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William Dexter (abt. 1619 - 1694)

William Dexter
Born about in Great Bowden, Leicestershire, Englandmap
Husband of — married Jul 1653 in Barnstable, Plymouth Colonymap
Descendants descendants
Died at about age 75 in Rochester, Plymouth, Massachusetts Baymap
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Profile last modified | Created 14 Sep 2010
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Contents

Biography

William Dexter immigrated to New England as a child during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640).
Baptized: 21 February 1618/9 in Great Bowden, Leicestershire, England.[1]

Warden Ref. #3, Pg. 11

William Dexter, son of Thomas Dexter, was born in England, came to America with his father, and was in Barnstable in 1650. He lived on one of the two farms that his father bought. He took oath in. Barnstable in 1657. He removed to Rochester about 1679 and died there in 1694. He was one of a party of thirty, which included such men as William Bradford, Kenelem Winslow, Thomas Hinckley and Rev. Samuel Arnold, who became the grantees of the town of Rochester. When he died he owned considerable land both in Barnstable and in Rochester which he gave to his children, as follows: James^ Dexter, Thomas^ Dexter and John^ Dextei- had the Rochester lands, while Stephen^ Dexter, Philip^ Dexter and Benjamin Dexter had the Barnstable land. The children all went to Rochester except Philip, who removed to Falmouth, Mass., and Stephen, who remained in Barnstable and who was the only one of the name in the town in 1703. William- married Sarah Vincent, July, 1653, and they had seven children, all born in Barnstable :

1. Mary" Dexter, b. Jan., 1654; m. Moses Barlow. Removed to Rochester. 2 Stephen' Dexter, b. May, 1657; m. Ann Saunders. 3 Philip' Dexter, b. Sept., 1659; m. Alice Allen; d. 1741. 4 James' Dexter, b. May, 1662; d. 15 July, 1694; m. Elizabeth Tobey. 5 Thomas' Dexter, b. July, 1665; m. (1) Mary Miller, 1695, (2) Sarah C. March, 1702; d. 31 July, 1744. No issue. 6 John' Dexter, b. Aug., 1668; m. Sarah ; d. 31 July, 1744. 7 Benjamin' Dexter, b. 16 Feb., 1670 ; m. Sarah Arnold ; d. 1784.

Of the sixteen proprietors who drew house-lots in Mattapoisett, three, Samuel Hammond, Moses Barlow, and William Dexter, settled on their lands at an early date. Several others or their descendants came to Rochester, but the place of their residence is less distinctly fixed. William Dexter, whose descendants in town have been about as numerous as those of Benjamin Hammond, and have figured conspicuously in both church and town history. His home was at Pine Island, where he had a farm three fourths of a mile square, with a brook running through it. At the "Dexter Dam" on this stream a sawmill and a gristmill were built at an early date. Benjamin Dexter, who died in 1732, in his will names the mill as part of his property assets. A house built some time before 1800 stands today on the site of the original Dexter home, and is still owned in the Dexter family. William Dexter, the proprietor, died in 1694, but four of his sons settled in Rochester, and his only daughter, Mary Dexter, became the wife of Moses Barlow. Thomas Dexter was an early representative, and the names of Benjamin and John Dexter figure prominently in the early town records.


Birth

William arrived with his father and two other siblings in either 1629 with Mr. Endicott or 1630 with Governor Winthrop. According to [2] he believes that they came from a neighborhood of Bristol, England. It has since been learned that they came from Great Bowden, Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom.

Immigration

Abt 165[3]

Arrival

1630 Lynn, Massachusetts[4]

Residence

Abt 1690 Rochester, Plymouth, Massachusetts[5]

Marriage

Jul 1653[6][7]

Death

Bef 9 May 1694 Rochester, Plymouth, Massachusetts[8]
1694 Rochester, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States[4]

Sources

  1. Leslie Mahler, "Colonists from Great Bowden, Leicestershire" The American Genealogist. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .) Reference Volume 78 (2003), page 181
  2. Warden
  3. Otis: Page 374
  4. 4.0 4.1 Public Member Trees (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Provo, UT, USA, 2006) Record for Benjamin Dexter & William Dexter
  5. Otis: Page 324
  6. Mayflower Descendent Legacy: The Mayflower Descendant Vol. 4, October 1902. No 4. Barnstable, Mass, Vital Records p223
  7. Otis: Page 324
  8. Mayflower Descendent Legacy: The Mayflower Descendant, Vol 23. April 1921. No. 2 Abstracts of Barnstable County Mass Probate Records 65 [William Dexter's Estate]
See also:
  • Mattapoisett and Old Rochester, Massachusetts: Being a History of These Towns and Also in part of Marion and a Portion of Wareham. by Mary Hall Leonard. Grafteon Press, 1907
  • Mayflower Descendent Legacy on CD-ROM (Wheat Ridge, Colorado: Search and ReSearch Publishing, 1997) citing articles in The Mayflower Descendant Magazine.


  • Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 1:543.

WILLIAM, b. say 1628

  • Mahler, Leslie. "Colonists from Great Bowden, Leicestershire", in The American Genealogist (TAG). (Donald Lines Jacobus, et.al.), Vol. 78, p. 183.
  • Children of Thomas Dexter and Mary Harper: William Dexter, bp. Great Bowden, co. Leicester, England 21 Feb 1618[/9], m. Barnstable, MA July 1653 Sarah Vincent.




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Comments: 4

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This person immigrated to New England between 1621-1640 as a Minor Child (under age 21 at time of immigration) of a Puritan Great Migration immigrant who is profiled in Robert Charles Anderson's Great Migration Directory (or is otherwise accepted by the Puritan Great Migration (PGM) Project).

Please feel free to improve the profile(s) by providing additional information and reliable sources. PGM encourages the Profile Managers to monitor these profiles for changes; if any problems arise, please contact the PGM Project via G2G for assistance. Please note that PGM continues to manage the parent's profile, but is happy to assist on the children when needed.

posted by Bobbie (Madison) Hall
Dexter-907 and Dexter-23 appear to represent the same person because: same birth, death and wife
posted by Robin Lee
Please check your source and add them to this profile. The mother is DEAD before this person is born.
posted by Robin Lee
Dexter-633 and Dexter-23 appear to represent the same person because: Same wife.
posted by Rick Pierpont

D  >  Dexter  >  William Dexter

Categories: Puritan Great Migration Minor Child