heraldic device showing a missile, a barbed head thrown from a crossbow. The use of the coat was confirmed John Rosseter of Old Cleve, co. Somerset, by the College of Arms in 1631 according to The Visitations of the County of Somerset in the Years 1531-1573 (Frederic William Weaver, ed. [Exeter, England, 1885], 128).

A branch of the Rossiters of Combe St. Nicholas located at Aslackby, co. Lincoln, used a variant coat: argent on a chevron gules three pheons of the field (A. R. Maddison, Lincolnshire Pedigrees, The Publication of the Harleian Society 52 [1904]: 83.) The ancient Roucester (Rossiter) family of Rothmacnee, co. Wexford, Ireland used the same coat as in the Somerset visitation with a difference (Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales [London, 1884]).

IV. LINEAGE OF THE ROSSITERS (ROSSETERS) OF COMBE ST. NICHOLAS

For over a century the eldest son of the eldest son of the Rossiters at Combe St. Nicholas were members of the landed gentry. The first generation below is the generation that preceded them. This generation can only be partially recreated.

1. —– ROSSITER (i.e., ROUCESTRE) married before 1562 JOAN —–, who died a widow 2 May 5 Henry VIII (1513). An inquisition post mortem relating only to her Dorset lands was taken at Bridport in that country. No inquest has been found on her husband’s property. If one was taken, it is among the many that have not survived. The Richard ROUCESTRE who was married to Joan Peion described above does not harmonize chronologically with this family. A William Roncestre of Chard, co. Somerset, in a plea of trespass Michaelmas 1464 does harmonize chronologically:

Wm. Roncestre, late of Chard, yeoman, and Joan his wife were attached to answer John Brokhampton on a plea of trespass on property which he leased at Chard…. The suit was to determine ownership of property (“Extraneous Documents,” Somerset Record Society).

The record also harmonizes geographically. Chard is the market town of Combe St. Nicholas, less than three miles away.

Joan’s inquisition post mortem (Public Record Office C 142/79/184 Dorset) as translated from the Latin is abstracted in part below:

The said Joan held no lands or tenements from the king in chief in the co. aforesaid on the day when she died. But they say that the said Joan for a long time before the time of her death was seized of four messuages one toft two curtilages with appurtenances situated within the borough of Shaftesbury in the co. aforesaid, and of forty acres of [word torn] and pasture and four acres of meadow with appurtenances lying within the hundred of Alcester (in Shaftesbury) in the co. aforesaid in her demesne as of fee and thus seized thereof gave and granted all the same messuages &c. to [name faded.] Roucester her son to have and to hold to him and his heirs for ever by virtue of which gift the same Richard was seized thereof in his demesne as of fee and of such estate is still seized. And they say that the said messuages toft and curtilages with appurtenances are held of the Abbess of Shaftesbury as in right of her church or monastery at Shaftesbury in free burgage tenure [in libero burgagio] and is worth after deductions 50.s. a year. And that the said Joan held no other lands &c. in the said co. on the day when she died and the same Joan died on 2nd May 5 Henry VIII And that the said Richard Roucester is her son and next heir and is of age 50 years and more.

Known issue:

2.i. RICHARD, eldest son, b. 1463 or before.

2. RICHARD ROSSITER (William?) of Combe St. Nicholas, co. Somerset, gentleman, was born circa 1463 or before (aged 50 or more 1513), according to his mother’s inquisition post mortem. He died 3 September 21 Henry VIII (1529) according to his own inquisition.

He married circa 1490 ELIZABETH —– who was deceased at the time of her daughter, Joan Hartgill’s inquisition post mortem in 1558. There are two visitation pedigrees that offer clues as to Elizabeth’s identity. One is the Visitation of Lincolnshire mentioned above which identifies the wife of Richard Rossiter (father of Philip and George) as daughter of Hartgill. However, the Visitation goes on to say that his wife was sister of the Hartgill who was murdered by Lord Stourton (1566/7). Contemporary records show that William Hartgill married Richard’s daughter; so the Visitation is garbled. A better clue is Lt. Col. J. L. Vivian’s Visitation of Devon (1895), p. 591, which in part reprints the 1564 Visitation dealing with Perye of Water, parish of Wembury, co. Devon. Here Elizabeth wife to “Rossetor” is recorded as daughter of William Perye who married a daughter of John Frye. Members of the Frye family are closely associated with the later Rossiters at Combe St. Nicholas.

In 1524 Richard Rossiter, called “Richard Rosseltur, gent.” and his son-in-law William Hartgill were jurors at the inquisition post mortem of William Long at Shafton, i.e. Shaftesbury, co. Dorset (Notes and Queries for Somerset and Dorset 26 [1954/5]: 192). Richard Rossiter was the first proved land owner at Combe St. Nicholas. Called “Richard Rocetr” at his inquisition post mortem held at Ilminster, co. Somerset, on 21 Henry VIII (1529), he then owned in the parish 4 messuages and 543 acres of land (Public Record Office, C 142/57/94, Somerset). He died 3 September 1529 leaving Philip aged 30 and more as his heir.

Children:

i. JOAN, b. ca. 1495, only known dau.; d. 20 July 1558, inquisition post mortem at Shaftsbury, co. Dorset (Public Record Office C 142/116/18 Dorset); m. (settlement) 12 May 6 Henry VIII (1514) William Hartgill of Kilmington, co. Somerset, esquire. The inquisition deals with lands she received in Dorset following the death of her father and mother, Richard and Elizabeth Rossiter, and in accordance with the marriage settlement.

William Hartgill was land steward to William Lord Stourton. When Lord Stourton died in 1554, his son Charles forced his mother not to remarry. She then took refuge in William Hartgill’s home. Charles struck Joan Hartgill with his sword. Later, on 12 Jan. 1556 at Bonham, co. Somerset, he secretly murdered her husband William Hartgill and their son John. For this Charles Lord Stourton was hanged 6 Mar. 1556/7 with a silk noose around his neck. The dramatic story is told in William Phelps, The History and Antiquities of Somersetshire (London, 1839, 1:178-87); in brief in George Edward Cokayne, The Complete Peerage (13 vols. [London, 1910-1940], 12:pt. 1:307. 308); and in great detail in Rev. J. E. Jackson, Charles Lord Stourton and the Hartgill Murders (Devises, 1864). William Hartgill’s will, dated 12 Jan. 1553 was proved 13 Nov. 1557 (P. C. C. 47 Wrastley, Frederick Brown, Abstracts of Somerset Wills, 4th Series, p. 18). William willed his wife Joan “all her lands in Shaftsburye, Barow (obviously parish of South Barrow, co. Somerset) and Bristol for her life.” Note also 1623 Visitation of Somersetshire, p. 46.

3.ii. PHILIP, b. ca. 1499, eldest son.

iii. GEORGE, perhaps b. ca. 1505, second son; m. ANN WILLIAMS. He was presumably the one of this name described as “George Rocetour, my servant” who was willed 40 s. in the 1537 will of Dame Elizabeth Speke (widow of Sir John Speke, knt.) of East Doulish, co. Somerset (P. C. C. 16 Dyngeley. See Somerset Wills, Somerset Record Society 21 [1905]: 38-39). He headed the armigerous branch of the family that removed to Aslackby, co. Lincoln, and appeared in Maddison’s Lincolnshire Pedigrees.

3. PHILIP ROSSITER or ROSSETER (Richard, William?) of Combe St. Nicholas, co. Somerset, gentleman, was born circa 1499 or before (over 30 years of age in 1529 when his father died). Philip probably died in 1583 or shortly thereafter. He is last named in the 1583 Survey of the Prebendaries of Welles Manor, Combe St. Nicholas, the record being in the Somerset Archeology Society, Taunton (Records No. SF 86; photocopy of record retained). Philip married twice, the first marriage having taken place about 1538. The identity of this wife is unknown.

Philip married secondly at North Curry, co. Somerset, on 30 April 1564 KATHERINE LYTE. The marriage is published in W. P. W. Phillimore’s Somerset Parish Registers: Marriages, 15 v. ([London, 1898-1915], 2:79): “Philip Rossetergen and Katherine Lite laste of Apr. 1564,” the abbreviation “gen” standing for generosus (i.e., gentleman).

North Curry lies five miles east of Taunton. The parish embraces the manor of Tillesdon, residence of William Lyte (called Black William) whose identity as father of Katherine, the wife of Philip Rossiter, appears in the extensive Lyte pedigree in the 1623 “Visitation of Wiltshire” (The Publication of the Harleian Society, v. 105/6:230-234, especially 232, 1954). Philip Rossiter is described in the visitation as of St. Collies Combe uxta Chard. Collies in early days was the colloquial name for Nicholas. Chard was the market town 2-1/2 miles southeast of Combe St. Nicholas.

William Lyte married Dorothea, daughter of Edward Kellway of Rockborne, co. Wilts, knight. Among William’s other children was Gertrude who married Thomas Howard, Viscount Howard of Bindon, Queen Elizabeth’s first cousin (see Cokayne, The Complete Peerage, 6:583, 584). William was a member of the distinguished Lyte family of Lyte’s Cary, parish of Charlton Mackerell being the second son of Thomas, Lord of the manor. The story of Lytes Cary Manor House was written by William George in 1879. The impressive manor house has survived. It is now a property of the National Trust and partly opened to the public.

In 1529 at the time of Philip’s father’s death, the inquistion post mortem shows that he inherited in Combe St. Nicholas 4 messuages, 31 acres meadow, 312 acres of pasture and 200 acres of woodland. In the reign of Elizabeth, 1569, Philip “Roceter” of the Tithing of Combe furnished a corslet of armor to the crown (Emanuel Green, Certificate of Muster in the County of Somerset: Temp. Elizabeth A.D. 1569, Somerset Record Society, 20 [1904]: 262).

Three Combe St. Nicholas lay subsidies in the Public Record Office show payment of taxes:

Ca 1557 Philip Rosy gent assessed £16 for relief, paid 16 shillings. The four others taxed in the parish were husbandmen (3-6 Edward VI, No. E 179/170/254).

