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Elizabeth (Pratt) Billings (abt. 1642 - aft. 1683)

Elizabeth Billings formerly Pratt
Born about in Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts Baymap
Daughter of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Wife of — married about 1663 in Dorchester, Suffolk County, Massachusettsmap [uncertain]
[children unknown]
Died after after about age 41 in Dorchester, Suffolk County, Massachusettsmap [uncertain]
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Profile last modified | Created 11 Oct 2015
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Contents

Biography

Elizabeth Pratt was christened at Dorchester, Massachusetts Bay, on 19 February 1642/3[1]. She is understood to have been a daughter of John Pratt, who was admitted to the Dorchester Church in late 1642 (a "goody Pratt", presumably his wife, was admitted a few months later)[2].

Elizabeth married, as his third wife, widower Roger Billings, son of Richard Billings of Lancashire and his wife Elizabeth (Unknown) Billings[3]. Elizabeth and Roger wed, presumably at Dorchester, at some point after the death of Roger's first wife Hannah in late May of 1662[4]; the marriage likely took place in, or close to, 1663.

At the time of her 1643 baptism, Elizabeth was ostensibly an infant, but there is some question about her actual date of birth occasioned by a seeming implication in 1680 – in Roger's will – that Elizabeth may then already have been of advanced age. While she is not mentioned by name in the will, she plainly survived Roger, as the will notes that means have been set aside for the care and maintenance of his "dear and loveing wife"[5]. There is no record of Elizabeth bearing any child, and no record has been found of when she died, other than to say that it was clearly after the settling of Roger's estate in December of 1683.

The Three Marriages and Family of Roger Billings

After immigrating from Lancashire to Dorchester, Roger Billings married, first, a wife named Mary (her maiden surname unknown) about 1640. He was left a widower at her death. While it was previously theorized by some that Mary died close to the birth of the couple's short-lived daughter Mary, born in mid-1643, more recent assessment suggests that Roger's first wife may have lived past 1651, based on a gap in the births of Roger's children between late 1651, and early 1655/6... combined with the fact that second wife Hannah does not appear to have joined the Dorchester church until 1655. Waldo Chamberlain Sprague's 2001 Genealogies of the Families of Braintree, Mass. offers the following, tentative reassignment of Roger's children[6]:

Children of Roger by wife Mary
  1. Joseph, near 1642.[6]
  2. Mary, July 10 1643; died Dec. 4 1643.[7]
  3. Anna, (or Hannah), bapt. Oct. 20 1644[8]; m. Feb. 24 1664/5 at Braintree, John Penniman. She died Feb. 9 1678.[9]
  4. Mary, bapt. Nov. 23 1645[10]; m. 1st Dec. 15 1663 at Braintree, Samuel Belcher[11]; m. 2nd Apr. 20 1680 at Braintree, Samuel Niles[12].
Children of Roger (probably by wife Mary)
  1. Jonathan, bapt. Aug. 25 1650[13]; died Jan. 14 1677 at Dorchester[14].
  2. Ebenezer, bapt. Oct. 26 1651[15]; died young.[6]
  3. Samuel, bapt. Oct. 26 1651[16]; died young.[6]
Children of Roger by wife Hannah
  1. Ebenezer, bapt. Jan. 6 1655/6[17]. m. Hannah Wales.[18]; d. Jan. 25 1717/18[19]
  2. Roger. b. Nov. 18 1657 (bapt. Dec. 13[20]). m. Sarah Paine Jan. 22 1678[21]; d. 27 Jan. 1717/18[22]
  3. Elizabeth, Oct. 27 1659, bapt. Nov. 27[23]; m. about 1675, Elder Nathaniel Wales of Dorchester & Braintree. She died Oct. 22 1676 at Dorchester [24].
  4. Zipporah, May 21 1662, bapt. June 22[25]; died Oct. 8 1676 at Dorchester[26].
As noted above, no record shows the birth of any child of Roger Billings by third wife Elizabeth Pratt. Harold Ward Dana, in an article published in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register in 1938, mistakenly suggested that the Jonathan Billings whose death was recorded at Dorchester in 1677 was a child of Elizabeth[27], but he had overlooked the "Jonathan Billindge" listed above who was christened on 25 August 1650[28].), now thought a likely son by first wife Mary.

