Anthony Bessey (abt. 1609 - bef. 1657)

Born about 1609 in London, England

Husband of Jane (Unknown) Barlow — married about 1638 in Sandwich, Plymouth Colony

Descendants

Died before 21 May 1657 before about age 48 in Sandwich, Plymouth Colony, New England

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Anthony Bessey migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Great Migration (Series 2), by R. C. Anderson, vol. 1, p. 266) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

'LNAB = Bessey There are no known birth records for Anthony, nor have there been records located spelling his last name at or near the time of his birth. Therefore we use the spelling used in Anderson's Great Migration Series: ‘Bessey.

Disputed Origins

Some claim that he was the son of John Besse and Jane Unknown, without source. Anderson (Great Migration) identifies no origins other than "London." At the time Besse wrote his will, he believed his mother was still living; the implication is that she was still in England.^[1]

Biography

Anthony Besse, also seen as Bessy, Bessey and Bessie. Born 1609 in England; very early immigrant, arriving in 1635 on the ship James. He probably lived first at Lynn, Massachusetts (while no record, many who came on the same ship settled there), and removed to Sandwich in 1637 - shortly after its founding.

Anthony married Jane around 1639. Jane's maiden name is unknown. Anthony and Jane had 8 children:

Savage's Genealogical Dictionary makes the following comment about Anthony. "was many yrs. active in holy serv. to the Ind."^[2]

Anthony died between 12 February 1656/7 (date of will) and 21 May 1657 (inventory). After Anthony passed away, Jane married second to George Barlow, the Sheriff of Sandwich. Three of her daughters clearly disliked their mother's new husband: Ann, Mary and Dorcas appear in the Plymouth Court Records for abusing him.

Last Will & Testament

Dated 10 Feb 1656/7; proved 3 Jun 1657:

• to Jane my wife... 3 cows, 3 yearlings, 2 heifers, 1 bull, 1 cow, one yearling steer; my bed
• to Dorcas my daughter, 2 heifers previously given and one more
• to Ann my daughter one heifer
• to Nehemiah my son, one heifer previously given; the house and land now possessed by me to 2 sons, Nehemia and David; two steers to them both; to Nehbmiah my gun and my cutlass and my boots; apparel and all meadow to be equally divded between my two sons
• to my daughter Mary one heifer
• to my daughter Jane one heifer
• to my daughter Elizabeth one ewe lamb...
• in case my mother send anything over to me as formerly she hath done, that it be disposed of among my family in general...
• the little one my wife goeth with [Rebecca]

Wife executrix; loving friends James Skiffe and Richard Bourne overseers. Inventory was taken on 21 May 1657.^[3][4]

Children:

1. Dorcas b. say 1639; unmarried in March 1661/2; m by 1664 [John] Presbury^[5]
2. Ann b. say 1641; m by 10 Jan/Feb 1661/2 Andrew, son of Andrew Hallett
3. Nehemiah b. about 1643; m by 1680 Mary Ransom, daughter of Robert Ransom; had at least one son, Nehemiah [Jr].
4. Mary (Allen) b. say 1645; unmarried in March 1661/2; no further record
5. Jane b. say 1647; still living 3 Jun 1662 when the court requested that her step father return a cow left to her by her father's estate; no further record
6. David b. Sandwich 23 May 1649; mentioned in his father's will in Feb 1656/7 after which there is no further record
7. Elizabeth (Botfish) b. say 1654; m by 1674 Joseph, son of Robert Bodfish
8. Rebecca was born after the death of her father; she married in Barnstable 17 Feb 1670/1? William Hunter

Sources

1. ↑ Unless otherwise noted, data for this profile was extracted from Robert Charles Anderson, "Great Migration Begins Vol 1 A-B", Entry for Anthony Bessey , ppg. 266-270
2. ↑ Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692. Vol. I-IV. (Boston, MA, USA: 1860-1862). citing 3 Mass. Hist. Coll. IV. 184,
3. ↑ Anderson, p. 267, citing Plymouth Wills 1:328-9, citing PCPR 2:51-52; MD 14:152-53
4. ↑ "Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records, 1633-1967," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G97D-VSPB : 6 March 2023), Wills 1633-1686 vol 1-4 > image 178 of 616; State Archives, Boston. page 51-52
5. ↑ Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, "Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England, Volume VIII, Miscellaneous Records, 1633-1689," William White, 1857, p 111

See also:

• Mrs. John E. Barclay, The American Genealogist, 26(1950):193-95
• Florence Besse Ballantine, Descendants of Anthony Besse, 1609-1656, 1965.
• Descendants of Cape Cod lists Anthony Besse on their list of qualified ancestors for membership.
• Deyo's History of Barnstable County includes reference to Anthony Besse (p 29: court found that Joseph Winsor and Anthony Besse were disorderly keeping house alone in Sandwich; p 266: listed as one of the "latecomers" to Sandwich; p 457: A daugher of Anthony's-- Ann-- married Andrew Hallet Jr.)