USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > New Bedford > History of New Bedford, Volume III > Part 17
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(Richard Williams, ancestor of Theodore Dean Williams).
Theodore Dean Williams, of New Bedford, formerly of Raynham, is a member of the ancient Williams family of Taunton, Massachusetts, that was early located there. The Williams family of the name of England and Wales, of which Sir Robert Williams, ninth baronet of the
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House of Williams of Penrhyn, was a lineal descendant from Marchudes of Cyan, Lord of Abergeten, in Denbighshire, of one of the fifteen tribes of North Wales, that lived in the time of Roderick the Great of the Britons, about A. D. 849. The seat of the Welsh Williams family was at Flint, Wales; and in Lincolnshire, Oliver Cromwell, the "Lord Pro- tector," was a Williams by right of descent, and was related to Richard Williams, who settled at Taunton, Massachusetts.
(I) Richard Williams, of Taunton, Massachusetts, is a descendant in the eighth generation of Howell Williams, Lord of Rborn, the progen- itor of the Williams family in Wales, from whom his descent is through :
(II) Morgan Williams, married Joan Batten.
(III) Thomas Williams, of Lancashire, died in London.
(IV) John Williams, married Margaret Smyth.
(V) Richard Williams, a native of Rochampton, settled at Mon- mouth and Dexter.
(VI) John Williams, of Huntingdonshire, near Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucester.
(VII) William Williams, of Huntingdon, married (second) Decem- ber 4, 1603, Jane Woodward.
(VIII) Richard Williams, born January, 1606, son of William and Jane Williams, was born 1606 in Huntingdon, England. He was mar- ried in Gloucester, England, February II, 1632, to Frances Dighton (daughter of Dr. John Dighton); they came to Dorchester, Massachu- setts, in 1633, and were the first of the American family of Williams; afterward to Taunton. He was one of the eighty purchasers of the tract of land bought of the Cohannet Indians, called The Eight-mile Square, receiving name of Taunton in 1639, at time of incorporation. (Raynham was a sub-division of Taunton). He removed to Taunton and sold land and privileges at Dorchester in October, 1646. He and his sister Eliz- abeth, then both in New England, were legatees in the will of their sister Jane, of Whetenhurste, Gloucestershire, dated May 30, 1650, and proved June 3, 1655. Richard Williams was a freeman at Plymouth, June 5, 1644. He was a deacon and deputy to the General Court from Taunton. He returned to Dorchester and was a town officer there in 1658. His wife was formerly Frances Dighton, sister of the first wife of Governor Thomas Dudley. He died July 13, 1683. Their children were: John, died young ; Samuel; Joseph ; Nathaniel ; Thomas; Benjamin, who mar- ried Rebecca, daughter of Captain George Macy, of Taunton ; Elizabeth, who married John Bird, of Dorchester, and Hannah, who married John Parmenter, of Boston. Through Benjamin and John Williams, sons of Benjamin, and grandsons of Richard, came the early Williamses of Easton. They were the first of the Williams family to settle in the town where their father took up land about 1700. Through Joseph, who mar- ried and had children: Richard, Joseph, Benjamin, Ebenezer, and Mehitabel. Through Richard, who married and had sons George, Rich-
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ard and Ebenezer, came some of the Raynham Williamses. George, born in 1745, married Bathsheba King, of Raynham.
(IX) Samuel Williams, the second son of Richard and Frances (Dighton) Williams, married (first) Jane Gilbert. Their children were: Seth, of whom further ; Samuel, Daniel, Mary, Sarah and Hannah.
(X) Seth Williams, the son of Samuel and Jane (Gilbert) Wil- liams, born 1675, died 1761. He married Mary Dean. Their children were: James; Abiel, of whom further; Benjamin, born February 25, 1721, died March 18, 1784; Mary Elizabeth; Susanna; Rachel; and Jemima.
(XI) Abiel Williams, son of Seth and Mary (Dean) Williams, born 1713, married Mehitabel Williams.