Sources

  1. ↑ Records of the First Church at Dorchester in New England, 1636-1734, by First Church at Dorchester, G.H. Ellis: Dorchester (Boston, Mass.), 1891, p. 155 (orig. p. [174]); https://archive.org/details/recordsoffirstch00firs/page/155/mode/1up
  2. ↑ Both: Records of the First Church at Dorchester, as above, p. 6 (orig. p. [7]); https://archive.org/details/recordsoffirstch00firs/page/6/mode/1up
  3. ↑ The fraudulent claim that Roger Billings came out of Taunton, Somerset, was manufactured by Horatio Gates Somerby; the fraud was proven in 1999 by professional genealogist Paul Reed, writing in The American Genealogist. See: "The Fraudulent Ancestry of Roger1 Billings and William1 Billings...", by Paul C. Reed, TAG Vol. 74, p. 28; New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. NEHGS, 2009 - .); https://www.americanancestors.org/DB283/i/13222/28/0 (by subscription)
  4. ↑ Death of Hannah, 25 May 1662: Dorchester Vital Records to 1825, Boston Records Commissioners Reports, Vol. 21, City Document No. 59,, p. 26; https://archive.org/details/dorchesterbirths01dorc/page/26/mode/1up
  5. ↑ The entire will is reproduced in "Roger Billings of Milton, Mass.", NEHGR Vol. 92 (1938), p. 261; The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2018.); https://www.americanancestors.org/DB202/i/11625/261/0 (by subscription)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Waldo Chamberlain Sprague, Genealogies of the Families of Braintree, Mass. 1640-1850. CD © Copyright 2001 New England Historic Genealogical Society. Item. 666, 667, 667R, 668. Also available online by subscription to NEHGS [1]. (Note: this text, in the data presented for the origins of the father, Roger, runs afoul of the Somerby "Taunton/son of Roger" fraud)
  7. ↑ Dorchester Vital Records to 1825, as above, p. 3; https://archive.org/details/dorchesterbirths01dorc/page/n10/mode/1up
  8. ↑ Records of the First Church at Dorchester, as above, p. 157 (orig. p. [175]); https://archive.org/details/recordsoffirstch00firs/page/157/mode/1up
  9. ↑ The Vinton Memorial, Comprising a Genealogy of the Descendants of John Vinton of Lynn, 1648, by John Adams Vinton, 1858, p. 352; https://books.google.com/books?id=swVaAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA352&lpg=PA352&dq=
  10. ↑ Records of the First Church at Dorchester, as above, p. 158 (orig. p. [175]); https://archive.org/details/recordsoffirstch00firs/page/158/mode/1up
  11. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP8C-75V1 : 11 May 2022), Samuel Belcher and Mary Billings, 15 Oct 1663; citing Marriage, Braintree, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007009769.
  12. ↑ [As "Wid Mary Belcher"]: "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPZY-TWKB : 11 May 2022), Samuel Niles and Mary Belcher, 20 Apr 1680; citing Marriage, Braintree, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007009769.
  13. ↑ As "Jonathan Billindge": Records of the First Church at Dorchester, as above, p. 160 (orig. p. [174]); https://archive.org/details/recordsoffirstch00firs/page/160/mode/1up
  14. ↑ Dorchester Vital Records to 1825, as above, p. 29; https://archive.org/details/dorchesterbirths01dorc/page/29/mode/1up
  15. ↑ Records of the First Church at Dorchester, as above, p. 161 (orig. p. [180]); https://archive.org/details/recordsoffirstch00firs/page/161/mode/1up
  16. ↑ Records of the First Church at Dorchester, as above, p. 161 (orig. p. [180]); https://archive.org/details/recordsoffirstch00firs/page/161/mode/1up
  17. ↑ Records of the First Church at Dorchester, as above, p. 167 (orig. p. [187]); https://archive.org/details/recordsoffirstch00firs/page/167/mode/1up
  18. ↑ "BILLING, Ebenezer (1656?-) & Hannah [WALES] (-1732); by 1675; Dorchester {Dorchester Ch. Rec. 28, 74; Parker (,9) 369; Sv. 1:177; Redington 49; Thayer (1835) 67; Deerfield 82; Stonington Hist. 236; Sibley's Harv. Grad. 4:393}" -- Vol. 1, p. 143, New England Marriages to 1700. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015; https://www.americanancestors.org/DB1568/i/21174/143/426914583 (by subscription)
  19. ↑ Dorchester Vital Records to 1825, as above, p. 129; https://archive.org/details/dorchesterbirths01dorc/page/129/mode/1up
  20. ↑ Records of the First Church at Dorchester, as above, p. 168 (orig. p. [188]); https://archive.org/details/recordsoffirstch00firs/page/168/mode/1up
  21. ↑ Dorchester Vital Records to 1825, as above, p. 24; https://archive.org/details/dorchesterbirths01dorc/page/24/mode/1up
  22. ↑ Dorchester Vital Records to 1825, as above, p. 129; https://archive.org/details/dorchesterbirths01dorc/page/129/mode/1up
  23. ↑ Records of the First Church at Dorchester, as above, p. 170 (orig. p. [190]); https://archive.org/details/recordsoffirstch00firs/page/170/mode/1up
  24. ↑ Dorchester Vital Records to 1825, as above, p. 29; https://archive.org/details/dorchesterbirths01dorc/page/29/mode/1up
  25. ↑ Records of the First Church at Dorchester, as above, p. 172 (orig. p. [193]); https://archive.org/details/recordsoffirstch00firs/page/172/mode/1up
  26. ↑ Dorchester Vital Records to 1825, as above, p. 29; https://archive.org/details/dorchesterbirths01dorc/page/29/mode/1up
  27. ↑ NEHGR Vol. 92 (1938), p. 264; The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2018.); https://www.americanancestors.org/DB202/i/11625/264/0 (by subscription)
  28. ↑ Records of the First Church at Dorchester, as above, p. 160 (orig. p. [174]); https://archive.org/details/recordsoffirstch00firs/page/160/mode/1up
  • Overview of the Billings family: NEHGR Vol. 92 (1938), pp. 261-68; "Roger Billings of Milton, Mass., and Some of His Descendants", by Harold Ward Dana, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2018.); https://www.americanancestors.org/DB202/i/11625/264/0 (by subscription). Note: this article was written long before the realization of the Somerby fraud, and therefore shows Somerby's placement of the family in England at Taunton, Somerset.

