Content deleted Content added
Srich32977 (talk | contribs) ce Tags: Mobile edit Mobile app edit iOS app edit |
Srich32977 (talk | contribs) ce Tags: Mobile edit Mobile app edit iOS app edit |
||
Line 82:
[[File:Coat of Arms of Thomas Willett.svg|175px|thumb|left|Coat of Arms of Thomas Willett]]
The origins of Thomas Willett are not known for certain and are subject to some debate. The most commonly encountered description of his early life from the ''[[Dictionary of National Biography]]''<ref>[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofnati61stepuoft/page/292/mode/1up Stephen, Leslie, Sir (
''New England Historical and Genealogical Register''. Boston: Samuel G. Drake. '''II''' (October 1848):
376. 1848.</ref> which offered the theory that this Thomas may have descended from Andrew Willet because the Willett name is rare. A differing opinion exists in Dexter's compilation of the Leyden congregation in the appendix of his work, ''England and Holland of the Pilgrims''.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/englandhollandof00dextuoft/page/639/mode/1up Dexter, p. 639.]</ref> This indicates that Willett was the son of Thomas and Alice Willet of the Leyden congregation. The respective merits of these opinions are discussed by Burgess.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/newenglandhistor1907wate/page/158/mode/1up Burgess, pp.
There is general agreement that Willett came over to the Plymouth Colony with the second wave of the Leyden congregation in 1629. There is disagreement however over whether or not he went back to England shortly thereafter for the trial of Edward Ashley who was accused of trading weapons and ammunition to native Americans. The evidence that this might have been the case is based upon a listing of passengers on the ship Lyon which sailed from London on June 22, 1632, with William Pierce as Master as given by Charles Edward Banks in his ''Planters of the Commonwealth''.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/plantersofcommon00bank/page/99/mode/1up Banks, Charles Edward (1930). ''Planters of the Commonwealth''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. pp.
===Family in the Plymouth Colony and Descendants===
Willett's parents and siblings were evidently left behind when he emigrated to Plymouth in 1629. His family life thereafter centered around that of his wife's family. Willett married Mary, daughter of John Browne (Sr.),<ref>[https://archive.org/details/johnbrownegentle00brow/page/n4/mode/1up Brown, George Tilden (1919). ''John Browne, Gentleman of Plymouth.'' Providence: Remington Press.]</ref> a leading citizen of the Plymouth Colony, and Browne's wife, Dorothy, in 1636. He moved with the Brown(e) family from Plymouth westward, originally to the Taunton area by the 1650s, and later to the eastern shores of [[Narragansett Bay]] to Wannamoisett, near present-day Barrington, Rhode Island. Willett had substantial business dealings with Browne (Sr.) and later increasingly, especially between 1656 and 1660 when Browne (Sr.) is believed to have been in England,<ref>[https://archive.org/details/johnbrownegentle00brow/page/19/mode/1up Brown, p. 19.]</ref> with Browne's two sons, John (Jr.) and James. Another family connection was with Willett's early co-worker in the fur trade, [[John Howland]]. Howland's daughter, Lydia, married James Browne and Howland's widow, [[Elizabeth Tilley|Elizabeth]], was living with James and Lydia Broowne's family when she died. Both John Browne (Sr.) and John Browne (Jr.) died in 1662, the son ten days before the father.
The children of Thomas and Mary Willet, as compiled from several sources, were:<ref>[https://www.colonialsociety.org/node/58#paper-p358 Saffin, John. ''Personal Manuscript.'' (As reported by Abner C. Goodell, Jr.), Colonial Society of Massachusetts '''I''': Transactions (
*Mary, b. November 10, 1637, d. June 24,1712, married Rev. Samuel Hooker (son of [[Thomas Hooker|Rev. Thomas Hooker]]) in 1658, remarried Rev. Thomas Buckingham in 1703.
