William
Freethy
aka Freathy, Fraisey
Born about in England
[uncertain]
[uncertain]Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of
Elizabeth (Barker) Freethy
— married
1651 in Portsmouth, Maine, New England
Descendants 
Died after
after about age 71
in York, Cornwall County, Province of New York
Profile managers:
Jack Wise 
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| Created 31 Jul 2011
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| William Freethy migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Great Migration (Series 2), by R. C. Anderson, vol. 2, p. 583) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm |
Disputed Origins: Previously Alexander Freathy was linked as the father of William Freethy (this profile.) They have been unattached because no source has been found that proves the relationship.
Contents |
Biography
Birth
On the premise that William Freethy was at least eighteen years of age when he was first in New England, we can safely say he was probably born in England by about 1617. At this time, nothing is known about his life in England prior to the records we find in New England beginning in year 1635.[1]William's brother was Alexander Freethy, arrived in New England in 1636 or 1637 and went back to England in 1638, according to Noyse, Libby, and Davis in "Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire. (see Research Note #1)[2][3]
1635 Migration to New England
On the 1635 synthetic passenger list for the Speedwell, with captain, Mr. Narias Hawkins, Noyes, Libby and Davis proposed fifteen passenger names; however Robert Charles Anderson in "The Great Migration Newsletter" argues that only 7 can be identified through records, others are only a probability. William Freethy was most certainly among those listed those who were passengers on the Speedwell that sailed in 1635. (see research note #1). [2][3]He was a fisherman who first resided in Richmond Island.[1]
Mutiny At Richmond Island
John Winter, who worked as an overseer for Robert Trelawny with his Maine fishing business, reported in a letter to Trelawny dated June 28, 1636 that the "company fell into mutiny with me because I would not give them bills for the last year's for the money which they were to have above their shares, which I know not whether it be paid or not; but they taking such distaste at it, some of them fell into such a mutiny, & they are gone away from the plantation, & do purpose to fish for themselves. They went to the westward by land, & where they are gone I know not... The parties which are gone is Lander, which I doubt is the leader of the all, & William Ham, Oliver Clarke, John Bellin, William Freythey, & John Simmons, 6 in all, & whether they will come again or no I know not." William and Simmons "recanted and returned" to the Trelawny's employment as stated in a letter written from the ship captain, Narias Hawkins to Mr. Trelawny one day later.[1][4]
The log for "W[illia]m Farethye" indicated he owed L11 6s. 9 d., against which he was owed L10 "for his two year's wages." An accounting on July 15, 1639 reveals that "William Freythy" had been paid L8 13s. 3 d. for his third year's service. From July 15 1639 to June 22 1640, "William Freythy" was paid L3 13s. 3d. "for his third year's service..." Then on June 27, 1640, John Winter reported to Trelawny that "William Freythy promiseth to pay me the 20s. his mother had from you, he is gone from us."[1]
To Portsmouth In 1640; Marriage
He moved to Portsmouth, Maine in 1640 as seen by the Saco grand jury indictment when he and Henry Watts were "prophaning the Sabbath in carrrying of boards contrary to his Majesty's law," and were fined 20s. There is a record of court cases against Freethy on August 31, 1643 for "neglecting the ordinances of God & refushing to live in an orderly course of life among his neighbors" and on September 10, 1645 where he was fined for fighting. Also a record was found for attending a Portsmouth town meeting on or about April 5, 1652.[1]
At Portsmouth, William married Elizabeth (_____) in 1651. Her identification is based on his eldest daughter's birth in 1651 and assumes that Elizabeth was the mother of all his children. (see Research Note #2)[1]
To York by 1652
He moved to York by 1652 where on November 22 of that year he took the oath of a Freeman[5]and submitted to the Massachusetts Bay government.[1]
A grand jury man, James Grant, complained that William Freathy was drunk on October 19, 1667. William acknowledged the offense and was fined five shillings.[1]He and Elizabeth were granted land by the town of York on March 18, 1671/2.[6]That same year, Elizabeth, "Elizabeth Freathy the wife of William Freathy," was convicted of "defaming Mrs. Rishworth & inordinate drinking" and fined 30s on July 1, 1671. William either refused or neglected the payment so Elizabeth was punished with fifteen stripes.[1]