(XII) Abiel Williams, Jr., son of Abiel and Mehitabel (Williams) Williams, born 1740, married Zeruiah Staples, November 16, 1758. She was the daughter of Deacon Seth and Hannah (Standish) Staples. Han- nah (Standish) Staples, born 1704, was the daughter of Ebenezer Stand- ish, born 1672. He was the son of Alexander Standish. He was the son of Captain Myles Standish, of Duxbury, and of the "Mayflower," 1620. Deacon Abiel Williams, Jr., and his wife, Zeruiah (Staples) Williams, had son Jonathan, of whom further.
(XIII) Jonathan Williams, son of Abiel, Jr., and Zeruiah (Stand- ish) Williams, was born June 8, 1764. He married, October 14, 1784, Polly Dean, born 1766. Their children were: Jonathan, Jr., Polly, Eli, Sally Leonard, Eliab and Augustus Dean. Jonathan, of whom further. Polly, born March 16, 1789, married a Mr. French. Eli, born April 12, 1796, married Fanny Pickens. Sally Leonard, born November 20, 1798, married (first) - Randall, (second) - Pickens. Eliab, noted lawyer of Fall River, born May 10, 1803, married (second) - ---- Win- slow, (third) Theodora Reed. Augustus Dean, born October 7, 1808.
(XIV) Jonathan Williams, Jr., the son of Captain Jonathan Wil- liams, Sr., and his wife, Polly (Dean) Williams, of Raynham, was born December 16, 1785. He married, November 12, 1820, Phebe Elmes, of East Taunton. Their children were: Theodore Dean, Elijah, Sophia and Edward.
(XV) Theodore Dean Williams, son of Jonathan, Jr., and Phebe (Elmes) Williams, married Caroline Tuckerman, of New Bedford. Their children were: Maria T., Elizabeth, Caroline and Charles D. Maria T. Williams married Alfred M. S. Butler, of Boston. Elizabeth Williams married Charles Warren Read, of New Bedford, Massachu- setts
(Williams (Taunton Family)).
Theodore Dean Williams is a member of the ancient Cromwell- Williams family that early located at Taunton, Massachusetts. In the ancient town of Taunton there are still representatives of the famous Cromwell-Williams line of the family bearing the latter name. Refer-
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ence is made to some of the posterity of Richard Williams who, with Oliver Cromwell, the "Lord Protector," sprang from the same ancestor. William Cromwell was a son of Robert Cromwell, of Carlton-upon- Trent, a Lancastrian, who was killed at the battle of Towton, 1461.
The fact that the family of Richard Williams, of Taunton, Massa- chusetts, was connected by blood with that of Oliver Cromwell was established by the wonderful patience and perseverance, and at consid- erable expense, of the late Hon. Joseph Hartwell Williams, of Augusta, Maine, a former governor of Maine, a direct descendant of Richard Wil- liams, of Taunton, Massachusetts. The following is an account of this connection, taken from the "New England Historical and Genealogical Register of April, 1897," abridged by the late Josiah H. Drummond, LL. D., of Portland, Maine :
Cromwell-The Cromwell line dates from Alden de Cromwell, who lived in the time of William the Conqueror. His son was Hugh de Cromwell, and from him descended ten Ralph de Cromwells in as many successive generations ; but the tenth Ralph died without issue. The seventh Ralph de Cromwell married, in 1351, Amicia, daughter of Robert Berer, M. P., for Notts ; besides the eighth Ralph they had several other sons; among them was Ulker Cromwell, of Hucknall, Torkard, Notts. Ulker had Richard; and he John of Cromwell House, Carlton-upon- Trent, Notts ; and he, Robert ; the names of the wives are not given.
(I) Robert Cromwell, of Carlton-upon-Trent, was a Lancastrian. He was killed at the battle of Towton, in 1461. His lease of Cromwell House was seized by Sir Humphrey Bourchier, Yorkist, who was the husband of Joan Stanhope, the granddaughter of the ninth Ralph, through his daughter Matilda, wife of Sir Richard Stanhope. Robert left a son William, the ancestor of Robert Cromwell, and a daughter Margaret, the ancestor of both Oliver Cromwell and Richard Williams, of Taunton, Massachusetts.
(II) William Cromwell, of the prebend of Palace Hall, Norwalk, Notts, settled in Putney, Surrey, 1452. He married Margaret Smyth, of Norwalk, Notts, and had: John, Margaret Cromwell, married William Smyth (son of John). They had son Richard Smyth, and daughter Joan Smyth.
