| William Lewis Jr. migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See Great Migration Begins, by R. C. Anderson, Vol. 2, p. 1184) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm |
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William Lewis AKA Lewes or Lewys
William's exact origins (location and parentage) are not proven, but a reasonable case can be made for Llandough, Wales. The only "source" for his origin is the book "Lewis, with collateral lines : Andrews, Belden, Bronson, Butler, Gillett, Newell, Peck, Stanley, Wright and others : ancestral record of Henry Martyn Lewis" by Harriet Southworth Lewis Barnes.[1] This book was also cited by Buell Burdett Bassette's "One Bassett Family in America"[2] and both Buell and Harriett were then cited by Charles H. Lewis in "John Lewis of Berkshire, Vermont : and other descendants of William Lewis (who came to Boston on the ship, the Lion, in 1632) through his grandson James Lewis of Jamaica, Long Island" (not available online) who was then cited by Frank Beeker in "'The Settlers of the Beekman Patent"[3]
Despite all the layers of citation, Harriet S.L. Barnes is the only source for his origins. She claims that Williams' birth of 3 January, 1594 at Llandough, Wale as the son of William Lewis who was born April 4, 1561 in Pennarth, Wales and Sarah Cathcart and further provides a lineage in Wales back to 1000 A.D.
She admits that many genealogists dispute her unsourced conclusions and states that "a claim has been made" that this family has been traced in Wales to 1000 AD, that information from 1000 to 1528 AD are "to a very great extent practically hearsays", that there is no "documentary proof of connections" and that these lines of descent "appear in the songs of Welsh bards, and are generally accepted by the Welsh, who probably know more about it than we do". So, Harriett Barnes at least was aware that she could not prove all of her claims.
Harriet notes that the names of the brothers of William of Wales (Christopher and Robert) do not appear in subsequent generations of the descendants of William of Connecticut. By itself this obviously is inconclusive, but it does stymie the "names are the same" line of reasoning.
Harriett asserts that William's birth is "clearly given in the parish records of Llandough, Wales", presumably the same source as WIlliam's 1618 marriage to Felix Collins. If this parish register can be found and examined, it will help to solidify these claims for parentage.
Per Harriett S.L. Barnes[1] again relying on parish registers apparently, William married on Feb 7, 1618 at Wales to Falicia/Felix Collins/Collyns. She makes some mention of a possibility of Felix's surname being "Olcott" based on a Thomas Olcott bequeathing one pound to William Lewis as "brother" in his will, but this could have been a church "brother" and Felix as daughter of Walter Collins seems to be more strongly supported as described below.
This is where things get interesting re: Was William of Wales the immigrant to Connecticut? According to Barnes, an Essex County (England) deed of 3 May 1624 wherein Walter Collins, late of Cardiff, Glamorganshire, Wales (the father of Felix Collins) reads as follows[4]
"...now of Stanstead, Essex conveys to my son-in-law William Lewys of S. Messuage, etc, now in the occupation of John Talcolt late of Braintree...&c".
NB: "Stanstead" as it was spelled by Harriett Barnes, is in Suffolk, not Essex. Did she mean "Stansted Mountfichet" which IS in Essex? Assuming she didn't mean Stansted, Kent.
Given that the names William Lewis with wife Felix and son William appear on the Lyon passenger list along with John Talcott and his family,[5] this does actually make a reasonable argument, assuming the 1624 Stanstead deed, referred to above, is quoted accurately, that William & Felix of Wales and Stanstead were the early immigrants to Connecticut. See Research Notes.
Children of William and Felix:[3]
Grandson, Philip, was a special family member. William began deeding land to him as early as 1668.[6] Then on 16 May 1675, when the court granted William 200 acres, he deeded 100 acres of that to his grandson, Philip.[CCCR 2:254][6] On 23 November 1682, William asked the Hartford town clerk to "record all the lands that do belong to me in Hartford unto my grandchild Philip Lewes which are not yet recorded."[6]
See "Marriage & Children" section for passenger list showing William Sr., Felix and William Jr. on the Lyon along with the John Talcott family.
