Nutfield Genealogy: Wilkins

Showing posts with label Wilkins. Show all posts

Saturday, March 24, 2018

Surname Saturday ~ WAY of Dorchester, Massachusetts

Second Church of Dorchester

WAY / WAYE

My 11^th great grandfather, Henry Way (1583 – 1667), lived in Bridport in the parish of Allington, Dorset, England where his six children were baptized. Some say that he arrived in New England aboard the ship Mary and John with his wife Elizabeth Bachelor, and five children, but there is no passenger list for that ship. They arrived at Nantasket on 30 May 1630 and settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts. The first record of Henry Way is in 1631 when his fishing boat rescued three men from a sinking ship [from The History of New England from 1630 to 1649, by John Winthrop, volume 2, page 71]. He signed a document to support the Dorchester school teacher on 7 February 1641/2 and he was admitted to the Second Church of Dorchester on 5 May 1643.

Henry Way was a merchant, and he is often seen in records that have to do with mariners or boats. There was another merchant named “Mr. George Way” who had business in New England and might have been a kinsman. George Way made a trip to Dorchester.

In a 1632 record “A shallop of one Henry Way of Dorchester, having been missing all the winter, it was found that the men in her, being five, were all killed treacherously by the eastern Indians. Antoher shallop of his being sent out to seek out the other, was cast away at Aquamenticus, and two of the men drowned.” [ from The History of New England from 1630 to 1649, by John Winthrop, volume 2, page 95] In his book Great Migration Begins, Anderson believes that the author William Hubbard, in his book A General History of New England from Discover to MDCLXXX, 1815, page 198”erroneously supposed that these entries indicated that Henry Way not only owned the shallops, but was in one of them when the tragedies occurred”.

I descend from Hannah Way (b. 1615/6), my 10^th great grandmother who married Bray Wilkins. You can read all about the WILKINS lineage at this link: https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/03/surname-saturday-wilkins-of-dorchester.html

Henry Way's youngest son, Richard Way (1624 - 1697) had four wives. His second wife, Bethia Mayhew, is also my 10th great aunt. I descend from her brother Rev. Thomas Mayhew (about 1620 - 1657) and her sister, Hannah Mayhew (1635 - 1723) who married Thomas Daggett in 1657. Yes, a double Mayhew lineage with a cousin connection, too!

For more information on the WAY family:

The Great Migration Begins, by Robert Charles Anderson, 1995, Volume III, pages 1951 – 1953.

Way Family History, by Mary Elizabeth Way, published 1974.

The American Genealogist, Volume 61, pages 241 – 256.

My WAY genealogy:

Generation 1: Henry Way, born about 1583, in Allington, Bridport, Dorset, England, died 24 March 1667 in Dorchester, Massachusetts; married 22 January 1615 in Bridport to Elizabeth Bachelor. She was born about 1587 and died 23 June 1665 in Dorchester. Six children.

Generation 2: Hannah Way, baptized on 3 March 1615/6 in Allington, Bridport; married about 1636 to Bray Wilkins. He was born about 1610 in Wales, and died 2 January 1702 in Middleton, Massachusetts. Eight children.

Generation 3: Margaret Wilkins m. Philip Knight

Generation 4: Elizabeth Knight m. Samuel Towne

Generation 5: Rebecca Towne m. Stephen Johnson

Generation 6: Ruth Johnson m. Richard Cree

Generation 7: Stephen Cree m. Hannah Smith

Generation 8: Sarah Cree m. James Phillips

Generation 9: Hannah Phillips m. Thomas Russell Lewis

Generation 10: Hannah Eliza Lewis m. Abijah Franklin Hitchings

Generation 11: Arthur Treadwell Hitchings m. Florence Etta Hoogerzeil

Generation 12: Gertrude Matilda Hitchings m. Stanley Elmer Allen (my grandparents)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ WAY of Dorchester, Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 24, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/03/surname-saturday-way-of-dorchester.html: accessed [access date]).

Saturday, March 17, 2018

Surname Saturday ~ WILKINS of Dorchester, Lynn, and Middleton, Massachusetts

WILKINS / WILKENS

Bray Wilkins (about 1610 – 1702), my 10^th great grandfather, is of unknown origins, although family tradition says he was from Wales. He was at Dorchester, Massachusetts as early as 1633, and he joined the church there in 1640 and is recorded as “Brave Wilkins”. The baptisms of his first six children are recorded at Dorchester. In 1654 he removed to the church in Salem. Later, in 1689, Bray Wilkins and his wife were dismissed from Salem so they “might be a church of themselves” at Salem Village, which later became the town of Danvers. He lived at “Wills Hill” which became part of the town of Middleton, adjoining Danvers.

One of Bray Wilkins granddaughters had a husband who was hanged as a witch in 1692. His son Thomas had a daughter named Margaret who married John Willard. The Wilkins family had not approved of Willard’s marriage. They testified against him during the witch hysteria, which led to his arrest and he was eventually found guilty. Willard was blamed for the death of young Daniel Wilkins “bewitched to death”. He was also blamed for killing a Lydia Wilkins and one of Philip Knight’s children (Philip married Bray’s daughter Margaret, my 9^th great grandparents). Bray Wilkins testified in early August 1692 about his kidney stones and blamed Willard for the death of his grandson Daniel Wilkins. On 19 August 1692 John Willard was hanged along with John Proctor (also my 10^th great grandfather), Reverend George Burroughs, Martha Carrier, and George Jacobs (also my 11^th great grandfather).

