Elizabeth Fones (1610 - abt. 1673)

Born 21 Jan 1610 in Groton, Suffolk, England

Ancestors

Wife of Henry Winthrop — married 25 Apr 1629 in England

Wife of Robert Feake — married about 2 Dec 1631 in Watertown, Massachusetts [uncertain]

Wife of William Hallett Sr. — married about Aug 1649 in Church-at-the-Fort, New Amsterdam [uncertain]

Descendants

Died about 1 Feb 1673 at about age 63 in New Town, Yorkshire, New Netherland (later Newtown Township, Queens County, New York)

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Albert Taylor [send private message], New Netherland Settlers WikiTree [send private message], Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree [send private message], Joyce Weaver [send private message], and Carolyn Lynett [send private message]

Elizabeth Fones migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Elizabeth Fones was a New Netherland settler. Join: New Netherland Settlers Project Discuss: new_netherland

Biography

Elizabeth Fones is Notable.

Elizabeth Fones immigrated to New England between 1621 and 1640 and later departed for Newtown, Long Island

See Wikipedia Elizabeth Fones for a biographical sketch.

Elizabeth was an early settler in the Massachusetts Bay Colony where her father-in-law (and uncle) John Winthrop served as Governor. Her subsequent behavior would scandalize the Puritan colony.^[1]

Elizabeth Fones Winthrop Feake Hallett was born on 21 Jan 1610 at Groton Manor, Suffolk, England, at the home of her mother’s parents.^[2]

Birth Family

Children of Thomas Fones and Anne Winthrop: ^{[3] [4]}

1. Dorothy Fones, b. October 24, 1608, Groton Suffolk, England.
2. . John Fones, b. 1610, Groton Suffolk, England. :
3. Elizabeth Fones, b. January 21, 1610, Groton Suffolk, England.
4. Martha Fones, b. 1611, Groton Suffolk, England
5. . Ann Fones, b. 1612, Groton Suffolk, England.
6. Samuel Fones, b. 1616.

The Winthrop Woman

Anya Seton's historical novel about Elizabeth,The Winthrop Woman ^[5], offers a variety of insights into Elizabeth's life in England and the New World.)

"Bess" was the nickname that her family attached to Elizabeth as a young child. This is based on the Seton book, The Winthrop Woman, that starts in the first pages with Bess as a very little girl, then uses the name for more than 4 decades of her novel. Seton had access to many diaries and letters of the Winthrop family, so it is assumed that she correctly established the nickname that was used thru the 580 pages by those close to to her. Seton properly included hundreds of historic names and accurate factual events in the novel, based on her prodigious research.

Seton said that the last direct documentary fact-event for Elizabeth was a Oct 1, 1655 record of land purchase by Elizabeth in Flushing and Newtown, Long Island. Her daughter Hannah Feake and John Bowne were married in 1656, and Daughter Lisbet (Elizabeth) in 1661, but no documents on those events have been found listing Elizabeth.

Early life

Her father was Thomas Fones, a London apothecary; her mother was Anne Winthrop Fones, sister of John Winthrop, a staunch Puritan and the eventual governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

As a young girl, Elizabeth worked at her father's shop in London. To the dismay of her family, she entered a whirlwind courtship with her first cousin Henry Winthrop and they were married on 25 April 1629, at the Church of St. Sepulchre at New Gate, London. A year later, her husband sailed for the Massachusetts Bay Colony on the ship Talbot, leaving his young bride behind in England on account of her pregnancy. The baby, a daughter named Martha Johanna Winthrop, was born on 9 May 1630 at Groton Manor.

A day after his arrival in Massachusetts (on 1 July 1630), Henry died in a drowning accident when he went swimming in the North River after visiting an Indian village near Salem. Henry Winthrop was twenty-two years of age, and he left Elizabeth a widow in England. [1]

Marriages

1. Henry Winthrop April 25, 1629, at St. Sepulchre, London, England.
2. Robert Feake 2 DEC 1631 Watertown Middlesex Massachusetts. >^[6][2].
3. William Hallett Sr..

Life in Massachusetts

In 1631, Bess sailed on the second voyage of the Lyon to Plymouth/Salem Massachusetts. Within a year, at the instigation of her father-in-law, she married Robert Feake, a goldsmith and merchant who had migrated from London. They settled in Watertown, Massachusetts, and Elizabeth had five children by him. (Watertown was one of the earliest of the Massachusetts Bay settlements. It was begun early in 1630 by a group of settlers led by Sir Richard Saltonstall and the Rev. George Phillips and officially incorporated that same year.)

