Francis Weston

     Francis Weston was born in 1605/6 at England.¹ He married Margeret (?).¹ Francis Weston died on 1 January 1692 at Duxbury, Plymouth Co, Massachusetts.¹
     The contention that Francis of Duxbury was actually a Weston who changed his name first appeared in print in Dorothy Wentworth's Settlement and Growth of Duxbury (p.96). Through the author the point was traced to a manuscript genealogy in the public library at Duxbury, with the title "The Weston Families of Duxbury", by Samuel K. Weston. In this work the compiler stated that Francis Weston changed his name after the court sentence of 1640, perhaps from shame and wishing to disassociate himself from the Westons, This genealogy also suggested that Francis might have been a brother of Edmund Weston.
The problem of WEST?Weston is first encountered in connection with the tax list of 25 Mar. 1633 (PCR­CO 1:8), on which a name appears to be Francis Weston. Justin Winsor, in examining the Duxbury records while preparing his History of…Duxbury, also transcribed the name as Weston but with misgivings, so he printed it as "Weston (West?)''. He evidently later decided that references to Francis Weston meant Francis West, because, in his treatment of the Weston family (pp. 334­336) he made no reference to any Francis Weston of the period, even in his note of unidentified Westons. The confusion seems to have arisen with a difficulty in interpreting the records. The name was sometimes written with a slight twist of the pen after the "t" which may have been only a casual stroke or flourish or a sign for the suffix "on", Nathaniel Shurtleff, in editing the Colony records read the name as Weston in the tax list of 1633, in the list of freemen of the same year (although the name was later canceled), and in the record of the marriage to Margery Reeves. The Francis on the list of freemen must actually have been that of a Weston because Francis West was not made a freeman until 1655. Elsewhere in the printed records the name appears as West.
There are few references in either the Colony or the Duxbury records to any Francis Weston. In fact, aside from the references mentioned above, there is only one other, the mention of a Francis who in 1679 was described as deceased (PCR­CO 6:22). Whoever he was, he could not have been Francis West, who died in 1692.
In general, it has been accepted that Francis was West and not a Weston. Neither Judge Zebulon West Samuel West, both of whom were great grandsons of Francis, made any mention of the Weston name. Furthermore, it is evident that on occasion the two names were simply confused. A clear case of such a situation may be found in connection with the settlement of the estate of Thomas Howell. Letters of administration were granted to Edmund Weston 7 June 1648 (PCR­CO 2:127), but it was later recorded that a claim against the estate was paid by Edmund West (PCR­CO 2:141). No other reference to any Edmund West has been found. No direct evidence has been uncovered to support the claim that Francis changed his name. Such a claim seems to have been based principally on the fact that Nathsmiel Shurtleff, as he edited the Colony records, read the name as Weston in entries before 1640 and as West thereafter. The implied decision of Justin Winsor has been discussed above.
Marriages of four of the five children mentioned by Judge Zebulon West have been found, although nothing is known of Mary. These four, at least, must have been children of Francis. Except for Twyford West, there was no other Wests in the colony who could their parents. The following information about Twyford was found in Mary Lovering Holman's Ancestry of Charles Stinson Pillsbury... (p. 847). Late in 1650 Twyford moved to Rowley, Mass. and later to Ipswich. He married and had at least five children, some at Rowley and some at Ipswich. He made his will 5 Dec. 1683, and it was probated 1 Jan. 1683 [i.e. 1684?]. He mentioned four children and it should be noted that none of them bore the names of any of those ascribed to Francis West.
Francis Weston was an early settler in Salem, was originally a friend and supporter of Roger Williams, whom he followed in exile to Rhode Island. His second wife, Margaret, was a follower of Samuel Gorton, as became her husband and daughter Lucy. All were condemned by the local authorities at Salem and eventually banished to Rhode Island. Banks contends that Margaret later "became of hopelessly unsound mind." This was the environment that Banks cuts Pease some slack in his "forcible repression" of his mother-in-law, saying that "Doubtless she deserved forcible repression, and invited it by her actions."² Francis Weston was also known as Francis West.¹