1570/1 Phillipus Rocetor gen in terris assessed £4 paid 10 s. 4 d. He was the only inhabitant that year who was taxed on land (13 Elizabeth No. E 179/171/284).

1580/1 Phus Rosseter in terris £4 paid 10 s. 8 d. Of 19 taxable inhabitants, Philip was the only one taxed on land. (23 Elizabeth No. E 179/256/2 photocopy of document retained.)

Known or probable children by his first marriage:

4.i. NICHOLAS, b. ca. 1539, eldest son.

ii. (probably) WILLIAM of Combe St. Nicholas and London, grocer. In 1572 he sold a share of the manor of Fairfax to William Guy alias Gysse of Combe St. Nicholas (Elizabeth Crittall, A History of Wiltshire, The Victoria History of the Counties of England [London, 1965], 8:102. Note also Elizabeth Rossiter, widow 8:18). In 20 Elizabeth (1577-8) an indenture was made for a copyhold tenancy at Combe St. Nicholas for the three lives of William Rossiter and daus. Joan and Grace. In 5 James I (1607-8) the above is recorded on the court rolls with information that William was then dead and his daus. were aged 32 and 30, respectively.

iii. (probably) RICHARD, taxed on a small land holding at Combe St. Nicholas 1583. As Richard Roceter he was disclaimed by Heralds from bearing arms in 1591 (Visitation of Somerset, 1885, ed. by Weaver, p. 67).

Children by second marriage, first three named in the “Visitation of Wiltshire”:

iv. PHILIP, b. ca. 1568; d. 5 May 1623, bur. St. Dunstan in the West, London; m. ELIZABETH —–. Philip is probably the noted musician of the name in London. Described as gentleman in his will, he was musician to James I and a stage manager contemporary with William Shakespeare. As Philip Rosseter he published in 1601 A Book of Ayres, set foorth in the Late Orpherion and Basse Violl. In 1609 he published Lessons for Consort, only a part of which has survived. The Lytes of Lyte’s Cary were artistic and musical. A descendant, the Rev. Henry Francis Lyte, composed the hymn “Abide With Me.” In a monograph by Christiaan Vlam, Professor of Music at Cambridge, and Thurston Dart, Philip Rosseter is called one of England’s finest song writers. This monograph, entitled “Rosseters in Holland,” Galpin Society Journal 11:63-9 (Edinburgh, 1958) deals with Philip Rosseter’s gifted descendants in that country. For Philip, see also Dictionary of National Biography, 17:282.

v. JOHN, b. ca. 1570, most probably the John of the manor of Wolmerston, parish of Crewkerne, co. Somerset whose son claimed a Rossiter coat of arms in 1631. His will, dated 8 April 1611, proved 8 Sept. 1611, names son John and Anne wife of John WOOD (P. C. C. 75 Wood, Frederick Brown, Abstracts of Somerset Wills, First Series [n.p., 1887], 15). John, the son, was of Old Cleeve, co. Somerset, in 1631. His claim to the coat of arms: Argent on a chevron gules three pheons or was confirmed by the herald’s annotation in the Visitation of Somerset, 1885, ed. by Weaver, p. 128.

vi. ELIZABETH.

vii. HUGH, named as brother in Philip’s will proved in 1623. Although Hugh is not named in the visitation of Wiltshire, it is to be noted that the mother, Katherine Lyte, had a brother Hugo (Latin form of Hugh).

4. NICHOLAS ROSSITER (Philip, Richard, William?) of Combe St. Nicholas, gentleman, was born circa 1539, for his age as 70 in 1608/9 (5-7 James I) is given in the Combe St. Nicholas manorial survey (Somerset County Record Office, Taunton, Wells Deanery, indentured tenants folio 22, 7 in Latin, copy of record retained). He died 1 April 1608, judging from a Bishop’s Transcript fragment, “Nicholas Rossiter was buried in the first day of April 1608.” He married (circa 1570) (ELIZA)BETH —–. She was buried 26 April 1608 according to the Bishop’s Transcript fragment which called her “wife of Nicholas” (photocopy showing death records retained).

In 1592/3 Nicholas Rossiter was taxed on lands, a tax that was recorded as follows: Nicholas Roscester gen. in terris £4, paying 16 s. (Lay Subsidy, Public Record Office. Hundred of Kingsbury, parish of Combe St. Nicholas Elizabeth 35, No. E 179/256/4). Of the 25 taxables in the record that year, Nicholas was the only one taxed on lands. He was taxed on the same amount the following year and for the last time.

At the meeting of the Manorial Court on 21 April 9 James I (1609), a twenty-man jury declared that Nicholas Rossiter, a free tenant of the lord died in extremis since the last court and his son Edward Rossiter was his next heir (Combe St. Nicholas Manorial Rolls, 9 James I, Somerset County Record Office, Taunton, in Latin, photocopy of record retained).

Known issue:

5.i. EDWARD, b. ca. 1575, eldest son.

5. EDWARD¹ ROSSITER (Nicholas, Philip, Richard, William?) of Combe St. Nicholas, co. Somerset, and Dorchester, Mass., gentleman, was born circa 1575. He died at Dorchester 23 October 1630. He is believed to have married —– COMBE, daughter of John Combe of Combe St. Nicholas and sister of Joseph Combe. Edward is referred to as “my brother” in Joseph Combe’s will dated 21 March 1619/20 (cited in Colket, “Edward Rossiter,” The American Genealogist 13 [1937]: 146). The inference in the Gilberts of New England (Geoffrey Gilbert, ed. [Victoria, B.C., 1959], 24) that Joseph’s wife, Winifred, was a Rossiter and sister of Edward has not been substantiated. It is questioned on chronological grounds, and on the fact that no Winifred Rossiter even had rights to land as recorded in the various leases of Combe St. Nicholas.

The first record we have of Edward is in the lay subsidy roll in the Public Record Office, London, of 1597. He was then paying taxes on land that belonged to his father who would not die until 1608. It is inferred that his father in later years was incapable or unwilling to manage the property.

The record reads: Edward Rocetor, gen. in terris £4 pays 16 s. (41 Elizabeth, Hundred of Kingsbury Parish of Combe St. Nicholas. No. E 179/171/321). William Torrey, forebear of the New England family, was taxed on £4 in the subsidies of 1 James I (1603/4)(photocopy of record retained) and 4 James I (1606-1607). In 1611/12 his signature appears on a petition in behalf of Richard and Ursula Stockman, a poor and aged couple of the parish (E. H. Bates, ed., Quarter Sessions Records for the County of Somerset: James I, 1607-1625, Somerset Record Society, 23 [1907]: 73).

His name is listed in the court records for his failure to clear out one of the ditches adjoining his property and he is reprimanded for enclosing a portion of his common land, (manorial court rolls 8 James I [1610/11]). In 1626 he was appointed constable of the parish (in Latin, photocopy of record retained). Edward was last taxed in the Lay Subsidy Roll for 1628/9 (4 Car.; photocopy of record retained).

Edward Rossiter, as eldest son of the eldest son of the eldest son was clearly head of the senior branch of the Rossiters of Combe St. Nicholas. Although there is no extant evidence that he claimed a Rossiter coat of arms, it is apparent that two Rossiters stemming from Combe St. Nicholas of junior lines did. As noted, two descendants of the first Rossiter of Combe St. Nicholas, Richard Rossiter (circa 1562-1629), claimed a coat of arms depicting a pheon (apparently an allusion to the Peion heiress who married a Rossiter). One was John of Old Cleve, co. Somerset, evidently grandson of Philip Rossiter, Sr., and first cousin of Edward. The other, of the family of Acklackby, co. Lincoln, descended from Philip’s brother George, used a slightly variant coat. These coats were confirmed by the College of Arms on the basis of long time use or prescriptive usage, three generations or more (See “The Prescriptive Usage of Arms,” The Ancestor 2 [1902]: 40-47).

Rossiter, with his household, formed part of the group under the Rev. John White that set sail from Plymouth 20 March 1630 on the Mary and John. The passengers settled at Dorchester, Mass. As a stockholder in the Massachusetts Bay Company, Rossiter was entitled to fifty acres of land for each person he brought over (including himself). Mrs. Frances Rose-Troup’s book, John White, the Patriarch of Dorchester (New York, 1930), shows that Rossiter was charged with bringing over thirteen persons. These certainly included himself, sons Nicholas, Bryan and Hugh, the wife of Bryan, daughters Jane and Joan, and if alive, his own wife, and possibly the wife and children of son Nicholas.

Edward’s sudden death on 23 October 1630 was reported by Governor John Winthrop in his Journal. Thomas Dudley, who later succeeded Winthrop as Governor, wrote the Countess of Lincoln: “Within a month after, died Mr. Rossiter, another of the associates, a godly man and of good estate, which still weakened more” (quoted in Colket, “Edward Rossiter,” The American Genealogist, 150). Edward’s death was reported in the Combe St. Nicholas manorial rolls 2 June 1631. “Edrew Rossiter gen. free tenant of the manor, died since last court” (photocopy retained). Nicholas is identified in the rolls as his son four years later when he returns from America.

