Ephraim Dexter (1711-1774) of Rochester, Mass., and His Wife Martha Clark

Ephraim Dexter was born Rochester, Plymouth County, Massachusetts 27 May 1711, the son of Benjamin and Sarah (Arnold) Dexter. [Rochester Vital Records 1:110] He is my 7th great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis Davis’ side of the family.

On 31 July 1735 Ephraim married Martha Clark. [Rochester VR 2:110) Martha was baptized 3 May 1719, the daughter of Thomas and Alice (Rogers) “Clerk.” [Scituate Vital Records 1:83 citing records of Second Church of Scituate now the First Unitarian Church of Norwell] Five of Martha’s siblings were baptized the same day so it is not a good indicator of her birthday.

Martha and Ephraim had six children, all born Rochester [Rochester Vital Records 1:107, 108, 109, 110, 113, 115]:

1. Ruth b 20 Dec 1737; married Obed Hatch 21 Nov 1756 [Rochester VR 2:114]; died 7 August 1808 at Falmouth on Cape Cod 
2. Alice b 28 March 1740 as “Alas”; married John Meiggs 28 May 1761 [Rochester VR 2:108];  d 26 (or 20?) April 1820
3. Ephraim b 31 Dec 1741; d 5 April 1823; m Keziah Tobey 29 Dec 1771 [Rochester VR 2:110]; died 5 April 1823 at Mattapoisett [gravestone]
4. Abigail b 16 March 1745/6; m Joseph Cannon 24 Nov 1768 [Rochester VR 2:108]; they removed to Delaware County, NY, where she died 3 October 1834 
5. Lois b 6 Dec 1748; m Deacon Timothy West 28 Aug 1768 [Rochester VR 2:112]; they removed to Charlestown NH where she died 19 Nov 1831
6. Caleb b 13 April 1751 as “Calop”; intentions to marry Hannah Hatch of Falmouth 1 February 1775 [Rochester VR 2:109]; d 3 October 1831[Rochester VR 2:373]

I descend from son Ephraim. 

The children were all baptized at the Second Church in Rochester, Mattapoisett Precinct [Leonard]: 

Ruth and Ellis [Alice] Dexter children of Ephraim by his wife Martha 9 August 1741

Ephraim Dexter the child of Ephraim by his wife Martha 18 July 1742

Abigail Dexter child of Ephraim by his wife Martha 5 May 1746

Loess [Lois]mDexter child to Ephraim by his wife Martha, 19 March 1749

Caleb the son of Ephraim 16 June 1751

Martha died before November 1754 when Ephraim Dexter of Rochester married, second, at Plymouth, Martha Waite of Plymouth. [Rochester VR 2:110 has date as 25 November; Plymouth VR 18:142 has date as Nov. 28] [Warden] Intentions 12 October 1754 Mr. Ephraim Dexter of Rochester and Mrs. Martha Waite of Plymouth. [Plymouth VR 1:244]

Ephraim received a bequest in his father Benjamin Dexter of Rochester’s 15 August 1732 will: I give to my son Ephraim and ye same to be to him & his heirs and assigns forever, also ye like quantity of sixty acres of my granted lands which is not taken up, but already granted to be taken, on the westerly side of Samuel’s grants adjoining to my homestead with the one-third part of ye mills & appurtenances to be to him and his heirs and assigns forever.

Also I do hereby ordain and appoint my three sons Samuel and Ephraim & Seth joint Executors of this my last Will and Testament, and my will is that if there be any part of movable estate left after my just debts and funeral charges and charges of settling my estate are paid & Sarah has her eighty pounds, and Joanna has her hundred pounds out thereof, as money shall then pass of this province, that the surplussage be equally divided among my sons Samuel Ephraim & Daniel.

Also my will that whatsoever other lands I have or do own, be ye same whatsoever or wheresoever that I have not in this my Will given away shall be equally divided among all my sons to be to them and their heirs forever.

In his father’s estate inventory the bequest to Ephraim of Lands & Meadows was valued at £90.

