Samuel Wilbore born 1622 and Hannah Porter born ca 1630, of England, Boston, Portsmouth, RI, South Kingstown, RI, and Taunton, Mass.

Samuel Wilbore was baptized at Sible Hedingham, Essex, England on 10 April 1622, the son of Samuel and Ann (Smith) Wilbore. His father was a founder of the town of Portsmouth, Rhode Island. His last name is spelled in a variety of ways including Wilbour and Wilbur. Savage spelled it Wildbore. Samuel is my 9^th great-grandfather on my grandmother Milly (Booth) Rollins’ side of the family. I haven’t done a tremendous amount of research on Samuel, but this is what I have found so far.

St. Peter's Church, Sible Hedingham

Samuel was in America by 1633, when his parents, Samuel and Ann, joined the First Church of Boston on 1 December 1633. Possibly came on the ship Griffin which arrived in Boston on 4 September 1633.

Samuel Senior was banished to Portsmouth, RI for being a follower of Quaker Ann Hutchinson. I do not know if Samuel Jr. and Hannah were also  practicing Quakers, but hope to find that out.

Samuel was one of the original purchasers of Pettaquanscutt (later South Kingstown, RI). Circa 1650, Samuel married Hannah Porter, daughter of John Porter. She was born about 1630 and died 6 April 1722. She is the only known child of John Porter, an important Portsmouth, Rhode Island, citizen who sadly abandoned his wife and child. John Porter was also an original purchaser of Pettaquanscutt.

He was apparently an important person in Rhode Island, being named to the Royal Charter of 1663. 

Royal Charter of 1663 at the RI State House

Samuel and Hannah’s children were: Abigail, John, Hannah, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Mary and possibly Joanna. 

I descend from their daughter Rebecca who married William Browning.

Samuel is mentioned in his father's 30 April 1656 will as his eldest son, receiving land in Rhode Island, debts due to his father, two cows, a ewe, and "six hundred of iron lying at Taunton in my dwelling house there".  His father was part owner of an ironworks.

I have read that Samuel died age 74 at death in 1697, at Taunton, Mass., but I don’t know the source for that. I have also read that he died after August 1678 when he wrote his will, but before 1710 when his estate was probated. I haven’t seen his will. It's on my ever-growing list of things to do! 

Hannah died 6 April 1722 in Taunton, Mass.

If anyone has source suggestions to find more on Samuel and Hannah, I'd love to hear about them! 

 

Sources Not Listed Above:

Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633, 1995.

Benjamin Franklin Wilbour, The English Ancestry of Samuel Wilbore, of Boston and William Wilbore, of Portsmouth, RI, NEHGR, 1958-59.