Samuel Ryder / Rider (1630-1715) and His Wives Sarah Bartlett and Lydia Tilden of Northampton, England, and Yarmouth & Plymouth, Massachusetts

Samuel Ryder was baptized 24 November 1630 at All Saints Church in Northampton, Northamptonshire, England, son of Samuel and Ann (Gamlett) Ryder. [Rider/1] I wrote about his parents here. His first name is sometimes spelled Samuell and last name Rider. At age seven or so Samuel came to Plymouth Colony with his family. Most of his childhood was spent in Yarmouth (in area that was later Dennis) on Cape Cod, then part of Plymouth Colony. Samuel is my 10th great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis Davis’ side of the family.

All Saints Church

Samuel is called a cooper in a 1661 deed and other records.  At this time a cooper was highly valued as he made essential wooden containers for storing and transporting goods.  [MD 2:179] It seems he was illiterate as he signed documents with a mark. 

Samuel Rider married, first, Sarah Bartlett on 23 December 1656 at Plymouth. [Plymouth VR p 662] Sarah was born Plymouth about 1636, the daughter of Robert and Mary (Warren) Bartlett and granddaughter of Richard Warren of the Mayflower. 

Sarah and Samuel had three children [Hawes]:

1. Samuel born 18 November 1657 at Plymouth [Plymouth VR 1:662]; died before 1688 when another Samuel was born
2. John born about 1663; married 1st Hannah Barnes and 2nd Mary (—?— ) and had a large family; he died before 20 December 1735 when his son Samuel was granted administration of his estate [Barclay]
3. Mercy whose birth date is unknown and died after April 1714 when she is mentioned in her father’s will where he states he already has "done Competently for" her, indicating she likely was then married; no further record found

Sarah died before 14 June 1680 when Samuel married, second, Lydia Tilden at Taunton in Bristol County.  [Taunton VR 2:477] I am not sure what the connection was to Taunton, perhaps Samuel was living and working there for a time? 

Lydia was born 26 April 1658 at Marshfield, the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Bourne) Tilden. [Marshfield VR 1:5] Lydia’s identity as the daughter of Thomas Tilden is shown by his will dated Marshfield, 1 February 1704/05,  in which he bequeathed "to my Daughter Lidia Rider twenty shillings over and above the Portion I have formerly given her.”  [Plymouth County Probate Case No. 20763]

Lydia and Samuel had 12 children born Plymouth [Plymouth VR 1:11-12]:

iv. Hannah born 1 June 1680; married Jeremiah Jackson 27 October 1702 [Plymouth VR 1:88]; died 29 June 1763 [Plymouth VR 1:11]

v. Sarah born 26 March 1682; married 20 November 1707 Joshua Bramhall [Plymouth VR 1:89]; died 19 November 1778 [Plymouth VR 1:11]

vi. William born 18 June 1684; he may have married Hannah Barker and moved to Newport, Rhode Island [Rider/2] 

vii. Lydia born 11 October 1686; married Elisha Cobb 4 February 1702/3 [Plymouth VR 1:88]

viii. Samuel born Plymouth 26 July 1688; married Ann Eldred[/ge] 17 February 1713 [Plymouth VR 1:90] and had three children; died at Plymouth before 17 July 1718 when his widow Anna was appointed administratrix of his estate [Plymouth County Probate Records 4:147]

ix. Elizabeth born 26 March 1690; died 11 December 1695 [Plymouth VR 1:11]

x. Joseph born “in the middle of” July 1691; married Abigail Warren, a descendant of Mayflower passenger Richard Warren, on 1 November 1722 [Plymouth VR 1:93]; had 7 children/3 died very young; he died 18 July 1737 at Plymouth [Plymouth VR 1:68]

xi. Benjamin born June 1693; married Hannah Stephens of Marshfield, intentions 29 February 1719/20 [Plymouth VR 1:176] and had a large family; died between July 1773 (date of will) and April 1775 (will proven) [probate file from Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives]

xii Mary born 10 October 1694; married Ebenezer Bartlett 3 July 1718 [Plymouth VR 1:91]

xiii. Elizabeth born 16 March 1695 [she would either be born 1694/5 and too close to Mary or 1695/6 and too close to Josiah so something is wrong with these last few birthdates]; married Solomon Sylvester 23 October 1718 [Plymouth VR 1:91] and had a large family

xiv. Josiah born “about the middle of May” 1696; married Experience Jennings 8 October 1722 [Davis]; had a large family

xv. Abigail born 29 Jan 1700[?/01]

I descend from Samuel. 

