New England Genealogy Notes

Eleventh Generation (Continued)
1620 Stephen HOSMER64, 8G Grandfather.  was baptized on 26 Dec 1570 in Ticehurst, England. Died on 24 May 1632.

He married Dorothy SELDEN64, 8G Grandmother, on 25 Jan 1601/2 in Ticehurst, England.

They had the following children:
i. Thomas64
ii. Stephen64 (Died as Infant)
810 iii. James (bp. 1605-1686)
iv. William64
v. Mary64
vi. Ann64
vii. John64
viii. Stephen64

1621 Dorothy SELDEN64, 8G Grandmother.  Born abt 1582. Died on 5 Feb 1640.

1632 John SAWTELL-DOLMAN59, 8G Grandfather.  Born in say 1572. Buried on 20 Dec 1622 in Aller, Somersetshire, England.

According to Threlfall's GMC5059: "JOHN SAWTELL (John) of the parish of Aller in Somersetshire, was probably born about 1570 or 1575. On 9 October 1599 at Aller, John Sawtell alias Dolman, married Agnes Pittard. There is no known explanation for the use of this alias which his father also used. Sometimes the use of an alias is an indication of an illegitimacy in the ancestry.

"John Sawtell was buried at Aller on 20 December 1622, and Agnes the next day, the 21st. What sort of epidemic took both parents only a day apart?"

A quoted description of the village of Aller follows, along with an account of John's children, and a description of the "traditionally ascribed" arms of the Sawtell family. Note that the deathdate of John's son Richard is given on p. 350 of GMC50 as 6 July 1694, but on p. 344 as 21 Aug 1694. The earlier paper of Kellogg and Threlfall29 gives 21 August 1694. The 6 July date would seem to be an error.

He married Agnes PITTARD59, 8G Grandmother, on 9 Oct 1599 in Aller, Somersetshire, England.

They had the following children:
i. John59 (~1600-)
ii. Dorothy59 (bp. 1602-)
iii. Robert59 (Died as Child) (bp. 1604-)
iv. Henry59 (Died as Infant) (bp. 1606-)
v. Elizabeth59 (Died as Child) (bp. 1606-)
816 vi. Richard (bp. 1611-1694)
vii. Ann59 (-1656)
viii. Thomas59 (-1651)
ix. Elizabeth59 (bp. 1621-)

1633 Agnes PITTARD59, 8G Grandmother. Buried on 21 Dec 1622 in Aller, Somersetshire, England.

1638 Benjamin CRISP58, 8G Grandfather. Born abt 1610. Died in Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1683. Immigrated in 1631. Of Watertown and Groton, Massachusetts.  on 6 May 1646.

Benjamin Crisp receives a complete treatment in Anderson. He is said to be from Frisby, Lincolnshire by this website: http://www.cam.org/~redfish/REDFISH.wbg/wga10.html#I1493

Benjamin Crisp and his first wife Bridget are ancestors of the women's rights pioneers Dorothea Dix and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.82

He married Bridget _____58, 8G Grandmother, by 1636.

They had the following children:
819 i. Elizabeth (1637-1681)
ii. Mary58 (1638-)
iii. Jonathan58 (1640-<1680)
iv. Eleazer58 (1642-)
v. Zachariah58 (~1644-)
vi. Mehitable58 (1646-)
vii. Mercy58 (~1648-)
viii. Deliverance58 (~1650-1694)

1639 Bridget _____58, 8G Grandmother. Died in Groton, Massachusetts, abt 1676. Immigrated ? .

1640 Richard FARNSWORTH. (Same as ahnentafel number 1580.)

1641 Elizabeth MARSHE. (Same as ahnentafel number 1581.)

1644 Dea. Nathan ALDIS47, 8G Grandfather. Died on 15 Mar 1676.  on 13 May 1640. Of Dedham, Massachusetts. Immigrated ? .

According to Savage, Nathan Aldis of "Dedham, with w. [p. 25] join. the ch. early in 1640 and 1641, respectiv. They had brot. from Eng. certain. Mary, wh. m. 15 Mar 1643, Joshua Fisher, and perhaps other ch. beside John, bef. ment. He was made freem. 13 May 1640, was chos. one of the first two deac. and d. 15 Mar. 1676. The wid. named Mary, d. 1 Jan. foll. but she and s. John had admin."

