Richard Taylor ca 1620 to 1673 and wife Mary Whelden of Yarmouth/Dennis, Massachusetts

Richard Taylor was born about 1620, presumably in England. I have yet to find anything about his origins. He was at Yarmouth, Massachusetts on Cape Cod by 1643 when he appears on the list of Men Able to Bear Arms. He is my 10th great-grandfather on my grandmother Milly (Booth) Rollins’ side of the family. 

Richard has been challenging to research. There were two men of the same name in Yarmouth, so he was sometimes called Richard “the Tailor” Taylor in records to differentiate him from Richard “of the Rock” Taylor (the rock referred to a large boulder on his property). Both Richards were on Yarmouth’s 1657 list of men who took the oath of fidelity. The loss of town records in a 1674 fire at the town clerk’s home further muddies the waters in sorting out the two Richards. To complicate things further, there was a Richard Taylor, also a tailor, of Boston. 

There is conflicting published information as to who Richard’s wife was—Ruth or Mary Whelden—her name is never mentioned in records. I believe, but without absolute proof, that Richard the Tailor married Mary Whelden and Richard of the Rock married Ruth Whelden, both daughters of Gabriel Whelden. Some older sources have Richard of the Rock’s wife as Ruth Burgess, daughter of Thomas, but I haven’t found anything indicating Thomas had a daughter named Ruth. In 1655, Richard Taylor, tailor, joined his brothers-in-law, Henry Whelden, John Whelden, and Richard Taylor, husbandman, in a suit against the widow of Gabriel Whelden for withholding money from Gabriel’s estate owed to his sons and sons-in-law (Robert Rodgers, Middlesex County…Records of Probate and Administration, 1999, p 147-8). I think this is the best evidence that both Richards married daughters of Gabriel. However, there are researchers who believe it was Richard the Tailor of Boston who married Mary Whelden (see WikiTree  https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Taylor-10738). 

Jillaine Smith, in her 2011 Register article “The Two Richard Taylor Families of Early Yarmouth, Mass.,” concludes that Richard the Tailor married a daughter of Gabriel Whelden, likely Mary. Richard the Tailor died in 1673 and when Ruth Taylor died in 1693 she is called wife of Richard Taylor Sr., not his widow or relict. Richard the Rock had a son Richard; Richard the Tailor did not. I need to do more research as to reasons behind surmising she married a man from Boston rather than the man literally living next door. 

As shown by his nickname, Richard was a tailor by trade. It appears he came to Yarmouth (in the part that became Dennis) as a single man, settling in the Mayfair area near Folland’s Pond (now Follins Pond) on what is now Ebb Road, where by 1644 he owned a home. He lived next door to his future father-in-law Gabriel Whelden. Many people in the neighborhood were Quakers, but I haven’t found anything about Richard’s religious convictions.  

source: Cape Cod Genealogical Society Bulletin Spring 2001

Richard Taylor was a constable in Yarmouth 1656 and 1668, surveyor of highways in 1657, and excise officer in 1664. It seems likely this is Richard the Tailor since Richard of the Rock is referred to as a poor man in James Joyce’s 1666/7 will. 

Gabriel Whelden objected to the marriage of his daughter Ruth to Richard Taylor, but as I already mentioned I believe that was Richard of the Rock. Richard went to court against Gabriel in 1646 to obtain permission to marry Ruth. The court ruled in Richard’s favor and they asked Gabriel to relent, which he did. If Richard of the Rock wasn’t considered a good provider, this could be why Gabriel was not in favor of the marriage. That would not have been the case with Richard the Tailor who seemed fairly well off. 

Richard the Tailor and Mary married by about 1645. Mary Whelden was baptized 23 December 1621 at Basford, Nottinghamshire, the daughter of Gabriel and Jane Whelden.

St. Leodegarius Church, Basford

Richard and Mary had nine children born Yarmouth, one dying as a baby. There is a lack of vital records due to the aforementioned fire, but the 1674 distribution of Richard’s estate refers to seven children (two sons and five daughters), with four named: John, Joseph, Martha, and Mary. A 1695 probate record of his daughter Sarah Taylor names the same four siblings as well as Elizabeth, Hannah, and Ann, totaling eight children (Barnstable County Probate 2:6-8). 

