09th

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

Richard Risley and Rebecca Adams b. 1648

/ Kirstin Miller

Richard Risley and Rebecca Adams 9th great grandparents on RootsMagic tree.

Richard Risley was born in Hartford, Connecticut on August 2, 1648. His dad, also Richard Risley, died soon after. Richard and siblings are mentioned in their dad’s estate, “There are three children viz. one daughter by name Sarah Rissly, between 7 and 8 one son by name Samuel Rissly about 2 years old and one son by name Rich: Rissly about 3 months old, distribution to children, daughters age 18, sons age 21. William Hill guiding security to the Court for the payment of the several children portions”. Richard’s mom married William Hill. The Risley Hill family stayed in Hartford. Richard was executor of William Hill’s will at his death in 1683.

Rebecca Adams was born in August 1658 in Hartford. Her grandpa Jeremy Adams was somewhat famous in Hartford during his lifetime. He ran the tavern there and is an ‘original founder’ of the place. Rebecca died 12 years before Richard at age 58.

View of Hartford at Library of Congress

In 1675 Richard and Rebecca married and they had 12 children. The family lived on the east side of the Connecticut River, then called the Great River. Richard owned land, some of it inherited by him and Rebecca, from their fathers and grandfathers.

Richard testified in court on a land ownership issue for his wife’s Adams relatives. “The testimony of Richard risley Sr. Hartford May ye 20th 1726 … I Richard Risly of Hartford Do of my Certain Knowledge Know yt my father John Addams formerly of Hartford Deceased, had seven Children viz : 4 sons and three Daughters : I married one of ye Daughters … ye sisters are all Deceased but they have Left Children as I herd by Jeremiah Adoms … ye above written I am Ready to testifle to If Cald, witness my hand Richard Risle.”

Rebecca died in 1716. Richard died October 19, 1728 in Hartford. They are probably buried in the Ancient Burying Ground, in Hartford, next to Center Church which was The First Church of Christ in their time, founded in 1632.

Richard and Rebecca’s great granddaughter Prudence married David Gaines, whose grandson Obed Gaines was in Iowa in 1854. In Iowa Obed’s granddaughter Mary Ella married James Miller and their grandson Faber was born in there in 1905.

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

Josiah Witter b. 1638

/ Kirstin Miller

Josiah Witter, 9th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree.

Josiah, sometimes called Joseph, was born on March 15, 1638 in Swampscott, Massachusetts, on the Atlantic Coast, 15 miles  north of Boston. Fictional person Carol Brady, Brady Bunch, and real life person Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the Christian Science religion, are both from Swampscott too. Josiah’s parents William and Annis Churchman Witter of England, were in Massachusetts by 1629,

Josiah’s first wife was Elizabeth Wheeler, they married on December 25, 1661 and had 4 children. They were living in Stonington, New London Connecticut and witnessed the [English immigrant]  founding of Connecticut in 1662. “The Record or Register of the inhabitants names taken this 29th of December 1670 by the selectmen of Stonington according to a town order formerly made the 15th of November 1670 … James Yorke Sr, Josiah Witter, Thomas Bell, James York Jr.”. All are ancestors of Faber Miller, my grandpa. Pequots had been in the area for at least 10,000 years previously.

Elizabeth died around 1671. A Witter family history book suggests she may have died from ‘shock’.  Her death is recorded in a diary of the time and in the book, Wiiter Geneaology. “An item from the curious, old journal of Thomas Minor, one of the early settlers of Stonington, and a neighbor and friend of Josiah Witter, suggests the perils of those far-off Colony days, when savages lurked in the gloom-tangled forests, and it was dangerous to stray far from one’s home save as one of a party well armed.  ‘1671 The Seventh moneth is September and hath 30 days . . . Tuesday the .10 good-wife witer was Lost.’   Whether shock resulting from this incident hastened the death of Elizabeth (Wheeler) Witter , we do not know , but she died on August 5 , 1672 , and was buried two days later . Thomas Minor writes in his diary : ” 1672 The sixth moneth is Agust and hath . 31 . days . . . . the 7th . day wensday Elizabeth Witter was buried”.

Josiah’s 2nd wife was Sarah Crandall,  they had 4 children. The Witter and Crandall families were connected through marriages from the time they came to America in the 1630s. Josiah died around 1690. His will was written on November 24, 1685 the date recorded the Salem Massachusetts court, the paper will is long gone. Josiah may be buried at Avery Cemetery in Preston, New London,  Connecticut, about 2 miles north of the FoxWoods Casino, owned and operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation.

