Samuel Storrs (1640-1719) and His First Wife Mary Huckins of Sutton-cum-Lound Nottinghamshire, Barnstable, Mass., and Mansfield, CT

Samuel Storrs was baptized 7 December 1640 at St. Bartholomew, Sutton-cum-Lound, Nottinghamshire, England, the fourth of seven children of Thomas and Mary Storrs. His family were land owners and of Nottinghamshire for generations. [Storrs] His surname is spelled in a variety of ways including Stores and Stoars. He is my 9th great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis Davis’ side of the family. 

St. Bartholomew's Church

Samuel emigrated to New England about 1663, settling at Barnstable. He married, first, Mary Huckins on 6 December 1666 at Barnstable. [Barnstable Vital Records 1:60] Mary was the daughter of Thomas Huckins and his first wife Mary Wells.  Her father was a prominent man in the colony. [Hawes]

The 1683 list of members of the Barnstable Church by Pastor Russell she is named “Mary ye wife of Samll Stoore.” [Barnstable Church Register]

Mary and Samuel had seven children born Barnstable.  [Barnstable Vital Records 1:60]:

1. Mary born 31 Dec 1667

2. Sarah born 26 April 1670; died before 19 Sept 1720; married Thomas Burgess 26 February 1696 Barnstable

3. Hannah born 28 March 1672; died before 19 October 1751 at Harwich; married Prence Snow Sr in 1698 at Eastham; had a large family

4. Elizabeth born 31 May 1675; married John Kingsley and had children Ebenezer and Lydia

5. Samuel born 17 May 1677; died 9 October 1727 age 50, Mansfield; married Martha Burgess 31 October 1700 at Windham and had large family

6. Lydia born June 1679;  died 23 Oct 1751, Mansfield 

7. Mehetable baptized 17 Sept 1683 [NEHGS Register 10:345]; likely died in infancy

Mary’s father Thomas Huckins and her half-brother Joseph drowned at sea on 9 November 1679. Her father did not leave a will, but Mary is named in the settlement of the estate. “Thomas Huckens (Mary’s half-brother) to pay Samuell Stores and Mary his wife…sixty six pounds in marchants pay at prise Currant…viz: thirty pounds therof att or before the fifteenth of November Next Insueing & fifteen pounds within a year after the said November Next ensuing: and twenty and one pounds by the fifteenth of November which shalbe in the year 1682; and further to Deliver to them the said Samuell and Mary three Cowes; or their value in other Neate Cattle and a p’sell of Marsh of late the said Thomas Huckens, Deceased in the Committees Cove; and that p’sell of his marsh which hee bought of Mr Linnell, since sold by the said Samuell Stores, and alsoe further to the said Samuell eight shillings, in silver mony, and the second best suite throughout, of the said Thomas Huckens Deceased, or in liew therof three pounds in silver Mony; and this to be in full of the said Samull and Maryes prte of the said estate, to be payed att Barnstable.” Samuell Stores signed the document about the division of Thomas’ estate on 14 March 1679/80. [Plymouth Colony Wills 4:I:8]

Mary Storrs died at Barnstable 24 Sept 1683, soon after Mehitable’s birth. [Barnstable Vital Records 1:60] On Pastor Russell’s list of 1683 Barnstable Church members, he noted next to Mary Stoore’s name: “She Septembr 23 1683 died in childbed.” [Scan of original images available in the Quartex Collection at the Congregational Library website] 

Samuel was admitted to the Barnstable Church on 8 March 1685, a year and a half after his wife’s death. [Barnstable Church Records p 166]

Samuel married, second, widow Hester/Esther Egard on 14 December 1685 at Barnstable. [Barnstable Vital Records 1:60] Hester’s maiden name and her first husband’s full name are not known. She had a son John Egard. 

Children with Hester, born Barnstable: [Barnstable Vital Records 1:60]

8.  Thomas born 27 October 1686; died 4 April 1755 age 68, Mansfield, married Mehitable Joyce 14 March 1708

9. Hester/Hester “born About ye Middle of Octor 1688”; married William Hall 20 July 1708

10. Cordial born 14 October 1692; died about October 1782; married 1) Hannah Wood 15 or 18 September 1724; married 2) Katherine Tiffany 10 October 1765; both at Mansfield

Samuel and his family removed to Windham, Tolland County, Connecticut in or before 1698. [Hawes] He lived in the part of town that became Mansfield in 1702. A condition of Mansfield becoming a separate town was for the citizens to quickly find a minister and until that time they were to continue to pay their rates to Mr. Whiting, the Windham minister. 

Some of the early Mansfield town meetings took place at Samuel’s home, indicating his prominence in town. [Storrs]

• A Town Meeting was held at Mr Sam. Storrs house 6 Nov 1702, for the purpose of making arrangements for the settlement of a minister in Town of Mansfield.
• At a Town Meeting held at Saml Storrs 18 March 1703, a committee was appointed to lay out 100 acres of land to each Allotment. 
• At a meeting held at Saml Storrs house, voted that the common lands on the plain be enclosed annually for winter grain until the owners or a major part thereof shall order it otherwise.
• At a town proprietors’ meeting 8 Dec 1707, voted that Saml. Storrs see what the Proprietors will do for encouraging and settling a minister.
• At a 24 March 1709 town meeting, voted that Saml. Storrs be one of a committee to see about getting a minister, which he declined.
• On 18 October 1710 Samuel Storrs was one of the ten founders of the First Congregational Church of Mansfield.

