William Haviland (bef. 1632 - aft. 1688)

Ancestors

Son of Unknown Haviland and [mother unknown]

Husband of Hannah (Hicks) Haviland — married about 16 Oct 1653 in Newport, Newport Co, Rhode Island, British Colonial America

Descendants

Died after 17 Apr 1688 after age 56 in Long Island, New York

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Bruce Ross [send private message], Hollis Bartlett [send private message], Christopher Haviland [send private message], and Walter Burnett [send private message]

Biography

This profile is part of the Haviland Name Study.

	Descendant Study Paternal de Havilland Desc 2+ Primary Source Types yDNA Validation

Birth & Parents

Josephine C. Frost, in her book The Haviland Genealogy (1914), with the help of researcher Eduardo Haviland Hillman, entered a theory that William is the son of James Haviland (1553 - 1613), Mayor of Salisbury, England, and Thomassine Maindonail (ca 1560 - 1641). ^[1] The only evidence cited is a Christening record in 7 Sep 1606 at St. Thomas's, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England for a "William Havelan." However there is no evidence that this is the same William, nor evidence that the James in this record is the same as James (1440-1502) who was Mayor of Poole in 1494 and 1498.

Per genealogist Herbert Seversmith, "Before the present writer was concerned with the Haviland genealogy or knew that he was descended from William Haviland, he had read in an English genealogical periodical under the heading of book reviews that William Haviland, son of James Haviland, Mayor of Salisbury, England, had died unmarried in London, England." ^[2] Unfortunately that review has not yet been rediscovered, and the statement cannot be validated.

James' (1440-1502) brother Thomas has been proffered as an alternative father for William of Newport.

The very early date for birth date of William (b. 1606) makes it suspect. While it's not impossible that it's the same person as William of Newport, there is enough doubt for it to be highly debated. The reason William of 1606 is still on the table is because, 1) it's not impossible, and 2) no other candidate named William within 20 years after that date has ever been found anywhere in England. The William of 1606, however, literally just "disappears" from record. No death or marriage dates for any William of that age, etc. This is the reason that Frost & Hillman decided he must be the same person. However genealogists argue that it's more likely a generation is skipped and William is younger than assumed in Frost's book. There are missing records in several of the parishes, and it is reasonable to suspect William of Newport's records were lost. Probates were destroyed in Dorset in World War II, for example, which might have helped establish William Haviland's origins.

See Haviland Family Mysteries.

In regards to William of Newport's actual birth date, we have no solid information to give us a clue as to his age in any of his records. Josephine Frost originally assumed William was born in 1625-1630, which is what she published in her earlier work, The Frost Genealogy. ^[3] This is probably one source of the assumption published in U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700 as well, wherein William was estimated to be born somewhere between 1618 and 1625. ^[4] As he was made Freeman in Newport in 1653, and the youngest a man could named a Freeman was 21, the latest possible date of his birth is 1632. On average most men were a little older than that, which makes Torry's estimate realistic.

Marriage

William appears to have married Hannah Hicks ca 1652, a daughter of John and Horodias (Long) Hicks (a couple who suffered a divorce of notoriety) at Newport, Rhode Island.^{[4] [5]} Had William in fact been born in 1606, this would have been a marriage of a 46-yr old man to a girl of about 14, which while possible is also unlikely. Frost argues that William is on record as calling himself "old" during the years he lived in New York, but that is not alone enough to substantiate the supposition that he was born in 1606 as she theorized in The Haviland Genealogy.

There is an incorrect reference to William being listed in The Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s documenting him in Rhode Island in 1639. This reference is actually a secondary source. In the index, it cites "Colket, Meredith B., Jr. Founders of Early American Families: Emigrants from Europe, 1607-1657. Cleveland: General Court of the Order of Founders and Patriots of America, 1975." And that reference uses Josephine Frost's The Haviland Genealogy as its own source. Josephine Frost wrote, "In list of 31 names signed to a document much mutilated, where each acknowledges allegiance to King Charles under date of April 30, 1639, is the name of Wm. Heavens, badly torn." ^[6] This connection is erroneous. "Multiple modern sources, including Robert Charles Anderson's The Great Migration Directory: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1640 a Concise Compendium, (2015), consider William "Heavens" to be William Havens, scion of a well-known colonial Rhode Island family. Anderson, who is the pre-eminent authority on colonial New England immigrants to New England, does not even list William Haviland in his The Great Migration Directory, which is supposed to cover immigrants prior to 1640." ^[7]

