Allen line: Richard Hawes, Immigrant 1606-1656

Richard Hawes has been sitting on my family tree for a long time, basically unnoticed and neglected.  I didn't even have a folder prepared for his information.  Yet, here he is, not only an immigrant but an early one, covered in the Great Migration 1634-1635.  How did I miss this?

Richard was born in 1606 in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, England, to Richard Hawes and (probably) Susan Dean.  He may have been an only child, at least I've not yet found record of siblings.  His mother died in 1609 at the age of 25 so she may have died in or following childbirth, and perhaps that child did not survive.

That is as much as is known about Richard until the birth of his first daughter, Anne, who was baptized at Great Missenden on December 17, 1632.  We learn that his wife's name was Anne, from the register of the ship "Truelove", which sailed September 19, 1635 from London.  By that time, a son, Obediah, had been born.  He was about six months old when the family of four set sail for Massachusetts.

Once landed, the family went to Dorchester, where the couple were admitted to the church in 1637 and Richard was made a freeman in 1638.  He doesn't seem to have held offices of any consequence, though he was a fence viewer several times.  We can believe he was educated to some degree because there were books listed in his inventory.  He may also have been involved in military training or/and service, as were most of the men of early Massachusetts, because his inventory included two muskets, two swords, and a pair of bandoliers.  The family stayed in Dorchester as long as Richard lived. 

We know that he and Anne had at least seven children: Anne, Obediah, Bethia, Deliverance, Constant, Eleazer, and Jeremiah.  Also we know that he was granted various lands for his role as settler, and had apparently acquired additional land.  His real estate was valued at 87 pounds at the time of his death.  Also, there is a clue that perhaps his father, although a husbandman at his death,  was not poor, in that he left the two oldest children 20 pounds apiece, with an additional 10 pounds to be divided equally between the other grandchildren (whom he had probably not seen). 
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Richard appears to have been a peaceable man, only once being called into court, which was almost nothing compared to many of his neighbors.  He saw an opportunity in America and by hard work acquired land to leave his family.  Like many in early Massachusetts, he did not have a long life, being about 50 when he died.  Obediah was eventually granted administration of the estate including "binding and placing out the children".  Our ancestor, Constant, would have been 14 years old when her father died.  It was seven years later that she married Thomas Dewey, so I'd love to know what happened to her during this time!  We don't know when Ann died.  The last child, Jeremiah, was born about 1647, and there seems to be no further mention of her after that time. 

I'm thankful for Richard Hawes and his wife.  I wouldn't be here without them!

The line of descent is

Richard Hawes-Anne
Constant Hawes-Thomas Dewey
Elizabeth Dewey-Thomas Noble
Thomas Noble-Sarah Root
Stephen Noble-Ruth Church
Ruth Noble-Martin Root
Ruth Root-Samuel Falley
Clarissa Falley-John Havens Starr
Harriet Starr-John Wilson Knott
Edith Knott-Edward F. Allen
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants