Beeks line: Thomas Rowell 1594-1662

 I've resisted writing about Thomas Rowell, because I didn't understand how he could actually fit in the Beeks family tree.  His connection is his daughter Alice, who married William Lakin and went to Maryland with her husband.  So how could a man in Essex County, Massachusetts be Alice's father?  

Today I was reviewing him again and found that a reputable and knowledgeable Maryland genealogist, Robert Barnes, accepts that Alice is indeed Thomas's daughter. (See Colonial Families of Maryland: Bound and Determined). The Lakin family ended up in Maryland when Alice's grandson Abraham became a servant to Thomas Hanslap, gentleman.  So that makes a bit of sense and I'm now content to learn about Thomas Rowell.  

Thomas was born about 1594 in Atherstone, Mancetter, Warwickshire, England to Valentine and Elizabeth Hampton Rowell.  Atherstone was a small town in what is known as the "Midlands" of England.  It was a market town, and had quite a bustling list of industries.  I'm not sure what Thomas did in England.  He may have farmed (sheep were a big part of the economy) or he may have learned a trade.  On October 7, 1641, he was married to Margaret or Alice Milner also of Mancetter, Warwickshire. He would have been in his late forties by the time of this marriage, so it is more than possible that this was not his first marriage.  Thomas and Alice had at least four children together. 

Thomas was in New England by 1638 because he was listed as one of the first proprietors of Salisbury, Massachusetts Bay Colony, in 1639. His trade was that of a carpenter, which he could well have practiced the same in England.  His first (?) wife died in 1649, apparently in England.  We don't know whether she ever came to the New World, or whether perhaps she had returned home to visit, or to possibly be treated for an illness.  

Thomas then married Margaret Fowler Osgood and by her had one son, plus they raised her young son  together.  They moved to Ipswich, Massachusetts, about the time of their marriage, and then went on to Andover, where Thomas died in 1662. 

Thomas's will is available only in abstract form, but there was really no need for one because they had signed a pre-nuptial agreement where his wife was to get one half of the estate, and son Jacob would get his share when he reached 21.  There was also some money set aside for grandchildren.  This is just a guess on my part, but since the adult children apparently did not dispute the will, I wonder if he had already given them their part of his estate, perhaps when he married Margaret Fowler.   There is an inventory but I am having trouble reading it.  

Margaret, the second or third wife, married twice more after Thomas's death.  

That is not a lot of information for a man who helped build America.  I'd like to know more about him.  Why did he come to America? What happened to his first (?) wife, that she died in England? Was this a religious family?  Could Thomas read and write?  Some of these questions may be forever unanswered, but it's good to think about them anyway.

The line of descent is:

Thomas Rowell-Alice (or Margaret) Milner

Alice Rowell-William Lakin

William Lakin-Elizabeth Symons

Abraham Lakin-Martha Lee

Joseph Lakin-Elizabeth Parnell

Mary Lakin-John Simpson Aldridge

John Simpson Aldridge-Lucinda Wheeler

Darlington Aldridge-Leah Folsom

Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants

Fun fact:  If you go back 14 generations on Carrie Underwood's tree, Thomas and Alice or Margaret Milner are there.  So the Beeks family are very distant cousins to Carrie Underwood. 

 

 

Allen line: Jonathan Royce 1638-1689

 We're back in Norwich, New London, Connecticut for this post.  Well, not quite, because our subject, Jonathan Royse or Royce, was born in Wallingford, New Haven Connecticut on March 18, 1638, to Robert and Mary (possibly Sims, or possibly Jackson) Royce. Well, except...there was no Wallingford in 1638.  So the best we can say is that he was born somewhere, possibly in Connecticut or possibly while the family was en route from their home in England to the colonies.  Alternately, some have suggested that he was actually born in England, some time between 1631 and 1635.  So the search goes on.  