There is another incorrect reference to William Haviland in 1646 being listed as a Church Warden in Newport, R.I. ^[8] This reference also came from researcher Eduardo Haviland Hillman who had published a query in The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record stating this as fact, but did not list a reference. Hillman himself was seeking that evidence in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register in 1911, but apparently confirmation was never received. "Church Wardens are primarily a Church of England (Anglican) office. There was no Anglican Church in Newport until 1698-1699. The founders of Newport were mostly Quakers, and the first Baptist Church in Newport was founded in 1644. William Haviland is not listed among its earliest members." ^[7]

The earliest record we have of William Haviland of Newport was his listing as a freeman of Newport in 1653 ^[9], along with Benedict Arnold (the eventual governor of Rhode Island). In 1655 he was received as Freeman from Newport in a General Election held at Providence, R.I. ^{[10] [6]} (although a primary source citation is needed to substantiate this claim). This act might have been to support re-election of Roger Williams as President of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, with whom William's views were probably in alignment given his immigration to specifically Rhode Island, and his religious beliefs.

On 21 May 1656 he was listed as a Commissioner to the General Court at Portsmouth, R.I., from Newport. ^[6] This station should be understood within the context of the political and religious context of Rhode Island at that time.

Thoughts: William Haviland was probably not a Quaker. At least not at this time. There was tension between the Quakers and the government, and there were even laws that restricted a man becoming a Freeman if he was a Quaker.) ^[11] While many arrived seeking freedom from religious persecution, unfortunately it continued, and by 1656 some newly arrived Quakers were quite expressive and extreme and sought to exasperate that conflict. William Haviland's colleague Benedict Arnold succeeded Roger Williams as the President of the Colonies for a time, and was forced to respond to these matters. William Haviland's views were probably aligned with the Puritans, and he must have been distressed by the events of those years, given that in the last two generations of his family there were persecutions of Protestants in England. And so he may have become involved in the local politics wherein the separation of Church and State and freedom of religious expression, for which Roger Williams was a strong proponent and maybe William Haviland also, was a major issue.

Contexts:

The appearance of this 'cursed sect of heretics' ^[12] so alarmed the Puritans that a day of public humiliation was appointed ^[13] to be held in all the churches mainly on their account. A stringent law was enacted for their suppression ^[14] and two years later their tenets were made a capital offence [sic]. ^[15] Fines, imprisonment, whipping, banishment, mutilation, and death, were denounced and inflicted upon them. ... That Rhode Island became a ... refuge for those who fled from this fiery ordeal vexed the United Colonies. The Commissioners, assembled at Boston, wrote a letter urging Rhode Island to banish the Quakers already there and to prohibit any more from coming to the State. ^[16] To this request the President and Assistants, met at the Court of trials in Providence, replied, that there was no law by which men could be punished in Rhode Island for their opinions, and that the Quakers being unmolested, were becoming disgusted at their want of success; but that in case of any extravagancies, like those referred to, being committed, the next General Assembly would provide a corrective. That body met at Portsmouth and addressed another letter to the Massachusetts on the same subject. In this letter they say that freedom of conscience was the ground of their charter and shall be maintained; that if the Quakers violate the laws or refuse to conform thereto in any respect, complaint against them will be made in England and the more readily as these people are there tolerated. ^{[17] [18]}

Strangers Oath: You A. B. Do acknowledge your self subject to the Lawes of this Jurisdiction during your Residence under this Government, and do here Swear, by the Great Name of the Everliving GOD, and engage your self to be true and faithfull to the same, and not to plot, contrive, or conceal any thing that is to the hurt or detriment thereof. [1652.] ^[11]

This was, apparently, aimed at the Quakers, whose offensive attitude towards the Government was made the subject of further drastic laws and orders by the General Court, in October, 1656 and May, 1658. ^[11]

While there is a reference to grants by Pettaquamscutt land purchases to William Haviland on 1 May 1663. ^[19], by 1667 he purchased 100 acres of land from his brother-in-law, Thomas Hicks, on what is now Little Neck, (then called "Cornbury"), on Long Island. ^[6]

