William West (1714 - bef. 1799)

Born 4 Apr 1714 in Tisbury, Dukes County, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Husband of Jane West — married 23 Dec 1734 in Tisbury, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died before 20 Nov 1799 before age 85 in Cornwallis, Annapolis County, Colony of Nova Scotia

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Biography

William West migrated from New England to Nova Scotia.

William West was born 4 Apr 1714 in Tisbury, Dukes, Massachusetts Bay.^[1][2]

He was the son of Thomas West and Mary Presbury.^[1][2]

William was the oldest of 8 children. He likely had a good childhood, since his father Thomas was a master mariner and the Wests were an important family on Martha's Vineyard. However, he grew up fast. When he was 12, his father died in Rhode Island after a voyage to the West Indies of either a wound or a disease he got there. William's mother Mary likely died not too long after, because her father Stephen Presbury became the guardian of the 8 children.

So William married his first cousin Jane, also spelled Jean, when he was 20. Jane was the daughter of Abner West, brother of William's father Thomas.

William was a glazier. He resided in Tisbury, removed to Rochester, Massachusetts and later to Cornwallis, Nova Scotia.^[2]

He married Jane West 23 Dec 1734 in Tisbury, Dukes, Massachusetts Bay Colony. Her maiden name was also "West".^[2][3]

Children of William and Jane include:

• Nathan, b 17 Feb 1736 Tisbury, d 1738^[2][4]
• Jabez, b ca 1737, m Ruth Tupper 1763, Captain of a privateer 1778-9, resided in Machias, Maine^[2][5]
• Cyrus, b 1740 Tisbury, m Mary Dexter 1767, d 1776, resided in Rochester^[2]
• Seth, b ca 1744, m Mary Crossman 1781^[2][5][6][7]
• Paul, b ca 1746^[2][6]
• Mary, b ca 1750 Rochester, m John North 1770^[5][8]
• Deborah, b ca 1752, m Stephen Strong 1773, m Obediah Benjamin 1787^[2][5][6][9]
• Elizabeth, b 9 Feb 1754 Rochester, m Charles Tupper 1771^{[2][5][6][10]}
• William, b 17 Feb 1756 Rochester^[2][11]
• Francis Triall, b 18 Sep 1760 Cornwallis, m Wealthy Kinsman 1786^{[2][5][6][12][13]}
• Thomas, b 16 Jun 1763 Cornwallis, m Sarah Porter 1784^{[2][5][6][14][15]}

William and Jane and their children, along with Jane's brother Stephen West and his family, migrated to Nova Scotia as part of the Planter Migration. The British government had expelled the Acadians from Nova Scotia. Their well-tended farms, barns, houses, fields, and dykes were left empty. The British wanted the land settled and guaranteed the New Englanders democratic government like they had at home. William and Jane arrived at Starr's Point, Nova Scotia, on 14 June 1760, as part of a 75-ship fleet convoyed by a brig-of-war.

In 1761, William was a Cornwallis Town Grantee, Division 5 Lot 2 . 66 acres , width 34 rods. A township plan was laid out like they had done it in New England, but the Planters realized that it was better to follow the Acadian way of having the fields by the river and the houses on the high ground.

On the last Tuesday of May in 1765, Kings County needed to raise money and each township was told what to contribute. William was an assessor. He was assessed 6 shillings 6 pence and paid 4.

In 1785, William was listed as having 3 horses or mares, 2 oxen or bulls, 1 cow, 1 young cattle, 0 sheep, and 1 hog. In 1791 and 1792, he paid a poll tax of 5 and 4 shillings, respectively. He was a 3rd class tax-payer of 5 classes.