The first record we have of Jonathan is in 1656, when he married Mary Spinning.  The couple had one child together, and Mary died.  This may have been about 1659, because Jonathan bought land in New London in 1659 and sold it about 18 months later, after he had married Deborah Calkins, daughter of Hugh and Ann Calkins in June of 1660.  The new family left New London and settled in Norwich, Connecticut in 1660.  Jonathan is recognized as one of the first settlers there.

Jonathan and Deborah had at least 10 children, so once again, this was a busy family and Jonathan would have needed to work quite hard to support this many children.  The family likely attended what is now the First Congregational Church in Norwich, which at the time was located at the edge of the Green.  Jonathan was made a freeman of Connecticut in 1663, meaning he had voting rights and would have been liable for jury duty.  Absent additional information, we can guess that he was a farmer. 

The church was a lookout during King Philip's War, which gives us a clue that Jonathan was likely involved in the war as a militia member, if nothing else.  I haven't found records that list his name as an active participant, but that doesn't mean that he wasn't.  He would have been about 40 years old then, still young enough to be liable to active duty.  Connecticut did not suffer the devastation of Massachusetts in the war, with native tribes in Connecticut generally supporting the English.  There were, however, at least three garrison houses in Norwich and it is more than possible that Jonathan was there, taking his turn at sentry duty, at least.  These houses would also have served as shelters for the families of Norwich, when they felt threatened by news from outside the town.  

If Jonathan served as a civic leader in any capacity, I haven't been able to locate those records.  He may well have done so, but we just don't know.  

He evidently did not die a poor man.  I haven't seen the actual records, but I've seen a summary that indicates that most of his children received a little over 31 pounds from the distribution of his estate.  Presumably this would have been after the widow received her thirds.  So his estate was probably valued at at least 300 pounds.  Jonathan's date of death is not certain but was prior to September 22, 1690, when his will was probated.  Deborah remarried, apparently to the town pastor, and lived until 1717, also dying in Norwich.  

We don't know as much as we'd like to about Jonathan Royce.  But there's this one fun additional fact:  Amelia Earhart was a direct descendant, making us cousins.  

 The line of descent is:

Jonathan Royce-Deborah Calkins

John Royce-Sarah Perrigo

Moses Royce-Hannah

John Royce-Hannah Bellamy

Elizabeth Royce-William McCoy

James McCoy-Nancy Lane

Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson

Nancy McCoy-George Allen

Edward Allen-Edith Knott

Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook

Their descendants

Allen line: Solomon Adams about 1745-1823

 I've wanted to write this post for a very long time.  I've thought for years that Solomon Adams was the father of Mary Adams Knott, but had no proof.  I still have no absolute smoking gun proof but I'm writing this post anyway, with the warning that there is a slight chance there is no connection here. 

However, Joseph and Mary Adams Knott named their second son Solomon.  First son was Joseph.  Analysis of records of Solomon Knott allow for a daughter having been born about 1773 (Mary Adams Knott was born March 1, 1773 in Bedford County, Pa.  Solomon Adams lived most if not all of his life there.)  All of the other male children in the Knott family have names that can be traced back to the Adams family, except for two (Richard and William, but I'm still looking.)  Joseph Knott was a near neighbor of Solomon Adams, at least for a short time, in the first decade of the 19th century.  Thomas Adams, a known son of Solomon's, was near the Knott family as they lived in Jefferson County Ohio and in Crawford County, Ohio, before he moved on to Porter County, Indiana.  So on the basis of circumstantial evidence, and being always open to other facts that may sway my opinion, let me introduce you to my fourth great grandfather.  

Solomon Adams was born about 1745, possibly the son of Robert Adams of Bedford County but I've not begun to investigate that yet.  He had a brother Samuel and a sister Rachel, and the early family history, as shown in county history books, shows that Samuel died in a fight with an Amerindian.  Rachel was captured, reportedly killed an Amerindian in her bid to escape, and then seems to disappear.  So she either was absorbed into a tribe or she didn't make it that far, most likely.  

