Thomas Stillwell (bef. 1679 - abt. 1739)

Born before 1679 in Gravesend, Long Island, New York

Ancestors

Husband of Alice (Throckmorton) Stillwell — married 9 Apr 1703 in MIddletown, Monmouth County, New Jersey

Husband of Hannah (Taylor) Stillwell — married 1712 in MIddletown, Monmouth County, New Jersey

Descendants

Died about 1739 after about age 60 in Middletown, Monmouth County, New Jersey

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Biography

Thomas Stillwell, the son of Richard Stillwell, was born on 4 December 1666, according to Benjamin Marshall Stilwell.^[1]

Sources differ on the details of Thomas' life.

John E. Stillwell gave this account of Thomas' birth:^[2]

"Richard Stillwell was the father by this wife, Mary Cooke, in 1679, of two children Thomas and Martha Stillwell, one of whom, Thomas, at least, was one of the younger children of Richard Stillwell, as he was married, as late as 1703, to Alice Throckmorton." ...

"John Cooke, of Gravesend, left legacies, solely to Thomas and Martha, children of Richard Stillwell, while we know that he had several other children, would tend to establish the fact that they were the sole issue of Richard Stillwell and Mary Cooke".

Thomas and his first wife, Alice (Throckmorton) Stillwell, are said to have been buried in the Throckmorton-Lippit-Taylor Burying Ground in Middletown, New Jersey, but there were no signs of their headstones or footstones when the cemetery was canvassed by John E. Stillwell in 1909.^[3]

John E. Stillwell (Thomas' great-great-great grandson) wrote the most extensive, and only well documented, biography of Thomas. Here are excerpts from his book:^[4]

"Thomas Stillwell, son of Captain Richard Stillwell, was married, by license dated Apr. 9, 1703 to Ellis (Alice) Throckmorton. She was a daughter of John Throckmorton, Esquire, of Middletown, N. J., by his wife Alice, daughter of Richard and Penelope Stout, and the sister of Rebecca Throckmorton, who had become the wife of Thomas Stillwell's brother, Captain John Stillwell, of Staten Island.

Thomas Stillwell probably died about 1739, as no further illusion to him is found after this date among the records.

He, and his sister Martha, were legatees in the will of John Cooke, the Gravesend Magistrate, in 1679, whose daughter Mary, was their mother. His youth was doubtless spent upon Staten Island. Shortly following his marriage, he appeared at MIddletown, N. J., where his wife possessed a large landed estate, heired from her father and brother. The original Throckmorton tract, according to tradition, extended nearly from the Bay to the River, and when divided, Moses Lippit and his wife Sarah Throckmorton, took that portion, now including the Henry Taylor, George Bowne, Charles I. Hendrickson, Coudert and Morford places, on both sides of the highway and stretching back far towards The Bay; while Thomas Stillwell and wife Alice Throckmorton, and John Stillwell and his wife Rebecca Throckmorton, took the lands from Lippet's boundaries to The River, including Nutswamp, where Thomas Stillwell settled.* The lands lying to the north of Porrasye Brook in this subdivision, (a brook running through this locality, discharging into the Navesink River, originally of considerable size, but now much contracted), and which are now comprised in Fairview Cemetery, Minnisink Realty Co., The Monmouth County Fair Association, the farm of Henry C. McLean, etc., fell to the lot of Thomas Stillwell's wife Alice, while those to the south of Porrasye Brook fell to John Stillwell's wife Rebecca, and were conveyed by them to their son Joseph Stillwell, Esquire, who occupied them until his death in 1760.

• At Freehold there is a map dated May 6, 1747, representing the property of Jonathan Holmes, Minor, of Nutswamp, with the locations hereon of Thomas Stillwell's land.

Thomas Stillwell lived the life of a country squire, free from all political ambitions. He was reputed one of the first slave holders in Monmouth County, and supervised his own estate. He was a man of education, indulged in fine clothes and was a sportsman with gun and line. "

"1708, April 20, Thomas Stillwell, farmer, and Alice his wife, and Moses Lippit, cooper, and Sarah his wife, of Middletown, bought of John Stillwell, farmer, and Rebecca his wife, of Staten Island, and Hugh Coward, of New York City, mariner, and Patience his wife, and Deliverance Throckmorton, of Middletown, N. J., single-woman, six acres of land at Shoal Harbor, Middletown, and May 24, 1714, Thomas Stillwell conveyed his interest in the same to Moses Lippit."