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

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

Joanna b. 1618

/ Kirstin Miller

Joanna 9th great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Joanna was born around 1618. There’s no information on her last name, parents and arrival in America. She probably came from England in the 1630s when King Charles 1 had dissolved Parliament, imprisoned 9 members and was cracking down on “non-conformist preachers” and believers. English Protestants and Puritans, broke away from the Pope & Catholic Church, left for America.

In America Joanna married Isaac Willey around 1638 in Boston and their first son, Isaac Jr., was baptized at the First Church in Boston. The church was created on July 30, 1630 by John Winthrop of the Winthrop Fleet, “their first official act, even before drawing up a charter for the city, was to create by themselves, and sign, a Covenant for the First Church in Boston. In this document we find these words: [Wee] solemnly, and religiously Promise, and bind ourselves, to walke in all our ways in mutuall love, and respect each to other.”

In 1646 with John Winthrop, the Willey family were original settlers of New London, Connecticut. “1. John Winthrop, Esq., whose home-lot was undoubtedly selected by himself before all others. The next five were probably John Gager, Cary Latham, Samuel Lothrop, John Stebbins, and Isaac Willey, whose home steads lay northwest of Mr. Winthrop’s, on the upper part of what are now Willams Street and Main Street.” New London is on the south edge of Connecticut 20 miles north of Long Island.

Joanna and Isaac had 5 more children and stayed in New London. In 1667 Joanna was written up in the court records, 2nd on the list, she had failed to bring herself and her children to church and was fined 5 shillings. “Minutes of cases, chiefly before the County Court … Goodwife Willey presented for not attending public worship and bringing her children thither; fined 5s”.

Joanna’s death date isn’t known, it was before 1670 when widowed Isaac married again.

History of New London, Connecticut, Joanna fined

Sources

Mary Bowen b. 1635

/ Kirstin Miller

Mary Bowen 9th great grandma on RootsMagic tree.

Mary was born in Glamorgan, Wales in 1635, a middle child of Griffin and Margaret Fleming Bowen who had at least 12 children. Glamorgan is an historic county in Wales, at the southern most edge on the Bristol Channel. Mary and her siblings, parents all sailed for America in 1638. They were in Boston and on December 6, 1638 the Bowen family joined The First Church in Boston. They lived at Muddy River on the Charles River. “On the 25th of March 1639 Mr Gryffen Bowen had a great Lot granted to him at Muddy River”. By 1648 Mary’s mom and dad sailed back to Wales, or England to live. The kids all stayed America.

Mary married Benjamin Child in Massachusetts around 1652 and they went 4 miles south to Roxbury, Massachusetts. In Roxbury Mary and Benjamin joined the First Church of Roxbury. Churches also served a meeting houses, Benjamin was one who provided money to build the church and meeting house. Mary’s sisters, their husbands were also in Roxbury.

Mary and Benjamin had 12 children between the years 1654-1673. Mary’s husband and dad died around the same time about 1678, she is mentioned in both wills. In her dad’s will, “Widow Child had a share in the distribution of Griffith Bowen’s estate.“ Mary was administrated of her husband’s estate, she provided an inventory which included the lands, livestock, 3 silver spoons and a silver cup, a feather bed, bolsters & blankets, a rug, 10 lbs. of flax, a frying pan and an iron pot.

Mary died at age 72 on Halloween 1707, “The widow Mary Child dyed the last day of October at night”. Both she and Benjamin are buried in Eliot Burying Ground in Roxbury, their headstones are long gone.

Sources

Ann Borodell b. 1615

/ Kirstin Miller

Ann Borodell 9th great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Ann was born in Cork, Ireland on May 20, 1615. Her dad John Borodell was a land owner, her mom is unknown. Ann married George Denison of England in abut 1645. There is a story of how George and Ann met, published in several sources. George had sailed to America with his family at age 11, met and married his first wife, she died within a few years, he was heartbroken, returned to England to fight in the English Civil War, was injured in the Battle of Naseby, on June 14, 1645 and sent to John Borodell’s home to recover. John’s daughter Ann nursed George back to health, they fell in love, married and sailed to America. George and Ann lived in Stonington then Mystic, Connecticut and were described as “remarkable for magnificent personal appearance, and for force of mind and character”.

  • Ann Borodell image at FindaGrave memorial

Ann was a widow in 1695. From her husband’s will, “First I give and bequeath unto my dear and loving wife Ann Denison, my new mansion place, to wit the house we live in, the barns and buildings, the orchards, and the whole tract of land, and improvements thereon, as far as Mistuxet, eastward, and as it is bounded upon record South, West and North, … all the household stuff that was, and is, properly belonging unto us … to be wholly at her disposal, to bequeath to whom she pleaseth, at her death”.

There’s a Denison Homestead Museum and a Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center on the grounds in Mystic, CT. The house is not the 1663 original that George and Ann built. That house burned down, another was built on the land and was in the Denison family for generations.

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