William was a Ferryman on Oct 28, 1684 at York where at court they "judgeth meet to appoint William Freathy to keep a constant ferry for strangers as well as for town inhabitants, over the other side of the river, where John Stover once lived, to that way lately cut which goeth over to Spruce Creek, & so to Strawbury Banke, to which end he said Freathy is enjoined to provide canoes or a boat, suitable to transport men or horses or both as occasion requireth over said river." [1]
Estate and Death of William and Elizabeth Freethy
William and Elizabeth included their daughter "Joane Holms, the wife of Thomas Holmes, Thomas Holmes, and their children in their estate, dated June 10, 1671. They deeded "a certain lot of land, or tract of land, by estimation thirty or forty acres be it more or less, which is part of that land which I said William Freathy purchased from one Rice Howell & it is that tract of land that the said Thomas Holms now dwelleth in, & hath set an house upon."[7]They included their son John Freathy in a document dated October 31, 1681 where he deeded "a certain tract, parcel or portion of land, the full quantity being the one-half of my homestall field & lot, that I have these many years possessed & occupied, & do not live upon & possess, being the full north part & half ... and I do upon the same considerations, give and grant unto my said son John Freathy, after the decease of myself, my wife & his mother, the other half being on the southwest part of my aforesaid lot."[8] Two additional sons Samuell and John Freathy, were included in the estate on December 4, 1683. Samuell was given "all the land on the southeast side of my now planted field" and "the whole propriety of my house and orchard ... after my decease and his mothers." John was given "the northwest side of my now planting field."[1][9]
William Freethy and his wife Elizabeth died after April 25, 1688.[1]in what was known at that time as Cornwall County, Province of New York. (see research note #3)[10]
Children of William and Elizabeth
- Joan b. abt 1651; m. by 1671 to Thomas Holmes
- Elizabeth b. abt 1653; m. (1) by 1673 to Isaac Botts; m. (2) by 1679 to Moses Spencer, son of Thomas Spencer.
- John b. abt 1656; m. abt 1681 to Hannah Bray.
- James b. abt 1658; m. abt 1683 to Mary Milbury, daughter of Henry Milbury.
- Samuel b. abt 1660; drowned 24 Nov 1685.
Research Notes
- Robert Charles Anderson in "The Great Migration Newsletter" printed in 1997, argues that the only shipmates on the Speedwell in 1635, that can be proved through records, were Mr. Edward Trelawny and John Lander, William Ham, Oliver Clarke, John Bellin, William Freythey, and John Simmons.[3]
- William's wife was not Elizabeth Barker, his wife's surname is unknown at this time. Robert Charles Anderson in "The Great Migration" says that Charles Edward Banks published a marriage record for William Freethy and Elizabeth Barker in 1931 indicating that they were married in Plymouth. Later in 1964 a parish register entry for a Freethy family of St Michael, Landrake, Cornwall was published by Frank V. Freethy which included this marriage. Donald Lines Jacobus said of these records that the were almost certainly not the Freethy family who lived in New England, particularly that the marriage on 13 January 1639/40 of "William Freathie and Elizabeth Barker did not pertain to the immigrant." Philip Howard Gray in 1993 challenged Jacobus's findings, saying he could not find the New Hampshire records for William Freethy which would "conflict chronologically with the marriage records of Freethy in England in early 1640." Evidently Gray did not discover the records for "William Fraisey," or else he didn't agree with previous writers that these particular records were for the immigrant Freethy. Additionally Gray didn't "take into account the ten-year gap between the marriage in England and the apparent date of birth of the first child of the migrant.[11][1]
- Regarding the place of William Freethy's death, In 1652 Massachusetts Bay Colony asserted territorial claims over the Province of Maine, which would eventually encompass all of present-day State of Maine. "the land was assertedly Cornwall County, Province of New York from September 5, 1665 until 1692 when it was turned over to the Dominion of New England."[10]
- No sources were added in 2017 when the following information was added to this profile. The citations are needed before adding to the biography.
