William Gaylord Sr (abt. 1585 - 1673)

Born about 1585 in Somerset, England [uncertain]

Husband of Unknown (Unknown) Gaylord — married 1614 in Dorset, England

Descendants

Died 20 Jul 1673 at about age 88 in Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut

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William Gaylord Sr migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See Great Migration Begins, by R. C. Anderson, Vol. 2, p. 739) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Do not confuse this profile, for William Gaylord [senior] with the profile for his son William Gaylord [junior]. See text, source below.

Biography

Disputed Origins

John Insley Coddington notes that the surname Gaylord was common in the West Country and brands as "sheer nonsense" the ascription to the immigrant of noble French ancestry.^[1]

Origins

The exact date and location, and names of his parents, are unknown.

"Of Crewkerne": William's last known residence before immigrating to New England was Crewkerne, Somerset, England. ^[2] Anderson notes in the Great Migration Begins, page 742, that four of William's six children were baptized in Crewkerne, between 1617 and 1624. ^[3] [The oldest child, daughter Elizabeth, MIGHT be the Elizabeth christened at Oborne, Dorset, 15 July 1615. ^[4] The baptism location and date for the last born child is unknown.]

Birth: Anderson gives William's birth date as "about 1590", based on estimated date of William's marriage. But Anderson also cites Grant, who states William Gaylord was 88 at the time of his death, which would mean William was born in 1585.^[3]

Passenger on the Ship Mary & John - 1630

William Gaylord with his wife and children were in the company of 140 immigrants who assembled on the deck of the Mary & John, at Plymouth, Devonshire, on 20 March, 1630.^[5] Rev John White, rector of Holy Trinity church in Dorchester, disembarked after he offered his prayers and blessing on their venture.^[6] The Gaylord family, and many others, had boarded the Mary & John at Weymouth, the nearest port on the English Channel to Dorchester, an area that was home to the majority of the pilgrims. William's family lived in Crewkerne, a hamlet twenty-one miles inland from Dorchester which specialized in weaving sailcloth.^[7]

John Hunt notes that the early settlers of Dorchester, Mass., like the founders of Plymouth, were in some fear that they might not obtain leave to depart from England.^[8]

Robert Charles Anderson, F.A.S.G., states that this group of Puritans was organized by Rev. John White of Dorchester, Dorsetshire. He solicited the Rev. John Maverick formerly minister at Crewkerne in Somersetshire and at Exeter in Devonshire; and Rev. John Warham who had been rector at Beaworthy in Devonshire, to lead the group. ^[9]

The ship Mary & John sailed on 20 March 1630 from Plymouth, England, arriving Sunday, 30 May 1630 at Nantasket Point, Massachusetts.^{[3][2][10][11]} It was not where Captain Squibb had contracted to land them. ^[12][13] The captain of Mary & John, according to the only primary evidence - Memoirs of Roger Clap - was Thomas "Squeb", which Thistlewaite discovered was Captain Thomas Squibb.

"The Mary and John was destined for the Charles River. This "Godly Company," of 140 persons, assembled with their two ministers in the new hospital at Plymouth, [England] kept a solemn day of fasting and prayer, and chose Bishop John Maverick and Bishop John Wareham, both Oxford graduates^[14] to be their officers. ^[9] Roger Ludlow, who would be traveling on the ship, was the new owner of the Mary & John, one of the two assistants of the Massachusetts Bay Company and providing official leadership.^[15]

"The ship would have supplied each passenger with a simple ration of food which each family or group cooked at a common hearth as opportunity and weather permitted. Often the food was served cold and beer was the principal drink. ^[9]

The Word of God was preached and expounded every day during the voyage. ^[16] The ship arrived at Nantasket, May 30, 1630. The Mary & John was the first of all the Winthrop fleet ships to arrive, which brought altogether a total of over 1000 Pilgrims, with their provisions and livestock, into Massachusetts Bay that summer of 1630.^[9]

Deputy for Dorchester

William was deputy for Dorchester in 1632, 1635, 1637 and 1638.^[3]

Removal to Windsor

Although Windsor was first planted by settlers from Dorchester in 1635, it was a struggling and primitive place for the hard first three years.^[17] The small settlement, initially of about twenty families, sheltered in rude bivouacs, and dugout shanties in the sandy bank, suffering exposure and hunger.^[17] William Gaylord moved his family to Windsor in 1638, after it had grown, ^[3] and after obstacles in the river had been removed^[18] so that ships could sail safely up the great Connecticut River to Windsor.^[17] The Gaylord family were prosperous enough (among the top 12%) to have traveled by ship,^[19] rather than the longer and more strenuous overland trail.