(III) John Cromwell, son of William Cromwell, married his cousin, Joan Smyth. He was a Lancastrian and his lands were seized by Arch- bishop Bouchier, Lord of the Manor of Wimbledon, and his lease of Palace Hall, Norwalk, Notts, remised by Lord Chancellor Bouchier. They had among other children, William Cromwell, Richard Smyth, of Rockhampton, Putney, by wife Isabella, had daughter Margaret Smyth, who married John Williams, fourth in descent from Howell Williams, the head of the Williams line.
(IV) Walter Cromwell married, in 1474, the daughter of Glossop of Wirksworth, Derbyshire; in 1472 he claimed and was admitted to two virgates (thirty acres) of land at Putney ; in 1499 Archbishop Morton,
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Lord of Wimbledon Manor, gave him six virgates (ninety acres) of land, in Putney as a solatium for the property taken from his father by the Bouchier Yorkists. He died in 1516, leaving among other children, Katherine Cromwell.
(V) Katherine Cromwell married Morgan Williams, fifth in descent from Howell Williams, and had a son Richard Williams, born about 1495.
(VI) Sir Richard Williams, alias Cromwell, married, in 1518, Fran- ces Murfyn. He died at Stepney, 1547, and was buried in Gt. St. Helen's Church, London. He left a son,
(VII) Henry Cromwell, alias Williams (called "The Golden Knight") of Hinchenbrook, Huntingdon, England. He married Joan, daughter of Sir Ralph Warren, Lord Mayor of London, and they had : Sir Oliver, Robert, Henry, Richard, Philip, Joan, Elizabeth and Frances.
(VIII) Robert Cromwell, of Huntingdon, brewer, married Eliza- beth Stewart, widow of William Lynn, of Bassingbourn, and their fifth child was Oliver Cromwell, the "Lord Protector." Robert's sister, Eliz- abeth Cromwell, married William Hampden, of Great Hampden, Bucks, and among their children were John Hampden, "The Patriot," and Richard Hampden.
Williams-George Williams, through his assistants, traced the Wil- liams line back to Howell Williams, Lord of Ribour.
(I) Howell Williams, Lord of Ribour, married Wenlion, daughter and heiress of Llyne ap Jevan, of Rady, and had son Morgan Williams.
(II) Morgan Williams, of Lanishen, Glamorgan, married Joan Bat- ton, and had Thomas and Jevan. Jevan Williams married Margaret, daughter of Jenkyn Kemeys, of Bagwye Man. They had son, William Williams, of Lanishen, bailiff for Henry (VIII) who (wife not known), was the father of Morgan Williams, of Lanishen, Glamorgan, and later Putney, Surrey, and the husband in 1494 of Katherine Cromwell (see ante Cromwell, No. 5, et seq.
(III) Thomas Williams, of Lanishen, Glamorgan, died at St. Helen's, Bishopgate, London ; was buried in the church there, "with his brass on stone."
(IV) John Williams, steward of Wimbledon Manor, Surrey, mar- ried Margaret Smyth, daughter of Richard Smyth, and granddaughter of Margaret Cromwell (see ante Cromwell No. 1, 2). He died at Mort- lake in 1502, and she in 1501. They had two sons, John and Richard. John Williams, born in 1485, married Joan Wykys, daughter of Henry Wykys, of Bolleys Park, Chetney, and sister of Elizabeth Wykys, who married Thomas Cromwell (brother of Katherine), secretary to Henry the VIII., Lord Cromwell of Oakham, Earl of Essex.
(V) Richard Williams was born in Rockhampton in 1487. He set- tled at Monmouth and Dixton, Mon., where he died in 1559. He mar- ried twice ; the name of his first wife is not known. She is credited with
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one daughter, Joan. His second wife, Christian, had two daughters, Reece and Ruth, and one son, John.
(VI) John Williams, of Huntingdon, near Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucester, died in 1579, leaving son William. No other particulars of this family are given.
