By Jared L. Olar
January 2019
The English surname "Westcott" (with variants forms including "Westcote," "Wescott," Wescote," etc.) is a toponymic name indicating a family from the village of Wescote in the Parish of Marwood, near Barnstaple in Devonshire, England. In Anglo-Saxon the placename means "the western enclosure." The family history of the Wescotes of Devonshire and Somersetshire is reviewed by Roscoe L. Whitman on pages 3-9 of his 1932 History and Genealogy of the Ancestors and Some Descendants of Stukely Westcott. Whitman's intention was to identify the English ancestry of Rhode Island founding colonist STUKELY WESTCOTT (1592-1677), who married Juliann Marchante in St. John's Church at Yeovil, Somersetshire, on 5 Oct. 1619. The baptisms of two of the children of Stukely and Juliann are also recorded in the St. John's Church register at Yeovil. It is possible that our own ancestor RICHARD WESTCOTT (c.1610-c.1650), of Wethersfield and Fairfield, Connecticut, was related to Stukely Westcott, and in fact on page 11 of his book Whitman states without evidence that Richard was Stukely's older brother. The chronology shows that to be obviously impossible, though Richard could have been Stukely's nephew. Nevertheless, neither the ancestry of Stukely nor of Richard is known, and Whitman conceded as much in the concluding paragraph of his review of the English Wescote family:
"The inability to definitely trace and authoritatively record the immediate ancestors of the Founder [Stukely Wescott] is most unfortunate. In view of the extended research made in England by representatives of the late Judge J. Russell Bullock prior to 1886, and again by Mr. Edson S. Jones for a period extending over some years prior to 1902, and the later research of Mr. Fred A. Arnold, the first and last named being descendants of Stukely Westcott, it appears unlikely that the missing link in the English lineage will ever be learned. However, the records compiled here may be of service in some future and more ambitious research."
Knowing nothing of the ancestry of Richard Westcott, we turn now to an account of Richard's life and family:
1. RICHARD WESTCOTT, ancestry unknown, born circa 1610 in England, died before 11 March 1650 in Fairfield, Fairfield County, Connecticut. Richard may have been related to Rhode Island colonist Stukely Westcott (1592-1677). Richard first appears on record in 1636, when he was a resident of Wethersfield, Connecticut. He married circa 1640 in Wethersfield, Hartford County, Connecticut, to JOANNA (NN), born circa 1612 in England, died circa 1667 probably in Huntington, Long Island, New York, sister of Ann, the wife of Robert Sanford of Hartford, Connecticut. Joanna's date of birth is calculated from the fact that she was 55 years old in 1667. Joanna's maiden name is unknown -- previously it was speculated that Joanna and Ann were daughters of Jeremy Adams, but the most recent studies have disproven that speculation. Richard and Joanna had two sons and two daughters.
Westcott genealogists in the past promulgated several errors regarding Richard's genealogy. For example, Roscoe L. Whitman's 1932 History and Genealogy of the Ancestors and Some Descendants of Stukely Westcott, page 11, presents this not entirely accurate account of Richard Westcott and his actual and putative family:
"Historians agree that Richard and William Westcott, who are first learned of at Salem in the Massachusetts Bay colony in 1636, were brothers of Stukely Westcott. Laura LaMance, author of 'The Greene Tree,' places them in England at Great Torrington, just off Barnstaple Bay and not far from the field of Wescote. She states that 'Great Torrington was called the 'hot bed of Puritanism,' and sent (to America) the Hugh Parsons, the Hills, and the Westcotts and some of the Waites.
"Hugh Parsons, by his first wife who died before he left England, had a daughter, Mary, who in 1611 married Richard Westcott who was born in 1588 and was the eldest of the brothers. Some time after reaching the colony of Rhode Island, Parsons married Elizabeth England, widow of William England, and thus became the step-father of Ellen England, wife of Jeremiah Westcott, youngest of the children of Stukely.
"Whether William Westcott was married there is no record. With his brother Richard, he left Salem and in 1639 settled at Wethersfield, Conn. They removed in 1644 to Fairfield, Conn., where Richard died in 1651. His widow marred Nathaniel Baldwin. Two sons and two daughters were born to Richard: John, Daniel, Joanna (m-John Weed), Abigail (m-Moses Knapp) . . . ."
