William Fowler (1572 - 1660)

The Great Migration Directory gives his origins as Ippollitts, Hertfordshire, citing NEHGR 54:352

https://archive.org/details/newenglandhistor1900wate/page/710/mode/2up which lists arrears from 1636, and a notation for William Fowler of "Ippolletts" Gone to New England.

Since we've had a G2G discussion about his wife and there is no apparent credible evidence of her first or last name, should we still be assuming she was Sarah? She has her own profile page with the inference that she was - which I guess is a leftover from when she was created as Sarah Neeld?

I feel what Scott has proposed is the best thing to do. Thanks for all your hard work everyone!

The bio is basically repeated. Here is a proposed rewrite that combines the best of each and includes the timeline as part of the narrative per Wikitree Style Guidelines:

Biography

William Fowler was a Puritan and may have been the William Fowler imprisoned by the Bishops in Bridwell in 1592 as reported in Fowler Family History. He came to New England on 26 June 1637, arriving in Boston with Rev. John Davenport, his group travelling in two ships, one of which was named the "Hector"[6]. On 30 March 1638 he continued on from Boston to Quinnipiac, the Indian name for the area that would become New Haven Colony. He was at the famous meeting in Mr. Newman's Barn on 4 June 1639 when the adopted the "Fundamental Agreement" for self-government[new citation 7]. He was named first trustee of Milford County and was the only member with the honorable prefix "Mr". He built "Fowler's Mill" in 1640. The mill was so important to the town that when it was damaged in 1645, the General Court voted that everyone in the town should help him rebuild it.[5] On 26 October 1643 William was chosen magistrate of the Colony of New Haven[5] Already an old man when he settled in Milford,[4] He lived there to the age of 88, dying on 25 January 1660.

"It is probable that Mr. Fowler was one of the first settlers who had received a classical education in his native country. He is reported to have enjoyed a high reputation for wisdom and piety, and had the confidence of the Colony as a magistrate."[5]

Children Children of William Fowler, all born in England:[2] 1 William (Captain William Fowler)[3] 2 John 3 Ambrose 4 Mary, m. John Caffing[5]

Research notes Previous wikitree profiles had Dalbury, Derbyshire, England, and Buckinghamshire, England as birthplace without documentation. William Fowler’s wife’s name and his parentage are unknown.

Fowler Family History[LINK NEEDED]: record says a William Fowler, a Puritan, was imprisoned in the year 1592 by the Bishops in or around London. ...probable ancestor unconfirmed.

Sources 1 ↑ Unless otherwise cited, information on this profile is derived from Genealogical memoir of the descendants of Capt. William Fowler... link; original sources sought. 2 ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Abbott, Susan Woodruff. Families of Early Milford, Connecticut. Genealogical Publishing Co., 1979. Page 280. 3 ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Cleveland, Edmund Janes. The Genealogy of the Cleveland and Cleaveland Families, Volume I. Hartford, CT: Case, Lockwood, and Brainard Co.,1899. Page 931-932. 4 ↑ Fowler, Christine Cecilia. The History of the Fowlers. Batavia, NY: Miller-Mac Printing Company Inc., 1950. Page 582. 5 ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Fowler, Daniel W. Descendants of Capt. William Fowler, New Haven, Connecticut. Milwaukee, WI: Starr & Son, 1870. Page 9-12. 6 ↑ Fowler, John William. An Historical Sketch and Genealogical Record of the Fowlers of Milford, Connecticut. New Haven, CT: The Stafford Printing Co., 1887. Page 12. 7 Wikipedia contributors, "Fundamental Agreement of the New Haven Colony," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fundamental_Agreement_of_the_New_Haven_Colony&oldid=1091423535 (accessed August 11, 2022).

See also: • Orcutt, Samuel. History of the Old Town of Derby, Connecticut, 1642-1880. Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, Inc., 1998. Page 693. • http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/a/b/b/Patsy-J-Abbey/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0903.html NOTE: Family tree information only. No sources. • Wikipedia contributors, "New Haven Colony," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_Haven_Colony&oldid=1099373988 (accessed August 11, 2022).

Wives sorted out. He is ready for PPP lock again. Thank you

Absolutely no Neeld documentation. Agree with merging Neeld with the Unknown profile.

Removed "spouse" _______ Margaret. No evidence found at all to support a wife with Margaret in her name.

Having researched many quality sources I find no support for the last name of his wife "Sarah". Some sources do not even list her name at all, i.e. Genealogical memoir of the descendants of Capt. William Fowler, New Haven, Connecticut. by Hon. James Fowler; The history of the Fowlers / compiled and published by the author Christine Cecilia Fowler; An historical sketch and genealogical record of the Fowlers of Milford, Conn by John William Fowler; Anderson's Great Migration. Families of Early Milford Connecticut by Susan Woodruff Abbott does not list a wife at all. No death records for a Sarah Fowler (or any Fowler for that matter) were found in Connecticut between 1637 and 1639 when she supposedly died. Other quality sources show her name as Sarah _______: Torrey's New England Marriages cites William's marriage to Sarah?______; Families of Early Guilford by Alvin Talcot gives her name as Sarah ______. Torrey cites some other sources, many of which I reviewed, which either have her name as unknown, or Sarah ______. Tradition has Sarah's last name as Neeld, but no marriage has been found in England, and no quality sources have been found to support this name.

Do the PMs have any quality sources that show his wife's name to be Sarah Neeld? If not, I propose that Sarah's last name be changed to Unknown.

I also suggest that wife Unknown Margaret's name either be merged into Sarah Unknown as well, or deleted entirely; the name Margaret never showed up in any sources I reviewed.

Thoughts?

Would a leader please temporarily remove the PPP on this profile so it can be merged to the lower-numbered profile?

Thank you, S

These profiles are about ready to merge (Wives can be merged into the unknown profile), but the lower number profile is not the protected profile.

Fowler-887 and Fowler-767 appear to represent the same person because: These two profiles both represent the emigrant William Fowler who settled in Connecticut, but there are problems that need resolving-- including the identification of his wife.

William Fowler should not be shown with these parents. The best source we have says he’s “probably from Aylesbury”. John Fowler would have been only 4 years old at the time of his birth and Francis (Webb) Fowler would have been an infant. I suspect this misinformation is the reason he is PPP - this looks like the result of a bad merge.

On your research I'd say un-attach Sarah.

After an extensive search, I have been unable to find any reliable source naming William's wife as "Sarah", let alone with a last name attached. I believe we should unlink Sarah as his wife.

Fowler-3781 and Fowler-887 appear to represent the same person because: Same vitals, son

Isn't his name Willaim just a misspelled typo?