On 24 Mar 1685 he signed the renewal-charter of the Patent of Flushing, as did his wife's brother Thomas Hicks. (Flushing is now a township in the borough of Queens, New York, NY.) "The first patent of Incorporation of the Town of Flushing was granted by the Dutch Governor, William Keift, and was dated October 10th, 1645. This was renewed under the English authority. The renewal-charter was dated March 24th, 1685. These manuscripts were probably lost in the fire [of October, 1789, as they were kept in the house of the John Vanderbilt, the Town Clerk, set ablaze deliberately by his slaves]. The only manuscript the Town has, relative to its Incorporation, is termed an "Exemplification of Flushing Patent." It is dated Feb. 24th, 1792; one hundred and seven years after the renewal by the English, and one hundred and forty-seven years after the original grant by the Dutch authorities. We found it in possession of Capt. George B. Roe, who kindly placed a copy at our disposal. It is only sixty-seven years old [as of 1859], but already many parts are nearly obliterated and can with difficulty be deciphered." ^[20] William Haviland's name was preserved in this document, as it was a reproduction of the renewal charter of 1685. A "Joseph Havyland" also signed the document. He may be Joseph, son of William.

The Will of Benedict Arnold

William Haviland is mentioned by name in the will of Benedict Arnold, the Governor of Newport, R.I., wherein we find evidence that Arnold purchased land from William (probably upon William's relocation to Long Island) and probably had nearby property:

...and to her heirs and assigns to have and to hold, possess and enjoy as her and their own true rights and lawful inheritance forever, that is to say, ye lands and tenements hereafter mentioned, namely: ye house and two acres of land, be it more or less, that I bought of William Haviland, being and lying in ye precincts of ye town of Newport, above said, bounded on ye South and on ye East parts on land now or later in the possession of Thomas Clifton or his assigns, on ye West by a highway belonging to said town, and on ye North by land that I have bequeathed to my son Josias Arnold, and I order ye said line of fence to be made and forever maintained by ye occupants of ye premises which I bought of Wm. Haviland aforesaid, as also all that land which I bought of Wm. Vaughan being and lying in ye precincts of the said town of Newport... Unto my beloved son Josiah Arnold aforenamed, I give and bequeath a certain parcell of land, being and lying in ye precincts of ye town of Newport above mentioned, ye said land containing by estimation, four acres more or less, being eight rod in breadth from North to South, and eighty rod in length from East to West, bounded on ye North by land I have bequeathed to his mother Damaris Arnold, &c. on ye East by land of Walter Clarke on ye South in part by land now or late in ye possession of Thomas Clifton or his assigns and partly by ye land above said, I bought of Wm. Haviland and bequeathed to ye said Damaris Arnold, &c.... ^[21]

Timetable

• ca 1652: Married Hannah Hicks, daughter of John Hicks & "Herodias" (Long) Hicks.
• 1653: Recorded as a freeman of Newport, Rhode Island. (There is a record of an "Act and Order of the General Assembly at Newport, May 17, 1653. 'Freemen received of Newport: Benedict Arnold,...' - eventually became governor - '...Joseph Torry,...' - a distant cousin of the Havilands - '...William Haviland, and Jonathan Mott'" ).
• ca 1653: son Joseph born.
• 1656: On 21 May 1656 he is listed as a Commissioner to the General Court at Portsmouth, R.I., from Newport.
• 16[5]7: Representative in Assembly (according to Eduardo Haviland Hillman - but of what town? He states "1667" in a query to the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record ^[22], but in the context of Newport, and he certainly had migrated out of Newport by that time. Could be a typographical error, the correct year being 1657?).
• 1659: son Benjamin born on 3 Apr 1659.
• 1659 - 1663: At some point in this date range, William probably migrated to Great Neck, or Little Neck, Long Island.
• 1663: Grants by Pettaquamscutt land purchases to William Haviland
• ca 1661: son Jacob born (not known where).
• 1663: son John born (in Hempstead, Long Island, NY).
• 1678: William mentioned in the Will of Gov. Benedict Arnold, however apparently after William had long left Newport.
• 1679: Letters in regards to civil actions and disputes over land with his neighbors. See The Correspondence of William Haviland (Immigrant to the New World)
• 1685: Signed a renewal-charter of the Patent of Flushing, Long Island, NY.

Death & Burial

William died probably in Flushing after 17 Apr 1688 (his last known record) and before 31 Aug 1698 (as he is not listed in the census).

The location of William Haviland's remains have been researched in Flushing, but without conclusion. It has been suspected that he is buried in the back of the old Meeting House location, where there is a graveyard, but as yet there is no evidence of any marker with his name there. Being a Quaker, he may be buried in an unmarked grave on or near where his property, the precise location of which is not yet identified. Various graveyards throughout Queens have been searched to no avail.

