The immigrant William Dodge has been comprehensively treated by Anderson,721 and Joseph T. Dodge696 has monographed his descendants. There is a Dodge Family Association (http://www.dodgefamily.org) which is devoted primarily to the descendants of this William Dodge and his brother Richard.

The Dodge Genealogy722 provides this narrative of William’s life: “WILLIAM1 DODGE came to Salem in 1629, as before stated. A tradition was handed down by Col. Robert Dodge to his son Francis, of Georgetown, D.C., that Farmer William came to America when about 21 or so to see how he liked it, and returned to England, telling his father that he had determined to settle in America and asking him for some present. His father said, ‘get married and I will give it.’ William is said to have met with two re-[p. 14]fusals before he succeeded, but he got married and got his present, a pair of bulls.

“The name of his wife is not known. It has been called Elizabeth Haskell; but Elizabeth Haskell was wife of ‘Coker’ William, of which there are several proofs. Farmer William died between 1685 and 1692, as shown by deeds of land. During his lifetime only one deed shows the name of a wife; that was Mary, the wife of ‘Captain’ William. She was a Conant, and at the time of her marriage to William Dodge was widow of John Balch.

“The standing of Farmer William in the community is indicated by the fact that in thirty-five to forty instances, of which the records have been preserved, he was elected, or appointed, to various public services, such as selectman, grand juryman, trial juryman, committee service for town and church interests, laying out roads, etc. There are also evidences that he was on the best of terms with his pastor, Rev. John Hale, and that in the business of preserving public order and good morals he and his sons were clearly on the right side. In May, 1685, he disposed of his real estate by deeds which are of record, conveying his homestead to his son, Capt. William, and it is to-day in possession of Mr. Mason, and lies east of Cabot street and south of Herrick street.” A chronology of events in William Dodge’s life follows. Anderson notes the family tradition that “William Dodge returned to England sometime between 1629 and 1636 to acquire a wife and an associated gift from his father. While the absence of any record of William in New England between these dates makes the story a possibility, it is nothing more than that.”723

With regard to William Dodge’s wife, Anderson further notes that “all secondary sources call her Elizabeth, but the record evidence for this is not seen.”724