William Lewis and his family sailed from England with their only child, William, twelve-years-old at the time.[6] They emigrated from London on the Lyon with Captain Mason, in 1632 to Cambridge, Massachusetts.[Hotten 150][6] The ship landed at the mouth of the Charles River (now Boston Massachusetts) on Sept 16, 1632.[7] On 6 November 1632, William was granted freemanship.[6] Church membership is implied, (probably at Watertown), as it was a prerequisite for freemanship.[MBCR 1:367][6]
The family settled first at Cambridge, Massachusetts.[6] In 1636, they resided at the northwest corner of Winthrop and Holyoke streets in Cambridge.[8] By 20 August 1635, when the Cambridge land inventory was taken, William owned nine parcels, including two houselots.[CaBOP 16][6] He had purchased three of these , and the others were assigned to him by the town.[6] Besbeech Thomas purchased a house in Cambridge from William Lewis in 1636.[8]
William was a member of the group from Cambridge which went, in June, 1636, with Rev. Thomas Hooker and Rev. Stone to settle at Hartford.[9] Some of these were from Braintree; thus the group was called the Braintree Company. However, as Paige points out, of the forty-two who received divided lands at Hartford, "at least one-half were not of the Braintree Company," and Wlliam was one of these who were not from Braintree[8] The whole group was about 100 men, women, and children who traveled overland through the woods from Cambridge to Hartford,[9] a trip of 100 miles. The name, William Lewis appears on the founders' monument at Hartford; the inscription reads:
William was chosen as a Selectman in Hartford on 21 January 1640/1, and on 4 January 1650/1.[HaTR 41, 95][6] He also served as Constable for Hartford beginning 7 February 1653/4 and 28 February 1654/5.[HaTR 102, CCCR 1:327][6]
When the Hartford land inventory was taken, twelve parcels were listed as belonging to William Lewis.[6]
Note: Anderson, in Great Migration Begins, points out that William moved directly from Hartford to Hadley, and only lived in Farmington at the end of his life.[6] Apparently Pope wrote that the father, William, was in Farmington in 1645, but it was his son, William, who was in Farmington in 1645.[6]
By 1659, the churches at Hartford and Wethersfield both experienced a division within their respective congregations.[9] The exact causes have been lost to history, but church membership requirements were one inciting aspect. After the death of Mr. Thomas Hooker in 1647, the innovative ideas of Mr. Stone were implemented. Conflict with the conservative minority slowly escalated. Attempts at conciliation were made, but the schism only grew. Many of the members wanted to leave and form a new town and church. Governor Webster, Andrew Bacon, and William Lewis were "some of the principle men in the minority," and in early 1658, they began looking at Massachusetts as the site for a new church.(Pgs 3-7)[9] Both William and his son, William, along with many others (59 in all) signed an agreement to settle Hadley, Massachusetts. William and 39 others actually went. His son, William, continued to live at Farmington, but shared in the division of land at Hadley.[citation needed]
William served at Hadley as Deputy to the General Court for three terms: 7 May 1662, 27 May 1663, 18 May 1664.[MBCR 4:1:41, 72, 100][6] He also served on the Hampshire petit jury 26 march 1661.[Pynchon Court 49][6]
Owned eight acres of land in Hadley in 1663.[9]
Falicia (Collyns) Lewis died in Hadley, Massachusetts April 17, 1671.[6]
In 1675, after the death of wife, William removed to Farmington, the town his son, William, had helped to settle.[6] He lived at the home of his son for those last years.[11]
William wrote his will 30 August 1683, and while it was proved 18 December 1683[12][3] the probate files include a note of the court on 3 Dec 1683 summarizing the estate inventory, proving that he indeed died by that date.[13]
The date of death given in Farmington LR is an obvious error: August 2, 1683.[3]
In his will, William mentions his son, William, and his grandchildren, Ezekial, Nathaniel, Abigail, Philip, and Ebenezer.[9]
Note: The erroneous death date is given in both Great Migration Begins and John Lewis of Berkshire, Vermont, ...[6]
William was buried at the Colonial Burying Ground, Farmington, Hartford County, Connecticut.[citation needed] Memento Mori Cemetery in Farmington is also known as: Ancient Burying Ground, Old Farmington Cemetery. Genealogists have searched for William's tomb stone, without success, which is not surprising due to the age of the stone.
See also:
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Categories: Founders of Hartford | Lyon, sailed June 22, 1632 | Puritan Great Migration
Other than the attached affidavit... in this profile, why is there no mention of this affidavit and its implications for answering questions about which William Lewis arrived on the Lion. If we believe Ann was the daughter of Wm's parents, this record strengthens the link of Wm Jr to father, Wm and mother, Sarah?
As we discussed last year on supposed brother Robert's profile, the Abchurch marriage to Cosens is really more likely the Robert Lewis who was actually baptized in that parish in 1608 rather than a Robert Lewis who moved from Wales to London. But with such common names, it's impossible to say. Was Harriet Barnes just grasping at Lewis straws at this point?
Re: supposed brother Christopher, "Pioneer Lewis Families" by Michael Cook also cites a deed without saying when/where he found it that conveniently links Cathcart and William Lewis with land in Wales to William's supposed son Christopher. If you could find that deed, it would be great although as described it wouldn't prove that the William Lewis of Wales with a son Christopher was also the father of William the immigrant. Again, a convenient but unsourced and unfindable land deed linking these people together.
Maybe it would be best if we detached him from his supposed parents but then we would need to project-protect William & Ann and create an "Unknown Lewis" as their father and to be complete in doing so we would need to sever Christopher & Robert from them and leave those two both with unknown parentage as well. In either case we need a bunch of text explaining all this, which is why I wrote that paragraph.
I see a William Lewis Sr. (1561-1641) (Lewis-954) and also this profile, William Lewis Jr. (1594-bef.1683).(Lewis-953).
