Mary (Browne) Willett (bef. 1616 - 1669)

Born before 1616 in Hawkedon, Suffolk, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Wife of Thomas Willett — married 6 Jul 1636 in Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 8 Jan 1669 after age 53 in Bristol, Bristol, Rhode Island

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Mary (Browne) Willett migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Brown vs Browne John Browne's will mentions his daughter Mary and her husband Thomas Willet; grandchild Martha Safflin and her husband John Safflin; grandchildren John Browne, Joseph Browne, Nathaniel, Lydia Browne Hannah; Uncle James; his unnamed wife; and son James.^[1]

• Throughout the will the last name is spelled "Browne".

Birth

Daughter of John Browne. His will dated 1662 names "Mary my daughter the wife of Thomas Willett." Dorethy Browne of Swansea, her mother also names "my daughter Mary Willett" and "maryes Willett's children" in her will of 1668.^[2]

Mary was born at an estimated 1616, based on the births of her children^[2]

Alternate births suggested

27 JUN 1604 Belfast, Antrim, Ireland^[3]

1605 England^[3]

1614 Hawkedon, Suffolk, England^[4]

24 MAR 1616 Plymouth, Devon, England

abt 1616^[5][6][7]

Arrival

The Brown Family migrated aboard the "Elizabeth" in 1635.^[2]

Marriage

06 JUL 1636 Plymouth, Plymouth Colony^[2][8][9]

Death

08 JAN 1669 Wannamoisett area, Bristol, Bristol, Rhode Island^{[4][10][11][12]}

Burial

Ancient Little Neck Cemetery, 41.76648, -71.35406, East Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA^[13]

Children^[2]

• i MARY, b. 10 November 1637; m. Plymouth 22 September 1658 Samuel Hooker, son of THOMAS HOOKER; m. (2) Farmington 10 August 1703 Rev. Thomas Buckingham.
• ii MARTHA, b. 6 August 1639; m. Plymouth 2 December 1658 John Saffin .
• iii JOHN, b. 21 August 1641; m. in 1663 Abigail Collins, daughter of Edward Collins.
• iv SARAH, b. 4 May 1643; m. by 1662 John Eliot, son of JOHN ELIOT .
• v REBECCA, b. 2 December 1644; d. Plymouth 2 April 1652. (The death record does not give her age.)
• vi THOMAS, b. 1 October 1646; no further record.
• vii HESTER, b. Plymouth 6 July 1648; m. 24 January 1671/2 Rev. Josiah Flint of Dorchester [ Sibley 2:153 (the marriage is said to have taken place in Swansea, but the event does not appear in the published vital records of that town or of Dorchester)].
• viii JAMES, b. Plymouth 24 November 1649; m. (1) Rehoboth 17 April 1673 Elizabeth Hunt [ PCR 8:52], daughter of Peter Hunt; m (2) Swansea 2 August 1677 Grace Frinck.
• ix HEZEKIAH, b. Plymouth 20 July 1651 [ PCR 8:12; PVR 659]; d. 26 July 1651.
• x HEZEKIAH, b. Plymouth "16 November or thereabouts" 1653; m. Swansea 7 January 1675[/6] Anna Brown, daughter of John Brown.
• xi DAVID, b. 1 November 1654; no further record.
• xii ANDREW, b. 5 October 1655; m. 6 March 1693/4 Susannah Holbrook [ BrVR 721; NEHGR 59:145 (defective entry)].
• xiii SAMUEL, b. 27 October 1658; said to have married and had a large family at Flushing, Long Island, but there is much confusion with the descendants of another Thomas Willet who did settle in Flushing.

Sources

1. ↑ #The Mayflower Descendant (1916) The Wills of John Brown, Senior and John Brown, Junior MD (Jan 1916) 14-19
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4} Great Migration 1634-1635, A-B. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume 1, A-B, by Robert Charles Anderson, George F. Sanborn, Jr., and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1999.https://www.americanancestors.org/DB114/i/7051/420/235169565
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} #S841
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Pages 26-29 Text: The life and family of Mary Browne.
5. ↑ Cutter
6. ↑ Saints and Strangers by G.F. Willison
7. ↑ Gen. & Family History of CT - 1911
8. ↑ Plymouth Vital Records. Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1621-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016). https://www.americanancestors.org/DB190/i/14012/652/253537348
9. ↑ Brown Family Genealogy, Pages 1073-1075 Text: Genealogical information on the John Brown, his family and his ancestors.
10. ↑ Saints and Strangers by G.F. Willison
11. ↑ Gen. & Family History of CT - 1911
12. ↑ Browne
13. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 03 October 2020), memorial page for Mary Brown Willett (1609–8 Jan 1669), Find A Grave: Memorial #54940423, citing Ancient Little Neck Cemetery, East Providence, Providence County, Rhode Island, USA ; Maintained by Linda Mac (contributor 47062703) .

See also

• Barnum, Mary Pierpont. Pierpont Genealogy and Connecting Lines (Boston, 1928) Page 15
• Cutter, William Richard. Genealogical and Family History of the State of Connecticut (Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1911)
• G.F. Willison, Saints and Strangers
• U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 Publication: Name: Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004
• Brown, Cyrus. Brown Genealogy of Many of the Descendants of Thomas, John, and Eleazer Brown (The Everett Press Co., Boston, 1907-1915)
• Anderson, R.C. "The Great Migration Begins" pp.255-257.
• Cornell, Thomas Clapp. Adam and Anne Mott, Their Ancestors and Their Descendants (A.V. Haight, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., 1890) Page 251.
• Find A Grave: Memorial #54940423
• Carpenter, Daniel H., "New York's First Mayor", The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record (NYGBS, New York, 1897) Vol. 28, Page 191
• Hart, Robert Wayne. Genealogical Material On The Willet and Saffin Families From The Notebook of John Saffin, The New England Historical & Genealogical Register (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 2008) Vol. 162, WN 648, Page 264.