Known children:

6.i. NICHOLAS², b. ca. 1599; m. ANNE —–.

ii. DOROTHY, b. ca. 1608; m. at Combe St. Nicholas, 12 Feb. 1629/30 MARTIN GROUT; according to Bishop’s Transcript fragment. No further record.

iii. BRYAN or BRAY, b. ca. 1610, d. at Guilford, Conn. 30 Sept. 1672; m. before coming to America ELIZABETH ALSOP who d. at Guilford, 29 Aug. 1669, dau. of the Rev. John Alsop of Crewkerne, co. Somerset (Henry F. Waters, Genealogical Gleanings in England. [1901. Baltimore, 1969], 1:426, 427). For descendants, see R. D. Smyth, “Dr. Bryan (or Bray) Rossiter of Guilford, Conn., and His Descendants,” Register 55 (1901): 149-154.

iv. JANE, b. ca. 1614; d. at Taunton, Mass., 1 June 1691; m. at Taunton, 23 March 1639/40 THOMAS GILBERT, b. ca. 1612, d. 1676/7, son of John Gilbert of Combe St. Nicholas and Taunton, Mass. (Gilbert, Gilberts of New England, 60).

v. HUGH, b. ca. 1615, identified as son of Edward by John Frye, the elder, in Colket, “Edward Rossiter,” The American Genealogist, 146, bur. at Combe St. Nicholas, 1680; m. by 1641 DOROTHY (COMBE) NORRIS. She was b. 1620, the unborn child in her father’s will of 21 March 1620 (ibid., 145/6), and was bur. at Combe St. Nicholas in 1697. She was the dau. of Joseph and Winifred Combe and widow of the little-known William Norris of Salem, Mass. (according to the alphabetical list of copyhold leases in the manorial court records of Combe St. Nicholas). They would appear to be first cousins, except for the fact that Hugh’s father’s marriage to a Combe may not have been his only marriage. Hugh received a grant of land at Dorchester, Mass. in 1635 (Colket, “Edward Rossiter, The American Genealogist, 147). He returned to Combe St. Nicholas by 1641. Hugh Rossiter (and children) “Mattathias” and Edward his sons are named in a lease of copyhold in the manorial records filed at the Somerset Record Office, Taunton (Wells Deanery Leases and Rentals, file 8548, 25 folios). He is listed as a minor freeholder on the rent roll for 1663 (photocopy of record retained). Children: 1. Matthias, m. at St. Mary Magdalene, Taunton, 14 April 1676 Jane Herring. 2. Edward, b. 1641 or later. 3. Benaiah (i.e., Benajiah) m. at Heavitree, co. Devon, 9 March 1676/7 Dorcas Soper. In 1685 he was living at Cork, Ireland with his family: “Examination of several persons landed out of the ship `Thomas and Anne’ from Cork, at Bristol on the 13th of February, 1685: Benajah Rossiter says that his mother Dorothy Rossiter, widow, is now (as he hopes) living at Combe St. Nicholas in Somerset. He was now going thither where he heard his father left him something; which, as soon as taken care of, he desires to return to Cork where his wife and family are” (Public Record Office, Calendar of State Papers James II, 1:12, 14).

vi. JOANE, b. ca. 1616, “youngest child”; d. at Plymouth Colony, 9 June 1681, aged about 75 (Plymouth Church Records [New York, 1920-1923], 1:271), m. NICHOLAS HART of Taunton 1642 and Portsmouth, R.I., 1651. For descendants, see James M. Hart, Genealogical History of Samuell Hartt from London, England, to Lynn, Mass., 1640 … [and] Nicholas Hart (Pasadena, Calif., 1903).

6. NICHOLAS² ROSSITER (Edward¹, Nicholas, Philip, Richard, William?) of Combe St. Nicholas, Somerset, and for a time Dorchester, Massachusetts Bay Colony, gentleman, the eldest son, was born circa 1599. The evidence for the date is an indentured lease among the manorial court rolls of Combe St. Nicholas of 5 James I (1607-08) in which his age was given at eight years (photocopy of record retained). He died by 8 June 1650, the date of the probate of his will. His wife, Anne, named in his will of 23 May 1643, was also named in the probate. The will was proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 98 Pembroke (photocopy of record retained).

Nicholas came to America with his father and remained here for several years. In behalf of his deceased father, he paid the passage money for the thirteen members of the Rossiter household who migrated. Nicholas resided at Dorchester, but returned to Combe St. Nicholas by 16 April 1635 where the court rolls show that he inherited his father’s lands there and became a free tenant of the manor (photocopy of record retained).

His name is recorded twice in 1641. Once was on the Protestation Roll (the virtual census of Englishmen renouncing Catholicism) when he was named among the 187 in the parish. Once was in the subsidy roll when he was described as “Nicholas Rossiter gen.” He was taxed on land valued at £4. This was the last year we have evidence that the Rossiters owned substantial land at Combe St. Nicholas. (The Somerset Protestation Returns and Lay Subsidy Rolls 1641/2, transcribed by A. J. Howard, ed. by T. L. Stoate [Bristol, 1975] 51, 235).

Children, named in 1643 will:

7.i. EDWARD³, b ca. 1628, only son.

ii. ANNE, living 1681.

iii. JANE.

iv. MARY, living 1681.

v. MARTHA, bp. 1639 (according to Combe St. Nicholas, Somersetshire, Bishop’s Transcript fragment in Edward Dwelly, Dwelly’s Parish Registers, 1 [1913]: 309; living 1681.

vi. DOROTHY, living 1681.

7. EDWARD³ ROSSITER (Nicholas², Edward¹, Nicholas, Philip, Richard, William?) of Combe St. Nicholas, and Taunton, co. Somerset, stationer and deacon, was born circa 1628 probably at Combe St. Nicholas, and was living at Taunton, co. Somerset, as late as 1695. He married first, at St. Mary’s Magdalene, Taunton, on 22 August 1656 SARAH POWELL; second, in the same parish, 13 June 1661 JOAN ROCKET (note that Hugh Rossiter and Richard Rocket were granted lands at Dorchester in 1635; Colket,”Edward Rossiter,” The American Genealogist, 144); third, in the same parish, 16 December 1669 ELIZABETH LISSANT; and fourth, at St. James, Taunton, 5 December 1684 ELIZABETH LEG.

Edward’s early life is a mystery. If born by 1630, he certainly accompanied his parents to America. He was obviously heir to a considerable estate. Yet in 1650 when he was perhaps about 25 years of age and when his father’s will was probated his whereabouts were unknown. A translation of the Latin on the will probate reads, “Anne Rossiter [the widow of Nicholas] truly and faithfully accepts [the fact that] Edward Rossiter was dead.” That he did not die is clear from the will of Elizabeth Buckland of West Hamptree, co. Somerset, dated 2 Septemer 1681 and proved 18 February 1683 (11 P.C.C. Hare; Frederick Brown, Abstracts of Somersetshire Wills, 5th series [n.p., 1890], 73). She bequeathed to “my cousin Edward Rossiter, being a kinsman whom my husband loved, £50.” His identity as son of Nicholas is clear from the fact that Elizabeth Buckland also made bequests to four of the five sisters of Edward as named in the will of Nicholas: Anne, Mary, Martha, and Dorothy.

Manorial records of the period of the Commonwealth are incomplete and we do not know the circumstance under which the Rossiter estate passed from the family. We do know from an extant 1663 rent roll that the bulk of the Rossiter lands, on which Nicholas Rossiter paid taxes in 1641, had passed to Henry Bonner, Sr., and Henry Bonner, Jr. Presumably, this had happened before Edward’s marriage at Taunton in 1656.

The Hearth Tax for Taunton Hundred, Taunton Burgess, Fore Street 1664 and 1665 shows Edward Rossiter paying 4s. and 2s. for four hearths (Richard Holworthy, comp., Hearth Tax for Somerset 1664-5 [Fleet, Hants], 1).

In 1673 Edward was one of two portreeves of Taunton (See Court List of the Borough of Taunton where portreeves from 1616-1691 are listed, copy in Castle Library, Taunton).

Edward had apparently come under the influence of two former Taunton ministers, the Rev. George Newton (1602-81) and the Rev. Joseph Alleine, Oxford, B.D. (1634-1668). Both were imprisoned several times for their preaching and both were ejected from the famous Church of St. Mary Magdalene in 1662 (Rev. T. G. Crippin Manuscript, copied from the Tite Collection, Taunton Municipal Public Library). The Rev. Alleine’s works were well known in America. According to the Dictionary of National Biography, “No puritan name save Richard Baxter is so affectionately cherished by the English speaking people as Joseph Alleine.”

Edward Rossiter’s home was among those licensed so that prayers and ministry could be given there. He was a church deacon.

Edward was outspoken in his religious views. On one occasion, on 11 January 1671, his words were brought to the attention of the civil authorities and he was ordered to make amends:

Order that Edward Rossiter of Taunton St. Mary Magdalene, stationer, on some Lord’s day immediately after sermon, do make public acknowledgement in the parish church of the said parish of his offence in speaking scandalous words against Peter, Bishop of Bath and Wells, and do produce at next General Session a certificate by the ministers that he hath done” (Quarter Session Records Charles II, Somerset Record Society 34 [1919]: 191).

Edward’s religious activities were not unknown in Puritan New England. Governor Thomas Hutchinson in The History of Massachusetts Bay (2nd edition, London 1765, p. 17), described both the grandfather and the grandson:

Edward Rossiter [the colonist] was of good family in the west of England. He died the first year [1630]. His son [Nicholas] lived afterwards at Combe [St. Nicholas]. His grandson Edward Rossiter, in the year 1682 was deacon of Rev. Joseph Alleine’s church in Taunton. He says in a letter dated March 28, 1682 that his grandfather, a pious gentleman of good estate, left England for the sake of religion.

The last reference to Edward is in 1695 in the records of St. James Church, Taunton, on a notice of removal from the parish. Scattered references to Rossiters in the 18th century may refer to descendants. The name, we understand, died out at Combe St. Nicholas.

Among issue:

1. NICHOLAS⁴, bp. 20 July 1655, at St. Mary Magdalene, Taunton. No further record.

Thus, sometime during the period of the Commonwealth, the landed estate of the Rossiter gentlemen at Combe St. Nicholas, their patrimony under primogeniture since before 1529, passed out of their hands forever. Edward, the last in the line of primogeniture at Combe St. Nicholas, became a tradesman, while the circumstances that brought about the loss of the estate remain a mystery.

The Blake Family in England

Source: Francis E. Blake, “The Blake Family in England,” New England Historical and Genealogical
Register 45[1891]:35-38.

In a “Genealogical History of William Blake of Dorchester,” published in 1857, appears the statement that the emigrant to New England was the son of Giles Blake of Little Baddow, Essex, and the record of several generations of the family is given. The substance of this record is trustworthy as being a copy from “Morant’s History of Essex,” but the statement that the Dorchester settler was of this family was unwarranted by any evidence. Subsequently the late H.G. Somerby, Esq., by request of Stanton Blake, Esq., made extended researches in England to determine the origin of the American family. He finally located it at Over Stowey, Somerset, and the results of his investigations were published in 1881, by W.H. Whitmore, Esq., in “A Record of the Blakes of Somersetshire.”

