Speedy, Elizabeth b. 1917

James Brown b. 1655

/ Kirstin Miller

James Brown 8th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree.

James Brown was born on May 4, 1655 in Rehoboth, Massachusetts. His grandparents John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley were on the Mayflower, married and had 10 children, with millions of descendants today. Elizabeth lived with James and family from 1687 to 1673 and would have shared her stories of the Mayflower and those first years in colonial America.

John married Margaret Dennison on June 5, 1678, and they had at least 10 children. James was known as a Lieutenant in the ‘militia’, the history of his service is lost. He could have been in one the biggest battles of the time, the Great Swamp Massacre of December 1675, recently in the news, the sacred land has been returned to the Narragansett Indians.
https://thepublicsradio.org/article/site-of-great-swamp-massacre-returned-to-narragansett-indian-tribe

James wrote his will June 28, 1717 and died on April 15, 1718 . “James Brown of the Town of swanzey In the County of Bristol In his majesties Provence of the massachusets Bay In Newengland yeoman ; Being Crazie of Body but of Perfect minde and memory Thanks be Given to God … Do make & ordain this my Last will & Testement. The oldest son James received the family farm, upland & meadows, -with this Reserve that my wife margrett Brown have the use of all the meadow I now make use of Dureing her Naturall Life or widdowhood”. Younger sons received other lands, daughters received money. James’s inventory included clothing, housewares, looms and yarns, livestock, rights to the sawmill and more.

James is buried at Ancient Little Neck Cemetery, on the Providence River. His headstone is there, inscribed with, “In Memory of Lieut. JAMES BROWN who Died April 15th 1718 in the 60th Year of his Age”. Many of James’s family are buried there too including his grandma, Elizabeth Tilley Howland.

Sources

Benjamin Child b. 1631

/ Kirstin Miller

Benjamin Child 9th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree.

Benjamin Child was born in 1631 in Cotesbach, Leicestershire, England. Some family trees state this Child family has “genealogy going back to William the Conqueror”. There’s no records to show this.

Benjamin was 3 when his dad died. His uncle Ephraim Child left England for America and probably convinced his nephew to migrate too. By 1652 Benjamin was in Roxbury, Massachusetts and married to Mary Bowen. Benjamin and Mary had 12 kids. They were members of the First Church of Roxbury. “In the records of Roxbury, Mr. Benjamin Child is stated to have been of the thirty who contributed for the erection of the First Church of Roxbury.” Roxbury was a town in the 1600s, today it’s a Boston neighborhood.

Inventory, Genealogy of the Child, Childs and Childe families

Benjamin died on October 14, 1678 in Roxbury. He didn’t have a will. His estate was settled in May of 1679 and included an inventory with a house and barn, 92 acres of land, “money in the House and in good hands”, 3 silver spoons, a wine cup, a trundle bed, wearing clothes, blankets and rugs; and more.

Benjamin is most likely buried at Eliot Burying Ground Cemetery “one of the three oldest [cemeteries] in Boston” named for John Elliot “Apostle to the Indians” and founder of Roxbury. The cemetery is next to a former fire station, “The Eustis Street Firehouse, the oldest standing firehouse in Boston”, and a few yards east of Benjamin’s church, the First Church of Roxbury.

Benjamin’s granddaughter Grace married Timothy Walker, whose granddaughter Cynthia married Asa Angell. Asa’s great granddaughter Matilda Flood in Iowa married Richard Mockford and their great granddaughter Elizabeth was born in Iowa in 1917.

Sources

Edward Morris b. 1630

/ Kirstin Miller

Edward Morris 9th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree

Edward Morris was born on August 30, 1630 in Great Amwell, Hertfordshire, England. In 1651, he sailed on the ship Confidence to Roxbury, Massachusetts.  On February 23, 1652 in Roxbury it was, “Voted that William Peacock and Edward Morris have four acres each William Lyon three acres upon the commons by John Polley.” There were conditions to receiving the land: William and Edward had to build within 2 years and could not  “carry away any wood or timber or sell farther than for building purposes”. 

September 20, 1655 Edward married Grace Bett. “Edward Morris & Grace Bett were married 20th – 9th month by Richard Bellingham Dept. Govr.” Grace and Edward had 12 children, all born in Roxbury.

