Thomas Little (ca 1608-1672) and his wife Anna Warren of Plymouth and Marshfield, Massachusetts

Thomas Little was born about 1608 in England (estimated from his marriage date), but his origins are unknown. He was at Plymouth before 25 March 1633 when he was taxed 18 shillings in Plymouth. [Records of New Plymouth Colony 1:11 (hereafter PCR)] He was taxed the same amount the following year. [PCR 1:28] His estate inventory indicates he was a farmer and a joiner, which was a skilled woodworker. Some descendants state he was a lawyer from Devon, but I have not seen a citation for this. 

Thomas Little married Anna (called Ann in marriage record) Warren on 19 April 1633 at Plymouth. [PCR 1:13; Mayflower Descendant 13:83 (hereafter MD)] 

Anna was born, possibly at Great Amwell, Hertfordshire, about 1612 in England, based on being “aged sixty yeares or thereabouts” in a 6 June 1672 deposition concerning the will of Ralph Chapman. [Wakefield] She was the daughter of Mayflower passenger Richard Warren and his wife Elizabeth Walker. She arrived Plymouth on the ship Anne in August 1623 with her mother and four sisters. 

Thomas and Anna are my 10th great-grandparents on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis Davis’ side of the family. 

Anna and Thomas had nine children, likely born Plymouth, but only Ephraim’s birth was recorded. Boys are in order given in father’s will; girls are in order named in brother Thomas’ will. 

1. Abigail born say 1634; married by about 1656 Josiah Keane [Wakefield]; “my grandfather Josiah Keen married with Abigil Lettle.” [MD 28:5 citing Hezekiah Keen’s account book]
2. Ruth born say 1636; died apparently unmarried after 19 February 1675/6 when named in brother Thomas’ will [MD 4:164 citing Plymouth Colony Probate Records 3:1:165)
3. Hannah born say 1637; married Scituate, Massachusetts, 25 January 1661[/2] Stephen Tilden [PCR 8:29]; she died 13 May 1710 [Scituate VR 2:451]
4. Patience born about 1639 (based on age of 84 at death) [Lincoln]; married Weymouth, Massachusetts, 11 November 1657 Joseph Jones (Thomas Little bequeathed land to “grandson John Jones”) [NEHGR 12:350]; died Hingham, Massachusetts, 25 October 1723 [Hingham VR 1:73]
5. Mercy born say 1645; married Marshfield last of November 1666 John Sawyer [Marshfield VR p. 5 (hereafter MVR)]; she died before John married, second, on 23 [month blank] 1694 Rebecca (Barker) Snow, daughter of Robert Barker and widow of Josiah Snow [MVR p. 19]
6. Isaac born about 1646; died Marshfield 24 Nov 1699 aged about 53 years [MVR p. 388]; married by 1674 Bethia Thomas; died Marshfield 24 Nov 1699 [FindaGrave Memorial ID 25079058]
7. Ephraim born Plymouth 17 May 1650 [PCR 8:10]; married Scituate 22 November 1672 Mary Sturtevant, daughter of Samuel Sturtevant; died Scituate 24 November1717 [Wakefield]
8. Thomas born say 1654; died on 26 March 1676 [The American Genealogist 60:240]
9. Samuel born about 1656 (deposed 18 March 1689/90 aged “thirty three years or thereabouts;” [MD 2:248]; married Marshfield 18 May 1682 Sarah Gray daughter of Edward Gray [MVR 19]; died as Lieut. Samuel Little 16 January 1707 [Vital Records of RI, Bristol County, 6:1-145]

I descend from Patience. 

Thomas and Anna’s son Thomas died fighting in the Battle of Rehoboth during King Philip's War.  He wrote his will in February 1675 and mentions his brothers Isaac, Ephraim and Samuel (Samuel received most of the estate); sisters Ruth, Hannah, Patience, and Mercy; and his mother. [Plymouth Colony Wills 3:165] His sister Abigail had died by this time. 

Thomas purchased a shallop from John Barnes on 9 April 1633 in exchange for one pound of beaver [pelts?] and three ewe goats. [PCR 1:13]

Thomas was in the Plymouth section of the 1643 Plymouth Colony list of men able to bear arms. [Plymouth Colony Records 8:189] He was included in a list of those attending town meeting in Plymouth about 1646. [Plymouth Town Records 1:22 (hereafter PTR) On 26 October 1647 Thomas Little of “the Yele [Eel] River” acknowledged a £20 debt to the court and king. [PCR 2:120] He served on committees to set boundaries and measure allotments. [PCR 1:153 is one example] Thomas served on Plymouth grand jury beginning 8 June 1664. [PCR 4:61]

The family moved to Marshfield in Plymouth Colony before 3 June 1662 when Thomas was appointed constable there. [PCR 4:16]

Thomas was involved in multiple land transactions. 

