Genealogy Report: Ancestors of Joan Eleanor Hersey
Ancestors of Joan Eleanor Hersey
2320.John Browne, born Abt. 1579 in Roxwell, Essex, England1051; died Apr 10, 1662 in Swansea, Ma.He married 2321. Dorothy Beauchamp Dec 22, 1611 in England1051.
2321.Dorothy Beauchamp, born Abt. 1583 in England; died Jan 27, 1673/74 in Swansea, Ma1052.
Notes for John Browne:
John Browne Came to this countryin 1630 on the ship Lyon, with wife Dorothy and children Mary, James, John, and most likely William.Mary, James, and John are well documented.
John Browne was very active in the new colony and was an assistant to the Governor.Much of the land in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island was purchased by John Browne, with others, from the Indians.There are many articles in the Mayflower Descendants about him and information can be found in most books on the Plymouth Colony.
JOHN, Plymouth, had acquaintance with the Pilgrave at Leyden before 1620, but his year
of coming is unknown, living in 1636 at Duxbury; in 1643 at Taunton; Assist. for 17 years
from 1636, and served as Commissnr. of the Unit. Col. from 1644 for 12 years had James,
above mentioned; and Mary, who married 6 July 1636, Thomas Willet; perhaps more,
certainly John, and d. at Swansey, near Rehoboth, where he had large estate 10 Apr. 1662.
His will, made three days before provides for the five children that his son John left to his
care, and names son James, and wife Dorothy excors. also names daughter Mary Willet,
and grand-daughter Martha, wife of John Saffin, d. of Willet. His widow Dorothy d. at
Swansey, 27 Jan. 1674, aged 90. See Davis, in Morton's Mem. 295-7.
From Early Rehoboth by Richard LeBarron Bowen:
p. 25 Mr John Browne of Rehoboth, Plymouth Colony Magistrate and Commissioner of the United Colonies, laid the foundation for the establishment of Swansea, but it was his son-in-law Capt. Thomas Willett, Plymouth Colony Magistrate and the first English mayor of the city of New York, who was the actual founder and who completed the work after the death of John Brown.
p. 26 It was the fight between the Baptists and the Congregationalists in the Church of Christ at Rehoboth that finally resulted in the founding of the Baptist township of Swansea under the spiritual leadership of Mr. John Myles.
The town of Swansea was founded on the basis of a class division of inhabitants that existed nowhere else in New England.On 5 Mar. 1667/8 the Plymouth Colony Court appointed "Capt Thomas Willett, Mr. Stephen Paine, Sr, Mr. John Browne, John Allen and John Butterworth" (all Rehoboth men) to have charge of the admittance of inhabitants; to dispose of the lands; and to have the control of the affairs of the new township "att Wannamoisett and places adjacent" later to be named Swansea.
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Ancestry of Calvin Guild, Margret Taft, James Humpherys and Rebecca Covell Martin
Author: Howard Redwood Guild
Call Number: R929.1 G95
John Brown,434 of Rehoboth, b. 1590 ñ; d. 10 Apr., 1662, in Swansey; m., 1622 ñ, Dorothy435 (b. 1584; d. 27 Jan., 1674). He settled first at Plymouth, where he was chosen a magistrate. In 1636, he was elected an assistant which position he held seventeen successive years. He was one of the commissioners to the United Colonies of New England, 1644 to 1655. Freeman, Plymouth, 1634. He was an original proprietor at Plymouth and owned large estates at Rehoboth. He was the first Plymouth magistrate to express scruples as to the expediency of coercing people to support the ministry. He was a man of talent, integrity and piety.
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From John Browne, Gentleman of Wannamoisett, Plymouth Colony by Aimee Huston Peck:
p. vii"Morton's New England Memorial, p. 193, stated thathe lived in Rehoboth, was a shipwright, and that several of the sons of Samuel Eddy were apprenticed to him as early as 1645-47, the indentures recorded in the old colony records."
| Notes for Dorothy Beauchamp: From John Browne, Gentleman of Wannamoisett, etc.: p. xvThe Plymouth Colony Records show that "Mistris Dorrithy Browne, the wife of Mr. John Browne, senir, deceased January the 27, being in the 90th year of her life, or thereabouts, and was buried on the 29th of January, 1673.She lived with her son James Browne of Swansea, and died there." |
Children of John Browne and Dorothy Beauchamp are:
| i. | William Browne | |||
| ii. | Ensign John Browne, born Abt. 1620 in England; died Mar 31, 1662 in Hingham, Mass; married (1) Ann Dennis; married (2) Lydia Buckland Bef. 16611053; died Bef. Sep 1699. |
| Notes for Ensign John Browne: JOHN, Rehoboth, or Swansey, son of John the eldest, Joseph, Nathaniel, Lydia,, and Hannah, all of wh. in his will of 31 Mar. 1662, of wh. he made John, his father the excor. he gave to his care,, and d. soon. Hannah married 7 Jan. 1676, her cousin Hezekiah Willet. **************************************************************************************************** Some Ancestral Lines Author: Raymon Meyers Tingley Call Number: R929.2 qT58t II. Mary Bosworth, born (???), 1609/11, England; buried July 29, 1687, Rehoboth, Mass. Married (???), 1626, William Buckland, of Rehoboth, Mass., born (???); buried Sept. 1, 1683, Rehoboth, Mass. CHILDREN: 1. Lydia Buckland, b. (???); d. (???), Saybrook, Ct. Married 1st., abt. 1655, John Brown, of Rehoboth, Mass., son of John and Dorothy, b. (???), Rehoboth, Mass.; d. last of March, 1662, Rehoboth, Mass. Married 2nd., abt. 1664, William Lord, of Saybrook, Ct., b. (???); d. (???). John Brown married 1st., Ann Dennis. CHILDREN: (a) Lydia, (b) Anna, (c) Joseph, (d) Nathaniel. By 2nd. husband, (e) Sarah, (f) Abigail, (g) Benjamin, (h) Dorothy, (i) Daniel, (j) James, (k) Samuel. ******************************************************************************************************* <http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=wheeler&id=I2314> Wheeler Family of Rehoboth, Montpelier and Brattleboro 4766 total entries, last updated Fri Feb 16 00:11:25 2001 All questions, comments or suggestions regarding information on this page should be addressed to: Elizabeth <[email protected]> ID: I2314 Name: John BROWN Title: II Sex: M Birth: 1631 in of Hawkedown Suffolk ENG Baptism: 28 AUG 1631 Hawkedown Suffolk ENG Death: MAR/APR 1662 in Rehoboth Bristol Co MA : IMMIGRATION 1635, Ship `Elizabeth` Father: John BROWNE b: ABT 1591 in ENG Mother: Dorothy _____ b: 