Interesting how long it took to hire a minister. Perhaps there was division among townspeople since Samuel declined being on a hiring committee in 1709.

Samuel’s house is believed to be near the southern boundary of the old burial ground in Mansfield. [Storrs] 

Samuel was involved in many land transactions [Storrs]:

• The first deed on record of that part of Windham which is now Mansfield was given in 1700 to Samuel Storrs by six or eight gentlemen from Norwich. The next deed related to him was from Samuel Gifford, six acres, 14th home lot in Windham 6 Dec 1700. Next Samuel Stoors to a Mr. Crane in 1709. Next from Capt John Mason to Samuel Storrs Sr of 10 acres of land in Windham, 20 June 1710. 
• Saml. Storrs Sen’r Land laid out it being the 15th Farm in Number—The west side of the Cedar Swamp road. This laid out in lieu of a hundred Acres and drawn for the 10th allotment
• Ten Acres lying at Turnip Meadow for Saml. Storrs Sen’r abutting eastward on the river northward on the Common westerly southerly on the Storrs meadow laid out Dec. 20th 1698.
• 50 Acres laid out to Saml. Storrs Sen’r in 3 pieces.
• 1st piece South and West side Spring Hill.
• 2nd piece South side of Fenton’s Division.
• 3rd “ lying at Chestnut Hill March 14th, 1710.
• Part of 2nd Division 50 acres laid out to Saml Storrs Sen’r. The said 50 acres belonging to the 10th allotment south of John Agard’s farm Mansfield Feb’y 2nd, 1710.
• Land laid out for Saml Storrs Sen’r at Chestnut Hill belonging to the 10th allotment.
• A 2nd Div. of 10 Acres laid out for Saml Storrs Sen’r lying on East side of Nachaug River laid out in the year 1706.

Samuel Storrs Senr yeoman of Mansfield, being weak of body, wrote his will 22 May 1717. Witnesses were Eleazer Williams, Mary Williams, Mehetabell Gary.  [Hartford Probate District, probate no. 5282 contains all the document pertaining to his estate] Bequests:

• Esther “my dear and beloved wife” £10 a year “if she stand in need of it,”  use of two cows, and half of the orchard, and a fire room in the dwelling house and her fire wood “so long as she continues my widow.” These particulars are to be fulfilled by “my beloved son Thomas Storrs, hereafter named.”
• “To my beloved son Samuel Storrs” my gun, sword, hoan and razor. He had already been given a whole allotment of land.
• To five daughters, Sarah, Hannah, Elisabeth, Lydia, and Esther, 100 acres of land that lyes at Corry Rock, and 10 acres that lyes there, and 50 acres that “I purpose” lyes there in the other division, to be divided equally, and after my my wife’s all the movables and household stuff within doors, and cattles if there be any, equally among them, only Lydia is to have my feather bed that I lied on with the furniture thereof over and above the rest.
• I have given to my son Cordial by deed of gift, 150 acres of land and 6 acres of meadow, which is his portion.
• I have given to my son Thomas Storrs, whom I likewise constitute make and ordain my only and sole Executor of this my last will and testament, my home lot and pasture lot, house, barn, and small divisions in a deed of gift, which I account his portion.

Samuel died 30 April 1719 at Mansfield, in the seventy-ninth year of his age. [Storrs] He was buried at the Old Mansfield Center Cemetery. [Find A Grave Memorial ID 22828401] He had a large memorial stone erected by Charles Storrs with an extension inscription including that Samuel and Esther Storrs are buried under the monument.

On 23 June 1719 Mr Eleazer Williams & Mrs Mary Williams both personally appeared at court and made oath they were present and saw Samll Storrs sign his will and that they judged him to be in disposing mind and of sound memory.

His estate was inventoried on 2 July 1719 by Shubael Dimmock and Thomas Huntington and totaled £73 6s 5d. It included a 100 acre lot, a 50 acre lot not yet laid out, clothing including a satin cap and gloves, cooking items, furniture, various tubs to hold food stuffs, a churn, a pair of scales, tablecloth and napkins, gun, sword, two cows, an old mare. The inventory was presented at court by Thomas Storrs, executor, on 7 July 1719.

Hester Storrs died 13 April 1730 at Mansfield. [Find A Grave Memorial ID 25652158]

Sources: 

Charles Storrs, The Storrs Family: Genealogical and Other Memoranda, 1886

NEHGS Register, “First Settlers of Barnstable, Mass.,” 2:197 (1848)

Connecticut Nutmegger, “Headstones, Old Storrs Cemetery, Mansfield,” 19:36 (1986)

NEHGS Register, “Scituate and Barnstable Church Records,” 10:345 (1856)

Torrey’s New England Marriages to 1700

James W. Hawes, Library of Cape Cod History and Genealogy, “Nicholas 1 Snow of Eastham,” no. 34, 1916

Thomas Dexter (ca 1594-1677) of Leicestershire, England, Saugus/Lynn, Sandwich, Barnstable and Boston, Mass.

