George Willard was baptized 4 December 1611 at Horsmonden, Kent to Richard Willard and his wife Joan. [Anderson] I believe he is my 9th great grandfather on my grandmother Milly (Booth) Rollins’ side of the family, although strong documentary proof is lacking.
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| St. Margaret's, Horsmonden, where George was baptized |
Richard Willard of Horsmonden, yeoman, made his will 12 February 1616, proved 8 March 1616. He bequeathed to son George Willard six silver spoons and a silver and gilt cup to be delivered to him after his mother’s death. In case of his older brother Symon’s death before reaching maturity, George was to have the lands bequeathed to Symon. [Pope]
George’s wife is frequently identified as Dorothy Dunster, but I have not found evidence for this. There is no marriage record for him in Horsmonden. [Pope]
“Georg Willerd” migrated to New England by 1 February 1638 when he took the oath of fidelity at Scituate. [Records of the Colony of New Plymouth 1:110, hereafter “PCR”] It may be he arrived as early as 1634 when his brother Simon migrated. Simon was a magistrate and an officer in several Indian conflicts and his Groton house was was burned down during King Philip’s War. [Pope] George’s sister, Margery, married Dolor Davis and migrated to New England. [Anderson]
Georg Willerd witnessed a deed between Christopher Blakewood of Scituate and Mr Charles Chauncey [the minister] for Scituate land on 5 October in the 17th year of the reign of King Charles [1641]
George Willerd of Scituate appears on Plymouth Colony’s 1643 list of men able to bear arms. [NEHGR 4:257]
He was an ally and neighbor of Mr. William Vassall, a wealthy and prominent Scituate settler who advocated for religious tolerance. There were many men from Kent in early Scituate, many being followers of Rev. John Lothrop. When Lothrop left to found the town of Barnstable on Cape Cod, Rev Charles Chauncy became Scituate pastor and he taught that infants should be immersed rather than “sprinkled” when christened, a point which greatly stirred the community. [Pope] Chauncy banned his critics from receiving communion. George was one of the men who was riled up!
At 3 May 1641 court Georg Willerd of Scituate was bound over for defamation. His brother-in-law Dolar Davis was one of the men who posted bond. [PCR 2:14] At 1 June 1641 court, Georg Willerd of Scituate, planter, for “his contemptous words, proved upon oath, in saying that they were fooles, & knaves, and gulls that payd the rate, or words to that effect, and other profane & ungodly speeches against the churches.” And “in saying that the churches here & in the Bay held forth a develish practise in that they did not baptise children & other words to that effect; and also, being demaunded his answere why he did so say, did very contumeliously asked the assistants, or some of them in pticular, why they did not take the oath of supremacy before they entred upon their place yesterday,—was therefore to be bound to his good behalf.” He was ordered to appear at the next General Court to answer all such matters. [PCR 2:17]
A new church was formed in town, called the Second Church, with a minister who was more acceptable to Vassall and his followers. George’s children were among the earliest baptized by the church’s first minister William Wetherell (my 10th great-grandfather).
Children of George Willard; baptisms of first three recorded Second Church Scituate, [NEHGSR, 57:82]
- Deborah baptized 14 September 1645 at Scituate; married by 1658 Paul Sears at Yarmouth, Mass.; had 10 children at Yarmouth; died there 13 May 1721 [Yarmouth VR p 1:153]
- Daniel baptized 14 September 1645; married Esther Matthews at Yarmouth 10 June 1695 [Yarmouth VR 1:133]; d 1712 [Preston]
- Joshua baptized 2 November 1645 [Preston]; no further record
- Samuel named in a Maryland record as a son of George [Pope]; could he be the same person as son Jacob baptized 2 November 1645?
I descend from Deborah. Deborah and Daniel Willard of Yarmouth were identified as children of George, and cousins of the Simon Willard family, by Rev. John Willard when he was teaching school in Yarmouth and came into contact with one of their children. [Pope] No date is provided for this interaction, but Rev John was born in 1733, spent his early career teaching in Marlborough and Yarmouth, and died Connecticut in 1807. He was a minister, teacher and his early research on the family lineage was the foundation for published Willard genealogies. That Deborah (Willard) Sears is a daughter of George seems to be generally accepted by genealogists, including published authors, likely because of the quality of Rev. John’s work, but I’d feel more confident if I could find additional proof. One piece of circumstantial evidence: Paul and Deborah Sears had a son John who named a son Willard. [Preston]
Soon after 1645, George disappears from local records. [Anderson] He did not go to the Piscataqua region with some of the more liberal Puritans as proposed by Samuel Deane.
George relocated to Maryland by 1652 [Anderson], in the area that is now Nottingham, where he grew tobacco. Maryland was a place of Christian liberty, perhaps a major draw for the outspoken George.
Land records of Maryland Book A, B & H, contain applications made by settlers for lands in accordance with the terms adopted by Lord Baltimore. First a “demand” with the reason for desiring the land, then a “warrant” or grant, and then a certificate of the survey of the land with bounds and metes. [Pope]
On 9 January 1652 George Willard demandeth 200 acres of and for transporting himself and Samuel and Daniel, his sons, and John Rele his servant that month. [Pope]
Warrant to lay out 200 acres to George Willard lying above the back Creek between Harris’ land and Capt Cornwalleys on the South side of Patuxent River not formerly taken up. [Pope]
On 17 August 1653 the land was laid out on the west side of Patuxent River "in the present town of Nottingham, Maryland." It adjoined land of James Godsgrace. By Robert Clark, surveyor.
On 12 July 1653 George Willarde, planter in Patuxent, sells a cow; he signs the document with witnesses John Hamilton and Jno Kale. [Pope]
"Daniel Willard, of Willard's purchase, heyre of George Willard, late of Patuxent River deceased," sold to Thomas Hatton for 1700 lbs. of tobacco, 8 November 1672, 200 acres of land called Willard's Purchase. [Annapolis, Maryland Land Records for Charles County]
Maryland probate records indicate that George Willard died in 1656. "Whereas George Willard deceased is indebted by account unto William Stevens the summe of 100 pounds of tobacco. It is ordered that the said debt be satisfied out of his estate of the said George Willard deceased.” [Pope]
Sources:
Samuel Deane, History of Scituate, 1831
Charles Henry Pope, Willard Genealogy Sequel to Willard Memoir, 1915
Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins, 1995
Nathaniel B. Shurtleff and David Pulsifer, eds., Records of the Colony of New Plymouth, in New England, 12 vols.
Belle Preston, Bassett Preston Ancestors, 1930