1593/94 in ENG Marriage 1 Martha _____ b: ABT 1632 in ENG or MA [What sources for this spouse?] ID: I2319 Name: Martha _____ Sex: F Birth: ABT 1632 in ENG or MA Death: ABT 1660 in Rehoboth Bristol Co MA Marriage 1 John BROWN b: 1631 in of Hawkedown Suffolk ENG Married: BY 1650 in Plymouth Colony MA Children 1. John BROWN b: SEP 1650 in Rehoboth Bristol Co MA 2. Lydia BROWN b: 5 AUG 1656 in Rehoboth Bristol Co MA 3. Hanna BROWN b: 29 JAN 1657 in Rehoboth Bristol Co MA 4. Joseph BROWN b: 9 APR 1658 in Rehoboth Bristol Co MA ********************************************************************************* Rehoboth Roots 17382 total entries, last updated Mon Feb 5 16:17:51 2001 All questions, comments or suggestions regarding information on this page should be addressed to: Jim Bullock <[email protected]> ID: I5527 Name: John BROWN Given Name: John Surname: Brown Sex: M Birth: ABT 1627 1 Death: 1662 in Rehoboth, Plymouth Colony Note: Called "deceased" in father's will. 2 Probate: 3 OCT 1662 Rehoboth, Plymouth Colony 3 Probate: 26 JUN 1663 Rehoboth, Plymouth Colony Note: "Rcpt. by Lidia Brown, widow, for legacy from Est. of her husb. JOHN BROWN, Jr., dtd. 26 June 1663, paid by 'my Brother James Brown' [1:15]." 4 WILL: 31 MAR 1662 Rehoboth, Plymouth Colony Note: Know all men that I John Browne of Wannamoisett in the Jurisdiction of Plymouth being sicke but in pfect memory Doe leave this my last Will and Testament in manner and forme as followeth; wheras my fatherinlaw William Buckland standeth engaged unto mee in the sume of three score pounds which was to bee for the portion hee was to give mee in marriage with my wife and was to bee payed mee in the yeare 1660: this sume which is now in my fatherinlaw his hand I Doe give unto my wife for her better preferment Desiring that my fatherinlaw would bee Carfull to pay it; and morover I Doe give unto my wife; the like sume of threescore pounds to bee payed unto her by my Exequitor out of my estate and I Doe give unto my eldest son John Browne my little mare that is now great with foale as alsoe yearling Coult shee brought forth the last yeare; and one yeoke of oxen; and such Iron or Iron takeling as is ptable betwixt my brother James and my selfe I Doe give my pte unto my son John Browne; and Conserning all my five Children I Doe wholly leave them all to the ordering and Dispseing of my owne father Mr John Brown for him to bring them up not once questioning but that his love and Care for them wilbee as it hath bine for my selfe; and for all the rest of my estate I Doe wholly leave unto him to Dispose amongst them as in his Descretion hee shall see meet; and I Doe leave my said father mr John Browne sole executor of this my last Will; In Wines wherof I have sett to my hand and seale this last Day of march in the yeare 1662 Signed Sealed and Delivered John Browne in the prsence of and a seale Thomas Willett John Allin; 5 Event: Freeman 1 JUN 1658 Rehoboth, Plymouth Colony 6 Father: John BROWN b: ABT 1591 in , , England Mother: Dorothy b: ABT 1584 Marriage 1 Martha Married: BEF 1650 Children 1. John BROWN b: SEP 1650 in Rehoboth, Plymouth Colony 2. Lydia BROWN b: 5 AUG 1656 in Rehoboth, Bristol, MA 3. Anna BROWN b: 29 JAN 1657 in Rehoboth, Bristol, MA 4. Joseph BROWN b: 9 APR 1658 in Rehoboth, Plymouth Colony Marriage 2 Lydia BUCKLAND b: ABT 1637 in Hingham, Plymouth, MA Married: BEF 1661 Note: First child born 9 Jun 1661. 1 Children 1. Nathaniel BROWN b: 9 JUN 1661 in Rehoboth, Bristol, MA Sources: 1.Abbrev: Great Migration 1634-35 Title: The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634 - 1635 Author: Robert Charles Anderson, George F. Sanborn Jr., Melinde Lutz Sanborn Publication: New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, 1999 Page: vol. I, p. 426 2.Abbrev: Mayflower Descendant Title: The Complete Mayflower Descendant, Vols. 1-46 & Other Sources Publication: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants Family Tree Maker's Family Archives, CD #203; Broderbund Software, Inc.; 1997 Page: Vol. XVIII, p. 14. The Wills of John Brown, Senior and John Brown, Junior. 3.Abbrev: Mayflower Descendant Title: The Complete Mayflower Descendant, Vols. 1-46 & Other Sources Publication: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants Family Tree Maker's Family Archives, CD #203; Broderbund Software, Inc.; 1997 Page: Vol. XVIII, p. 15, "The Wills of John Brown, Senior and John Brown, Junior" 4.Abbrev: Bristol Abstracts-1 Title: Abstracts of Bristol County, Massachusetts Probate Records 1687-1745 Author: H.L. Peter Rounds, C.G. Publication: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore, MD, 1988 Page: p. 2 5.Abbrev: Mayflower Descendant Title: The Complete Mayflower Descendant, Vols. 1-46 & Other Sources Publication: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants Family Tree Maker's Family Archives, CD #203; Broderbund Software, Inc.; 1997 Page: vol. XVIII, pp.14-15, "Wills of John Brown, Senior and John Brown, Junior" 6.Abbrev: Plymouth Records Title: Records of Plymouth Colony: Births, Marriages, Deaths, Burials, and Other Records, 1633-1689 Reprinted with "Plymouth Colony Vital Records," a Supplement from _The Mayflower Descendant_ by: George Ernest Bowman Author: Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, M.D., Editor Publication: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore, MD 1997 Page: p. 201 |
| Notes for Ann Dennis: This marriage has not been proven as far as I know.Other names I have seen mentioned as possibilities are Martha ____ and Phoebe Harding. |
| 1160 | iii. | James Browne, born Abt. 1623; died Oct 29, 1710 in Swansea, Massachusetts; married Lydia Howland Abt. 1654 in Plymouth, Mass.. | ||
| iv. | Mary Browne, born Abt. 1625 in England; died Jan 06, 1668/69 in Rhode Island; married Thomas Willett Jul 06, 1636 in Swansea, Massachusetts; born Abt. 1610 in England; died Aug 04, 1674 in Swansea, Bristol, Ma. |