• Sold his dwelling house and “misted” to Richard Higgins for 21 bushels of corn on 7 October 1633. [PCR 1:16] 
• He made a gift of land from the end of his lot beyond Eel River to his brother-in-law Robert Bartlett to build a house on 28 May 1635. [PCR 1:34] 
• At 7 March 1636/7 court established the land Elizabeth Warren had previously given her sons-in-laws Richard Church, Robert Bartlett and Thomas Little at their marriages to her daughters. [PCR 1:54]
• On 20 March 1636/7 Richard Church, Robert Bartlett and Thomas Little were granted the hay ground they had last year and to take “further supply where they can fynd yt, in place not graunted to others.” [PCR 1:56]
• He was granted 40 acres of land nearer to the end of Mannamett Pond where “he mowed grasse this yeare,” on 7 August 1638. [PCR 1:93]
• On 6 January 1639/40 Thomas Clark was to relinquish his grant of land at Whoop Place, Eel River, excepting eight acres reserved to Thomas Little. Forty acres formerly granted to Thomas Little were to be laid forth to Mr. Thomas Prence, Mr. John Jenney and Josuah Pratt. [PCR 1:138]
• On 6 May 1640 Richard Church, Robert Bartlett, Thomas Little and Mrs. Elizabeth Warren were granted enlargement at the head of their lots to the foot of the Pine Hills. Also Thomas was granted liberty to mow the grass growing about the ponds upon the highway to Sandwich. [PCR 1:152]
• On 4 March 1647 five acres of upland meadow in Plymouth “at a brook commonly called the Indian Brook” were granted to Thomas Little “so long as…himself or any of his posterity shall remain within the limits of the township of Plymouth.” [PTR 1:23-24, 38] On 25 December 1655 the town granted to Thomas Clark “five acres of meadow lying in the same meadow with Thomas Little. Tho[mas] Little’s being first laid out according to his grant in the town book.” [PTR 1:207] In 1664 Jonathan Morey expressed a desire “to have the meadow land granted to him that was sometimes Thomas Little’s being upon the Indian Brook beyond Monnomett Ponds.” [PTR 1:76]
• On 2 August 1652 “Thomas Little sometimes inhabitant of the town of Plymouth,” with the consent of his wife Ann, sold to Richard Foster of Plymouth, planter, “all that his house and land lying and being at the Eelriver in the township of Plymouth aforesaid whereon the said Thomas Little formerly lived.” [MD 1:98-9, citing Plymouth Colony Land Records 2:1:11] Thomas’ mother-in-law Elizabeth (Walker) Warren had deeded him land at Eel River in 1633.
• On 3 June 1662 Thomas Little’s rights to a farm he purchased in Marshfield, formerly belonging to Major William Holmes, were spelled out, noting improvements such as fencing. [PCR 4:16]
• On 3 October 1665 Thomas Little, by virtue of land “he surrendered at Manomett Ponds” and Josias Keane, by virtue of “his great necessity,” were allowed to look for land, and if they found it, the court would grant them one hundred acres each. [PCR 4:110] Perhaps they failed to find unclaimed land, for on 3 October 1665 Mrs. Rachel Davenport, as attorney to her husband Mr. Humphrey Davenport and in her own right as heir of Major William Holmes, sued Little and Keane for £600 for “detaining estate of lands and building on them.” ]PCR 7:126-7] On 6 February 1665/6 Mrs. Rachel Davenport and her arbitrator referred the case against Thomas Little to the determination of the court. [PCR 4:113] and the court replied 1 May 1666 that Little should pay Davenport £14. [PCR 4:119-20] 
• On 29 October 1668 the court registered the claim of “Experience Michell, Henery Sampson, Richard Church and Thomas Little” to a parcel of land at Namassakett Pond and declared that “none shall interpose or deprive them of it until the court purchases it and settles it on them.” [PCR 5:5]

A 7 July 1637 description of land boundaries mentions Mr. Hopkins house down to the fishing point, to Robert Bartlett’s house, east to to Thomas Little’s, east to Mrs. Warren’s, west to Richard Church’s house, west to the common ground. [PCR 1:60] This shows that the lots of land Elizabeth Warren gave to her daughters/sons-in-law were adjoining. I really admire how close-knit these early families were. 