I descend from Bray’s daughter, Margaret (1648/9 – after 1710), my 9^th great grandmother, who married Philip Knight around 1668. She had nine children born in Topsfield, Massachusetts, all baptized on the same day, 24 May 1691. Her husband was a “husbandman” or farmer. Her daughter, Elizabeth, my 8th great grandmother, married Samuel Towne (from the same Topsfield TOWNE family with three accused witches - Rebecca (Towne) Nurse, Mary (Towne) Eastey, and Sarah (Towne) Cloyse.)

Some WILKINS resources:

The Family of Bray Wilkins “Patriarch of Wills Hill”, by William Carroll Hill, 1943.

The Great Migration Begins, by Robert Charles Anderson, 1995, Volume III, pages 1991 – 1994.

The American Genealogist, Volume 60, pages 1 – 18 and pages 101 – 113.

My WILKINS genealogy:

Generation 1: Bray Wilkins, born about 1610 maybe in Wales, died 1 January 1702 in Middleton, Massachusetts; married about 1636 to Hannah Way, daughter of Henry Way and Elizabeth Bachelor. Eight children.

Generation 2: Margaret Wilkins, baptized on 10 February 1648/9 in Dorchester, Massachusetts, died after 1710; married about 1668 in Topsfield to Philip Knight, son of Philip Knight and Margery Williams. He was born about 1646 and died after 1724. Nine children.

Generation 3: Elizabeth Knight m. Samuel Towne

Generation 4: Rebecca Towne m. Stephen Johnson

Generation 5: Ruth Johnson m. Richard Cree

Generation 6: Stephen Cree m. Hannah Smith

Generation 7: Sarah Cree m. James Phillips

Generation 8: Hannah Phillips m. Thomas Russell Lewis

Generation 9: Hannah Eliza Lewis m. Abijah Franklin Hitchings

Generation 10: Arthur Treadwell Hitchings m. Florence Etta Hoogerzeil

Generation 11: Gertrude Matilda Hitchings m. Stanley Elmer Allen (my grandparents)

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ WILKINS of Dorchester and Middleton, Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 17, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/03/surname-saturday-wilkins-of-dorchester.html: accessed [access date]).

Saturday, March 10, 2018

Surname Saturday ~ KNIGHT of Charlestown and Topsfield, Massachusetts

I have written a previous “Surname Saturday” post about a John Knight (1601 – 1674) of Charlestown, Massachusetts at this link:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/12/surname-saturday-knight-of-charlestown.html

I don’t think there is any kinship between John Knight and the subject of this new blog post, Philip Knight, my 10^th great grandfather, who is recorded as living in Charlestown before removing to Topsfield, Massachusetts. He is recorded in Charlestown as a cooper, and he kept the ferry in 1651. His wife was Margery, and they had five children. She joined the church on 7 (3) 1650 in Charlestown. He died before 1668/9 when his wife remarried to Thomas Bateman of Concord.

In Essex County Quarterly Court Files, Volume 13, Leaf 121 it lists the children and their ages as Jonathan, age 26; Phillip, age 23; Rebeca, age 17; Eliza, age 13; and Mary, age 11. I descend from Philip Knight, Jr. (1646 – 1724), my 9^th great grandfather, who married Margaret Wilkins. They had nine children, and the living children were all baptized on the same day in Topsfield, on 24 May 1691. He was described as a husbandman (farmer) in deeds and court records.

His daughter, Elizabeth Knight (1677 – 1752) is my 8^th great grandmother. She married Samuel Towne in 1696 and had four children.

For more information on KNIGHT:

The Genealogies and Estates of Charlestown, by Thomas Bellows Wyman, 1879, Volume II, page 590.

Genealogical Guide to Early Settlers of America, by Henry Whittemore, 1898, page 309.

Topsfield Historical Collections, Volume 25, page 107

Salem Quarterly Court Records

The Family of Bray Wilkins, Patriarch of Will’s Hill, of Salem, by William C. Hill, 1943

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My KNIGHT lineage:

Generation 1: Philip Knight, born about 1614 probably in England, died 1668 in Charlestown, Massachusetts; married about 1641 to Margery Unknown. Six children. Margery remarried to Thomas Bateman.

Generation 2: Philip Knight, born about 1646, died after 1724; married about 1668 in Topsfield to Margaret Wilkin, daughter of Bray Wilkins and Hannah Way. She was baptized on 10 February 1648/9 in Dorchester, Massachusetts and died after 1710. Nine children.

Generation 3: Elizabeth Knight, born 25 January 1677 in Topsfield, died 17 May 1752 in Topsfield; married on 20 October 1696 in Topsfield to Samuel Towne, son of Edmund Towne and Mary Browning. He was born 11 February 1673 in Topsfield, and died 1714 probably in Topsfield. Four children. Elizabeth remarried to Elisha Perkins.