Not surprisingly genealogists assume Lydia married Samuel Junior as she was 27 years younger than Samuel who was about 70 when his youngest child was born! But the well-respected Mayflower Descendant editor George Ernest Bowman lays out evidence it was the elder Samuel who married Lydia as his second wife and had 12 children with her. [MD 11:182]

The Plymouth First Church list of members admitted in 1692 includes "Lydia (second) wife of Samuel Rider." In the original record the word "second" is enclosed in parentheses with a caret inserted between "Lydia" and “wife," all in the same ink and by the same hand as the original entry. [Bowman]

It is clear from Plymouth Colony records that Samuel followed in his father’s footsteps by being chosen as surveyor of highways and serving on juries. His appointments show he was, like his father, a trustworthy man of standing in the community. Samuel and his father are not usually identified as “Junior” and “Senior” in records, perhaps because they lived in different towns. However his father is often referred to as “Lieutenant” which helps distinguish them in records.

Samuell Ryder was admitted and sworn Freeman at the 1 June 1658 Court. [Records of New Plymouth Colony, (hereafter PCR) 3:137] Samuell Ryder was on the 29 May 1670 list of Plymouth Freemen. [PCR 5:274]

He was chosen surveyor of highways for Plymouth at 1 June 1658 and 7 June 1659. [PCR, 3:136, 3:163] 

Samuell Ryder served on the 5 March 1684/5 petit jury that included the trial of a Native American named Betty who was accused of killing her husband Great Harry with a stone. She first denied the charges and then admitted she threw a rock trying to break a bottle of alcohol but instead hit him in the head.  She was found guilty of “homicide by misadventure.” The record does not give information on her sentence. [PCR 6:154] He also served on juries in March 1679/80, July 1680, October 1683, and 5 March 1684/5. [PCR 7:220, 229, 273; 8:287]

Samuel was involved in the land transactions pertaining to the same property where he had his homestead. He lived in the Manomet section of Plymouth which is south of the downtown harbor front where the Pilgrims first settled. 

• A 21 July 1660 deed indicates “Samuell Eedey senir of the Towne of Pymouth” had already sold his Manoment Ponds land to “Samuell Ryder Junr of the Towne of Plymouth…Planter.” It was 25 acres of upland lying between a small brook on the southerly side, the pond near Thomas Clarke’s farm and at the lower end towards the sea and extending up into the woods, plus an additional acre of meadow at Little’s Meadow. [Plymouth Colony Deeds, 2:2:36]
• On 20 March 1660[/61] “Samuell Ryder Junir of the Towne of Plymouth…Cooper” sold to Robert Ransome all his land at Manomet Ponds in Plymouth near Thomas Clarke’s farm contained 25 acres and one acre of meadow, so the same land he had purchased the summer before. [Plymouth Colony Deeds, 2:2:56]
• In a 1 October 1661 deposition, Nathaniel Warren said he was asked by Samuell Ryder to go to Thomas Morton’s house about the beginning of last April to talk with Robert Ransome about land Samuell had sold him at Manomet Ponds and after some debate Ransome released the said land to Samuell Ryder again for £3 10 shillings. 
• On 15 October 1661, Willam Clarke… testified in corroboration of Nathaniel Warren.
• In a deed acknowledged 12 May 1669, Samuell Ryder paid £3 to James Clarke for a small parcel of upland at Manomet Ponds in Plymouth lying within the said Samuell Ryder’s fence next to the sea and running to Eel River. [Plym. Col. Deeds, 4: 389]
• There seems to have been a dispute as to the legitimacy of Samuel’s ownership of the Manomet Ponds land. At the 16 February 1673 Plymouth Town Meeting minutes mention land that Samuell Ryder bought of Samuell Eedey [usually spelled Eddy] at Manomet Ponds was found to be common land at the town’s disposal, but the town granted to Samuell Ryder 25 acres of land there that was already in his possession. [Plymouth Town Records, 1: 78]
• On 7 April 1714 Samuel Rider, Cooper of Plimouth, deeded land to his sons Samuel and Benjamin Rider both of Plimouth, partly for the love he bears them, all his Plimouth lands including swamp and meadow, excepting 60 acres at Morey’s Hole. Samuel was to have the dwelling house for which he should pay Benjamin £10 (£5 within fours years and the rest at the decease of Samuel Sr. and his wife Lidia). He also gave them all his cattle and husbandry tools. Samuel and Lidia were to stay in the southwesterly portion of the house during their lives, with access to the adjoining garden and orchard, the provision of ample firewood, a horse to ride upon, a cow to provide milk, to go to the mill for them, to pay any debts up to the date of the deed, and to give the couple £12 annual to be reduced to £6 to the “longest liver of us.” They are to pay their sister Lydia £3 within one year of Samuel’s death and brother Josiah £5 when he reaches age 22. If Josiah does not live to that age, then it should be equally divided by their sisters Hannah, Sarah, Lydia, Mary, Elizabeth & Abigail. The deed was signed by a mark.  Deed was acknowledged 12 October 1714 at which time Lidia also appeared and gave up her right in the premises. [Plymouth Co. Deeds, 11: 51]