Thomas Dexter was born about 1594 in England, possibly at Great Bowden Leicestershire but there is no baptism found there so his parents are not yet known. He was in New England by 1630 where he was an entrepreneur with a keen head for business and the ability to design and build useful things. But he also comes across as a bit of a jerk! He was intensely litigious, physically attacked someone during an argument, and was accused of mistreating a young indentured servant in his care. The records indicate he was contemptuous of government figures, was fined for sleeping at church, yet was frequently used by the government to get things done. [Lovell]

Being an arrogant, distrustful hot-head who could get things done means Thomas frequently appears in the records of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies, a gift for researchers. Thomas is my 10th great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur “Art” Washburn Ellis Davis’ side of the family.

I adore Sandwich, a Massachusetts town on Cape Cod. I have many early Sandwich ancestors and have long known of the name Thomas Dexter. I have visited Dexter Mill in Sandwich as my other ancestor, Seth Pope, purchased the mill in 1699 from the Dexters for his son John to run. So I was tickled when I recently discovered that I descend from Thomas as well. A later mill was moved to the original site and is a tourist attraction that actively mills corn. 

Thomas migrated with either Mr. Endicott in 1629 or in the Winthrop fleet of 1630. He bought with him at least three of his children and several servants. [Warden]

On 30 January 1613[/14] Thomas married Mary Harper at Great Bowden. Mary was baptized 25 Dec 1590, daughter of Richard Harp[er]. Mary and Thomas five children baptized Great Bowden [Mahler]:

1. Thomas born baptized 6 November 1614; m. by 1648 Elizabeth —?—; a marriage entry of Elizabeth Vincent to an unnamed groom is thought by some to be Thomas but proof is lacking
2. Mary baptized 16 Oct 1616; m. 1) in October 1639 John Friend; m. 2) Capt. James Oliver
3. William baptized 21 Feb 1618[/19]; m. Barnstable in July 1653 Sarah Vincent. [Mayflower Descendant 4:223]
4. Frances baptized 5 August 1621; m. Roxbury 29 Dec 1646 Richard Woody
5. Elizabeth baptized 31 August 1623; possibly married Richard Carr who was called brother-in-law to Thomas Oliver but Oliver already had a married daugther named Elizabeth and there are no Carrs mentioned in his will. 

No mention is found in New England of his wife Mary, so it is presumed she died in England. [Warden] I would not think Thomas would come to New England alone with five children, so perhaps Mary died early in New England. I have not found anything supporting a second marriage. I descend from William.

In 1630 Thomas settled on a whopping 800 acres in Saugus (later Lynn), on the west side of Saugus River, where he had many servants. He became a freeman in 1631. On 4 March 1632/3, the court ordered Mr. Dexter to be set in the bilboes [iron shackles around ankles], disenfranchised, and fined £40 (later reduced to £10) for speaking reproachful and seditious words against the government. [Massachusetts Bay Colony Records 1:103, 243 hereafter MBCR] This meant he was deprived of the right to vote or participate in government.

Many people write, including Warden, that Dexter was one of the founders of the Saugus Iron Works, then called Hammersmith, which abutted his homestead. A reproduction of the Saugus Iron Works operates as a National Park Historic Site. A paper from the National Park Service states Thomas owned some 1,300 acres of land, lived nearby where he ran a grist mill, and sold some acreage for the works, including a farmhouse and barn, but found nothing indicating he was one of the founders of the works. [Carlson]

Saugus Iron Works source: npplan.com

He is called farmer in records, and he had many servants and workers to run his farm and other business enterprises. In 1633 he built a bridge across the Saugus River, stretched a fishing weir across it, and later built a mill nearby. [Warden] 

Thomas was a man of substantial means and clearly was well educated. He is often referred to with the honorific “Mr” in records. On 3 April 1637 he and nine others, referred to as “The Ten Men of Saugus,” obtained a grant from Plymouth court to establish a settlement that became known as Sandwich on Cape Cod. [Lovell] In 1640 he was given six acres on which to build the first gristmill in Sandwich. [Plymouth Colony Records 1:149-50 hereafter PCR] Up to this point townspeople had to travel to the mill at Plymouth. [Sheedy & Coogan] 

Sign at Old Town Hall, Sandwich

He probably lived in Sandwich a short time as a 1640 land grant of 26 acres was dependent on "if he comes to live here.” [PCR 1:149-50] His son Thomas Dexter Jr. served as the miller and the elder Thomas returned to Saugus, forfeiting the 26-acre grant. [Gill]

About 1646 Thomas purchased two farms in Barnstable on Cape Cod, one near what is now Willow Street, adjoining the mill stream and afterwards occupied by his son William, and the other on the northeastern slope of Scorton Hill. His dwelling was situated on the north side of the old county road which had a commanding view of the countryside. His serene surroundings did not at first keep him conflict-free. In 1648 alone he had no less than six lawsuits in court, but all were decided in his favor. [Warden] At Scorton Marsh he built a causeway connecting Scorton Hill and Scorton Neck at the border between Barnstable and Sandwich. He sought to collect tolls from eight Barnstable families who used the causeway. When they did not pay, he sued to collect. He won his case but was granted only a one-time award from those whose lands were affected. [Lovell]

Thomas’ disenfranchisement eventually came to an end as in 1657 he took the oath of fidelity at Barnstable. [PCR 8:179] He was admitted freeman of Plymouth Colony on 1 June 1658. [PCR 5:277] He finally settled into a quieter life on his farm. 