1. John born about 1646, m. Sarah Matthews, died 1718-1722

2. Ann Taylor, born 2 December 1648, buried 29 March 1650

3. Martha born 18 December 1650, m Joseph Bearse, died 27 Jan 1727/8

4. Mary born about 1653, m. Abishai Marchant, died 1 Feb 1717/8

5. Elizabeth born about 1656, m. Samuel Cobb, died 4 May 1721 at Barnstable 

6. Hannah born about 1658, m. Job Crocker, died 14 May 1743 at Barnstable 

7. Joseph born about 1660, m. Experience Williamson, died 13 Sept 1727 at Marshfield 

8. Ann, born about 1662, m. Josiah Davis, died 1695-1709

9. Sarah, born about 1664, died Barnstable 31 July 1695, did not marry. 

I descend from their daughter Mary.

Follins Pond   source: redfin.com

I find only one record that casts Richard in a negative light, at least for the times in which he lived. On 8 March 1670/1 “Richard Taylor Tayler” was fined 10 shillings by the Plymouth court for being in company of Sprague and others, tippling on a Sabbath afternoon, abetting them in their evil practices. (Shurtleff and Pulsifer, Records of New Plymouth, 5:53; 8:132)

Richard may have also been involved in whaling. On 6 March 1661/2, Richard Taylor, Anthony Thacher, Robert, Denis, and Thomas Boardman were involved in an appeal to Plymouth Colony Court promised to deliver two barrels from each whale, implying there had been a disagreement about this matter for the past year. (Shurtleff and Pulsifer, Records of New Plymouth, 5:123)

Tragically, Mary drowned in a shipwreck in December 1673 off the coast of Duxbury. She was about 51 years of age. On 4 December 1673, a jury of inquest was called to identify the body and cause of death of a woman: “Wee, whose names are underwritten, being impanelled on a corrowners inquest, to view a corpse found in a boate now racked, and being supposed to be the wife of Richard Tayler, sometimes of Yarmouth, and to make diligent search how the said woman came by her death, doe judge, that the boate being cast away, the woman was downed in the boate. Duxburrow, the fourth of December 1673.” Shurtleff and Pulsifer, Records of New Plymouth, 2:110) 

There’s nothing that indicates Richard died in the shipwreck, although some genealogists and historians have stated that he did. Perhaps because they died so close together that it was assumed.  Richard died probably soon before an inventory of his estate was taken on  13 December 1673, likely in Yarmouth. This is implied in this wording: “what woole and flaxe hat bin son by the daughters sense their parents death shall be accoumpted theires that spon it.” It also shows that mother and daughters were involved in the family business, creating cloth to be made into clothing. 

Richard’s inventory was taken by John Gorham and John Thacher. That he is Richard the Tailor is shown by items he owned that would be used by a tailor:  fabric, two spinning wheels, as well as pressing and smoothing irons. He also owned cows, pigs, sheep, hay, flax, meal, Indian corn, salt, barrels of beef and pork, a half firkin of butter, bushels of malt, barrel of molasses, cheese, bushels of turnips, as well as lumber and farm supplies. Household items included brass, iron and earthenware and a looking glass. He also owned a gun, sword, bullets, and gun powder. Real estate included his house, twelve acres of upland, nine acres of meadow and about three acres of broken marsh. The total was over 199 pounds excluding the ten pounds in cash due to the estate. 

The inventory also included calves, lambs, pigs and household items that he already gave to his children John, Joseph, Martha, and Mary, without any value given. 

His estate was owed over 10 pounds in cash, as well as 38.5 barrels in tar and Indian corn valued at over 9 pounds. It is also indicated that “the womans clothes” were inventoried, as Mary had recently perished in a shipwreck. 

I’d be very interested to know who took in their five minor children. 