Ephraim was a 4th generation miller. His father Benjamin Dexter owned mills in Rochester (later Mattapoisett) which he left to his sons; his grandfather William Dexter owed mills in Barnstable and Rochester which he left to his sons; his great-great grandfather Thomas Dexter built mills in Sandwich and Barnstable for his sons to operate. Ephraim’s probate records indicated he was a large land holder in Mattapoisett and owned a saw mill and grist mill. 

It’s interesting that Ephraim was involved in the Land Bank Scandal of the 18th century, an ill-fated financial experiment where towns voted to take Land Bank notes for town rates/taxes. Men who subscribed often did so as a means to protect themselves from tyranny such as the stamp act and tax on tea. He was on the lists of subscribers from Rochester/Plymouth in 1740 and 1741. [Davis] The colonies were suffering a shortage of money in circulation, so the Land Bank printed currency in Massachusetts, an illegal act as it was unsanctioned by the Crown. Land served as collateral for the notes. It rapidly grew in public favor with as many as 5,000 supporters marching on Boston as an act revolution against the stranglehold merchants and the royal government had on the economy. It met its end when a 1741 act of Parliament essentially made the acts of the supporters treasonous. Samuel Adams, father of the Patriot, was a supporter and went bankrupt and faced lawsuits for years. I do not know the financial impact it had on Ephraim. 

At the September 1742 Plymouth Court of Common Pleas Ephraim was a defendant in a case pertaining to Rochester Land. Benjamin Lynde, John Turner, Daniel Epps Esqrs of Salem, Essex County Commissioners of the £100,000 in bills of credit vs Timothy Ruggles (Rochester Clerk), Lazarus Randall and Ephraim Dexter (both Rochester yeomen), by attorney Timothy Ruggles Gentleman. Ejectment of 150 acres of upland near Weweantick River, 150 acres of upland “by the path…that leadeth from the Malting House to Charles Neck,” and 2 lots of salt meadow at Weweantick River and Pine Island, all in Rochester. Plaintiffs said that Lemuel Little of Pembroke and Jane his wife sold the land to them by deed of 10 February 1716, and that defendants’ refusal to yield was to their damage of £2,000. At December 1741 term defendant Ruggles pleaded that he held the second lot by a 27 July 1727 deed from Ebenezer Wing and prayed a continuance. Defendant Randall pleaded he is not in possession of any of the lots and “has no Right nor Title” to them. Defendant Dexter pleaded “That he Disclaims all interest, property, and possessions to all the Premises” except the third lot, and that he is not guilty. Cause continued to March term 1741/2, where “the widdow Elizabeth Wing,” executor Ebenezer Wing, appeared by attorney James Otis Esq and was admitted defendant, cause continued to May and then September term, where Elizabeth Wing pleaded that she “Disclaims all interest, property, and possession to all premises demanded by this writ, except” the salt meadow at Weweantick River, to which she pleaded not guilty. Jury verdict for plaintiffs, possession of the two lots of salt meadow, and costs taxed at £3 17s lawful money. [Plymouth County Court Records 6:318-19]

Despite the failure of the Land Bank and his loss at court, Ephraim still had a sizable estate of land at the time of his death. Unfortunately his probate records do not contain an inventory. 

Ephraim Dexter, yeoman of Rochester, wrote his will on 10 October 1774 and left the following bequests [Plymouth County Probate Record 6382]:

• To my faithful and beloved wife Martha one-third part of the improvement of all my real estate during her natural life, the use of one-third part of all my out-door personal estate during the said term, the use of a horse to ride when she pleases and I give her all my household furniture as her own property to use and dispose of as she thinks proper.
• To my dutiful daughter Ruth Hatch I give that piece of land joining to Jabez Dexter, David Randall, Solomon Young, Timothy West, and Jonathan Sturtevant, also twenty acres upon the north part of my lot lying upon Perry’s Swamp, one quarter part of a lot of Cedar Swamp originally part of Doty’s share and which was left to me by my Honored Father, reserving to my wife the improvement of one-third as above-mentioned.
• I bequeath to my dutiful daughter Allice Meggs one-third part of the lot which I bought of Jonathan Burnell of Nantucket, to be taken on the north side of said lot, also one-quarter of the Cedar Swamps above mentioned reserving to my wife one-third of the improvement as above provided.
• I give and bequeath to my dutiful daughter Abigail Cannon one-third part of the aforesd lot which I bought of William Burnell to be taken off the Southerly side of said lot joining upon the road which goes from Ebenezar Megg’s to Mattapt Meeting House, and one quarter part of the above mentioned cedar swamp excepting the improvement of a third as above.
• To my dutiful daughter, Lois West the other third of the lot which I bought of Wm Burnell and the other quarter of the aforementioned cedar swamp, all which (excepting the reserve to my wife) I give to my said daughter. 
• To my two dutiful sons Ephraim and Caleb I give all the residue of my estate of whatever nature, to be equally divided between them, obliging them to pay equally my funeral charges & all other debts which I may owe at my decease, obliging them also to keep a good riding beast for my beloved wife for her to ride on when she thinks proper.