- 1637: William and a brother, Alexander, were curing fish in Scarborough, apparently under three year contract to a Master.
- 1641: He was sued in New Hampshire court.
- 1642: Signed with 49 other inhabitants under duress a "submission" to the Government of Massachusetts. He and 26 others refused to sign a petition to Cromwell.
Sources
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 Great Migration 1634-1635, C-F. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume II, C-F, by Robert Charles Anderson, George F. Sanborn, Jr., and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001. Sketch of William Freethy.subscription
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sybil Noise, Charles Thornton Libby, Walter Goodwin Davis. "Genealogical Dictionary of Mains and New Hampshire." The Southworth-Anthensen Press, Portland Maine (1928-1939) p. 4.see at archive.org
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Great Migration Newsletter, V.1-20.(Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2018.) "Focus on RICHMOND ISLAND." October - December 1997, p. 33, citing "Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire.".subscription.
- ↑ James Phinney Baxter. "Trelawny Papers" Hoyt, Fogg, & Donham, Portland (1884), Vol. 3, p. 92, 93.see at archive.org
- ↑ Nathaniel B. Shurtleff. "Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England." Press of William White, Boston. (1854). p. 129.see at google books.com
- ↑ Maine: Early Wills and Deeds, 1640-1760. CD-ROM. Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2006. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009.)[https://www.americanancestors.org/databases/maine-early-wills-and-deeds-1640-1760/image?volumeId=7500&pageName=271&rId=7278064.
- ↑ Maine: Early Wills and Deeds, 1640-1760. CD-ROM. Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2006. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009.) Book III FOL. 81.subscription
- ↑ Maine: Early Wills and Deeds, 1640-1760. CD-ROM. Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2006. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009.) Book III, Fol. 105.subscription
- ↑ Maine: Early Wills and Deeds, 1640-1760. CD-ROM. Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2006. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009.) Book IV, Fol. 5, 6.subscribers
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Wikipedia "York County, Massachusetts."link
- ↑ The American Genealogist. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .) Frank V. Freethy. "Freethy-Barker Records" p. 239. subscription required
Acknowledgments
- WikiTree profile Freethe-5 created through the import of HART, Elizabeth - WIKITREE.ged on Jun 20, 2011 by Betty Patterson.
- WikiTree profile Freethy-14 created through the import of mike_walton_2011.ged on Aug 20, 2011 by Mike Walton.
- Thank you to Bob Nichol for creating WikiTree profile Freathy-3 through the import of Nichol Ancestry.GED on Feb 14, 2013.
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Rejected matches › John Ernest William Freeth (abt.1876-1928) › William J. Pretty › William Baptist Frith (abt.1778-) › William Powell Frith Jr (abt.1849-) › William Frith › William Frith
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I'm finished with this profile but will NOT remove the "needs biography" category. The wife's surname needs to be changed and there are statements from the previous biography that need citations (see research notes.)
edited by Cheryl (Aldrich) Skordahl
His wife's name and his place of birth are probably based on "The Freethy Family of Maine" by Frank V. Freethy who says he did no original research, the book was based on Savage; Banks, Pope; Noyes, Libby and Davis. Since Anderson did not recognize the book in his Directory, and since there are no original records, I think it best to simply state his wife's name as Elizabeth (_____) and that he was probably born in England.
Frank V. Freethy on p. 1, states that Alexander was William's brother; so I think it's safe to disconnect Alexander as William's father.
Any comments/opinions/newer research?
edited by Cheryl (Aldrich) Skordahl
EDIT: I'm back from vacation and will work on this profile now.
edited by Cheryl (Aldrich) Skordahl
No evidence has been found for the father or brother James. They should be disconnected.
About wife, Anderson says in GM, "She was not Elizabeth Barker, citing TAG 40. (see also)
I'm wondering if you have valid, scholarly source for what is in the data section of this profile? Thank you.
I see in "The Great Migration Directory" on page 122 that William Freethy who migrated in 1635, was at Richmond Island and then Piscataqua, York (Maine) is listed.
That makes this profile eligible to be in the Puritan Great Migration Project. I'll add the project box and someone else will soon be adding PGM as co-manager with you.
I'll be adding more sources as I find them.