William Compton Jr. (abt. 1645 - 1709)

Born about 1645 in Gravesend, Long Island, New York

Husband of Mary (Bowne) Compton — married 1666 in New Jersey

Descendants

Died 1709 at about age 64 in Monmouth County, New Jersey

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Biography

William Compton Jr., son of William "Weillum" the immigrant from England, moved from Gravesend, Long Island, NY sometime before 1666.

In the History of New Jersey, Volume I, we read: "some 20 Long Islanders got (purchased) land from the natives n December of 1663. Little progress was made before 1664.

"The first planters were John Bowne, Richard Stout, and three other families. By 1668 there were a hundred purchases withing two towns. They came mostly from Rhode Island and Upper Long Island and were persecuted Quakers and Baptists."^[1]

In The Town Book of Old Middletown we read that the home lots in Middletown were 36 in numerical order. William Compton appears as number 15, purchasing 280 acres of land and as coming from Long Island. Another item in the book shows William Compton as a Baptist, and as one of the founders of the first Baptist church in Middletown Township. ^[2]

Benedict's "History of the Baptists" states that for the origin of the first Baptist church in Middletown we have to look to the year 1667, for that was the year when Middletown was purchased from the Indians by twelve men and twenty-four associates. Their names are listed in the Town book. Of them the following were Baptists:

• Richard Stout
• John Stout
• Obadiah Holmes
• Walter Hall
• Jonathan Holmes
• William Compton
• John Brown
• and 11 more ^[3]

(I have only posted the people known to be part of the Compton family through marriage. I suspect that John Brown might actually be John Bowne, who was actually Rev John Bowne, the pastor of the first Baptist church and brother to Mary Bowne, who married William Compton. John's wife was Lydia Holmes, daughter of Obadiah Holmes. William's son Cornelius according to family tradition married a widow of one of the Stout men, who asked Cornelius to take care of his widow after his death. Since he was married to Elizabeth Applegate, I don't know what to make of this story. But we know without doubt that these families were closely allied at this time.)

According to "The Loyalist Comptons of PEI" page 3, there was also a John Browne (distinct from John Bowne who was certainly one of the founders of Middletown) married to Jean Hume, whose daughter, Jean or Jane Browne, married William Compton, s/o Cornelius Sr. in 1738. ^[4]. Interestingly enough, the Hume surname appears in Prince Edward Island again amongst our Compton cousins and In-laws. Did this same Hume clan migrate to Canada as UEL's? Interesting line of research.

Notes

"The Gravesend, New York, William lived with the Dutch and was referred to as Weilleum. Gravesend was an early English settlement in an area in modern Brooklyn adjacent to Coney Island. It is a mere hop, skip and a jump to Sandy Hook, New Jersey and Monmouth County. (Sandy Hook is also known as one of the haunts of Captain Kidd.) William was one of the 39 original settlers of Gravesend, became a leading citizen and was appointed constable in 1677. Both the elder and the son William, who migrated to New Jersey appear in the early records ^{[5] [6]}

Comptonology and Blalock, among others, then opine that his son, William, married Mary Bowne, daughter of Captain John Bowne and Mary Haverland [whose descendants also reportedly include Daniel Boone], and went with a number of others in 1666 to Monmouth County, New Jersey, and were among the founders of Middletown. In December 1667, the records indicate William was was identified with lot 15 in the town itself, and lot 14 in the "Poplar field [sic]". (Aside: Mary's sister Sarah's descendants include Abraham Lincoln, see Blalock, also Comptonology, V. 1, No. 4, p. 17).

It is reported both Comptons and Bownes were Baptists and left to escape religious persecution, but the political and land patent conflicts between the Dutch and British between 1650-1670, which ultimately resulted in New Netherlands being titled to the British and becoming New York around 1670, were undoubtedly the principal cause for this particular migration. We do know they founded a church. It is reported that there was an earlier migration of the Bownes and Comptons from Massachusetts, probably for religious reasons (as "accursed Baptists"), but the documentation is scant. William and Mary had ten children. William died ca. 1709 ^[7]. One of his sons, Richard, married Prudence (Providence) Isselstyne [or Usselton] (of Dutch extraction), and had a son (among other children, Isselstyne, the father of John I, who in turn married a Lydia Carhart and after her death Margaret Raemer, a German lady. Richard was born December 1673. He and Prudence had seven children.

It is from this theory that this genealogy is based. In ^{[8] [9]} Richard signed a petition to the King to appoint a suitable person as Governor, 17 July 1701. It is relevant to note that the next signature on the document is that of William Bowne, thus reinforcing the Dutch (and New York) circumstantial evidence supporting the New York identity of William. (See also ^[10]. Richard died prior to 1711 ^[11] Others believe the William here is the son of John Compton of Roxbury Massachusetts and Kent County England. There is some discussion of this in ^[12]

There is certainly a William of Middlesex County with a family with issue including an eventual John, but the William of Monmouth (New York) has the virtue of the multiple Dutch and Bowne historical connections. We also believe with Comptonology (Comptonology, V. 1, No. 3, p. 1) that the Middlesex Comptons eventually migrated through Maryland to Virginia. My research, particularly a copy of an old family Bible and an accompanying analysis, at the Maryland state archives, indicates this branch migrated to Culpeper County Virginia, and includes Zachariah, although I have not thoroughly researched it.

NEW from Deborah Compton 6/13/16: I found the documentation for Jacob as son of William Compton and Mary Bowne Compton and Jacob's issue in Comptonology Vol 2 No 8 page 39. Gary McKinnie's line through Jacob is now sourced in Comptonology.

Well sourced explanation of several of the William Comptons in the area that have been confused over time.

Sources

1. ↑ History of New Jersey, Volume 1
2. ↑ The Town Book of Old Middletown
3. ↑ Benedict's "History of the Baptists"
4. ↑ The Loyalist Comptons of PEI" page 3
5. ↑ inter alia, Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany, New York and New Jersey, 1930, Blalock, Comptonology, V. 1, No. 1, p. 1
6. ↑ History of Monmouth County 1664-1920, Lewis Hist. Publ. Co., pp. 321 et seq.; Mandeville, The Story of Middletown, Christ Church (pub.), 1927, pp. 36.
7. ↑ (Comptonology, V. 2, No. 6, pp. 28-29)
8. ↑ Whitehead (ed.), New Jersey Colonial Documents, v. 2, 1687-1703, p. 397,
9. ↑ Comptonology, Blalock (pp. 2-3)
10. ↑ Comptonology, V. 1, No. 1, p. 1; V. 2, No. 7, p. 31; V. 3, No. 9, p. 121; V. 4, No. 3, p. 161).
11. ↑ (Comptonology, V. 2, No. 9, p. 42.
12. ↑ Comptonology, v. 1, No. 1, pp. 2-3.

• Harold S. MacLeod, “The Loyalist Comptons of Prince Edward Island”, published in Canada, All Rights Reserved Copyright October 28, 1996. Page 1

• History of New Jersey, Volume I

• Town Book of Old Middletown, its first history dated 30 December, 1667.

• Benedict's "History of the Baptists"

• http://www.geocities.ws/ResearchTriangle/Forum/3876/GenealogyLDS/pafn16.htm Stephen Laurence Compton genealogy of the Island Creek Comptons

Acknowledgements

• Compton-1133 was created by Gary McKinnie through the import of bgm.ged on Jun 20, 2014.