He married Mary _____47, 8G Grandmother.

They had the following children:
822 i. John (~1625-1700)
ii. Mary47

1645 Mary _____47, 8G Grandmother. Died on 1 Jan 1677. Of Dedham, Massachusetts. Immigrated ? .

1646 Phillip ELIOT68, 8G Grandfather.  was baptized on 25 Apr 1602 in Widford, Hertfordshire, England. Died in Dedham, Massachusetts, on 22 Oct 1657. Immigrated in 1635 "Hopewell".

From Genealogy of the Descendants of John Eliot68: "Probably came to this country in the Hopewell, Apr. 3, 1635, with his wife and children. He was a freeman, March 25, 1636; member of the Artillery Co., 1638; Deputy to the General Court, 1654-1657; Deacon in the Roxbury Church; one of the five men to order the prudential affairs of the town. Feoffee of the Public School in Roxbury.

"[p. 5] His marriage is thus quaintly recorded: 'Oct. 20, 1624. Philip Eliot of Nasing, Essex, husbandman, a bachelor aged about 22, and Elizabeth Sybthorpe of Little Hallingbury in Co. Essex, maiden, about 23, daughter of Robert Sybthorpe, deceased: there appeared William Curtis of Nasing aforesaid, husbandman, and testified the consent of Anne Sybthorpe, widow, mother to the said Elizabeth; at Nasing, or Little Hallingbury.'

"Extracts from marriage licences granted by the Bishop of London, 1598-1639. 'Historical Collections of the Essex Institute,' vol. xxviii, Nos. 2 and 3, 1891. Elizabeth died Jan. 8, 1659.

"Philip's virtues are thus recorded by his brother John in the Roxbury Church Records: 'Philip Eliot he dyed about the 22d of the 8t month: 57. he was a man of peace, & very faithful, he was many years in the office of a Deacon wh he discharged faithfully. in his latter years he was very lively usefull & active for God, & his Cause. The Lord gave him so much acceptanc in the hearts of the people yt he dyed under many of the offices of trust yt are usually put upon men of his rank, for besides his office of a Deakon, he was a Deputy to the Gen. Court, he was a Comissioner for the govnmt of the towne, he was one of the 5 men to order the prudential affairs of the towne; & he was chosen to be Feoffe of the Publike Schoole in Roxbury.'

"See N. E. Hist. & Genealog. Reg., vol. viii, p. 281, for an abstract of his will. [A list of his children appears here.]

"It has been supposed that Philip (No. 3) had a son Philip, because a child of this name, aged 2 years, came in the Hopewell in 1635 with his wife and daughters. As there is no record in any passenger-list of Philip (No. 3), and as Philip, aged 2 years, does not appear in any previous or subsequent record, the distinguished genealogist, Mr. Wm. H. Whitmore, supposes that [p. 6] Philip, aged 2 years, should be Philip, aged 32; and that Philip (No. 3) is therefore the person whose name appears in the passenger-list for the Hopewell."

Whitman's AHAC83 records Phillip Eliot's admission to the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in 1638 and sketches his life thus: "PHILIP ELLIOTT -- spelt by Farmer, Eliot -- Roxbury, freeman 1636. He was brother to the Apostle to the Indians, and was deacon of his church. He was Representative, 1654, and three years after, and was a gentleman of some distinction. His will was made October [p. 76] 21st, 1657, and proved February 11th, next after. He died October 24th, 1657." Note that this deathdate is two days later than the date given above.

He married Elizabeth SYBTHORPE68, 8G Grandmother, on 20 Oct 1624 in London, England.