William’s will was written 12 Sep 1798 and proved 20 Nov 1799 in Cornwallis. It mentions his wife Jane, children Seth, Paul, Francis, Elizabeth Tupper, Thomas, and Deborah Benjamin, and grandchildren Nathan West, Freeman West, Mary Newcomb, Deborah Woodward, William North, and Cyrus Whitten.^[6]

For more information, see "So you want to be a Mayflower Descendant" parts 1-12, www.grandmasgrannysfamilyalbum.blogspot.com

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VQ6N-X38 : 5 January 2021), William West, 1714.
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13} Banks, Charles Edward, M. D., The History of Martha's Vineyard, Dukes County, Massachusetts, Edgartown, Published by the Dukes County Historical Society. 1966, Vol. III, p. 504
3. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPWJ-VGQT : 19 April 2021), William West and Jane West, 23 Dec 1734; citing Marriage, Tisbury, Dukes, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007009758.
4. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #8983226, accessed 28 April 2022, memorial page for Nathan West (17 Feb 1736–23 May 1738), citing South End Cemetery, Tisbury, Dukes County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by Kevin Thomas West (contributor 46930153) .
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6} The history of Kings County, Nova Scotia, heart of the Acadian ... Eaton, Arthur Wentworth Hamilton, 1849-1937. pp 864-865
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6} "Canada, Nova Scotia Probate Records, 1760-1993," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9ZR-XKY6?cc=2134302&wc=SN12-VZZ%3A1411645602%2C1412174201 : 4 November 2014), Kings > Will books, 1783-1847, vol 1-2 > image 95 of 470; county courthouses, Nova Scotia.
7. ↑ "Canada, Nova Scotia Church Records, 1720-2001", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6ZSX-7BKN : 27 May 2021), Seth West, 1781.
8. ↑ "Canada, Nova Scotia Church Records, 1720-2001", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6ZSP-4XL9 : 5 August 2021), Mary Weft in entry for John North, 1770.
9. ↑ "Canada, Nova Scotia Church Records, 1720-2001", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6ZSB-V8PF : 27 May 2021), Deborah Weft in entry for Stephen Strong, 1773.
10. ↑ "Canada, Nova Scotia Church Records, 1720-2001", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6ZQH-D536 : 27 May 2021), Elizabeth West in entry for Charles Tupper, 1771.
11. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VQ67-2F7 : 5 January 2021), William West, 1756.
12. ↑ "Canada, Nova Scotia Church Records, 1720-2001", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6ZST-VVD4 : 27 May 2021), Francis Triall West, .
13. ↑ "Canada, Nova Scotia Church Records, 1720-2001", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6ZSX-7BKB : 27 May 2021), Francis West, 1786.
14. ↑ "Canada, Nova Scotia Church Records, 1720-2001", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6ZS5-ZCBN : 27 May 2021), Thomas West, .
15. ↑ "Canada, Nova Scotia Church Records, 1720-2001", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6ZSB-V8PP : 27 May 2021), Thomas Weft, 1784.

• Tupper, Eleanor, PhD, Tupper Genealogy 1578 - 1971, The Reporter Press, Paul K Blanchard, Inc., North Conway, NH 1972 p. 298
• The history of Kings County, Nova Scotia, heart of the Acadian ... Eaton, Arthur Wentworth Hamilton, 1849-1937. p 783

William West Family, p. 284, Planters and Pioneers, Author Wright, Esther Clark, Wolfville, NS., 1978, https://archive.org/details/planterspioneers0000wrig/page/138/mode/2up

Nova Scotia, Canada, Census, Assessment and Poll Tax Records, 1770-1795, William West, Farmer, 1791, Cornwallis, Cornwallis, Kings, Nova Scotia, Canada, Record Type Poll Tax Roll. Folio Number 444 No. 7

Nova Scotia, Canada, Census, Assessment and Poll Tax Records, 1770-1795, William West, 1786, Cornwallis, Kings, Nova Scotia, Canada, Census Return, Ancestry.com

Ancestry.com. The West family register : important lines traced 1326-1928 [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Original data: Stone, Letta Brock,. The West family register : important lines traced 1326-1928. Washington, D.C.: W.F. Roberts Co., 1928., p.289.

https://www.americanancestors.org/search/databasesearch/2731/general-society-of-mayflower-descendants-membership-applications-1620-1920