| Notes for Mary Browne: Adam and Anne Mott: Their Ancestors and their Descendants Author: Thomas C. Cornell Call Number: R929.2 qM921c The descendants of Adam Mott who was born in 1762 in New York. Bibliographic Information: Cornell, Adam and Anne Mott: Their ancestors and their descendants,Poughkeepsie,NY:A.V. Haight:1890. Captain Thomas and Mary (Brown) Willet had thirteen children, as follows: I.Mary, born 10th November, 1637, died 24th June, 1712; married first, 22d September, 1658, Rev. Samuel Hooker; married second, on 10th August, 1703, Rev. Thomas Buckingham. II.Martha, born 6th August, 1639, 11th December, 1578, married Judge John Saffin. III.John, born 21st August, 1641. IV.Sarah, born 4th May, 1643, died June 4th, 1665; married Rev. John Elliott, son of the "Indian Apostle" of the same name. V.Rebecca, born 2d December, 1644. VI.Thomas, born 1st October, 1646. VII.Esther, born 10th July, 1648; married Rev. Josiah Flint, of Dorchester, progenitor of Oliver Wendell Holmes. VIII.James, born 23d November, 1649; married Eliza Hunt, of Rehoboth, Mass. IX.Hezekiah, born 1651, died 6th July, 1651. X.Hezekiah, born 17th November, 1653; married Anna Brown, and killed by Indians 1676, in King Philip's war. XI.David, born 1st November, 1654. XII.ANDREW, born 5th October, 1655, died 1712. XIII.Samuel, born 27th October, 1658. Sheriff of Queens County, had thirteen children, ancestor of Marinus Willet. ****************** Page 251d ....The Rev. Evelyn Bartow writes that he has recently visited the Cemetery where Thomas Willett, the first Mayor of New York, and his wife Mary are buried. He quotes the inscriptions as follows: 1674 Here lyes ye Body of ye Worfl Thomas Willett Esq., who died August ye 4th in ye 64th year of his age. Anno. who was the First Mayor of New York and twice did sustain ye place. The grave stone of Mary Willet bears the inscription (on the head stone) 1669 Here lyeth ye body of the Vertuous Mrs. Mary Willet wife to thomas Willet Esqr. who died January ye 8 about ye 65th year of her age. Anno. on the foot stone Daughter to ye Worfl. John Brown Esqr. Deceased. (N. Y. Gen. Rec. XX., 44.) ************************************************************************************************************ I post this information here as I did not have adequate space in the notes of Thomas Willett, husband of Mary Brown. Warne Genealogy A genealogy of the Warne Family in America. Principally the descendants of Thomas Warne, born 1652, died 1722, one of the 24 proprietors of East New Jersey. WILLETT. From the New England Gen. and Biog. Register, Vol. 2, p. 376, Oct., 1848, we glean in part, as follows: Capt. Thomas Willett, b. 1610; d. 1674; m. (1) July 6, 1636, Mary (dau. of John Brown, of Swansey), who died Jan. 8, 1669; m. (2) Joanna Pruden. Capt. Thomas Willett came to Plymouth, Mass., from Leyden, in Spring 1630, at age of 20. Was a magistrate at Plymouth 1651-1664, assistant to Gov. William Bradford. In 1664, he accompanied Col. Nicholson in the reduction of New York, of which city he was the first English Mayor. He was Mayor of New York from June 12, 1665, to June 12, 1666, and also from July, 1667, to August, 1668. In 1673, the Dutch having taken New York, Mr. Willett retired to Barrington, Rhode Island, and died there the next year. His will, dated Apr. 26, 1671, proved Nov. 25, 1674, names four sons and three daughters, viz.: James, Hezekiah, Andrew and Samuel, Mary, Martha and Esther.(General Dictionary of Rhode Island, by J. O. Austin, p. 428.) Hence the others, Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 11,see below, were dead when the will was written, or at least supposedly so, Thomas the 6th beingamong them. Capt. Thomas Willett was one of 15 children of Rev. Andrew Willett and Jacobina Goad, m. about1589, he being the 7th child, baptized Aug. 29, 1605, at Barley, Hertfordshire, England, as per Register of St. Margaret's Church. Capt. Thomas Willett, the Mayor, was witness to a baptism in New Amsterdam as early as Sept. 6, 1640, and on other occasions. The Quaker family of Willetts, of Queens Co., Oyster Bay, and Hempstead, spelled their name Willetts (not Willett), and are descended from Richard Willetts, who had a son ThomasWilletts, b. 3rd Mo., 1650; d. 1760. He m. Dinah Townsend and had a number of children, who have many descendants on Long Island, in Queens and Suffolk Counties. ******* Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-33; Jeremy Anderson [BIRTH: About 1610 (possibly son of Thomas and Alice (_____) Willett of Norwich and Leiden [NEHGR 61:157-60]). ******* Capt. Thomas and Mary (Brown) Willett had 13 children: 1 Mary, b. Plymouth, Nov. 10, 1637; d. Dec. 11, 1678; m. Dec. 3, 1658, John Saffin, and lived in Boston, Mass. 2 Martha, b. Aug. 6, 1639. 3 John, b. Aug. 21, 1641. 4 Sarah, b. May 4, 1643; m. Samuel Hooker, probably of Farmington, Conn. 5 Rebecca, b. Dec. 2, 1644; d. young. 6 Thomas, b. Oct. 1, 1646. 7 Esther, b. July 10, 1648; m. Josiah Flint, whose dau. m. Edmund Quincy. 8 James, b. Nov. 23, 1649; m. Eliza, dau. of Lieut. Peter Hunt, of Rehoboth, Apr. 17, 1673. 9 Hezekiah (1), d. July 26, 1651, an infant. 10 Hezekiah (2), b. Nov. 17, 1653; killed at Swansey by Indians, July 1, 1676; m. Ann, dau. of John Brown 2nd. 11 David, b. Nov. 1, 1654. 12 Andrew, b. Oct. 5, 1655, a trader in Boston, and lived on the Neck where he d. 1712. 13 Samuel, b. Oct. 27, 1658. Settled on Long Island, where he became sheriff of Queens Co. He was a Quaker. Some of the Willett-Warne branch of the family claim to be descended from this Samuel, who, they say, had a son Edward, b. 1701, their ancestor, who d. Dec. 8, 1794, and whose wife was Aletta Clows or Clowes. But this is unquestionably a mistake, as will be shown later in this sketch. The New York Gen. and Biog. Record, Vol. 19, p. 174, 1888, differs considerably from the foregoing account of Thomas and Mary (Brown) Willett's children, and, being later, is fuller, and no doubt much more correct. This gives the children as follows: 1 Mary, the eldest, b. Nov. 10, 1637; d. at Norwalk, Conn., June 24, 1712; m. Sept. 22, 1658, Rev. Samuel Hooker, of Farmington, Conn. They had eleven children, and from her sons are descended all the Hookers in this country, who claim descent from Rev. Thomas Hooker, of Hartford, Conn. 2 Martha, b. Aug. 6, 1639; d. Dec. 11, 1678; m. Dec. 2, 1658, Judge John Saffin, and settled at Bristol, R. I. They had three children, all sons. Mother and children all died of smallpox, only oneof the children reaching 21. 3 John, b. Aug. 21, 1641. 4 Sarah, b. May 4, 1643; d. June 13, 1665; m. Rev. John Elliott. The family inform us that he wasthe son of the apostle to the Indians. 5 Thomas, b. Oct. 1, 1646. He became a man of considerable note in Rhode Island, as did also his descendants. 6 Hester, b. July 10, 1648; d. July 26, 1737; m. Jan. 24, 1672, Rev. Josiah Flint. 7 James, b. Nov. 23, 1649; m. Apr. 17, 1673, Elizabeth, dau. of Lieut. Peter Hunt, of Reboboth. 