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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.
WILLIAM, b. say 1628
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Categories: Puritan Great Migration Minor Child
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