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Descendants of William Furbush
1.WILLIAM1 FURBUSH was born Abt. 1631 in Scotland, and died Abt. 1696 in York County, ME.He married (1) REBECCA Abt. 1664 in York County, ME.He married (2) CHRISTIAN Abt. 1688 in York County, ME.
Notes for WILLIAM FURBUSH:
William was born, some say, at Aberdeenshire, Scotland. He was captured at the battle of Dunbar and shipped to New England in 1650. In the "Early Land Grants"of 16 Jun 1648, being the assignment of lots at "Cochecho Marsh", Lot #18 shows a "William Furbarse, 6 yeckers."The question remains whether this is "our" William. If so, why the period between 1648 - 1659 of not being listed on the tax rolls of Dover, NH.
The following is taken from "The Descendants of William Furbish/Furbush of Kittery, Maine" by Bob Scott, to be published.
The Clan Forbes held forth in Aberdeenshire. The Gaelic for Forbes is Foirbeis which may explain the New England Forbush, Furbush and Furbish spellings. On September 3, 1650, the Scottish supporters of Prince Charles (later King Charles II) lost the Battle of Dunbar to Cromwells English forces, with the resulting loss of four thousand Scots killed or wounded and ten thousand more taken prisoner. Five thousand of the prisoners were marched across the border and three thousand of these were imprisoned in Durham Cathedral.The Cathedral suffered much damage during their imprisonment. The prisoners were shipped to various parts of England, Ireland and the Colonies as indentured survants. William Furbush is listed as a prisoner in a paper read to the Mass. Historical Society by Colonel Charles Edward Banks entitled "Scotch Prisoners Deported to New England bt Cromwell, 1651 - 1652." (Ma.Hist.Soc.Proc. 61 (Oct 1928) p.4, 29).
In November, 150 Scottish prisoners were delivewred to Augustine Walker, Master of the Unity, to be transported to New England. His order to sail was dated November 11th and it presumed that he weighed anchor immediately.With this cargo of 150 souls, the Unity crossed the wintery seas of the Atlantic, probably landing in Boston harbor in late January. How many died during the voyage is not known, but upon arrival 60 were sold to the Lynn Iron Works, and the rest were distributed to various towns. The going price was between 20 and 30 pounds per man as payment for their transportation. The cost of an Atlantic passage was about 5 pounds so the owners of the Unity cleared about 1500 pounds. The average indenture was for 6 to 8 year. William Furbush and 16 other Scots were sent to the lumber mills of Kittery, Maine where they worked out their indentureship.
William and several other Scots homesteaded property on the Piscatqua River as shown by an early map in the book "Old Kittery and Her Families" by Stackpole.William owned land in Kittery in 1664 and he lived near Thompson's Point in what is now Eliot. (William is listed on the tax rolls of Dover, NH in 1659 and in 1662 "spoke out against the severe punishment given to three Quaker women and was himself put in stocks as punishment", "The Quaker Invasion of Mass." Hallowell, p100.) This tract of land was forty rods wide running from the river back one full mile or eighty acres in all. His house was in the middle of his land or about 40 rods from the river where the marks of the old cellar could still be seen in the 1890's. He also had a grant of ten acres in 1668. William made his will the 27th of August in 1694 and his estate was settled by an agreement of his heirs dated 21 March 1701, which they all signed.
On May 8th, 1681, William fforbes (Furbush) of Newichawannock (upper Kittery) testified that
"about two years since he being at the house of Joseph Hammond in the towne of Kittery in the province of Maine Major Waldern, now being of the Councill, took out of his pockett a paper which he read, being in derision of the government of England and after some discourse said these words, There was no more a king in England than thou, Richard Nason, unto whome he then spoke." (Colonial Papers, Vol. XLVI, No 118. Manuscript copy in library on NH Hist. Scociety.)
The name of William's first wife is not known for certain but it probably was Rebecca ( a court record gives enough information to indicate his first wife's name.)
"1 July 1679, (4:2:133), Wee present William Furbush for abuseing of the Constable & sleighting of his pouer & sayd hee could not answere what hee did in his office & he sayd Furbush tooke up a dreadful weapon & sayd that hee would dy before his goods should bee carried away. Jury. The person presented fined for his Delinquency 40s & fees of Court 5s. Rebeccah Furbush presented for strikeing the Constable. Jury. The offender fined tenn shillings & Cost of Court 5s." (p.355, Province and Court Records of Maine, Vol. II, Portland, Maine Historical Society, 1931)
Williaqm may have had a second wife named Christain, born about 1652, and died after 1701, who probably survived him as the settlement reached by his heirs divided his property in thirds. According to the source below she was mentioned in his will but the will is now missing.
"Furbush, LT. William, taxed in Dover, NH in 1659; by 1664 settled on family homestead in N.W. corner of Eliot, 40 rods on the river, where is a graveyard with about 30 unmarked stones. In the second war he withdrew to Newcastle. Wife Rebecca in 1679; his widow was Christain, about 43 in 1695. Will dated 27 Aug 1694, missing; estate distributed by agreement of heirs, 1701. Children: Daniel, m. Dorothy Pray (John); 11 children. John, d.s.p. Hope, m. 1st Enoch Hutchins; m. 2nd,William Wilson; Catherine, m. Andrew Neal. Sarah, m. Thomas Thompson, Bethia, m. Joseph Gould; William, died Craven, SC; wife unknown. 2 sons." (The Piscataqua Pioneers 1623 - 1775. Register of Members and Ancestors 1905 - 1967 compiled by Dallas Wylie Prugh, Genealogist and Registra 1967, p. 126)
Children of WILLIAM FURBUSH and REBECCA are:
| 2. | i. | DANIEL2 FURBUSH, b. Abt. 1665, Kittery, York, ME; d. Bef. January 11, 1744/45, Lebanon, York, ME. | |
| ii. | JOHN FURBUSH, b. Abt. 1667; d. Bef. November 24, 1701. | ||
| iii. | HOPEWELL FURBUSH, b. Abt. 1670, Kittery, York, ME; m. (1) ENOCH HUTCHINS, JR., May 12, 1693, York County, ME; m. (2) WILLIAM WILSON, April 25, 1711, York County, ME. | ||
| iv. | CATHERINE FURBUSH, b. Abt. 1673, Kittery, York, ME; d. 1755, Kittery, York, ME; m. ANDREW NEALE, Abt. 1694. |
| Notes for CATHERINE FURBUSH: Catherine was arrested for working on the last day of Thanksgiving, 7 July 1696. (Old Eliot, Vol. 2, P. 31) On Oct 6th, 1696, Andrew appeared for Catherine and plead ignorance, she was aquitted and payed court costs. On the 17th Oct in 1739, Catherine was named administrator of husband's Andrew Neale's estate. |
| v. | SARAH FURBUSH, b. Abt. 1677, Kittery, York, ME; m. THOMAS THOMPSON, Abt. 1698, York County, ME. | ||
| vi. | BETHIAH FURBUSH, b. Abt. 1680, Kittery, York, ME; m. JOSEPH GOULD, Abt. 1705, York County, ME. |
| Notes for JOSEPH GOULD: Joseph had an occupation as weaver. He was a member of the First Company of Taunton in 1700. In July 1709 he bought Tremorgie's Point in Kittery. |
| 3. | vii. | WILLIAM FURBUSH, b. Abt. 1687, Kittery, York, ME; d. November 20, 1724, Craven, SC. |