The problems with Whitman's account should be obvious. First, while it is possible that the New England colonists Richard, William, and Stukely Westcott were related, that is only a possibility, and we do not know that they were brothers. In fact, if they were related then chronology would indicate that Richard was perhaps a nephew of Stukely, not a brother. There is also no basis for the oft-repeated claim that Richard first lived in Salem, Massachusetts. But the most serious error is that Richard Westcott of Wethersfield and Fairfield could not have been the Richard Westcott whose marriage to Mary Parsons is recorded on 17 Nov. 1611 in the parish register of Great Torrington, Devonshire, England. Significantly, Whitman relies on LaMance -- but LaMance says (incorrectly) that Stukely Westcott was a son of Richard Westcott and Mary Parsons, whereas Whitman claims Stukely was Richard's younger brother. Chronologically, Richard Westcott of Great Torrington could be the father our Richard Westcott -- as some Westcott descendants believe -- but there is no positive proof that he was. Finally, Richard Westcott of Wethersfield's wife was named Joanna, not Mary.
What is known of Richard Westcott is summarised in this entry from James Savage's Genealogical Dictionary of The First Settlers of New England, Vol. 4, page 486-87:
"RICHARD, Wethersfield 1639-44, rem. to Fairfield, there d. a. 1651, leav. four ch. John; Daniel; Joanna; and Abigail. His wid. Joanna m. Nathaniel Baldwin; d. Joanna m. a. 1664, John Weed; and Abigail, m. a. 1669, Moses Knapp. Tho. both the s. liv. many yrs. at Stamford, nothing more can be told of either; but they were gone by d. or rem. bef. 1700."
Donald Lines Jacobus goes into greater detail in his History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield, Vol. 1, page 660:
"Westcott, Richard. Served in Pequot War, 1637.
He settled in Wethersfield by 1636 and bought Samuel Clark's homestead; sold it to John Stoddard, 1645, and
removed to Fairfield, where he d. before 11 March 1649/50.
He m. Joanna, sister of the wife of Robert Sanford of Hartford. She m. (2) Nathaniel Baldwin of Fairfield, and
(3) Thomas Skidmore of Fairfield.
On 14 Feb. 1664 ([1664/5], John Weed of Stamford, husband of Joanna dau. of Richard Westcott, receipted to his
father-in-law Thomas Skidmore. Daniel Westcott receipted same date; and on 4 Jan. 1669 [1669/70] Moses Knapp,
husband of Abigail Westcott receipted, and on 9 Nov. 1666 John Westcott receipted."
After Richard's death, his widow Joanna remarried after March 1648 but before 1650 to NATHANIEL BALDWIN, born circa 1607 in Cholesbury, Buckinghamshire, England, died March 1658 in Fairfield, Connecticut. Joanna and Nathaniel had two daughters, Sarah Baldwin and Deborah Baldwin, and a son, Samuel Baldwin -- all three children are named in Joanna's 1667 will. Joanna may be the "Goody Baldwin" who was a witness in the 1653 witchcraft trial of Goody Knapp, and who visited Goody Knapp in an attempt to persuade Knapp to falsely accuse Mary Staples of witchcraft (see R. G. Tomlinson's Witch Trials of Connecticut: First Comprehensive Documented History, page 7, and The Baldwin Genealogy: From 1500 to 1881, pages 406-407).
That would not be the only time this family was affected by 17th. century New England Calvinist witchcraft hysteria. A generation later, members of the family of Richard and Joanna Westcott -- including their son Daniel Westcott and his wife Abigail, and their granddaughter Lydia (Knapp) Pennoyer -- were involved in or testified as witnesses in the 1692 witchcraft trials of Elizabeth Clawson and Mercy Disbrow. Donald Lines Jacobus reviewed Richard Westcott's life in his History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield, Vol. 1, pages 661-62, offers these remarks on the involvement of Daniel and Abigail Westcott and their niece Lydia Pennoyer in this witchcraft trial:
"In 1692, [Sgt. Daniel Westcott's] French girl, Katharine Branch, ae. 17, showed symptoms of being bewitched, threw fits, and reveled in the attention she attracted. Sergt. Westcott took the matter seriously and in May 1692 made the formal complaint which resulted in the trial of Elizabeth (wife of Stephen) Clawson and of Mercy (wife of Thomas) Disbrow. The testimony mentions Westcott's wife Abigail and eldest dau. 'Johannah,' and states his age. Lydia Penoyer testified that her aunt Abigail Westcott said 'her servant girl Caten branch was such a Lying gairl that not anyboddy Could beleiue one word what shee said'; and Abigail further showed good sense by asserting her disbelief that any of the accused women were witches."