Solomon is called in at least one source "the great Indian killer".  But let's back up for a bit of history.  This was during the Revolutionary War.  Life on the frontier, and Bedford County was definitely the frontier, was one of constant tension.  The British were encouraging tribes under their influence to attack the colonial settlers, especially those who were living in what the natives considered to be their territory.  There were constant skirmishes.  Solomon's wife, Rachel Kinton, would have likely gone to one or another of the forts in the area (Fort Bedford, for instance) to stay during the worst alarms. 

Solomon would not have been there to protect his family, because he was serving in the militia.  He was in the militia from at least 1777, when he was an ensign, to 1789.  In 1781, he was a captain of Rangers, meaning this was a group of men who were trained in more or less guerilla tactics, or Indian style fighting, who went out ahead of the main body of troops, (or completely on their own except for their orders) to do what had to be done.  At least that was their viewpoint.  Solomon Adams' military service is proven not only by records in the Pennsylvania Archives but by state legislation that granted him, among others, a pension of 40 pounds per year, with one year's back pay and then beginning on an annual basis in 1822.  Whether or not we like or agree with the term "Indian killer", he did his part to give freedom to the United States.

Solomon and Rachel Kinton (daughter of Thomas and Rachel Carson Kinton) Adams had about twelve children, based on census records, although we don't have names for all of them.  Mary is one of the undocumented children, noted in some research reports as "first daughter Adams".  That would have been a lot of children to support as they were growing up, especially under the hardships of the war on the frontier, but they did it.  

We can trace Solomon on tax records as early as 1769 as a single man, and by 1772 he was married.  He lived at several different locations in Bedford County, including Brothers Valley, Bedford Township, and Napier Township.  After about 1805 it looks as though perhaps he no longer owned land, or at least not as much as he once had.  In 1787 he was appointed to a committee to recommend a road location, along with Charles Campbell, who may have cheated Solomon out of land 20 years earlier.  It's not clear whether Solomon actually had a deed to any of his land, but he did have a warrant, meaning he had requested a survey, for at least some tracts of land.  He was a farmer but later in his life was listed as a "laborer", so he either lost or sold the land he owned.  

Solomon is said to have died in 1823 in either Bedford County or possibly Somerset County.  So far I have been unable to locate any probate records for him.  

I'd love to sit down and talk with Solomon.  After establishing whether or not Mary was his daughter, I'd love to know how he ended up on the frontier, and what his life was like.  I'd love to know his version of the battles or skirmishes he was in, and what he thought about the necessity of war.  I'd also like to know whether he was involved in the Whiskey Rebellion in any way, and I'd also like to know whether he and his family attended church services anywhere.  There's still a lot to learn about this ancestor!

The proposed line of descent is:

Solomon Adams-Rachel Kinton

Mary Adams-Joseph Scull Knott

Thomas Knott-Hannah Bell

John Wilson Knott-Harriet Starr

Edith Knott-Edward Allen

Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook

Their descendants

Allen line: James McCoy 1777-1833

 This is another of those "how did I miss writing about him" blog posts.  Except, maybe it's a God thing, because a field trip this past week gave me more information than I could have ever found anywhere else.  (Note: There is very little covid 19 in Washington County, Indiana and everyone wore masks and was socially distancing while we were there.  The irony of going to research two people who died in an epidemic in 1833, during the epidemic of 2020, did not escape me.)  Some of James McCoy's story I already knew, some I'd forgotten, some of what I found was new to me and some answered some questions I had.  

Elder James McCoy was born in 1777 in what became Fayette County, Pennsylvania to William and Elizabeth Royse McCoy.  When he was born, the area was in dispute.  Pennsylvania claimed it as part of Westmoreland County, and Virginia claimed it as part of West Augusta County.  Obviously, in 1777 the British and some of the Amerindian tribes also claimed it.  The nearest town was Uniontown, but perhaps of more importance, the nearest fort was Fort Necessity.  It is more than possible that James took refuge with his mother and sibilings at the fort from time to time.  His father, William and possibly even his grandfather, James, took part in the Revolutionary War at least to some extent.  