January 27, 1661 Edward was a selectman and surveyor. In 1662 the townspeople decided no more land should be given away but kept for Roxbury community use. Edward was a constable in 1664, this included being a ‘fence viewer’, settling property disputes. He was a deputy to the General Court during the time when Massachusetts Bay Colony fought against England’s King Charles 2 for a charter. Edward Randolph, “evil genius of New England and her angel of death”, convinced Charles 2 to take away the charter and put Edmund Andros in charge,  who was overthrown in the 1689 Boston Revolt. “We must believe that he [Edward] was in full sympathy with the sentiment of his townsmen and the party which stood in defense of popular liberty in the conflict against the arbitrary power of the King. and his instruments”.

Edward and  family moved to Woodstock Connecticut around 1686 and were some of the first English settlers. Edward’s son Ebenezer was part of the exploring party. Edward died on September 14, 1689, sources say he was the first original settler to die in Woodstock. He is buried at Woodstock Hill Cemetery. There is a memorial to Edward and Grace Bett Morris and Edward’s original gravestone is still there. 

Find a grave memorial

Edward’s descendants moved west across America, his 5th great granddaughter Delia Angell born 1839, in Indiana moved further west to Butler County, Iowa where her great granddaughter Elizabeth Speedy was born in 1917.

Sources

Samuel Walker b. 1655

/ Kirstin Miller

Samuel Walker 8th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree

Samuel was born in February, 1655 in Rehoboth, Massachusetts. His mom and dad came from England as children in the 1630s, met and married in Massachusetts in 1654. Samuel had 9 brothers and sisters. Samuel was a freeman on May 27, 1674. He fought in King Philips War in 1675. Samuel is referred to as a Captain, Cornet, Gentleman and Lieutenant. 

Samuel  married Martha Ide on November 11, 1681. Samuel and Martha had 8 children. Martha died in 1700, Samuel’s 2nd wife was Elizabeth.

Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991

In 1702 Samuel was the administrator of his mom’s will. In 1693  he was administrator of his sister Sarah Walker Perrin’s will. Sarah, her husband Abraham Perrin and 2 of their 5 children died in an influenza outbreak in Rehoboth. Samuel died  without a will on August 12, 1712. Son Timothy Walker was administrator of his dad’s estate. Samuel’s lands and possessions were divided among Elizabeth the widow and Samuel’s children. Books, a trooping horse, a looking glass, earthenware, leather, wool, flax, a spinning wheel, a grindstone, oats, Indian corn and tobacco were part of the inventory along with about 700 acres of land. The lands included land inherited from his dad, Philip Walker. This land passed on to Timothy who built a house, today known as The Philip Walker House at 432 Massasoit Ave East Providence, RI 02914. The Walker House is an urban farm now, had its 1st growing season this summer.

Samuel is buried at Newman Cemetery, East Providence, Providence County, Rhode Island, USA. His 3rd great granddaughter Delia Angell married William Flood in Butler County Iowa on July 30, 1856 . Their great granddaughter Elizabeth Speedy Roose was born there in 1917.

Sources

Epenetus Olney b. 1675

/ Kirstin Miller

Epenetus Olney, 8th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree

Epenetus Olney was born on January 18, 1675, the first generation of his family born in America. He was born in Providence, Rhode Island, an English colony founded by his grandpa and others. “Epenetus Olney Sonn Vnto Epenetus Olney and Mary his Wife Was Borne at Prouidence Januarey the Eightenth day on Thousawd Six hundred Seauenty and ffower or Seauenty ffiue it being the Second day of the weeke”.

Epenetus married Mary Williams, her grandpa Roger Williams was another founder of Rhode Island. Epenetus and Mary had 9 children including a daughter named Freeborn. The Olney family farmed, they grew “beans, turnops, wheate, Indian corn, rye, flex, while in the orchard, through which passed the road leading to the Providence settlement, there were Apple and peach tree, fruited deep.”  The current address for their farm is 370 Woonasquatucket Avenue, Centerdale, Providence County, Rhode Island, on the banks of the Woonasquatucket River about 6 miles northeast of Providence 

Early Rhode Island houses

Epenetus built a Stone Ender home, a style famous in colonial Rhode Island. A description of Epenetus Olney’s Stone Ender from one of many articles, books, studies. “The solid wall of masonry extending almost its whole width into the second story.” Changes were made through the years, “Little rooms and big rooms , fireplaces and cupboards were added here and there. In the front hall there was a great trap door which led down into the deep , cavernous cellar.”