• 25 July 1636 - ESTATE: Granted eighty acres in the Great Dividend in Watertown, [WaBOP 4]
• 28 February 1636/7 - granted twenty-four acres in the Beaverbrook Plowlands, [WaBOP 7]
• 26 June 1637 - granted forty acres in the Remote Meadows, [WaBOP 8]; granted nine acres at the Town Plot, 9 April 1638 [WaBOP 11]

Life in Connecticut

In 1640, Robert Feake and Daniel Patrick purchased the site of Greenwich, in present-day Connecticut, from the Indians. It fell for a time under Dutch authority. The act of submission was signed by Daniel Patrick and Elizabeth Feake, acting in the absence and illness of her husband, who had returned to England.

Elizabeth eventually became sole owner of the land; now known as Greenwich Point, it was then referred to as Elizabeth Neck.

Greenwich Point, Connecticut, also known as Elizabeth Neck, for Elizabeth Fones Winthrop Feake Hallet

Elizabeth Neck in relation to surrounding countryside

Life on Long Island

At some point, Elizabeth ("Bess") divorced Robert and married William Hallett. (For a detailed examination of her divorce and marriage to Hallett, see “When and Where were William Hallett and Elizabeth Fones Winthrop Feake married?” by Will Hallett (posted on 11 Nov 2013).

Her brother-in-law, who had become governor of Connecticut, John Winthrop, Jr., interceded with Peter Stuyvesant, asking that he honor the agreement made between William Hallett (Feake’s farm manager) and Feake. Feake had consented to it before going to England "knowing [Hallett] to be industrious and careful." Winthrop also asked that Hallett be allowed back into Greenwich to improve the land there. [WP 5:338-39].

Stuyvesant agreed. Elizabeth wrote to her cousin John Winthrop, Jr., on 10 January 1652/3 that: "Our habitation is by the whirlpool which the Dutchmen call the Hellgate where we have purchased a very good farm through the governor's means ... we live very comfortably according to our rank. In the spring the Indians killed four Dutchmen near to our house which made us think to have removed ... yet now the Indians are quiet and we think not yet to remove."^[7]

Helle-gat or Hell gate was a narrow straight on the Sound about 6 miles north of New York. It was dangerous to shipping because of numerous rocks, shelves and whirlpools.

The story of Elizabeth Fones was told in 1958 in a powerful historical novel, The Winthrop Woman by Anya Seton. Elizabeth's personality/character as portrayed by Seton:

• unconventional, friendly, unpredictable and innovative.
• original, innovative, opinionated.
• responsible, serious and reliable; strong and persistent.

Incidents in Seton’s book portray how the Puritans tried to live their religion. In the process, they showed intolerance to non-believers and non-conformists like the Quakers. She suggests that Puritans believed in a literal interpretation of the Bible whereas Quakers believed in grace and inspiration, i.e. , personal revelations of the Spirit of God. Puritans believed in simplicity and working hard; Quakers believed in living simply and in the emancipation of slaves.

Seton points out the culture clash with the Indians who thought they were selling land use and had no idea that the English settlers assumed they were buying title to land that would be theirs forever.

Death

1669 in New York,^[4]

01 February 1673 Newtown, Queens, New York.^[8][2]

Before 1674. "It is thought that Elizabeth died in the early 1670s for William Hallett married [again] . . . in 1674." ^[9]

Burial

Elizabeth was buried at Hallett's Burying Ground, Astoria, Queens County, New York.^[8]

Hallett's Burying Ground was located in Astoria, Queens County, New York. "Cemetery notes and/or description: This cemetery is naturally no longer in existence, as are many others in the area. Located north of Blackwell's Island, now Roosevelt Island, just south of what is called Hellsgate on the river."

Her remains were relocated to Mount Olivet Cemetery Maspeth, Queens County, New York. A plaque notes that "they were removed from the family grave yard at Hallet's cove A.D. 1905.

Research Notes

Origins

Elizabeth, on her maternal side, came from an obviously well-known family. There is no question that her maiden name was Fones or that her mother was a Winthrop. ^[10]

Her property in 2015

"I just saw a link^[11] to $18,750,000 property for sale that is located not far from Elizabeth Fones Hallett’s property in Old Greenwich, Connecticut. [Note, the video of Views of waterfront video from 2015 is no longer online] May [2015] on Memorial Day, we drove down to Elizabeth Neck on Shore Road but did not secure a pass to go beyond the entrance. On beyond the entrance we could see loads of parked cars because it was a holiday on a nice warm day. You can see Shore Road on the map just above the “H” at the end of “Old Greenwich”. Her (or their) property is outlined in red, and the location of the property that is for sale is marked by the red box to the northwest, close to I-95. Shore Road was lined with mansions spaced not far apart – at least the part going down to Elizabeth Neck (now called Greenwich Point, I think, but Elizabeth’s Neck is also on the Google Map).