James was one of at least eight children born to William and Elizabeth.  When James was ten, William and Elizabeth started off on the adventure of a lifetime.  They boarded a flatboat, and went down the Ohio River to start a new life.  This was during a time when many would be settlers came under Indian attack on the trip down, and some of those settlers were killed.  Elizabeth was pregnant and the family rested in what became Cincinnati, Ohio on the trip down, while she gave birth to son Rice Gaddis McCoy.  As soon as they could, the family settled in Shelby County, Kentucky, which is where James met (possibly) and married Nancy Lane.  March 27, 1800 was the date of their marriage, possibly performed by father William as he was, by this time, a Baptist pastor.  

James and Nancy apparently lived as newlyweds in or around Shelbyville although I haven't found them in either the 1800 or the 1810 census.  It has been said that James and Nancy came to Indiana from Kentucky in 1801, that he joined the Fourteen Mile Baptist Church, near Charlestown, Indiana that same year.  He served as clerk of that church for 16 years and was also one of the organizers of the Indiana  Baptist State Convention.  He was also the first schoolteacher in southern Indiana.   He was ordained a pastor in 1819 and was known throughout southern Indiana, serving four churches and not accepting pay from any of them.  He is referred to on his tombstone as "Elder James McCoy".

During their marriage, James and Nancy had at least nine children.  It is possible that the boy or young man who died at the same time they did, Milton McCoy, was theirs, but there seems to be no definite proof.  Sometime between 1812 and 1820, James and Nancy moved to Salem, Indiana.  William purchased land there in 1819 and 1820.  Possibly the first purchase was for a plot in Salem, where the family lived.  The second purchase was for 160 acres of land. which probably supported the family.  In the 1820 census there is a total of 9 people listed in the McCoy household,  Unlike his brother, Rice McCoy, William apparently did not have slaves.  

A cholera epidemic hit Salem in June of 1833, part of the national epidemic of that year.  Somewhere close to 100 people died from the disease in just a few short weeks.  William and Nancy would have been among those ministering to the ill and doing what they could to comfort them.  Almost inevitably, they both sickened.  Nancy died July 8 and William July 12.  His brother, John, and another Salem man were trying to take William to the country but he died on the edge of town.  They are buried at Crown Hill Cemetery. Each has a nice poetic inscription on their tombstone.  I wonder who picked them out and when the stones were placed?

I didn't get to go to the courthouse to look for the estate papers.  I know that the estate, which was probably mostly the land and home William owned, was divided equally among the children, with three grandchildren also listed as heirs at law.  I would love to see his inventory, to know how many books he had.  A school teacher and pastor should have at least a shelf full, don't you think?

The line of descent is

James McCoy-Nancy Anderson

Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson

Nancy McCoy-George Allen

Edward Allen-Edith Knott

Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook

Their descendants

 

 

Holbrook line: David Fay 1762-1826

 First, a heads up:  This is not the David Fay of Marlsboro, Massachusetts, and not the one who served in the Revolutionary War. (The DAR says that new proof of service would have to be submitted for our David Fay.  While that would not be impossible, it's reasonably certain that he didn't march on the Lexington Alarm as he was only 13 at the time.)  I was a little bummed because I had to cross him off my list of Revolutionary War ancestors.  In trying to determine who he was and what he did, though, I have found some tidbits that may have been overlooked by some other researchers, and of course, I've found some questions.  

David Fay, this David Fay, was born February 9, 1762 (most records say 1762; one I found says 1761) in Stafford, Connecticut.  His parents were Edward and Sarah Joslin Fay, and he was the next to the youngest of 12 children.  Either he would have been spoiled, or ignored, most likely, but David was made of tough stuff and made his own way in the world. 