State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

The Stone Ender home stayed in the Olney family from the time it was built till it was demolished in 1898 -to “make way for modern improvements”. As the Olney house decayed, it was a boon for archaeologists and architects who could study the ‘insides’ and learn about colonial craftsmanship.

Epenetus died on September 17, 1740 in Providence. His burial place is unknown but could be where his house used to be. Epenetus’s 3rd great granddaughter Delia Angell was in Iowa by 1856 where she married William Flood. Their great granddaughter was Elizabeth Speedy born in 1917.

Sources

Eleazer Arnold and Eleanor Smith b. 1651

/ Kirstin Miller

Eleazer Arnold and Eleanor Smith 9th great grandparents on RootsMagic tree

I could spend the rest of my living days gathering details about Eleazer Arnold, Eleanor Smith and their Providence, Rhode Island family. Eleazer was a man with money, descended from white English immigrants, he has so many records and references, primary documents showing his existence and character and community involvement in 1630s colonial America.

Eleazer Arnold was born on June 17, 1651 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts. His parents were Thomas and Phebe Parkhurst Arnold, they settled first in Massachusetts then by 1658 were in Providence, Rhode island. Both Thomas and Eleazer were admitted as freemen there on May 18, 1658. Eleazer’s dad was deputy of the colony, a member of the legislature and more. Eleazer was as involved his community. He was on the town council, was a deputy and a justice of the peace.

Eleanor Smith was born in 1655 in Providence. She died on August 29, 1722. Her parents were John and Elizabeth Smith of England. Eleanor and Eleazer married in 1672 or so. They had at least 10 children. They had a tavern or public house inside their house. “Arnold, a landowner with a wife and ten children, secured a license for a ‘Public House’. Tavern customers were probably served in the great room or hall of the house.”

Their home, built by Eleazer around 1693, is still standing and considered “the best of the “stone-enders” remaining in Rhode Island”. It’s an historical site, museum with tours and on Google maps at 487 Great Road, on highway 123 in [now] Lincoln, Rhode Island.

Eleazer Arnold house in 1952 Rhode Island History journal, PDF

Eleazer died August 29, 1722 he left a will, a large estate. Eleanor was not in this will so died before Eleazer. In the will were sons Joseph, John, Jeremiah, daughter in law Sarah [Hawkins], daughters Phebe Smith, Elizabeth [Israel] Smith, Eleanor Arnold, Mary Thomas, Abigail Man, some grandchildren and brother John. An inventory lists possessions.

Sources

Joseph Smith b. 1670

/ Kirstin Miller

Joseph Smith, 9th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree.

Joseph Smith was born in 1670 in Providence, Rhode Island. Joseph’s grandpa John Smith came to America from England around 1630 then connected with Roger Williams, both banished from Massachusetts for ‘diverse thoughts’, they founded Providence in 1636. Joseph’s dad John Smith Jr and his mom Sarah Whipple were the first generation of English immigrants born in Providence. Smith, Williams, Whipple, their descendants would stay there for years and years.

Joseph and his brother William were both weavers, their dad owned the mill in Providence. “The Records show that Joseph Smith, weaver, another son of the miller, was granted three acres of land near Wanskuck, in the right of his deceased father, in December, 1700.”


The early records of the town of Providence at HathiTrust

Joseph married Lydia Gardiner. Their marriage is recorded in the Early Records of Providence, “Vpon the 4th day of Aprill in ye yeare 1689 Joseph Smith (the weaver) and Liddea Gardiner, (after lawfull publication) were both joyned together in Marriage by Richard Arnold Assistant, both partyes belonging to Providence.” Theys stayed in Providence where they had 7 children. Lydia died in 1723, she was 53, Joseph died January 13, 1749 he was 79.

Sources

Israel Smith b. 1689

/ Kirstin Miller

Israel Smith, 8th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree

Israel Smith was born on January 13, 1689. [Israel was a common name family in early America, a biblical name 300+ years before the country ‘Israel’ was created in 1948]. Israel’s mom is Lydia Gardiner, his dad is Joseph Smith. Israel is connected through marriage to the Angell, Arnold, Ballou, Gardiner, Hawkins, Olney, Smith, Tefft and Whipple families, they all arrived from England and lived in Providence, Rhode Island in from 1630 on.