In the 1650s through mid 1670s Thomas served his community in a variety of ways: as highway surveyor, on many juries, committee to lay out a highway, committee to set bounds between Sandwich and Plymouth, and committee to gather the minister’s maintenance. [Anderson] He must have been a man of great energy as aging didn’t noticeably slow him down.

There are far too many legal battles involving Thomas Dexter list separately, but a few of interest:

• Thomas Dexter accused John Endicott (later to be Governor) of battery and on 3 May 1631 the case was tried before a jury, which decided in favor of Dexter who was awarded £10. Endicott said ”I hear I am much complained of by goodman Dexter for striking him. Understand since it is not lawful for a justice of the peace to strike, but if you had seen the manner of his carriage with such daring of me, with arms akimbo, it would have provoked a very patient man. He has given out that if I had a purse he would make me empty it, and if he cannot have justice here, he will do wonders in England, and if he cannot prevail there, he will try it out at with me here at blows. If it were lawful for me to try it out at blows and he a fit man for me to deal with, you would not hear me complain.” [MBCR 1:86]
• On 3 Sept 1633 the differences between John Dillingham, Richard Wright and Thomas Dexter were referred to John Endicott and Increase Nowell for arbitration. [MBCR 1:108]  This caught my eye because John Dillingham and Richard Wright are also my direct ancestors.
• On 1 October 1633 Thomas Dexter was fined 20s for drunkenness. [MBCR 1:108] 
• At court 31 March 1645 Samuel Hutchinson of Lynn sued Thomas Dexter Sr. of Lynn for assault and battery and was awarded a 40s judgment. Dexter felt he had been insulted by Samuel Hutchinson, met him one day on the road, and “jumping from his horse bestowed about twenty blows on the head and shoulders of Hutchinson, to the no small danger or deray of his senses as well as sensibilities.” [Essex Quarterly Court Records 1:95 hereafter EQC] The depositions of several neighbors who were going to work and passed “Goodman Dexters” said that Dexter struck Hutchinson “with the great end of his stick about twenty blows, that the man was a quiet man and that Goodman Dexter had no cause to complain.” [EQC 1:100]
• “Mr. Thomas Dexter, Senior” brought eight debt suits to court 6 March 1648/9 with mixed results. [PCR 7:43-4]
• Thomas’ greatest lawsuit was in 1657 against some inhabitants of Lynn over the ownership of what is now the entire waterfront town of Nahant. Thomas purchased this from Indian Chief Pognanum, called  “Black Will,” for a suit of clothes. He was defeated but he and his heirs kept the case active in court for over 38 years. [EQC 2:43] One of the issues was that Black Will seems to have sold Nahant to more than one buyer.  Capt. James Oliver and Thomas Dexter Jr, administrators of the estate of selectman Thomas Dexter Sr. sued the town of Lynn and Thomas Laiton regarding the ownership of Nahant, appealing the Court of Assistants’ ruling of 1 Sept 1657. [EQC 6:325] The judgment was in favor of Lynn 26 Nov 1678. [EQC 7:124-5] The most telling evidence against Dexter was probably the deposition of about 1677 made by “Clement Couldam aged about fifty-five years” who said that “about thirty-four years since he lived with old Thomas Dexter and the latter coming from the town meeting told Mr. Sharp of Salem, in his hearing, that he had given up his right in Nahant to Line and the town had given him a considerable tract of land on the back side of his farm which would be of more advantage to him.” [EQC 7:127]

Thomas Jr. seems to have inherited is father’s litigious streak and forceful personality, but William appears to be the more mild-mannered member of the family as I don’t see him in court records. 

It seems Thomas Dexter was also a hard master. On 6 October 1646, Thomas Jenner wrote to John Winthrop asking him to see to the matter of a child of Mrs. Allin whose only son had been placed with “one Goodman Dexter of Lyn.” “The truth is, the boy is used very hardly: I saw the youth at Dexter’s own house most miserable in clothing, never did I see any worse in New England…” [Winthrop Papers 5:77]

It seems Thomas was always wheeling and dealing and that his family was not immune from his tactics.  “John Frend” had lawyer Thomas Lechford record a list of “money due to me from my father-in-law Thomas Dexter” about the spring 1641. It included over £100 borrowed from Friend prior to the marriage and “My wife’s portion was to be 100 to be paid at the day of marriage w[hi]ch was in October 1639…” Evidently not being able to pay the various sums, Thomas Dexter bound the Saugus(?) mill to Friend on 26 June 1640. [Hale]

On 20 August 1640, Thomas Dexter of Lynn, yeoman, mortgaged the 800-acre farm in Lynn and 20 head of cattle to Humphrey Hooke for payment of a £500 judgment against Dexter. [Hale] 