He appointed his two sons Ephraim and Caleb Executors. Ephraim Dexter signed his will in  presence of Ebenezer Cannon, Justice White and Isaiah Dexter. Will was presented for probate by Ephraim Dexter and Caleb Dexter, executors, and two of the witnesses to the will, Ebenezer Cannon and Isaiah Dexter made oath, 2 January 1775. 

Ephraim's signature on his will

Ephraim’s extensive land holdings are highlighted in the 20 December 1774 document setting off his widow’s dower, who is not named in the document. There is Mattapoisett upland, salt meadow, cedar swamp, dwelling house, barn, shop, saw mill, grist mill. Land at Pine Islands is mentioned, land that leads from the Mattapoisett Meeting House, land between the house of John Corby and Seth Snow and to that of Enoch Hammond, Timothy Stevens and near Goat Island. She was also to have some of the apples that may grow. Seth Hiller, Seth Dexter, and Enoch Hammond viewed and set off the estate according to widow’s thirds. Seth Dexter swore to the assignment on 21 December 1774. [This document is not in the above cited file but is found in Plymouth County Probate Records 1771-1778 vol 21-23 on FamilySearch.org] 

Ephraim Dexter died 5 November 1774 in his 65th year. Note that he was actually 63 yers old. [Rochester VR 2:374 citing his gravestone] He is buried at Barlow Cemetery in Mattapoisett. [Find a Grave Memorial ID 23846638]

Ephraim's Gravestone at Barlow Cemetery (source Findagrave.com)

Sources:

JH Beers & Co, Representative Men and Old Families of Southeastern Massachusetts, 1912

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

Andrew McFarland Davis, NEHGS Register, “Alphabetical List of Partners in the Land Bank of 1740,” 50:187-197 (1896)

Mary Hall Leonard, History of Mattapoisett and Old Rochester, 1907

William Irish born 4 May 1714 of Little Compton, RI and Rochester/Mattapoisett, MA, and His Wife Dinah Dexter

William Irish was born 4 May 1714 at Little Compton, Newport County, Rhode Island, the son of David and Martha (Nelson) Irish. [Newport County VR 4:6-131] Little Compton was originally called Sakonnet and was part of Plymouth Colony, it was then incorporated into Massachusetts Bay Colony, and finally the the colony of Rhode Island in 1747. William is my 7th great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis Davis’ side of the family.

William’s father David, a wealthy man in Little Compton, in 1721 purchased 500 acres of land at Rochester, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. [Plymouth County Deeds 17:46] I’m not sure if it was at this point or later that the Irish family relocated to Rochester, but they kept their Little Compton land where the parents eventually returned.

William Irish (int. Iresh) and Dinah Dexter married 16 Nov 1742 at Rochester, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. (Rochester VR 2:188) Dinah was born 14 October 1711 at Rochester, the daughter of John and Sarah (Clark) Dexter. [Rochester VR 1:109]

I suspected William was a Quaker as his family lived across the road from the Quaker meeting house in Little Compton and the administrator of his estate was of that faith. This was confirmed by a Sandwich Monthly Meeting record of May 1743 when David Irish was questioned about his son William’s marriage to Dinah Dexter. [Sandwich Monthly Meeting/40:157] Perhaps Dinah was not a Quaker or was not in good standing. For some time Rochester was included in the Sandwich Monthly Meeting and at other times Dartmouth. [Hagglund]

Dinah and William had four daughters born Rochester [Rochester VR 1:188]:

1. Content Irish born 10 Nov 1743

2. Elisabeth 3 Aug 1745; married Jonathan Nye at Rochester July 1762

3. Ruth born 30 Nov 1748

4. Priscilla 22 June 1751

I find it endearing that William named all of his daughters after his sisters. I descend from Elizabeth. I have not yet found marriages or death dates for the other three daughters. 

