William
Potter
Born before in Lewes, Sussex, England
Son of William Potter
and Hannah (Langford) Beecher
Husband of
Frances (Unknown) Potter
— married
before 1635 [location unknown]
Descendants 
Father of
Joseph Potter, Mary (Potter) Mansfield, Sarah (Potter) Blatchley, Hope (Potter) Robins, Nathaniel Potter and Rebecca (Potter) Adams
Died
after age 53
in New Haven, New Haven Colony
Profile managers:
Darin Neves 
[send private message], Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree [send private message], Theodore Palmer [send private message], George Graham [send private message], Charles Meads [send private message], and Cathy Carpentier-Alting [send private message]
[send private message], Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree [send private message], Theodore Palmer [send private message], George Graham [send private message], Charles Meads [send private message], and Cathy Carpentier-Alting [send private message]Profile last modified
| Created 12 Sep 2010
This page has been accessed 9,602 times.
| William Potter migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Great Migration (Series 2), by R. C. Anderson, vol. 5, p. 507) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm |
Contents |
Biography
William Potter
Two Different William Potters
Two William Potters (at least) were early immigrants and are often confounded.
Here profiled was baptized at Lewes on 28 August 1608, son of William Potter and Hannah Langford, immigrated aboard the Abigail (Savage incorrectly attributed this voyage to the other William Potter), removed to New Haven by 1641, married Frances Unknown, was executed on 6 June 1662 at New Haven.
The other William Potter was found in 1637 at Watertown. Sold his Watertown land in 1645 and removed to Stamford [SLR 1:66, GMN 1:8].[1] He may have married Dorothy, widow of John Brown/Browne and mother of daughters Hannah and Mary. Hannah may have been the Hannah Potter who married John Mead. That William Potter's will was dated 18 September 1684, and was probated on 9 March 1684/5 [Stamford Town Records, transcribed, 25, 128].[2] It mentioned the children of his son-in-law, John Mead (who married Hannah Potter).[2]
Origin Resolved
An article by Patricia Law Hatcher, published in 2004, identifies the parish records for the Potter and Beecher families at Lewes.[3] William was baptized on 28 August 1608 at St. Thomas as in the Cliffe, Lewes, Sussex, England, son of William Potter and possibly his 2nd wife, Ann/Hannah Langford.[3] William's father was buried at Lewes on 14 August 1619. William's mother married in January 1619/20, as her 2nd, and possibly as his 2nd, to John Beecher.[3]
This finally resolves the identity of the immigrant, Ann/Hannah (Langford) Potter Beecher of New Haven, Connecticut (who was sometimes assumed to have been two different women).
Note: This profile reported birth information: January 9, 1602 at Kingsbridge, Devon, England, without evidence or citation.
Baptism
William, son of William, was baptized 28 Aug 1608 at St. Thomas-in-the-Cliffs, Lewes, Sussex, England.[4][3]
Immigration
We have record of William Potter on the passenger list for the Abigail.[5] The ship left Plymouth, England destined for Boston in New England on June 4, 1635; among the passengers were William Potter age 27, wife Frances age 26 & 4 month old son Joseph Potter. His mother and brother, John, with his step-brother or half-brother, Isaac followed him to New England.
William settled briefly at Watertown and removed by 1639, with his brother John Potter, to New Haven Colony.[5] However, his church membership at New Haven is implied by 22 August 1641, when two of his children were baptized there.[6]
Marriage and Children
William married by 1635 to Frances Unknown.[6]
Children of William and Frances Potter:[6]
- Joseph Potter, b in England c. Feb,1635; m. Phebe Ives
- Mary Potter, b say 1637, bpt in New Haven, 22 Aug 1641; m abt 1657 Joseph Mansfield
- Sarah Potter, b say 1639, bpt in New Haven, 22 Aug 1641 (but not a twin); she m1 Lieut. Robert Foote of Branford; she m2 Aaron Blachley/Blakesley. Not named in her father's will but living 23 Aug 1706 when she obtained some piece of her father's estate.