See also (note that WikiTree regards online family trees, ancestral files, and their equivalents as reliable only where specific primary, or highly reputable secondary, sources are specified and accessible):

  • Family Search, online [1], Ancestral File AFN: 9MZ6-P2 (Billings 109).

Acknowledgments

Profile was created by Erinne Kennedy-Dock through the import of Erinne Clark Kennedy Family Tree Partial.ged on Oct 6, 2015.





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Childs-1516 Christopher Childs
[Edited re: Savage's identification of multiple John Pratts.] As a part of extensive work on the family of Roger Billings (now recognized as a Great Migration immigrant, along with brother William), I've taken the liberty of updating this profile on the basis of more recent scholarship. The 2001 suggested (re-)assignment of Roger's children to their (probable) mothers has been brought over wholesale, with sources, from Roger's profile; source material has also been linked that demonstrates the fraudulent nature of Horatio Gates Somerby's claims concerning Roger's Somerset origins and lineage... with additional linked source material that makes a convincing prima facie case for the origins of Roger, and siblings Ann and William, at Prescot, in Lancashire.

Please note that the work done on this family has made it clear that there is an issue with the identification of Elizabeth Pratt's parents as the John and Elizabeth Pratt of Cambridge, and then later (certainly by 1639) of Hartford. Robert Charles Anderson connects that couple with the church at Cambridge, and says nothing about a connection to Dorchester. Yet (as now noted above) a John Pratt and wife "goody Pratt" are admitted to the Dorchester church in late January and early May, respectively, of 1643. By that time, according to Anderson, John Pratt of Cambridge had long since left Massachusetts Bay and was firmly ensconced at Hartford. While Savage erred in not recognizing that the John Pratts of Cambridge and Hartford were the same man, he did correctly identify John Pratt of Dorchester as a distinct individual who was made a freeman at Dorchester on 10 May 1643 (see Savage's Genealogical Dictionary, Vol. 3, K-R, pp. 472-73). He then identified, however, only two of the Dorchester man's children, sons "John, b. a. 1630, and Timothy". Further research is warranted, but it seems essentially certain that Elizabeth was a daughter of this Dorchester John Pratt.

Please let me know of any issues or concerns. -- Christopher Childs (PGM Research crew)

posted by Christopher Childs
edited by Christopher Childs
Childs-1516 Christopher Childs
Additional note: John Pratt's will of 3 March 1646/7 (or 3 August 1646? "First" or "Sixth" month) is viewable on the NEHGS website, at https://www.americanancestors.org/DB2735/i/48697/67-co3/69443802 (by subscription); the script is difficult to interpret but it does not appear to mention any offspring by name. He declares his wife as executrix, but does not name her, and mentions an "eldest sone" but again, without (legibly) offering a name.
posted by Christopher Childs
Hill-11959 S (Hill) Willson
You have anwswered my question onn John Pratt I (-abt.1647)'s profile as to whether Mary might be his daughter instead. It sounds most likely.

S

posted by S (Hill) Willson

Rejected matches › Elizabeth (Unknown) Needham (abt.1640-1682) › Elizabeth Perrott (1651-)

Featured National Park champion connections: Elizabeth is 12 degrees from Theodore Roosevelt, 18 degrees from Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, 11 degrees from George Catlin, 14 degrees from Marjory Douglas, 24 degrees from Sueko Embrey, 12 degrees from George Grinnell, 23 degrees from Anton Kröller, 12 degrees from Stephen Mather, 20 degrees from Kara McKean, 14 degrees from John Muir, 16 degrees from Victoria Hanover and 24 degrees from Charles Young on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.

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