USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Rehoboth > Early Rehoboth, documented historical studies of families and events in this Plymouth colony township, Volume III > Part 22
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* Capt. Richard Morris, swordcutler, married at The Hague, Holland, 28 Nov. 1628, widow
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mouth, stepfather of Capt. John Underhill; and Capt. Alexander Partridge,t General Sergeant of Newport, who was a professional soldier and had served in the Parliamentary forces. Forced in the wintertime to depart from the Massachusetts Bay, Captain Part- ridge came to Rhode Island. Governor Coddington left him in charge of his affairs when he later went to England to get himself a charter. In 1652/3 Captain Partridge killed a man at Newport and was executed for murder. Other members were Capt. Robert Jeffrey, of Portsmouth; Lieut. William Dyer, of Newport, later com- mander-in-chief on the sea for Rhode Island in the Dutch War; Lieut. William Baulston, of Portsmouth; Ensign James Weeden, of Newport; and Ensign James Barker, of Newport. Later commis- sioned officers were: Lieut. Thomas Harris, of Providence; Hugh Bewett, of Providence; Samuel Wilbur, Jr., of Portsmouth; and Ezekiel Holliman, of Warwick, Warden.
Other important members of the court were Roger Williams, of Providence; John Smith, of Warwick, President of the Colony in 1649; Nicholas Easton, of Newport, President of the Colony in 1650; Philip Sherman, of Newport, General Recorder; William Wickenden, of Providence, pastor of the First Baptist Church; Robert Williams and Gregory Dexter, of Providence; and John Warner and Christo- pher Helme,¿ of Warwick.
It is not surprising to find Capt. George Wright settled in the Dutch colony of New Netherland. The only other place left for him to go was Connecticut, where his reception would have been doubtful. More to the point, however, is the fact that his powerful military and other friends had important interests in several Rhode Island settlements in Dutch plantations on Long Island, and also on Manhattan, just across the narrow East River north of the Island.
In order to more readily understand the Dutch New Netherland background of Capt. George Wright, it is necessary to know the his- tory of the various Dutch plantations established and owned by Rhode Island men. The principal early English settlements on Long Island, and adjacent parts of Manhattan, were made by Rhode Islanders. There was considerable travel back and forth by small boats which could navigate offshore comparatively free from the
Lenora (Rawley) Underhill, died at Portsmouth, R. I., before 18 Dec. 1658, mother of Capt. John Underhill. All three, with a daughter Lettice, who afterwards married Richard Bulgar, later of Rhode Island (General Solicitor in 1654), probably came in the Winthrop Fleet in 1630. In 1632 Richard Morris was an ensign in Capt. John Underhill's Company, and in 1635 was made Lieut- Commander of the fort on Castle Island, the sea defense of Boston.
Shortly after he took command of Castle Island the ship St. Patrick, owned by Sir Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Stratford, Lord Deputy of Ireland, a strong supporter of Archbishop Laud, sailed into Boston Harbor flying the King's colors. Lieutenant Morris brought the St. Patrick to and made her strike her colors. He probably thought that if Endicott cut the red cross out of the flag for use on the land it was unlawful to use it on the sea. The ship's captain complained that it was an insult to the flag and to England and the magistrates made Lieutenant Morris apologize. He was a follower of Ann Hutchinson and was disarmed at Boston, together with Capt. John Underhill and Richard Bulgar, and all went to Exeter with Rev. John Wheelwright. In 1642 Richard Morris was in Portsmouth, R. I., where he was made a captain [Frost, Underhill Genealogy (1932), vol. I, pp. 14-20].
t Cf. The Providence Oath of Allegiance and Its Signers 1651-2 (1943), by Richard LeBaron Bowen, p. 10.
# Cf. The Mother of Christopher Helme, by Richard LeBaron Bowen, N. E. Hist. & Gen. REGISTER, vol. XCVIII (1944), pp. 11-25.
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danger of Indians encountered in an overland route. It was an easy way of traveling and under favorable wind conditions the trip could be made in two days. A brief description of these Rhode Island Dutch settlements follows.