In a deed acknowledged 9 September 1718, John Rider of Plymouth, yeoman, sold to John Barnes for £3 2 shillings, his share of cedar swamp in the South Meadow Cedar Swamp at Plimpton, which he bought of his father Saml Rider, deceased. [Plymouth County Deeds 14: 83]

Manomet Ponds, now the Plymouth village of Manomet, was originally home to the Wampanoag people. The English started settling in the area in the 1630s and they had to make the trek to Plymouth center every Sunday for meeting until the Second Church was organized in 1707. The area was desirable because of its access to the sea as well as multiple bodies of water including Fresh Pond and Bartlett Pond. Today Manomet is a densely-populated summer destination primarily due to the popularity of White Horse Beach. 

Map of Manomet shows the area ponds and proximity to the ocean 

“Samuel Rider,” yeoman of Plymouth, wrote his will on 7 April 1714, the same day he deeded his land to sons Samuel and Benjamin.  He mentions son William Rider; wife Lydia; daughters Hannah, Sarah, Lydia, Mary, Elizabeth & Abigail; sons John Rider, Samuel Rider, Benjamin Rider; daughter Mercy; sons Joseph Rider, Josiah Rider. Proved 23 Sept 1715. His bequests:

• "to my son William Rider .... my Sixty acre lott at or near a place Called moreys holes . having by deed conveyed all ye rest of my lands & reall Estate to my 2 sons Samll & Benjamin.”
• "unto my dear wife Lydia Rider (whom also I constitute Sole executrix ....) the whole of my moveable Estate not allready disposed of during her Naturall Life & at her decease to be distributed in such proportion as shee shall see Cause among my six daughters hannah Sarah Lydia Mary Elizabeth and Abigail.”
• "and whereas in this my last Will and Testamt I have bequeathed nothing to sundry of my children the reasons are as followeth viz: ”as To my sons John Samuel & Benjamin and my Daughter Mercy I have done Competently for them in my life time; "as To my son Joseph he went when young To his uncle who has done for him considerably; To Josiah I have ordrd him five pounds to be paid by Samuel and Benjamin and he also is going to a trade and for these reasons I think it Just Not to make any bequest to them.”

The will was signed by a mark and witnessed by Ephraim Little, Thomas Clarke juner and Josiah Morton. It was probated 23 September 1715 with all three witnesses being present.

The original letter of administration, issued 23 September 1715, to "Lidia Rider Relict widow & sole Executrix" is still in the files. [MD 11:185-6, from Plymouth County Probate Records 3:377-8]

Samuel died Plymouth 18 July 1715 at age 84, a remarkably long life at the time. "Samuel Rider Deceased July 18th 1725.” [Town Records, I: 205] "Samuell Rider Senr July 18th in ye [blank] year of his Age" [Church Records, in list of "Members Dyed" in 1715]

He is buried at Burial Hill in Plymouth. ”Mr Samuel Ryder, who decd July ye [blank] 1715 about ye 85th year of his age.” The day of his death was never cut on the stone. 

Samuel Ryder's original gravestone is now encased in cement

Lydia lived as Samuel’s widow for another 25 years. She died at Plymouth 17 September 1740 at the advanced age of 82. Lydia (Tilden) Rider was buried in the old cemetery at Manomet. “Mrs. Lydia Rider Widdow of mr Samll Rider" died 17 September 1740, "in ye 83d” year of her age. The old cemetery is now called White Horse Cemetery. 