The evidences upon which Mr. Somerby based his conclusions were, first, the record of a baptism in 1594, at Over Stowey, of a William Blake (son of Robert and grandson of John), the date corresponding to the age of the emigrant at death; and second, the fact that a sister of this William, in her will of date 1647, mentioned a “brother in New England,” no name however being given. While this evidence was not all that could be desired, it was generally accepted as correct, and the pedigree has been copied in several other genealogical publications.

In 1881, Rev. Charles M. Blake, U.S.A., while visiting in England, was shown by William Blake, Esq., of South Petherton, a genealogical chart of the “Blakes of Somersetshire,” prepared by William Arthur Jones, Esq., A.M.

An examination of this chart led Mr. Blake to visit Pitminster, four miles from Taunton, where he found upon the parish registers sufficient evidence to convince him that this was the early home of his ancestor William Blake, but he was unable at that time to give the matter further attention.

Recently, investigations have been made by the writer, through correspondence with the vicar of the parish, and with Edward J. Blake, Esq., of Crewkerne. The latter himself examined the registers of Pitminster, and Over Stowey, and he has had a careful examination made of wills and other original sources of information, for the purpose of determining his own line of descent and verifying the chart referred to. The result of these researches, so far as relates to the American family, has been very courteously copied for the writer and forms the basis of this article.

Mr. Somerby’s record of the baptism of a William at Over Stowey, June 5, 1594, was found to be correct, but unfortunately he overlooked this subsequent entry:

“1617, William Blake the sonne of Robert Blake was buried the —- of April.”

As this record effectually disposes of this William, we are forced to look elsewhere for the emigrant.

On page 14 of Mr. Somerby’s notes the statement is made that William the son of John⁹ and brother of Robert above named died at Bishops Lydiard, leaving a widow Joan, but no children.

A close examination of the records discloses the following facts. By the will of John,⁹ his son William received lands at Bishops Lydiard, at Plainfield in Over Stowey, and at Padnoller in the parish of Spaxton. Now in the will of William of Bishops Lydiard, referred to by Mr. Somerby, date 13th June, 1618, and proved in September following by Joan his widow, he is described as a yeoman, and bequeaths three acres at Hillfarence which he bought, and his land at Risun, with sundry small gifts to friends. He mentions “Philipp Sully, my boye,” but no children.

It will be noticed that this William held an entirely different social position from the Blakes of Over Stowey, and in the disposition of his property made no mention of the lands which John Blake⁹ gave to his son William.

Furthermore, we have an abstract of a will of a William Blake of Riston, proved at Taunton, May, 1572, in which is a bequest to “my sonne Willyam.” Riston is near Taunton, and not more than seven or eight miles from Bishops Lydiard and is undoubtedly the same place described as Risun in the will of 1618.

From these facts it is quite reasonable to think that the William who died in 1618 at Bishops Lydiard without children was the son of William of Riston, but certainly not the son of John⁹ of Over Stowey.

The records of Over Stowey furnish no evidence whatever in regard to John’s son, but the Taunton Manor Rolls show that a William Blake bought property at Pitminster, in 1586. The parish registers of Pitminster, which begin in the year 1544, are in a very good state of preservation, but there is not a single Blake entry (with the exception of a Mary Blake, daughter of Richard, who was buried in 1574) until the year 1588, when Grace a daughter of William was baptized. It is supposed that this William was the son of John,⁹ that he went to Pitminster to reside about the time of the purchase of the estate there in 1586, and there had the children named below. This theory was adopted by Mr. Jones in preparing his chart, and also by Mr. Blake whose investigations have been made independently of all previous labor in this direction, and it is hoped that this may soon be verified by record evidence.

The following records relating to this branch of the family appear upon the parish registers at Pitminster:

Anno Domio.

• 1588. Grace Blake, daughter of Willm Blake was baptized the 9^th day of February.
• 1592. Eme Blake, daughter of William Blake was baptized the third day of December.
• 1594. William Blake, son of William Blake was baptized the 10^th day of July.
• 1597. John Blake son of William Blake was baptized the fifteenth day of June.
• 1600. Añe Blaak, daughter of William Blaak was baptized the sixteenth day of October.
• 1603. Richard Blaak, son of William Blaak was baptized the seventeenth day of Aprill.
• 1617. William Blake was married to Agnis Bond widow the 27^th day of September.
• 1618. John Blake, sonne of William Blake, and Ann Blake daughter of William Blake were baptised the ____ day ____ of August.
• 1620. William Blake sonne of William Blake was baptised the ^6th of September.
• 1624. James Blake sonne of William Blake was baptised 27^th April.

With this record from Pitminster before us, there cannot be a shadow of doubt that we have here the family of William of Dorchester. We know that he had a wife Agnes, and children John, Ann, William and James, and to make the case still stronger, the age of the father at death, and also of three of the children, Ann, William and James, corresponds with the date of the baptism at Pitminster.

No record has been found of the baptism of Edward, another son of William and Agnes, but it is supposed that he was born in England, as there is no evidence of the father being in this country previous to the year 1636, the statement that he came in the “Mary and John” in 1630 being without foundation.

Following the notes of Mr. Somerby, with the substitution of William¹⁰ for Robert,¹⁰ the line of descent will stand as follows: Robert,¹ Henry,² William,³ Henry,⁴ Robert,⁵ William,⁶ William,⁷ Humphrey⁸ (great-grandfather of the Admiral), John,⁹ William,¹⁰ William¹¹ of Dorchester.

Or to state the matter more simply, the emigrant is now traced as being the grandson of John Blake of Over Stowey, through his son William, instead of being so deduced through his son Robert. But all the pedigree anterior to the grandfather John is not affected by this correction.

Origin of the Chiltons of the Mayflower

Source: John G. Hunt, “Origin of the Chiltons of the Mayflower,” American Genealogist 38[1962]:244-45.

In the November 1961 Mayflower Quarterly, pp. 5-6, Mrs. Russell Mack Skelton, of Scarsdale, N.Y., published two important wills, that of Richard Chilton of St. Paul’s Canterbury, dated 1549, naming his son Lionel, and the will of the said son, Lyonel Chilton of the same place, February 1582, which names his sons John and James Chilton, the testator’s (last) wife Isabel, and her children Thomas Furner and Susanne Furner. It seems clear that Isabel was not the mother of Lyonel’s sons of whom it would seem that James Chilton was the man who came with his wife Susanna in 1620 on the Mayflower.

It may well be that James Chilton married his stepsister Susanne Furner, for the first child of James Chilton, baptized 15 Jan. 1586, was Isabella [Charles Edward Banks, The English Ancestry and Homes of the Pilgrim Fathers, 1929, p. 45], perhaps named for the mother of Susanna. Marriage between stepbrothers and sisters often occurred, either as a result of propinquity, or arranged by a surviving spouse to make settlement of the estate easier and to keep the property, so to speak, “within the family.”

As a matter of fact, the Chiltons had long been seated at Canterbury, where in 1504 William Chilton was a mercer [Intrantes of Canterbury, 1392-1592]. He may well have been a son or a close relative of William Chilton who died testate in 1503, of St. Peter’s, Canterbury. His will, dated 30 April 1503, provided for burial in the churchyard of St. Peter’s; gave bequests to St. Peter’s Church, the Shrine of St. Thomas of Canterbury [a ring of gold with a point diamond set in the same, to be delivered to said shrine after the death of my wife; cf. Archaeologia Cantiana, 31:37], the Image of Our Lady of Stelling, the Wardens of Stelling, the High Altar of Nether Hards [now Lower Hardres, about 3 miles south of Canterbury; Stelling is about 4 miles south of Lower Hardres]; to Agnes my wife and Nicholas my son, lands in parish of Stelling; Alice my mother; Alice and Constance my daughters; Margery Hughes my wife’s mother; residue to wife Agnes; executors, wife Agnes and John Chilton of Nether Hards; proved 16 Sept. 1503 by widow, John Chilton refusing.

His daughter Alice Chilton also left a will, dated 14 April 1515; to be buried in the churchyard of St. Peter’s; bequests to St. Peter’s Church and Church of Stelling; lands in parish of Stelling to Thomas Adsell my grandfather and Margery his wife, my grandmother; tenement in St. Peter’s Parish, in which my said grandfather and grandmother dwell, to my sisters Margaret and Kat’yne when they come to marriage, if they die before marriage then to my said grandfather and grandmother; tenement in Sandwich which late were William Chilton my father’s, to my sisters; residue to said Thomas Adsell and Margery his wife, they to be executors; witnesses, Sir Thomas Sterlyng and others; proved 5 May 1515 by Thomas Adsell.

The above two Canterbury wills, at Kent County Archives Office, Maidstone, were abstracted for the contributor from the registered copies by Arthur J. Willis, Esq., of Folkstone, Kent.

The Chiltons had been of Canterbury much earlier, however, for in 1339 Robert Chilton represented Canterbury in Parliament, and in 1422 William Chilton served the town in the same capacity (Hasted, History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent, vol. IV (1799), pp. 405, 406].

Chilton and Leonard: Mayflower Families Through Five Generations

Source: Robert M. Sherman, editor, Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, Volume 2 (Plymouth,
Massachusetts: General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1978).

[page 3]

JAMES CHILTON

James Chilton was the oldest passenger on the Mayflower, with the possible exception of Elder William Brewster. James was born before 1563 in Canterbury, Kent County, England, where the surname appears in the annals as far back as 1339 when Robert Chilton was a representative to Parliament from Canterbury. James’ grandfather Richard Chilton of St. Paul’s Parish, Canterbury, in a will dated and proved in 1549, mentioned his deceased wife Isabell, and bequeathed the bulk of his estate to his son Lyonell.