Another record that helps clarify the wives of the two Richards: the death record of "Ruth Tayler the wife of Richard Tayler, Sr., in  Yarmouth"  dated 22 June 1693. The record identifies her as wife, not widow, of Richard. Richard the tailor died well before 1693. The will of Richard Taylor of the Rock, written a few months after the June 1693 death of Ruth, named no wife.

Sources:

Jillaine S. Smith, NEHGS Register, "The Two Richard Taylor Families of Early Yarmouth, Mass.," Vol. 165, July 2011

Charles Swift,  History of Old Yarmouth, 1884

Jan Porter and Daniel Stramara,  NEHGS Register, “The Origin of Gabriel 1 Whelden of Yarmouth and Malden, Massachusetts,” vol 163, October 2009

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

Deyo, Simeon L., editor, "History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts," HW Blake & Co., New York, 1890

Nathaniel Shurtleff and David Pulsifer, ed, Records of the Colony of New Plymouth, 12 volumes, published 1855-1861

James W. Hawes, Library of Cape Cod History and Genealogy, No. 48, “Richard Taylor Tailor and Some of His Descendants," 1914

Nathan Nye ca 1691 to 1747, and his Wife Dorothy Bryant of Sandwich, Massachusetts

Nathan Nye was born ca 1691 at Sandwich, Barnstable County, Massachusetts. His birth isn’t recorded there, but he is named as a son in John Nye’s will. His mother was Esther, whose maiden name is often given as Shed but I have not seen a source for this. This line may always be a work in progress as my Nye ancestors are consistently challenging to research! If I have my Nye family correctly sorted, Nathan Nye is my 7th great grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Davis’ side of the family.

Nathan married Dorothy Bryant on 12 April 1715 at Sandwich (Sandwich Vital Records, p. 100). I believe she is the Dorothy Bryant born 5 March 1692/93 at Scituate, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, the daughter of Daniel Bryant and Dorothy whose maiden name is unknown.

Nathan and Dorothy raised their family on Grove Street in Sandwich, a beautiful road still dotted with stately antique homes. 

Aerial view showing Grove Street front right Source: Compass Real Estate

The births of their children are recorded in Sandwich Vital Records, pg. 106-7:

Rebecca born 26 Nov 1715

Mary born 26 Apr 1718

Stephen born 06 Jun 1720

Nathan born 13 Oct 1722

Deborah born 05 Oct 1726

William born 01 Sep 1733

I descend from William who married Abigail Pope. I wrote about that couple here. 

Nathan Nye Senior, cordwainer [aka shoemaker] of Sandwich, wrote his will 14 November 1747. It was proved 20 January 1748. His bequests and inventory indicate he was a large land holder and quite well off. 

• His well-beloved wife Dorothy to have the use of all of his Sandwich real estate as long as she remains his widow. If she were to marry, she’d receive the bed and all its furnishings in the lower room as well as 100 pounds. She was also to receive a mourning cape and gown.
• Daughter Rebecca Foster to receive 100 pounds within a year of his decease. 
• Daughter Mary Bourne to receive 100 pounds within a year of his decease. 
• Daughter Deborah Nye the furniture in the northerly bed chamber and 300 pounds to be given to her within two years of his death or her marriage, whichever comes first. 
• At his wife’s marriage or death his three daughters shall have all of the household stuff that remains.
• Son Nathan Nye to receive the lot of land in the so called town neck that he bought from Edward Dillingham, upland and salt meadows in the so called Pikle being in partnership with John Freeman, salt meadow at Bass Creek being in partnership with Zacheus Wing, tract of woodland he bought from Matthias Ellis and William Bassett, a wood lot bought from John Handy, and 40 pounds in bills of credit he loaned him.
• Sons Stephen and William to equally divide carts, cart wheels, plow, plow irons, ox yokes & chains, horse gears, and all other husbandry tools.
• Sons Stephen and William the remainder of his land, meadow, and buildings in Sandwich or elsewhere.
• Son Stephen the use of the land, meadow, and buildings at the lease from Caleb Blackwell on condition he pay 60 pounds to his brother Nathan within one year of his decease. Salt meadow in Barnstable he bought of Nathan Nye of Rochester. 
• Son William the bed and furniture in the southerly bedroom and two year vantage heifer who is brown sparkled color. 
• Anything remaining in the estate should be equally divided between his three sons Stephen, Nathan, and William.
• Stephen and Nathan appointed administrators.