"1712, June 28, Thomas Stillwell, yeoman, of Middletown, N. J., sold James Seabrook, one acre of meadow, at Shoal Harbor, for 4 pounds, which he had purchased, Oct. 25, 1708, from James Cox. Deed signed by Thomas Stillwell and Hannah Stillwell, who made her mark."

"1714, May 24, Thomas Stillwell, for a valuable consideration, sold a share of land, which he bought with "Alice my wife during her life-time", to Moses Lippit, and Sarah his wife, who were his former associates in the purchase."

"1715. Mch 16. Thomas Stillwell, yeoman, and Hannah his wife, of Middletown, N. J., for 100 pounds, sold thirty-nine acres of land, in Middletown, to Samuel Tilton."

"1738, May 27, Thomas Stillwell, and Hannah his wife, sold to George Taylor, eighty-seven acres, with all housings, edifices, buildings, etc., which the said Stillwell had bought of William Wilkins, and Alice his wife, Jan. 10, 1716."

"Alice Throckmorton, the wife of Thomas Stillwell, died in or before the year of 1710. It is possible that all of his issue was by her. Inasmuch, however, as there is a hazy tradition of a typical step-mother diverting property from the first wife's children to her own, and resultant ill-feeling, it is very probable that Thomas Stillwell did have some issue by his second wife, Hannah Taylor. His marriage to this lady occurred prior to 1712, for in that year she joined with him in a conveyance. She was the daughter of Edward Taylor, Esq. of Middletown, who was one of the early settlers in that location, and progenitor of the Taylors of Monmouth County, and was born Jan. 16, 1680. She heired considerable wealth from her father, and an entry, on the Second Town Book of Middletown, conveys the impression that she was generous in the use of it -- "the town has ye use of £300 for ye support of ye poor," from Hannah Stillwell. This entry, aside from its family interest, is instructive, as it shows the importation, by the first settlers, of the English custom of the opulent providing for the needy."

"He signed his name "Tho. Stillwell", while his son signed his name: "Thomas ∫ ∫tilwell." "

"Issue:

Thomas Stillwell

John Stillwell

Mary Stillwell

Elsie (Alice) Stillwell

Hannah Stillwell

Obadiah Stillwell

Jeremiah Stillwell"

Here, Stillwell did not specify the mother of any of Thomas' children, but in a different work, he listed Mary, Hannah, Obadiah, and Jeremiah as "supposed" children of Hannah (Taylor) Stillwell".^[5]

Regarding the daughter Hannah, Stillwell also wrote, "The conviction grows upon me that this Hannah Stillwell was the wife, rather than the daughter, of Thomas Stillwell, but I have no exact information either way."^[6]

Stillwell described numerous charges to Thomas' account in Micheau's account book over the period 3 June 1727 - 14 June 1729.^[7] These included purchases made by Thomas' sons John and Thomas Jr.

We know that Thomas was still living in Middletown on 8 January 1738/9 (after his sale of land in 1738), when a purchase of shot by Thomas Stillwell Snr was entered in the account book of Holmes.^[8]

Dewitt Stilwell wrote:^[9]

"Thomas Stilwell born about 1680. He of Gravesend, L. I., and Alice Throckmorton of Staten Island, took out marriage license April 9, 1703. They settled on ninetythree acres of land at Yellow Hook, New Utrecht, fronting on the bay. He was granted a license to maintain a ferry to Staten Island. He died in 1758. Letters of administration were granted at Trenton, N. J., October 26, 1759. Thomas and his wife Alice, and their son John and his wife, Mercy Burrows, are buried in a cemetery at Middletown, N. J.

Children :

1. Nicholas.

2. Thomas.

3. John, born 1709, died 1794. Married Mercy Burrows.

4. William.

5. Christopher, born January 17, 1716, died April 15, 1780. ...

The foregoing is mostly obtained from scraps of history and early church and town records of western Long Island, and, while it varies materially in many respects from some other records which have been compiled, it is probably more nearly correct. Many of these other records can be shown to be full of inconsistencies and errors."

A similar account of Thomas Stillwell's children is given in a Throckmorton genealogy^[10], but the wording there suggests that this material was taken from Dewitt Stilwell's work, published 15 years earlier.