8 Hezekiah (1), b. July 26, 1651; d. an infant. 9 Hezekiah (2), b. Nov. 17, 1652; m. Jan. 7, 1675, Anna, dau. of John Brown 2nd, and was killed by the Indians June 26, 1676. 10 David, b. Nov. 1, 1654; d. young. 11 Andrew, b. Oct. 5, 1656; d. 1712. He was a merchant at Boston Neck, where he owned an estate, which a few years ago was still held by his descendants of a female branch. Forty yearsago it was owned by Willett Carpenter, who had many mementoes of his ancestor Capt. ThomasWillett. 12 Samuel, b. Oct. 27, 1658; m. a Quakeress and settled on Long Island. 13 Rebecca, b. June 13, 1665; d. at 7 years. The Willett-Warne family claim, as we have already noted, to be descended from this Samuel, who, they say, moved to Long Island, and was sheriff of Queens County, where he married, and had a son Edward, who married Alletta Clowes. Whether Sheriff Samuel Willett had a son Edward, we do not know, but his son certainly did not marry Alletta Clowes. The trouble is that these people, without searching any records to verify their claims, have taken as facts the statements in published genealogies, whose writers copy largely from each other, and which in this case happen to be, so far as we have seen, every one of them wrong. Some of the statements in this connection are absurd. In places, besides what we have noted, it is stated that the second wife of Capt. Thomas Willett, New York's first English Mayor, was Sarah Cornell; while in other places this lady is said to have married not the father, but the son, who died young. The church records, however, show the true inwardness of the whole story. From these we learn that Sarah Cornell did not marry the first English Mayor of New York, but another Capt. Thomas Willett. The truth is then that the Willett-Warnes or the Warne-Willetts are not descended from Capt. Thomas Willett, the first English Mayor of New York at all. Col. Marinus Willett, of Revolutionary fame, and also at one time Mayor of New York, and he were in no way related that we can discover. The line of Alletta Willett, who married William Warne is as follows: Capt. Thomas Willett, b. in Bristol, England; d. about 1646; m. in New Amsterdam, Sept. 1, 1643, Sara Cornell, b. in Essex, England. His name in the Dutch records is written Welert. They had two children, William, bap. June 29, 1644, and Thomas, bap. Nov. 26, 1645, in the Dutch Church of New Amsterdam. A third child, Elizabeth, who married Robert Beecham, is given by Bookstaver in his genealogy of the Willett family. After Capt. Willett's death, his widow, Nov. 3, 1647, m. Carel VerBrugge (Charles Bridges). The record is "Sara Cornelis, widow of Thomas Welert, married, Nov. 3, 1647, Carel VerBrugge." There appear to have been no children by this marriage. Charles Bridges d. about July, 1682, his will (a joint one) having been proved Aug. 28, 1682. Letters of administration were granted to his wife Sarah Bridges. Will left "our son Thomas Willett" half of land in Newton's Neck. Will also mentions brother Thomas Bridges. Sarah Bridges, widow, after the death of her second husband, married a third time, her third husband being John Lawrence, Jr. Date of marriage license, Nov. 20, 1682. Sarah Lawrence, of Jamaica, d. intestate. Letters of administration were granted to her eldest son, Col. Thomas Willett, Dec. 6, 1703, (N. Y., Liber 7, p. 129). William, no doubt, being dead. In various places William Willett, the first born, is mentioned, Feb. 19, 1664, Oct. 13 and Nov. 10, 1668, Mch. 20 or 28, 1670 and in 1677, but no further trace can be found of him. He was of Westchester Co., and had the title Major. [There is more on this apparently unrelated Willett family in this source. J. Olsson] ********************************************************************************************************************** WillettWillett, Mary, Wife of Thomas Willett Died Jan. 8, 1669 Aged about in her 65th year Daughter of John BrownLittle Neck CemeteryEast Providence Providence Co. Rhode Island , US WillettWillett, Thomas, Esq Died Aug. 4, In his 64th year (First mayor of New York City)Little Neck CemeteryEast Providence Providence Co. Rhode Island , US |
| Notes for Thomas Willett: Willett was raised in Holland, came to Plymouth circa 1630, age twenty.He was the first English Mayor of New York in 1644.He died August 4, 1674... ********************************************************************* There is an extensive report on Thomas Willett in the following source: Adam and Anne Mott: Their Ancestors and their Descendants Author: Thomas C. Cornell Call Number: R929.2 qM921c The descendants of Adam Mott who was born in 1762 in New York. Bibliographic Information: Cornell, Adam and Anne Mott: Their ancestors and their descendants,Poughkeepsie,NY:A.V. Haight:1890. CHAPTER XVII. CAPTAIN THOMAS WILLETT, THE FIRST MAYOR OF NEW YORK A paper read before the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, in New York, 13th June, 1890, by THOMAS C. CORNELL. With some notes of the Willitts. When Captain Thomas Willett was made Mayor of New York in 1665, it must be remembered that an English fleet had recently captured the city from the Dutch, and that even the name, New York, had hardly yet replaced the name of New Amsterdam. Let us recall the situation. A few months before this date, in the summer of 1664, the Dutch Gov. Stuyvesant still ruled with an imperious will, in the Dutch Colony of New Netherlands, and the Burgomasters Paulus, Leendertsen Van der Grist and Cornelis Steenwyck, with sundry subordinate officials, whose names, and the names of whose offices have an equally unfamiliar sound to English ears, were the local magistrates of the Dutch City of New Amsterdam. Governor Stuyvesant, and the Burgomasters and the Dutch people had known that an English invasion was threatened. Whether with, or without just reason, the English had always claimed that the Dutch settlement was an invasion on English territory. It may be remembered that Sir Walter Raleigh's expedition of 1583 had landed on New Foundland and had taken possession of that territory, in the name of Queen Elizabeth, although a score of French and English vessels were then fishing on the coast, and that the expedition of the following year, 1584, had landed on a more southern territory, which he also claimed for England, and to which Queen Elizabeth gave the name of Virginia; and Virginia, as they then understood it, extended from latitude 