It had to happen. I had to find an immigrant who had real problems in his life. At first glance, we can't be particularly proud of this ancestor, we may even want to turn away, but nevertheless, he is in our line and he must have been an interesting, if somewhat unsavory, character.
He is another one of our "little is known of" this man, as far as his early life in concerned. So far I'm not finding a claim of parentage for him, although it appears that he probably came from Glamorganshire, Wales. He is recognized as a founder of the city of Hartford, Connecticut but by the end of 1639 he was on Gardiner's Island, and working as a gardener for the Gardiner family. (The Gardiner family was wealthy and became wealthier, and a descendant of that family still owns the island.). Fulk's status as gardener probably meant that he also farmed for the family, and probably worked to establish whatever fruits and vegetables were grown there.
Probably sometime about 1639, he married, but the name of his wife has not yet been found. She was known as "Goody Davis" and at first was known as a serving woman, and also taught neighbors the art of making flax and spinning it into linen. Perhaps it was one of these neighbors who charged her with witchcraft, which may have been one of the reasons the family left town. Another reason was that Ffulke himself, along with a son, was convicted of improper behavior with other men (to put it politely). Still, he was allotted land in East Hampton, so the town may have forgiven both behaviors, if there was anything at all to either charge.. Fulke's first wife must have died in the late 1650's, for in 1660 he married for a second time,to Mary, who was twice a widow. The couple later lived in Brookhaven, and finally in Jamaica (what was then called Newtown.)
During this time, while Fulke was having a hard time of it, the colony was also suffering. Although Gardiner's Island had been kept a separate entity, it eventually joined with Connecticut and then when Long Island was made part of New York, the government changed again. There was also a considerable Dutch influence here, so it wasn't easy, just keeping track of who was in charge on a particular day.
Fulke must have made some improvements in his economic standing, because in 1671 he allowed his son Joseph the use of his team of six oxen, and in 1670 he had given or sold his dwelling house to Joseph. No will has been found for Fulke, which is not surprising given the economic class he was in. He is believed to have died in 1687, with his widow Mary living until 1699.
One interesting part of Fulke's story is that at one time he was appointed to a committee in Southampton. Their job was to watch the beaches for whales that washed ashore, and to cut them up and presumably dispose of them. This was not a part of life for most of our ancestors, and emphasizes the differences between towns that were really only a few miles apart. I wonder how often this occurred, what kind of whales they were, and whether the whale deaths were natural or were part of the whaling industry.
I'd sure like to know more about this family. As members of the working class, or even lower, their world must have been very difficult. With sexual and witchcraft charges being whispered about, I wonder how the family was able to go out and about their business, and how they prospered as much as they did. Maybe there is more to the story...
The line of descent is:
Fulke Davis-first wife
Samuel Davis-Mary Mather
Hester Davis-John Finch
John Finch-Sarah
Nathaniel Finch-Hannah Scofield
Jesse Finch-Hannah
Hannah Finch-John Bell
Hannah Bell-Thomas J Knott
John Wilson Knott-Harriet C Starr
Edith Knott-Edward Allen
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook (who were married 69 years ago today!)
Their descendants
Showing posts with label Mather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mather. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Friday, September 25, 2015
Holbrook line: Henry Woodward 1607-1683 Immigrant
I want to write about Henry Woodward today, if for no other reason than to mention the name of his children. His daughters were Experience, Freedom, and Thankful. Doesn't that say a lot? The names of his daughters are actually a sermon to us, his descendants, a reminder to be grateful that we can have freedom, both politically and spiritually. Thank you, grandfather Henry!
Henry is also said to be the ancestor of at least two famous people to whom we can now claim kinship, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (again) and Princess Diana. Funny, we don't look anything like either of them!
Henry was baptized March 22, 1607, the son of Thomas Woodward and Elizabeth Tynen of Much Woolton, Lancashire, England. For some reason, he was baptized at Childwell, Lancashire, so that may have been the main church of worship for the parish. Childwell is very near or part of Liverpool, on the west coast of England and in the north.
Henry came to the New World on the ship "James" in 1635, although I am not finding him in any of the "Great Migration" publications to date. He was in Boston first, then went to Dorchester by 1639 and on to Northampton in 1659. He married Elizabeth about 1640, probably in Dorchester. It has long been thought that his wife was Elizabeth Mather, of the Puritan famous Mather family, but apparently proof is lacking because I've also seen speculation that her last name was Cundliffe. Henry became a member of the Dorchester church and a freeman of the colony shortly after his arrival in Dorchester.
He was a respected member of the community of Dorchester, serving on various committees and juries there, and in 1657, at least, he was serving as constable.
His children, named above and also a son John, were all born at Dorchester, where Henry was a physician. In 1658, Henry and two Dorchester men were sent to start the new village of Northampton, and were rewarded with large grants of land there.(One unidentified source says that part of his land is now occupied by Smith College.)
When the family moved to Northampton, he was the keeper of an ordinary (tavern) and also a miller. He would also have been a small time farmer, raising crops and animals for this family. He was 51 when he went to Northampton at Richard Mather's request. Northampton had been founded a few years earlier so we don't know why it was thought necessary to send more men. Perhaps it had to do with the occupation of the men who were sent, or perhaps it was felt that the church there needed building up.