William and Dinah lived in the area known as Pine Islands, Rochester, in an area that became Mattapoisett. 

Current day photo of Pine Islands area

In May 1745 William Irish was elected Rochester constable but refused to serve. This may be because as a Quaker he would have had an issue with collecting taxes to pay the ministerial tax for the established church and seize possessions for non-payment. However most of the time Rochester Quakers were exempt from paying the ministerial tax. His refusal may have also stemmed from the financial difficulties of the town, a time when collecting taxes was extremely difficult and from 1735-1745 it was common for Rochester men to refuse the office of constable. Election of Quakers to the office of constable was rare—only six were chosen for that office between 1710-1735. Those that refused to serve were sometimes fined. [Hagglund] One historian suggests that Rochester deliberately harassed its Quaker residents by choosing them to be constable in order to raise revenue when they refused to serve and paid a fine. [Bumsted]

In Willam’s father David Irish’s 15 January 1746 will, which was proved 5 April 1748, he bequeathed to son William rights in Pine Islands, lying south of my farm in Rochester, Massachusetts, housing &c., and 200 acres uplands, and he not to sell same until forty years of age. To him also a gun, all husbandry tools at Rochester and carpenter’s tools, he providing a fat dressed hog of one hundred pounds or more yearly for his mother. [Austin] Perhaps William worked as a carpenter, following in his father's footsteps. Perhaps he used these tools to make the thousands of shingles that are listed in his estate inventory. From the inventory, it’s clear he also was a farmer and his family made cloth. 

Martha Irish, in her 20 June 1759 will, proved 1 April 1760, left to son William of Rochester, “all my household stuff left at his house, not disposed of.” To sons and daughters, equally, her paper money. The inventory of her estate totaled more than £2,150, an impressive sum. [Austin]

In the 1776 Assessors’ Rate Bill of the Inhabitants of Rochester, William was the only man with the Irish surname. He was taxed 16s 5d 2q which included Poll, Real, Personal, and Faculty Taxes. [Leonard]

William died before 30 May 1777 when his widow Dinah Irish agreed to the appointment of the administrator of her late husband William Irish’s estate. He died intestate, but there is an estate inventory and a few other probate documents. [Plymouth County, probate file no. 11161]

In the probate document regarding Dinah’s dower, some of the land owned by William Irish, yeoman of Rochester, is mentioned. The dwelling house, corn house and barn are mentioned as well as English meadow, pasture, tilling land, salt meadow, wheat field, a pond, orchard, marshland, wood lot. His homestead land abutted the sea. His land is bounded by that of Benjamin Dexter [likely Dinah’s uncle] and land late owned by John Irish [likely William’s brother]. Setting off of the dower was overseen by John Courby, Silas Briggs, and Enoch Hammond. 

The inventory of the estate of William Irish was taken 20 June 1777. Apparently William was literate as his inventory contained religious books. The same three men conducted the inventory of William’s estate which totaled £650 19 shillings and 5 pence; £540 of which was real estate. He clearly was a farmer but also made cloth. The inventory included household furniture and kitchen supplies, a woolen wheel, a linen wheel, pair of looms, churn, butter tub, sheep sheers, wool cards, grindstone. Livestock included 2 pair of oxen, 2 cows, 2 calves, 1 riding beast, 3 swine. Some personal items I found interesting are an ivory headed cane, a whale bone, two Bibles, testament, snuff box, shave buckles. He also owned 272 thousand shingles, indicating another line of business. 

On 28 June 1777 John Courby, Silas Briggs, and Philip Turner made oath to the inventory. On 4 August 1777 estate administrator Isaac Hiller “of the people called Quaker” swore in court that the inventory was accurate. 