On 25 Jan 1646[/7] Thomas Dexter of Lynn, yeoman, sold to “Richard Ledder” “for the use of the ironworks, all that land which by reason of a dam now agreed to be made shall overflow and all sufficient ground for a watercourse from the dam to the works to be erected, and also all the land between the ancient watercourse and the next extended flume or watercourse together with five acres and an half of land lying in the cornfield most convenient for the ironworks and also two convenient cartways that is to say one on each side of the premises as by a deed indented bearing date the twenty-seventh of January 1645 more at large appeareth.” [Essex County Land Deeds 1:2]

On 30 June 1648, Thomas Dexter was described as “late of Lin & now of Sandwich” when he confirmed that he had assigned one hundred acres of plowland and five hundred thirty acres of pasture near Charlestown line to Samuel Bennet as ordered by Mr. William Hooke. [Boston Record Commissioners, 32:135-7]

He conveyed his mill and large real estate holdings in Sandwich to his son Thomas and his West Barnstable farm to his son William. He sold his Scorton Hill farm to William Throope in 1673. [Warden]

On 24 October 1638, “Thomas Dexter of Lynne…Yeoman…for my natural love and good affection that I bear unto my son & heir apparent Thomas Dexter” granted him one mansion house and appurtenances, and one water mill, and six hundred acres of land, meadow and pasture to the said mansion house belonging “lying and being in Sandwich by the Indians heretofore called Shawme” in Plymouth Colony, and if “my said sone…shall not think good to accept of the premises hereby granted, that I will pay him the sum of five hundred pounds upon reasonable demands.” [Hale] On 30 October 1638, the previous deed was amended to include Thomas Dexter’s gift of oxen, plough and a horse and to commit to writing the agreement that young Thomas would “pay or case to be paid unto Mary Dexter & Frances Dexter his [Thomas the elder’s] daughters, for and towards their portions the sum of one hundred pounds” each when the younger Thomas “shall enter into & upon the said land…after his marriage, or at such time as he or his executors….shall demand & receive the said five hundred pounds, in case the said Thomas Dexter above bounden should marry a wife and die at sea before his return into these parts of New England, or not be well advanced in marriage according to the good liking of the said Thomas Dexter the father.” [Hale]

After Thomas sold his Barnstable farm, he moved to Boston to live with his daughter Mary Oliver. Thomas Dexter died in Boston in 1677 and was buried in the Oliver family tomb at King’s Chapel Burying Ground. [Warden] I have not found an original source about Thomas’ burial.

Administration was taken on the estate of “Thomas Dexter Senior” 9 Feb 1676[/7] by “Capt. James Oliver his son-in-law and Thomas Dexter Jr., his grandson.” [Suffolk County Probate Records 12:16 hereafter SPR] The grandson soon died and at November 1679 court “Ensign Ri[chard] Woodde” was named in his place. [SPR 12:16]

An inventory was sworn 25 April 1677 on the estate of “Thomas Dexter Senior late deceased in Boston and as far as is known” totaling £70 with no land, except “a claim of some lands” at Lynn, which were unvalued. [SPR 12:138]

Sources:

William A. Warden, Genealogy of the Dexter Family in America: Descendants of Thomas Dexter Together with the Record of Other Allied Families, 1905

Jack Sheedy and Jim Coogan, Cape Cod Companion,1999

Barbara Gill, CCGS Bulletin, "The Ten Men From Saugus,” Spring 2005

R.A. Lovell, Jr., Sandwich A Cape Cod Town, 1984

Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins, 1995

Edward Everett Hale, editor, Note-book Kept by Thomas Lechford, Esq., Lawyer, in Boston, Massachusetts Bay, from June 27, 1638 to July 29, 1641, 1885

Boston Record Commissioners, A Volume Relating to the Early History of Boston Containing the Aspinwall Notarial Records from 1644 to 1651, 1903

Stephen P. Carlson, Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site: Historical Sketch, 1973

Leslie Mahler, The American Genealogist, “Colonists from Great Bowden, Leicestershire: Dexter, Cole, Blakeman,” 78:181 (2003)

Nathaniel Shurtleff, editor, Records of the Colony of New Plymouth of New England, 12 volumes, 1855 

William Collier (about 1585 to 1670-1671) of Southwark, England and Plymouth & Duxbury, Mass.

William Collier was born about 1585 in England. Unfortunately his parents and birthplace are not yet known. He was a grocer, a brew house owner, an investor (a merchant adventurer) in the Pilgrims’ settlement, and became one of the wealthiest men in Plymouth Colony. From at least the time he was a teen he was of Southwark, England [then in Surrey but currently a borough of London]. William "Collyer" was apprenticed to William Russell for eight years and was entered and sworn in the Grocers' Company of London on 16 August 1609. [Hunt] His name is sometimes Collyare and Collyar in records. 

On 16 August 1609 William Collier finished his apprenticeship at St Saviour’s Parish. He paid 3s 4d to be sworn in as a freeman at the clerk’s office at Guildhall—he could now start his own grocer’s business as a citizen and grocer of London. He clearly had a determination to succeed, a good head for numbers and a natural business sense. [Cole]

William Collier married Jane (Yates) (Clarke) on 16 May 1611 at St. Olave’s, Southwark. Jane Yates was baptized 5 February 1586/7 at St. Olave’s, Southwark, the daughter of Henry and Alice (—?—) Yates. She married, first, Thomas Clarke in 1610 with whom she had four children. Thomas and two of their young children died of the plague. I have written a lengthy sketch on Jane as her strength and ability to not just survive but to thrive is incredible which you can view here. Jane and William are my 10th great-grandparents through both of my grandparents—Milly (Booth) (Davis) Rollins and Arthur (Washburn) (Ellis) Davis.