He married Marcy or Mercy Perrin, daughter of Benjamin and Mary Perrin, on December 6, 1781 in Stafford.  The two were about 20 years old, and they seem to have stayed in Stafford for at least a few years.  It may or may not be this David Fay who traveled with John Lincklaen in 1793 to what was wilderness at the time. The town of Cazenovia was laid out then.  If this was our David Fay, he apparently kept the area in the back of his mind, while continuing to live his life in Stafford and then, about the same time as the New York trip, to Holland, Massachusetts. 

David didn't have to "pay his dues" in Holland; he seems to have been accepted immediately.  He was a taxpayer there (only a few miles from Stafford) in 1793 and by 1798 had not only a house there but a barn 30 x 40 ft and another barn 25 x 36 ft, total value $1200.  He was referred to as "Ensign David Fay" in 1801, when he was on a committee to divide Holland into school districts, and the year before had been selected as town treasurer.  He was a selectman in 1802.  His neighbors in Holland were Jacob Thompson, Samuel Webber, Trenance Webber and Reuben Webber.  The "Ensign" designation is interesting because it leads us to think about what was going on in the military world about 1800.  There were various disagreements with France and with Britain, mostly on the high seas, but were there other reasons to keep a militia? 

We don't know what prompted him to go to Madison County, New York in the winter of 1805.  (Who travels that far in the winter, anyway?) Was he traveling with family?  The History of Madison County, State of New York, in writing of the small village of Fenner, says that David Fay came from Brimfield, Massachusetts (which is right next door to Holland) in the winter of 1805 and located on lot #16, a farm which had been previously occupied, and a small clearing made, by a Mr. Rhodes. I'm not sure this is completely reliable, but the same source tells us that a Miss Jackson married David Fay there.  (This could be correct only if Mercy Perrin had already died, and there was someone of the right age to be our Mercy in the 1810 census, so more research should be done).  

David doesn't appear to have taken as much a part in town politics as he had in Holland.  By the time he arrived in Fenner, he had as many as 10 children, and that would have kept him quite busy.  He doesn't appear to have had a large family support system around him there, so he likely did most of the work himself.  Sons Benjamin and Solomon were old enough to be quite a bit of help, but the others were still growing boys.  

David died on October 29, 1826 in Fenner and is buried at the Wilson Cemetery there.  Find A Grave says that his wife was Mercy, daughter of Jedikiah Jackson, who died in 1843, but it also says that his wife was Mercy Perrin, so there's some confusion.  Did Mercy Perrin Fay die early? Did David marry Mercy Jackson second, take her back to Massachusetts, and were some of the children hers?   Or, as I tend to think, was the David Fay who traveled early in the Lincklaen party the one who married Mercy Jackson, and was that David Fay from Charlton, Worcester County, Massachusetts?  

Mercy Fay was still alive in 1826, unnamed but mentioned in his will.  I haven't found an inventory so that will have to be research for another day, as will determining his religious beliefs, and the reason he was an ensign.   But we've learned enough to know we have to be wary in researching this David Fay...he may not be exactly what he seemed.  He wasn't a Revolutionary War vet, to the best of our knowledge, and he probably wasn't the man who was in Lincklaen's party.  What else do you know, or not know, about David?

The line of descent is:

David Fay-Mercy Perrin

Luceba Fay-Libbeus Stanard

Hiram Stanard-Susan Eddy

Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

Holbrook line: Thomas Carter, Immigrant and blacksmith

I haven't written about Thomas Carter before for a very good reason.  There were at least 4 Thomas Carters living in Massachusetts Bay Colony at about the same time, and only one of them is ours.  Several trees on line have them mixed up and to make it worse, there seem to be at least seven prospective sets of parents in England, some of them named Thomas. 

I don't know if anyone will ever figure out who his parents are, unless it is through some as yet unavailable DNA tests and results.  I don't know if we'll ever know who his wife was.  But I do know we have some other basic facts about him, and he was an interesting man.  