34 degrees to 45 north; that is from North Carolina to Maine as we now name the territory. The English made permanent settlement in Virginia in 1607. The Puritans, who founded Plymouth in 1620, in the compact made in the Mayflower, proposed to settle in the "Northern part of Virginia." If Plymouth was in the "Northern part of Virginia," it could be claimed that New Amsterdam and the New Netherlands were invasions on Virginia, and hence arose frequent dissensions between the Dutch and English Colonists. At length, early in 1664, King Charles II, determined to settle these controversies on the-- "good old plan That they should take who have the power, And they should keep, who can." The King made a royal grant of the whole Dutch Colony to his brother, the Duke of York. The Duke immediately borrowed of the King four frigates, carrying together 94 guns, and 450 men, and sent Col. Richard Nicolls to take possession of the new territory. This little history is not recalled to support the English claim, but to show the situation of the question when Thomas Willett was made Mayor. In July, 1664, Captain Willet learned in Boston, that a fleet was expected from Portsmouth, to compel the surrender of New Amsterdam, and he immediately sent the news to his friend, Gov. Stuyvesant. There was subsequently a little doubt about the object of this expedition, but early in August the fleet had reached Boston, and before the end of August it was in the harbor of New Amsterdam demanding the surrender of the Dutch city and of the whole Dutch colony. The fleet was greatly stronger than the city. Against the four English frigates with 94 guns, and 450 men and ample ammunition, the fort of New Amsterdam could only oppose a hundred soldiers and 25 guns, and hardly amunition for one day's firing. After considerable negotiation, on the 8th of September, 1664, without a shot on either side, Governor Stuyvesant wisely yielded to superior force, and surrendered the City and the Colony to the English. All private rights were respected. The Burgomasters and other officials were to hold their offices, and continue to discharge their duties until their year should be out, and for some months the English Governor ruled over a Dutch city and over Dutch officials. Governor Stuyvesant had always been too arbitrary in his rule to be popular even among his own countrymen. Governor Nicolls showed that he could conciliate as well as rule, and the people accepted the change without discontent. But the new English Governor found the situation a little unsatisfactory to himself. He said that Burgomasters, and Schouts and Schepens were not known nor customary in any of his Majesty's dominions. And so when June came around, in 1665, Governor Nicolls had determined to give the city, which had now become New York, a new charter, with a Mayor and a Board of Aldermen, after the custom of England. Who then should the first Mayor be? In view of all that I have been able to learn, Governor Nicolls could hardly have named a man more acceptable, both to the English and to the Dutch, than Captain Thomas Willett, whom he did name. Who then was Captain Thomas Willett? The first Mayor of the City of New York, whoever he may have been, must be a legitimate subject of inquiry before the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. It ought to be explained here, however, that these inquiries have not been so much prompted by the desire to know more of the first Mayor of New York, as by a desire, which often prompts genealogical and biographical researches, to know something more of our own ancestors. Such inquiries have been one of the recreations of my brief leisure for many years past. Captain Thomas Willett was one of my mother's great-grandfathers, and the little now to be related of him, has been picked up in the pursuit of family history. This explanation is made as an excuse or justification for the personal character, and reference to my own family which the narrative may sometimes assume. One of the first problems one meets in the beginnings of this search after the Willett ancestry, is to discriminate between different families of the same, or of very similar names. Three different English families, having the somewhat similar names of Willett or Willetts, or Willitts, all of them sometimes spelled in various ways, were more or less prominent in New Netherlands or New York, before or soon after the close of the Dutch dynasty. I find myself related to all three of these families, and it must be confessed that at first it was not easy to discriminate between them; and considering the carelessness in spelling names which prevailed in the early days, it is possible that they all had a common origin in England. ....... Page 241 The first of the Willett family in America, in order of time, appears to have been Captain Thomas Willett, of Plymouth, and afterwards first Mayor of New York. He arrived in the Puritan Colony of Plymouth in 1632, in the ship Lion, with other immigrants from Leyden. He has been supposed to have been a son of the Rev. Andrew Willett, D.D., Prebendary of Ely Cathedral, and was not himself active in the Puritan cause, but he seems to have been always on the best terms with the Puritans. He had made considerable stay in Leyden and had made friends among the Puritans there, and had acquired the Dutch language. Among his friends at Leyden, was the family of John Brown, an English gentleman of wealth and leisure who was in sympathy with the Puritans. When Thomas Willett arrived in Plymouth, about 1632, he was nearly 22 years old, and sought to establish himself in business. He made a venture on an attempt to found a trading house on the Penobscot--where furs abounded--and long after this date he appears to have retained business relations with the coast of what we now call Maine. In 1649, and in 1656 we find him leasing the trade of the Kennebeck for terms of years at œ35 per annum, payable in "money, moose, or beaver." In those days "beaver" was as good as any money. But trade on the Kennebeck did not prove sufficient to keep him there in 1633, and he returned to Plymouth and there established himself as a successful merchant, and an honored citizen. About the time of Willett's return from the Penobscot, his Leyden friend, John Brown, with his family, followed him to America, and settled near Plymouth, and the old intimacy with his family was revived and Thomas Willett married