They had the following children:
i. Elizabeth68 (bp. 1627-1714)
823 ii. Sarah (bp. 1628-1686)
iii. Lydia68 (bp. 1631-)

1647 Elizabeth SYBTHORPE68, 8G Grandmother.  Born abt 1601 in Hallingbury, Essex, England. Died in Dedham, Massachusetts, on 8 Jan 1659/60. Immigrated ? 1635 "Hopewell".

1648 Robert FLETCHER48, 8G Grandfather. Born abt 1592 in England. Died in Concord, Massachusetts, on 3 Apr 1677. Immigrated by 1635.

According to Shattuck's Concord48, "Robert Fletcher was here in 1635; d. April 3, 1677, a. 85. Children -- 1. Francis, m. Elizabeth Wheeler 1656, and had Samuel, Joseph, John, Elizabeth, Sarah, Hannah, and Benjamin, who lived in Concord. 2. Luke, d. 1665; 3. William, m. Lydia Bates 1645, removed to Chelmsford, 1656, d. Nov. 6, 1677; 4. Samuel, removed to Chelmsford. The name is extinct in Concord, but descendants are found in the adjoining towns, in Worcester County, and in New Hampshire."

Children to be entered.

The Fletcher Family Research Bulletin (http://www.cswnet.com/~fletcher/ as of 3 Jan 1999) is a helpful resource on Robert and his descendants. Despite many attempts, Robert Fletcher's place of origin in England has not yet been established.

Child:
824 i. William (1622-1677)

1660 Richard HILDRETH, 8G Grandfather.  Born abt 1605 in Gainford, Durham, England. Died in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, on 23 Feb 1692/3. Immigrated ? .

http://members.tripod.com/DANRUTH/html/d0000/g0000062.html#I2764

Early Hildreths84 is a comprehensive account of Richard Hildreth's life and family. (Details to be entered.) (P. 12 notes his witnessing of a land transaction in Cambridge; I lived for six years across the street from the site mentioned, now the location of the Holyoke Center.)

He married Sarah _____, 8G Grandmother, in 1627.

They had the following children:
4071 i. Jane (1628-1688)
830 ii. James (1631-1695)

1661 Sarah _____, 8G Grandmother. Died on 15 Jun 1644. Immigrated ? .

1682 John PRESCOTT85,86, 8G Grandfather. Born in 1604 in Standish Parish, Lancashire, England. Died in Lancaster, Massachusetts, in Dec 1681. Immigrated ? .

According to Butler's History of Groton15, "The name of Prescott deservedly holds a conspicuous place in the annals of Groton. John, the first of whom we have any precise and authentic account, was born in Lancashire, England, and married Mary Platts, of Yorkshire, by whom he had three sons and four daughters. On leaving England, he first went to Barbadoes, where he was a proprietor of lands, in 1638. About the year 1640, he came to Massachusetts, first stopped at Watertown, but soon settled at Nashua, afterwards incorporated and [p. 286] called Lancaster, probably from his native county in old England. He was a blacksmith by occupation, and was also a builder of mills. He had in his possession, brought from England, a coat of mail armour [a long footnote appearing here is reproduced below], and habiliments complete, such as were worn by field officers of that day; whence it had been supposed, that he or some of his ancestors were warriors, and some one of them might have received the order of knighthood.

"John Prescott had three sons, John, Jonathan, and Jonas." Butler's account of Jonas may be found under his entry.

On p. 286 Butler includes the following long footnote on John Prescott's armor:

"Of this armour and its owner the following anecdotes are told: --

"'John was a sturdy, strong man of a stern countenance, and whenever he had any difficulty with the Indians, he would clothe himself with his coat of mail, helmet, curiass, and gorget, which gave him a fierce and frightful appearance. They having once stolen from him a horse, he put on his armour and pursued them; and in a short time overtook the party. They were surprised to see him alone, and a chief approached him with uplifted tomahawk. John told him to strike, which he did, and finding the blow made no impression on his cap, he was much astonished, and asked John to let him put it on, and then strike his head, as he had done to John's. The helmet being too small for the chief's head, the stroke settled it down to his ears, scraping off the skin on both sides of his head. They gave him up his horse, thinking him to be a supernatural being.