Nathan Nye’s 28 Jan 1747/48 inventory is quite extensive. 

It includes:

• Luxury items such as: a coat valued at 11 pounds, silver spoons, and a looking glass
• A Bible and six books
• A variety of livestock valued at 315 pounds 
• Real estate valued at 2,900 pounds

Nathan Nye Sr. died 27 November 1747 (Sandwich VR p 150). 

Dorothy Bryant Nye’s death as 1762 or 4 Nov 1761 is frequently seen online in Ancestry trees and WikiTree, but I have not found the source for either.  

Main Street, Sandwich, Grove Street off on the right Photo in Writer's Collection

Sources:

R.A. Lovell, Sandwich A Cape Cod Town, third edition published by the Sandwich Archives and Historical Center, 1996, first printing 1984

George Hyatt and Frank Best, Benjamin Nye of Sandwich, His Ancestors and Descendants, A Genealogy of the Nye Family, Nye Family Association, 1907

Amos Otis, Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families, being a reprint of the Amos Otis Papers, originally published in the Barnstable Patriot, revised by CF Swift, Volume 1 and 2, Barnstable, MA, The Patriot Press, 1888

Percy Bryant, The Register, “Descendants of John Briant, Sen., of Scituate, Mass.,” Vol. 48, 1894 

Samuel Deane, History of Scituate, Massachusetts From Its First Settlement to 1831, 1831

Will and inventory: Massachusetts Probate Records, 1686-1894; Probate Court (Barnstable County) in Barnstable, Massachusetts,  Vol 8, 1745-1753, p 232-236. Available on ancestry.com.

John Jenney born ca 1589 England, died 1643/44 Plymouth, Mass.

John Jenney was born about 1589 at Norwich, Norfolk, England, to parents whose names I have not yet learned. He is my 11th great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Davis’ side of the family. His name is sometimes spelled Jenne, Jenny, and Jennings. 

He migrated to Leiden, Holland, where he was a member of the Separatist Pilgrims. It was there he married Sarah Carey/Cary on 1 November 1614. I wrote about Sarah Carey here. In their marriage record he is identified as being of Norwich, working as a brewer’s mate, living in Rotterdam. Edward Winslow wrote: "As for the Dutch, it was usual for our members that understood the language and lived in or occasionally came over to Leyden, to communicate (i.e., take religious communion) with them, as one John Jenny, a brewer, long did, his wife and family, &c. and without any offense to the church.” Interesting to know that the Jenney’s at least understood Dutch.

John Jenney, wife Sarah, and children Samuel and Abigail came to Plymouth, arriving in August 1623 after a three-month journey on the Little James, of which John was part owner. Sarah gave birth to a son on the voyage. There is no passenger list, but Emmanuel Altham, master of the Little James, wrote in a letter to his brother in September 1623 that Goodwife Jenney gave birth to a son on board. After a long passage, the Jenney’s must have been dismayed by what they found in the new Colony as conditions were poor, with food and clothing lacking.

Children of John and Sarah Jenney:

1. Samuel born Leiden about 1616; called “eldest son” in father’s will;  m. (1) Susanna Wood; m. (2) Anne Lettice 
2. Unnamed child, buried St. Peter’s Yard, Leiden, 1618
3. Abigail, born say 1621; called “eldest daughter” in father’s will; m. Henry Wood
4. Son, born 1623 aboard Little James, died before the 1627 Plymouth cattle division
5. Sarah born about 1625; m. Plymouth 29 May 1646 Thomas Pope [PCR 2:98].
6. John born by 1627; in 1643 list of men able to bear arms; named in father’s will but not in mother’s will; no further record
7. Susanna, born say 1634, m. Benjamin Bartlett

The 1618 burial record for their unnamed child states the John Jenney family lived on Veldestraat (Field Street) in Leiden.

