John Burgess (ca 1659-1735) and His Wife Sarah Nickerson (1674-1723) of Yarmouth, Mass.

John Burgess was born about 1659 (based on his being eldest son of parents who married in December 1657), probably in Yarmouth, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, the son of John and Mary (Worden) Burgess. I wrote about his parents here. The area of Yarmouth where the family lived later became Dennis. His name is often seen as Burge/Burg in records, but I use Burgess for consistency. He is my 8^th great-grandfather on my grandmother Milly (Booth) Rollins’ side of the family.

John married Sarah Nickerson about 1694 [first child born 1695], probably in Yarmouth. [Smith, Hiam] Sarah was born 1 May 1674, Yarmouth, the daughter of Nicholas and Mary (Darby) Nickerson. [Yarmouth VR p 127, as Sarath Nickerson who was 1 year old the first of May 1675] I wrote about Sarah's parents here.

The births of the eight children of “John and Sarah Burge” are recorded in Yarmouth [Yarmouth VR p 16 and MD 7:247]: 

1. Mary 25 December 1695; married Elnathan Ellis [Yarmouth VR p 139]

2. Elizabeth 12 October 1697; married Prince Wixon [Yarmouth VR p 142)

3. Joseph 9 July 1699; married Desire Luce [Hiam]

4. Benjamin 3 May 1701; married Thankful Nickerson [Yarmouth VR p 144, Harwich VR p 495]

5. Samuel 3 February 1702/3; married 1st Elizabeth Burgess, 2nd Mary Taylor [Yarmouth VR 144, 148]

6. Ezekiel 19 August 1705; married 1st Catherine Oakes, 2nd Sarah Baker [Yarmouth VR p 148; 149]; removed to Maine [Clark]

7. Thankfull 7 June 1708; married Thomas Blossom [Hiam]

8. John middle of October 1710; married Alice Baker 20 February 1734[?/5] [Yarmouth VR p 148]

I descend from John. 

There is a lack of records concerning John owing to fires in Yarmouth and the Barnstable Courthouse. I do not know what his occupation was other than farming, but he was a literate man as he signed his will.

John is named in his father John Burg’s 14 August 1700 will. “I give and bequeath to my eldest son John Burg all that parcel of land and meadow which I bought of John Nickerson and the house which is upon it, all which I give to my sd son and his heirs forever. Also I give and bequeath to my John Burg his heirs and assigns forever the one half of a parcel of meadow which I bought of William Nickerson which is known by the name of Blues[?] Meadows. [Barnstable County Probate Records 2:127-30]

John Senior wrote a codicil 19 February 1700/01 that mostly outlines the care he expected  his sons to provide for his wife Mary.  It has one mention of the younger John: “My will is and I do give to my son John Burg that cow and heifer he hath of mine in his hands.”

The inventory was taken 12 July 1701 and includes “the land and meadow which [son] John lives on and housing” valued at  £100 00 00.

John Burg received 21.5 shares in the 1712 division of common lands at Yarmouth. Also receiving land in this division were his brothers Samuel, Jacob, Thomas, and Joseph Burgess. [Swift] 

Sarah Burges wife of John Burges died 4 February 1722/23 at Yarmouth. She was 48 years old. [Yarmouth VR 154] I have not found evidence of John remarrying and he does not name a wife in his will.

John died between 2 March 1729/30 [will written] and 22 January 1734 [will proved], likely to the the latter date. He was likely in his early 70s.

John Burges of Yarmouth wrote his will 2 March 1729/30; proved 22 January 1734. [Barnstable County Probate Record 5:229]

He writes that he is “stricken in years and under bodily infirmity” and left the following bequests:

• son Joseph Burges ten shillings
• daughter Mary Ellis five shillings
• daughter Elizabeth Wixon five shillings 
• daughter Thankful Blossom five shillings
• son Benjamin Burges five shillings
• sons Samuel and John were to pay these legacies; mentions giving Samuel one-third of his estate and son John two thirds
• son Ezekiel Burges five shillings in money to be paid to him equally by my two sons Samuel & John 
• son Samuel Burges “all that my field on which his house now standeth according to the known boundaries thereof and also all that my lot of land which I bought of Jeremiah Chace which is adjoining to ye upper end of my meadow which lyeth at Swan Pond River and I do also give to my sd son Samuel his yet my one third of of sd meadow”
• son John Burges my Dwelling house barn & [—?—] together with all my lands and meadows adjoining and belonging to my homestead commonly called and known by the name of Long Neck according to ye known bounds thereof

He named sons Samuel Burges & John Burges Executors. John signed his will; witnesses were Peter Thacher, Peter Thacher Jr and Thankful Thacher.  His will was proved 22 January 1734.