The will of Lyonell “Chylton,” a yeoman of considerable property residing in St. Paul’s Parish, dated 7 Sept. 1582 and proved 13 Feb. 1582/3, named sons John and James Chilton; daughters Alice, Anne and Margaret; wife Isabell and her children–Thomas Furner and Susanna Furner. To son James he left two tenements in Canterbury. Isabell was evidently a recent second wife of Lyonell, and not James’ mother (whose name is unknown).

James Chilton, tailor, was listed as a freeman of Canterbury in 1583. He married before 1587 just possibly Susanna Furner, daughter of his step-mother and her first husband Francis Furner. Seven children were baptized in Canterbury to James, then about 1600 the family moved to neighboring Sandwich where three more children were baptized, including youngest daughter Mary, who was baptized at St. Peter’s in 1607. Here he undoubtedly met Moses Fletcher, who was destined to be a fellow Mayflower passenger, as well as other Pilgrims who later went to Holland, and so was drawn into the Pilgrim movement.

From 1607 to 1620 we lose sight of James, but since his daughter “Ysabel Tgiltron spinster from Canterbury” was married in Leyden, Holland in 1615, and probably a second daughter Ingle, listed as “Engeltgen Gilten,” was married there in 1622, it is likely that James took his family to Holland, where Leyden betrothal records include several Pilgrims from Sandwich and Canterbury. On the other hand, James Chilton’s name has not been found in Leyden as owner of property, as a citizen, as friend of a betrothed couple, or even as witness at the betrothal of his own daughter. Possibly this apparent lack of record might be ascribed to the difficulty the Dutch had with writing the name Chilton.

Descent from James Chilton has been proved through only his eldest daughter Isabella and his youngest daughter Mary. “Engeltgen Gilten” mentioned above, who married

[page 4]

Robert Nelson, could not be followed further. None of the other children appears to have lived to maturity.

Governor Bradford wrote that among those on the Mayflower were James Chilton and his wife, and Mary their daughter; they had another daughter that was married, came afterward. In 1650 he wrote “James Chilton and his wife also died in the first infection, but their daughter Mary is still living and hath nine children; and one daughter is married and hath a child. So their increase is ten.” James died on 18 December 1620, scarcely a month after signing the Mayflower Compact–the only signer who died at Cape Cod. His wife shortly followed him, dying during the First Sickness at Plymouth sometime after 21 January 1620/1.

At thirteen Mary Chilton was thus left an orphan at Plymouth. No record reveals with whom she spent the next few years, but perhaps for at least a part of the time she was a member of either the Alden or the Standish household; in the 1623 land division “Marie” Chilton received her share (undoubtedly three acres–
one for herself and one for each parent) between the shares of John Alden and Myles Standish. By the time of the cattle division of May 1627, Mary had married John Winslow, and the couple were included with John
Shaw’s group.

References: NEHGR 63:201. TAG 38:244-5. STODDARD pp. 100, 120, 124. FAM OF PILGRIMS pp. 60-1.
BANKS ENGLISH ANCESTRY p. 45. BRADFORD’S HIST (1952) pp. 442, 446. MQ 26(4):2; 27(1):5-6; 33:43-
5; 38:101-3; 40:8-13; 43:56. SAVAGE 1:379. LEYDEN DOCUMENTS pp. 21, 48. PLYMOUTH COLONY
RECS 1:9; 12:4, 11.

[page 5]

FIRST GENERATION

1. JAMES¹ CHILTON b. prob. Canterbury, Kent Co., England bef. 1563; d. Cape Cod Harbor (now Provincetown) aboard the Mayflower 18 Dec. 1620; son of Lyonell Chylton. [Lyonell's second wife, the widow Isabell Furner, was not the mother of his children.]

He m. England bef. 1587 pos. SUSANNA FURNER, dau. of his step-mother; his wife d. Plymouth shortly after 11 Jan. 1620/1.

Children (CHILTON) b. Kent Co., England:

• 2 i ISABELLA² bp. St. Paul’s Parish, Canterbury, 15 Jan. 1586/7.
• ii JANE bp. St. Paul’s Parish, Canterbury, 8 June 1589; n.f.r.
• iii MARY b. Canterbury; bur. St. Martin’s Parish 23 Nov. 1593.
• iv JOEL b. Canterbury; bur. St. Martin’s Parish 2 Nov. 1593.
• v ELIZABETH bp. St. Martin’s Parish, Canterbury, 14 July 1594; n.f.r.
• vi JAMES bp. St. Martin’s Parish, Canterbury, 22 Aug. 1596; d.y.
• vii INGLE bp. St. Paul’s Parish, Canterbury, 29 April 1599; prob. the “Engeltgen Gilten” who m. Leyden, Holland, 27 Aug. 1622 ROBERT NELSON; n.f.r.
• viii CHRISTIAN (dau.) bp. St. Peter’s Parish, Sandwich, 26 July 1601; n.f.r.
• ix JAMES bp. St. Peter’s Parish, Sandwich, 11 Sept. 1603; n.f.r.
• 3 x MARY bp. St. Peter’s Parish, Sandwich, 30 May 1607.

References: MD 1:87; 6:244. MQ 26(4):2; 27(1):5-6; 38:101[some dates in error]; 43:56. SAVAGE 1:379. TAG 38:244-5. NEHGR 63-201. BANKS ENGLISH ANCESTRY p. 45. FAM OF PILGRIMS pp. 60-1. LEYDEN DOCUMENTS p. 48. BRADFORD’S HIST (1952) pp. 442, 446. Register, St. Peter’s Christenings, Sandwich (now at Canterbury Cathedral).

SECOND GENERATION

2 ISABELLA² CHILTON (James¹) bp. St. Paul’s Parish, Canterbury, Kent Co., England, 15 Jan. 1586/7; no death record found. In fact, Bradford’s statement that James Chilton “had an other doughter, that was married, came afterward,” provides the only evidence that Isabella came to Plymouth.

She m. Leyden, Holland, 21 July 1615 ROGER CHANDLER (Rogier Kandelaer batchelor from Colchester, England); d. bet. 1658 and 3 Oct. 1665 prob. Duxbury.

The Leyden poll tax of 15 Oct. 1622 includes “Rogier Chandelaer, Isabel Chandelaer” his wife, and children Samuel and Sara. Roger and his family probably came to Plymouth in 1629 or 1630, when according to Bradford the

[page 6]

Leyden contingent arrived. He was taxed in Plymouth 25 March 1633, and listed as a freeman the same year–the earliest record of him in this country. He was enumerated among those able to bear arms in Duxbury in 1643, and sold land there in 1644; he was listed among freemen of Duxbury in a tally presumed taken in 1658.

In October 1665 the Plymouth Court granted 150 acres of land to the three (unnamed) daughters of Roger Chandler deceased. Articles in TAG indicate their names and husbands.

Children (CHANDLER):

• i SAMUEL³ b. Leyden, Holland, bef. 15 Oct. 1622; prob. d.y.*
• 4 ii SARAH b. Leyden bef. 15 Oct. 1622
• 5 iii MARY b. after 1622 prob. Leyden
• 6 iv MARTHA b. after 1622 prob. Leyden

References: MD 6:244; 11:129; 14:69. LEYDEN DOCUMENTS p. 21. FAM OF PILGRIMS pp. 61-2. TAG 27:1-6; 37:212-7. SMALL DESC 2:855-70. SAVAGE 1:358. NEHGR 63:201. BRADFORD’S HIST (1952) p. 442; also (1912) 2:400. DUXBURY RECS p. 19. PLYMOUTH COLONY RECS 1:4, 10, 11, 27, 165; 2:98; 4:110; 8:174, 198; 12:109. ARBER p. 273. Leyden Poll Tax. MA PIONEERS p. 93.

3. Mary² CHILTON (James¹) bp. St. Peter’s Parish, Sandwich, Kent Co., England, 31 May 1607; d. Boston MA bef. 1 May 1679.

She m. Plymouth bet. July 1623 and 22 May 1627 JOHN WINSLOW, b. Droitwich, Worcestershire, England, 16 April 1597; d. Boston bef. 21 May 1674; son of Edward and Magdalen (Ollyver) Winslow, and brother of Pilgrim Edward Winslow. Both John and Mary are buried in King’s Chapel Burying Ground, Boston.

John Winslow arrived at Plymouth in 1621 on the Fortune. He was listed as a freeman in 1633, and became active in the government of the colony, setting off and appraising land and serving on jury; in 1653 he became a member of “a counsell of warr.” With wife Mary, he moved to Boston in 1657. His will, attested 21 May 1674, [...]

*Neither Samuel Chandler of Duxbury nor the one of Dorchester seems to be a son of Roger. Samuel of Duxbury was the son of Edmund Chandler, and Samuel of Dorchester was taxed in Plymouth in 1633, so appears to be too old to be Roger’s son. Further, in the 1665 grant to Roger’s three daughters, no mention was made of a son.

[page 8]

A tradition, apparently true, persists that Mary Chilton was the first female to reach shore from the Mayflower; less certain is whether this was accomplished at Cape Cod or at Plymouth. However it is certain that she left the only will of a female passenger, a paper today preserved at the Suffolk County Registry of Probate in Boston. [...]

[page 10]

Mary’s will was proved 11 July 1679. It would appear that she died before 1 May 1679, however, upon which date Mr. William Tailer renounced the executorship of her estate. Administration of her estate was granted 24 July 1679 to her son John Winslow and son-in-law Richard Middlecott.

Children (WINSLOW) b. Plymouth after 22 May 1627:

• 7 i JOHN³ b. prob. bef. 1630
• 8 ii SUSANNA b. prob. bef. 1630
• 9 iii MARY b. about 1631
• 10 iv EDWARD b. ca. 1635
• 11 v SARAH b. ca. 1638
• 12 vi SAMUEL b. ca. 1641
• 13 vii JOSEPH
• 14 viii ISAAC b. 1644
• ix a child b. bef. 1650; prob. d.y., certainly d. bef. 12 March 1673 (date father’s will)
• x BENJAMIN b. 12 Aug. 1653; d. between 12 March 1673/4 and 31 July 1676; unm.