I descend from Sarah and her husband Thomas Pope. I wrote about that couple here.

John Jenney is on the “1633” Plymouth list of freemen among those made free before 1 January 1632/33 [PCR 1:3]. Also on the Plymouth section of 1643 list of men able to bear arms [PCR 8:188]. In the 1627 Plymouth cattle division “John Jene…his wife Sarah Jene” and Samuell, Abigail, and Sara Jene were the first five persons in the twelfth company [PCR 12:13].

John was a miller, owning the grist mill on what is now Spring Lane in Plymouth along Town Brook. It is a short walk from the water front and close to Burial Hill. There is a re-imagining of the mill on the property, Plimoth Grist Mill, previously called the Jenney Grist Mill. I’ve visited the mill and it helped bring John and Sarah to life for me. I also love seeing the herring run on the site each spring as the fish go against the current from the ocean, up Town Brook, up the fish ladder installed at the mill, all to spawn in Billington Sea (a pond, named after another of my Mayflower ancestors Francis Billington who first spied it).

John was well off financially and was at times called “gentleman” in records. In 1633 the earliest tax list shows only two men paid a higher tax than Jenney—Isaac Allerton (my 12th great-grandfather) and Gov. Winslow. On 4 September 1638 “Mr. John Jenney” purchased one-sixteenth share in a bark of 40 or 50 tons soon to be built [PCR 2:31].

The Plymouth court kept a close eye on the operation of the mill as it was such an important service in town and apparently the Jenneys didn’t always run things as the court expected. On 5 March 1638/9 “Mr. John Jenney [was] presented for not grinding corn serviceable, but to great loss & damage, both in not grinding it well, as also causing men to stay long before it can be ground, except his servant be fed…and also for not keeping his stampers going, which is much to the detriment of all.” [PCR 1:118] On 20 August 1644 “Mrs. Jenney, upon the presentment against her, promiseth to amend the grinding at the mill, and to keep mortars clean, and bags of corn from spoiling and loosing.” [PCR 2:76]

Public service was obviously important to John and he must have been a valuable, respected member of the community. He was:

• Plymouth Assistant to the Governor in 1637, 1638, 1639, 1640 [PCR 1:48, 79, 116, 140]
• Deputy for Plymouth to General Court, 1 June 1641 [PCR 2:16]
• On committee to assess the colony 2 Jan 1633/4, 2 March 1635/6 [PCR 1:26, 38)
• On committee to lay out highways 1 Oct 1634 [PCR 1:31]
• On committee to control wages and prices 5 Jan 1635/6 [PCR 1:36]
• On coroner’s jury on body of John Deacon 2 March 1635/6 [PCR 1:39]
• On committee on reuniting Plymouth and Duxbury 14 March 1635/6 [PCR 1:41] 
• On committee on revising laws 4 Oct 1636 [PCR 1:44].
• On committee to apportion hay grounds 20 March 1636/7 [PCR 1:55]
• On committee to survey meadows 5 May 1640 [PCR 1:152]
• On committee on providing soldiers against the Indians 27 Sept 1642 [PCR. 2:45] 

John Jenney was in the Plymouth section of the 1643 Plymouth Colony list of men able to bear arms [PCR 8:188].

Nathaniel Morton (my 10th great grandfather), in writing about the arrival of the Little James, noted one of “the principal passengers that came in her was Mr. John Jenny, who was a godly, though otherwise a plain man, yet singular for publicness of spirit, setting himself to seek and promote the common good of the plantation of New Plymouth, who spent not only his part of the ship (being part owner thereof) in the general concernment of the plantation, but also afterwards was always a leading man in promoting the general interest of this colony. He lived many years in New England, and fell asleep in the Lord, anno 1644.”