It appears that Dinah Irish lived a very long life, dying after 1798 as she is a land owner at Rochester in the Massachusetts and Maine Direct Tax List. Dinah is the owner of two parcels: one of 78 acres valued at $585 and another of 2 acres with a dwelling house valued at $100. Both are occupied by William Nye 2d. [Massachusetts and Maine Direct Tax 1798 vol 13:94, 148]

Sources:

Willis Luther Irish and Stella Bertha Irish, Descendants of John Irish The Immigrant 1629-1963 and allied families, 1964.

Carol Hagglund, Disowned Without Just Cause: Quakers in Rochester, Massachusetts, During the Eighteenth Century, A Doctoral Dissertation/University of Massachusetts Amherst, 1980

Mary Hall Leonard, History of Mattapoisett and Old Rochester, 1907

John Osborne Austin, The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island: Comprising Three Generations of Settlers Who Came Before 1690 With Many Families Carried to the Fourth Generation, 1887

John M. Bumsted, Pilgrims’ Progress, 1989

Benjamin Dexter (1671-1734) of Barnstable & Rochester (now Mattapoisett), Mass., and His Wife Sarah Arnold

Benjamin Dexter was born in February 1670[/71] at West Barnstable on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, the son of William and Sarah (Vincent) Dexter. [Barnstable Vital Records 1:23] Benjamin is my 8th great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis Davis’ side of the family. 

Benjamin moved off Cape to Rochester in Plymouth County with his father William and some of his siblings. It was the part of Rochester that spun off into Mattapoisett in 1857. Benjamin’s grandfather Thomas Dexter built mills in Sandwich and Barnstable and his father ran the Barnstable mill. Later his father William Dexter built a grist mill and saw mill in Rochester, setting his sons up to run them. Benjamin’s brother Philip removed to Falmouth, brother Stephen remained in Barnstable, and Benjamin and the rest of his siblings stayed in Rochester.

On 17 July 1695 Benjamin married Sarah Arnold at Rochester, Plymouth County. Massachusetts. Sarah Arnold was born 11 June 1674 at Marshfield in Plymouth County. She was the daughter of Rev. Samuel Arnold and his wife Sarah Holmes. Her father was a minister at Rochester and a grantee of the town. Her grandfather Rev. Samuel Arnold was a minister at Marshfield. 

Sarah and Benjamin had 11 children all born Rochester [Warden/births of all except Daniel in Rochester Vital Records, vol 1, p 107-116]:

1. Noah born 26 March 1697, married Epiphany Clark, died 1745
2. James b 22 July 1698, married Lois Sherman, died 11 Dec 1775
3. Benjamin born 4 March 1700[?/01]; married 8 June 1721 Hannah Barrow
4. Sarah born 1 July 1702
5. Josiah born 12 Nov 1704, married 13 Nov 1740 Abigail Dexter
6. Constant born 27 Nov 1706, married Meribah Dillenoy/Delano
7. Samuel born 14 Dec 1708, married 18 May 1732 Mary Clark
8. Ephraim born 27 May 1711, married Martha Clark 31 July 1735; died Rochester 5 November 1774
9. Daniel born 29 July 1713
10. 10.Joanna b 12 Dec 1715, married Zaccheus Burgess
11. 11.Seth born 3 Oct 1718, married Elizabeth (—?—), died 6 April 1793

I descend from Ephraim. I have not done much research on the other ten children.

Benjamin was a miller and farmer. He served in the local militia—he is sometimes called Sergeant in records. He was literate as he signed his will and his inventory contained books.  

Dexter Mill in Rochester source: History of Mattapoisett & Old Rochester

One of the town’s “paramount political leaders,” Benjamin served as selectman for 16 years, beginning at age 27. It was during this time that Rochester showed religious tolerance towards the Quakers in town. [Hagglund]

He sold land in 1693 to Moses Barlow, in 1699 to John Hammond, in 1723 to Edward Winslow, in 1715 to John Corning. [Warden] Benjamin received substantial land after his father’s 1694 death “provided he give Sufficient Security for ye maintenance of his Sd mother during ye terme of her natural Life or Security to her Satisfaction for her Comfortable maintenance…Liberty to use and Improve ye now dwelling house which was her husbands, during her Life…and further ye Sd Benjamin Dexter shall have a pair of Loomes and all manner of husbandry Tooles of what Sort So Ever which belonged to our sd Father.” [MD 23:64] His wife Sarah also inherited land from her father Samuel Arnold. 