References: MD 1:65-71, 151; 2:116; 3:129-33; 17:70. MQ 33:43-5; 38:101-3. FAM OF PILGRIMS pp. 62-3 [no primary source found for mar. date 10 Oct. 1624]. STODDARD pp. 100, 125. BANKS ENGLISH ANCESTRY pp. 45, 130. BRADFORD’S HIST (1952) pp. 442, 446. NEHGR 17:159-60. PLYMOUTH COLONY RECS 1:3, 9; 8:17; 12:11(John & Mary Winslow in a division). PLYMOUTH BY THACHER p. 95. MARY CHILTON. SAVAGE 1:379; 4:601.

THIRD GENERATION

4 SARAH CHANDLER³ (Isabella² CHILTON, James¹) b. Leyden, Holland, bef. 15 Oct. 1622; d. Bridgewater bef. 27 Oct. 1675.

She m. Duxbury ca. 1640 SOLOMON LEONARD (or LENNER or LEONARDSON), b. prob. Monmouthshire, England, ca. 1610; d. Bridgewater bef. 1 May 1671.

[page 11]

Solomon Leonard was first recorded in Duxbury 1637, and in May 1638 was “promised lands on Duxburrow side, (in part of those due to him for his service).” This was probably the usual recompense to a servant; since normal service was seven years, we surmise that Solomon prob. arrived in Plymouth ca. 1631. In Feb. 1638/9 he received a grant of 25 acres. In 1645 he received a share of land in what later became Bridgewater, to which he removed soon after 1649. He was living there in 1658/9.

On 1 May 1671 Samuel Leonard of Bridgewater confirmed that his deceased father, Solomon Leonard, had given land to “my brother John Leonard.” Strangely, Samuel did not post bond as administrator of his father, Solomon deceased, until 27 Oct. 1675, at which time the failure to mention the widow of Solomon implies that Sarah had already died. In the disposition of this estate, “Samuel Leonardson” is called eldest son, John second son, with equal division among the “rest of the children.” In a deed 10 May 1677 to his brother “Isaak Leonardson,” Samuel Leonardson mentions brothers John, Jacob and Solomon.

Children (LEONARD) all b. Duxbury, last two prob. in that part later called Bridgewater:

• 15 i SAMUEL⁴ b. ca. 1643
• 16 ii JOHN b. ca. 1645
• 17 iii JACOB b. ca. 1647
• 18 iv ISAAC b. ca. 1650
• 19 v SOLOMON b. after 1650
• 20 vi MARY b. ca. 1650

References: TAG 27:1-6; 37:213. SAVAGE 3:80[incorrect wife and death]. BRIDGEWATER BY MITCHELL p. 244[confounds Solomon with son Solomon]. (PLYMOUTH) ANC LANDMARKS p. 172. FAM OF PILGRIMS p. 62. Plymouth Col. LR 3:199; 4:217-8(Samuel Leonard). Plymouth Co. PR #12697(Solomon Leonardson). LEONARD FAM pp. 13-33. PLYMOUTH COLONY RECS 1:83, 122; 3:159-60; 5:179-80; 8:189; 12:113. MA HIST COLL(Second Series) 7:138.

5 MARY CHANDLER³ (Isabella² CHILTON, James¹) b. prob. Leyden, Holland, after 1622; with virtual certainty the “Mary wife of Edmund Burfe” who d. Boston 15 Aug. 1658.

She m. EDMUND BRUFF (or BRAUGH, BROUGH, BURFE, or BURPH), who prob. d. soon after his wife.

Edmund Brough was first recorded in a Plymouth arbitration in Nov. 1640; he was in Marshfield in 1643, and moved to Boston about 1654. Nothing further was found in Suffolk County probate or land records.

[page 12]

Child (BRUFF) b. pos. Marshfield:

• 21 i STEPHEN b. bef. 1653

References: TAG 37:212-7. SAVAGE 1:263, 302. BOSTON VR 9:67. MA PIONEERS p. 71. PLYMOUTH COLONY RECS 1:164; 2:58; 8:196.

6 MARTHA CHANDLER³ (Isabella² CHILTON, James¹) b. prob. Leyden, Holland, after 1622; d. Taunton 1 May 1674.

She m. bef. 1649 JOHN BUNDY, b. England ca. 1617; d. Taunton after April but bef. 29 Oct. 1681 ae 64. His mother was sister to Susanna, wife of Phillip Alley of Boston. He m. (2) Taunton 1676 Ruth (RATCHELL?) GURNEY of Mendon; they had sons John, Joseph and Edward. His widow Ruth m. Guido Bailey of Bridgewater.

John Bundy was in Boston in 1635; in Plymouth by 1636, indentured to William Brewster, where he was listed as able to bear arms in 1643; and served in the Narragansett expedition of 1645. He returned to Boston by 1649, and by 1662 was in Taunton.

The will of John Bundy “aged 64 or therabout of Tanton”, dated April 1681 and proved 29 Oct. 1681,
mentions his wife (unnamed), “the children”, son “Jeames Bundy”, “my sons”, and “the sons by this wife”.

Children (BUNDY) born to John and Martha, first two born in Boston, last three in Taunton:

• i MARTHA⁴ b. 2 Nov. 1649; n.f.r.
• 22 ii MARY b. 5 Oct. 1653
• iii PATIENCE b. ?; d. Taunton 27 March 1665.
• 23 iv JAMES b. 29 Sept. (or Dec.) 1664
• v SARAH b. 4 March 1668; n.f.r.
• pos. vi SAMUEL b. 4 Oct. 1670 (“son of Samuel”–an apparent error?); n.f.r.

References: TAG 27:1-6; 33:138, 141; 37:212. SAVAGE 1:298. VR TAUNTON. BOSTON VR 9:29, 41. NEHGR 116:18-9. SEATTLE BUL 5(6):333-5; 6(8):451-3(Bundy). Plymouth Co. PR #3310(John Bundy). PLYMOUTH COLONY RECS 1:51, 107; 2:90; 4:20; 8:35, 36, 39, 55, 65, 70, 82, 85. SUFFOLK COUNTY CT pp. 210-1(John Bundy, plaintiff). MA PIONEERS pp. 72a, 79. KING PHILIP’s WAR p. 458.

[page 21]

FOURTH GENERATION

15 SAMUEL LEONARD⁴ (or LEONARDSON) (Sarah CHANDLER³, Isabella² CHILTON, James¹) b. Duxbury ca. 1643; d. Preston CT after 30 Nov. 1720.

He m. (1) bef. 7 March 1675/6 ABIGAIL WOOD, b. Plymouth ca. 1645; d. prob. Worcester; dau. of John and Sarah (Masterson) Wood (or Attwood). A division of the estate of John Wood “formerly of Plymouth” 7 March 1675/6 includes his child Abigail Leonard.

He m. (2) DEBORAH —–, prob. d. Preston between 21 March 1718/9 and 30 Nov. 1720. He lived in Bridgewater from before 1683 until after 10 Jan. 1687/8 when he and wife Abigail sold lands in Bridgewater in a deed acknowledged at Boston 31 Jan. 1687/8. He went to Worcester where he was living in 1692. Driven out by Indians in 1697, he moved with his family to Preston CT, where in Nov. 1698 he was among the twelve founders of the First Church.

Samuel Leonard of Preston sold 140 acres of land in Worcester 21 March 1718/9, his wife Deborah releasing her dower right. Also in 1718 Samuel “Lenard” of Preston sold to Thomas Clark of Norwich [husband of his daughter Elizabeth] his rights to “all ye commons and unlaid out lands in Preston.” Together with his daughter Mercy and her husband, and Lydia, widow of his son Samuel, he was among founders of the Second Church in Preston 30 Nov. 1720.

Children (LEONARD or LEONARDSON) b. Bridgewater to Samuel and Abigail:*

• 50 i MERCY⁵
• 51 ii ELIZABETH
• 52 iii SAMUEL b. ca. 1683

*No confirmation was found for daughters Mary and Abigail suggested in LEONARD FAM. The Mayflower Society has accepted lineages based on a daughter Mary, for whom no substantiating proof was found.

[page 22]

Child (LEONARD or LEONARDSON) b. to Samuel and Deborah:

• 53 iv PHEBE bp. Preston CT 7 or 17 Oct. 1703

References: LEONARD FAM pp. 35-6. PLYMOUTH COLONY RECS 5:188; 6:161-3(John Wood). TAG 27:1-6. Plymouth Col. LR 3:199; 4:5(Samuel Leonard). CSL Barbour Index:Preston. Plymouth Co. PR 1:338-9(John Wood). PRESTON CH pp. 129, 138. Middlesex Co. LR 20:233(Samuel Leonard). Preston CT LR 3:159(Samuel Lenard). WORCESTER BY NUTT p. 168.

16 JOHN LEONARD⁴ (Sarah CHANDLER³, Isabella² CHILTON, James¹) b. Duxbury ca. 1645; d. Bridgewater bef. 21 Nov. 1699 (inventory).

He m. ca. 1670 SARAH —–, living 30 Aug. 1701.*

Widow Sarah Leonard and son Joseph Leonard were appointed administrators 23 Jan. 1699/1700 on the estate of John Leonard late of Bridgewater deceased. In a division of this estate the widow was to receive her thirds; John Leonard the eldest son’s share; other shares to sons Enoch, Moses, Josiah and Joseph, and to daughter Sarah Leonard when she was 18. On 30 Aug. 1701 signing receipts were: widow Leonard, John Leonard, Joseph Leonard and Josiah Leonard. No Plymouth County probate or land records were found to reveal anything further regarding either the mother or the daughter Sarah.

Children (LEONARD) all prob. b. Bridgewater:

• i JOHN⁵ living Bridgewater 1710(deed); prob. living with brother Moses in Worcester 25 Feb. 1726; prob. d. unm.**
• 54 ii ENOCH
• 55 iii MOSES b. ca. 1677
• 56 iv JOSIAH
• v JOSEPH b. bef. 1681(signed receipt 1701); living Bridgewater 1725(deed, see #54); n.f.r.
• vi SARAH b. after 1683; pos. the Sarah who m. Bridgewater 28 July 1708 THOMAS WASHBURN; no known issue.