He received the transfer of the indenture of William Taylor, son of carpenter William Taylor of County Cornwall, from Mr. John Atwood on 12 March 1638/9. [Stratton]

Thomas had some education as he served in the office of “Keeper of the Colony of New Plymouth books.” [Anderson, citing Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts No. 1960]

Thomas Little is not found in Plymouth Colony records from about 1652 to 1662. In his deed of 2 August 1652 he is no longer living in Plymouth but where he is living is not divulged. The Weymouth record of Patience Little’s 1657 marriage to Joseph Jones states she is the daughter of Thomas Little of Cambridge, but Thomas isn’t found in published Cambridge records. [Anderson]

Thomas had the ability to annoy neighbors to the point of being brought to court. On 7 February 1664/5 William Shurtliff sued Thomas Little for carrying off trees Shurtliff had cut down. Major Alden and Joseph Beddle were to settle the bounds and Little to return the trees, but final judgment to await the return of the bounds. [PCR 4:79] On 7 March 1664/5 sometime constable William Holmes successfully sued Thomas Little for £5 in damages for misleading Holmes into unjustly attaching the belongings of Nathaniel Winslow. [PCR 7:122-23]

On 9 June 1665 Thomas Little was fined £1 10s “for disclosing grand jury proceedings.” [PCR 4:101, 8:114, 116]

Thomas Little died at Marshfield in March 1671/72; he was buried there 12 March 1671/72. [MVR 1:427 appendix citing NEHGR 8:192] He was in his early- to mid-60s. Some of the original records transcribed in this NEHGR issue have since gone missing. It is believed Thomas was buried at Old Winslow Burying Ground where a cenotaph honors the town’s early settlers including “Thomas Little and his wife Ann.”.

Cenotaph Old Winslow Burying Ground/Thomas and Ann Little source:Findagrave.com

Thomas Little’s will is dated 12 May 1671. [Plymouth County Probate Records 3:1:46; transcribed in MD 4:161-164] He mentions his loving wife but not by name; two eldest sons Isaac and Ephraim, two younger sons Thomas and Samuel; his grandson John Jones; and his servant Sarah Bonney. [MD 4:161] He does not mention his daughters but does bequeath all his cattle to be divided equally among all his children after his wife’s death—presumably the daughters were included in that division. 

Thomas bequeathed housing, land both upland and meadow on both sides of the brook in Marshfield that includes an orchard; another parcel of Marshfield meadow purchased from Thomas Tilden and Morris Trewant; land purchased of John Waterman; land at Nemasket [Middleborough]; Nemasket land purchased from Jacob Mitchell. His grandson John Jones was to have 40 acres out of the land bequeathed to Thomas and Samuel, so Thomas must have owned  considerable acreage. Ephraim was to have the homestead after his mother’s death. He left the dispersal of household moveables to the discretion of his wife. Sarah Bonney [a servant] was to have convenient apparel and a cow at the time of her departure out of service. He signed his will which was witnessed by Anthony Snow and John Carver. 

The will was exhibited at Plymouth Court on 1 July 1672 upon the oaths of Anthony Snow and John Carver.

Inventory of Thomas Little’s estate was taken at Marshfield 4 April 1672 by Anthony Snow, Mark Eames, and Francis Crooker. It was untotaled and did not include real estate. It includes household items such as three featherbeds, table linen, brass, iron, pewter, earthenware, and a churn. There is cattle worth more than £28, a mare, sheep, swine, 30 bushels of corn, spinning wheels, and wool. An indication of his occupation is shown by “new joyners worke unfinnished” valued at £10 3s,  “tools in the shopp,”  and lumber.

Anna Little, widow of Thomas Little of Marshfield, was appointed administrator of his estate on 14 August 1672. [PCR 5:101]

Anna died after 19 February 1676 at Marshfield when she is mentioned in her son Thomas’ will. She is likely buried with her husband.

Sources:

Robert S. Wakefield, Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, Vol. 18, Richard Warren, 1999

Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins, 1995

Susan Roser, Mayflower Increasings for Three Generations, 1989

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

George Ernest Bowman, The Mayflower Descendant, “Thomas Little’s Will and Inventory, and the Will of His Son Thomas,” 4:161

Torrey’s New England Marriages to 1700 

Nathaniel Bradstreet Shurtleff & David Pulsifer, Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England, 1865-1861 (referred to in text as PCR with volume and page number)

George Lincoln et al, History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts, 2:387–8 (1893)

Abraham Simmons (ca 1680-1749) and his wife Anne Lee of Taunton and Freetown (later Fall River), Mass.

