THOMAS WESCOTT [#118], b. abt. 1702, m. Middleborough, MA 29 Oct 1723 HANNAH REYNOLDS (dau. of Electious Reynolds and Mary Pease), b. Middleborough 13 Oct 1702.
In his book, Whitman makes the claim that Thomas Wescott was born about 1702 in Warwick, Rhode Island to Jeremiah and Mary (Warner) Wescott. He drew his conclusion from similarity of names in the families.[4/186] Whether Whitman needed glasses is not given, but he was able to see things that are not readily apparent. He further makes the claim that Thomas deeded land in Warwick to his brother Jeremiah in 1725.[4/186] A search of the Warwick records revealed that no such deed exists, nor is there any record of it. Needless to say, the connection between Thomas Wescott of Middleborough and the Wescotts of Warwick is very tenuous. On the other hand there is information that may help connect the two familes. At the time of his marriage to Hannah Reynolds, Thomas was a resident of Dighton, Massachusetts.[3/4:72] Dighton is about halfway between Middleborough and Providence, RI. Furthermore there were two other Wescott men in Middleborough at the same time Thomas was there. Richard "Wascott" and his wife Bethiah had a son, Thomas, born there Nov. 26, 1717[3/8:28] and James Westcott married there June 26, 1728 to Mary Dekins.[3/5:39] It is quite likely that these two men were brothers of Thomas or were at least related and finding their parents might lead to those of Thomas. In fact, Whitman claims that Richard[4/143] and James[4/185] were brothers of Thomas and all three were children of Jeremiah. More connection with Dighton can be seen from Bristol county deeds. James Wescott of Berkley bought 50 (or 60) acres in Dighton from Peter Pitts on April 11, 1739.[2/28:307] He sold this land to John Hathaway of Freetown on Dec. 7, 1741.[2/30:330] James and Mary's children were Cornelius, 2/4/1730; Joannah, 8/29/1731; Richard, 8/14/1732; James, 2/4/1735; and Abigail, 2/4/1737.
Whether Thomas was the son of Jeremiah and Mary or not, he was almost certainly a descendant of Stukely Westcott, the immigrant. For information on Stukely and other possible ancestors of Thomas Wescott, refer to the Westcott family in the possible ancestors section.
As for Thomas, the first record of him is his marriage at Middleborough in 1723 by Peter Thatcher. On December 12, 1724 he described himself as "now living in Middleboro".[1/18:162] However he bought land on January 7, 1730-1 as Thomas Wescott of Freetown.[1/26:45] Freetown is about ten miles south of Middleborough. Thomas held this land until December 14, 1762 when he and Hannah were living back in Middleboro.[1/51:181] To further confuse the issue on December 24, 1764 "Aaron Seekins of Freetown, laborer, sold to Thomas Westcoat of Freetown, husbandman" a certain parcel of land.[2/48:65] Neither probate nor death records exist for Thomas and Hannah, but they were living on December 16, 1774 when they sold the land acquired from their son-in-law Aaron Seekins to their son Benjamin. They were again listed as residing in Freetown. Thomas was also alive on August 19, 1777 on which date he acknowledged this deed.[2/58:14]
REF: [1] Plymouth County Deeds
[2] Bristol County Deeds
[3] Middleborough, MA Vital Records (Mayflower Descendant 4:72,
6:229, 9:49, 15:217)
[4] The Genealogy of Stukely Westcott - Roscoe L. Whitman, 1932,
1937
[5] Descendants of Electious Reynolds - Susan Rogers Clement,
privately published newsletter (e-mail: [email protected])
[6] Family Tree Maker website Report on Descendants of Stukeley
Westcott - apparently by Rebecca L. Brown
Children (all born in Middleborough, MA):
1. Hannah, b. 7 Apr 1725, m. Middleboro 17 Apr 1746 Aaron Seekins, b. abt. 1725, d. 15 Dec 1777 2. Mary, b. 1 Nov 1726, m. Middleboro 22 May 1747 Alexander Pegley/Pigsley (son of Robert Pigsley and Hannah Paul), b. Dighton 7 Sep 1719, d. NH 1790-1800, res. Grafton, NH Chil. (surname Pigsley):[5] 1) John, b. Dighton 1748, d. Bethany, Genesee Co., NY 1825, m(1) Freetown 1772 Abigail Hoskins, m(2) 1777 Anna Rouse; res. VT 1790-1810; 2) Joseph, b. Dighton 1749, d. Freetown 1821, m(1) Freetown 1772 Hannah Raymond, m(2) Freetown Hannah Westgate Pittsley (widow of his brother Benjamin), res. Grafton, NH Freetown and Plymouth, MA; 3) Alexander, b. abt. 1753, d. Strafford, VT aft. 1843, m(1) Anna ___, m(2) Grafton, NH widow Hannah Stevens; 4) Benjamin, b. abt. 1756, d. Plymouth, MA 1796, m(1) 1774 Sarah Raymond, m(2) Hannah Westcoat (dau. of Thomas Westcott and Elizabeth Braley), res. Freetown and Dartmouth, MA and Grafton, NH; 5) Hannah, living in Grafton, NH 1786; 6) Levi, living in Grafton, NH through 1811 3. Sarah, b. 7 Aug 1729, m. Middleborough 5 Jan 1753 William Sprague 4. Joseph, b. 15 Apr 1732, m. Middleboro 11 Jul 1757 Judah Booth 5. Margaret, b. 7 Feb 1733-4, m. 16 Aug 1753 Josiah Haskell, b. Middleboro 17 Jan 1730-1 6. Benjamin, b. 25 Apr 1736 7. Thomas, b. 2 Apr 1738, m. 28 Oct 1757 Elizabeth Braley, b. Middleboro 30 Sep 1740 Chil.:[6] 1) Hannah, b. 23 Nov 1759; 2) Thomas, b. 10 Sep 1761; 3) Benjamin, b. 31 Aug 1764, d. 19 Apr 1823; 4) Elizabeth, b. 21 Jul 1766, d. 11 Jul 1836; 5) Tryphena, b. 25 Jul 1769; 6) Joseph, b. Dartmouth 19 Jul 1771, d. Lebanon, Grafton Co., NH 12 May 1844, m. Freelove Kimball, b. 14 Jun 1776, d. Lebanon 10 Feb 1815; 7) Mary, b. 12 May 1773; 8) William, b. 19 Apr 1775, d. Freetown; 9) Louisa, b. Dartmouth 28 Oct 1777, d. Freetown 8. Phebe, b. 16 Oct 1740, m. Freetown, MA 17 Jul 1755 Ambrose Braley Jr., b. 30 Sep 1732
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