Lydia Tilden Ryder gravestone in Manomet

Sources:

George Ernest Bowman, The Mayflower Descendant, “Samuel 2 Rider of Plymouth Had Two Wives, Sarah Bartlett and Lydia Tilden,” 11:182 (1909)

James W. Hawes, Library of Cape Cod History and Genealogy, No. 98, "Ryder Genealogy,” 1912

Rachel E. Barclay, The American Genealogist, “John 3 Rider of Plymouth, Mass.,” 36:4:193–198 (October 1960)

Richard G. Rider (no. 1), The American Genealogist, “William Rider of Plymouth: A R.I. Progenitor?,” 53:147

Richard G. Rider (no. 2), The American Genealogist, “Rider Notes: The European Generations,” 43:117-123  (1967)

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

William T. Davis, Ancient Landmarks of Plymouth, 1899

John Simmons (b ca 1640) and His Wife Martha of Taunton and Freetown (later Fall River), Massachusetts

John Simmons is a very challenging ancestor to research! There is a lack of records pertaining to him, which is made worse by a good deal of incorrect/unsourced/conflicting information written about him. John is my 9th great-grandfather through my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis Davis’ side of the family. The Simmons surname is also seen spelled as Simonson, Symonds, Symons, and Simons. This sketch contains the theories about John I believe are incorrect, as well as what I believe to be accurate at this point in time. 

Inaccuracies and uncited information

One problem is that John is often conflated with John Simmons born about 1644, son of Moses and Sarah Simmons of Duxbury, who married Mercy Pabodie. Mercy is a descendant of John and Priscilla Alden of the Mayflower, probably a motivating factor of attaching John to this Duxbury family. I have a separate line of descent from Moses and Sarah but I haven’t found a connection with John of Freetown. 

Another inaccuracy is giving his parents as Thomas Simmons/Symonds and Elizabeth Nash, but Robert Charles Anderson of The Great Migration Begins Project states Thomas and Elizabeth may never have existed! Raymon Meyers Tingley, in Some Ancestral Lines, p. 371-2, fraudulently created records to state that Elizabeth Simmons was daughter of Thomas Simmons (Symonds) of Plymouth and Elizabeth Nash and that Thomas Symonds was son of Moses Simmons. Unfortunately once something is in print, it is often taken as fact and repeated indefinitely, rather than people conducting their own research.

John’s findagrave.com profile (memorial ID 138787809) has him: born Nottinghamshire 30 April 1644; dying Fall River 18 March 1712; buried Mothers Brook Cemetery in Fall River; marrying first Martha Sheppard and second Elizabeth —?—. I have not yet found a source for this death date; it’s not found in Freetown records. In John’s will, he names his wife as Martha. John’s wikitree profile has Martha as daughter of William Shepherd, but states this is not proven, and that she married John in 1666 at Little Compton, Rhode Island. 

Some sources, including findagrave, give Martha a 1691 death year, but she was still living in 1696 when she witnessed a will. 

Findagrave and wikitree aren’t primary sources but they can be great starting points, especially when wikitree provides citations. 

What I do know (or feel fairly confident about!)

John was probably born about 1640 (based on estimated age at marriage which is also estimated). He married, by about 1665, a woman named Martha. Perhaps her maiden name was Shepherd but that is not proven.

John and Martha may have lived first in Taunton and then in nearby Freetown, Bristol County, Massachusetts, in the part of town that later became Fall River. In 1803 Fall River was separated from Freetown and officially incorporated. 

Their children’s birth records do not survive. The older children may have been born Taunton where early records there are quite sparse.The younger perhaps born Freetown, but those early records are not complete and the town records of Fall River were burned in 1843. [Cleveland] In a published excerpt from John’s February 1678/9 will, he names the first four children: eldest daughter Mary, eldest son John, second son Remembrance, and third son Edward. He wrote his will in February 1678/9, some years before his death, so children 5-9 born after that date. Birth years for all are rough estimates.

1. Mary Simmons, born about 1666 at Taunton; died after 1712 Freetown; married Thomas Burt about 1680; married 2nd Thomas Makepeace 10 January 1698 Freetown; children Mary, Abigail, and Hannah Burt and possibly William Makepeace. [Makepeace]

2. John Simmons born about 1668 in Taunton; died 28 March 1747 at Dighton, Mass.; married Hannah Hathaway 14 December 1697 [NEHGR 2:235]; children John, Oliver, Constant. 

3. Remembrance Simmons born 1671 Taunton; died before 19 September 1726 at Swansea, Mass.; intentions to marry Hannah Smith published Freetown 16 December 1701 [FVR 1:76]; children Hannah, Remembrance, Joseph.