there, on the 6th of July, 1636, Mary Brown, eldest daughter of his Leyden friends, John and Dorothy Brown(*). She was five years older than her husband, but she bore him thirteen children. All the traditions agree that she was "an excellent and virtuous woman." Two years after her marriage it is recorded that she received a legacy of "40 shillings for a ring, out of affection for her," from her father's friend, William Paddie. This ring is noted here because a younger William Paddie, long had business and family relations with Thomas Willett, and will be referred to again. Thomas Willett's business house in Plymouth prospered, and he built up a profitable carrying trade through the Sound, as well as across the ocean, and became rich. He early obtained the confidence of his neighbors. In 1637 he was on a committee to consider, and take necessary action to protect the trade of beaver, "now likely to go to decay;" and he was charged with responsible duties in the military defense of the Colony. These were the days of continued danger from the Indians. The bloody struggle with the Indians known as King Philip's war, did not break out until after Thomas Willett's death. The early settlers were always in fear of Indian attacks, and the militia was always in training for defence. The Pilgrims of the Mayflower, as is well known, engaged the celebrated "Miles Standish, the Puritan Captain," to train their militia, and in later years, Thomas Willett succeeded to the office of Miles Standish, in command of the Plymouth militia. This office gave Thomas Willett the title of Captain. He was also a member of the Plymouth Council of War, and he had charge of a portion of the public store of powder and of shot. Captain Thomas Willett was a Magistrate in Plymouth, and was "Assistant" to the Governor from 1651 until he was sent for by Colonel Nicolls, in 1664, to advise with him in administration of affairs in New York. The office of Assistant, correspondent somewhat with that of State Senator in our days. We find record of Captain Thomas Willett, specially in his trade with New Amsterdam and the English towns. He acquired in a remarkable degree the confidence of the Dutch, and also of the Indians, as well as of the English. When Governor Stuyvesant first arrived in New Amsterdam, in 1647, to succeed Governor Kieft, a spirit of intercolonial courtesy induced Governor Bradford, of Plymouth, to write to Stuyvesant, under date of April 3d, 1647, congratulating him on his safe arrival, and in the letter he commended to the Dutch Governor, Thomas Willett and William Paddie as men whom he could trust. Stuyvesant accepted the recommendation, finding it in accord with the sentiment of New Amsterdam; and soon after appointed Captain Willett to represent the Dutch in a boundary commission between New Netherlands and Hartford. (*)In recognition of the social position of John Brown, on the tombstone of his daughter Mary, who died in 1669, the inscription calls her the daughter of the Worshipful John Brown, Esquire. [There is a great deal more which I am unable to include in these notes, due to lack of available space: J. Olsson] ******************************************************************************** Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-33 Combined Matches: 1 THOMAS WILLET ORIGIN: Leiden, Holland MIGRATION: 1630 FIRST RESIDENCE: Penobscot REMOVES: Plymouth, Rehoboth, New York 1665, Swansea 1668 OCCUPATION: Merchant, magistrate and soldier. FREEMAN: Admitted freeman of Plymouth 1 January 1633/4 [PCR 1:4, 21]. In the list of 7 March 1636/7 [PCR 1:52]. In the Plymouth section of the Plymouth Colony lists of 1639 and 1658 (first in list, as "Capt. Thomas Willett") [PCR 8:174, 197]. In the Swansea section of the Plymouth Colony list of 29 May 1670 [PCR 5:279]. EDUCATION: On 19 February 1660/1 "Capt. Willet" was one of five men "chosen by the town to transcribe the land records out of the town book [Early Rehoboth 4:13, citing Rehoboth TR 1:136]. His inventory include more than a hundred books, on theology, history, law, navigation and other subjects. OFFICES: Plymouth Assistant, 1651-1664 [MA Civil List 38-39]. Plymouth selectman, 18 February 1649[/50] [PTR 1:30]. Committee to distribute the poor's cattle, 16 July 1638, 7 July 1642, 22 July 1644 [PTR 1:4, 8, 18]. Rater, 17 December 1640, 26 November 1641 [PTR 1:6, 8]. Surveyor, 17 May 1649 [PTR 1:28]. Supplier of coats to pay Indians for killing wolves, 4 November 1650 [PTR 1:31]. Agent to rent land at Punckateesett to Captain Cooke, 26 September 1657 [PTR 1:35]. In Plymouth section of 1643 Plymouth Colony list of men able to bear arms [PCR 8:188]. He succeeded Capt. Miles Standish as captain of the military company at Plymouth on 7 March 1647/8 [PCR 2:121]. Mayor of New York, 1665, 1667 [Berthold Fernow, ed., The Records of New Amsterdam from 1653 to 1674 Anno Domini (New York 1897; rpt., Baltimore 1976) 5:250-52]. ESTATE: On 4 February 1638/9 Plymouth Court granted to "John Done and Thomas Willett one hundred acres apiece of upland and meadow" at Jones River [PCR 1:112]. On 1 June 1640 he was granted ten acres of meadow at Jones River [PCR 1:154]. On 3 August 1640 "Thomas Willett is granted six acres of upland for his houselot at the little swamp on the north side Mr. Done's field towards Fresh Lake" [PCR 1:159]. On 2 November 1640 he received twelve acres in the North Meadow by Jones River [PCR 1:166]. He surrendered his right in Clark's Island granted by the town of Plymouth back to the town of Plymouth 18 February 1649[/50] [PTR 1:29]. On 3 February 1648 Edmond Freeman Sr. of Sandwich sold to "Mr. Thomas Willit and Mr. William Paddy" of Plymouth, merchants, "an house and land at Joanese's River sometimes appertaining unto Mr. Isaack Allerton" [PCR 12:133]. On 22 March 1663[/4] Thomas Willett received lot 32 in Punkateesett Neck and shared it with "Mr. Paddy" [PTR 1:69]. In his will, dated 26 April 1671 and proved 25 November 1674, "Thomas Willett of Swansey ... being going on in the sixty-fourth year of my age," having named "my loving sons James, Hezekiah, Andrew and Samuell" as joint executors and having appointed as overseers "my wellbeloved son-in-law Mr. John Saffin and my loving friend Mr. Robert Holmes and my dear brother-in-law Mr. James Browne and my dear son-in-law Mr. Samuell Hooker and the Reverend Mr. John Myles," bequeathed to "my four sons my said executors, namely James Willett, Hezekiah