Might you post the WikiTree ID numbers for the other profiles about which you are inquiring? --Gene
edited by GeneJ X
When I run it using 'shortest connection' from you to Lewis-953 I get a different set of results. Or are you looking at a different web site, or at a graphic tree of your ancestry on wikitree, or what exactly?
edited by GeneJ X
The passage b referred to read, emphasis added,
-- [1] Passenger List for the Lyon, 1632 (C.E. Banks and John Corley) https://whipple.org/docs/lyon.html
edited by GeneJ X
deleted by b Paulson
Was told today "... Stanstead Hall and estate at Halstead is not that far from Braintree and Stansted Monfichet just a bit further. Either might have been spelled Stanstead". Search at following site did not return the Collins record: https://www.essexarchivesonline.co.uk/result_details.aspx?ThisRecordsOffSet=2&id=317266
apparently quite a few records with people surnamed Lewys/Lewis and lots of Talcotts. Finding this Deed will not be an overnight activity.
Not helpful that Barnes shows 'Talcolt', and Lion passenger manifest shows 'Talcott'.
Exposure to a wider audience might help us shorten the ropes a bit. --Gene
Hoping only to be helpful, consider editing the G2G to update the tags. Perhaps remove two--(1) puritan_great_migration_project, and (2) wikiwales, and then add three (1) Lewis, (2) england, (3) wales.
This is not the parish-level. But the comment about THAT is not very encouraging.
Glamro / Swyddfa Cofnodion Morgannwg < [email address removed] gt; To: Bruce Paulson Ref: 2021-4292 Dear Mr Paulson, Thank you for your enquiry received on the 8th December 2021. Having checked the relevant records, we have been unable to find either the Baptism of William Lewis, or his subsequent marriage to Felix Collins. Please remember that Civil Registration was only introduced in the UK in 1837, and prior to that we have only the Parish and Non-conformist registers to rely on. These registers record only baptisms, marriages and burials which take place in their particular church or chapel and varied quite dramatically in both the amount of information they contained and the level of conservation they subsequently received. That any of these records have survived 500 years is quite remarkable. We hope that this has been of assistance. Yours sincerely, David A. Hail Cynorthwyydd Cofnodion/Records Assistant Archifau Morgannwg / Glamorgan Archives
edited by GeneJ X
-Ancestry link to digitized image: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/9049/images/007627838_01017
record# 1017 of 1451 thru 1051 of 1451 The collection of probate records include Wm Sr, d. 1683 his son capt. Wm Jr, d.1690 and his son Wm. d. abt 1736?
edited by b Paulson
As you've already noted, the Will mentions all the grandkids, but also some detail:
... to his grandchild Ezekiel, the estate at Hadley, for which he's to pay his brother Nathaniel £1 6, if he lives to the age of twenty-one years; if he dies, it's to go to his granddaughter Abigail. He also bequeathed to Abigail his land at Hartford - “unless, her brother Philip needs and cannot do without it, and pays her for it.” ... The executors named were his son William Lewis, Samuel Steele of Wethersfield, CT, and Samuel Partridge of Hadley. NOTE: Neither of the grandson's died. So, presumably, Abagail got only the Hartford property. Yet the court records at the State Library in Hartford Show that Philip claimed his grandfather’s real estate in Hartford under the English law of primogeniture. Have to look further, but that seems as if he stiffed his sister for the property. Being the eldest, appears he felt entitled.
I'll bet there's more tidbits like this in the courts of Hadley, Hartford and Farmington?
-Ezekiel Lewis b. 1674; was son of 2nd wife Cheever; just 9 yrs old when grandpa died; d. 1755 in Boston. When 21, did he buy the Hadley estate from bro Nathan? It would be in the Grantor-Grantee records. -Abagail Lewis b. 1678 was dau of 2nd wife Cheever. She was just 5 yrs old when Grandpa Wm died. m. Wm Wadsworth in 1696. She d.1707 in Farmington. Her hubby outlived her by 40-something yrs. -Nathaniel b. 1676 also of 2nd wife Cheever; only 7 yrs old when grandpa WM died; d. 1752 in Farmington; 1st wife, Abigail Ashley, dau of famous CT minister, d. 20 yr earlier, 4 mo after b. of their last child. -Phillip b. 1646; is 37 yrs old when grandpa WM dies. Phil d. 1723 in Fairfield, CT, just off the coast, 60 mi SE of Farmington. Wonder if he still owned his grandfather's Hartford property? His 1723 probate record doesn't say, but names his dau Sarah, wife of John Taylor, as executrix. Oh, well...
edited by b Paulson
edited by Brad Stauf
But Will cared for Staines until Staines could go to Hartford to stay with his own brother, who lived there. I did a cursory search for the surname in Hartford... nada.
Followup - a kindly librarian sent me the Charles Lewis book which uncovered the sources, such as they were for William's origins. Bio edits coming up...
edited by Brad Stauf
From the family book:
William Lewis 1st (The first in America) Born:1/3/1594 Llandough, Glamorganshire, Wales Died 8/2/1683 Farmington, Hartford Co., CT
The book also includes information on ancestors.