James Bill (abt. 1590 - bef. 1638)

Born about 1590 in England [uncertain]

Husband of Dorothy (Tuttle) Bill — married about 1626 in Ringstead, Northamptonshire, England

Descendants

Died before 10 Dec 1638 before about age 48 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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James Bill migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 29) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

James Bill, of Ringstead, Northampton, England is named in the will of Mary, widow of Robert Bill, written on July 3, 1610 and proved on April 1, 1611. Although she does not identify her heirs as 'son' or 'daughter' except daughter Ann, it seems clear from the will of James brother Henry Bill, naming the same siblings, written on September 21, 1636, that these were all children of Robert Bill. Whether widow Mary Bill was the mother of the children is unclear, Robert may have had an earlier wife. ^[1]

James Bill had more than one wife. His children's baptisms in 1613 and 1616, do not identify her name, but she is named as Ann (___) when son Symon was baptized in 1624/5. ^[1]

His second wife was Dorothy (___), married before March, 1626/7, when son Thomas was baptized. It is speculated, but unproven, that Dorothy's maiden name was Tuttle. This is based on the fact that Richard Tuttle, took over any 'charges' for widow Dorothy Bill, by the town in 1638/9. ^[2] Simon Tuttle, her supposed father, named only his sons in his will. ^[1]

James and wife Dorothy were still living in England in September, 1636, as evidenced by the will of Henry Bill, James' brother. ^[1]

He died by January 1638/9, when his wife is called 'widow Dorothy Bill. ^[2]

On January 27, 1639/40, Robert Mears sold his house and gardenstead, 'where they now dwell' to widow Dorothy Bill, for her life, and her son (step son) James Bill. ^{[3] [1]}

There are no further records of Dorothy.

Birth

Born: Say 1590. The date is a rough estimate based on his marriage about 1612.

Marriages and Children

Married: 1st - Anne Unknown about 1612, presumably in Ringstead, Northamptonshire, England where their children were baptized. Her name is known from the baptism of her son Simon. She was still living on 20 March 1624/5, but was dead by 1626 when her husband had remarried to Dorothy.

Married: 2nd -Dorothy Tuttle(?) about 1626, presumably in Ringstead, Northamptonshire, England where their children were baptized.

Children of James and Ann Bill:^[1]

1. James Bill. Baptized on 11 September 1613 at Ringstead, Northampton, England.
2. Ann Bill. Baptized on 1 January 1615/6 at Ringstead.
3. Symonde Bill. Baptized on 20 March 1624/5 at Ringstead. He was specifically named as a son of James and Ann.

Children of James and Dorothy Tuttle:^[1]

1. Thomas Bill. baptized on March 18, 1626/7 at Ringstead.
2. Phillip Bill. Baptized on 27 April 1628/9 at Ringstead.
3. Anne Bill. Baptized on 2 October 1631 at Ringstead.
4. Samuel Bill. Baptized in 1634/5 at Ringstead.

Death

Died: 10 December 1638 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony.

The record of his death actually reads "John Bill."^[4] As his wife is called "widow Dorothy Bill" only one month later, this is still thought to be the record of his death. The baptism records in Ringstead make clear his name was James, so why the discrepancy? It turns out these records are not original but were rewritten/transcribed some years after the death of James Bill by the town clerk. The entry above James Bill was for another John, so the discrepancy is explained as a transcription error by the town clerk when these records were rewritten.^[1]

Associations

On 21 January 1638/9, Richard Tuttell (Tuttle) became responsible to the Town of Boston for "one Dorothie Bill, widow, a sojourner in his house." This record has been taken as evidence that Dorothy Bill was a sister of Richard Tuttle, however, this is not certain. There are no other records to suggest they are related, and they simply could have been friends who knew each other back to when they both lived in Ringstead.^{[2] [5]} The description of Dorothy as a ’’sojourner’’ in Tuttle’s house instead of an adjective denoting kinship suggests Dorothy was not Richard’s kinsman, although the writer might not have known of any kinship.