- Hope Potter, bpt 3 Oct 1641; m 3 Feb 1663 Daniel Robinson; (removed to NJ[citation needed])
- Rebecca Potter, bpt 1643[/4?]; m 27 Nov 1667 Thomas Adams; (removed to Crosswicks, NJ[citation needed])
- Nathaniel Potter, bpt 12 Nov 1644; m 1 Apr 1675 Elizabeth Howes
Property and Positions
William Potter was an educated Puritan, a "planter" or farmer, and a land owner at New Haven. He was an active member of the church and well-respected among the other parishioners.[7]
Nothing is known about him between the time he sailed aboard the Abigail and 22 August 1641, when his two eldest daughters were baptized at the New Haven church.
He was a member of the New Haven militia but was fined on 6 September 1643 for coming late to training day. On 4 January 1643/4, William was one of the eleven men fined for defective guns, and on 7 October 1651, he was fined for neglecting training day, neglecting to show his arms, and neglecting to bring note of his estate for taxation purposes. On 3 August 1652, he was again fined for neglecting to show for training day.[6]
William held several parcels of land granted by the town, and he also purchased an additional 27 acres from Mr Evance on 5 October 1647. He purchased another 22 acres on 2 September 1651 from Mr. Robert Newman, including a house and a barn. At his death, William's estate was valued at £190 4s of which £90 was in real estate.[6]
Last Will & Testament
Written 19 May 1662.[8] Inventoried 1 Aug 1662[8]
- my wife should have her living out of the farms until...
- my son Nathanll comes of age of 21 years
- my son Joseph
- my daughter Hope
- my daughter Rebeckah[5]
Anderson also reports that William Potter's will was dated 19 May 1662, inventoried on 1 August 1662, and proved on 3 March 1662/3.[6]
Death and Legacy
William Potter was executed by hanging on 6 June 1662 at New Haven, New Haven Colony (later became part of Connecticut) for the crime of bestiality.[6][9][10]
Cotton Mather wrote about the trial in his Ecclesiastical History of New-England ...[11] and also in Pillars of Salt...'[12]
Research Notes
This profile apparently was confounding two different William Potters. Part of the problem may be the use of the 1900 NEHGR article (which follows Savage). Roberts used this article in his Genealogies of Connecticut Families ...[13] Anderson cautions that Savage incorrectly assigned the Abigail voyage to the other William Potter and split this New Haven William Potter into two men.
Sources
- ↑ Anderson, Robert C., "John Brown" Featured name. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III. (Online database accessed 9 May 2016: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010), Vol 1, Pages 255-57.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Remington, Gordon L., 1998 The English Origin of William 1 Mead of Stamford, Connecticut. The American Genealogist. New England Historic Genealogical Society, American Ancestors accessed 9 May 2016, Vol. 73 : Pages.1-9.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Hatcher, Patricia Law, 2004 English Origin of the Potter and Beecher Families of New Haven, Connecticut. The American Genealogist. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (Online database accessed 9 May 2016. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .) Volume 79, Pages 28-32.
- ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J7ZD-8P8 : 10 February 2018, William Potter, ); citing St. Thomas-in-the-Cliffs, Lewes, Sussex, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,067,241.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Shepard, James, 1900 "The New Haven (Conn.) Potters, 1639." The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database accessed 10 May 2016: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2013.) Vol 54, Page 23.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Anderson, Robert Charles, "William Potter" Featured name. Great Migration 1634-1635. (Online database accessed 9 May 2016. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010.) Volume V, M-P, Pages 507-513.
- ↑ Roberts, Gary Boyd, Selected and Introduced by, Genealogies of Connecticut Families From The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. ([CD]Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Co., 1983), vol 3, p 153. " ... New Haven ... 1639 ..."
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 “New Haven Probate Records, Vol. 1-2, 1647-1703”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L92K-G9NP-7 : 5 March 2021), New Haven, Connecticut, FHL microfilm 007626739, image 72. New Haven Probate Record, 1647-1687, Vol. 1, Part 1, page 118.
