Speedy, Elizabeth b. 1917

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 named 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 Wrabness 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.”

Sources

  • The American genealogist database at American Ancestors
  • Burgess, Mike. Hidden East Anglia, the devil and another church tower story

John Pakeman b. 1470

/ Kirstin Miller

John Pakeman 14th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree


Closeup snapshot, Wrabness is below the “L” in Suffolke

John Pakeman was born in Wrabness, Essex, England in 1470. Wrabness is about 60 miles northeast of London, a tiny village on the River Stour in southeastern England, UK. The oldest building in Wrabness is All Saints Church, built around 1100. The All Saints bell tower collapsed in the 1600s and the bell was moved to a “bell cage”, maybe with plans to fix, but this was never done, the bell in the cage is still there.

John was a landlord, he owned Butlers, a tenement [rental property]. He married, his wife’s name is unknown. John had 2 sons Cristofer and William and probably more children, they’re unknown.

John wrote his will August 18, 1524 and died in shortly after. “In the name of God Amen I John pakemen being in good mynd & memory make my will in this manr… to be buried in the church yard of Wrabness … I bequeath to Thomas Colyn my servaunt a calf … I bequethe to Cristofer my son my howse and my lands called butlers w[i]t{h] all the land[e]s & teneme[n]t(e)s thereto betongyng my dett(e)s paide and my body honestly brought home the residue of all my good(e)s.”

John Pakeman is probably buried at the All Saints cemetery, His gravestone from 1524 is long gone. His 2nd great granddaughter Susan Pakeman married Humphrey Wyeth [Wise] and they sailed to America in 1636. John’s 9th, Susan’s 6th great granddaughter Delia Angell went from Indiana to Iowa around 1856.

Sources

John Angell b. 1677

/ Kirstin Miller

John Angell 8th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree

John Angell was born in 1677 in Providence, Rhode Island- then known as Providence Plantations in British Colonial America. John was an English citizen, ruled during his lifetime by Charles 2, James 2, William & Mary, Queen Anne, King George 1 & 2. Georges 1 and 2 were the beginning of the decline of royals as political rulers with the first Prime Minister appointed in 1721.

John’s family were founders of Providence, his grandpa Thomas Angell was one of 5 English founders with Roger Williams. John’s parents were John and Ruth Field Angell, they had at least 8 children.

John married Sarah Clemence on January 2, 1702, in Providence. Sarah’s family were also original settlers. Sarah and John had 7 kids. John was a cooper- he made barrels, casks – timber containers. Coopers and breweries worked together, casks for beer and wine were a big business. John’s brother Thomas Angell owned a tavern in Providence. It’s almost certain John would have made casks and barrels for his brother’s tavern.

The published family history, The Genealogy of Thomas Angell, states ‘meagre detail’ on this Angell’s life.

Genealogy of the descendants of Thomas Angell at Archive.org

John died on December 3, 1744, “”Deaths Angell, John (cooper) Dec 3rd 1744”. He didn’t leave a will, his estate presented in court shows son Stephen appointed and responsible for bringing an inventory by December 24, 1745.

Sources

Sarah Clemence b. 1687

/ Kirstin Miller

Sarah Clemence 8th great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Sarah Clemence was born November 11, 1687 in Providence, Rhode Island. Her grandparents were part of a small group of migrant settlers in Providence, Colonial America. Sarah’s parents, Richard and Sarah Smith Clemence, were both the first generation born in America. Sarah married John Angell in Providence on January 2, 1702. They had 3 daughters and 3 sons.

Sarah was in her dad’s will on November 9, 1723, “To daughter Sarah Angell 20 Shillings.” Sarah was In her mom’s will, in court on October 11, 1725. Sarah’s mom left her 15 pounds of paper money, 20 pounds of silver money- divided among Sarah and her sisters. Sarah also received her mom’s feather bed, a barrel and a ‘Greene say Apron’.

Sarah’s brother Thomas Clemence Jr. inherited most of his mom and dad’s estates. Thomas was in Providence courts with several disputes including a disagreement with Sarah’s husband John Angell- over land, that stayed in court from 1745 to 1773, mostly on brother Thomas Clemence’s part.

Sarah’s death is unknown, she’s not mentioned in her husband’s will so died before him, before 1744.

Today in Johnston, Providence County, Rhode Island, is Sarah’s childhood home. Her dad Richard Clemence built the house in 1691 on 8 acres of meadow which grew to 300 acres in Sarah’s lifetime. “It is difficult to know for sure the original plan of the house, but the most popular theory, and the basis of the later restoration, was that it was built as a story-and-a-half structure with a rear lean-to, a large stone-end chimney, topped with a steep gable roof. Four small rooms (great room, kitchen, principal chamber, and smaller chamber) were located on the first floor, with a cellar below and a garret chamber above.” Major renovations were done in 1938, the house is a museum today with the stone chimney, floorboards, frame, hardware and artifacts from 1691.