Sources:

E. Burgess, Burgess Genealogy, Memorial of the Family of Thomas and Dorothy Burgess and Were Settled at Sandwich in the Plymouth Colony in 1637, 1865

Katharine Hiam, Burgess Genealogy, Descendants of the Four Sons of Thomas and Dorothy (Waynes) Burgess...Whose Parents Were Settled in Sandwich in 1637, 1997

Torrey's New England Marriages to 1700 

Charles Swift, History of Old Yarmouth, 1884 

William C. Smith, A History of Chatham, Massachusetts, 1909

Amos Otis, Library of Cape Cod History & Genealogy, No. 46, Burgess, 1914

Bertha W. Clark, Descendants of Francis Baker of Yarmouth, 1951 (manuscript)

Ebenezer Burgess, Burgess Genealogy: Memorial of Thomas and Dorothy Burgess, who were settled at Sandwich in the Plymouth Colony in 1637, 1865

John Tobey ca 1660 to 1738 and wife Jane of Sandwich, Massachusetts

John Tobey was born Sandwich on Cape Cod about 1660, based on his being enrolled as a townsman of the age to vote in 1681. [Crapo] He was the son of Thomas and Martha (Knott) Tobey. [Barclay] His last name is sometimes spelled Toby or Tobie. He is my 9th great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis Davis’ side of the family.

About 1683/84 (first child born 1685), John married a woman named Jane whose maiden name is unrecorded. They had seven children born Sandwich [Sandwich Vital Records in Mayflower Descendant 29:47]:

1. Mary born March 1684/5; married John Clarke of Rochester 2 November 1709 at Sandwich [Rochester VR 2:305]
2. John born February 1686/7; married Mary Jennings at Bridgewater [Bridgewater VR 2:371]
3. Martha born January 1688[/89]; married Richard Garret in Sandwich 10 September 1712 [Scituate VR 2:293]; died Sandwich probably in or just after childbirth about January 1721/22 [Tobey]
4. Thomas born August 1690; married Mary Damon 12 July 1711 [First Church of Scituate records in Mayflower Descendant 11:45]; lived in area of Scituate that became Hanover
5. Ebenezer born Sept 1692; married Mercy/Marcy Hatch 30 June 1715 at Falmouth where he removed [Falmouth VR 1:214]
6. Reliance born March 1695[/96]; married Thomas Ewer 10 June 1718 [Sandwich VR 1:108]
7. Eleazer/Eliezer born 2 January 1699/1700; married first Martha —?—; second Margaret Fish on 14 June 1733 [Sandwich VR 1:142]

I descend from Thomas whom I wrote about here.

John Tobey was enrolled as one of “the townsmen to vote for officers” at the 27 June 1681 at Sandwich Town Meeting. [Deyo] He was chosen to see to the observance of the law relating to horses on 22 March 1693-4. [Tobey]

John Tobey Senr and his sons John Tobey Junr and Eleezir Tobey were on Rev. Fessenden’s March 1730 list of heads of families in Sandwich. [Locke] 

In his 29 March 1709/10 will, his father Thomas Tobey bequeathed him a “Lott of upland which I formerly Gave to him Lying near ye now Dwelling house of Joseph Foster in Sandwich…” [Tobey]

The earliest grants in the Heritage Plantation area of Sandwich were made in the 1680s and were granted to John Tobey, Daniel Wing Junior and John Abbott. In the 1667 property survey, Daniel Wing lived in this area at what is now 8 Morse Road. John’s land was 40 to 50 acres on the north shore of Peter’s Pond. The family compound remained in the Tobey family for another 200 years. [Lovell] The pond is about 136 acres and is in the Forestdale Village of Sandwich. 

Peter's Pond, Sandwich

Map showing location of Peter's Pond

While John’s father Thomas was very active in Sandwich town affairs, I have not found anything indicating John shared that passion. 

John Tobey wrote his will 9 July 1733 at Sandwich. [Barnstable County Probate Records 5:356] He is called John Tobey “Sen’r” and left the following bequests:

• Beloved wife Jane use of all my personal estate or movables that not otherwise disposed of in my will to use during her widowhood or natural life
• Son Thomas “all my Cloaths or Wearing apparell”
• Son John five shillings
• Son Ebenr five shillings
• Son Eleazer five shillings
• Son-in-law Richard Garret five shillings 
• The “residue of my estate that shall remain after my wives decease that it be equally divided between my two Daughters Mary Clark and Reliance Ewer or their heirs that they share & share alike in all the said Moveable or Personal Estate.”