- ↑ Charles J. Hoadley, ed., Records of the Colony or Jurisdiction of New Haven from May 1653 to the Union. Together with the New Haven Code of 1656, (Hartford: Case, Tiffany and Company, 1858), 180, 440-43
- ↑ See also John M. Murrin, "Things Fearful to Name: Bestiality in Colonial America," in Pennsylvania History, vol. 65, Special Supplemental Issue, 1998, pp 8-43; PDF available. (Accessed 23 Oct 2016
- ↑ Mather, Cotton. Magnalia Christi Americana (Printed for Thomas Parkhurst, at the Bible and three crowns in Cheapside, 1702) Vol. 2, Page 405 "June 6, 1662, at New-haven...(one Potter, by name, about sixty years of age,) executed for damnable bestialities"
- ↑ Cotton Mather, Pillars of Salt: An History of Some Criminals Executed in the Land... (Boston: B Green and J. Allen, 1699), reprinted in Daniel E. Williams, ed., Pillars of Salt: An Anthology of Early American Criminal Narratives, (Madison, Wis: Madison House, 1993), 65-93, at pp 67-69.
- ↑ Cook, Dale H., The Plymouth Colony Pages. revised Dec 19, 2015, accessed 9 May 2016, pdf Page 227.
See also:
- Hoffman, Sara Robbins, William Potter. Robbins Family Society, 12 Jan 2011, accessed 9 May 2016.
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Rejected matches › William Potter I (1778-bef.1839) › William Potter II (1804-) › William T Potter (1880-1951) › William Potter (abt.1608-bef.1685) › William Potter (bef.1616-)
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Moser Family History
Stories from the history of my family
Daniel “Scotch” Robins (1627-1714) Daniel Robins (aka Robinson) was born in Scotland, the son of Richard and Mary Robertson. The Robertsons were part of the family known in Gaelic as Clan Donnachaid (Children of Duncan). The Robertsons are descendants of King Duncan I through his son, Robert.
Richard and Mary Robertson appear to have resided in the Atholl district of what was then Perthshire. Atholl is a mountainous district at the southern base of the Grampian Mountains. The area is generally uncultivable and is more appropriate for livestock and hunting. The Robinsons were members of the Clan Donnachaidh. Highland clans such as the Clan Donnachaidh were a pastoral warrior race that based their prestige on cattle. A great source of pride to these herdsmen were their combative skills that they often honed by raiding one another’s cattle as a sport or test of prowess.
In 1651, the Scottish people, tired of the tyranny of Oliver Cromwell, had turned their allegiance to Charles II. Daniel Robinson was part of the Scottish Army raised by King Charles II during the English Civil War.
On 3 September 1651, Oliver Cromwell’s Parliamentarian Army met, and routed, the Royalist Army at Worcester, Worcestershire (present day Hereford and Worcester County), located 25 miles south southwest of Birmingham. Daniel Robinson along with several other Scots was taken prisoner, marched to London, and confined to Tothill Field near Parliament House to await his fate. Daniel was selected as one of the prisoners to be exiled to America. We can surmise, by his being selected, that he was in good physical condition and not wounded.
Approximately 274 Scotch prisoners from the Battle of Worcester were consigned to Thomas Kemble of New England, a lumber merchant with an interest in New Hampshire sawmills. Mr. John Becx was interested in obtaining Scottish prisoners that were neither sick nor wounded for his ironworks. The ship, the John and Sara, was engaged to transport these Highlanders to Boston.
Those who survived the voyage arrived at Boston Harbor sometime in February 1652 and were sold on the auction block to New England planters and mill owners as indentured servants for six to eight years.
Daniel Robinson is listed among the Scotsmen listed as passengers aboard the John and Sara. Six other men with the same surname were aboard, probably Daniel’s kinsmen. Daniel was bought by Nathaniel Foote, of Connecticut, and taken to this man’s family plantation to tend the livestock. It is thought that Daniel continued with the Foote family beyond his eight-year indentureship.
In 1663 Daniel Robinson and Hope Potter registered their intention to marry on 3 February 1663 at New Haven, New Haven County, Connecticut. They married one week later. The specifics as to how Daniel met his wife, Hope Potter, are not known. Hope Potter’s sister, Sarah, was married to Robert Foote, brother of Nathaniel Foote, Jr. It was not an uncommon occurrence for these young Scottish soldiers to marry into the families of their masters upon receiving their freedom.
The name Robinson was not used by Daniel after he and his family moved from Connecticut to New Jersey in 1668. Daniel’s will indicates he was unable to write. It is possible that a minor alteration in the spelling may not have been of any great importance to Daniel, so the Robinson name became Robins.