Dewitt Stilwell relied partly on the account of Benjamin Marshall Stilwell:^[11]

"THOMAS STILWELL (fourth son of Nicholas), born in 1688, married in 1709, 1st, ALICE THROCKMORTON (see license, N. Y., Lib. 9 of Wills, page 2); 2, CATHERINE DAY of Flatlands. Received from Governor Clarke grant of land at Yellow Hook, New Utrecht, fronting on the bay, with a right to maintain a ferry to Staten Island. (Lib. 6 of Deeds, page 73, Kings County.)

Died in 1758, intestate, leaving four children:

A. John, born 1709, died Nov., 1794;

B. Thomas;

C. Nicholas;

D. Christopher; born Jan. 17, 1716; died April 15, 1780.

His children joined in a power of attorney, upon which letters of administration were granted at Trenton, N. J., Oct. 26, 1759."

On 18 February 1747/8 the Thomas Stillwell of Yellow Hook sold land to Deneys Deneys:^[12]

A 72 acre plantation on the east side of Hudsons River, between lands of Roelof Van Brunt and Deneys Deneys

An adjacent 14 acre lot adjoining lands of Jaques Cortelyou and Rutgaert Van Brunt

A patent granted by George Clark, Lt. Governor, for establishing a ferry fronting the land as by said patent

This was the Major Thomas Stillwell, who John E. Stillwell described as the son of Nicholas Stillwell III, and Stillwell's view conforms to a genealogy edited by Horace Edwin Hayden in 1906.^[13] The Thomas Stillwell, who owned most of Coney Island in 1727, was described as a resident of Gravesend on 12 December 1727 in a deed of 30 acres on Coney Island to Barent Johnson.^[14] He is clearly not the subject of this profile, the Thomas Stillwell who resided in MIddletown, New Jersey from 1705 to 1739. Most likely, Benjamin Marshall Stilwell incorrectly assumed that the Thomas Stillwell (of Middletown) who married Alice Throckmorton was the same person as the Thomas Stillwell who lived in Flatlands and married Catrina Duryea.

Additional Land records at the New Jersey Archives

23 Nov 1705 - Hugh Coward, Moses Lippit, John Stillwell, Robert Stillwell, Thomas Stillwell, and Deliverance Throckmorton conveyed land in Middletown, Monmouth County, East Jersey to Henry Marsh.^[15]

8 December 1710 - Moses Lippit conveyed land in Middletown, Monmouth County, East Jersey to Thomas Stillwell.^[16]

10 April 1733 - Thomas Stillwell conveyed land in Monmouth County, East Jersey to Thomas Stillwell Jr.^[17]

Research Note

In the research of John Edwin Stillwell he found there was a variance from the facts the work of professor John Stillwell Schenck's sources Benjamin Marshall Stillwell and William Stillwell.^[18] Thomas's wives are in variance with the ones listed below.

1. Benjamin Marshall has Alice as his first wife and Catherine Day as his second, however, Catherine Day was the second wife of Major Thomas Stillwell, son of Nicholas and Abigail Hopton Stillwell.^[19]

2. Teunis Bergen has Thomas' first wife as Ann Hubbard. ^[20]

3. S. B. Stillwell has his birth date, death date, first wife as Ann Hubbard and child Daniel which is disputed with Daniel's wife's father's will. ^[21]

4. This source has a discussion on the Ann Hubbard wife of this on #15. Thomas Stillwell^[22]

5. Regarding the daughter Hannah, Stillwell also wrote, "The conviction grows upon me that this Hannah Stillwell was the wife, rather than the daughter, of Thomas Stillwell, but I have no exact information either way." In addition, he assigns Thomas' uncle as his father and makes the statement Thomas died in 1739 and no other records were found which does not agree with his will cited above with the date October 26 1759 it was proved.^[23]

Sources

1. ↑ Benj. Marshall Stilwell, "Early Memoirs of the Stilwell Family Comprising the Life and Times of Nicholas Stilwell", The National Printing Company, New York (1878), page 274. . https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044086452000&view=1up&seq=290
2. ↑ John E. Stillwell, "The History of Captain Richard Stillwell", New York City (1930), page 10.
3. ↑ John E. Stillwell, "The burying Grounds of Old Monmouth", New York City (1909).

   "THE ANCIENT LIPPIT OR TAYLOR BURYING GROUND, MIDDLETOWN, N. J.

