William Searle (1690 - 1778)

Born 8 Sep 1690 in Rowley, Essex County, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 18 May 1778 at age 87 in Rowley, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA

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Biography

WILLIAM SEARLE (2nd) was the son of Samuel Searle and Deborah Bragg, though in Rowley records the father's name is given as Willaim.^[1]

WILLIAM SEARLE was born at Rowley on 8 September 1690 and died there ond 18 May 1778 His marriage intentions were made on 3 August 1723 with JANE NELSON, daughter of Jeremiah and Ann (Hopkinson) Nelson. Anne died at Rowley on 30 March [1779? She died after William, perhaps in early 1783 though some records give her death year as 1778]. ^[2]

William, a farmer, served as a deacon of the Rowley church, acted as administrator of his grandfather Searle’s estate in 1723 and again in 1728- 1729. In 1732 he disposed of inherited land and common rights in Ipswich with his aunt Grace Harris, his brother John and his brother-in-law Nelson.^[3]

There seems to be no will for William. Administration on estate of Mrs. Jane Searle, late wife of Deacon William Searle, late of Rowley, was granted 3 April 1783 to Jeremiah Searle. The estate was division between Jeremiah, eldest son, Jane Jewett, William, David, Eunice Gardner, Lois Cogswell and Jonathan [Searle?].^[4]

Children

Children of William Searle and Jane Nelson, all born in Rowley :^[5]

• 1. JEREMIAH SEARLE, b. May 27, 1724; m. Mary Thurston Sept. 23,1756; d. Oct. 29, 1799.
• 2. ANN SEARLE, bapt. Feb. 20, 1725/6; d. Feb. 16, 1736/7.
• 3. Jane SEARLE , b. Oct. 18, 1727 ; m. Nov. 26, 1747 ; Jeremiah Jewett.
• 4. WILLIAM SEARLE , b. April 4, 1730; m. (1) Dec. 6, 1752, Abigail Merrill, who * d. Sept., 1769; m. (2) Mary Nelson Nov. 26, 1770.
• 5. JOHN SEARLE, bapt. July 23, 1732; d. Feb., 1732/3.
• 6. TRYPHENA SEARLE, bapt. Jan., 1734/5; d. Feb. 15, 1734/5.
• 7. DAVID SEARLE , b. Nov. 24, 1736; m. Judith Hayward April 19, 1760; Revolutionary soldier; lived in Temple, N. H., she d. Oct. 12, 1790, “dau. of Capt. Samuel Hayward, in her 52nd year”; he d. April 19, 1792.
• 8. EUNICE SEARLE, b. 16 March 1738/9; m. 21 Nov. 1765 Elisha Gardner of Brookline.
• 9. LOIS SEARLE. b. 26 Jan. 1742/3; m. 8 March 1777 Dr.Nathaniel Cogswell of Rowley.
• 10. JONATHAN SEARLE, bapt. 23 Nov. 1746, d. 2 Dec. 1818; Harvard 1765; minister in Salisbury, N. H.; m. Margaret (Sanborn) Toppan, widow of Rev. Amos Toppan.

Sources

1. ↑ Walter Goodwin Davis, The Ancestry of Bethia Harris, 1748-1883, wife of Dudley Wildes of Topsfield, Massachusetts (Portland, Maine: The Southworth Press, 1934) p.52, 64 seen at https://archive.org/details/ancestryofbethia00davi/page/62/mod
2. ↑ Davis, Bethia Harris, p. 97
3. ↑ Davis, Bethia Harris, p. 97 citing Essex Co. [Mass.] Deeds, 51:88; 53:252; 67:233. Davis' research on this generation of Searles left him frustrated: "Others will have to work out an intelligent explanation of why the heirs, in disposing of William Searle Senior’s property in 1729, deeded shares as follows: Grace Harris 3/8; William Searle 5/16, John Searle 5/32 and Ephraim Nelson 5/32."
4. ↑ Davis, Bethia Harris, p. 97
5. ↑ Davis, Bethia Harris, p. 97-98.

• GEDCOM import of Nelson.ged on February 13, 2011. User ID: 4A86BD01EC4E4D10BB3BCE256FBD31C32EF3

Acknowledgments

• Thank you to Al Adams for creating Searl-33 on 29 Jul 13. Click the Changes tab for the details on contributions by Al and others.

Query

• N2786@ NOTE: I have not located a connection to the Searles later conected with my Gilbert and Dickinson families. If one exists, it would make David Dickinson of New York and Ohio a second or third or more cousin of his father-in-law's neighbor Reuben Searle. Katherine Peterson