References: TAG 27:1-6[no daughter Martha found]. SAVAGE 3:79. VR BRIDGEWATER. LEONARD FAM pp. 37-8. BRIDGEWATER BY MITCHELL pp. 245, 341[no evidence found that the above Joseph was the one who married Hannah and moved to Pomfret CT--see #65]. Plymouth Co. PR 1:321, 360(John Leonard). Plymouth Co. LR 31:204(Enoch Leonard & Joseph Leonard).

*Not a daughter of Roger Chandler as claimed in LEONARD FAM.

**Mitchell attributes children born in the 1730′s to this John; they are more likely of a younger John.

[page 23]

17 JACOB LEONARD⁴ (or LENERSON) (Sarah CHANDLER³, Isabella² CHILTON, James¹) b. Duxbury ca. 1647; d. Bridgewater bet. 9 May and 19 Dec. 1717.

He m.(1) —– —–, d. bef. 1680.

He m.(2) ca. 1680 SUSANNA KING, b. Weymouth 6 May 1659; living Bridgewater 14 Dec. 1716; dau. of Samuel and Experience (Phillips) King.

Jacob served in King Philip’s War 1676; he was in Weymouth by 1679, apparently in Worcester by 1684, but returned to Bridgewater from which he was warned in 1693. Evidently he spent most of his later life in Bridgewater, although he was in Taunton when he purchased a Bridgewater house in 1697, and in Hingham in Dec. 1713. Jacob “Lennard” of Bridgewater sold to Moses “Lennard” (#55) of Marlboro a purchase right in “Woster” (Worcester) 9 May 1717.

The will of Jacob Leonard of Bridgewater husbandman, dated 14 Dec. 1716 presented 19 Dec. 1717 left land in “Woster” to two eldest daughters, Abigail “Washbourne” and Susanna Hill; names three younger daughters, Experience Leonard, Mary Leonard and Sarah Leonard; two sons Solomon and Jacob Leonard; “my present wife Susanna Leonard their mother.”

A son Joseph by an earlier wife is indicated in LEONARD FAM and BRIDGEWATER BY MITCHELL, as well as in “Bridgewater Corrections.” VR BRIDGEWATER cites gravestones and a “framed record in the possession of the New England Historical Genealogical Society” indicating a son Joseph. It is curious that although the phrase “my present wife” in his will suggests an earlier wife, Jacob did not mention a son Joseph, or Joseph’s heirs, either in his will or in any deeds.

Child (LEONARD) b. to Jacob and first wife, prob. Duxbury:

• 57 i JOSEPH⁵ b. ca. 1672*

Children (LEONARD) b. to Jacob and Susanna:

• 58 ii ABIGAIL b. Weymouth 11 Nov. 1680
• 59 iii SUSANNA b. Weymouth 27 Dec. 1683
• iv EXPERIENCE living 14 Dec. 1716; n.f.r.
• 60 v MARY
• 61 vi SOLOMON b. ca. 1693
• 62 vii SARAH b. Bridgewater 11 June 1699
• viii JACOB b. Bridgewater 13 June 1702; d. there 6 Dec. 1722; Solomon granted administration of his brother Jacob, 21 Dec. 1728 (sic); no other probate papers.

*The Mayflower Society accepts descent through this Joseph although the evidence is skimpy. No evidence was located to indicate the name of Jacob’s purported first wife.

[page 24]

References: SAVAGE 3:79. VR BRIDGEWATER, WEYMOUTH. LEONARD FAM pp. 38-43. WEYMOUTH BY CHAMBERLAIN 3:351, 367. BRIDGEWATER BY MITCHELL pp. 245, 423. EASTON HIST p. 43. NEHGR 33:246. Bridgewater Corrections p. 17. TAG 27:4. Plymouth Co. PR 4:31; #12617 and 5:408(Jacob Leonard). Plymouth Co. LR 6:82(Harris to Leonard); 10:337(Allen to Leonard). Middlesex Co. LR 21:295(Jacob Lennard). VR BRIDGEWATER 1:14 “P.R. 107.” KING PHILIP’S WAR p. 221.

18 ISAAC LEONARD⁴ (Sarah CHANDLER³, Isabella² CHILTON, James¹) b. Duxbury ca. 1650; d. Bridgewater after 10 Dec. 1717 and before 9 March 1719/20 (deed).

He m. ca. 1675 DELIVERANCE —–, living Bridgewater in March 1719/20 (pos. dau. of William and Hannah (—–) Ames b. Braintree 12 mo. 6th 1653).

Isaac took part in the Narragansett Expedition in 1675, for which son Isaac Leonard of Bridgewater claimed a grant in 1733. He was a weaver. Isaac of Bridgewater and wife Deliverance sold land with dwelling and barn in Bridgewater 29 Feb. 1705/6. He owned land in Mendon and Worcester. He was of Bridgewater 27 March 1717 when he transferred Worcester land, wife Deliverance consenting 7 March 1719/20; son Benjamin on 9 March 1719/20 attested he saw Isaac sign. On 5 April 1717, acknowledged 10 Dec. 1717, Isaac Leonard of Bridgewater gave to son Joseph Leonard his homestead in Bridgewater, on condition Isaac have lifetime use. No Plymouth County probate or land records were found to connect probable child Deliverance.

Children (LEONARD) presumably b. Bridgewater:

• 63 i ISAAC⁵
• 64 ii HANNAH b. 15 March 1679/80
• prob. iii DELIVERANCE m. Bridgewater 9 Jan. 1701 SAMUEL WASHBURN JR., b. Bridgewater 6 April 1678; d. 1752; son of Samuel and Deborah (Packard) Washburn. He m.(2) 1703 Abigail Leonard (#58). Samuel and Deliverance had no issue.
• 65 iv JOSEPH
• 66 v BENJAMIN b. ca. 1686-90

References: VR BRIDGEWATER. BRAINTREE VR p. 633. TAG 46:121. BRIDGEWATER BY MITCHELL pp. 245, 341. NEHGR 16:145. LEONARD FAM pp. 44-5. KING PHILIP’S WAR p. 428. BOSTON TRANSCRIPT 19 Feb. 1917 #6058-10. Plymouth Co. LR 8:65; 14:94(Isaac Leonard); 38:201(Benjamin Leonard). Middlesex Co. LR 21:70(Isaac Leonard).

19 SOLOMON LEONARD (or LENERSON)⁴ (Sarah CHANDLER³, Isabella CHILTON², James¹) b. Duxbury or Bridgewater after 1650; d. Bridgewater 14 May 1686 (inventory).

He m. MARY —–, d. after 15 June 1686. The inventory of the estate of Solomon Lenerson of Bridgewater was

[page 25]

taken 21 May 1686, and sworn to be true by Mary Lenerson 15 June 1686.

Isaac Hayward and his wife Martha in 1739 transferred all rights to lands of “our father Soloman Leonard” late of Bridgewater deceased.

Children (LEONARD) prob. b. Bridgewater:*

• 67 i MARTHA⁵ b. ca. 1685

References: BRIDGEWATER BY MITCHELL pp. 244-5, 277, 288[confounds two Solomons, father and son]. LEONARD FAM pp. 46-8. Plymouth Co. PR 1:1(Solomon Leonard). Plymouth Co. LR 33:46(Isaac Hayward).

20 MARY LEONARD⁴ (Sarah CHANDLER³, Isabella² CHILTON, James¹) b. Duxbury or Bridgewater after 1650; living Taunton 3 March 1724/5.

She m. Taunton 24 Dec. 1673 JOHN POLLARD, b. Boston 4th day 4th month 1644; living Taunton 7 May 1722; son of William and Anne (—–) Pollard. He m.(1) Deliverance Willis, by whom he had Deliverance, Hannah and William.

John was head of a family in Taunton in 1675, then moved to Boston; he returned to Taunton before Feb. 1692/3 when he bought land of Nicholas Stoughton. John Pollard Sr. was a press master for troops in July 1695; John Pollard Jr. was impressed for service in May 1697. On 7 May 1722 John Pollard of Taunton, cooper, released rights to one-eighth of a house called the “Horse Show” [Horse Shoe] in Boston to Jonathan Pollard of Boston, innholder; wife Mary signed the deed. Mary Pollard of Taunton testified 3 March 1724/5 aged about 75 years.

Children (POLLARD) b. to John and Mary:

• i JOHN⁵ b. Taunton 20 March 1675; disappears after 1710, unless he is the John Polden of Plymouth.
• ii MARY b. Boston 8 March 1677; n.f.r.**
• 68 iii SAMUEL b. Boston 16 Jan. 1679
• pos. iv JOSEPH bp. Boston 1685/6; n.f.r.

References: SAVAGE 3:80, 449. VR TAUNTON. BOSTON VR 9:18, 101, 108, 115, 142, 149. MD 21:57. LEONARD FAM p. 48. POLLARD FAM 1:47, 50-3[erroneously indicates John Pollard m. Mary dau. of Solomon

*No evidence was found to support the claim in LEONARD FAM for two other "supposed" daughters, Sarah and Lydia. The Sarah Leonard who m. 1710 Samuel Perry of "Sandwitch," and Lydia Leonard who m. 1712 Joseph Pratt Jr. have not been placed.

**This Mary was not the wife of Solomon Kneeland, since one of the sons of Solomon and Mary Kneeland had Samuel Pollard for a grandfather.

[page 26]

and Mary Leonard; proposes the family lived in Essex County and had additional children]. PLYMOUTH COLONY RECS 8:55, 66. Suffolk Co. LR 33:261(John Pollard). Bristol Co. LR 4:68(Stoughton to Pollard); 14:208(John Pollard); 16:93(Mary Pollard). TAUNTON HIST pp. 93, 399, 400. [John Pollard and wife Deborah Campbell of Norton 1724 (see Bristol Co. LR 18:225) have not been placed.]