(VII) William Williams, of Huntingdon, married, November 15, 1585, Jane Shepherd. She died about 1600, a child of hers having been baptized December 2, 1599. He married, December 4, 1603, Jane Wood- ward. She died February 2, 1614, and he in 1618. The first child by his second marriage, born in January, 1606, was Richard Williams, of Taun- ton. Of the change of his name by Sir Richard Williams, Governor Wil- liams said: "Oliver Cromwell in the male line of Morgan Williams of Glamorganshire. His great-grandfather, Sir Richard Williams, assumed the name of 'Cromwell' it is true, but not until in mature years he had distinguished himself in the public service (temp. Henry VIII), under the patronage of his uncle, Thomas Cromwell (Vicar General, 1535), whom he proposed to honor by the adoption of his name In fact, ever afterwards, Sir Richard used to sign himself Richard Cromwell, alias Williams ; and his sons and grandsons and Oliver Cromwell, himself, in his youth (1620), used to sign in the same manner. In important grants from the crown to Sir Richard (29 and 31, Henry VIII) the grantee's name appears in both forms, 'Cromwell, alias Williams,' and 'Williams, alias Cromwell'." It is not believed that, in the light of Governor Wil- liams's researches, the relationship of Richard Williams, of Taunton, and the Cromwell family will again be questioned.
(VIII) Richard Williams, son of William Williams, of Huntingdon, and his wife, Jane (Woodward) Williams, born in January, 1606, married in Gloucester, England, February 11, 1632, Frances Dighton, daughter of Dr. John Dighton, and for whom the town of Dighton, Massachusetts, was named. Richard Williams came to America, and was among the first purchasers of Taunton. He was a man of good abilities ; was deputy to the General Court of Plymouth Colony from 1645 to 1665; selectman in 1666 and 1667. He was one of the proprietors of the "New Purchase," now Dighton. He was a member and deacon of the First Church. He died in the year 1683, aged seventy-seven. The children born to Richard and his wife, Frances (Dighton) Williams, the eldest two being born while the parents were living in Gloucester, in the parish of Whitcombe Magna, and both of whom died when young, were: I. John, baptized March 27, 1634. 2. Elizabeth, baptized February 7, 1635-36. 3. Samuel, married Jane Gilbert, and is mentioned further on. 4. Joseph, of whom further. 5. Nathaniel, married, in 1668, Elizabeth Rogers, of Duxbury, and their children were: John, born August 27, 1675; Nathaniel, born April 9, 1679; Elizabeth, born April 8, 1686. 6. Thomas and his wife Mary had children: Mary, born 1680; Jonathan, born 1683, married, April 3, 1707, Elizabeth Leonard, born 1680; Sarah, born 1685; Bethia,
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born 1692; Mehitabel, born 1695; and Damaris, born 1698. 7. Benjamin, married, March 18, 1689-90. Rebecca Macy, and their children were: Rebecca, born November 27, 1690; Josiah, born November 7, 1692; Ben- jamin, born July 31, 1695 ; and John, born March 27, 1699. 8. Elizabeth, born about 1647, married John Bird, of Dorchester. 9. Hannah, married John Parmenter, of Boston.
(IX) Samuel Williams, second son of Richard and Frances (Digh- ton) Williams, married (first) Jane Gilbert. Their children were : Seth, Samuel, Daniel, Mary, Sarah and Hannah.
(X) Seth Williams, born 1675, was the son of Samuel and Jane (Gil- bert) Williams. He was chief justice of the County Court of Common Pleas from 1754 until 1761, the time of his death. His children were James, Daniel, Abiel, Benjamin, of whom further; Mary, Elizabeth, Susanna, Rachel and Jemima. James Williams, son of Seth Williams, died 1765. He was a judge of the Court of Common Pleas, after the death of his father, and was also appointed register of deeds in 1746, when the records were removed from Bristol, then set off from Massa- chusetts to Rhode Island, serving until his death. Abiel, son of Seth Williams and his wife, Jane (Gilbert) Williams, was born 1713, died December 19, 1778, married Mehitabel Williams, born January 3, 1716, died November 4, 1778. Their son Abiel, born 1740, died February 10, 1830, married, November 16, 1758, Zeruiah Staples, born January 27, 1740, died February 1, 1814 ; she was the daughter of Deacon Seth Staples and Hannah (Standish) Staples, born 1704, who was the daughter of Ebenezer Standish, born 1672, who was the grandson of Captain Myles Standish, of the "Mayflower," 1620.