4. Edward Simmons born about 1673 Taunton; died 2 May 1758 Swansea; married Esther Reed 6 January 1703; children Seth, William and Margaret. His 9 January 1758 will mentions wife Esther, son William, deceased son Seth, daughter Margaret, daughter-in-law Mary Simmons, and various grandchildren. [Bristol Probate File 23215]

5. Mercy Simmons born about 1679 in Taunton [not mentioned in fathers’ 1678/9 will]; died Nov 1768 at Freetown; married Benjamin Chase II 23 June 1703 in Taunton. He was born 15 July 1682. [FVR p 22] Children: Benjamin III, Oliver, Hope, Unknown, Israel, Ammi, Caleb, Joshua, Michael Chase. Mercy and Benjamin were Seventh Day Baptists. Chase article gives her name as Mercy Simmons and they were of Freetown so seems probably she is daughter of John. Her sister Deliverance married her brother-in-law Walter Chase. [Chamberlain]

6. Abraham Simmons born about 1680 in Taunton; died 22 May 1749 Fall River; m. Anne Lee 25 December 1707 in Taunton. Children: Nathan, Job, Lebbeus, John, Anna, Mary, James, Jeremiah. [FVR 1:22, 23] Abraham is shown to be John’s son by a deed from his father.

7. Martha Simmons born about 1682, died after 2 May 1749, m John Cleveland 1 January 1712 in Taunton; children Dinah, Elizabeth, Thankful, Mary, Martha, Benjamin, John, Ambrose. The Cleveland Genealogy gives her parents and John and Martha Simmons. P 80

8. Deliverance Simmons born about 1684 in Freetown; married Walter Chase 29 January 1706 at Taunton; children Edward, Constant, Seth, Philip, Sybil, Walter, George, Charles, Sarah, Hannah, Alice, Benjamin. [Chamberlain]

Some researchers also assign them an unproven daughter Abigail. I descend from Abraham. The sketch I wrote about him, which you can see here, includes the tidy profit he made on land deeded to him by his father. 

John was involved in multiple records of land transactions concerning the Pocasset Purchase: 

• On 12 of the 11 month [January] 1701/2 John Simmons bought land from David Lake in the Pocasset Purchase in Bristol County. David Lake was of Nanaquoket in Tiverton. He was paid £20 silver money by John Simmons, yeoman, of Freetown all his “claime Right & Interest in & to the thirtyeth part of the undivided lands properly belonging to the Purchase of Pocasset so called…” The land began at the “south East corner bounds of the line of Division between Ffreetown lands & Pocasset purchase and from the said corner bound eastwardly upon a strait paralel line to Dartmouth line or division between said Dartmouth grant & Pocasset Purchase…” Witnesses were John P. Pierce [his mark], Mary Pearce.  David Lake acknowledged this deed 13 October 1703 before Benjamin Church Justice of the Peace. [Grantee Deed Book 1:452; also in 4:29 which is available but not searchable on Family search, “Massachusetts Land Records 1686-1715, vol 1”]
• On 1 January 1711/12 John Simmons, yeoman of Freetown, deeded this same land to “my son Abraham Simmons” for £20 current money, what John had paid for the land. The land is described as his 30th part in the 30th share of the Pocasset Purchase “beginning the south east corner bounds of the line of Division between Freetown lands & Pocasset Purchase and from said corner bounds Eastwardly up on a strait paralel line to Dartmouth line or Division between sd Dartmouth grant & Pocasset Purchase…northwardly of said paralel line to the extent of the sd Pocasset Purchase be it more or less.” It is “the land I formerly bought of David Lake of Nanaquaket as more fully appears by a Deed of Sale from sd David to John Simmons bearing date of 12th of the 11th month of 1701/2.”  John Simmons signed the deed. Witnessed by Jonathan Dodson, John Hathway and James Bell. John Simmons acknowledged the the deed before Thomas Leonard Justice; it was recorded 8 March 1711/12. [Bristol County Massachusetts Grantee 2:316 available but not searchable at Family Search “Massachusetts Land Records 1686-:1715,” vol 1-2 image 464-5]
• On 26 March 1720[/21] David Lake and Joel Lake, farmers, and Josiah Stafford, shipwright, and Sarah Stafford wife of Josiah, all of Tiverton, Bristol County, Massachusetts Bay. [Tiverton now is in Rhode Island] deeded Pocasset Purchase land to Abraham Simons to correct an error in the deed when their father sold the same land to Abraham’s father John Simons. Their father David Lake, deceased, of Tiverton and Little Compton, deeded land on 12 of ye 11th month 1701/2 1/30th part of a certain parcel of undivided lands of the Pocasset Purchase in Tiverton to John Simons late of Freetown in sd county deceased. Land extended from the southeast corner of Freetown bounds on a strait parallel to Dartmouth line belonging to the thirtieth share or right in Pocasset Purchase northward on eastward of sd line. There was a mistake “by a scribe or by some other means”  as their father did not have rights to the 30th lot but rather the 27th lot. John Simons did convey the same lands unto his son Abraham Simons of Freetown. They deeded the one thirtieth part of all the above land belonging to the twenty-seventh share to Abraham Simons, dated 26 of the first month [March] 1720[/1] and the sixth year of King George’s Reign. Signed by David Lake with his mark, Joel Lake, Josiah Stafford, Sarah Stafford by her mark, and Abraham Simons. Witnessed by John J. Cole, Richard Borden, Benjamin Chase Junr, William Caswell. The grantors and grantee acknowledged the deed 31 January 1721/2 in said county, Thomas Terry Justice of the Peace. Recorded 12 April 1722 by S. Howland Regr. [Bristol County Deeds 14:209-210]