Daniel Robins has been described by his descendants as being about five feet in height, with bright blue eyes and dark, thick, curly hair in his younger days. Family tradition has it that he played a harp, a talent that was continued by his grandson, Richard Robins, of Morris River. Richard’s harp was listed among his possessions at the time of his death. In New Jersey (and Possibly in Connecticut) he was known as “the Scot” or “Scotch Robins.”
Although Daniel was not able to read, it is said that his wife, Hope, could read the bible. Supposedly, Daniel enjoyed the Old Testament scriptures that spoke of the patriarch Joseph and the Hebrews in Egypt. This piece of family folklore seems to be substantiated in the naming of four of his seven sons: Joseph, Moses, Aaron, and Benjamin.
On 12 March 1664, King Charles II granted the territory of New Jersey to James, Duke of York. On February 10, 1665, Philip Carteret was appointed governor and chartered what would become Woodbridge and granted 150 acres to every “Freeman” settler.
Daniel was one of the settlers of Woodbridge, New Jersey, moving there in 1668. He and his wife, Hope, had eleven children–the eldest daughter and son were born in New Haven, CT prior to the move to Woodbridge while all the remaining children were born in Woodbridge.
In 1669/70, Daniel acquired a “houselot” of 173 acres, 120 acres of “upland” and 5 acres of meadow on the Rahawack River. In 1670, Daniel is listed as a Freeholder with 173 acres in Woodbridge.
On 15 July 1676, John Dilley sold 5+ acres to Daniel in Papiack, a half house lot, the east side. Jason Sertell sold Daniel 5+ acres in Woodbridge on 4 March 1678. Later that year, on 21 November, Abraham Jappen sold 12+ acres to Daniel in Woodbridge.
Hope died in 1687.
In 1688 Daniel was a Constable and Tax Collector, in 1690 the Overseer of Highways, and Marshal in 1692. On the third Tuesday of December 1692, the Grand Jury presented Daniel Robins for breach of the Sabbath. (On the third Tuesday of September 1693, Daniel Jr. and Nathaniel were presented for carting wood on the Sabbath)
In 1695 and 1696, Daniel transferred his properties to Peter Lacont, Adam Hude, Elisha Parker, and his son Daniel Jr. in preparation for moving to Crosswicks.
In 1695, eight years after Hope’s death, Daniel moved across the state from Woodbridge to Crosswicks, Burlington County, New Jersey, where he purchased some large tracts of land in central New Jersey. One of these he conveyed to his son Moses. This transaction is found in an old deed dated 1701 and this land included the one-acre family cemetery known as Ye Old Robbins Burial Place. When Daniel acquired the land, he supposedly selected this specific site for the purpose of a cemetery. Family members record Daniel’s sons Joseph and Nathaniel as being buried there in unmarked graves.
In Hope, Daniel had married a daughter of a Puritan. After moving to Crosswicks, an area dominated by Quakers, Daniel and two of his sons, Daniel Jr., and Moses, joined the Society of Friends.
It would seem logical to find Daniel buried at his Old Robins Burial Place; however, Bible records and other family documents indicate that he was buried at Woodbridge beside his wife Hope – thereby honoring a last request.
It was not a common practice in colonial days to transport the dead to a distant burial place, particularly during the hot summer months. On 18 August 1714, Daniel’s body, accompanied by Daniel Jr., Moses, and Aaron and possibly others undertook the over 30-mile journey from the Crosswicks farm to Woodbridge. Due to the assistance they received along the way from fellow Quakers, the trip was accomplished in record time. The body of Daniel rests beside his wife Hope in an unmarked grave at Woodbridge.
Thanks for your interest in this profile.
The information you added is quite lengthy. It would be better if you created a Free Space page for it, and then you could reference it from Hope and Daniel's profiles. Ideally, you can support the information contained within it with reliable inline source citations.
This comment does not seem to belong on this profile. Thanks very much for your understanding. S
William Potter-1209 was featured by Anderson in his Great Migration series. He immigrated to Watertown and removed to Stamford, Connecticut in 1645 (never lived at New Haven).
Have set Potter-1209 as a rejected match. As the biography points out, there were two different William Potters, one in New Haven (this profile) and one in Stamford (the other William Potter).