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View Tree for William HedgesWilliam Hedges (b. Abt. 1650, d. 1674)

William Hedges was born Abt. 1650, and died 1674 in East Hampton, NY283. He married Rose Unknown.

 Includes NotesNotes for William Hedges:
The first Hedges in East Hampton is thought to have come from Maidstone in Kent, England. The name still appears regularly in the Kent Messenger, a newspaper published in Maidstone; and the name is still well represented here. Kentish records going back for centuries spell the name variously, Hedges, Hedge, Hodge or Hodges.

Judge Henry P. Hedges, 19th century East Hampton historian, considered William Hodges who settle Taunton, Mass., in 1643 the same man who arrived in East Hampton by 1650 by way of Southampton and whose name was spelled Hedges here.

William Hedges was granted land in 1652 which remained in the family until 1923. The Hedges Inn, built about 1770 on the site of an earlier house, is located on property described in the 1652 grant as being on the "Great Plaine, more or less bounded with the hie way South, the litell Pond West, and the hie way North and John Mulford East.[sic all]"

The Suffolk County "Portrait and Biographical Record" of 1896 says that Hedges men have been largely farmers and with few exception have made a signal success of it; also they are notable for longevity, averaging 85 years with near-centenarians not uncommon.

It may be added that they often exchanged the plow for the whaling irons. A Hedges (Tristram or William, the old records are dim and historians say the given name may be either; it was probably William) in March 1644, was named as a member of the first organized whaling company in America. Forty-four men banded together at Southampton to take care of the valuable right whales off the beach on eastern Long Island.

Whaling captains Jonathan, Jeremiah, Hiram, and William H. Hedges were among those sailing out of Sag Harbor for nearly a hundred years, 1780-1875; and nobody knows how many more shipped on whaling vessels in lesser capacities.

Some of them dropped their whaling irons in 1849 when the news of gold in California stripped eastern Long Island of her young and enterprising men. One Job Hedges was on the Sabina, an old whale ship that sailed out of Sag Harbor around Cape Horn bound for San Francisco. Every man in the Sabina’s crew was a whaling captain and they elected their master for that voyage. But most of the Argonauts came back to resume farming and fishing operations at home.

From the Hedges Home Page March 29, 1997: "The Name and Family Of Hedges" by F. Dale White

The name of Hedges or Hedge is in most cases, at least, derived from the residence of its first bearer at or near a hedge. It is found in ancient English and early American records in the various forms of Hegge, Hege, Hedgges, Hegges, Hedge, Hedges and others, of which the last spelling is that most generally used in America today, while immediately preceding it is also frequently found.

Families bearing this name were resident at early dates in the English Counties of Kent, Somerset, Cornwall, Berke, Wilts, Oxford, Hants, and Middlesex, as well as in the city and vicinity of London. They were, for the most part, of the landed gentry and yeomanry of Great Britain.

Among the earliest definite records of the family in England are those of John de la Hegge, of County Kent, in 1273; those of Walter de la Hegge, of London, about the same time; Those of Edith atte Hegge, of Somersetshire, in 1327; and those of William atte Hegge, who was living in the year 1353.

These records are, however, only fragmentary. One branch of the Hedges family is said to be descended from the ancient house of Lacy, of Cornwall, one John Lacy of the latter half of the sixteenth century having been the father of William, Henry, Catherine, and Richard Lacy, all of whom used the of Hedges. Of the sons of John Lacy, William Lacy "alias Hedges" settled at Kingadowne, in Wiltshire. He married Alice, daughter of Thomas Hoskins, of Wiltshire, in 1593 and was the father by her of John, Thomas, Robert, William, Tobit, Johanna, Martha, Cecilia and Philippa. Of these, the son Rober settled at Goughall, in Ireland, and married Catherine, daughter of Edward Wakeman, of Gloucestershire, in 1630. He had issue by her of Sir William Hedges, of London, and Robert Hedges, of Queens County, Ireland, as well as of four daughters, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine, and Alice.

Sir William Hedges, of London, first married Susanna, daughter of Sir Nicholas Vanackre, of County Kent, in 1671 and had issue by her of William, Robert, Nicholas, and Catherine. His second wife, Anne, daughter of Paul Nicoll, of County Middlesex whom he married in 1687, gave him further issue of two sons, John and Charles.

Robert Hedges, of Queens County, Ireland, son of the first Robert of Ireland, married Dorothy Perot, of Devonshire, before 1658 and was the father by her of Robert, Mary, Elizabeth, Catherine, Anna, Richard, and William.

Henry Lacy "alias Hedges" younger son of the first mentioned John of this line, settled in Berkeshire and married a Miss Holloway, by whom he was the father of Henry Hedges, who made his home in Wiltshire, This Henry had issue by his wife Margaret, daughter of Richard Pleydell, of possibly among others, Sir Charles Hedges, of London, and Henry Hedges, of Wiltshire. Of these, Sir Charles married Eleanor, daughter of George Smith, and was the father by her of Eleanor (died Young), Margaret, Eleanor, Elizabeth, Jane, Charles (died young) Charles (also died young), George, Henry, Charles, and William; while Henry left issue by his wife Frances, daughter of Francis Swanton, of Henry, Prudence and several others, whose names are not in evidence.

The Hedge and Hedges families are of extremely ancient lineage, but it is not definitely known from which of the above mentioned branches the first of the name in America trace their descent.

One of the earliest immigrants of the name to America was William Hedges, who settled at Lynn, Mass., before 1634 and later removed to San...ich and thence to Yormouth, in the same colony. By his first wife, Elizabeth, he was the father of Elizabeth, Mary, Abraham, Sarah, Elisha, William, John, Lemuel, and Mercy. The immigrant William also had a second wife, the Widow Blanche Hull, but had no further issue, and is said to have died in 1670.

Elisha, son of the immigrant William Hedge, was the father by his wife of Mary, Elizabeth, William, Elisha, Mary, John, Samuel, Sarah, Mercy, Susannah, and Thomas.

The sons of the first Elisha, William was the father by his wife Elizabeth of William, Samuel, Thomas, Hannah, and Abraham; Elisha married Mary Lothrop in 1702, but died shortly afterward, probably without issue; John married Thankful Lothrop in 1699 and had issue by her of Abigail, John, Barnabas, Susannah, Elisha, Sarah, Thankful, Mercy, Anna, and Andrew; Samuel married Grace Snow in 1698 and removed to Eastham, but the names of his progeny are not at hand; and Thomas left issue by his wife, Hannah Taylor, whom he married about 1717, of an only son, named Thomas who died young.

One William Hedges is said to have emigrated from England to America about 1644, if not before, and to have settled at South Hampton and East Hampton New York. This William has been said by some writers to have been the same as the preceding emigrant, but this is impossible. William Hedges, of New York, died in 1674. He is said to have had a wife named Rose; two sons Stephen and Isaac, and several daughters, whose names are not certain."



Children of William Hedges and Rose Unknown are:
  1. +Stephen Hedges, b. Jan 1634/35, Kent, England283, d. Jul 07, 1734, East Hampton, NY.
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