Soon after his grandparents arrival in 1634, the migrant population in Rhode Island was 300, at Israel’s birth the population was 3000, at Israel’s children’s birth the pollution was 33,000, 50+ years before the American Revolution.

Israel was a landowner and farrmer, sometimes called a yeoman in early America. He married Elizabeth Arnold on June 3, 1718. Elizabeth was a widow, her 1st husband was William Hawkins. Elizabeth and Israel had 4 children along with Elizabeth’s 5 children from her first marriage.

1726 inventory snapshot

Israel died on January 20 1726, he was 37. He died in Providence, cause of death is unknown. He didn’t leave a will but left an inventory. Israel’s inventory included ‘bookes’, livestock, tools, seeds, a gun, a feather bed, blankets, linens, clothing, kitchenware, pewter platters, 10 and one half pounds of woolen yarns, thirty eight pounds of flax, spinning wools, furniture, tobacco and candlesticks.

Sources

Abigail Wheeler b. 1732

/ Kirstin Miller

Abigail Wheeler 8th great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Abigail was born on February 2, 1655 in Newbury, Massachusetts. Her grandparents, John & Anne Yeoman Wheeler and Humphrey & Susan Pakeman Wise, migrated to America around 1636 with their young children. Abigail’s mom Sarah Wise and dad David Wheeler married in 1650 and had at least 10 children, all born and raised in Newbury, MA. Abigail married Samuel Hills on May 20, 1679 and they stayed in Newbury too. They had 14 verified children. Samuel fought in King Philips War.

Abigail was a widow in 1732, Samuel in his will left lands to Abigail and their sons. On a map of 1729 Abigail and her sons homes are drawn, along with the rest of the town of Newbury. The house of Widow Hill is number 102, John is 109, Samuel Jr. is 110, Benjamin is 123, Joseph is 125. Abigail, John and Samuel have houses on Crane Hille Road, Benjamin and Joseph’s houses are a block or two south west on Holman Lane. The Merrimack River runs along the east edge.

Widow Hill, A plan of the west parish or Newbury new town, map
Widow Hill house no. 102

Abigail died April 14, 1742, 10 years after Samuel. Both are buried at Bridge Street Cemetery, also known as Rock Bridge Cemetery in West Newbury, Massachusetts, USA. Their gravestones, 279 and 289 years old, are still right there, handcrafted art. Abigail’s gravestone is inscribed: Here lies buried the body of Mrs. Abigail Hills wife of Mr. Samuel Hills died April 13 1742 in 82 [or 87] year of her age.

Abigail’s 3rd great granddaughter Delia Angell b. in 1849 was in Iowa by 1856. Delia’s great granddaughter is Elizabeth Speedy b. 1917.

Sources

Christopher and Cicely Pakeman b. 1503

/ Kirstin Miller

Christopher and Cicely Pakeman 13th great grandparents on RootsMagic tree.

Christopher Pakeman was born in 1503 in Wrabness, Essex, England, a tiny village on the River Stour in southeastern England, UK. Cicely was probably born in the same village, her last name is unknown. She and Christopher had 4 sons and 3 daughters. Christopher owned and rented lands, Butlers and Fullers, known as tenements in 1500s England.

Christopher’s will was read November 16, 1557. “My body to be buryed in the churche yeard of Wrabnas … Item I gyve to Cecely my wyff my tenne(men)t called fullers butlers … for the space off iii yeres aftere my deces … aftr I wyll that thomas my sonne have yt to hyme & to hys heyers of hys body lawfully begoten payyng out of the legaces that shal be reheresed hereaft(er)”. Cicely also had to “keep the children w(i)t(h) meat & drynke”. Thomas collected rent and shared that rent with his siblings Annis, Harry, John, Jone, Lawrence and Margaret.

Christopher died in 1557, Cicely lived a few years longer. They’re buried at All Saints’ Church, the oldest building in the village, built around 1100. Their gravestones from the 1550s are long gone.

In the cemetery and churchyard is a bell cage with one church bell. There’s a local story about the bells at All Saints. “The churchyard at All Saints in Wrabness has a bell in a cage as a result of the Devil’s work. When the church tower with its five bells collapsed in the 17th century, the idea was to hang two bells in the wooden cage as a temporary measure. There is only one bell now, dated 1854, but the tower was never rebuilt. Legend, of course, says that every time the village tried to build a new tower, the Devil came along at night and blew it down.”

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