St. Olave's has been torn down, but it's turret is used as a drinking fountain
source: Wikipedia

Jane and William had thirteen children; 1-12 from Anderson; 13 from Cole (both citing parish registers for baptisms):

1. Mary Collier, baptized St. Olave’s 18 February 1611/12; married Gov. Thomas Prence 1 April 1635 at Plymouth as his second wife; had two daughters; died Eastham on Cape Cod between 1639-1645, in her 20s.
2. Hannah Collier, baptized St. Olave’s 14 September 1613; buried there 31 August 1625 age 11.
3. Rebecca Collier, baptized St. Olave’s 10 January 1614/15; married Job Cole (who worked for her father) on 15 May 1634 at Plymouth and had five children; died Eastham 29 Dec 1698 at age 83.
4. Sarah Collier, baptized St. Olave’s 30 April 1616; m. 1) Love Brewster 15 May 1634 at Plymouth who was a Mayflower passenger and son of Church Elder William Brewster and had four children; married 2) Richard Park; died 26 April 1691 at age 75.
5. John Collier, baptized St. Olave’s 18 March 1616/17; buried there 24 August 1618, age 17 months.
6. Elizabeth Collier, baptized St. Olave’s 9 March 1618/19; married Constant Southworth 2 November 1637 at Plymouth and had nine children; died after 27 February 1678/9 probably Duxbury, age 59 or older.
7. John Collier, baptized St. Olave’s 21 March 1619/20; buried St. Olave’s 7 August 1625, age 5.
8. Catherine/Catheren Collier buried St Olave’s 13 January 1621/22, no baptism found; likely a newborn.
9. James Collier baptized St. Mary Magdalene, Bermondsey, Surrey, 16 March 1622/23; buried St. Olave’s 24 August 1624, age 17 months.
10. Martha Collier baptized St. Mary Magdalene 28 March 1623/4; buried St. Olave’s 30 May 1625, age 14 months. The Collier’s were living at Bermondsey with Jane’s mother Alice during the time of James and Martha’s births.
11. William Collier, buried St. Olave’s 12 August 1625, no baptism found; likely a newborn.
12. Lydia Collier baptized St. Olave’s 8 March 1625/6; died and few days later and buried there 12 March 1625/6.
13. Ruth Collier baptized St. Saviour’s, Southwark 5 August 1627; married Daniel Cole about 1644 and had 11 children; died Eastham 15 December 1694 age 67. 

Of their thirteen children, only five survived to adulthood: Mary, Rebecca, Sarah, Elizabeth, and Ruth. Most of the children died of the plague which frequently ravaged London and Southwark in the 17th century. I descend from Mary, Sarah, Elizabeth, and Ruth. Ruth wife of Daniel Cole was long suspected and recently proven to be a daughter of William and Jane. [Cole]  I wrote about Thomas and Mary here; Love and Sarah here; Constant and Elizabeth here;Daniel and Ruth here.

Southwark Cathedral, formerly St. Saviour's

William partnered with James Monger to open a brewhouse in Southwark. That William Collier the grocer and William Collier co-owner brew house are the same man is shown in minutes of the Court of the Brewers' Company at Guildhall, London and Records of the Grocer's Company of London at Grocers' Hall. [Hunt]

The Collier’s residence was at the intersection of Globe Alley and Deadman’s Place in the Bankside area Southwark, almost adjacent to their brewhouse the Globe Tavern. It was close to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre so he would have interacted with actors or perhaps the Bard himself! In June 1613 the Globe Theatre caught fire during a performance and burned to the ground, something the Collier family was sure to have witnessed. [Cole] They must have been fearful the fire would spread to their home and business. 

Bankside Map (Source: Wilkinson's Theatrum Illustrata)

William Collier appears on the 1626 list of merchant adventurers in Gov. William Bradford’s Letter Book. Bradford also records that Mr. [Isaac] Allerton "in the first two or three years of his employment, he had cleared up 400 pounds and put it into a brew-house of Mr. Collier's in London..." [Bradford’s Of Plimoth Plantation]

In England the 1630s were a time of political turmoil and the return of persecution of Puritans. In 1632 John Lathrop, who preached puritan faith in Southwark, and 42 members of his congregation were arrested. A terrible February 1633 London fire was close to the Collier’s neighborhood, burning buildings on London Bridge which was the access from Southwark to London over the River Thames. William likely helped in trying to extinguish the flames. More than 40 shops were destroyed, something Puritans would have seen as God’s wrath. It did not cross the bridge into Southwark; the Collier’s home and the brewhouse were safe. [Cole]

Even though William Collier was successful in England, certain events were likely contributing factors in their momentous decision to move to Plymouth— plagues, political unrest, economic uncertainty, and imprisonment of a Puritan leader. Also Southwark was not a family-friendly place—there were raucous crowds after plays in the local theatres, blood sports like bear baiting on the streets, rough watermen, pickpockets, drinking, and prostitution. Additionally Jane’s son Thomas Clarke immigrated to Plymouth in 1623.