"'At another time, the Indians set fire to his barn. Old John put on his armour, rushed out, drove them off, and let out his cattle and horses from the burning stable.' 'Again, the Indians set fire to his saw-mill. The old man, armed cap-a-pie, as before, drove them off and extinguished the fire.' 'Once more, they attacked John's house. He had several muskets in the house, which his wife loaded, and he discharged upon them with fatal effect. The contest continued nearly half an hour, John all the while giving orders, as if to soldiers, so loud the Indians could hear him, to load their muskets, though he had no soldiers but his wife. At length they withdrew, carrying off several of their dead or wounded.'"

The Prescotts Unlimited newsletter (19(3):29, September 1998) gives the following update on the ancestry of John Prescott: "Evidences on hand do not support that this John is the son of Ralph Prescott of Shevington as published in 1870 by Dr. William Prescott and as published in 1959-61 by Dr. Frederick L. Weis. The evidence that John, son of Ralph, died in Shevington in 1651 was presented in detail in Prescotts Unlimited, June 1992, under the heading 'The Ancient Prescotts of Shevington.' Additional information about John's sojourn in Sowerby, Halifax Parish, Yorkshire, has surfaced; however, his parentage and his Lancashire connection remain illusive [sic]."

He married Mary PLATTS-GAWKROGER85,86, 8G Grandmother, on 11 Apr 1629 in Halifax Parish, Yorkshire, England.

They had the following children:
i. John86
ii. Jonathan86
3934 iii. Jonas (1648-1723)
841 iv. Hannah (-1697)
v. Martha47 (-~1655)

1683 Mary PLATTS-GAWKROGER85,86, 8G Grandmother.  Born in 1606 in Halifax Parish, Yorkshire, England. Immigrated ? .

From: allenk@pacbell.net (Kay Allen AG)
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.medieval
Subject: Gawkrogers/Platts
Date: 27 Sep 1999 11:29:08 -0700

Last February, I attended a NEHGS conference on the development of
surnames. The lecturerer was George Redmonds. He has a book, Surnames
and Genealogy: A New Approach. Since he is from Yorkshire, the book has
Yorkshire examples.

P.78, "The term by-name has come into general use in recent years,
almost as a technical word, to define a non-hereditary surname. It is
usually associated, therefore, with the earliest centuries of surname
evolution, and so far it has been employed in that sense in the text.
However, the same word has been commonly used in the north of England, if
not elsewhere, to describe a kind of nickname which occurred in some
social and regional groups at a much later period."

P.228. "GAUKROGER (sic)
For a long time this was considered to be a derogatory nickname, but
early references in the court rolls of Wakefield manor prove that it
derived from a Sowerby place name. Locally, 'rocher' was a crag or rock,
and the element is found in several minor place names... The change to
'roger' as a suffix took place very early and seems likely to have been
an intentional play on the word." Then it gives some examples which date
back as early as 1402.

P.83. "Local 'by-names'
The unusual surname Gaukroger derived from a minor locality in Sowerby
(Halifaz), probably c.1400, and it is still well established there. In
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the family ramified, but
persisted with the traditional Christian names, and a number of aliases
were used, e.g.

1569 John Goukroger alias Plates, Sowerby
1610 Joseph Gawkroger alias Barker, Halifax
1651 John Gawkroger alias Brigge, Sowerby

The origin and use of the alias 'Platts' is quite well documented,
and it can be seen to derive from property called Platts held by the
Gaukrogers from c.1465. Initially this family was said to be 'of
Platts,' but from c.1540 they were more usually 'alias Platts.' At that
time different branches of the family were acquiring interests in a
number of Sowerby properties, some of which were sub-divided and
occupied by tenants...

It is not yet known just when the family acquired this property,
and Platts may have been a by-name over the generations. More probably
it came into their possession in the late 1400s and the alias served to
identify one branch of the rapidly expanding family. The 'byname' Platts
was then inherited along with the property."

