Genealogy of Patty Rose
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| Notes for Capt. John WILLIAMS | ||||||||||
| - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - John, 17 Feb. 1680 [ref 20] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - JOHN,3 Capt., b. Feb. 17, 1679-80[Hv]; m. 1st, Hannah* Knowlton; 2d, Mary (___); res. Norwich, afterwards Preston, Ct.; became wealthy and influential; d. Jan., 1741-2. In Williams Genealogy, 1847, pp. 321-5, he is erroneously considered an "original emigrant." [ref 36:361] *probable error - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - John Williams, s. Joseph and Mary (Fuller), Feb. 17, 1679. [ref 51] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - JOHN3 WILLIAMS (Joseph2, John1) was born in Haverhill, Mass., 17 Feb., 1679/80, and died in Poquetannock, Conn., 11 Jan., 1741/2. Of his early life we are profoundly ignorant and the earliest reference to him that we have is in a deed, made by the same Josiah Gaylord as before, on 2 Dec., 1702, to transfer 15 acres of land. This demonstrates that he moved to Norwich, as would be natural, not much later than his father, and agrees with the tradition attributed to a grandson of his, which gives that year as the date of his coming, when he was just at his majority. Subsequently to this, in conjunction with his father, and also by himself alone, he is purchaser of a number of tracts in the vicinity totaling several hundred acres. The list of those from whom he purchased is interesting: Joseph and James Elderkin, Benjamin, Samuel and Jabez Fitch, Jonathan and Joseph Brewster, Daniel Leffingwell, Matthew Coye, Samuel Rockwell, William Spicer, Caleb Bushnell and Josiah Gaylord. He also was granted several tracts of land in consideration of money paid for the building of the meeting-house. There is ample testimony to his prominence among his fellow townsmen through the two score years of his after life. In early days, when Poquetannock was wholly within the limits of Norwich, he was one of its selectmen from 1721 to 1728 and later, an office of no trivial responsibility and honor. In 1735 there was a petition to the General Assembly of the State that the Supreme Court in March and the Superior Court in November, for the County of New London, might be held in Norwich thereafter, and the petition was granted. Of the committee on the part of the town three men are named, of whom John Williams is the first. Two years after, in 1737, a bridge over the Shetucket was demanded to connect the "Landing" (Chelsea or Norwich City) with the East Society (Preston), whereupon a public subscription was taken up to defray the cost, and again he appears conspicuous as the highest contributor on the list, the full number of names being eighty-three. His interest in military affairs is shown in the two commissions he obtained from the State Assembly, in 1721 as Lieutenant, and in 1735 as Captain, in the 5th Company of the Eastern Society of Norwich, by which titles he is always referred to in town records and deeds thereafter. These were not as empty and complimentary as they too frequently have been in later days, and were the highest grades known to the colonists in times of peace. He was active not only in local affairs and [ref 81:47] in the school of the soldier, but socially, religiously, and as a publicspirited citizen. He was influential as few others have been, in reaching out for new fields in the opening up of trade, and in the bringing of fresh business to the port of Norwich, which was just beginning at that early epoch to give promise of its subsequent importance. He engaged in the business of building ships and trading in them to foreign parts. We read of vessels as early as 1715, venturing in the trade with the Barbadoes, and, although we do not know the names of the merchants connected with the enterprise, we may be assured that John3 Williams was not behind in supporting it. We know that he owned two warehouses at the "Landing," besides a wharf. He developed the possibilities of the water-power at Poquetannock, where we learn of his having a sawmill, a gristmill and a fulling-mill. There was abundance of sheep in the neighborhood yielding wool in great plenty; and a fulling-mill, which, without doubt, included the entire manufacture of cloth as it was understood at that time, was a crying necessity. The mill seat was bought 7 May, 1720, and the adjoining farm 26 Oct., 1723. Upon purchasing the latter he erected the dwelling house, which is still standing (1925) and has been an object of veneration for succeeding generations. It is situated at the bend of the road just before one enters the village of Poquetannock from the present city of Norwich, which is distant perhaps five miles by the river route. The house is on an eminence overlooking the spot where formerly stood the mill, and whence is had a fine view towards the west, of the waters of the cove. These waters were famous then and for years after for a very fine variety of oysters. The house is a large frame structure of Colonial type. The main floor is built upon three different levels, one parlor being higher than the other, and the dining-room (the old kitchen) which opens into both, higher than either, necessitating a very high step into it from one of the front rooms. The latter is wainscoted to the ceiling and has a three-cornered cupboard built in. Half a dozen of the old soup-plates from China that graced its shelves in the olden time are now in the possession of a Williams of the ninth generation. One of its renowned features was the fire-place faced with quaint Dutch tiles illustrating Scripture texts. This gave the house a reputation for miles around, and it is part of the testimony [ref 81:48] going to show it to have been the property of a man of wealth. Those tiles were imported from Holland at no little cost. The house was owned and occupied by Williams descendants for five or six generations when it was