Deacon Abiel Williams, Jr., born 1740, and his wife, Zeruiah (Staples) Williams, had children: Hannah, Mary, Jonathan, Anna, Macy, Zeruiah, Abiel, Eli and Abiah. Their son, Jonathan Williams, born June 8, 1764, died January 23, 1814, married, October 14, 1784, Polly Dean, born 1766, died December 27, 1830. They had a son Jonathan, Jr., born in Raynham. He married, November 12, 1820, Phebe Elmes, of East Taunton, the daughter of Cyrus Elmes. Their children were: Theodore Dean Williams, who married Caroline Tuckerman, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, the daughter of Captain Robert and Betsey (Buloid) Tuckerman : Elijah, married Fidelia Leonard; Edward; and Sophia, who married Eliphalet Thomas, of Middleboro. The children of Theodore and Caroline Williams were: Maria T., who married Alfred M. S. Butler, of Boston; Elizabeth, who married Charles W. Read, of New Bedford ; Caroline, who died in infancy ; and Charles D. Williams, who died May 8, 1878, in New Bedford.
(XI) Benjamin Williams, son of Seth Williams, born February 25, 1721, was appointed judge of probate for the county in 1778, and held the office until his death, March 18, 1784. His children were: Lemuel, who became a member of Congress ; Benjamin, of whom further ; Joshua ;
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Elisha; Ann, who married a Tubs; and Mary, who married Rev. Mr. Spaulding.
(XII) Benjamin Williams, Jr., son of Benjamin Williams, was born July 17, 1757, and died January 29, 1830. On November 28, 1793, he married Lydia Williams, who was born January 24, 1774, and died Sep- tember II, 1845, youngest daughter of James Williams, and sister of Judge John M. Williams. The children of this marriage were: Ann, born February 8, 1795, who died in July, 1797; Myra, born August II, 1796, who married Rev. Samuel Presbrey; Benjamin F., born July 5, 1798; George W., of whom further; Sydney, born February 13, 1803; Henry, born November 30, 1805; Edgar, born 1807, died April 6, 1808; Lydia, born January 27, 1809, died September 7, 1830; and Anna Augusta, born August 24, 1811, died December 2, 1838.
(XIII) George W. Williams, son of Benjamin, Jr., and Lydia (Wil- liams) Williams, was born July 13, 1800. He married Emma Willis, and they became the parents of children, born as follows: Emma Augusta, March II, 1827; George Edgar, August 16, 1829; Julius, January II, 1834; Andrew, August 28, 1837; Lewis, April 25, 1840; Felix, October 17, 1843; Arthur Herbert, February 23, 1846.
(XIV) Lewis Williams, son of George W. and Emma (Willis) Williams, was born in Taunton, April 25, 1840, and died there December 23, 1902. He was brought up in Weir Village, and attended Bristol Academy. After his school days he promptly entered upon business life, and in the early seventies was busy in the old firm of Staples & Phillips, who were the leading shippers, vessel owners and coal movers and sellers in southeastern New England for a long term of years. On the dissolution of that firm he joined his fortunes with those of the Staples Coal Company, and vigorously assisted in developing the business of that corporation, until it became one of the leaders in New England in moving and selling coal, owning shipping (both barges and tugs) and constantly enlarging its sphere of operations until they covered a great portion of this territory, both coast and interior. A public spirited man and open-handed citizen, Mr. Williams was among the foremost in various enterprises to increase the commercial facilities of the city, add to its manufactories, and give employment to workers. His advice was always sound and his foresight good. He was interested as a part owner in the West Silver Works, the Dighton Furnace, the Taunton Crucible Works, and he owned stock in the Carr and Winthrop Mills, of Taunton, and was also interested as a heavy stockholder in a number of Fall River Mills. He never shirked his obligation to do his part in charitable work, and no one who was really needy, no deserving public benefaction, ever called upon him in vain. He was brought up in the old First Church, believed in it, and stood by it always, both by his presence at its services, and in every other way to strengthen its growth and its power as an element of good in the city and the denomination. On September 22,
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1870, Mr. Williams married Adelaide W. Staples, daughter of Sylvanus W. and D. Adaline (Hood) Staples, and one daughter blessed this union, Hattie Staples, who married Frederick Ludlam. Mr. Williams's wide family and personal connections made the termination of his useful and busy life and the loss of his kindly and courteous personality far-reach- ing, his high citizenship touched and influenced so many sides of the community's social, religious and business life.