When Rev. Arnold died in 1709, the Mattapoisett Church had just 35 members, including Thomas Dexter, Benjamin Dexter, and Sarah Dexter. When Timothy Ruggles became minister in 1710, the town agreed to build him a house and named seven men to a building committee, including Sergeant Benjamin Dexter. [Mattapoisett…History]

As the town grew, many more mills were built. In 1786 on the Mattapoisett and Sipican Rivers there were 10 grist mills, 13 sawmills, 2 forges, and 1 fulling mill. On other less streams there were 1 foundry, 3 gristmills, 1 sawmill. Fulling mills were used to dress the cloth woven in the homes from wool and flax. One stood for a time at the Dexter Dam at Rochester Center. [Mattapoisett…History]

Benjamin Dexter of Rochester wrote his will on 15 August 1732. It was proven 11 November 1734. [Probate Records 1732-1738, vol 7, State Archives, Boston; digitized at Family Search]. He left the following bequests:

• Son Noah the homestead he now lives in containing above 40 acres which is bounded Benjamin’s land and the ocean.
• Son James all the land that descended from his grandfather Samuel Arnold of Rochester and his uncle John Arnold, which first came to Benjamin and Sarah, excepting 40 acres. This bequest includes instruction on what to do if this is contested.
• Sons Benjamin and Josiah equally divide land bought of John Mumford containing their homesteads, salt-meadow called Freemans Rights and two lots of  salt meadow at the Pine Islands.
• Son Samuel three-score acres of his lands granted to be laid out adjoining Benjamin’s homestead, two lots of salt meadow at Pine Island, and one-third of the mills. He was to divide equally any surplussage of the estate with his brothers Ephraim and Daniel. 
• Son Ephraim 60 acres of granted lands which are not taken up on westerly side of Samuel’s grants adjoining my homestead, two lots at Pine Island, and one-third part of the mills and appurtenances. He was to divide equally any surplussage of the estate with his brothers Samuel and Daniel. 
• Son Daniel 20 acres of granted lands, 40 acres of land that was his grandfather Arnold’s, two lots at Pine Island, one-third part of the mills. He was to divide equally any surplussage of the estate with his brothers Ephraim and Samuel. 
• Son Constant 20 acres of the 80 acre grant. 
• Daughter Sarah £80 pounds of his movable estate above what he had already given her. 
• Daughter Joanna £100 out of movable estate. 

Samuel, Ephraim and Seth were appointed joint executors. Benjamin signed his will which was witnessed by John Hammond, Samuel Winslow, Rowland Hammond, George Danford [his mark], and Timothy Ruggles. 

Sarah (Arnold) Dexter died before 15 August 1732 when she is mentioned as deceased in her husband’s will. 

Benjamin Dexter died at Rochester between 15 August 1732 (the date of his will) and 29 October 1734 (inventory taken), likely close to the second date. He was age 62. 

The 29 October 1734 inventory of Benjamin Dexter of Rochester was valued at £1047. It was taken by Mark Haskell, Allen Marshall and Ebenezer Barlow. It included a large amount of livestock (cows, steer, oxen, sheep, horses, swine), farm tools, Indian corn, looms, spinning wheel, cash, books, old mill irons, fishing line, money scales, two hives of bees, and various household items. It listed an old saw mill valued at £20 but the rest of the real estate isn’t itemized—the property each child was to receive was assigned a value. 