Death of Wife

Death of (Unknown) Gaylord, wife of William: 20 Jun 1657, Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut^[3]

Last Will & Testament

Dated 31 Jan 1671/2; codicils 14 Nov 1672 and 18 Dec 1672; proved Sept 1673; inventory taken 2 Aug 1673.^{[citation needed]}

• to my son John Gaylord...
• my daughter Hoskins
• my grandson John Birge
• Hezikiah Gaylord my grandson (who now lives with my son John)
• my son Walter Gaylord
• my son Samuel Gaylord
• my daughter Elizabeth Hoskins, to her son John
• Capt. Benjamin Newberry and John Allyn of Hartford, overseers.

Death

Death of William Gaylord [senior]: 20 July 1673, Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut, 88 [years] old (citing Grant). ^[3]

Burial 21 Jul 1673 Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut

Marriage & Children

Marriage: by about 1615, name of spouse unknown. ^[3]

1. Elizabeth, born about 1615; m1 Windsor 5 Oct 1641 Richard Birge; m2 Windsor 20 Apr 1653 Thomas Hoskins
2. William, bp Crewkern, Somersetshire, 28 Dec 1617;^[3][20] m1 Windsor 24 Feb 1641/[2?] Ann Porter; m2 Windsor 9 Feb 1653/4 Elizabeth Drake; William [junior] died at Windsor 14 Dec 1656^[3] NOTE - William Gaylord [junior] is not in his father's will because he died 17 years before his father
3. Samuel, bp Crewkern 19 Dec 1619; m Windsor 4 Dec 1646 Elizabeth Hull^[1]
4. John, bp Crewkerne 24 Feb 1621/2; m Windsor 17 Nov 1653 Mary Drake^[1]
5. Joseph, bp Crewkern 27 Dec 1624; no further record.^[1]
6. Walter, b say 1626; m1 Windsor Apr 1648 Mary Stebbins, who d Windsor 29 Jun 1657; m2 Windsor 22 Mar 1659/60? Sarah Rockwell.

Research Notes

He is not the William Gaylord baptized at Pitminister, Somerset, England.

The captain of the Mary & John was named Chubb. This 'fact' is found at more than one place online, but without a specific source cited, or with a source that does not contain the name Chubb.

History of Research Efforts

"Despite diligent research by genealogists, professional and amateur, over the last 40 years, not one shred of evidence has come to light to prove the ancestry of Deacon William Gaylord of Dorchester, Mass., and Windsor, Ct. The only solid piece of evidence was supplied by John Insley Coddington back in 1937 when he proved that William Gaylord resided at Crewkerne from 1619 to 1624 when three of his children, Samuel, John and Joseph, were baptized there.^[21]

He then reviews mid-20th century articles in the Hartford Times 1947-1949 that have "done more harm than good because what was written was stated as fact with little or no documentation, that was then "taken up by the LDS, put on tape, and made available to genealogists here and in London. He hired a London-based researcher in 1977, who "found that there were three main Gaylard families in co. Somerset at Pitminster, Drayton and Long Sutton... he was able to put together [a] pedigree for the Pitminster family"... [that included two William Gaylords] NOTE: This is not part of the TAG article by Coddington ^{[citation needed]}

1. William bp 20 Jun 1582, son of Christopher Gaylard and Elizabeth Pase^[22]
2. William bp 11 May 1582, son of John Gaylard and Jane Wallinat freereg.org.uk

Both of these Williams, especially the second, have been put forward by others as William(1) Gaylor of New England. But Benjamin Gaylord points out that a number of additional Gaylord families exist in a variety of surrounding areas that have yet to be researched, including a William Gailard who married Jone Ashwood on 11 June 1610 at Long Sutton, co. Somerset.

Benjamin Gaylord goes on to argue against the two 1582 Williams, making the following case:

(1) Early colonial records often overstated a person's age at death, but rarely understated it. Deacon William(1) Gaylord or Galler, as he wrote it, died at Windsor, Ct., 20 Jul 1673, aet. 88... could mean he was IN his 88th year... [based on his education and standing] he surely would have been proud of his being 91 and so would the Windsor townsmen if indeed he was that old...

(2) If William was the son of Christopher and Elizabeth Pase one would expect to see children named Christopher and Nicholas, Elizabeth, as one does, and possibly Joan. If William were the son of John and Jane Wallin, one would expect a John, which there was, but since the wife was Jane, and the mother was Joan or Johan, one would expect to see one of these names rather than Elizabeth. One would also expect to find Nicholas among the boys.