Thomas Carter's birth date is variously given as 1566, 1588, about 1590, and other dates unknown.  If I were a betting person, which I'm not, I'd say it was probably about 1585, because his oldest son Thomas is said to have been born about 1607.  That 1607 date suggests we might look in 1606 or a little earlier for a marriage record, but of course the question is where to look.  

We are told that Thomas arrived in Charlestown in 1636, but we don't have an exact date for his arrival.  He had six children born in England (where?), the least born in 1620.  We don't know how many of his children came with him and Mary.  And then there's the matter of freeman.  Men by that name were admitted in 1636, 1638, and 1647.  One of these is our Thomas, but which one? I believe the 1636 Thomas is Rev. Thomas Carter, not our man, and the 1647 Thomas is Thomas Jr, possibly the son of our man. So our Thomas was likely the one of 1638. 

We know from his inventory that Thomas was a blacksmith.  He had at least one other blacksmith friend, because in 1644, he was witness to the will of Daniel ""Sheopardson" of Charlestown. Thomas further confuses us by having land in Woburn, where it's believed a different Thomas Carter lived.  On March 24, 1647, Thomas Carter of Charlestown deeded half of his land in Woburn to his son in law William Green. "The writing was committed to Edward Johnson until John Green came of age. Witness James (can't read)."  So Edward Johnson apparently held the deed, but why he was to hold it until John Green (William Green's son) came of age is a bit of a puzzle.  Did John need to care for his father?  That's a subject for another post, I think.  

To me, the interesting part of Thomas's life is revealed only in his will.  Thomas held the indenture for Matthew, a Scotsman.  The sad explanation is that in 1650, Oliver Cromwell,s army defeated a Scots army defending their land, and about 6000 of the Scots were taken prisoner.  Many were sent to New England to work in the colony, and Thomas apparently purchased the indenture for Matthew.  In his will, he asks that the servant be sold to Mr. Russell, and also asks that 9 months be deducted from the term of Matthew's indenture.  We don't know the length of the indentureship, but it could have been anywhere from 4 to 8 years.  Many of these Scots were banned for life from returning to their homeland or their families, so the ships that brought them to New England would have been sad places indeed.

John's will is transcribed on the WikiTree website, for which I'm very grateful.  It is very blurry or smeared on the available databases.  This is where we learn that he and Mary had six surviving children.  (There may have been others as there is a gap of about five years between the first known child and the second one.) This is also where we learn that Thomas, in the 16 years or so he had lived in Charlestown, had accumulated several pieces of land.  His own home also included his shop, a barn, and orchard, and a house he owned that son Thomas lived in also had a barn, outbuildings, orchard and a garden.  Thomas Senior's homestead was valued at 80 pounds and his son's at 30 pounds.  There were also additional lands and meadows.  Next in value was the "Scotchman", Matthew, valued at 14 pounds.  He had a musket, sword, bandoliers and "the rest", possibly other weapons, or the necessary accessories for military outfits.  He had several farm animals, four rights to the cow commons, and quite a bit in the way of household goods, especially linens.  Some of the furniture was in the "upper chamber" and there was equipment listed in the kitchen, so this is a house that is nicer than many others in this time and place.  For a blacksmith, Thomas was doing rather well.  (I did not see a mention of books in the inventory.)

We don't know what the cause of death was for Thomas.  He was likely approaching 70, if not already there.  His wife Mary lived until March 6, 1664/65. She apparently had nothing to dispose of, since Thomas had provided for her until her death, but then the property was to go to their children. 

I like Thomas, because this is a picture of a hard-working man.  I also like him because he "purchased" Matthew the Scotchman, but thought enough of him to knock some months off his servitude, and arranged for his "purchase" by someone known to him.  I also like him because without him, I wouldn't be here!