sold in 1856 to Erastus Hewitt. He, after nearly fifty years of occupancy sold it in 1904 to Henry Hart, the present owner. The old mill was burned a short time before. John3 Williams must certainly have been a man of charitable impulses. The records of 1711 and again of 1715 make mention of his contributions to the building of the meeting-house in Norwich for which there was granted a piece of land in requital; and he is credited with having made a gift of the land at "Long Society," which includes the church site and the graveyard adjoining, where are buried the remains of its benefactor together with those of his wife and others of his family. Great inconvenience had been experienced by the people dwelling in the East Society, particularly those in the extreme south-eastern outskirts of the ecclesiastical district where Poquetannock was situated, in attending divine worship some seven or eight miles distant; for every individual was not only compelled to pay church rates, but was also expected to attend service regularly. After petitioning ineffectually in the matter for a period extending through upwards of a score of years, the privilege was grudgingly given to those devout citizens to erect a new and distinct parish, on which they bestowed the name of "Long Society" because of the narrow width of its territorial limitations. The place for this house of worship was some three and a half miles due north of Poquetannock village, on the road hence to the Shetucket Ferry, by which the Sabbath journeyings must have been shorn of fully half their former length. The services were begun in 1726 under the pastorate of the Rev. Jabez Wight, of Dedham, Mass., a graduate of [ref 81:49] Harvard College, who continued there until he died, in 1782, aged 82, and since then no other preacher has been settled in his place, even the building having been suffered to go to decay. Many years ago a new frame structure was built in its stead as a mission Sunday School under the auspices of the Congregationalist Society. This was used later as a town hall. That John3 Williams was a man of mark and one of the most prosperous in the colonies for his day and generation is a matter of record. In the diary of Joshua Hempstead, of New London, a most faithful record of current affairs, excelling the daily newspapers of the 18th century, is found this entry: "Jan. 12. 1741/2, Capt. John Williams died at Poquetannock, of pleurisy after seven days illness. He was a good Commonwealth's man, traded much by sea and land with good success for many years, and acquired wholly by his own industry a great estate. He was a very just dealer aged about 60 years." His total estate was estimated at �21,727. Among the personal effects were five negroes valued at �600. Very few fortunes in the early days of the eighteenth century, particularly in the United Colonies, approached anything like this figure. The will provides for his son Joseph not yet of age, the only child surviving (and the only one to carry down the Williams name), his two sons-in-law, and his widow Mary, who was made executrix. The old burial ground at "Long Society" has had no interment for many years. Names familiar in local history are found there on the old stones. The ground is uneven and somewhat rocky, and in the northwest quarter, back of the meeting-house, far away from the noise and dust of the country road, are a number of slate head stones, that were imported from Wales, especially interesting to the descendants of John3 Williams. This cluster of graves of himself, his wife, and his children, lies on the declivity of a little hill, at whose foot babbles a narrow brook, and no others are beyond or below them. [ref 81:50] John3 Williams married in Norwich, 26 June, 1706/7, Mary Knowlton (Thomas3 and Hannah Green) born in Ipswich, Mass., 29 Mar., 1681, died in Poquetannock, Conn., 9 Mar., 1749. Thomas3 removed to Norwich, Conn., in 1698, where he owned land between the Shetucket and Quinnebaug Rivers. He was living in Norwich in 1715 but died in Ipswich 28 Feb., 1717. "Mary Knowlton, daughter of Thomas, was a member of the Norwich church in 1709." Children of John3 Williams and Mary Knowlton, born in Poquetannock: Mary, Benjamin, Joseph, Zipporah, Joseph. [ref 81:51] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - children 1714-23: Mary, Benjamin, Joseph, Zipporah, Joseph buried in the old burial ground at "Long Society," Norwich: Here lyes Buried | ye Body of Capt | John Williams | who died Jany 11th | 1741. Aged 61 years | 10 months & 22 das. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - | ||||||||||
| Notes for Mary KNOWLTON | ||||||||||
| - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - daughter of Thomas KNOWLTON and Hannah GREEN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mary Knowlton birth 29 Mar 1681 Ipswich Essex /d Thomas [ref 76] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mary Knowlton, in her will dated 11 Oct., 1742, probated 10 Apr., 1749, bequeathed to her two sons-in-law, Nathaniel Giddings and James Geer, �2.10.00 each, to her three granddaughters, Sarah and Mary Giddings and Zipporah Geer, �100 each, and the residue of her estate was left "to my beloved son Joseph." She made benevolent use of her wealth, among other things endowing the chapel at "Long Society" which she and her husband had built. William1 and William2 Knowlton came from Kent, England, in 1632. The family seat was at Knowlton Manor, six miles from Canterbury. In America they lived first in Nova Scotia, then in Hingham, Mass., and settled finally before 1641 in Ipswich. [ref 81:51] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - buried in the old burial ground at "Long Society," Norwich: Here Lyes ye Body | of | Mary Williams | wife to | Capt John Williams | who dyed March 9. 1749 | in the 67th year of her age - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - | ||||||||||
| Last Modified 3 Oct 2004 | Created 4 Jan 2005 |