He named son John and son-in-law Thomas Ewer executors. John Tobey signed with his mark and seal in the presence of Benjamin Fessenden, Ebenezer Perry and Rebecca Fessenden.

The will was proved more than four years later, in February 1738[/39], with John Tobey declining his executorship and Thomas Ewer making oath to the estate. The day is hard to decipher but appears to be the tenth.

Since John’s will does not include real estate, he would have deeded land to his sons, as we know his homestead and land stayed in the family. Many Barnstable deeds were lost in a fire. 

“John Toby Sen” died 26 December 1738 at Sandwich. [Sandwich VR 1:149] He was about 84 years old.

Jane’s death is not recorded in Sandwich but we know from her being named in John’s will that it was after July 1733. A findagrave.com profile for Jane (Memorial ID 237213845) assigns her the maiden name of Loring with a 9 August 1663 Hingham birth date and a November 1744 death date, but I have not seen a source for these claims. 

There are no surviving gravestones for John and Joan in Sandwich but it is possible they were buried at Old Town Cemetery. There is a Tobey Cemetery near Peter’s Pond, but surviving stones there date from about 1789 but it’s possible there are earlier burials.

Sources:

Rufus Babcock Tobey and Charles Henry Pope, Tobey (Tobie, Toby) Genealogy: Thomas of Sandwich, James of Kittery, and Their Descendants, 1905

RA Lovell, Sandwich: A Cape Cod Town, 1984

Mrs. John Barclay, The American Genealogist, “Hannah (Swift) Tobey, Daughter of William2 Swift, and the Family of Ambrose2 Fish, of Sandwich, Mass.,” 35:40 (1959)

Torrey’s New England Marriages to 1700, 3:1526

Henry Howland Crapo, Certain Comeoverers, 1912

John G. Locke, communicated by, NEHGS Register, “Extracts from Rev. B Fessenden’s Manuscript,” 13:30

Simeon Deyo, History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts,” 1890

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

Samuel Ryder 1601-1679 of Buckinghamshire England and Yarmouth/Dennis Massachusetts and his wife Anne Gamlett

Samuel Ryder (often seen as Rider) was baptized 19 June 1601 at Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, England, to John and Helen (Smith) Ryder. [Rider, citing Newport Pagnell Church Register] The only church I find that existed at this time in the town is St. Peter and St. Paul, built in the 14th century.

St. Peter and St. Paul, Newport Pagnell

There has been a great deal of misinformation about Samuel and his descendants in print and online. Fortunately George Bowman, late editor of the Mayflower Descendant, devoted much time and print space to straightening things out. One book where he found many errors is The Pioneers of Massachusetts by Charles Pope.

Samuel Rider married Ann/Anne Gamlett on 16 October 1628 at All Saints Church, Northampton, Northamptonshire, England. [Rider, citing registers of All Saints Parish, Northampton 1560 to 1642] Anne was born about 1608 in England; her parents not yet discovered. Genealogist Richard Rider did not find any other Gamlett records in the area and he believes her name may have been Gauntlett or Gantlett. Anne and Samuel are my 11th great-grandparents on my grandmother Milly (Booth) Rollins’ side of the family.

He is called labourer and maltster (malt was used in brewing beer) in the English records of his children’s baptisms and a land record concerning his son Samuel.

The Rider/Ryder name appears infrequently in Northamptonshire records. Richard Rider’s research shows that the Samuel of Northampton is the Samuel of Yarmouth, Massachusetts. There are deeds involved his son Samuel Jr. who is called “sonne of Samuel Ryder Sr sometimes lived in the Towne of Northampton”  and that Samuel and his father lived in the Township of Yarmouth in the jurisdiction of Plymouth. [Register 79:316 at the Northampton Public Library] Samuel Jr. received a bequest of land from his godfather John Smith of Kingsthorpe in 1637, a relationship to be further explored. A 3 December 1662 document signed by William Collier, Deputy, and Thomas Southworth, Assistant, of Plymouth in reference to a conveyance of this Kingsthorpe land states that Samuel Rider of Plymouth, son of Samuel of Yarmouth, had both lived in the colony for about 30 years.  Samuel Sr is called a “moultster” in the documentation concerning this conveyance. 