Pocasset Purchase Great Lots

The Pocasset Purchase was a large Wampanoag settlement purchased by a company of Plymouth and Rhode Island settlers from the sachem Wamsutta in 1659, located between present-day Tiverton Rhode Island and Fall River, Mass. It was bounded westerly by the Narragansett Bay and easterly by the old Dartmouth line but the lands purchased nevertheless extended northerly to the bounds of Middleboro and running easterly there to the Rochester line. The first division was 30 house lots, called Great Lots along the shore. There was also a mill lot, two ferry lots, and a lot for the minister at Tiverton. The second division was 120 one-acre lots laid out in 1696. There was also a 1700 division consisting of 50 acre lots. David Lake was one of the original purchasers. [Phillips; RI Historical Preservation Commission]

Martha Simmons died after 24 September 1696 when John and Martha Simmons (Martha by mark), witnessed the will of John Shaw of Swansea. [NEHGR 63:131]

John Simmons “Resident neer Ta[u]nton” wrote his will on 1 February 1678/79. [Worthington] He left bequests to children Mary, John, Remembrance, and Edward. Will was never probated. 

Excerpt: “…John Simmons…unto my Children Mary—my Eldest Daughter, and John Simmons my Eldest sonn, and Rememberance Simmons my second sonn and Edwaard Simmons my third sonn…doe…give…all my Estate…Either…Lands, Goods, household stuff mony Cattell…to be Equally devided…doe…appoint my…wife Martha Simmons…sole Overseer…first day of February…One Thowsand six hundred seventy eight or nine.”  John Simmons signed the will which was witnessed by Mathew Grinell [his mark], John Heath and Elizabeth Holderbee. [Worthington] 

I have not found John Simmons death record. Some give it as 11 November 1711 [wikitree is one example] but this is before his deeded land to Abraham. Another date given is 18 March 1712, buried Mothers Brook Cemetery in Fall River (on land originally in Freetown) but without a surviving stone. [findagrave] The cemetery sign states it was established in 1724, so I’m not sure if this burial information is accurate, although his son Abraham is buried there. 

If he did die in the 1711-1713 time frame, that was an unusually long time after writing his will. Perhaps he was seriously sick but recovered or was embarking on something dangerous. Some men wrote wills when they were going off to battle, but King Philip’s War had ended before this time. 

Many questions remain about John and Martha!

Sources:

Lucy Hall Greenlaw, NEHGS Register, “Abstracts from the First Book of Bristol County Probate Records,” 63:131-2 (April 1909)

Dorothy Worthington, Rhode Island Land Evidences, I:121, 1921 [excerpt 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

Torrey’s NE Marriages To 1700

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

Edmund James Cleveland, Genealogy of the Cleveland and Cleaveland Families…, 1899, p 54-55

George Walter Chamberlain, NEHGS Register, “Some of the Descendants of William Chase of Roxbury and Yarmouth, Mass., 87:54-55 (1933)

Charles B. Moore, Town of Southold, Long Island: Personal Index Prior to 1698 & Index of 1698 (New York: John Medole, 1868) p 38

James A Savage, A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, 1860-62, p 100

William Makepeace, The Genealogy of the Makepeace Families from 1637-1857, 1858, P 39-41

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

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)