The line of descent is:

Thomas Carter-Mary

Hannah Carter-William Green

Mary Green-John Snow

Zerubabbel Snow-Jemima Cutler

William Snow-Elizabeth Stevens

Lucy Snow-Josiah Whittemore

Josiah Whittemore-Betsy Foster

Mary Elizabeth Whittemore-Joseph Holbrook 

Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

 

 

Holbrook line: William Southwell died 1723

William Southwell's parents and place of birth are unknown.  James Savage, in his "Genealogical Dictionary of the Early Settlers of New England" commented that William may be one of the few early settlers to have arrived in the colony after 1670.  If so, he probably didn't come as an indentured servant, if the date of birth of June 4, 1668 is correct.  (I have doubts about that date because his wife is listed as being born on the same day.)  My reasoning for this is that he married on February 24, 1686, when he would have been not quite 18.  More on that later.  His birth date may be off, because I've also seen it listed as early as 1659 (but the 1659 date seems to belong to another William Southwell, one who is easier to trace than our guy is).

A possible place to look for William might be Southwell, Nottinghamshire, England.  It is about 14 miles northeast of Nottingham, itself, and I will certainly have to learn more about English records before I try to research there.  So what brought William to Northampton, Massachusetts Bay Colony, where he married Sarah Stebbins, daughter of John and Abigail Bartlett Stebbins, on February 24, 1686?  Was he an indentured servant who had earned his freedom by then?  Was he a member of another family (perhaps on his mother's side) in Northampton, and so that was a natural place for him to go?  Northampton wouldn't have just allowed him to move in, as a single man, unless someone took responsibility for him.  Young single men were supervised very carefully in those days.

If William really was just seventeen, Sarah was only just eighteen when they married.  This would have been a very young couple indeed, and they probably lived with one or another of their family, perhaps with widow Abigail Stebbins, for a few years while William was working to establish his own farm and homestead.  

William and Sarah had at least 8 children together.  Their first son, Enoch, and their last son, John, died during the first year of their life.  John apparently died the same day he was born.  What a blow this must have been for William and Sarah.  They also lost a girl at the age of four, so they knew much sorrow during the years of their marriage.  .  

The only "nugget" of information I found for him was that he was a member of the militia under Capt. Joseph Hawby, and received pay on February 2, 1709.  I haven't been able to determine whether he may have gone on one of the expeditions to Maine or Canada, or whether he fought French and Indians closer to home.  Deerfield, site of previous raids and attacks, was not far from Northampton so he may have been stationed to protect that settlement.  I would love to find more information about this.  

William apparently didn't remarry after the death of Abigail.  The next time I found a reference to him, it was to his death on March 19, 1723.  He was kind enough to leave a will which is on American Ancestors.  In it, he gives his wife one half of his estate while widowed, to go to one third if she remarries, with certain items hers to keep outside of the division mentioned.  Ebenezer got a good portion of his land, including his house and homestead, and half of the other land (several parcels) that William owned.  Enoch also received land, although a lesser amount, and I didn't see mention of a house in his share.  The three daughters each got money, with whatever they owed their father to be deducted from the amount he gave them.  He kept an account book that would show the current debts of the daughters.  (Note, that means he had some training in accounting, enough to keep his own books.)  Unfortunately, I didn't find an inventory so we don't have any idea as to books, or arms, or tools that might give us an idea of a second vocation.  

Sarah married John Hanchett, Sr. (also an ancestor) on July 3, 1733 in Suffield, Connecticut and died June 2, 1754 in Springfield, Massachusetts.  

This is the little I know of William Southwell.  If someone reading this knows more, I would love to hear from you!

THe line of descent is

William Southwell-Sarah Stebbins

Ebenezer Southwell-Elizabeth Judd

Eunice Southwell-Medad Pomeroy

Eunice Pomeroy-Libbeus Stannard

Libbeus Stanard-Luceba Fay

Hiram Stanard-Susan Eddy

Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants