William Swift (1705-1748) of Sandwich, Mass., and His Wives Keziah Rider/Ryder and Abigail Burgess

William Swift was born 5 July 1705 at Sandwich on Cape Cod, the son of Jireh and Abigail (Gibbs) Swift.  [Sandwich VR 1:69] He was the fifth child and third boy in the family of 12 children. William and six of his siblings were baptized at Sandwich on 8 October 1710. [Sandwich VR 2:1374] Although his family continued as members of the church at Sandwich, they moved to Wareham, Plymouth County, so William spent at part of his childhood there. He is my 8th great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis Davis’ side of the family and is a descendant of Mayflower passenger Richard Warren.

William married, first, Keziah Rider/Ryder about April 1733. The intentions of William Swift of Sandwich and Kezia Rider of Plymouth were published Plymouth 30 March 1733. [Plymouth VR 1:161] Keziah was born Plymouth 1 March 1713/4, the daughter of Samuel and Ann (Eldred) Rider. [Plymouth VRs in MD 12:11]

Keziah Rider was a minor when her father Samuel died and there was a June 1720 Plymouth Court of Common Pleas case concerning Samuel Rider Sr’s (Keziah’s grandfather) land. Benjamin Rider vs. “Keziah Rider, Ezekiel Rider, Samuel Rider, minor children of Samuel Rider Jr deceased, and grandchildren of Samuel Rider Sr, deceased,” partition…” lands [granted to plaintiff and his brother Samuel Rider Jr] lying in Common between the Plaintiff and the defendants…” [Lainhart] 

Keziah and William had two daughters born Sandwich:

1. Anne Swift born 18 January 1733/34 [Sandwich VR 1:118]; I believe she married Luke Tobey 30 August 1750 at Rochester, Plymouth County [Rochester VR 2:306]
2. Keziah born 22 January 1735/36 [Sandwich VR 1:118]; married Thomas Mitchell, Bridgewater, 6 Dec 1757 [Swift]

I descend from Anne whom I wrote about here.

Keziah (Rider) Swift died at just 22 years old. “Keziah Swift the Wife of William Swift Died March 23d Anno 1735/6.” [Sandwich VRs in MD 29:27] Perhaps her death was caused by complications from the birth of her daughter Keziah two months earlier.

About 1740 William married, second, Abigail Burgess. She was born as Abigail Burge on 29 June 1709 at Sandwich to Jacob and Mary (Hunt) Burge. [Sandwich VR 1:74] 

Abigail and William had four children born Sandwich, all recorded Sandwich VR 1:118:

3. Stephen born 5 June 1741; died before 2 October 1748 when William wrote his will 

4. Jacob born 16 October 1742; died before 2 October 1748 when William wrote his will 

5. Abigail born 24 April 1744; Abigail Swift Junr married Eliab Fish both of Sandwich 1 January 1764 [Sandwich VR 1:209]

6. Mary born 23 June 1746; married m. Josiah Ellis 20 October 1765 [Swift]

On 11 April 1744 William Swift of Sandwich, yeoman, was appointed guardian of his daughters Keziah and Ann Swift. [MD 44:2] I am not sure how to interpret this record. Perhaps the girls had been living with a relative since his first wife’s death and he decided to bring them back into his care or it was just a legal arrangement to ensure he would be financially responsible for them.

William is called yeoman in records and he served in the local militia as his inventory included arms and ammunition. He produced wool yarn and crops on his farm. 

William received a small bequest of five shillings in his father Jirah Swift of Wareham’s 29 March 1744 will which was probated 1 May 1749. [Plymouth County probate records 11:241] His father was well-off and left other larger bequests, including £200 to his widow and £5 each to his younger children and grandchildren. It would seem William and his siblings who also received small bequests had already received gifts of land or money from their father.

My unproven theory is that William was deeded his father Jireh’s Sandwich land in the Sagamore/Scusset area, especially plausible since Jireh was living in Wareham. Unfortunately most of the Barnstable County deeds from this time were destroyed in a fire. William’s older brothers Jabez and Zephaniah moved to Connecticut, so William was the eldest son to stay in Sandwich.

William Swift, yeoman, died at Sandwich between 2 October 1748 (date of will) and 20 December 1748 (will proved). He was 43 years old. 

It is clear from William’s probate records that he was sick at the end of his life. He writes in his will he was weak of body. It seems it was not a brief illness as the estate paid two doctors a combined £29. He left bequests to his two oldest daughters, Ann and Keziah, by his “former wife” Keziah. When they married or came of age they were to equally divide all the moveables that were part of his household when he was married to their mother. His widow Abigal was to inherit his real estate as long to use to support the children as long as she remained his widow. His younger daughters Abigal and Mary were to receive the rest of the moveable estate after their mother’s death. All four daughters were to equally divide his real estate and housing after Abigal’s death or the marriage/full age of the youngest daughter. His wife Abigal and brother Roland Swift were named co-executors. William signed his will which was witnessed by Ichabod Morton, Meribah Gibbs and Elisha Tupper. 

The will was presented for probate on 20 December 1748 on the oath of Elisha Tupper and Meribah Gibbs; Ichabod Morton made oath on 29 May 1749. 

Medad Tupper, Elisha Tupper and William Swift conducted an inventory of William Swift’s estate on 21 December 1748. It totaled £1,286 18 shillings, 8 pence, a considerable value at the time. It includes cash, arms and ammunition, spinning wheels, English and Indian corn, beans, flax, yarn, a canoe, 2 cows, 2 sheep, a swine. It also contained a value for the items given to his two oldest daughters as directed by his will. Real estate included homestead lands and salt meadows, building and well, woodlot at Herring River. The three men presented and made oath to the inventory on 27 April 1749. Executors Abigal Swift and Roland Swift made oath to the inventory on the same day. 

Abigal’s account of the estate included an allowance to her for expenses related to settling the estate, a payment to constable Silas Gifford, payments for the men that conducted the inventory, £7 to Doctor Thomas, £22 to Doctor Smith, and a few additional small debts. Abigal swore to the account 7 November 1749. 

William’s will, inventory and estate account are located in Barnstable County Probate Records 8:344-347.

I would expect Abigail would have remarried after William’s death but I yet to find a marriage record. 

Sources:

George Ernest Bowman, The Mayflower Descendant, “The Bowman File,” Vol 44, no. 2, page 170 (July 1994)

Lydia B. (Phinney) Brownson and Maclean McLean, NEHGS Register, Thomas 1 Gibbs of Sandwich, Mass. (Ca 1615-1693), 123:54

Ann Smith Lainhart, The Mayflower Descendant, “Genealogical Gleanings from Plymouth County Court Records,” 51:1:14

Eben Swift, Library of Cape Cod History and Genealogy, Pamphlet No. 15, ”William Swift and Descendants to the Sixth Generation," 1923

Prence Snow, 1707 to before 1758, of Harwich and Rochester, Massachusetts, and His Wife Mary Sturtevant

Prence Snow was born 26 December 1707 at Harwich, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, the son of Nicholas and Lydia (Shaw) Snow. [Harwich VR 1:9] He was a descendant of Constance (Hopkins) Snow and her father Stephen Hopkins, both Mayflower passengers, and Thomas Prence who was Governor of Plymouth Colony. Prence is my 7th great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis Davis’ side of the family. His name is sometimes seen as Prince.

On 31 August 1727 “Prince Snow” married Mary Sturdevant (more commonly Sturtevant) at Rochester, Plymouth County. She was born 30 November 1708 at Plymouth, the daughter of Joseph and Anna (Jones) Sturtevant. [Plymouth VR 1:17] Mary is a descendant of Richard Warren of the Mayflower (Anna 4 Jones, Patience 3 Little, Anna 2 Warren, Richard 1 Warren]. 

