America's FIRST SETTLERS
and all are Direct Ancestors
of Sarah Elizabeth Rose
11th Great Grandfather of Sarah Elizabeth Rose
A First Settler of Stotfold,
Bedfordshire, and Cambridge, MA,
1) Title: Reverand
2) Occupation: Massachussets Colony Judge
3) Emigration: 1608 Va - Came In The "first Supply"
4) ORIGIN: Stotfold, Bedfordshire
5) MIGRATION: 1631
6) FIRST RESIDENCE: Cambridge
7) REMOVES: Hartford 1639
8) Admission to a Massachusetts Bay church
(probably Watertown) prior to 4 March 1632/3
implied by freemanship.
9) FREEMAN: 4 March 1632/3 [MBCR 1:367].
10) EDUCATION: Cambridge town clerk, 1632-1635
[CaTR vi (with facsimile of a page of records in his
hand facing CaTR 9)]. Wrote a well-reasoned and
well-spelled letter to Winthrop in 1638 [WP 4:74-75].
11) OFFICES:
11a) Deputy from Cambridge to the General
Court, 9 May 1632, 4 March 1634/5, 3 March
1635/6, 8 September 1636, 18 April 1637 (as 'Lieut.
Spencer'), 17 May 1637, 26 September 1637,
12 March 1637/8 [MBCR 1:95, 135, 164, 178, 191,
194, 204, 220].
11b) Observer to committee on bounds
between Cambridge & Watertown, 4 March
1634/5 [MBCR 1:139].
11c) Committee on bounds between
Boston & Charlestown, 28 March 1636
[MBCR 1:162].
11d) Committee to 'set out bounds of the new
plantation above Charles Ryver,' 3 March 1635/6
[MBCR 1:166]; report of above committee rendered on
13 April 1636 [MBCR 1:173].
11e) Committee on colony debts,
8 September 1636 [MBCR 1:179, 184].
11f) Committee on compensation of soldiers
who made the expedition to Block Island,
9 March 1636/7 [MBCR 1:188].
11g) Committee to 'view Shaushin, & to consider
whether it be fit for a plantation,' 1 August 1637
[MBCR 1:200].
11h) Committee on 'plantation upon the
river which runs to Concord,' 20 November 1637
[MBCR 1:210].
11i) Committee on codification of laws,
12 March 1637/8 [MBCR 1:222].
11j) Cambridge town clerk, 1632-1635 [CaTR vi].
11k) Committee to 'survey the town lands and enter
[mutilated] a book appointed for that purpose,'
3 February 1634/5 [CaTR 12]. On 27 October 1636 '
Newe Towne presented a book of their records under
the hands of Will[iam] Andrews, constable,
John Beniamin, & Will[iam] Spencer' [MBCR 1:182].
11L) A Cambridge general meeting ordered that '
William Spencer and Georg[e] Steele should measure
all the meadow ground undivided belonging
to the Newtowne' and allot 'to every man
his proportion,' 20 August 1635 [CaTR 12].
12) Cambridge selectman, 23 November 1635 [CaTR 13].
13) Lieutenant of the Cambridge train band,
9 March 1636/7 [MBCR 1:190].
14) Charter member of the Ancient and Honorable
Artillery Company [HAHAC 1:40; MBCR 1:250-51].
15) Deputy for Hartford to Connecticut General Court,
11 April 1639, 8 August 1639, 10 September 1639, 16
January 1639/40, 9 April 1640 [CCCR 1:27, 29, 34, 41, 46].
16) Surveyor of 'armor and other military provisions'
for Hartford, 8 August 1639 [CCCR 1:30].
17) ESTATE: Granted three roods for a cowyard
in Cambridge, 5 August 1633 [CaTR 5]. Granted '
the swamp on the other side the creek,'
2 March 1633/4 [CaTR 7].
18) Granted 'that corner of ground by Joseph
Myat's between the swamps,' 1 December 1634
[CaTR 10].