John Throckmorton, of Providence, excommunicated with Roger Williams from the Salem church, had obtained from the Dutch a grant for Throckmorton's Neck (in Westchester), and, with Ensign Thomas Cornell from Portsmouth, John Updike, and others, sought to establish a plantation. O'Callaghan says (History of New Nether- land, p. 258) that Westchester was probably first settled in 1642 by John Throckmorton [of Rhode Island]. In October of that year a license was granted him, with thirty-five families, to settle in New Netherland, within three miles of New Amsterdam. On 6 July 1643 a "land brief" or patent, later known as Throgg's Neck, embracing the eastern part of Westchester, bounded on the east by Eastchester Bay and Long Island Sound, south by the East River, was granted to Jon Throckmorton .*
In 1638 Ann Hutchinson was banished from Massachusetts Bay. Her husband, William Hutchinson, removed to Rhode Island the same year. She soon followed, traveling overland through Seekonk, and on her trip probably visited her sister Katherine (Marbury) Scott, wife of Richard Scott of Providence. Shortly after the death of her husband in 1642, Ann Hutchinson left Rhode Island and founded a plantation in the Dutch territory of Eastchester, north of Long Island, east of and adjoining the Throgg's Neck plantation of John Throckmorton of Providence. Her house t appears to have been located on what is now Pelham Neck, formerly called Ann's hoeck, meaning neck or point of land. Eastchester is separated from Westchester by a stream which is now called Hutchinson's River [Bolton's History of Westchester Co., N. Y. (1848), vol. I, pp. 513-515].
Lady Deborah Moody, who had purchased the plantation of John Humfrey at Lynn in 1640, was a member of the Salem church. Admonished for her error as to the baptism of infants she removed, about 1643, to the Dutch Colony at New Netherland and settled at Gravesend, Long Island, where she long resided. In 1654 Governor Stuyvesant allowed her to nominate the magistrate for Gravesend. Sir Henry Moody, her son, is called one of the original patentees [Savage, Gen. Dict., vol. III, p. 225].
* On 29 Apr. 1652 he petitioned the Dutch Director General for permission to sell Throckmorton's Neck, and in October 1652 conveyed it to Augustine Hermans. On 5 Dec. 1656 Governor Stuyve- sant ordered that Throckmorton's Neck and Cornell's Neck (Clason's Point) might come into their jurisdiction if they please [Cornell Genealogy (1902), pp. 152-156].
t The History of Block Island (1877), by Rev. S. T. Livermore, pages 269, 270, states that "Capt. James Sands of Block Island was employed by Ann Hutchinson to build her house at Eastchester, N. Y .; that while working on the frame he and his partner were driven off by the Indians and Mrs. Hutchinson hired others to finish the house". The next paragraph goes on to state that "Mr. Sands and his wife came from England and landed in Plymouth in 1658, and that soon after he undertook the building of the house for Mrs. Hutchinson". That could hardly be possible for at this date she had been dead fifteen years. This so-called "history" is simply a delightful story book. We are further enlightened, page 269, by the statement that "the American family of this name probably sprang from a Mr. James Sands of Staffordshire, England, who died in 1670 aged 140 years, and his wife, who died aged 120 years".
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Richard Smith, of Taunton, Mass., Portsmouth and Narragansett, R. I., was one of the principals in a patent granted in 1642 by the Dutch Director Kieft at Mespath or Newtoun, Long Island to Francis Doughty, agent for his associates dwelling in Rhode Island, Taunton, Mass., and others, of more than thirteen thousand acres of land [about 4 by 5 miles square].
At first the Mespath settlement throve, but in 1643 the Indians attacked the settlement and drove away or killed the colonizers, including Richard Smith's brother John. Richard Smith owned property in New Amsterdam. Under the Dutch Director Kieft he held offices of trust [Updike, Richard Smith (1937), pp. 13-15].
On 24 May 1644 Gilbert Updike was granted a patent for Coney Island at Gravesend Bay. He was of Wesel, Germany; Floyd's Neck, N. Y .; and Narragansett, R. I. He married at New Amster- dam, 24 Sept. 1643, Katherine Smith, daughter of Richard Smith, of Taunton, Mass., and Narragansett, R. I. Her sister Elizabeth married, as her second husband, Deacon Samuel Newman of Rehoboth.