Mary’s father Joseph Sturtevant died intestate in 1723. There is a long list of payments in an estate accounting including 16 shillings to Mary Sturtevant. [Probate Records 1717-1724 and 1854-1862 vol 4-4Q, State Archives Boston]

Mary and Prence had four children, all recorded Rochester: 

1. Mary born 30 October 1729 [Rochester VR 1:277], marriage intention Samuel Sherman 20 April 1749 [Rochester VR 2:284]
2. Hannah born 27 October 1731 [Rochester VR 1:275]; married Charles Brownen [Brownell] of Tiverton RI intentions 14 June 1752 [Rochester VR 2:282]
3. Joseph born 17 Jan 1733/4 [Rochester VR 1:276]; married Rachel Landers 20 January 1756 at Sandwich [Rochester VR 2:283]; died Rochester 31 August 1808 [Rochester VR 2:434]
4. Prince born 14 March 1735 [Rochester VR 1:278]; probably died by 1751 when not mentioned in his grandfather Nicholas Snow’s will. 

I descend from Joseph. I wrote about him here.

Apparently Prence abandoned his family, something highly unusual at that time. The 1751 will of Nicholas Snow mentions Joseph, Mary, and Hannah Snow, children of son Prence. He left one shilling to son Prence “for his leaving me and his family as he did.” [Shaw] Prince Snow may be the man of that name appearing on Kent County Delaware tax lists in 1738 and 1740. [Austin]

Mary died sometime after the 1735 birth of her youngest child, likely at Rochester. 

Prence died between 25 June 1751, when he is mentioned in his father’s will, and 22 February 1758, when he is referred to as the late Prence Snow in a conveyance signed by his children. [Austin] No probate record found for Prence in Plymouth County; I have not checked in Delaware. 

Sources:

John D. Austin, Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, Volume 6: Stephen Hopkins, 2001

NEHGS/AmericanAncestors.org, Mayflower Families Fifth Generation, Hopkins 6:154

Robert S. Wakefield, Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, Volume 18 Part one, Richard Warren, GSMD, 1999

Jonathan A. Shaw, NEHGS Register, “John Shaw of Plymouth Colony, Purchaser and Canal Builder,” 151:432 (1997)

Joseph Sturtevant (1666-1723) and His Wife Anna Jones of Plymouth, Massachusetts

Joseph Sturtevant was born 16 July 1666 at Plymouth, Massachusetts, the son of Samuel and Ann (—?—) Sturtevant. [Plymouth Colony Records 8:31] His last name is also seen as Sturdevant, Stirtevant, and a variety of other spellings. He is my 8th great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis Davis’ side of the family.

“Joseph Stirtevant was married unto Annah Jones” at Plymouth on 5 December 1693. [Plymouth VR in MD 13:207] Anna was born Hingham, Plymouth County on 26 January 1667/8, the daughter of Joseph and Patience (Little) Jones. [Hingham VR 1:4] Anna was a descendant of Mayflower passenger Richard Warren.

On 20 April 1676, when Anna Jones was eight years old, Native Americans attacked the town of Hingham. Her family fled to a garrison house and their home was burned to the ground, along with those of four other families. One man who was out hunting was killed, but the town otherwise escaped bodily harm. [Bouve]

Anna and Joseph’s children, recorded Plymouth as children of Joseph Stirtevant [&] Anna his wife. [Plymouth VR 1:17]

1. Joseph born 4 September 1695 
2. David born 11 June 1697; m. Sarah Holmes 19 Nov 1723 at Plymouth [Plymouth VR 1:93]; had 8 children but 5 died under a year old; he died before 4 July 1771
3. Anna [recorded as Annah] born 20 April 1699; m. Richard Church 18 June 1720 at Plymouth and had five children at Scituate and Rochester
4. Jonathan born March 1702[?/03]; m. Esther Goodill 
5. Ephraim born 5 February 1704[?/05]; m Lydia Ring 17 December 1732 at Plympton; had 9 children; five died in childhood including three on same day; he died 12 January 1787 at North Yarmouth, Maine 
6. Mary Sturtevant born 3 November 1708; m. Prence Snow 31 August 1727 at Rochester; had four children; lived in Rochester

I descend from Mary.