Google maps Clemence Irons house

Sources

Grace Bett b. 1629

/ Kirstin Miller

Grace Bett, 9th great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Grace was born in London and baptized January 24, 1629 at St Giles’ Cripplegate church. Originally “without [outside of] Cripplegate”, it’s one of few medieval churches in London, near the remains of the London Wall- an ancient fortress built around the city when it was part of the Roman Empire. St Giles survived “devastating bombing during the Blitz” of Germany in WW2.

London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 at Ancestry 

It’s a mystery when Grace arrived in Boston, the first record in America shows her marriage to Edward Morris on September 20, 1655. From Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston, City Document No. 130, “Edward Morris & Grace Bett were married 20th – 9th month by Richard Bellingham Dept. Govr.” They married in ’Town’ not in the ‘First Church’.

Grace and Edward had 12 children, all born in Roxbury, Massachusetts. The family moved to Woodstock, Connecticut, some of the first colonial settlers. Edward died in September 1690, sources say he was the first ‘original’ settler to die in Woodstock. Grace went back to Roxbury where she died June 6, 1705. Grace’s actual burial place isn’t known but there’s a memorial to her and Edward, and Edward’s original gravestone, in Woodstock Hill Cemetery in Woodstock next to their church, the First Congregational Church, established in 1674, the present building is from 1820.

Sources

Zachariah Rhodes b. 1603

/ Kirstin Miller

Zachariah Rhodes 10th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree.

Zachariah was born in 1603 in Lancashire, England and was in America before 1644. In Rehoboth, Massachusetts on July 3, 1644 Zachariah with others in Rehoboth signed a compact “to order the prudential affairs of the plantation”, then land lots were assigned.


The history of Rehoboth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, compact

Zachariah married Joanna Arnold in March 1646, they had 9 children. Zachariah didn’t stay long in Massachusetts and may have been in a Boston jail, he refused Massachusetts religious laws, “the courts have naught to do with matters of religion”. The Rhodes family followed Roger Williams to Providence, Rhode Island. In both Providence and Rehoboth, Zachariah was a commissioner, constable, treasurer, deputy and more.

Zachariah died on October 11, 1665, “drowned on the Pawtucket shore”. He was 64 years old. He wrote his will April 28, 1662. Zachariah named widow Joanna as overseer of the estate, left lands and money to his children and gave Joanna permission to change the will if needed, “if any Shall Marry or Match themselves with any Contrarey to ye Mind of their Mother or of my two friends my will is then that it shall be in their Mothers liberty what to give them, whether anything or No”.

Sources

Isaac Tracy b. 1716

/ Kirstin Miller

Isaac Tracy, my 5th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree

Isaac Tracy was born on November 9, 1716 in New London Connecticut. Isaac’s parents were Francis and Elizabeth Parrish Tracy. The Tracy great grandparents arrived from England and Parrish great grandparents came from Scotland.

Isaac married Mehitable Rude in New London on July 13, 1742. They had at least 12 children, maybe more. By 1770 the Tracy family was in the town of Goshen, New York.

Isaac wrote his will on January 10, 1784 and he died in Goshen, New York in 1786. His will was presented in court on April 5, 1786. “We the people of the state of New York by the grace of god freed and independent to all to whom these are present shall come or may concern Send Greeting”, America as a free country was still so new it was part of the court’s reading.

Isaac’s will provided for his widow, and their children were given land and money, “the land that I claim in the Susquehanna purchase in Westmoreland … a right in the Dellaware purchase that I claim to him, his heirs and assigns forever”.

Isaac’s lands were part of the Walking Purchase, “an alleged 1737 agreement” between William Penn’s sons, Pennsylvania, indigenous Delaware, also Lenape, nation, and the King of England. Penn’s sons took advantage of their dad’s good deeds, “were less interested than their father in cultivating a friendship with the Lenape”. The sons a forged document, a made up agreement showing they were entitled to a day’s walk worth of Lenape land. “Unbeknownst to the Lenape, Thomas Penn took measures to ensure that the distance covered by his “walkers” would be as large as possible” and claimed more than 1 million acres.

The Lenape immediately and legally informed the King of England that the agreement was theft. In courts since 1737, the Delaware Nation fought for their land until October 2022 when the US Supreme Court refused to hear the case. [A complicated 285 year event with millions of small and large details of colonial acts, atrocities?, illegal actions and rulings … impacting generations.]

There’s an 11 volume book related to the purchase, with pages and pages of letters. Isaac Tracy was one of many letter writers, maybe called memorialists.

Isaac’s letter in The Susquehannah Company papers.

Sources

Mehitable Rude b. 1725

/ Kirstin Miller

Mehitable Rude 7th great grandma on RootsMagic tree.

Mehitable Rude was born on April 23, 1725 in New London County, Connecticut. Mehitable’s parents were John and Mary Lester Rude. Her great and 2nd great grandparents migrated from England and had been in New London for at least one generation.