At this time the greater part of Manhattan and most of Long Island was in the hands of seven different tribes of Indians, estimated to have numbered fifteen hundred warriors. In September 1643, the smouldering Indian war broke out and Winthrop says that the "Indians set upon the English who dwelt under the Dutch and killed such of Mr. Throckmorton's and Mr. Cornhill's families as were at home". A party of Siwanoy Indians crossed over into Ann's hoeck and killed Ann Hutchinson, her son Francis, son-in-law Collins, and all members of her family present, except her daughter Susan, then eight years old, who was carried into captivity and remained a prisoner for four years when she was delivered to the Dutch governor at New York and returned to her friends. She had forgotten her native language and was unwilling to be taken from the Indians. Eighteen persons in all fell victim to the savages [Bolton's History of Westchester Co., N. Y. (1848), vol. I, pp. 513-515].
The survivors of the broken settlements retired to Long Island and some of them joined Lady Moody's plantation at Gravesend. The Dutch and Indian War continued for four years with great slaughter of Dutch, English, and Indians. The Dutch, to save their plantation from ruin, "made a most unworthy peace" with the Indians. John Throckmorton was again back in Providence, R. I., on 27 Feb. 1647 when he was granted the house and land of Edward Cope, also of Rehoboth, deceased. Ensign Thomas Cornell was again back in Portsmouth, R. I., on 4 Feb. 1646/7, when he had a grant of 100 acres of land. Some of Cornell's children remained in New Netherland. John Updike went to New Jersey.
The second grantee under the Dutch in Westchester was Ensign Thomas Cornhill [Cornell] * who obtained a "ground brief" grant
* There was a Thomas Cornell, or Cornwell, d. bef. 9 Sept. 1650, a soldier from Hertfordshire, England, who appears among the first settlers and patentees of Gravesend, Long Island. He married in the Reformed Dutch Church at New Amsterdam, 2 Nov. 1642, Elizabeth Fiscock
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or patent, 26 July 1646, signed at Fort Amsterdam by William Kieft, Director General and the Council of New Netherland. This grant, known as Cornell's Neck, adjoined John Throckmorton's grant (Throgg's Neck) on the west. After the death of Ensign Cornell his widow, about 1656, conveyed the grant to her daughter Sarah (Cornell) (Willett) Bridges. In 1664 the court decided that Cor- nell's Neck was the property of Charles and Sarah Bridges. In 1665 the Bridges were placed in possession of lands and premises by the High Sheriff or Under Sheriff (Capt. John Underhill in 1667) of the North Riding of Yorkshire upon Long Island. In 1667 Richard Nicolls, Governor General, confirmed the deed of gift wherein Sarah (Cornell) (Willett) Bridges gave Cornell's Neck to her eldest son William Willett * [Bolton's History of Westchester Co., N. Y. (1848), vol. I, pp. 152-156].
Capt. Thomas Willett of Plymouth, Rehoboth, and Swansea, had extensive interests in New Netherland, as did his father-in-law Mr. John Brown, Plymouth Colony Assistant, of Rehoboth and Swansea. Captain Willett was the first English Mayor of New York City in 1665.
In 1647 Peter Tallman came from Hamburg, Germany, to the Island of Barbados. About 1650 he moved to Rhode Island with his wife and mother-in-law who afterwards married Mr. John Elten. They remained in Rhode Island about one year and then moved to Flushing, Long Island, where Peter Tallman remained for some time. From 1655 to 1658 his name is frequently found in the court records of New Amsterdam where he sometimes acted as interpreter between the English and the Dutch [George Andrews Moriarty, N. E. Hist. & Gen. Register, vol. LXXXV, pp. 69, 73].
From the time that Roger Williams reported Capt. George Wright in jail in Newport at the end of the year 1648, until his appearance at Gravesend in 1654, he completely drops from sight and the most diligent search fails to find any mention of him in that six-year period.