   This plot is situated on the farm of Charles Morford, on the north side of the highway in the village of Middletown, about five rods back from the road. The ground was first appropriated to this purpose by John Throckmorton the 2d, who in his will written in 1690, makes reservation of it as "one quarter of an acre in Middletown, where my father lies buried." This property passed to his daughter Sarah, who married Moses Lippit, and from their son, John Lippit, it was conveyed in the year 1754, to Edward Taylor, always, however, "reserving and excepting a small piece of ground being enclosed in the burying yard, being in length about eightv-four feet and in breadth about thirty feet." From and after this date it became also known as the Taylor burying ground, which name it now bears to the exclusion of the other. In it are interred John Throckmorton the 1st, and his sons John and Job. Sarah, daughter of John Throckmorton, (2d), and her husband, Moses Lippit, as also several of her children. Alice, daughter of John Throckmorton (2d) and her husband, Thomas Stillwell, and their son John Stillwell and his wife, Mercy Burrows. How many others may lie here it is impossible to state. The graves of many of these enumerated have been unmarked, and time has altogether effaced the mounds, so that the earth surface is now level and no trace exists of where they were laid. Tradition also assigns this as the last resting place of Penelope Stout, as before has been stated. Some of the old stones have fallen and others are fast losing their epitaphs through reason of their age and natural wear, but all are still decipherable."

4. ↑ John E Stillwell, "The History of Captain Richard Stillwell", New York City (1930), pages 22 - 26. ancestry.com
5. ↑ John E. Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany - Data Relating to the Settlers of New Jersey and their Descendants, Volume 5, page 45.
6. ↑ John E Stillwell, "The History of Captain Richard Stillwell", New York City (1930), page 74.
7. ↑ John E Stillwell, "The History of Captain Richard Stillwell", New York City (1930), pages 24-25.
8. ↑ John E. Stillwell, "The History of Captain Richard Stillwell, New York City, (1930), page 26.
9. ↑ Dewitt Stilwell, "History and Genealogical Record of One Branch of the Stilwell Family", The Martin Press, Solvay, N. Y. (1914), pages 47-48.
10. ↑ Sitherwood, Sara Frances Grimes. Throckmorton Family History: Being the Records of the Throckmortons In the United States of America With Cognate Branches, Emigrant Ancestors Located At Salem, Massachusetts, 1630, And In Gloucester County, Virginia, 1660. Bloomington, IL: Pantagraph Printing & Stationery Co., 1929. Page 62. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89088781018&view=1up&seq=80
11. ↑ Benj. Marshall Stilwell, "Early Memoirs of the Stilwell Family Comprising the Life and Times of Nicholas Stilwell", The National Printing Company, New York (1878), page 284.
12. ↑ New York Land Records, Kings County Conveyances, Volume 6, pages 72-73.
13. ↑ Hayden, Horace Edwin (editor)., "Genealogical and Family History of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume 2, The Lewis Publishing Company, New York, Chicago (1906), page 147. https://archive.org/details/genealogicalfami02hayd/page/147
14. ↑ John E. Stillwell, "The History of Captain Nicholas Stilwell", New York City, (1930), page 21.
15. ↑ East Jersey Deeds: I (EJ) : Folio 345 (SSTSE023)
16. ↑ East Jersey Deeds: AM Papers : Folio 295
17. ↑ MSS Deeds : Folio Sec 6 Dr 4
18. ↑ Stillwell, John E. Stillwell Genealogy.... 1931. Page 71. https://archive.org/details/stillwellgenealo02stil/page/89
19. ↑ Stillwell, Benjamin Marshall. 1878. Page 284, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044086452000&view=1up&seq=290
20. ↑ Bergen, Teunis G., 1806-1881. Register In Alphabetical Order, of the Early Settlers of Kings County, Long Island, N.Y.. New York: S. W. Green's sons, printer, 1881. Page 281. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t2j67sx0n&view=1up&seq=285
21. ↑ S. B. Stillwell. The Stillwell Family in England and America. Scranton, Pa. Never Published:Dec 1899. Page 42. http://worldcat.org/digitalarchive/content/server16079.contentdm.oclc.org/DPL/p16079coll31/WPVolume1/doc_2017_473.pdf
22. ↑ Ladd, Forrest and Jean. Stillwell Genealogy. Descendants of Lt. Nicholas Stillwell." Generation No. 1. https://haygenealogy.com/hay/sources/britton/stillwelltreeorig.html
23. ↑ John E Stillwell, "The History of Captain Richard Stillwell", New York City (1930), page 74. https://archive.org/details/stillwellgenealo02stil/page/92