[page 58]

63 ISAAC LEONARD⁵ (Isaac⁴, Sarah CHANDLER³, Isabella² CHILTON, James¹) living 2 March 1736/7 “in York government.”

He m. Bridgewater 16 April 1701 MARY (GURNEY?) RANDALL of “North Purchase,” widow of Samuel Randall.

Isaac Leonard Jr. of Bridgewater bought land in Taunton “North Purchase” in 1702. When he moved there is uncertain, but he was living in North Purchase in 1713 and in 1720 when he bought land there. He was of Norton “east precinct” in 1722/3 when he purchased land in Easton. Isaac Leonard of Easton and wife Mary sold their home lot with dwelling in Easton March 1725/6.

Isaac Leonard of “Pomphret” CT sold two tracts in Easton 9 Sept. 1727, and Isaac “late of Easton now of Pomfret CT” sold his share in an iron mine in Easton 4 Jan. 1729, in a deed acknowledged 19 March 1730/1. Listed as inhabitants of Pomfret in 1731 were: Isaac Leonard Sr. and Jr., David Leonard and Thomas Leonard. Isaac was in Pomfret in 1732/3 when he traded land with a Joseph Leonard. (In one instance the land, sold by Joseph to Isaac⁶, was bounded by land of Joseph’s brother Isaac⁵.) After 1734 Joseph Leonard and wife, and Isaac Leonard, were admitted to the Second Church in Pomfret. In a deed signed 2 Feb. 1736/7

[page 59]

Isaac Leonard “late of Pomfret” was “now resident in Worcester shire in York government”* when he sold his holdings in Pomfret. No further records were found in CT for Isaac or sons David and Thomas.

Probable children (LEONARD): ISAAC⁶, DAVID, and THOMAS.

References: VR BRIDGEWATER. BRIDGEWATER BY MITCHELL pp. 106, 245. LEONARD FAM pp. 66-7. TAG 33:137-41. NEHGR 116:18-9. EATON HIST p. 48. WINDHAM CO CT BY LARNED 1:343, 349. Pomfret CT LR 2:156, 160; 3:38(Isaac Leonard). Bristol Co. LR 7:454(Benjamin Snow); 13:119(Thos. Randall Jr.); 13:121 (Jeremiah Willis & Samuel Smith); 18:145(Wm. Hayward); 18:510; 19:487; 20:50(Isaac Leonard).

64 HANNAH LEONARD⁵ (Isaac⁴, Sarah CHANDLER³, Isabella² CHILTON, James¹) b. Bridgewater 15 March 1679/80; d. Easton 22 April 1753.

She m. (1) Marlboro 11 March 1697 DAVID NEWTON, b. Marlboro 12 March 1671/2; d. there 4 April 1702; son of Moses and Joanna (Larkin) Newton. David Newton’s will, dated Marlboro 3 April 1702 sworn 26 May 1702, names wife Hannah, three “small daughters” Hannah, Lydia and Thankfull, and father Moses Newton Sr. as overseer. The will of Moses Newton of Marlborough, dated 3 April 1724, mentions “children of my sons David and Edward Newton deceased.”

She m. (2) bet. 1702 and 1708 NATHANIEL MANLEY, b. Weymouth 27 May 1684; d. Easton 21 April 1753; son of William and Rebecca (—–) Manley of Easton.

In 1716 Nathaniel Manley living in the easterly end of Taunton North Purchase gave rights in iron ore to his brother-in-law Isaac Leonard of Taunton. The same year he sold land and dwelling, his share from his father William Manley and his brothers Thomas and William Manley. Nathaniel was of Easton when he next sold land in 1726, and in 1727/8, which he and wife Hannah both acknowledged 5 May 1738. On 20 April 1753 Nathaniel Manley of Easton sold to Ichabod Manley of Easton several lots in Easton; on the second Tuesday of June 1754 one of the witnesses attested that Nathaniel Manley, since deceased, signed the deed.

Children (NEWTON) b. Marlboro to David and Hannah: HANNAH⁶ b. 1697; LIDIAH b. 1699; and THANKFULL b. 1701.

Children (MANLEY) b. Easton to Nathaniel and Hannah: ICHABOD b. 1709; HANNAH b. 1711; REBECCA b. 1714; ELIZABETH b. 1716; and MARY b. 1720, d. 1739.

References: VR BRIDGEWATER, HARDWICK(b. Ichabod), MARLBORO, WEYMOUTH. LEONARD FAM pp. 44-5. NEHGR 16:145. NEWTON GEN pp. 166-9.

*”Worcester shire in York government” has not been surely located, though Westchester NY has been suggested.

[page 60]

WEYMOUTH BY CHAMBERLAIN 3:414. EASTON HIST pp. 47-8. Easton VR(copy of original record book at town hall). Middlesex Co. PR #15885 and 10:459(David Newton). Bristol Co. LR 13:117; 20:214; 27:214; 27:406; 36:292; 40:402(Nathaniel Manley). Worcester Co. PR, old series, #43331 (Moses Newton).

65 JOSEPH LEONARD⁵ (Isaac⁴, Sarah CHANDLER³, Isabella² CHILTON, James¹) b. prob. Bridgewater; living Pomfret CT 6 April 1736.

He m. Bridgewater 19 Nov. 1712 HANNAH JENNINGS, dau. of Richard Jennings. Richard’s will, signed in Bridgewater 27 April 1739 proved 1751, names daughter Hannah wife of Joseph Leonard. In 1725 Mary Bailey sold rights to Joseph Leonard of Bridgewater “son of Isaac Leonard decd.” Joseph Leonard Jr. of Bridgewater sold 20 March 1728 “my homestead where I dwell” in Bridgewater, and wife Hannah released right of dower. On 8 April 1728 Joseph Leonard of Bridgewater, cooper, bought land in Pomfret, bounded on the south by land of Isaac Leonard. Joseph Leonard of Pomfret husbandman on 9 Jan. 1732/3 sold to Isaac Leonard of Pomfret “the farm whereon I now live” bounded by land of “my brother Isaac Leonard,” witnessed by an Isaac Leonard. On 5 April 1736 Joseph Leonard of Pomfret sold land in Pomfret, acknowledged the next day; he and his family then disappear from the records of Connecticut.

Children (LEONARD) all except last b. Bridgewater: twins HANNAH⁶ and JOSEPH b. 1713; MOSES b. 1714; SETH b. 1715; TIMOTHY b. 1718; REBECCA b. 1721; MEHETABEL b. 1724; THANKFUL b. 1726; EBENEZER b. 1728; and BETTE b. Pomfret CT 1730.

References: CSL Barbour Index:Pomfret. VR BRIDGEWATER. BRIDGEWATER BY MITCHELL pp. 210, 245. LEONARD FAM p. 61[clearly has the incorrect Joseph going to Pomfret]. Plymouth Co. PR 12:385(Richard Jennings). Plymouth Co. LR 19:168(Mary Bailey); 23:151(Joseph Leonard). WINDHAM CO. CT BY LARNED 1:349. Pomfret CT LR 2:59(John Adams); 2:155, 156, 157, 160, 161, 162(Joseph Leonard & Isaac Leonard).

66 BENJAMIN LEONARD⁵ (Isaac⁴, Sarah CHANDLER³, Isabella² CHILTON, James¹) b. prob. Bridgewater ca. 1686 to 1690; d. Mendham NY by July 1749.

He m. (1) Bridgewater 15 Aug. 1715 or 1716 HANNAH PHILLIPS, d. ca. 1730; dau. of William and Hannah (Gilbert) Phillips of Taunton. On 15 Nov. 1717 Benjamin and Hannah Leonard of Bridgewater received of “our grandfather Thomas Gilbert of Taunton, administrator of the estate of William Phillips late of Taunton deceased, our father,” their share of his estate.

[page 61]

He m. (2) Freetown 13 June 1734 MARY CUDWORTH, b. Freetown 14 Nov. 1702; very prob. d. Morristown NJ 5 Nov. 1778 ae 75; dau. of James and Betsey (Hatch) Cudworth.

Benjamin Leonard, cooper, of Bridgewater sold his homestead in Bridgewater in 1720, and the same year he and wife Hannah sold land in Dighton, set off to her from her father’s estate. In 1722 Benjamin bought land in Dighton, and was living in the part which later became Berkley in July 1723 with wife Hannah. Benjamin was of Berkley when he sold land in 1735, and also when he sold his homestead in 1737, wife Mary relinquishing dower. Both he and Mary still of Berkley acknowledged a sale 7 Dec. 1738. His last sale was acknowledged in Berkley 3 Sept. 1739.

About 1740 Benjamin and family moved to Mendham, Morris Co., NJ. No probate or land records have been located for either Benjamin or Mary in NJ.

Children (LEONARD) b. to Benjamin and Hannah, first two b. Bridgewater, all recorded Dighton: JEMIMA⁶ b. 1717; LYDIA b. 1718; HANNAH b. 1720; BENJAMIN b. 1722; WILLIAM b. 1724; and CALEB b. 1726.

Children (LEONARD) b. to Benjamin and Mary, only Henry certain, others probable (marriages for
Ephraim, Sarah, Dorothea and Hannah found at Morristown NJ 1753-61): EPHRAIM; HENRY bp. Berkley 1738; SARAH; DOROTHEA; HANNAH; and possibly SUSANNA.

References: VR BRIDGEWATER. Dighton VR 1:42, 91. Freetown VR, typescript, pp. 17, 79; and marriages p. 40. TAG 46:121. BRIDGEWATER BY MITCHELL p. 247. LEONARD FAM pp. 67-8. CORY ANCY 2:1:87-90. Plymouth Co. LR 38:201(Benj. Leonard). BERKLEY HIST p. 6. Berkley Baptisms by Rev. Samuel Tobey, typescript at Old Colony Hist. Soc., Taunton. Bristol Co. LR 13:139, 565; 15:16, 255; 35:355; 40:276; 57:199(Benj. Leonard); 15:5(James Leonard Jr.). NJ ARCHIVES, WILLS 2:478(Jos. Thompson will mentions Benj. Leonard deceased).