Sources:

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

JH Beers & Co, Representative Men and Old Families of Southeastern Massachusetts, 1912

George Bowman, The Mayflower Descendant, Abstracts of Barnstable County Probate Records, 23:64 (Jan 1921)

Prepared by Committee, Mattapoisett and Old Rochester Massachusetts Being a History of These Towns and Also Part of Marion and a Portion of Wareham, 1907

Carol Hagglund, Disowned Without Just Cause: Quakers in Rochester, Massachusetts, During the Eighteenth Century, A Doctoral Dissertation/University of Massachusetts Amherst, 1980

William Dexter (1619 to 1694) of Leicestershire, England, and Saugus, Sandwich, Barnstable, and Rochester, Massachusetts and his Wife Sarah Vincent

William Dexter was baptized 21 February 1618[/19] at Great Bowden, Leicestershire, England to Thomas and Mary (Harper) Dexter. [Mahler] As a child of 10 or 11 he came to New England with his father and siblings where they first settled at Saugus, Essex County, Massachusetts (later Lynn). His father built mills, bridges and other useful things in the young colony, seems to have been a man of means, was a large landholder, served the colony in a variety of ways, but had a short temper and often appeared in court. William doesn’t appear to have shared his father’s litigious streak or his passion for public duties as he infrequently appears in records. William is my 9th great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis Davis’ side of the family.

William’s father owned hundreds of acres at Saugus/Lynn, had a large farm, built a mill and a bridge that he attached a weir to for fishing. I wrote about Thomas Dexter here. William lived briefly in Sandwich on Cape Cod, where his father built the first mill which William’s brother Thomas took over. There’s a later mill on the spot where the original one stood that is open to the public and still bears the name of Thomas Dexter. 

About 1646 William was living at nearby Barnstable on one of the two farms purchased by his father. [Otis] Unfortunately many Barnstable County deeds were lost in a courthouse fire. 

In July 1653 William Dexter married Sarah Vincent at Barnstable. [Barnstable VR in Mayflower Descendant 4:223] Sarah was born about 1633, the daughter of John and Hannah Vincent. Some genealogists and historians say William’s brother Thomas married Sarah’s sister Elizabeth, [Lovell] but that’s contested by others. 

Sarah and William had seven children [births Barnstable VR/MD 4:223; marriages/deaths from Warden]: 

1. Mary born January 1654; married Moses Barlow; lived at Rochester; died between 1694 (father’s probate record) and 1698 (husband remarried)
2. Stephen born May 1657; married 27 April 1696 Ann/Anna Saunders; died Barnstable before 16 Jan 1733/34
3. Philip born September 1659; married Alice [—?—]; died in 1741 at Falmouth, Massachusetts, where he operated a mill 
4. James born May 1662, married Elizabeth Tobey; died 15 July 1697 at Rochester
5. Thomas born July 1665; married 1) Mary Miller on 17 July 1695; married 2) Sarah [—?—]; no issue
6. John born August 1668; married in 1702 to Sarah Clark; died 31 July 1744 at Rochester
7. Benjamin born February 1670; married Sarah Arnold, daughter of Rev. John Arnold, in Rochester; died 1734 at Rochester 

I descend from Benjamin. Remarkably all seven children lived to adulthood as they are all mentioned in their father’s 1694 estate settlement. 

William took the oath of fidelity in Barnstable in 1657. [Warden] He operated the grist mill near Willow Street, West Barnstable, probably built about 1646 by William and his father. [Lovell] The Whelden Memorial Library’s collection has a photo of the mill in a ruined condition with a note indicating it was behind a house at what is now 113 Willow Street; I drove down Willow Street and took a quick look but couldn’t find No. 113. It’s a lovely, narrow street that is heavily wooded so I didn’t see a stream or brook.

Remains of Dexter Mill, Barnstable source: Whelden Library

In 1679 William was one of 30 proprietors of the new town of Sippican, later called Rochester, which included William Bradford, Kenelm Winslow, Thomas Hinckley, Benjamin Hammond, and Rev. Samuel Arnold. [Warden] William and his son-in-law Moses Barlow drew house lots at Mattapoisett, which later became a separate town. Rochester was originally part of Barnstable County and later Plymouth County. 