Samuel was almost certainly a dissenter, which would be a major reason for him to emigrate to New England. He left England with his wife and their three young children Samuel, Jane, and John after the December 1636 baptism of John in Northampton but before 7 January 1638/9 when Samuel was one of  nine men granted permission to “take up their freedome at Yarmouth.” [Hollick] [PCR 1:108] It is said that their son Zachariah was the first white child born there but I am not certain of that. [Stevens] This area of Yarmouth is now located in Dennis which was founded in 1793. Yarmouth is now in Barnstable County, Cape Cod, but at the time Samuel lived there it was part of Plymouth Colony. 

Children of Anne and Samuel [All Saints baptisms/burial from Rider, citing church registers, 1560 to 1642]:

1. Jane Rider bp All Saints, Northampton, 4 October 1629; buried there 5 September 1631 
2. “Parvulus” [Latin for baby] Rider born 1630-31; buried All Saints 27 August 1631 [he was less than a year old, but likely a newborn since no name is given]
3. Samuel bp All Saints 25 November 1632; married 1st 23 December 1656 at Plymouth Sarah Bartlett, daughter of Richard Bartlett and Mary Warren and granddaughter of Mayflower passenger Richard Warren; married 2nd Lydia Tilden, daughter of Thomas Tilden and Elizabeth (Bourne) on June 14, 1680 at Taunton; he died 18 July 1715
4. Jane bp 23 November 1634 at All Saints; living in November 1679 when her father wrote his will; NFR
5. John bp All Saints 4 December 1636; married but wife’s name unknown 
6. Zachary/iah was born at Yarmouth about 1638; married Mary —-; killed by the accidental discharge of a gun during Yarmouth military training in 1685
7. Benjamin born Yarmouth say 1640; married Mary Gray on 13 June 1670  
8. Elizabeth born about 1642 at Yarmouth; married John Cole 21 Nov 1667 at Plymouth; alive at time of her father’s will 
9. Joseph was born about 1644 at Yarmouth; married 1st a woman whose name is not recorded; he married 2nd Sarah Matthews, widow of Thomas Matthews of Yarmouth. 
10. Mary was born 6 September 1647 at Yarmouth [MD 15:26]; named in father’s will; NFR

I descend from John. 

This large family lived on the west side of Bass Pond, later Follins Pond, near the headwaters of the Bass River. The land was fertile and there was an abundance of herring and perch. The homestead was located on what is now on Edgemere Road in the Mayfair neighborhood of Dennis. [CCGS Bulletin Spring 2001] 

Samuel's homestead located near Mayfair Rd (source: CCGS Bulletin Spring 2001)

Samuel served on juries and was appointed to various committees. He was surveyor of highways (1653, 1666), Deputy to the General Court at Plymouth [1653], Yarmouth constable (1663), collector of Minister’s Tax [1671] and one of three makers of a tax rate to fund the expenses of the war [1676]. In 1658 he was a member of the Council of War. He was taxed £5 2 shillings pence towards King Philip’s War in 1676. He was on the 1657 list, as Samuel Rider Senior, of Yarmouth men who had taken the oath of fidelity. [PCR 8:185] He is listed on the colony’s 1643 list of Yarmouth men able to bear arms. [Shurtleff 194]

Samuel was active in the Yarmouth militia:

• On 10 October 1643 Samuel was appointed by the court to a committee to select a place to fortify for the general defense in the event of a sudden assault. [Hawes] 
• He is called Sergeant when he was appointed Deputy to attend a military council at Plymouth in June 1653, necessary because of the dangers of a war between England and Holland. 
• In 1654/5 he was removed from this rank because of the abusive language he used towards constables who were sent to press men into service. Likely reason for his being reduced to the rank of common soldier was his leniency  towards the Quakers.  [Swift’s History of Old Yarmouth] 
• He was re-appointed Lieutenant on 1 June 1658. [Stratton]
• In March 1683/4 the land of "Leift Ryder Deceased" is mentioned.

The Mayfair area where Samuel lived was settled mostly by Quakers but it seems unlikely Samuel was of that faith since he was an officer in the militia and held town offices. 

In his 20 November 1679 will, Samuel Ryder mentions wife Anne, sons John, Benjamin, Samuel, Zachary, and Joseph, daughters Jane, Elizabeth, and Mary. Unfortunately he does not mention his daughter’s surnames. 