Land that Elizabeth owned is worth millions today.

Closer view of Elizabeth Neck:

A close-up of the land Elizabeth owned.

On the map, “Greenwich Point” appears over the point in the lower right in the map shown above. You can see the name “Elizabeth Neck” on the map shown above. The video may give you some idea of the beautiful location. Elizabeth had a good eye for a great piece of property. It is a shame she had to move to Long Island."

Elizabeth Fones was born at Groton Manor, Suffolk, England on 21 January 1610 to Thomas Fones, a London apothecary, and his wife, Anne Winthrop, sister of John Winthrop, a staunch Puritan and the eventual Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

As a young girl, Fones worked at her father's shop in London. To the dismay of her family, she entered a whirlwind courtship with her first cousin Henry Winthrop, a son of Governor John Winthrop; they were married on 25 April 1629, at the Church of St. Sepulchre at New Gate, London. A year later, her husband sailed alone for the Massachusetts Bay Colony on the ship Talbot, leaving his young bride behind in England on account of her pregnancy. The baby, a daughter named Martha Johanna Winthrop, was born on 9 May 1630 at Groton Manor. Shortly after his arrival in Massachusetts, Henry was killed in a drowning accident on 2 July 1630 when he went swimming in the North River after visiting an Indian village near Salem.

Elizabeth Fones sailed to the Massachusetts Bay Colony with her infant daughter Martha aboard the Lyon, arriving on 2 November 1631. Her father-in-law, uncle and guardian, John Winthrop, served as Governor of the Colony.

Sources

1. ↑ Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins, 1620-1635, Boston, MA: NEHGS, 1995, pp ??
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Dominique Z. Delphine, "CABLE-BUCHER-HAWBAKER-ULERY-KESTER-PRIEST - STAFFORD - SCANLAND-PRICE - HAPNER," Ancestry.com Tree. BETTER SOURCE SOUGHT.
3. ↑ Anne Fones (Winthrop), b 16 January 1585, Annamaria Job, profile manager, Geni.com. https://www.geni.com/people/Anne-Fones/6000000003649021516 Accessed 26 May 2019.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Gilbert, Walter The Genealogy of Walter Gilbert, Ancestors: The Ninth Generation Back, John Bowne, Hannah Feake, archived link 16 May 2008, accessed 23 May 2021, citing:
   
   • Encyclopedia of Quaker Genealogy, 1750-1930, vol. III, pp. 39-43; "New York Monthly Meeting"
   • "New York Settlers from New England" in New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 55, Jan. 1901, pp. 300-1, i
   • Bunker, Mary Powell. Long Island Genealogies, Joel Munsell's Sons, Publishers. Albany, NY, 1895. (as found on CD-ROM: Tracking Down Our Family Heritage)
   • Gayle Ellingsworth, "Ancestry of Timothy Titus Robbins," Ancestry.com
5. ↑ The Winthrop Woman, (Boston, MA: 1958: Houghton Mifflin, reissued in 2014)
6. ↑ New England Marriages Prior to 1700, Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Provo, UT, USA: 2012
7. ↑ Anderson, citing Winthrop Papers 6:239
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} Memorial: "Find a Grave", database with images, Find A Grave: Memorial #243563084 (accessed 22 April 2023), Memorial page for Elizabeth Fones Hallett (21 Jan 1610-1 Feb 1673), citing Mount Olivet Cemetery, Maspeth, Queens County, New York, USA (plot: Section B); Maintained by Karl Maurer (contributor 50704865).
9. ↑ Missy Wolfe, Insubordinate Spirit: a true story of life and loss in earliest America, 1610-1665 (Guilford, Conn. : Globe Pequot Press, 2012), p 191
10. ↑ Francis J, Bremer, John Winthrop: America's Forgotten Founding Father, (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2003).
11. ↑ 7 Cobb Island Drive Greenwich (archived link)

• Bedwell, William F., Email to Patricia P. Hickin, 19 Nov 2015.
• Thomas, Lawrence Buckley, The Thomas Book: Giving the Genealogies of Sir Rhys ap Thomas, K.G., the Thomas Family Descended from him, and some Allied Families (New York City: Henry T. Thomas Company, 1896) pg. 556
• Wikipedia Authors, Wikipedia Elizabeth Fones Winthrop Feake Hallet
• Williams, Alicia Crane, Lead Genealogist. Early Families of New England (AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2013) Elizabeth (Fones)(Winthrop)(Feake) Hallett
• https://gw.geneanet.org/tdowling?lang=en&n=underhill&oc=0&p=elizabeth
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Fones