Willett, Andrew Willett and Samuell Willett all my now dwelling house, warehouse, outhouses, barns and all other edifices, gardens, orchards and pasture fields whatsoever, thereunto belonging ... to be equally divided amongst them" (land described in detail, with an attempt at entail); to "my said four sons ... all my study or library of books" to be divided equally; to "my said four sons ... all my estate of commonage, either in the township of Rehoboth or Swansey except what I shall give unto my grandson Samuell Hooker"; to "my grandson Samauell Hooker ... eighty acres of upland ..., together with fifty pounds estate of commonage" in Rehoboth; to "my grandchildren hereafter mentioned all my lands ... in the Narragansett Country"; to "my grandson Thomas Saffin a double portion of all my said lands in the Narragansett Country"; to "my son Hooker's six sons aleady born and to all and every such son, as shall be born to him by his wife my daughter Mary ... and to my son Saffin's four sons not already mentioned ... and to all and every such son as shall be born to him by his wife my daughter Martha ... and to all such sons as shall be borne by my daughter Ester," a share in the Narragansett Country; to "my eldest son James Willett fifty pounds ... in land remote from my dwelling house"; to "my dear daughter Ester Willett fifty pounds ... in land remote from my said dwelling house"; to "my said four sons James, Hezekiah, Andrew and Samuell" all other lands not disposed of; to "my three sons Hezekiah, Andrew and Samuell fifty pounds apiece in money, towards their maintenance in schools and other ways and means for attainment of learning"; to "my grandson Samuell Hooker" £25; to "my granddaughter Sarah Elliott" £50; to "my old servant John Padducke" £10; to my overseers forty shillings apiece; to the church of Plymouth ten pounds and to the church of Swansea ten pounds and to the church at Rehoboth five pounds; to "the Reverend Mr. John Myles ten pounds"; residue equally to "my said four sons ... James Willett, Hezekiah Willett, Andrew Willett and Samuell Willett ... and also to my three beloved daughters namely Mary Hooker, Martha Saffin and Ester Willett" [MD 26:80-84, citing PCPR 3:1:114-16] The inventory of the estate of "Capt. Thomas Willett," taken 21 August 1674, totalled £2798 14s. 7d., including £1289 in real estate: "the dwelling house, outhouses, warehouse and barn and all other edifices, gardens or orchards and all the land given by Mr. John Browne Senior whereon the before specified houses now stand and two 80 acre lots thereunto adjoining whereof by estimation there is 100 and 50 acres improved, 20 acres of meadow at Broad Cove and 20 acres at Cooper's Meadow, and twenty acres at Papasquash," £720; "ten acres at Poquanamsquot and ten acres at Kekamuett and 5 acres at Musquashcocke," £255; "450 acres of upland in several allotments," £225; "35 acres of upland at Torrey's Creek," £10; "80 acres of upland at Cooper's Meadow," £25; "300 pound commonage in Rehoboth," £15;"400 acres of upland and 40 acres of fresh meadow on the north side of the town of Rehoboth," £10; "1 whole share of upland and meadow on the north side of Rehoboth," £15; and "1 lot at Wachamauquatt containing 48 acres," £14; to which was appended the "land at Narragansett not appraised, as also land at Pocasset one whole share not appraised" [MD 33:35-39, citing PCPR 3:1:117-28]. BIRTH: About 1610 (possibly son of Thomas and Alice (_____) Willett of Norwich and Leiden [NEHGR 61:157-60]). DEATH: Swansea 3 August 1674 [SwVR 408] (according to Burgess, his gravestone says he died at Swansea on "August 4, 1674, in the 64th year of his age" [NEHGR 61:159]). MARRIAGE: (1) Plymouth 6 July 1636 Mary Brown [PVR 652], daughter of John Brown. She died 8 January 1669[/70] [NEHGR 2:376]. (2) Milford 19 September 1671 Joanna (Boyse) Prudden, widow of Rev. Peter Prudden [TAG 19:139-40]. (Savage says her gravestone of 1699 calls her his only wife and finds the error peculiar, but Burgess reads the stone to say 1669 and attributes it more correctly to the first wife.) CHILDREN (see COMMENTS below): iMARY, b. 10 November 1637; m. Plymouth 22 September 1658 Samuel Hooker [PCR 8:21; PVR 662], son of THOMAS HOOKER; m. (2) Farmington 10 August 1703 Rev. Thomas Buckingham [Farm VR Barbour 24, citing Farmington LR 1:4]. iiMARTHA, b. 6 August 1639; m. Plymouth 2 December 1658 John Saffin [PCR 8:22; PVR 662]. iiiJOHN, b. 21 August 1641; m. in 1663 Abigail Collins, daughter of Edward Collins [NEHGR 89:151; MHSP 2:7:150; Goodwin Anc 1:393]. ivSARAH, b. 4 May 1643; m. by 1662 John Eliot, son of JOHN ELIOT. vREBECCA, b. 2 December 1644; d. Plymouth 2 April 1652 [PCR 8:14; PVR 660]. (The death record does not give her age.) viTHOMAS, b. 1 October 1646; no further record. viiHESTER, b. Plymouth 6 July 1648 [MD 15:27; PCR 8:4, 291]; m. 24 January 1671/2 Rev. Josiah Flint of Dorchester [Sibley 2:153 (the marriage is said to have taken place in Swansea, but the event does not appear in the published vital records of that town or of Dorchester)]. viiiJAMES, b. Plymouth 24 November 1649 [PCR 8:8; PVR 657]; m. (1) Rehoboth 17 April 1673 Elizabeth Hunt [PCR 8:52], daughter of Peter Hunt; m (2) Swansea 2 August 1677 Grace Frinck [SwVR 23]. ixHEZEKIAH, b. Plymouth 20 July 1651 [PCR 8:12; PVR 659]; d. 26 July 1651 [PCR 8:13]. xHEZEKIAH, b. Plymouth "16 November or thereabouts" 1653 [PCR 8:15]; m. Swansea 7 January 1675[/6] Anna Brown, daughter of John Brown [SwVR 23; PCR 8:61]. xiDAVID, b. 1 November 1654; no further record. xiiANDREW, b. 5 October 1655; m. 6 March 1693/4 Susannah Holbrook [BrVR 721; NEHGR 59:145 (defective entry)]. xiiiSAMUEL, b. 27 October 1658; said to have married and had a large family at Flushing, Long Island, but there is much confusion with the descendants of another Thomas Willet who did settle in Flushing [NYGBR 10:181; Austin 430]. ASSOCIATIONS: William Paddy remembered Willett's wife with a small bequest and was frequently closely paired with Willett in town duties and land grants. Willett was an executor of Paddy's estate [RCA 3:185]. COMMENTS: On 30 July 1631 Thomas Willett was one of those who deposed about the activities of EDWARD ASHLEY at Penobscot [MHSP 45:496-97]. Willett managed the Plymouth fur trading interests in Maine at various later dates. In his journal kept in the summer of 1635 when he came to New England in the James, Richard Mather mentioned stopping at Richmond Island