A connection between the Tuttell and Bill families was also deduced from passengers John Bill age 13 and Marie/Mary Bill age 11 in 1635 when they crossed the Atlantic respectively on the Hopewell and the Planter (per Hotten et al). From the Planter’s passenger list order we infer Mary Bill accompanied 3 generations of Tuttells: brothers John, William and Richard Richard Tuttle); their wives and children; and their mother Isabel (Wells) Tuttell, widow of Simon Tuttell Tuttle-121 who died in 1630. The Tuttells were from Ringstead except John who was from St. Albans, Herts. ^[6] Inferences that Mary Bill’s mother was deceased by 1635 and that Mary Bill had a Tuttell ancestor are compelling.
Bill children John and Mary were too old to have been fruit of the marriage between James Bill and his second wife Dorothy.
While not dismissing the claim that James Bill Sr.’s wife Dorothy was a Tuttell, Cobb/Larson suggested that Bill’s first wife Ann was the Tuttell, citing the name Simon given to Ann’s last child b. in 1625 plus a recurrence of the name Ann but no Dorothys found among other generations of the Tuttell and Wells families. ^[1] That Simon Tuttell’s 1627 will mentioned no (surviving) daughters supports that hypothesis. Bill children John and Mary could have been born to James Bill and wife Ann outside of Ringstead during the gap in the births of James’s children recorded at Ringstead, say John b. in late 1621 and Mary b. in 1623. Then we’re comfortable with James Bill Sr. and wife Dorothy remaining in England in 1636 after Mary Bill age 11 crossed in 1635 with her putative grandmother Isabel. (Other hypotheses re the crossing of Bill children John and Mary without any parents: (a) orphans who connected differently to the Tuttells; or (b) children of Dorothy [Tuttell] Bill by her prior marriage to a different ____ Bill or that her children adopted the Bill surname.)
Dorothy’s connection to the Tuttells was inferred from Richard Tuttell’s magnanimity in Jan. 1638/1639. If one wife of James Bill was a Tuttell, then Richard Tuttell was an uncle of some but not all of the Bill children who went to New England. Richard Tuttell was chosen a constable of Boston on 11-5-1638, ^[2] possibly increasing Tuttell’s sense of responsibility for the Bill children.
Uncertainty re the exact Tuttell-Bill association could be resolved by evidence identifying Mary Bill’s mother. In its absence, it might be best to deem James Bill’s second wife Dorothy not a Tuttell.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8} Cobb, John L. and Vada Tuttle Larson, "The English Origin of the Bill Family of Massachusetts an Connecticut," in The American Genealogist, volume 60, no. 4.(October 1984): page 193-202.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Anderson, Robert C., Richard Tuttle in: Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume VII, T-Y, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts, 2011, p. 138 (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2012.) https://www.americanancestors.org/DB496/i/13260/138/24792872
3. ↑ Anderson, Robert C., Robert Mears in: Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume V, M-P, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts, 2005, p. 107 (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010.) https://www.americanancestors.org/DB401/i/12155/107/235138964
4. ↑ Boston Record Commissioners. A Report of the Record Commissioners Containing Boston Births, Baptisms, Marriages, and Deaths, 1630-1699. (Boston, 1908): page 6.
5. ↑ Boston Record Commissioners. Second Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston, (Boston, 1877): page 37.
6. ↑ [Greene, David L., ‘’Origin of John Tuttle of Ipswich, MA,’’ The American Genealogist 54:167-75 (1979).

• Cobb, John L. and Vada Tuttle Larson, "The English Origin of the Bill Family of Massachusetts an Connecticut," in The American Genealogist, volume 60, no. 4.(October 1984): page 193-202.

• Anderson, Robert Charles, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, vol. 1: A - F, (Boston: NEHGS, 1995): page 289.

• Boston Record Commissioners. Second Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston, (Boston, 1877): page 37.

• Boston Record Commissioners. A Report of the Record Commissioners Containing Boston Births, Baptisms, Marriages, and Deaths, 1630-1699. (Boston, 1908): page 6.