The first settlers who made Mattapoisett their home in 1680 did not live along the harbor where the village is now, but settled to the east in Pine Islands, the area around Pine Island Pond which is actually a partially enclosed bay off Mattapoisett Harbor. The identifiers as island and pond are misleading! William had a farm three-quarters of a mile square with a brook running through it. At the what was later called Dexter Dam on this brook, he built a sawmill and a gristmill. [Mendell] His daughter and his four youngest sons settled near him. [History Mattapoisett and Rochester]

Pine Island Pond source: savebuzzardsbay.org

Today the Mattapoisett Land Trust oversees Dexter Mill Park, aka Tub Mill, on Mendell Road, the site of the later Dexter Sawmill that burned down in 1911. Given its name it appears that the mill land stayed in the Dexter family for many generations, but I need to do more research. 

Dexter Mill Park source: fairhaventours.com

It seems just like his father before him, William eventually set up his sons with the Rochester mills and returned to Barnstable. There is no mention of mills in his estate settlement, but his son Benjamin’s 1732 will mentions Rochester mills. [Warden] In 1685 William is mentioned as owning land at Barnstable and when he died in 1694 he was “of Barnestable.” It seems likely that William and Sarah either kept their Barnstable property or were living with their eldest son, Stephen, who likely took over the family mill there. 

source History Rochester & Mattapoisett

In 1685 the court ordered a road opened through Barnstable, later known as the County Road which is the main street of Barnstable Village. Sixteen men conducted a survey in March and April 1686 beginning at the bounds between Sandwich and Barnstable, running for the most part easterly. It mentions all of the land owners where the road would run including Peter Blossom’s orchard “leaving ye sd Peter Blossom’s house on ye south side of sd road, from thence thro ye lands of Wm Dexter bounded by several marks set up within ye fence of Phillip Dexter on ye north side of sd road, ye house of sd Phillip Dexter [William’s son who later moved to Falmouth] on ye north side of sd road & ye house of Increase Clap on ye south side bounded by a stone in ye orchard of sd Clap, through ye lands of Samuel Parker and John Crocker.”

William Dexter died before, likely close to, 8 May 1694 at Barnstable when his inventory was taken. [MD 23:64 and Barnstable County Probate records volume 1:100-101 at Family Search] He was about 75 years old.

“An Invintory of ye goods…as also of ye Lands of William Dexter Lately deceased” was taken 8 May 1694 by John Howland and John Otis, “all ye Housing and Land both upland and marsh in Barnestable” was valued at £190; “one whole Share of Land at Sepecan” [Rochester] £60. He likely had deeded additional lands and the mills to his sons. Also included in the inventory are household items, husbandry tools, pair of spinning wheels, pair of looms, four cows, 20 sheep, and two horses. 

Sarah Dexter made oath to the inventory on 9 May 1694. On that same date “Stephen Dexter Son of William Dexter late of Barnestable deceased Intestate,” was appointed administrator. 

On 9 May 1694 Stephen Dexter, Phillip Dexter, James Dexter, Thomas Dexter, John Dexter, Benjamin Dexter, and Moses Barlow mutually agreed “to abide contented & satisfied with ye settlement and disposition of ye Estate of our Honnored Father William Dexter”  and they all signed the document. It gave a detailed account of William’s assets including land at Rochester and Scotten (Barnstable), housing at Barnstable, pair of looms, husbandry tools, cattle, horses, sheep. James, Thomas and John received the Rochester land, to be divided equally. The housing and land in Barnstable was to be divided between Stephen, Phillip and Benjamin, with the latter also receiving housing and to give “sufficient security” for his mother who was to have use of the dwelling house and the livestock. Moses Barlow and his wife Mary, their sister, were to receive all the bedding and household stuff after their mother’s decease. Benjamin was also to receive a pair of looms and the husbandry tools. 

I have not found a death record for Sarah but she died after 9 May 1694 when she made oath to her late husband’s inventory.

Sources:

JH Beers & Co, Representative Men and Old Families of Southeastern Massachusetts, 1912

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

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

Simeon Deyo, History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1890

George Bowman, The Mayflower Descendant, “Abstracts of Barnstable County Probate Records,” 23:64

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

Committee, prepared by, Mattapoisett and Old Rochester Massachusetts Being a History of These Towns and Also Part of Marion and a Portion of Wareham, 1907

Charles S. Mendell Jr, Shipbuilders of Mattapoisett, 1937

Amos Otis, Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families, 1888-90