In 1648 Director Stuyvesant appointed Capt. John Underhill Sheriff of the Dutch town of Flushing, Long Island, where he was elected a magistrate in 1651 and 1652. In 1653, hearing that the Dutch were plotting with the Indians to attack the English, Captain
[N. Y. Biog. & Gen. Record, vol. VI, p. 35]. On 9 Sept. 1650 wid. Elizabeth (Fiscock) Cornell m. John Morrice-She had 4 children by Cornell who left an estate of about 600 gilders. Savage mis- takenly confuses this Thomas Cornell with Thomas, Jr., of Rhode Island [Cornell Genealogy (1902), p. 6].
* William Willett, b. 1644, d. unm. in 1701. His nephew, Col. Thomas Willett, was his successor as owner of Cornell's Neck, which remained in the Willett family for over one hundred years. It was later known as Willett's Point, and today is called Clason's Point.
"Sarah Cornell not before married, of Essex, England, m. at the Dutch Church of New Amster- dam on 1 Sept. 1643 Thomas Willett, previously unmarried, of Bristol, England" [Dutch Ch. New Amsterdam Marriage Rec.]. Children: 1. William, bapt. 27 June 1644. 2. Thomas, bapt. 26 Nov. 1645. 3. Elizabeth. [Cornell Gen. (1902), p. 29.]
Bolton, in his History of Westchester Co., N. Y. (1848), vol. II, pp. 547, 8, makes the mistake of confusing this Thomas Willett family with that of Capt. Thomas Willett of Plymouth, Rehoboth, and Swansea, by stating that the Col. Thomas Willett, who owned Cornell's Neck in 1709, was the eldest son of the Rehoboth man, the first English Mayor of the City of New York in 1665.
Capt. Thomas Willett, of Rehoboth, had a son Thomas, b. 1 Oct. 1646, whom Austin says d. young.
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Underhill raised the parliamentary flag and issued a proclamation to the citizens of Long Island, for which he was imprisoned in New Amsterdam. He was soon released and went to Rhode Island, where he offered his military services to the colony in the common cause of England against the Dutch.
On 19 May 1653 the Rhode Island General Assembly commis- sioned him "commander-in-chief on land" with full power to act, and commissioned Lieut. William Dyer commander-in-chief on the sea. On 27 June 1653 Captain Underhill seized the Dutch fort "The House of Hope" at Hartford. Peace was declared in 1654, by which time Captain Underhill had taken up his residence in South- hold, Long Island.
It may be significant that after a disappearance of six years at the close of the English and Dutch War, Capt. George Wright is found living in Gravesend, Long Island. There was plenty of Indian fighting during these years and it may well be that he had been serving under Capt. John Underhill. They were kindred spirits.
At this point in our history, one could not be criticized for enter- taining the idea that perhaps some of the prominent military and other Rhode Island men, with so many interests in the Dutch planta- tions in New Netherland, might have had a fully provisioned and equipped pinnace conveniently anchored off shore at Newport, and that Capt. George Wright escaping from the Newport jail, stepped into this boat and made the trip of some 120 miles down through Long Island Sound to Throckmorton's and Cornell's Necks or con- tinued some 40 miles farther to Gravesend. After all, Captain Wright was a good fighting man and why hang him when men of his caliber were so sorely needed to fight the Indians swarming around the Rhode Island-owned Dutch plantations?
Whether Captain Wright was released from the Newport jail after a fair trial or "broke" jail will probably never be known. This would not have been the first escape from the Island. In August 1638, ten years earlier, Arthur Peach, Thomas Cross, and two others were held at Portsmouth, on the other end of the Island, for the murder, just north of the Seekonk line, of a Nipmuck Indian named Penowanyanquis. Thomas Cross escaped in a pinnace, sail- ing away to the Piscataqua country on the Maine coast where the authorities refused to give him up as told by Winthrop in his Journal. The other three men were returned to Plymouth where after a short trial they were the first white men to be hanged for the murder of an Indian.
The following records include every mention of George Wright that the writer has been able to find in an exhaustive search of the original records of the colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, and Rhode Island. Considerable additional research in the New York records is necessary to make this study complete.