Line 111 ⟶ 110:
(?) Sons John, Thomas, and David are not mentioned in Willett's will which calls James the "eldest son".<ref>[https://archive.org/details/newenglandhistor1907wate/page/159/mode/1up Burgess, p. 159 (Will of Thomas Willett).]</ref>
There is disagreement over Thomas Willett's date and place of birth. The ''Dictionary of National Biography''<ref>[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofnati61stepuoft/page/292/mode/1up Stephen, Leslie, Sir (
Mary Willett, the first wife of Thomas, died on January 8, 1669, at about 55 years old<ref>[https://archive.org/details/johnbrownegentle00brow/page/26/mode/1up Brown, p. 26.]</ref> making her birthdate about 1614, almost certainly in England. Her grave is next to that of Thomas Willett. Little mention is found of her in the records; what is there includes her marriage to Thomas on July 6, 1636,<ref>[https://archive.org/details/recordsofcolonyo0102newp/page/n64/mode/1up Shurtleff, '''I''' (July 6, 1636): 43.]</ref> and she is also mentioned in connection with her father's will which was hastily written while he was ill in the short period between his son's death and his own. The will of John Browne (Sr.) made scant reference to his daughter, Mary, no significant bequest to her, and none at all to her offspring. Browne's objective may have been to leave his property to the relatively more needy members of his family rather than to those of Mary's branch, as she was married to one of the wealthiest men in the colony. However this might have been, Browne's intent could have been better expressed and the result was an unusual mention in the colony's records regarding Mary Willett's good relationship with her father.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/johnbrownegentle00brow/page/22/mode/1up Brown, p. 22.]</ref>
Line 117 ⟶ 116:
Joanna Prudden, widow of Rev. [[Peter Prudden]] and second wife of Thomas Willett, married Willett in Milford, Connecticut, on September 20, 1671.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/peterpruddenstor00prud/page/56/mode/1up?q=willett Prudden, Lillian Eliza (1901). ''Peter Prudden: a story of his life and New Haven and Milford, Conn.'' New Haven, Conn.: Tuttle, Morehouse and Taylor. p. 56.]</ref> After Willett's death in 1674, she soon returned to Milford and remarried again, this time to Rev. John Bishop.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/peterpruddenstor00prud/page/58/mode/1up?q=willett Prudden, Lillian Eliza (1901). ''Peter Prudden: a story of his life and New Haven and Milford, Conn.'' New Haven, Conn.: Tuttle, Morehouse and Taylor. p. 58.]</ref> She was born in Halifax, Yorkshire, England, in 1616 and died on November 8, 1681, in Stamford, Connecticut, where she is also buried.<ref>[https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/34716079/joanna-bishop Find a Grave Memorials: Joanna Boyse Bishop.]</ref>
Mary Willett, eldest daughter of Capt. Thomas Willett and his wife Mary, married in 1658 Rev. Samuel Hooker, son of Rev. [[Thomas Hooker]], Puritan divine and founder of [[Hartford, Connecticut]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=r17mNhtcPRwC&q=willet&pg=PA231 Hooker, Edward, and Margaret Huntington Hooker (ed.) (1908). ''The Descendants of Rev. Thomas Hooker,
There is some thought that Willett's son, Thomas Willett (Jr.), was the major in the militia of [[Queens County, New York|Queens County]] who was a councilor under Governors [[Sir Edmund Andros]] and [[Henry Sloughter]].<ref>[https://archive.org/details/hudsonmohawkgene00reyn/page/254/mode/1up Reynolds, Cuyler (ed.) (1911). ''Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs''. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company. '''I''':
Hezekiah Willett was killed during King Philip's War in spite of the special consideration which was supposed to be extended to the Browne/Willett family by Philip's followers. This was a source of great sorrow to Philip as reported by the servant captured when Hezekiah was killed<ref>Philbrick, pp.
Andrew Willett spent most of his adult life near what is now Kingston, Rhode Island.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/genealogicaldict00aust/page/428/mode/1up Austin, p. 428.]</ref> He married Ann Coddington, daughter of William Coddington, a governor of Rhode Island. Thomas Willett's interests in the Atherton Company led to ownership of land in this area of Rhode Island, then known as the "Boston Neck", along with other company shareholders who over time banded together as merchants,<ref>Martin, pp.
Some have claimed that one of Willett's great-grandsons was [[Marinus Willett]], who also served as Mayor of New York from 1807 to 1808,<ref>[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofnati61stepuoft/page/292/mode/1up Stephen, Leslie, Sir (
The descendants of Thomas Willett were numerous. The 'Dorothy Q.' of the poem of [[Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.|Oliver Wendell Holmes]] was Thomas Willett's great-granddaughter, and the great-grandmother of Holmes.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofnati61stepuoft/page/292/mode/1up Stephen, Leslie, Sir (
The [[Fire Department of New York]] operated a [[fireboat]] named [[Thomas Willett (fireboat)|''Thomas Willett'']] from 1908 to 1959.<ref name=Marine1FdnyHistory>
|