William, Jane, and their daughters immigrated to Plymouth in 1633 on the Mary and Jane. [Willison; a 24 June 1633 letter from adventurer James Sherley. mentions the ship the Collier’s sailed on.] Also with them would have been Job and John Cole; their brother Daniel was to come later.

Jane and William were first at Plymouth, where William quickly became involved in colony government. They moved to Duxbury after 1639 where there ocean-front property was in the North Hill area near Morton's Hole on what is now Bay Road. They were between the homesteads of Job Cole and Jonathan Brewster. [Healy]

Rebecca and Ruth Collier married Cole brothers who worked for their father William. They lived near each other in Duxbury and then went to Eastham on Cape Cod where they were early settlers. Job and Daniel’s brother Zaccheus was also an associate of William Collier’s as he called him a loving friend in his 1630 London will, which William and “Jeanne” Collier witnessed.  [TAG 42:119] Zaccheus had been an apprentice to a man who was once William’s apprentice. John Cole died at Plymouth about 1637 and named Elizabeth Collyer, his sister Rebecca, and “each of Master Collyer’s men” in his will. I wonder if he would have married Elizabeth if he didn’t fall ill, although she soon married another man.

Early on the Duxbury settlers were only allowed to stay there in summer to farm as they were too important to Plymouth to lose them permanently. William also had land west of North Hill (granted in 1635) and a tract called Billingsgate. [Winsor] 

William was admitted a Freeman 1 January 1633/34 [PCR 1:4, 21]. He is in the Plymouth section of the Freeman list of 1639 where his name is crossed out and re-entered in the Duxbury section.  [PCR 8:173-4] He is in the Duxbury section of Freeman lists of 1658 and 29 May 1670; in the latter his name is crossed out and marked “deceased." [PCR 5:274, 8:198]

William was well-educated, based on the offices he held. It is clear that the Colony leaders depended on him in matters of finance, war, diplomacy, and even legal matters. He was an Assistant Governor 1635-7, 1639-51, elected for a whopping 27 terms. [MA Civil List 37-39]. His service was considered so significant that when in 1659 “by reason of age and much business on him,” he could no longer “attend the countreyes business att Courts but with great difficulties,” the court ordered the treasurer “to procure him a servant, and doe allow him for that purpose the summe of ten pounds.”  He  was able to regularly make the journey between Duxbury and Plymouth with the provided assistance for another seven years, retiring at about age 80. [Baker]

 He was Plymouth Commissioner to United Colonies, 1643 [MA Civil List 28];  committee  to assess colony taxes [PCR 1:26]; committee to lay out highways for "Duxbery side" 1 Oct 1634 [PCR 1:31]; committee to view farm land 2 March 1635/6 [PCR 1:39]; committee to set bounds for Scituate 6 March 1637/8 [PCR 1:80];  committee to view North Hill and set bounds 4 February 1638/9 [PCR 1:112];  committee to develop a treaty with Massachusetts Bay 7 March 1642/3, 10 June 1650 [PCR 2:53, 159]; Council of War 27 September  1642, 10 October 1643, 1 June 1685 [PCR 2:47, 64, 3:139];  Coroner Jury 2 June 1646 [PCR 2:101]; committee to draw up the excise 7 July 1646 [PCR 2:106]; committee for the letting of trade June 1649 [PCR 2:144]; Auditor 3 July 1656 [PCR 3:104]; committee to review the laws 3 June 1657 [PCR 3:117]. In addition to all the work he was doing for the Colony, he also ran a tavern in Duxbury, on what is now Tremont Street. [Healy]

Nothing I’ve found speaks directly to William’s religious beliefs. I believe his major motivation in coming to Plymouth was for the survival of his family and secondarily for a new business venture. He was also likely a religious dissenter. He was quickly embraced by the Pilgrims and some of his daughters married into the most religious families, so it seems logical that he would have shared their Separatist religious beliefs.

That he was one of the wealthiest men in the colony is based on his being taxed the highest amount. He and Edward Winslow were both assessed 2 pounds 5s on 27 March 1634. [PCR 1:27] That he had men who worked for him is seen in several records including the Plymouth tax list of 25 March 1633  when “Mr Collier's men" were assessed 18s. [PCR 1:11] 

William also had indentured servants, as seen in these records: 

• William Morris, of Royston, in the county of Hertford, butcher, having been indentured 4 April 1637 to William Collier, gentleman, for five years, agreed to switch his service to Love Brewster of "Ducksborrow" at court 6 Aug 1637. [PCR 1:64] Love was William’s son-in-law by this time. 
• On 20 Dec 1648 John Balden bound himself to "Mr. William Colliar of Duxburrow" for a term of five years, in return for which Collier was to give him "meat, drink and clothes, lodging and washing, and at the end of four years' service...a heifer of two years old.” [PCR 12:164]

Not surprisingly William was a large land holder. 