Some time after Nathaniel Baldwin's death, Joanna married a third time to THOMAS SKIDMORE, born circa 1605 in Westerleigh, Gloucestershire, England, died Nov. 1684 in Fairfield, Connecticut. Joanna made her will in 1667 and died soon after that. Thomas remarried in 1672 to SARAH, widow of Ralph Keeler of Norwalk, Connecticut.
The children of Richard and Joanna Westcott were:
-- JOHN WESTCOTT, born circa 1641, married Ruth Hyatt.
-- DANIEL WESTCOTT, born circa 1643, married Abigail Gaylord.
-- JOANNA WESTCOTT, born circa 1645, married John Weed.
2. ABIGAIL WESTCOTT, born circa 1647 in Fairfield, Connecticut.
2. ABIGAIL WESTCOTT, daughter of Richard and Joanna Westcott, born circa 1647 in Fairfield, Fairfield County, Connecticut. Abigail married on 1 Oct. 1668 in Stamford, Connecticut, to MOSES KNAPP, born circa 1630 (or possibly circa 1645) probably in Watertown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, or perhaps in England, died before 1726 in Stamford, Connecticut, son of Nicholas and Elinor Knapp. As noted above, Moses Knapp receipted on 4 Jan. 1670, in the right of his wife, for his share of the estate of his late father-in-law Richard Westcott:
"January 4, 1669 - These presents testifieth that I Moses Knapp of Greenwich do acknowledge that I have received of my father in law Thomas Skidmore of Fairfield all my legacie was due to Abigail Westcott that is now my wife from her fathers estate. And I do by these presents freely acquit and discharge my father Skidmore or any other for paying any further claim thereto, as witness my hand ye day and dated above written. Moses Knapp. Witness: Samuel Baldwin, The Ward of Sarah Baldwin"
Moses and Abigail had only four children, all of them daughters, and all born in Stamford. The genealogical account, "Descendants of Nicholas Knapp," at CTGenWeb.org, provides these comments on the actual and putative children of Moses and Abigail, also addressing the question of when Moses and Abigail died:
"Early genealogies claim that Moses and Abigail had three additional sons and a daughter, e.g., Israel, Jonas & Moses, and Mary. Current research indicates that Moses & Abigail had daughters only as shown in this report, based on a 14 Feb 1712/13 Deed [Stamford, CT - Deeds, Vol "B":185], in which Moses bonds his sons-in-law, Thomas Pennoyer, Nathaniel Cross and Samuel Husted 'to maintain their father & mother-in-law for their lifetime.' John Crissey was not considered in this Deed as his wife, Abigail, had died prior to this time and he had remarried. There are no records that would indicate a male in this family and is further proven by the fact that, had there been any male offspring living in 1712/13, by law, he would have established an 'heir of right' to the estate of Moses & Abigail. There are no records extant that would prove otherwise. Simply put, Moses, no doubt, would have bonded a son in lieu of his sons-in-law, were he to have had such a son. Samuel Husted, the remaining son-in-law, requested relief from the 1712/13 Deed in 1725/26, thus indicating that Moses and Abigail were both deceased at that time."
The daughters of Moses and Abigail Knapp were:
-- LYDIA KNAPP, born 1670.
-- ABIGAIL KNAPP, born circa 1671, died 8 Feb. 1707 in Stamford, Connecticut, married John Crissey.
-- HANNAH KNAPP, born circa 1672, died after 1720 in Greenwich, Connecticut, married Nathaniel Cross.
-- SARAH KNAPP, born circa 1673, died 20 Nov. 1717 in Stamford, Connecticut, married Samuel Husted.
Wescott Genealogy Resources:
Wescott Genealogical Information Richard Wescott of Wethersfield and Fairfield, Connecticut Joanna ____, wife of Richard Wescott