19) Received a proportion of 2€ in the
undivided meadow, 20 August 1635 [CaTR 13].
20) In the list of houses in Cambridge, William
Spencer was credited with two in the Westend,
8 February 1635/6 [CaTR 18].
21) In the Cambridge land inventory on 1 May 1635 Willi
am Spencer held at least eleven parcels (entry partially
mutilated): 'one dwelling house with other outhouses
and a garden and backside, about one rood'; 'more in old
field about five acres and a half'; 'more on small lot hill
about three acres'; 'more in the neck about seven acres'; '
more in Long Marsh about fifteen acres'; 'more in Great
Marsh about nine acres'; 'more in the Great Marsh about
two acres'; 'more in the Great Marsh about two acres';
'[mutilated] west end one house with other [mutilated]
houses garden backside and other [mutilated] about
three acres'; 'more by the pine swamp about six acres';
and 'more in Cowyard Row about one rood'
[CaBOP 5-6]. On 1 April 1636 William Spencer
of New Towne acknowledged that he had sold to
Nicholas Danforth his right in three and a half acres
[CaBOP 38]. In an undated record, Symon Crosby
purchased from William Spencer one house with
three acres of ground [CaBOP 58]. On 20 November
1637 '[t]hose that are to view the new plantation of
Watertowne are to view the place which Mr.
Spencer desireth, & if it be convenient, to certify
the Court' [MBCR 1:211]. On 2 May 1638 'Mr.
Willi[am] Spencer is granted 300 acres of ground
beyond Concord, by the Alewife Ryver'
[MBCR 1:228]. In the Hartford land inventory in
1640 William Spencer held six parcels: two acres 'on
which his dwelling house now standeth with other
outhouses, yards & gardens ... which he bought of
John Halles'; sixty-three acres in the Middle Oxpasture
'part whereof he bought of Edward Stebing &
another part he bought of William Kelse & another
part thereof he bought of Thomas Spenser'; four
acres in the Pine Field 'which he bought of John
Halles' (annotated 'sold [to] Jno. Moris'); ten acres
in the Pine Field 'part whereof he bought of Edward
Stebing & another part of John Beddell'; eleven acres
and two roods of meadow and swamp in the North
Meadow; and ten acres of meadow and swamp on the
east side of the Great River (annotated 'mead sold [to]
Calsey' and 'swamp sold [to] Barding & Pantry')
[HaBOP 352-53].
22) In his nuncupative will, dated 14 March and
4 May 1640 and 4 March 1640/1, William Spencer
bequeathed that the estate that he hath in New
England, and also that which may come to his wife
hereafter, that is, any part of his wife's portion if
any do come, that all the estate be divided as
followeth: ...to my wife one third part of all my
estate ... to my son Samuel one third part ...
to my two daughters Sarah and Elizabeth one
third part ... the children to be brought up
with the improvement of the whole estate that
I leave both to my wife and children. Also my
mind is my Cousin Matthew Allyn, my brother
John Pratt and John Taylcoate, that these
three parties or any two of them shall have
the oversight of my estate, and in case that
they shall see in their judgement the estate to
be wasted, that they shall have power to take
the children and their portions [blank] for
their bringing up, and to pay the children
their portions that remain at the several times
above written. Also my mind is that my wife
shall have no power to alienate or make sale
of my house or any part of my land I leave
without the consent of two of the parties that
are to oversee my estate [CCCR 1:449-50;
Manwaring 1:36-37]. The undated 'inventory
of the estate of the said Will[iam] Spenser'
totalled £67 12s. 2d. in moveables; there were '
several debts ... owing in the Bay, the which the
most of them are denied, and those that are
confessed are very doubtful whether much of
it will be paid, being in the hands of some of
his kindred that are poor.' The supplement to
this inventory also included 'the house and
houselot containing about 2 acres, with some
outhouses; also several parcels of upland lots,
to the value of [blank] 74 acres, as may appear
by the records to that purpose, whereof, besides
the right which he had in any other lands to be
divided'; 'also, eleven acres of meadow and
swamp, lying in the North Meadow'; 'also, one
parcel lying on the east side of the Great River
containing ten acres'; 'also, there is land yet
remaining at Concord in the Bay, which while
he lived he esteemed at £120' [CCCR 1:450-51].