- 1636-George Wright, Salem (Es. Court and Town Rec.), proprietor, kept the ferry between Butt point and Darby fort; Elizabeth, admitted to the church 21 Mar. 1640/1 [Pope, Pioneers of Mass., p. 516].
25 Sept. 1637-The town of Salem grants George Wright half an acre of land
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upon the Neck to build on and five acres on the forest side for planting. He is also authorized to keep the ferry to Marblehead. "Old George Wright" probably conducted the ferry until 16 Dec. 1644 when the town of Salem granted it to Thomas Dixey. Wright was alive in 1647 and for several years thereafter [Pearley, History of Salem, vol. I, p. 406].
"George Wright, Salem 1637, of whom we know no more. Elizabeth of the church, 1641, may have been his wife. George, Braintree, free- man 18 May 1642, if we add a W. to the Right of the records, was a lieutenant there, and may not, I hope, have been that captain who in January 1649, stabbed Walter Lettice at Newport, as Roger Williams writes to his friend John Winthrop, Jr. See 3 Mass. Hist. Coll., vol. IX, p. 280" [Savage, Gen. Dict., vol. IV, p. 656].
25 Dec. 1637-At a Salem town meeting lands were laid out to the different families. In this list is George Wright with three in his family [Pear- ley, History of Salem, vol. I, p. 464].
27 Jan. 1640-At Mount Wollaston George Wright is granted a lot of land for 3 heads [Pattee, Hist. of Old Braintree & Quincy (1878), p. 28].
18 May 1642-George Wright admitted freeman at Braintree, where he was a lieutenant of the Militia [Savage, Gen. Dict., vol. IV, p. 656].
5 Dec. 1643-At a Court of Assistants held at Boston, "George Wright for his attempt to vncleanes with a married woman is bound to his good behavior in forty pound, & to appeare at ye Quarter Cort the first Moneth, and to pay the wittnesses" [Mass. Court of Assistants Records (1630-1644), vol. II, pp. 134, 136].
10 Mar. 1644-At a Rehoboth town meeting lots are drawn for land in the first Division of the Neck. George Right draws lot No. 5 for 734 acres [Rehoboth Town Meetings, Book I, p. 6].
4 Feb. 1645-Those indebted to the town of Rehoboth- "[ ] Allen to be paid to George Right £1 6s. 8d" [Rehoboth Town Meetings, Book I, p. 18].
1645-About this time all the Rehoboth proprietors registered their various land holdings with Edward Smith, town clerk, who recorded these lists in Rehoboth Town Meetings, Book I. For some unexplained reason there is no record of the lands owned by George Wright.
- Dec. 1646-At a quarter Session Court held at Portsmouth, R. I., “An acon of Sclaunder Co by Jeremy Willie [Willis] of Nupt agst Walter Lettice upo xx li damage delayed Mr. Jeremy Clark Baile" [Chapin, Documentary Hist. of R. I., vol. II, p. 157].
Walter Lettice was probably a soldier in Capt. Jeremy Clark's Newport company. On 16 May 1648 the officers were: Jeremy Clark, captain, William Dyer, lieutenant, and James Barker, ensign.
16 Mar. 1645/6-At a meeting of the Rehoboth townsmen it is agreed that all the general fields should be fenced by the 23rd of the present month. The following men were "made choice of to men the fence and to Judge of the Sufichency of them: Richard Bowen, Robert Tytyts, William Smith, Captaine Wright, Alexander Winchester, Thomas Blise, Stephen Paine, and Thomas Coop [Cooper]" [Rehoboth Town Meetings, Book I, p. 79].
There were two men in Rehoboth named Wright,-Richard and George,-each with the title of captain. It appears that between 26 Dec. 1645 and 16 Mar. 1645/6, Capt. Richard Wright had left Rehoboth so that the only Captain Wright remaining was George. This is the only record of George Wright holding office in Rehoboth.
This committee appointed at the town meeting held on 16 Mar. 1645/6 was an important one, and with only the uncertainty as
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to George Wright, was composed of the town's leading men and large property owners. If Capt. Richard Wright had been in Rehoboth at this time, he would naturally have been a member of this committee, just as he had been a member of all previous im- portant committees.