and one Mr. Willett, of New Plymouth, and other three men with him, having been turned out of all their havings at Penobscot [by the French] about a fortnight before, and coming along with us in our ship from Richmond's Island, with his boat and goods in it made fast at the stern of our ship, lost his boat [in the terrible storm] with all that was therein, the violence of the waves breaking the boat in pieces, and sinking the bottom of it into the bottom of the sea [Young's First Planters 475]. Bradford's version was that This year they sustained another great loss from the French. Monsier de Aulnay coming into the harbor of Penobscote, and having before got some of the chief that belonged to the house aboard his vessel, by subtly coming upon them in their shallop, he got them to pilot him in, and after getting the rest into his power, he took possession of the house in the name of the king of France; and partly by threatening, & otherwise, made Mr. Willett (their agent there) to approve of the sale of the goods there unto him, of which he set the price himself, in effect, and made an inventory thereof (yet leaving out sundry things), but made no payment for them, but told them in convenient time he would do it if they came for it. For the house & fortification, &c. he would not allow, nor account anything, saying that they which build on another man's ground do forfit the same. So thus turning them out of all, (with a great deal of compliment and many fine words), he let them have their shallop and some victuals to bring them home. Coming home and relating all the passages, they here were much troubled at it, & having had this house robbed by the French once before, and lost then above £500 (as is before remembered), and now to lose house & all, did much move them [Bradford 275-76]. Despite these troubles, Thomas Willet had a facility for dealing with the Dutch and he proceeded from unfavorable dealings with the French to very positive dealings with the Dutch. In a letter dated 22 May 1637 Edward Winslow wrote to John Winthrop that "Thomas Willet is come in from the Dutch..." [WP 3:419]. On 4 April 1650 Thomas Broughton of Watertown, merchant, gave Capt. Thomas Willett of Plymouth power to request the sum of £47 3s. 6d. from "Mijn Heere Peter Stuijvesant, Governor of the New Netherlands"[Aspinwall 277]. Capt. William Davis and Capt. Thomas Willet were joint executors to the estate of Mr. William Paddy, and were sued by Capt. Thomas Clarke at the General Court 21 October 1666 and 31 May 1670, with a neutral result [MBCR 4:2:447, 455]. On 5 March 1667/8 Plymouth Court did "allow and approve that the township granted unto Captain Willet and others, his neighbors, at Wannamoisett and places adjacent, shall henceforth be called and known by the name of Swansey" [PCR 4:175-76]. On 11 November 1673 Thomas Willet petitioned the Court of Assistants for permission to detain the goods of some Dutchman in New England, as security against his goods which had been detained by the Dutch when they retook New York [RCA 3:257]. Full dates of birth for all thirteen of the children of Thomas Willet have been published in various secondary sources [NEHGR 2:376; Austin 426-30], but contemporary records for only four [vii-x] havebeen found. If the remaining nine birthdates are correct, they presumably derive from a private record that has vanished from sight. BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTE: The items offerred above depict only a few of the many aspects of the life of Thomas Willet. In 1907 George Canning Burgess published an excellent summary of the career of Thomas Willet [NEHGR 61:157-164]. Willet deserves attention from a modern biographer. ***************************************************************************************************** GMB: On 9 May 1654 "Capt. Myles Standish" sold to Capt. Thomas Willett of Plymouth his purchaser's right at Sowamsett, Mattapoisett and places adjacent; "Mrs. Barberye Standish wife of the said Capt. Standish"consented to his deed [MD 6:246-47, citing PCLR 2:1:111]. ****************************************************************** Bosworth Genealogy Vol II Author: Mary Bosworth Clarke Call Number: R929.2 B74 v.2 CAPT. THOMAS WILLETT This name is the second on the list of purchasers of Sowams. He was of English birth, a merchant by occupation, and became acquainted with the Pilgrims at Leyden while traveling on business. He came to Plymouth in 1629 a youth of nineteen. Such was his business ability that the Colony sent him, in 1630, to superintend their trading houses in Maine, where he remained six years, returning to Plymouth in 1636 to marry Mary Brown, daughter of John Brown, then one of the assistants in the government. In 1647 Mr. Willett was elected to succeed Myles Standish as Captain at Plymouth. He was an Assistant by annual election, from 1651 to 1665. In 1664 he was called to aid Col. Nichols in the surrender of New York to the English by the Dutch, as Capt. Willett was not only an able diplomat, but a thorough master of the Dutch language and customs. So popular was he with both the English and Dutch of Manhattan that he was chosen first Mayor of New York in 1665 and was re-elected in 1666. Capt. Willett removed to Wannamoisett about 1662 where he, with his family, resided until his death in 1674, near the residence of his father-in-law, Hon. John Brown. His landed estates were very large in Plymouth, Taunton, Rehoboth, Wannamoisett, Sowams, Attleboro, the Narragansett Country and other places. He was well acquainted with the Indians and was a leader in negotiations with their chiefs and was probably the leading factor in the purchase of Sowams. He took great interest in the religious affairs of the Colony and was a co-founder with Rev. John Myles, of the town of Swansea and of the first Baptist church in Massachusetts, not far from his own home. His ancient house at Wannamoisett, (now Riverside, R. I.), was a landmark of great historic interest until its destruction by fire in 1892. The ancient chimney built of small Dutch bricks, stood as a monument to Capt. Willett until it was rebuilt in a new house on the same spot by Col. H. Anthony Dyer, about 1900. Capt. Thomas Willett and Mary Brown were married July 6, 1636, and thirteen children were born to them. ********************************************************************************************************************************** |