1686 Samuel GARFIELD31, 8G Grandfather.  was baptized on 1 Oct 1613 in Holy Trinity, Coventry, Warwickshire, England.87 Will dated on 15 Sep 1684. Died on 20 Nov 1684. Will proved on 16 Dec 1684. Immigrated in 1634.

According to Bond's Watertown,31 Samuel Garfield "m. (1st), SUSANNA _____. She d. May 2, 1652, and he m. (2d), Sept. 28, 1652, MARY BENFIELD. His numerous family all left Wat. early, and some of them settled in Lancaster. His Will, dated Sept. 15, proved Dec. 16, 1684, mentions wife Mary, sons Samuel and Ephraim, brother Benjamin, friend Richard Child, overseers. He d. Nov. 20, 1684; Inventory �75. 10. The Will of his wid. Mary, of Lancaster, dated Jan., 1708-9, mentions her son-in-law (stepson) Ephraim Garfield, gr. chil. Daniel and Elizabeth Garfield, dr. Rachel Priest, of Lancaster, dr. Deborah Brook, dr. Ann Jackson, dr. Mercy Bury, gr. chil. John and Mary Noble, Sarah Parkhurst, and Sarah and Ephraim Garfield. Benjamin Garfield (her husband's brother), exec'r."

Bond records these further aspects of Samuel Garfield's life:31 "On Court File, is a petition of the selectmen of Wat., dated Dec. 30, 1691, stating that Samuel Garfield was an inhabitant of Cambridge above 20 years past; was servant of Justinian Holden, who died last autumn; then he (S.G.) was put away by the wid.; thence he came to Wat., to the house of Elliz Barron, whose wife had skill in matters of surgery; that Barron being weary of him, he came to the selectmen, who refused to receive him as an inhabitant. Ap. 11, 1692, Mary Holden (wid. of Justinian), aged 45, testified that S. Garfield lived with her husband Justinian, 1 3/4 years, in the limits of Wat., some few months before his decease. This time (1 3/4 years) was probably after his return from Salem; for one petition on file states, that the 20 yrs. of absence from Wat. was partly spent at Salem, where he was an inhabitant, paid taxes, and was impressed in the Indian War. William Shattuck and others testified, Ap. 19, 1692, that Justinian Holden moved to his farm in Camb., last part of Dec. or beginning of January, and there re-[p. 772]mained till the day of his death, about the middle of August following -- that Garfield had been his servant 18 or 19 years."

He married Mary BENFIELD31, 8G Grandmother, on 28 Sep 1652 in Watertown, Massachsuetts.87

They had the following children:
i. Mary31 (1653-)
ii. Sarah31 (1655-)
843 iii. Rachel (1656-1737)
iv. Elizabeth31 (1659-)
v. Deborah31
vi. John31 (1664-)
vii. Ruth31 (1666-)
viii. Lydia31 (1668-)
ix. Daniel31 (1670-)
x. Mercy31 (1674-)
xi. Elizabeth31 (1676-)
xii. Anna31
xiii. Daniel31 (1684-)

1687 Mary BENFIELD31, 8G Grandmother. Will dated in Jan 1708/9 at Lancaster, Massachusetts.

1690 Matthew GIBBS47, 8G Grandfather. Died bef 1697.

Matthew Gibbs of "Sudbury, was of Charlestown bef. 1654." His wife Mary is "supposed to be d. of Robert Bradish of Cambridge."47 Wyman says that Mary Bradish was "Dau. of Robert of Sudbury; m. Matthew Gibbs a. 1650."43 Several websites say Matthew Gibbs was born in Scotland in 1626, but no sources are given; another says he was born about 1626 in Lenham, Kent, England, the son of a William Gibbs.

He married Mary BRADISH88, 8G Grandmother, by 1652.

They had the following children:
i. Matthew47 (Twin) (1656-)
ii. Thomas47 (Died as Child) (1656-)
iii. Thomas47
iv. John47
v. Elizabeth47
vi. Hannah47
845 vii. Mary (-1691)

1691 Mary BRADISH88, 8G Grandmother.  Born say 1632.

1694 James KNOPP44,58, 8G Grandfather.  was baptized on 30 Apr 1626 in Wormingford, Essex, England. Died abt 1699. Immigrated ? 1630.