18 Feb. 1646[7]-At a Rehoboth town meeting lots are drawn for the new medow to be divided according to person and estate, only all those that were under £150 estate to be made up to £150. George Wright draws lot No. 36 for 114 acres [Rehoboth Town Meetings, Book I, p. 83].
2 Mar. 1646/7-At the General Court held at Plymouth "George Wright and Joseph Tory are released paying theire fees of their bonds for the good behavior, but not of attending the Courte.
"Whereas George Wright was psented by ye grand inquest for at- tempting the chastity of divs women by lacivious words & carriages, he, trausing ye said psentnt, made his plea at this Court, & by verdict of a jury of 12 men was found quilty acc to ye psentnt. The Court, having maturely considered ye matt's & circumstances, censured him to be bound to ye good behavior to or souaigne lord ye King and all his leidge people vntill the next October Court, & then to appre and attend the further pleasure of ye Court, & so comitted him vntill he finde sureties.
"The Jury for his Traus
"John Finney Robte Wicson Richard Wright*
Joseph Rogers Gab Followay Giles Rickett
Rich Sparrow John Morton George Watson
John Crocker Joshua Prat Joseph Torey
"George Wright of Rehoboth, plant, acknowledgeth li S d to owe or soñaigne lord ye King . 40 00 00 Richard Church, t of ye Eale River, plant, . 20 00 00
Samuel Nash,¿ of Duxburow, plant, . 20 00 00 "The condicon, yt yf ye aboue bounden George Wright shall psonally appre at ye nexte Genñall Court of or soûaigne lord ye King, to be holden att plim, in October nexte, &c; & in the meane time to be of ye good behabior towards or said soñaigne lord ye King and all his leigh people, and abide the further order of ye Court, & not depte ye same wth license; yt then, &c" [Plymouth Colony Records, vol. II, pp. 111, 112, 113].
Just what is meant by the release of George Wright and Joseph Torey "paying the fees of their bonds for good behavior", but "not of attending the Court" is not known. It may well be that there were two cases against George Wright and Joseph Torey, one for a Rehoboth disturbance of some kind, and the other for not serving as elected Rehoboth officials. They may have been elected Reho- both deputies, or highway surveyors, and fined by the court for not serving.
In 1645 Capt. Richard Wright was elected a deputy to the Ply- mouth court and refused to serve, for which the court fined him 20s. At the same court Walter Palmer was admitted a freeman and sworn
* This is clearly the Plymouth man and not the Richard Wright of Rehoboth.
+ Richard Church, b. about 1608, the father of Capt. Benjamin Church, probably came to Massa- chusetts in the fleet with Governor Winthrop. He removed from Weymouth to Plymouth, where he was a freeman in 1632. He was engaged as a carpenter in building the earliest church at Ply- mouth. He served in the Pequot War. In 1649 he sold his Plymouth estate and was at Charles- town, Mass., in 1653. From there he moved to Hingham where he made his will in 1668, and d. at Dedham a few days later [Savage, Gen. Dict., vol. I, p. 386].
# Samuel Nash was in Plymouth in 1632; in 1643 he was in Duxbury, where he was Sheriff of the Colony in 1652; representative in 1653; living in 1682 in his 89th year [Ibid., vol. III, p. 262].
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as deputy. In 1646 Peter Hunt was constable; Thomas Cooper, surveyor of highways; and William Carpenter, grandjuryman, with no record of the election of a deputy. There are no Rehoboth rec- ords of town elections for these two years and the only information we have is found in the Plymouth Court records. On 26 May 1647 Stephen Paine and Walter Palmer were elected deputies; William Smith, constable; and Thomas Cooper and Thomas Clifton, grand- jurymen "(not sworn) "; Thomas Bliss and Robert Titus, surveyors of the highways; Mr. Browne, Mr. Peck, Stephen Paine, Mr. Winchester, Richard Bowen, William Carpenter, and Edward Smith, townsmen [Plymouth Colony Records, vol. I, pp. 103, 116; Rehoboth Town Meetings, Book I, p. 85].
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