• In the allocation of mowing ground on 1 July 1633, reference is made to ground "that Mr. Collier hath.” [PCR 1:14]
• On 5 July 1635 Mr. Willam Collier was granted a parcel of land in the wood called North Hill, with some "tussicke march ground.” [PCR 1:35]
• In 1645 William Collier was one of the Duxbury men who were original proprietors of Bridgewater, but he did not move there. [Winsor]
• On 6 March 1649/50 William "Colliar" made over his right to a ten acre parcel of upland in "Duxborrow" to "my kinsman William Clark.” [PCR 12:182] Perhaps his step-grandson as Thomas Clarke had a son named William.
• On 2 Dec 1661 Wm Collier of Duxbury, gentleman, with the consent of Mrs. Jane Collier, sold all his house and land that he was living on in Duxbury to Benjamin Bartlett, who was not to enter into possession until the death of both William and Jane Collier. [Anderson]
• On 3 Oct 1662 'Mr. Collyare" complained that the records of his grant at the North Hill were lost and could not be found, and the court ordered that the land be viewed and the report of it be recorded. [PCR 4:27, 39]
• On 2 July 1667 the court agreed to a grant of 30 or 40 acres of land for Mr. William Collyare's grandchild, "that grand child who is not servicable unto him.” [PCR 4:159]
• On 2 March 1668/9 the court granted him 50 acres in the tract of land at Namassakett. [PCR 5:14]

In 1645 there was a Plymouth Court petition by William Vassall, one of the original Bay Colony assistants, asking for full religious tolerance for all well-behaving men. Many of the town deputies, plus Assistant Edmund Freeman of Sandwich, were in favor of the petition. Several, including Assistants William Collier and [his son-in-law] Thomas Prence were opposed, showing the early liberal-conservative split. They were both intolerant towards Quakers. [Stratton] Another of my great-grandfathers, James Cudworth of Scituate, was tolerant toward Quakers and wrote that "Mr. Collier last June would not sit on the Bench, if I sate there.” [Stratton] Cudworth, also a wealthy and influential person in the colony, was disenfranchised for his support of Quakers but was later restored to became a General and leader of the Colony forces in King Philip’s War.

Jane Collier died after 28 June 1666 when she consented to a deed made by William, probably at Duxbury. [PCLR 3:152]

William died intestate between 29 May 1670, when on the list of Duxbury Freeman, and 5 July 1671, when administration was granted on his estate. Probably at Duxbury. [PCR 5:68] 

On 5 July 1671 the court appointed Gov. Prence, Mr. Constant Southworth, Mr. Thomas Clark, and Benjamin Bartlett, or any three of them to administer the estate of "mr. William Collyare," deceased. [PCR 5:68] Prence and Southworth were his sons-in-law, Thomas Clark his step-son. Benjamin Bartlett was likely husband of his granddaughter Sarah Brewster, daughter of Sarah (Collier) and Love Brewster who was to receive the Duxbury lands in the above mentioned deed.

On 29 Oct 1671 the court ordered that "Daniell Cole" was to have all such particulars out of the estate of "William Collyare" that are extant. [PCR 5:80]

There is one surviving item known to have belonged to the Colliers. A 21.5 inch diameter pewter charger is in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The history is that was owned by William and Jane Collier and it is stamped with their initials. It was passed onto their daughter Mary, then to her daughter Judith Prence who married Isaac Barker. It is in remarkable condition, so perhaps it was only displayed or used for very special occasions. 

Collier's pewter charger source: collections.mfa.org

I feel like considering all that William Collier did for the Colony he would warrant more attention, such as places and streets named after him. Perhaps because just daughters survived to adulthood and the name disappeared from Duxbury and Plymouth, perhaps it disappeared from people’s memories as well. 

Nathaniel Morton, another of my great-grandfathers, wrote glowingly of William: “This year [1633] likewise Mr. William Collier arrived with his Family in New-England, who as he had been a good Benefactor to the Colony of New-Plimouth before he came over, having been an Adventurer unto it at its first beginning; so also he approved himself a very useful Instrument in that Jurisdiction after he arrived, being frequently Chosen, and for divers years serving God and the Country in the place of Magistracy, and lived a godly and holy life untill old Age.”

Sources:

Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins, 1995

Eugene Stratton, Plymouth Colony, Its History and People 1620-1691, 1986

Robert S. Wakefield, The American Genealogist, "More on the Children of Wm Collier,” 49:215 and 41:58

Lamont R. Healy, Duxbury: Our Pilgrim Story, “Duxbury’s Early Lands & Leaders,” Duxbury Rural & Historical Society, 2020

Susan E. Roser, Early Descendants of Daniel Cole of Eastham, Massachusetts, Friends of the Pilgrim Series Vol. 2, 2010

John G. Hunt, The American Genealogist, “Origin of Three Early Plymouth Families Cole, Collier and Clarke,” Vol 42, 1966

Nathaniel Morton, The New-England’s Memoriall, 1669, reprint Applewood’s American Philosophy and Religion Series

William E. Cole, Puritans, Plagues, Promises: Cole, Clarke and Collier in England to America, 2023

Justin Winsor, History of the Town of Duxbury, Massachusetts, with Genealogical Registers, 1849

Henry A. Fish, Duxbury Ancient & Modern, 2012, Duxbury 375th Anniversary Revised Edition, based on 1925 edition

Peggy M. Baker, Duxbury: Our Pilgrim Story, “Adventuresome William Collier,” Duxbury Rural & Historical Society, 2020