In some sources his name is spelled Knapp. The inventory of his estate was dated 11 Nov 1700 (Middlesex Probate #13399).44 Smith cites Register 47[1993]:327 as an additional source on James Knapp's parentage.

He married Elizabeth WARREN58,44, 8G Grandmother, abt 1654 in Watertown, Massachusetts.

They had the following children:
847 i. Elizabeth (1655-1720)
ii. James (1657-)

1695 Elizabeth WARREN58,44, 8G Grandmother.  was baptized on 21 Jul 1629 in Nayland, Suffolk, England. Died living 1667. Immigrated ? .

Anderson58 and Threlfall59 give Elizabeth Warren's baptismal date as 21 July 1629, but Smith44 gives 28 June 1629. Anderson notes58 that "Elizabeth French in 1910 published English wills and parish register entries which identified the English origin of John Warren and three generations of his paternal ancestry [NEHGR 64:348-55]. Examination of the originals of the Nayland registers reveals only one discrepancy, in the baptismal date for the first daughter Elizabeth." It seems likely that Smith was quoting the date given by French, rather than the original apparently being cited by Anderson and Threlfall.

CORRECTION to the following: the report below pertains to Elizabeth (Warren) Knapp's daughter, Elizabeth Knapp, not to this Elizabeth. This error appears in Savage, Threlfall, and perhaps other sources.

According to Threlfall59, this is the "Elizabeth Knap" who, in the sixth's book of Cotton Mather's Magnalia Christi Americana, was said to have been bewitched in 1671. Butler's History of Groton15 quotes Mather's account as follows:

"'In the town of Groton, one Elizabeth Knap, (October, 1671,) was taken after a very strange manner; sometimes weeping, sometimes laughing, sometimes roaring, with violent agitations, crying out money! money! Her tongue would be for many hours together drawn like a semicircle up to the roof of her mouth, so that no fingers applied to it could remove it. Six men were scarce able to hold her in some of her fits, but she would skip about the house, yelling and howling and looking hideously.

"'On December seventeenth, her tongue being drawn out of her mouth to an extraordinary length, a daemon began manifestly to speak in her, for many words were [p. 255] distinctly uttered, wherein are the labial letters, without any motion of the lips at all; words, also, were uttered from her throat, sometimes when her mouth was wholly shut, and somtimes words were uttered when her mouth was wide open, but no organs of speech used therein. The chief things the daemon spoke, were horrid railings against the godly minister of the town; but likewise he sometimes belched out most nefarious blasphemies against the God of heaven. And one thing about this young woman was yet more particularly remarkable; she cried out in her fits, that a certain woman in the neighborhood appeared unto her, and was the only cause of her affliction.

"'The woman thus cried out upon was doubtless a holy, a devout, a virtuous person; and she, by the advice of her friends, visited the afflicted. The possessed creature, though she was in one of her fits and had her eyes wholly shut, yet when this innocent woman was coming, she discovered herself wonderfully sensible of it, and was in grievous agonies at her approaches.

"'But this innocent woman, thus accused and abused by a malicious devil, prayed earnestly with, as well as for this possessed creature; whereupon coming to herself, she confessed that she had been deluded by Satan, and compelled by him unreasonably to think and speak evil of a good neighbor without a cause. After this, there was no further complaint of such an one's apparition, but she said some devil, in the shape of divers, did very diversely and cruelly torment her, and then told her it was not he but they, that were her tormentors.'"

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New England genealogy files of Robert J. O'Hara, automatically output by Reunion 8 for Macintosh. For additional genealogical data in other formats, including specialized lists of immigrant ancestors and notable kin, please visit my main genealogy page: http://rjohara.net/gen/ For information about many of the localities mentioned here please visit NewEnglandTowns.org: http://newenglandtowns.org