Mary married Isaac Tracy in New London on July 13, 1742. They had 12 kids. The Tracy and Rude families of New London were connected through marriages: Mehitable Rude m. Isaac Tracy, Esther Rude m. Francis Tracy, Nathan Rude m. Thankful Tracy. All these Tracys are on the maternal [mom] side of my tree. A Tracy cousin, Deborah is on the paternal [pop] side of my tree.

By 1770 Mehitable and her family were in Goshen, New York, about 20 miles west, in southern New York farm county. There Isaac died in 1786. As a widow Mehitable moved 100 miles northwest to Chemung County, New York, probably to live with one of her children, grandchildren. Mehitable wrote her will on April 26, 1814. She died March 19, 1820, she was 94 years old and is buried in the Wellsburg Baptist Cemetery. Her gravestone is inscribed, “Memory of Mehetable Tracy Died March 19t 1820 Et 94 Yrs 10 m & 26 d.”

At Find a Grave, snapshot of gravestone photo “Added by: whitepaper on 14 Apr 2014”.

Mehitable’s will was presented in court on December 6, 1820. “In the name of God Amen I Mehatable Tracy … being weak in body but of sound mind calling to mind the uncertainty of Life … make this my last will and testament … what little property or estate that I have left after all my debts are fully paid I give to my daughters Bethsheba, Mehitable, Lois, Keturah and Betsy”.

Sources

  • New York, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1659-1999 at Ancestry
  • Find a grave memorial 9931034 gravestone photo “Added by: whitepaper on 14 Apr 2014”.
  • Connecticut, Town Marriage Records, pre-1870 at Ancestry

Hope Angell and Lydia Olney b. 1685

/ Kirstin Miller

Hope Angell and Lydia Olney 8th great grandparents on RootsMagic tree.

Hope Angell was born December 22, 1685 in Providence, Rhode Island. Thomas Angell, his grandpa, was one of 5 men who, with Roger Williams, founded Providence.
Lydia Olney was born April 30, 1688 in Providence. Her grandpa, Thomas Olney, came to America from England in 1635, he was 2 years old.
Hope and Lydia both had at least 8 siblings, they all grew up in Providence and most stayed there in Providence or very nearby.  Hope and Lydia married on May 22, 1712. They had 5 sons and 2 daughters. Hope was a farmer, a carpenter, a weaver and a cooper (cask and barrel maker). On February 12, 1749 Lydia died of consumption (tuberculosis) she was 60. Hope died 10 years, minus a day later, on February 11, 1759, he was 73 years old.
Hope was in charge (an executor) of his dad’s estate in 1724 and his brother’s estates in 1742 and 1744. Hope wrote his will on April 12, 1755. Abiah, the oldest son received all Hope’s ‘waering apparell’, 2nd and 3rd sons Oliver and Elisha were to oversee the estate. Hope’s carpenter, cooper and weaving tools are listed and given to his sons. The estate settled on May 15 1759 with only son Oliver in charge of the estate, Elisha had died.
Hope’s son Oliver Angell leads all the way to Delia Angell of Shell Rock, Iowa the great grandma of Elizabeth Speedy. Oliver is buried in the Oliver Angell Lot, also know  as the Hope Angell Lot and the Rhode Island Hist. Cemetery North Providence #8. This tiny cemetery has 19 burials, was originally on Angell farmland and is now in a residential area between two houses. Hope Angell and Lydia Olney Angell’s burial place is unknown but may be here in an unmarked grave with 19 other Angells. 

Rhode Island, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1582-1932 at Ancestry


Sources

Samuel Hill b. 1680

/ Kirstin Miller

Samuel Hill 7th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree.
Samuel was born February 16, 1680 in Newbury, Massachusetts. His parents were Samuel and Abigail Wheeler Hill, they came to Newbury before 1679, Samuel’s grandparents came from England to America around 1638.

Painting at Wikipedia, Sunlight and Shadow: The Newbury Marshes, by Martin Johnson Heade.

Samuel grew up in Newbury, MA on the Atlantic Coast know for its ‘marshes’. In 1708 Samuel bought or was given land in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, 80 miles south of Newbury and 10 miles west of Plymouth, Massachusetts. In Rehoboth he married Ann Brown and they had 9 children.

Samuel died July 27, 1732, at age 53, within a month of his dad’s death. Estate papers in Rehoboth are dated August 15, 1732 and include an inventory. In the inventory were money, books, pewter, linen, sheep’s wool, flax, cotton, a cart and plows, livestock and lands with “a piece of meadow”.

Most of Samuel’s information comes from his wife Ann Brown, the great granddaughter of Elizabeth Tilley and John Howland who both sailed on the Mayflower. Elizabeth Tilley and John Howland had 10 children who all survived to adulthood, a rare thing in the 1600s. They had more than 88 grandkids, “As a result, they likely have more descendants living today than any other Mayflower passengers” about 3,000,000. The Mayflower’s 400th Anniversary was in 2020, but minimized, because of the global pandemic. (Proving Elizabeth Speedy Roose’s Mayflower connection requires a couple more notarized records- then done. I’ve written an informal ‘proof’ here)

Sources