(IX) Joseph Williams, son of Richard and Frances (Dighton) Wil- liams, married (first) Elizabeth Watson, and (second) Abigail Newland. His children were: Elizabeth, Richard, Mehetabel, Joseph, Benjamin, Ebenezer, Phebe, and Richard, of whom further.
(X) Richard Williams, son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Watson) Wil- liams, born March 26, 1689, died in 1727. He married (first) Anna Wil- bore, and (second) January 1, 1740, Elizabeth Merick. His children were: George, of whom further; Richard and Ebenezer.
(XI) Colonel George Williams, of Taunton, son of Richard and Anna (Wilbore) Williams, born in Taunton in 1717, married (first) January 6, 1736-37, Sarah Hodges, born in 1715, in Taunton, Massachu- setts, daughter of Henry and Sarah (Leonard) Hodges, of Taunton. The second marriage of Colonel Williams was to Mrs. Nancy Dean. He died in 1803, and his wife in 1797. His nine children, all born in Taunton, were: 1. Phebe, born in 1737, died in 1813, in Taunton. She married (first) John Hart, of Taunton, son of Lawrence and Elizabeth Hart; (second) February 15, 1759, Simeon Tisdale, of Taunton, son of Joseph and Ruth (Reed) Tisdale, and (third) April 27, 1763, Eliphaz Harlow, of Taunton, son of Eleazer and Hannah (Delano) Harlow. 2. Sarah, born in 1739, died in 1820. On April 14, 1757, she married Richard God- frey, of Taunton, son of Richard and Theodora (Dean) Godfrey. 3. A child, born in 1741, died May 5, 1750, in Taunton. 4. George, of whom further. 5. Anna, born in 1747, died November 2, 1833, at Taunton. She married (first) September 16, 1763, Elisha Codding, and (second) July 19, 1788, Jonathan French, of Berkley, Massachusetts, son of Ebenezer and Keziah French, of Berkley. 6. Ebenezer, born in 1751, died April 30, 1814. He married, March 7, 1769, at Raynham, Sarah Ellis, of Rayn- ham, daughter of Phillip Ellis. 7. Lydia, born 1753, died March 5, 1773. She married, August 6, 1772, Isaac Tobey, of Berkley, son of Rev. Samuel and Bathsheba (Crocker) Tobey, of Berkeley. 8. Richard, born in 1755, or 1757, died in Taunton in 1814. He married Hannah Padelford, of Taunton, daughter of Edward and Sarah (Briggs) Padelford. 9. Abi- athar, born June 4, 1759, died October 4, 1760, at Taunton.
Colonel George Williams lived in Taunton, on the east side of the Taunton river, on what is William street. He was a man of property, owning a large landed estate. From the soldierly qualities which he evidently possessed it seems that he served in the war with the French in 1744-45; and perhaps in the first year of the French and Indian War.
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But the record thus far found of his military service begins in 1757. He was then ensign of a company stationed at Fort William Henry, when the French and Indians under Montcalm invested the place, August 3, 1757. He was sent out at the beginning of the siege under Captain Saltonstall, but his party was driven back, and he himself taken prisoner. He was released not long after, and returned to Taunton. He rose to the rank of captain of the Third Taunton Company, and in 1772 was major of the Third Bristol County Regiment. On February 2, 1776, he was elected colonel of this regiment by the Legislature, and commissioned February 7, and did good service during the Revolution. His principal. military services were in Rhode Island, which State was constantly harried and threatened by the British navy. He was a prominent mem- ber of the Taunton Committee of Correspondence, Inspection and Safety for several years, beginning in 1775, and was selectman of Taunton in 1780. His son, Richard Williams, was one of the minute-men of the company of Captain James Williams, Jr., who marched to Roxbury at the news of the battle of Lexington. During the last six months of 1776 he was serving at the defense of Boston, being sergeant under Captain Joshua Wilbore. He very likely served at other times, but the Revolutionary rolls are not sufficiently explicit for his identification among the many soldiers of this name.
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