John Jenney had a brief feud with Samuel Chandler. On 20 May 1637 Jenney complained “against Samuel Chandler, in an action upon the case to the damage of 20 pounds, whereupon a parcel of beaver of the defendants was arrested aboard the said Mr. Jenney’s bark.” [PCR 7:6] On 2 June 1640 “Samuell Chandler complains against John Jenney, gent., in an action of trespass upon the case, to the damager of” 40 pounds, and the jury found for Chandler. [PCR 7:15-16] In 1642 and 43 he also had a dispute with Joseph Ramadan. [PCR 2:38-39, 57, 7:33-34]

Some of John Jenney’s land transactions:

• In the 1623 Plymouth land division “John Jenings” was granted five acres as a 1623 arrival [PCR 12:5].The Jenney family of five drew “land beyond the Brooke [Town Brook] to Strawberry Hill.” Described as abutting the swamp and reed ponds. Strawberry Hill was later known as Watsons. 
• Assigned hayground described as “the grounds from Job. Winslow downward to Mr. Allerton’s house, or the creek there,” 14 March 1635/6 . [PCR 1:40]  On 20 March 1636/7 assigned hay ground “where he had the last year, and to edge more upon the sedgy place, that there may be hay also got there for the team of the town.” [PCR 1:56]
• In 1635 “Mr. John Jeney” sold to George Watson “the dwelling house & garden with all the appurtenances thereunto belonging, which was sometimes Richard Maisterson’s.” [PCR 12:51] On 6 Jan 1636/7 it is “agreed that the six acres of the lands of John Jenney, and the two acres of Mrs. Fuller, lying at Strawberry Hill, enclosed by Mr. Ralph Smyth, shall be yielded up unto them this year, that they may improve them to the setting of corn, provided that the said John Jenney shall erect a dwelling house near or upon the six acres, which are to belong unto the said house as long as it sell be a dwelling.” (PCR 1:50]
• On 5 March 1637/8 “one hundred and fifty acres of lands are granted unto Mr. John Jenney, lying on the east side of the Six Mile Brook, in the way of Namascutt, to be a farm belonging to the town of Plymouth, and to be called by the name of Lakenhame. And whereas there was not enough found on the East side of said brook, the Court granted unto him a certain neck which is hundred as lowest, viz: by Lakenham Brook on the one side, and with a swamp on the other side, with a small brook in it.” [PCR 1:77]
• Webb Adey sold on 29 August 1638 to Mr. John Jenny for 17 pounds 12 shillings his house and garden in Plymouth, together with three acres of lands in the New Field. (Great Migration Begins)
• On 24 Jan 1638[/9] “Mr. John Jenney” sold to John Howland “all that his house, barns & outhouses at Rockey Nook [Rocky Nook is current day Kingston] together with all the lands thereunto belonging laid forth for the said Mr. Jenney’s shares with the which was Phillip Delanoy’s allowed him for want of measure and the five acres of meadow adjoining,” receiving as partial compensation “three acres of lands of the said John Howland lying at Caughtaughcanteist Hill.” [PCR12:41, 42]
• On 10 June 1639 “Richard Cliff of Plymouth, tailor,” sold to “Mr. John Jenney of the same…all that his house & garden with the fence about the same all that the said Richard Cluff bought of Samuell Eddy.” [PCR 12:44]
• On 16 Sept 1641 “Mr. John Jenney is granted as much more upland as will make his farm at Lakenhame two hundred acres, and when that is used, then to have more added to it, in lieu of some land he hath yielded up at the town to Gabriell Fallowell.” [PCR 2:26]
• “Mrs. Jennings” received one share in the Dartmouth lands [MD 4:187] after her husband’s death [John was involved in the negotiation of this large purchase but did not live to see it completed].

John had some education as the inventory of his estate included a small globe and a Bible and other books valued at 1 pound 1 shillings. The inventory of Sarah Jenny included “a [p]salme booke, ”Cartwright on the Remise,” “Downham’s Works,” “four old books, “Mr. Ainsworth on Genesis & Exodus,” and “a great Bible & a small one.”  

