Richard Foxwell migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Great Migration (Series 2), by R. C. Anderson, vol. 2, p. 565) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm
Distinct from the Richard Foxwell of Scarborough, Maine discussed in Robert Charles Anderson's Great Migration Begins.[1]
Richard Foxwell, according to Savage, probably came in the fleet with Gov. Winthrop and requested admission as Freeman 19 Oct 1630; he was sworn 18 May 1631. Anderson claims that entry is for the Richard Foxwell of Maine.
Anderson[2] makes the case that the freeman was the man who went to Maine, not the Scituate Foxwell, and that there was no record of the Scituate Foxwell until 1634.
Biography
England - born about 1610
Amos Otis in his genealogies of Barnstable Families[3] indicates that this Richard Foxwell was first married in England, before he married Ann Shelley, and that the first wife was mother of Richard's son John. Otis identifies his children as:
John b in England abt 1627 (by first wife)
Mary b in Scituate 17 Aug 1635; m 8 Jan 1654 Hugh Cole Sr of Plymouth, and was afterwards of Swansea. [4]
Martha, b Scituate 24 Mar 1638; m Samuel Bacon 9 May 1659 [4]
Ruth, b Barnstable 25 Mar 1641.
A Founder of Scituate, Massachusetts 1634
Richard Foxwell of Barnstable is of unknown origins. Scituate is the first residence he is found on record, admitted to the Scituate Church 8 Jan 1634/5. [4] He married Ann Shelley in 1634; [4] she came over that year as a servant, per Roxbury church records. [4] Richard was one of the first founders of the church at Scituate with Rev. John Lothop, 8 Jan 1635. [4] Richard built the eleventh house in Scituate before 1635. [5] He sold that house to Henry Bourne, and in 1637 built on his houselot (numbered 50 in Mr. Lathrop's list). [5] Richard and Anne (Shelley) Foxwell had two daughters born at Scituate, Mary and Martha. [4]
Scituate in 1634, a small new village looking at the Atlantic Ocean north of Cape Cod, boasted a windmill on a cliff, and log houses with thatched roof of salt marsh sedges. [6] Richard Foxwell built his log house on Kent street, near the church. [6] It is probable that he followed the Rev. John Lathrop from England to Scituate, as did many of the preacher's flock. [6] They moved again in 1639 to Barnstable, another new town, right on Cape Cod Bay.
A Founder of Barnstable, Massachusetts 1639
The Foxwells removed to Barnstable in the spring of 1639, [5] where Richard built his third house in five years, on a lot adjacent to Nathaniel Bacon's property. [4] Richard was a tailor by trade, [4][5] and like all the settlers he farmed to sustain his family. In 1662 he owned eight acres, four acres of arable land, the rest in marsh and uplands. [4] The first settlers set out orchards, and a seedling raised by Richard known as the "Foxwell apple", is yet cultivated. [5] He lists in his will, cows, cattle and swine. [4] His will also lists a modest value in books - he is assumed to be literate. [4]
Robert Charles Anderson, in Great Migration, gives this testimonial of Richard Foxwell's character:
In the course of his three and a half decades of residence in Plymouth Colony, Richard Foxwell maintained a very low profile. He was a church member, a Freeman and in the Barnstable militia. [Anderson lists on page 535 the two occasions where Richard Foxwell took the Freeman's Oath - in 1639 in Scituate and 1657 in Barnstable. Later in his profile for Richard Foxwell, Anderson forgets he found Richard's name on two freemen lists, and states he was not a freeman.] "He held no offices, and was never in court for any reason. His land holdings were small, and he did not trade in land. Richard Foxwell led a very quiet and private life. [4] Richard Foxwell's name appears on a list with sixty other men, of those 'Able to Bear Arms in New Plymouth' in 1643. [7] Among these members of this Barnstable militia is the name John Foxwell, which Anderson says is to old to be a son of Richard, though perhaps a brother or cousin. [4] Also listed is Samuel Bacon, who would later marry Richard's daughter Martha Foxwell. [7]
Freeman's Oath
Richard Foxwell is on the 1637 list for Scituate, of those who took the Freeman's Oath, and on the 1657 list for Barnstable. [4]
"I (A.B.) being by Gods providence, an Inhabitant, and Freeman, within the jurisdiction of this Commonwealth; do freely acknowledge my self to be subject to the Government thereof: And therefore do here swear by the great and dreadful Name of the Ever-living God, that I will be true and faithfull to the same, and will accordingly yield assistance & support thereunto, with my person and estate, as in equity I am bound; and will also truly endeavor to maintain and preserve all the liberties and priviledges thereof, submitting my self to the wholesome Lawes & Orders made and established by the same. And further, that I will not plot or practice any and reveal the same to lawfull Authority now here established, for the speedy preventing thereof.