(3) In Long Sutton, co. Somerset, where a William Gailard married Jone Ashwood 11 Jun 1610... we find numerous marriages of Gaylords, spelled Guilard in 1562, Gailard up to.. 1615. After that the spelling is uniformly Gaylard... none of these Gaylords have been investigated in anything like the depth that those in Pitminster have been. Why should any genealogist fasten on the Pitminster family just because there were two Williams born there three years earlier than we think William(1) was born, both of whom have brothers named John?^[23]

Mary was wife of his son William

Anderson proved that the Mary Gaylord buried in 1657 is clearly listed as the wife of Walter Gaylord, his son.^[20] The confusion comes from the fact that his wife and Mary, the wife of his son, died within a couple of months of each other.^[20]

The Palisado Cemetery inscription reads:

Mary ye Wife of Walter Galeb (Lord) died June 29 1657.^[20]

The inscription for William Gaylord, Sr's wife who died in 1657 simply reads:

ye wife of william gaylr snr^[20]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} John Insley Cottington, "Clues to the English Home and of William Gaylord of Dorchester, MA and Windsor CT, " in The American Genealogist, vol. 17 (1940):71-74. $
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Directory, (2015), page 128
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9} Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Vol. II G-O, Boston MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society. Online at AmericanAncestors.org: profile of William Gaylord (Sr.) pages 739-743. AmericanAncestors (subscription)
4. ↑ Oborne Parish Register, LDS film 2427549, transcribed in FamilySearch collection Dorset Parish Registers
5. ↑ Thistlethwaite p. 26-27
6. ↑ Thistlethwiate p. 25-27
7. ↑ Thistlethwaite p. 48
8. ↑ John Hunt, "Article Title??," in National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol 63 #1 (Date?), page?
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3} History of the town of Dorchester, Massachusetts, page 17 - 19
10. ↑ Sylvester Judd, Lucius Manlius Boltwood, "History of Hadley, Including the Early History of Hatfield, South Hadley, Amherst and Granby, Massachusetts," p 497
11. ↑ Thistlethwaite p. 26 and 75
12. ↑ Thistlethwaite p. 75
13. ↑ Clapp p. 40
14. ↑ Thistlethwaite p. 55
15. ↑ Thistlethwaite p. 26
16. ↑ Thistlethwaite p. 68
17. ↑ ^{17.0 17.1 17.2} Thistlethwaite pp 103-110
18. ↑ Thistlethwaite p. 108
19. ↑ Thistlethwaite p. 263
20. ↑ ^{20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4} Anderson, Robert Charles. The Wives of William Gaylord and Walter Gaylord of Dorchester MA and Windsor CT: A Reprise. The American Genealogist. Volume 61. 1985. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .) pg 95 $
21. ↑ Anderson, citing The American Genealogist, 17:71-74
22. ↑ at freereg.org.uk
23. ↑ Benjamin H. Gaylord, "The English Ancestry of Deacon William Gaylord," in The American Genealogist, 58(1982):218-23

See also:

• Clapp, Roger, Memoirs of Roger Clap - 1630, at HathiTrust.org, (Boston, David Clapp, Jr. 1844), from the Collections of the Dorchester Antiquarian Society, first published 1731, pp iv-64 NOTE: the only documentary evidence of the 1630 voyage of the ship Mary & John.
• Thistlethwaite, Frank, Dorset Pilgrims: The story of West country Pilgrims who went to New England in the 17th Century, (London, Barrie & Jenkins, 1989). William Gaylord, page 49, 50, 62, 90, 93, 147, 159, 161. NOTE: a scholarly work with 12 pages of sources, detailing the lives of the founders of Dorchester, Massachusetts and Windsor, Connecticut
• Anderson, Robert Charles, F.A.S.G., The Great Migration Directory, (Boston, Massachusetts, NEHGS, 2015), "Concise entries for all immigrant families for the entirety of the Great Migration, from 1620 to 1640." Includes all entries from The Great Migration Series, the Study Project, The Pilgrim Migration 1620-1633 and the The Winthrop Fleet 1629-1630. Page 128 "William Gaylord"
• History of the town of Dorchester, Massachusetts, database online at InternetArchive.org, by Dorchester Antiquarian and Historical Society (Boston, E. Clapp, jr , 1859), page 19
• Henry Whittemore, Genealogical Guide to the Early Settlers of America, Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1967, p. 207, 153.
• New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, vol. 41 (1910): 183-190. Clues from English Archives: Gaylord Family, by J. Henry Lea and J.R. Hutchinson.
• John Insley Cottington, "Clues to the English Home and of William Gaylord of Dorchester, MA and Windsor CT, " in The American Genealogist, vol. 17 (1937):71-74.
• The American Genealogist vol. 61 (1985): 95-96. The Wives of William and Walter Gaylord of Dorchester, MA and Windsor CT: A Reprise, by Robert Charles Anderson.
• The American Genealogist vol. 26 (1946): 7. William Gaylord of Windsor Conn., by The Editors
• The American Genealogist, vol. 58 (1982): 218-223. “The English Ancestry of Deacon William Gaylord," by Benjamin H. Gaylord.
• Charles William Manwaring, A digest of the early Connecticut probate records, Volume 1 of 3. Peck & Co. printers, Hartford, CT 1904-06 Available digitally at Hathi Trust Digital Library
• Burton W. Spears, John & Mary 1630 (Typescript): self published by Michael Caldwell? on freepages.rootsweb.com
• Harry Reed Stiles, The History and Genealogies of Ancient Windsor, Connecticut, Press of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co., Hartford, CT 1891