In his will dated 28 December 1643 and proved 5 June 1644 John Jenney of New Plymouth bequeathed to “my eldest son Samuell Jenney” a double portion of all his lands; to “Sarah my loving wife” for life “my dwelling house and mill adjacent with all he lands thereunto belonging”; and to the rest “of my said children John, Abigall, Sarah and Susann” a single portion; “whereas Abigail my eldest daughter had somewhat given her by her grandmother and Henry Wood of Plymouth aforesaid a suitor to her in way of marriage my will is that is she the said Abigail will dwell one full year with Mr. Charles Chauncey of Scituate before her marriage…that then my said daughter Abigail have two of my cows and my full consent to marry with the said Henry Wood.” [MD 6:169-70, citing PCPR 1:50]

The inventory of the estate of “Mr. John Jenney” was taken 25 May 1644 and totaled 108 pounds 3 shillings, 3 pence, real estate not included; a list of debts owed the estate was appended. [MD 6:171-74, citing PCPR 1:50-52]

John Jenney’s death isn’t recorded but he died  between 28 December 1643 (date of his will) and 25 May 1644 (inventory taken), at Plymouth, Mass. He was about 54 years old. His widow took over the running of the mill, followed by his son Samuel and son-in-law Thomas Pope. Samuel Thomas eventually sold their shares of the mill and surrounding property as they had moved to Dartmouth.

In her will, dated 4 April 1654 and proved 5 March 1655/56, “Mrs. Sarah Jeney of Plymouth being sick and weak in body” bequeathed thinking it “good to dispose of some small things that is my own proper goods leaving my husband’s will to take place” to “my daughter Pope” a bed and household goods and “further I bequeath to my daughter Sarah Pope all my wearing clothes to dispose of them to my daughter Abigail Wood and to my grandchild Sarah Wood for their use as they have need excepting two of my petticoats which have not been worn which I give to my daughter Sarah Pope for her pains”; to “my son Samuell Jeney and to my daughter Abigail Wood my mare equally to be divided between them”; to “my son Benjamin Bartlett all my …cattle…in the hands of Joseph Warren at the Eel River”; “my sheep be kept together till my legacies be paid”; to “the teacher Mr. John Reyner one ewe lamb”; to “the Elder Mr. Thomas Cushman one ewe lamp and the Bible which was my daughter Susanna’s”; to “my loving friend Goodwife Clarke” one ewe lamb”; “also I give one ewe lamp to Thomas Southworth.” In a codicil dated 18 August 1655 she bequeathed “that which is my own since the death of my husband I give to my tow daughters and the children of my son Samuel, excepting what I give as followers, one cold I give to the three daughters of my children viz. Sarah Wood, Susanna Pope and Sarah Jeney if she come hither to abide, or else not to have any part of this cold or anything else of my estate”; “if my son Samuel take away his children that are now here with me, then my will is that none of them shall have anything of mine…but it shall be reserved for the two boys if they do well when they come to age”; “I give unto Benjamine Bartlett only the starred cow which is at Thomas Pope’s recalling whatsoever else is mentioned in my former will”; to “my daughter Sarah Pope” household goods”; “my loving friends Capt. Standish, Elder Cushman, Thomas Clarke and Thomas Pope” overseers. [MD 8:17, citing PCPR 2:1:17-18]

The inventory of the estate of “Mrs. Sarah Jeney” was taken 18 February 1655[/6] and totaled 248 pounds 5 shillings 8 pence, including 131 pounds in real estate: “the land & meadow at Lakenham,” 7 pounds; “all the land at Strawberry Hill and meadow at the Salthouse Beach,” 14 pounds; “the Purchasers’ land” 10 pounds, and “the mill with the land belonging to it and dwelling house” 100 pounds. [MD 8:173-75, citing PCPR 2:1:18-21]

Sarah Jenney died between18 Aug 1655 (will codicil) and 5 March 1665/6 (probate of will).

Sources:

Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins, 1995

Johanna W. Tammel, comp.,The Pilgrims and other people from the British Isles in Leiden, 1576-1640, 1989

Edward Winslow, Hypocrisie Unmasked, first published in 1646, as reprinted in Alexander Young, Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers, 1841

Bertha W. Clark, The Jenney Book: John Jenney of Plymouth and his Descendants, manuscript published by Gateway Press Baltimore, 1988 

Nathaniel Morton, New England’s Memorial, 1669