Holbrook Line: William Shattuck, Immigrant

William Shattuck was born in England, possibly Somerset, but perhaps Dorset, about 1622.  That is as much as we can safely say about his origins.  His parents are believed to be Samuel Shattuck and Damaris Sibley, but as far as I know, no documentation has been found for this.  He did name a son Samuel, but there is no Damaris in the known family, so I think the jury is still out on his parentage. 

The first we really know of Samuel is that he is in Watertown, a few miles west of Boston, by 1642.  "The Pioneers of Massachusetts" states that he was a shoemaker.  There was a loom in his inventory when he died, and there has been speculation that he was also a weaver.  Many farmers, for that was also an occupation of his, did weaving in the winter time, but it's also possible that the output was for family needs only.  So let's consider him a shoemaker and a farmer. 

His wife's name and origins are also unknown.  She was Susanna, and may have been either a Hayden or a Barnard, but again there is no proof that I can find.  They were likely married about 1642 in England, and came almost immediately to Boston.  I have also seen speculation that his father may have been with them, but died on the voyage.  Again, I have not seen documentation. 

His children present another mystery.  I have names for 8 of them.  One son has been described as "Samuel Church".  I don't know whether this was a misreading of the will, or whether William had somehow adopted the boy, or whether there is another explanation.  He mentioned the "ten younger children that are married" as well as several sons, so he may have had more children than we know of.  The children that we have listed are Susanna, Mary, John, Philip, William, Rebecca, Abigail and Benjamin.  Perhaps Susanna had brought children into the marriage whom William considered "his".  We just don't know. 

We do know a little of his life because of what was listed in the inventory at this death.  His total appraised value was 434 pound, 2 shillings, which was not bad for a farmer, or a shoemaker.  Among the interesting items are more linens and dinnerware than would be typical for the day, but perhaps made necessary by having a large family.  He had 103 pounds and 17 shillings in money, cash on hand, which again is a larger amount than I typically see.  Unless books were included among "some small things", I didn't see books on the list but I do see two pair of "cards".  They are listed with some of the wooden and earthenware dishes, so I don't want to guess what the "cards" were.  If these were playing cards, they would have caused a scandal so the likelihood is that they were something else.  He had three guns, two "pistools", and a cutlash,  so he may have been well armed, depending on how old these arms were.  He also had crops in the ground, bushels of grain, and farm animals of every sort except goats, it seems. 

The inventory is signed by John Coolege, John Livermore, and Thomas Hastings.  William died August 14, 1672 and the will was entered into probate on August 23, when the inventory was completed.  Susannah remained a single woman for about 15 months, and then married Richard Norcross  They stayed in Watertown, where she died December 11, 1686.

We actually have two lines through William and Susanna, both through their daughter Susannah.  One line is:

William Shattuck-Susanna
Susannah Shattuck-John Fay
David Fay-Sarah Larkin
Edward Fay-Sarah Joslin
David Fay-Mary or Mercy Perrin
Euzebia (Luceba) Fay-Libbeus Stanard
Hiram Stanard-Susan Eddy
Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants

The other line is

William Shattuck-Susanna
Susanna Shattuck-Joseph Morse
Esther Morse-Nathaniel Joslin
Israel Joslin-Sarah Cleveland
Sarah Joslin-Edward Fay
and as per above