”The last Will .... of Samuell Ryder senir of Yarmouth late Deceased exhibited to the Court held att Plymouth ...; the 2cond of March Anno: Dom 1679:80: on: the oath of Mr John Thacher as followeth "In the Name of God Amen this 20th Day of November one thousand six hundred seaventy nine: I Samuell Ryder of Yarmouth .... my Will is that Anne my loveing wife shall have and Injoy all my Estate both housings and lands and Movables .... During her Naturall Life or state of Widdowhood shee paying my Just Debts and Discharging my buriall; and after the Decease of my loveing wife I Doe Give .... all my housing and lands and meddowes whersoever, belonging or Acrewing to mee; To my son Benjamine .... except that prsell of Planting land in the prime ffeild, which I Doe Give, to my son John During his Naturall life; And then to Returne to my son Benjamine .... and incase that my son Benjamine Die without heire Naturally begotten of his body; Then all my housing, land and Meddows To fall and belonge unto the Next heire male, of my family, alsoe .... Samuell my son shall have five shillings of my estate, And alsoe .... my Daughter Jane shall have three Cowes to be payed in three yeers; after my Decease, that is one Cow in each yeer; and alsoe to my Daughter Elizabeth I Doe Give ten shillings; alsoe I Doe Give to my Daughter Mary ten pounds; to be payed in Currantpay within three yeers after my Decease; And alsoe I Doe Give to my son Zachery twenty shillings; and to my son Joseph I Doe Give twenty shillings; I Doe by this my last Will .... Appoint my Loveing wife Anne and my sonne Benjamine sole executors .... I Doe alsoe Request my trusty and welbeloved frinds Mr Edmond Hawes, and John Thacher to be helpfull to my Executors, as Need may Require, Concerning this my Last Will"

Witnessed by Edmund Hawes and John Thacher. Sworn to by Edmund Hawes 25 February 1679, before Thomas Hinckley, Assistant.  [The Mayflower Descendant 11:50-51 (1909), citing Plymouth Colony Wills, 4:1:45]

Samuel Ryder died 2 December 1679, age 78, at Yarmouth. He is called “Junior” in the record but this must be a transcription error as the date matches perfectly with the date of his will and his age is a match as well. [Yarmouth VRs 1:125]

The inventory of Samuel Ryder’s estate was taken 9 December 1679 by Edmund Hawes and John Miller. It totaled £237 10 shillings. Among the items were: "10 shoates Benjamine Ryder Claime the halfe” [shoat is a young, usually weaned, pig] "4 piggs Benjamine Ryder Claimeth half of them" "I Dwelling house barne upland and meddow 150 00 0” [MD 11;51]

"Anne the Relict of the abovemensioned Sam:ell Ryder made oath to the truth of this Inventory The 17th of January 1679 before mee Thomas Hinckley Assistant"

[MD 11:51]

Anne Ryder died 14 December 1695 at Plymouth recorded as “An rider the mother of Samuel Rider deceased.” Samuel died in 1715 so perhaps the record should read wife or widow of Samuel Rider which would be expected. She was likely living with her son Samuel and his family in Plymouth as she was quite aged, about 87 years old. [Plymouth VR 135]

Sources:

Nancy Thacher Reid, Dennis Cape Cod From Firstcomers to Newcomers 1639-1993, 1996

Richard G. Rider, The American Genealogist, “Rider Notes: The European Generations,” 43:120-21 (1967)

Marion Vuillieumier, The Town of Yarmouth Massachusetts: A History, 1989

Eugene Stratton, Plymouth Colony, Its History and People, 1986

Cape Cod Genealogical Society Bulletin, Spring 2001, page 8-10, map showing locations of homes of "Dennis First Comers”

Charles W. Swift, History of Old Yarmouth, 1884

Torrey’s New England Marriages Prior to 1700, pg. 625

Charles W. Swift, Library of Cape Cod History and Genealogy, No. 66 "The Rider Family of Yarmouth,” 1913

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

Simeon Deyo, editor, History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1890

Martin E. Hollick, NEHGS Register, “The John Riders of Yarmouth, Massachusetts,” 80:128-139 (2005)

Torrey’s New England Marriages to 1700, 2:1276

Percival Hall Lombard, Mayflower Descendant, “The Seal of the Plymouth Colony,” 29:6

Robert Croll Stevens, Ancestry of the Children of Robert Croll Stevens and Jane Eleanor (Knauss) Stevens, Vol. II: The Genealogy of John Christian Croll 1707-1758, 1985

Nathaniel Shurtleff & David Pulsifer, eds., Records of the Colony of New Plymouth, in New England, 12 volumes, pub. 1855-1861