It was agreed that if any of the children died
before they came of age, 'the survivor & survivors
shall receive it at the time when it should have
been paid to the deceased, if he or she had lived,
and if they all die before the said time, then it
shall be paid to Agnes Edwards or her lawful
attorney of the said Agnes, the mother of the
said children' [Manwaring 1:37].
23) The estate of William Spencer, deceased, was
brought to court 24 June 1650 and, 'with the
information of the overseers in the presence of
Thomas Spencer, brother to the said William, with
the consent of the wife of William Edwards, they
do judge that £30 is as much as the estate here
will bear to be sequestered for the use of the
children, which is to be paid to them according to
the will of the said William Spencer ... provided
also that whatsoever shall be paid here or in
England of any estate due to the wife of the
said William Spencer while she was the wife of
William Spencer, or that shall come from
Concord, two thirds thereof shall be and remain
to the proper use of the children aforesaid'
[RPCC 85-86]. BIRTH: Baptized Stotfold,
Bedfordshire, 11 October 1601, son of Gerrard
and Alice (Whitbread) Spencer [TAG 27:162].
24) DEATH: Hartford after 4 May 1640
[Manwaring 1:36-37]
and probably before 22 May 1640 [Aspinwall 141].
MARRIAGE: By about 1633 Agnes Harris, baptized
Barnstaple, Devonshire, 6 April 1604, daughter
of Bartholomew and Elizabeth (Collamore)
Harris. She married (2) Hartford 11 December 1645
William Edwards [TAG 63:33-45]. CHILDREN:
i ELIZABETH, b. say 1633; m. (1) by about 1650
William Wellman [TAG 37:7-9]; m. (2)
by 1672 Jacob Joy (Jacobus gives the date of
marriage as 23 May 1671 and McCracken as 23
May 1672, in Killingworth, but the Killingworth
vital records do not contain an entry for this event
[TAG 37:7-9; FOOF 1:348]). ii SARAH, b. about 1635
(of full age [18] in the year 1653 [Manwaring 1:37])
; m. by 1656 John Case [TAG 34:66-69]. iii SAMUEL,
b. about 1639 (of full age [21] in the year 1660
[Manwaring 1:37]); m. by about 1668 Sarah _____
(estimated b. of first child [TAG 27:165-66]).
ASSOCIATIONS: William Spencer was brother
of THOMAS SPENCER of Cambridge and Hartford,
and of Michael Spencer and Gerard Spencer of Lynn
[TAG 27:79-87, 161-65].
25) COMMENTS: William Spencer appeared on
a list of early inhabitants of Cambridge, apparently
dated 1632 [CaTR 2]. On 29 November 1638 William
Spencer wrote from Hartford to John Winthrop
asking why Winthrop had made suggestions regarding
arguments to support the union between the Bay
and 'the plantations here,' and yet when men
came to treat with him regarding it, many using the
very arguments suggested by Winthrop at Spencer's
prompting, all were met with 'a prejudice in the
spirits of some men' and forced to go away unsatisfied
[WP 4:74-75]. On 4 July 1648 Aspinwall certified '
copies of five letters unto Edmund Angier - 3 letters
from John Talcot & John Pratt, one dated 22 May
1640, another August 10th 1640, & another 15th
June 1641, a fourth from Anne Spenser dated
2 May 1642 and the fifth from W[illia]m Edw[ards]
no date. Also unto a copy of a writing under W[illia]m
Spencer's name dated 3 July 1639. Also to a letter
[of] attorney from Ed[mund] Angier to Joseph Mayet
dated 5 July 1648' [Aspinwall 141]. From the
chronology and the persons involved, it would seem
that these letters pertained to the estate of
William Spencer in England.
26) BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTE: In 1988 Douglas
Richardson ably demonstrated the identity of
Agnes Harris, wife of William Spencer
[TAG 63:33-45].
A DIGEST OF THE EARLY CONNECTICUT
PROBATE RECORDS. 1635 to 1650. Page 449
Name: William Spencer Location: Invt. oe231-12-02.
A coppy of the will & testament of William Spencer,
late of Hartiord, deceased, prsented in Court vpon
oath by John Taylcott & John Pratt, of the said
towne. A noate of the mynd and will of Willia
Spencer, for prsent the 4th of May, 1640. Imprs.
His will is that the estate that he hath in New
Ingland, and also that wch may com to his wife
hereafter, that is, any prte of his wifes portion yf
any doe com, that all the estate be dyuyded as
followeth: I give to my wife one third prte of all my
estate. I give to my sonne Samuell one third prte:
I give to my two daughters, Sarah and Elizabeth,
one third partte. The children to be brought vppe
wth the improvement of the whole estate that I
leaue both to my wife and children. Also my mynd
is, my Cosen Matthew Allyn, my brother John
Pratt, and John Taylcoate, that these three
partyes or any two of them shall have the Ouersight
of my Estate; and in case that they shall see in
theire judgement the Estate to be wasted. that they
shall haue power to take the children and their
portions ( ) for their bringing vppe, and to pay the
Children their portions that remayne at the severall
tymes above written. Also my mynd is, that my
wife shall have no power to alienatt or make sale
of my howse or any prte of my land I leave
wthout the eansent of two of the prtyes that are
to ouersee my Estate. These last three lines were
added subsequently in the hand writing of Secretary
John Allyn. The distribution of the estate appeares
in the Records of the perticular Courte, the 24th
June, 1650, fol. 10, and the Coppyes of the bills
given to the Courte for the payment of the oe30 to
the children are in the Booke of Records of Lands
for the Severall townes, at ye other end of it. The
original Bills are vppon fyle of wills & Inventories.
Land Records. Vol. II, Page--(Not paged in this
side of the Book). Know all men by these prss, that
I, John Tayllcott, of Hartford, upon Connecticut
River, do hereby Bynde my selfe, my Heires,
Executors, Administers and Assigns, to pay or
cause to be paid unto Sara Spencer, and to
Elizabeth Spencer, the full value of tenn pounds
when they shall bee of full age of eighteen yeares,
in some pay that is Current for so much when
the said payments are to be made. John Tallcott.
Witness: Richard Lord. John Steele 14 March,
1650. It is also agreed, that if either of the
children dye before the time that they are of
age, then the survivour & survivours shall receive
it at the time when it should have been paid to
the deceased, if he or she had lived. And if they
all dye before the said time, then it shall bee paid
to Agnes Edwards, or her Lawfull Attorney of the
said Agnes, the mother of the said children. John
Tallcott, John Steele. March the twelth, one
thousand Six hundreth and fifty. Know all men
by these prsents, that I, Richard Lord, of Hartford,
doe owe and confess my self to be Indebted unto
the Executors & supervisors of William Spencers
Last will and Testament, the full sum of Twenty
pounds Sterling for the aloane use of Samuel
Spencer and Sara Spencer, to be paid as follows:
fifteene pounds when the said Samuel shall be of
full age, which will bee in the yeare 1660, in any
pay that shall be Current in the Country at that
time for so much; and five pounds unto Sara
Spencer, at the age of eighteen yeares, wch will be in
the yeare 1653. Richard Lord. Witness: John Steele.
William Edwards. Court Record, Page 10--(Vol. II)
24 June, 1650. With the Information of the
Overseers, in presence of Thomas Spencer, the
brother of sd. Decd, with the Consent of the wife
of William Edwards, this Court do judge that oe30
is as much as the Estate here will bear to be
sequestered for the Use of the Children, also
provided that what shall be paid here or in
England of any Estate due to the wife of the
sd. William Spencer, 2-3 shall be and remain
to the Children.
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