"Moreover, I doe solemnly bind my self in the sight of God, that when I shal be called to give my voyce touching any matter of this State, in which Freemen are to deal, I will give my vote and suffrage as I shall judge in mine own conscience may best conduce and tend to the publike weal of the body, So help me God in the Lord Jesus Christ." [8]
Death
Richard Foxwell died at Barnstable, Plymouth Colony (later Massachusetts) between the date of a codicil on his will, 19 May 1668, and the date of the inventory of his estate, 30 May 1668. [4][9] Probate was submitted to the court 3 June 1668.[9]
Will
He left his wearing clothes to Samuel Bacon, and his cattle and swine to Samuel, and Hugh Cole (husband of his daughter Mary), after paying a woolen draper of London out of it. [4] He gave one of his cows to help the poor. [4]Richard left some land to Hugh Cole, and his house and lot to his son and daughter Nelson. [4] He left all his pewter and brass and bedding to "my sons Hugh Cole and Samuel Bacon". [4] His total estate amounted 26 pounds, 18 shillings and 6 pence. [4][10]
In early Colonial New England, it was customary for people to specify leaving their good clothes to individuals. Cloth and the labor to weave cloth was very costly in the new colonies. Manufactured goods, including clothing and bedding, were valuable enough to be assessed in an inventory of the estate, and be enumerated in a will.
↑ 5.05.15.25.35.4Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families, page 365 - 367
↑ 6.06.16.2History of Scituate, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1831, page 9 - 10
↑ 7.07.1List of those Able to Bear Arms in New Plymouth, NEHGR vol 4 (July 1850), page 258
↑The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, page 62 - 63
↑ 9.09.1Wills, Inventories, Etc, 1637 to 1685, County of Barnstable
↑ "Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records, 1633-1967," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L97D-VQQL : 8 March 2023), Wills 1633-1686 vol 1-4 > image 256 of 616; State Archives, Boston.
See also:
Great Migration 1634-1635, C-F. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume II, C-F, by Robert Charles Anderson, George F. Sanborn, Jr., and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001. Richard Foxwell of Barnstable . Note: There were two men named Richard Foxwell in early New England. Represented in this profile is Richard Foxwell of Barnstable, the tailor, who married Mary Shelley, pages 565-567
Fiske, Jane Fletcher. Elizabeth, Nathaniel, and Samuel Bacon of Barnstable, Mass., The American Genealogist. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009) Vol. 57, page 107
Wills, Inventories, Etc, 1637 to 1685, County of Barnstable; Probate Place: Plymouth, Massachusetts. Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Massachusetts County, District and Probate Courts.
New England Historical and Genealogical Register Vol 4 (July 1850), List of those Able to Bear Arms in New Plymouth, page 258
Ancestry.com. Web: Netherlands, GenealogieOnline Trees Index, 1000-2015 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: GenealogieOnline. Coret Genealogie. http://www.genealogieonline.nl/en/: accessed 31 August 2015. [NOTE: this is a conflation of both Richard Foxwells - the Maine death date with the Barnstable location. Do not use for either immigrant!
Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, 1995), Richard Foxwell of Maine - page 693-698 Note: these pages apply to the Richard Foxwell who was a trader, and married Susanna Bonython - NOT represented in this profile - included to prevent mixing the biographies
Aydelott, Kathrine Cole. My Maine Heritage: A Genealogy Web Site NOTE: This is another tree that conflates Foxwell of Maine with Foxwell of Barnstable. The Puritan Great Migration Project considers Richard Charles Anderson the primary source for early immigrants, and RCA considers them to be two different men, with two different wives and two different death dates/locations.
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This looks like it may well be the baptism of son John in England, note father’s occupation is tayler
First name(s) John
Last name Foxwell
Birth year 1622
Baptism year 1622
Baptism date 23 Oct 1622
Address Lymehouse
Father's first name(s) Richard
Father's occupation Tayler
Mother's first name(s) Elliner
Parish St Dunstan, Stepney
Church address High Street
County Middlesex
Country England
Record set London, Docklands And East End Baptisms
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Parish Baptisms
Collections from England, Great Britain
There's even another Richard Foxwell: in The Great Migration Begins (2012) pp 693-698 he went from Boston (1630) to Piscataqua to Scarborough and married a Susanna Bonython.
First name(s) John Last name Foxwell Birth year 1622 Baptism year 1622 Baptism date 23 Oct 1622 Address Lymehouse Father's first name(s) Richard Father's occupation Tayler Mother's first name(s) Elliner Parish St Dunstan, Stepney Church address High Street County Middlesex Country England Record set London, Docklands And East End Baptisms Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records Subcategory Parish Baptisms Collections from England, Great Britain
Ann
Anderson cover both Richard Foxwells -- this one and the one who married Boynthon, in his Great Migration series.