Joseph was literate as his estate inventory included seven books.

Joseph received a bequest in his father Samuel Sturtivant of Plymouth’s 1 August 1669 will. He was to inherit the house and all his land and meadows with his brothers Samuel, James, and John after their mother’s decease. Samuel to have double share. If the child Samuel’s wife is carrying is a boy, they should divide equally with him as well. [MD 18:188]

On 19 September 1701 Robert Barrows deeded Plymouth land to Joseph Sturtevant. [NEHGR 166:121]

There are some Plymouth Colony court cases involving Joseph Sturtevant but I am not certain they all refer to this Joseph: 

• At Plymouth Court General Sessions in September 1704, Joseph Sturtevant complained that Nathaniel Southworth “sometime about the middle of the month of September Instant” broke the pound at Plymouth and took several his oxen which Sturtevant had impounded. Southworth bound in the sum of £10 to answer at the next court. [PCR 1:73]
• At the December 1704 Plymouth Court General Sessions, Joseph Sturtevant had bought a complaint against Lt Nathaniel Southworth at the September term. Defendant pleaded not guilty. “After evidence given” complaint committed to the jury who found for the defendant who did not have to pay his recognizance and fees. [PCR 1:75]
• At the Plymouth Court of Common Pleas March 1717/18, Isaac Little vs. Joseph Sturtevant. Withdrawn. 
• At the Plymouth Court of Common Pleas in March 1721/2, Elizabeth Conant, adm. (Middleborough) vs. Joseph Sturtevant (Plymouth). Not answered. No details provided. [PCR 5:94]

Joseph Sturtevant died at Plymouth before 25 October 1723, likely close to that date, when David Sturdevant was appointed administrator of the estate of his late father Joseph Sturdevant of Plymouth who died intestate. [Probate Records 1717-1724 and 1854-1862 vol 4-4Q, State Archives Boston] Joseph was 57 years old. 

The inventory of the estate of Joseph Sturdevant was taken at Plymouth on 28 October 1723 and totaled £239 2 shillings 9 pence. It was taken by John Dyer, John Foster and Charles Little. The items in the inventory indicate Joseph had a sizable farm. Real estate of 40 acres, a house and a barn was valued at £138. Various household and farming items are inventoried, as well as seven books, a spinning wheel, an ox, two cows, a calf, a horse, three swine, hay, barrels of cider, about 100 pumpkins, 90 cabbages, numerous bushels of rye, barley, apples, Indian corn, and turnips. A few items included were considered luxuries for the time: tablecloths, napkins and a wine glass. 

On 19 December 1723 John Dyer, John Foster & Charles Little made oath to the inventory. 

David Sturdevant made oath the inventory was true & perfect on 20 December 1723.

A final account by David Sturtevant of the estate of his “worthy Father” was dated 3 February 1728. It includes quite a long list of debts that total £265 15 0, more than the value of Joseph’s estate inventory. One expense was a license to sell land, which was likely necessary to pay all the people to whom Joseph owed money. Doctor Lebaron was owed £2 10 9, indicating Joseph had been sick. Some of the people the estate was in debt to were of Pilgrim families: Wrestling Brewster, Mrs. Sarah Warren, Consider Howland, Jacob Cooke, Andrew Alden. People with the Sturtevant surname who were paid money were John, Josiah, Ephraim, Nehemiah, Jonathan, Mary. Ephraim, Jonathan and Mary were likely Joseph’s children. 

Anna apparently predeceased her husband as she is not mentioned in his 25 Oct 1723 probate. 

Sources:

Robert S. Wakefield, Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, Richard Warren, Volume 18 Part One and Two, GSMD, 1999

Mayflower Descendant, “Plymouth Births, Marriages and Deeds” 2:78

Thomas T. Bouve, History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts, volume I, Part 1, 1893

George Lincoln et al, History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts, volume II, 1893