Sources

1. ↑ Frost, Haviland, pp. 12-21.
2. ↑ Seversmith, Colonial Families of Long Island, New York and Connecticut, Vol 3, p. 1299.
3. ↑ Frost Genealogy, p. 358.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Torry, Marriages, p. 354.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5} Frost, Haviland, p. 39.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3} Frost, Haviland, p. 22.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Gordon L Remington, FUGA, FASG.
8. ↑ https://www.historicpatterson.org/Exhibits/ExhHavilandHollow.php
9. ↑ Bartlett, Plantations, p. 263
10. ↑ Bartlett, Plantations, p. 303
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1 11.2} Evans, Oaths, p. 409.
12. ↑ Preamble to law of Oct. 14th, 1656, M.C.R., iii. 415.
13. ↑ May 14th, 1656, to be held June 11th.
14. ↑ Oct. 14th, 1656
15. ↑ Oct. 19th, 1658.
16. ↑ Hazard, ii. 370-1.
17. ↑ Both these letters and also that to which they are the replies, are given in R.I. Col. Rec., i. 374-380.
18. ↑ Arnold, Rhode Island, pp. 264-266.
19. ↑ James, Metamorphisis
20. ↑ Mandeville, Flushing.
21. ↑ Will of Gov. Benedict Arnold.
22. ↑ Hillman, The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. Queries. Vol 41. 21 Jan 1910.

Also see:

• Primary:Letters in regards to land disputes (as re-recorded by Josephine C. Frost from other sources) establish him in the area of Little Neck, Long Island, NY in 1679-1680.
• Primary:Will of Gov. Benedict Arnold, dated 1678. Newport Historical Society Library, Special Collections, Newport, RI. (Establishing a William Haviland as a land owner in Newport, RI at an early time)
• Secondary:Frost, Josephine C. The Haviland Genealogy : Ancestors and Descendants of William Haviland of Newport, Rhode Island, and Flushing, Long Island, 1653-1688 : with special records of the allied families of Field, Hull, Torrey, Willett-Willis. New York, NY: The Lyons Genealogical Co., 1914.
• Secondary:Frost, Josephine C. The Frost Genealogy: Descendants of William Frost of Oyster Bay, New York : showing connections never before published with the Winthrop, Underhill, Feke, Bowne and Wickes families. New York, NY: Frederick H. Hitchcock, 1912.
• Secondary:Seversmith, Herbert Furman. Colonial Families of Long Island, New York and Connecticut: Being the Ancestry & Kindred of Herbert Furman Seversmith. Vol 3. Washington, D.C.: H.F. Seversmith, 1939-1958, pp. 1296-1322; FHL Digital Collection 44255_03, digital image, Catalog, FamilySearch.
• Secondary:Arnold, Samuel Greene. History of the State of Rhode Island.
• Secondary:Bartlett, John Russell (ed). Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
• Secondary:Torry, Clarence Almon. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1985.
• Secondary:Hillman, Eduardo Haviland. The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. Queries.
• Secondary:James, Sydney V. The Colonial Metamorphoses in Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Vol. I. New York, NY: D. Appleton & Co., 1859.
• Secondary:Mandeville, Henry G. Flushing, Past and Present: A Historical Sketch. Home Lecture Committee of 1857-8 (1860).
• Secondary:Onderbonk, Henry Jr. List of Heads of Families in Flushing (French, Dutch and English) from 1645 - 1698, Gathered from Old Records and Documents. ("...Benjamin, John and William Haviland ... Thomas--Justice, and John Hicks..." Benjamin and John as referred to here were very likely the sons of William.)
• Secondary:Haviland, Frederick. "The Havilands of Westchester County, New York." New Rochelle, NY. (An appendix in the book Early Wills of Westchester County, New York, from 1664-1784, 1898.)
• Secondary:Evans, Charles. Oaths of Allegiance in Colonial New England. Published in Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society (April 1921, Vol. 31, Part 2, pp. 377-438).
• DNA:Paternal relationship is confirmed through Y-chromosome DNA testing. Christopher Sirmons Haviland and Robert Alan Haviland match on 102 out of 111 markers (see Ysearch IDs C3NMG and J567A) thereby confirming their direct paternal lines back to their MRCA William Haviland. See [The Haviland - de Havilland YDNA Project.
• DNA:Paternal relationship is confirmed through Y-chromosome DNA testing. Christopher Sirmons Haviland and James de Havilland match on 104 out of 111 markers (see Ysearch IDs C3NMG and 2CDQ6) thereby confirming their direct paternal lines back to their MRCA Thomas de Havilland. See [The Haviland - de Havilland YDNA Project.
• DNA:Paternal relationship is confirmed through Y-chromosome DNA testing. Christopher Sirmons Haviland and Paul Eugene Heavilin match on 106 out of 111 markers (see Ysearch IDs C3NMG and 7QB2V) thereby confirming their direct paternal lines back to their MRCA William Haviland. See [The Haviland - de Havilland YDNA Project.
• DNA:Paternal relationship is confirmed through Y-chromosome DNA testing. Christopher Sirmons Haviland and James Thomas Ross de Havilland match on 104 out of 111 markers (see YSearch IDs C3NMG and 2CDQ6) thereby confirming their direct paternal lines back to their MRCA Thomas de Havilland. See The Haviland - de Havilland YDNA Project.
• DNA:Paternal relationship is confirmed through Y-chromosome DNA testing. Robert Alan Haviland and James Thomas Ross de Havilland match on 103 out of 111 markers (see YSearch IDs J567A and 2CDQ6) thereby confirming their direct paternal lines back to their MRCA Thomas de Havilland. See The Haviland - de Havilland YDNA Project.
• DNA:Paternal relationship is confirmed through Y-chromosome DNA testing. Paul Eugene Heavilin and James Thomas Ross de Havilland match on 108 out of 111 markers (see YSearch IDs 7QB2V and 2CDQ6) thereby confirming their direct paternal lines back to their MRCA Thomas de Havilland. See The Haviland - de Havilland YDNA Project.
• DNA:Paternal relationship is confirmed through Y-chromosome DNA testing. Richard Hafeman Haviland and James Thomas Ross de Havilland match on 42 out of 43 markers (see YSearch IDs 65753 and 2CDQ6) thereby confirming their direct paternal lines back to their MRCA Thomas de Havilland. See The Haviland - de Havilland YDNA Project.
• DNA:Paternal relationship is confirmed through Y-chromosome DNA testing. William Arthur Haviland and James Thomas Ross de Havilland match on 42 out of 43 markers (see YSearch IDs *pending* and 2CDQ6) thereby confirming their direct paternal lines back to their MRCA Thomas de Havilland. See The Haviland - de Havilland YDNA Project.
• DNA:Paternal relationship is confirmed through Y-chromosome DNA testing. Christopher Sirmons Haviland and Dr. William A. Haviland match on 40 out of 43 markers (see Ysearch IDs C3NMG and n/a) thereby confirming their direct paternal lines back to their MRCA Christopher de Havilland. See The Haviland - de Havilland YDNA Project.
• DNA:Paternal relationship is confirmed through Y-chromosome DNA testing. Robert Alan Haviland and William Arthur Haviland match on 40 out of 43 markers (see Ysearch IDs J567A and *pending*) thereby confirming their direct paternal lines back to their MRCA Christopher de Havilland. See The Haviland - de Havilland YDNA Project.
• DNA:Paternal relationship is confirmed through Y-chromosome DNA testing. Paul Eugene Heavilin and William Arthur Haviland match on 41 out of 43 markers (see Ysearch IDs 7QB2V and *pending*) thereby confirming their direct paternal lines back to their MRCA Christopher de Havilland. See The Haviland - de Havilland YDNA Project.
• DNA:Paternal relationship is confirmed through Y-chromosome DNA testing. Richard Hafeman Haviland and William Arthur Haviland match on 41 out of 43 markers (see Ysearch IDs 65753 and *pending*) thereby confirming their direct paternal lines back to their MRCA Christopher de Havilland. See The Haviland - de Havilland YDNA Project.

Acknowledgments

• Contributions by Christopher Sirmons Haviland, president of the Haviland - de Havilland Heritage Society, on behalf of its researchers.
• Special thanks to professional genealogist Penny McKay, official sponsor of the Haviland surname for the Guild of One Name Studies, for research on the original records in the United Kingdom that are related to the Haviland / de Havilland family.
• Some research and primary documentation courtesy master genealogist Gordon L Remington, FUGA, FASG.
• Some early data supplied by Melissa McKay
• Some early data supplied by Burnett Family records maintained by Walter Mucklow Burnett.