Abraham Simmons was born about 1680 (based on age at death on gravestone), likely in Taunton, Bristol County, Massachusetts, the son of John and Martha (Shepherd) Simmons.  Abraham is my 8th great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis Davis’ side of the family. His name is at time spelled Simons. He is sometimes conflated with Abraham Simmons of Duxbury, Mass. 

On 25 December 1707 Abraham married Ann Lee at Taunton. [Taunton Vital Records 2:435; NEHGR 13:254]  Ann Lee, sometimes seen as Anna, was born about 1683 (based on age at death). Circumstantial evidence points to Ann being the undocumented daughter of Peter and Ann (Mosher) Lee of Dartmouth, but I have more research to do. She is often conflated with the Ann Lee, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Woodis) Lee who in 1717 wrote her will at Concord, Massachusetts, as a single woman.

The Simmons’ were likely religious non-conformists as practicing baptists—two of Abraham’s sisters married sons of Benjamin Chase, a documented member of the 7th Day Baptist (Sabbitarian) Church. Ann Mosher’s father, Hugh, was pastor of the Tiverton Baptist Church which served Tiverton and Little Compton [now Rhode Island) and Dartmouth. If I understand early town boundaries, they were all part of old Dartmouth until 1746. Ann Mosher’s maternal uncle John Maxon was pastor of a 7th Day Baptist Church in Rhode Island. [Wikitree profile of Ann Lee Simmons, #Lee-52780]

Ann and Abraham had 12 children born Freetown [Freetown Vital Records p 22-23, hereafter FVR]:

1. Abraham Simmons born 9 September 1708; marriage intentions Susanna Paine 16 July 1763 [FVR p. 106]

2. Nathan Simmons was born 18 Oct 1709; accused at court of being the father of Mercy Paine’s illegitimate child in 1734 [Bristol County Court Extracts p. 41-43]; married Lydia Davis 6 May 1736 at Freetown [FVR Index]; died 26 June 1774 [Peirce]

3. James Simmons born 28 July 1712; died before March 1726/7

4. Merebe/Meribah Simmons born 9 March 1715[?/16]; marriage intentions to John Hathway 6 January 1732 [FVR Index] 

5. Job Simmons born 8 October 1716; married Hannah Trouant 7 March 1740/41 [FVR index]

6. Lebbeus Simmons born 11 Feb 1718[?/19]; I’ve read he married Lydia Cushman but I have not found a marriage record

7. John Simmons born 16 Aug 1719; intentions Elizabeth DeMoranville of Dartmouth 21 April 1762 [FVR index] 

8. Anne dau Abraham Simmons born 23 Nov 1720; intentions Walter Chase Jr. 21 Oct 1740 [FVR p 172]

9. Seth Simmons son of Abraham born 23 May 1722; intentions Priscilla Booth of Middleborough 4 January 1745/6 [FVR Index]

10. Mary Simmons daughter of Abraham born 9 October 1723; married Richard Pierce/Peirce of Middleborough 12 December 1745 at Freetown; intentions published Freetown 30 August 1745 [FVR Index] 

11. James born 8 March 1726[?/7]

12. Jeremiah Simmons born 15 Jan 1727/8; intentions published to Experience Hillard on 25 December 1754 [FVR p 99]; married Ruth Tubbs of Taunton 8 February 1757 in Taunton [FVR index]; oddly their intentions were first published 20 February 1751 before his first marriage [FVR p 91]

I descend from Mary whom I wrote about here.

Abraham and Anne were both literate as they signed deeds. Abraham is called yeoman, husbandman and mariner in records. 

Abraham’s father John Simmons wrote his will on 1 February 1678/79 will. A partial transcription does not mention a son Abraham, but he was probably yet to be born. [Worthington] John passed away in 1711; at the time an unusual length of time after drafting a will. Abraham is shown to be a son by a deed: John Simmons of Freetown deeded land at the Pocasset Purchase to his son Abraham Simmons for £20 on 1 January 1711/12. The deed notes John purchased this same land from David Lake on “12th of the 11th month [January] of 1701/2.” [Bristol County Deed 2:316]

Abraham was a substantial landholder, involved in multiple land transactions, often of large, valuable tracts of land:

• On 1 January 1711/2 John Simmons deeded to his son Abraham Simmons for £20 his 30th lot in the Pocasset Purchase that he had purchased from David Lake in 1702. [Bristol County Deeds 2:316] 
• On 26 March 1720 David Lake, Joel Lake, Josiah Stafford and his wife Sarah Stafford, children and son-in-law of David Lake, clarified that the Pocasset Purchase land their late father sold to John “Simons” for £20 and currently owned by Abraham Simmons of Freetown, was not the 30th lot but the 27th lot. [Bristol County Deeds 14:209-210]
• Abraham made quite a profit on his £20 investment as he sold the same”Great Lott” of land in the Pocasset Purchase to William Cory for £430 by deed dated 30 April 1722. Acreage is not mentioned but it was substantial as it was 75 rods wide (1,237.5 feet). Both Abraham and Anne Simmons his wife signed the deed. [Bristol County Deeds 14:255]
• On 11 July 1722 Abraham Simmons of Freetown, mariner, purchased from Thomas Craghead two parcels of Freetown land, one of 200 acres and the other 100 acres, for 400 “four score” pounds. The purchase includes a dwelling house, barn, and fencing as well s current crops of Indian corn and English grain. It is a detailed deed, with Abraham to pay off multiple mortgages and loans of a considerable amount for Craghead. One lot is mentioned as being by the cove that runs out of the Assonet River. [Bristol County Deeds 14:534]
• Abraham Simmons, husbandman of Freetown, on 20 January 1726/7 sold Tiverton land (then Massachusetts, now Rhode Island) for £24 to Abraham Ashley of Rochester in Plymouth County. It was 1/30th part of allotment at Botten’s Swamp, lot seven of the Pocasset Purchase called the Thirty Six Acre Lots. No mention or signature by wife Anne. [Bristol County Deeds 25:96]
• On 13 January 1730/31 Abraham Simmons of Freetown paid £10 to William Corey of Tiverton for a tract of land in Tiverton, the fourth lot in the Pocasset Purchase, estimated at 10 acres and including Corey’s dwelling house. [Bristol County Deeds 20:21]
• Abraham Simmons, yeoman of Freetown, purchased on 14 March 1733/4 a Tiverton parcel of land from Nathan Simmons of Freetown, being part of the 22nd lot in the “great Lotts” of the Pocasset Purchase. Relationship between Abraham and Nathan not given, but Abraham did have a son Nathan. [Bristol County Deeds 23:156]
• On 29 April 1735 Abraham Simons of Freetown sold to David Evins for £410 a Freetown tract of about 70 acres of upland, salt meadow and flats with buildings, orchard and fencing. It was bounded by a cove the name of which is hard to decipher, perhaps Trantors. [Bristol County Deeds 25:80]
• On 18 January 1745/6 Abraham Simmons, yeoman of Freetown, sold for £600 to John Hathway a parcel of land of about 230 acres with his dwelling house and orchard. It is part of the 19th lot of land near that of David and John Evens, Seth Chase and Benjamin Chase Jr., John Pain & Jacob Hathway. No mention or signature of Ann Simmons. [Bristol County Deeds 36:184] 

The Pocasset Purchase refers to land in present-day Tiverton, Rhode Island, and Fall River, Massachusetts, purchased from the Wampanoags in 1679/80 by a group of European settlers referred to as the Pocasset Purchasers. [Phillips] 

Pocasset Purchase map / source: Phillips History of Fall River

Abraham died 22 May 1749 and is buried Mothers Brook Cemetery, Fall River. [Peirce] Death date from his gravestone. The cemetery is at the site of the first Freetown meeting house. Fall River was incorporated in 1803 when it separated from Freetown. His stone is inscribed: 

In Memory of/

Abraham Simmons/

died May ye 22^d/

1749 in ye 70^th/

year of his Age

Abraham Simmons' gravestone/source:findagrave.com

Ann died 12 April 1762. The date is from her gravestone at Mothers Brook Cemetery.  I’m not certain of the date as the engraving is a bit challenging to read in a photograph but it looks like:

In Memory of/

Anna ye Wife/

Of Abraham/

Simmons who/

died April ye/

12 1762 in ye/ 

78^th Year of/

her Age

Ann Lee Simmons' gravestone / source: findagrave.com

Ann Simmons’ gravestone information is not included in Peirce’s article, but it is on findagrave.com, memorial ID 123753212. The stone is in damaged at the top but appears to be the same design as Abraham’s stone.

Sources:

Ethel (Aldrich) Gallotta/indexer, Freetown Massachusetts Vital Records: Births, Marriage Intentions, and Deaths 1686-1793, 1969 (Copied from City Clerk’s office records in Fall River, Mass.)

Ebenezer W. Peirce, communicated by, NEHGS Register, “Inscriptions from Freetown, Mass.,” 10:53 (1856)

Dorothy Worthington, Rhode Island Land Evidences, I:121, 1921 [excerpt from John’s will]

Arthur Sherman Phillips, The Phillips History of Fall River, 1944

Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission, Historic and Architectural Resources of Tiverton, Rhode Island: A Preliminary Report, 1983

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