Northampton was attacked by Indians several times during King Philip's War. This was one town n Massachusetts that was more or less prepared for attack, having built a long wooden palisade that enclosed several of the structures around the central meeting house. There were three "minor" attacks in 1675 that killed at least two people and resulted in the burning of several homes and barns, so over the winter of 1675-1676 the palisade was built and at the time of the "big" Northampton attack, there were about 300 soldiers stationed there. on March 14, 1676, a "sizable force of local warriors" attacked Northampton. They managed to set ten houses on fire, and to breach the walls of the palisade in three places, but the soldiers rallied and drove the Indians away. We don't know whether Henry was there or not. Many men had sent their families away, so it may be that Elizabeth was gone but Henry was there to fight, or to assist with illnesses and injuries over the winter.
The town regrouped after the war (there were no more attacks on this town) and Henry's life went on. He was killed in some sort of accident at the "upper corn mill" on April 9, 1683, when he was 76 years old. Elizabeth lived until August 13, 1690, when she died at Northampton. I haven't yet located a will for either Henry or Elizabeth. Perhaps one would give us an insight into Elizabeth's parentage. It would certainly help us understand what Henry accumulated, in terms of land and goods, during his lifetime.
I'd like to know whether Henry was literate, and I'd like to know more about his life in both Dorchester and Northampton, particularly why he decided or agreed to go to Northampton. Of course, I'd like to know about his life in England, too, and what prompted him to come to America.
There are always more questions, it seems.
Our line of descent is:
Henry Woodward-Elizabeth possibly Mather
Experience Woodward-Medad Pomeroy
Joseph Pomeroy-Hannah Seymour
Medad Pomeroy-Hannah Trumbull
Medad Pomeroy Jr.-Eunice Southwell
Eunice Pomeroy-Libbeus Stanard
Libbeus Stanard Jr.-Euzebia or Luceba Fay
Hiram Stanard-Susan Eddy
Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants
Henry is also said to be the ancestor of at least two famous people to whom we can now claim kinship, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (again) and Princess Diana. Funny, we don't look anything like either of them!
Henry was baptized March 22, 1607, the son of Thomas Woodward and Elizabeth Tynen of Much Woolton, Lancashire, England. For some reason, he was baptized at Childwell, Lancashire, so that may have been the main church of worship for the parish. Childwell is very near or part of Liverpool, on the west coast of England and in the north.
Henry came to the New World on the ship "James" in 1635, although I am not finding him in any of the "Great Migration" publications to date. He was in Boston first, then went to Dorchester by 1639 and on to Northampton in 1659. He married Elizabeth about 1640, probably in Dorchester. It has long been thought that his wife was Elizabeth Mather, of the Puritan famous Mather family, but apparently proof is lacking because I've also seen speculation that her last name was Cundliffe. Henry became a member of the Dorchester church and a freeman of the colony shortly after his arrival in Dorchester.
He was a respected member of the community of Dorchester, serving on various committees and juries there, and in 1657, at least, he was serving as constable.
His children, named above and also a son John, were all born at Dorchester, where Henry was a physician. In 1658, Henry and two Dorchester men were sent to start the new village of Northampton, and were rewarded with large grants of land there.(One unidentified source says that part of his land is now occupied by Smith College.)
When the family moved to Northampton, he was the keeper of an ordinary (tavern) and also a miller. He would also have been a small time farmer, raising crops and animals for this family. He was 51 when he went to Northampton at Richard Mather's request. Northampton had been founded a few years earlier so we don't know why it was thought necessary to send more men. Perhaps it had to do with the occupation of the men who were sent, or perhaps it was felt that the church there needed building up.
Northampton was attacked by Indians several times during King Philip's War. This was one town n Massachusetts that was more or less prepared for attack, having built a long wooden palisade that enclosed several of the structures around the central meeting house. There were three "minor" attacks in 1675 that killed at least two people and resulted in the burning of several homes and barns, so over the winter of 1675-1676 the palisade was built and at the time of the "big" Northampton attack, there were about 300 soldiers stationed there. on March 14, 1676, a "sizable force of local warriors" attacked Northampton. They managed to set ten houses on fire, and to breach the walls of the palisade in three places, but the soldiers rallied and drove the Indians away. We don't know whether Henry was there or not. Many men had sent their families away, so it may be that Elizabeth was gone but Henry was there to fight, or to assist with illnesses and injuries over the winter.
The town regrouped after the war (there were no more attacks on this town) and Henry's life went on. He was killed in some sort of accident at the "upper corn mill" on April 9, 1683, when he was 76 years old. Elizabeth lived until August 13, 1690, when she died at Northampton. I haven't yet located a will for either Henry or Elizabeth. Perhaps one would give us an insight into Elizabeth's parentage. It would certainly help us understand what Henry accumulated, in terms of land and goods, during his lifetime.
I'd like to know whether Henry was literate, and I'd like to know more about his life in both Dorchester and Northampton, particularly why he decided or agreed to go to Northampton. Of course, I'd like to know about his life in England, too, and what prompted him to come to America.
There are always more questions, it seems.
Our line of descent is:
Henry Woodward-Elizabeth possibly Mather
Experience Woodward-Medad Pomeroy
Joseph Pomeroy-Hannah Seymour
Medad Pomeroy-Hannah Trumbull
Medad Pomeroy Jr.-Eunice Southwell
Eunice Pomeroy-Libbeus Stanard
Libbeus Stanard Jr.-Euzebia or Luceba Fay
Hiram Stanard-Susan Eddy
Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants
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