| Biography |
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The Great Migration Begins Sketch
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EDWARD RAINSFORD
ORIGIN: London
MIGRATION: 1630
FIRST RESIDENCE: Boston
RETURN TRIPS: Travelled to England and returned 1635 on the Abigail [Hotten 93]
OCCUPATION: Fisherman. On 14 October 1657 "Edw[ard] Rainsford" headed a list of thirteen "fishermen, humbly desiring that they may be exempted from trainings during the time of the fishing season, &c., the Court grants their request" [MBCR 4:1:312]. Merchant. The inventory of Edward Rainsford demonstrates that he had branched out from his fishing activities. He owned portions of several vessels, he owned a lighter, and he owned a warehouse "with privileges," presumably meaning dockside rights, indicating that he was trading with the ships that arrived in Boston harbor, and was reselling the merchandise which he obtained in this way.
CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: "Edward Ransford" was admitted to Boston church as member #62, which would be in the winter of 1630-1 [BChR 13]. Deacon in the year 1666 and 1667 [BChR 347]. On 12 February 1668[/9] Edward Ransford and Jacob Eliot were dismissed as deacons "for setting their hands with other brethren to desire their dismission from the church because the church had chosen Mr. Davenport for their pastor" [BChR 62]. Rainsford then became ruling elder of the Third Church of Boston at its formation in May of 1669 [Worthley 63].
FREEMAN: 17 April 1637 (as "Edward Rainsfoard") [MBCR 1:373].
EDUCATION: On 12 August 1636 Edward Ransforde and other of the richer inhabitants of Boston gave 5s. for the maintenance of the free school master [BTR 1:160]. He signed his deeds, as did his second wife Elizabeth. His inventory included "books" valued at £5.
OFFICES: Petit jury, 1 December 1640 [MBCR 1:312].
Committee to lay the planting ground at Long Island, 24 February 1639[/40] [BTR 1:51]. Committee to draw instructions for the selectmen, 11 March 1660/1 [BTR 2:1]. Committee to set a rate, 17 March 1661/2 [BTR 2:6]. Selectman, 1662-70, 1672 [BTR 2:6-52, 68]. Committee to study the common and wasteland, 21 April 1673 [BTR 2:75-76, 86]. Committee to draw up instructions for the Deputies of the General Court, 14 May 1677 [BTR 2:110].
ESTATE: In the 1645 Boston Book of Possessions Edward Rainsford held one house and garden bordered by the cove on the south [BBOP 34].
On 9 April 1649 "Ed[ward] Rainsford" was one of the many men who agreed to pay 6d. an acre for their land on Long Island for the use of the school [BTR 1:95]. On 22 February 1657[/8] "Ed[ward] Rainsford" was let a piece of ground behind his garden at 2s. per year [BTR 1:142].
On 4 March 1671/2 "Edward Raynsford, fisherman," and Lt. Richard Cooke of Boston, merchant, deeded back to Peter Gee his dwelling house and lands [SLR 7:134, 9:97].
On 15 October 1674 "Elder Edward Rainsford of Boston" deeded to James Brading of Boston, ironmonger, one acre on Long Island in Massachusetts Bay called "Lug's Lot." Elizabeth released her dower [SLR 9:301].
On 4 August 1676 Edward Rainsford and Elizabeth his wife deeded for "natural love, goodwill & affection" to "our loving sons John Raynsford, David Raynsford and Solomon Raynsford" a parcel of land and beach at the southerly end of the town [SLR 9:373].
On 15 November 1675 Elder Edward Rainsford exchanged small parcels of land with the town [BTR 2:98].
In his will, dated 3 August 1680 and proved 28 August 1680, "Edward Raynsford Senior of Boston in New England, merchant, being sick and weak of body," bequeathed to "my loving and dear wife Elizabeth Raynsford" the use of all real and personal estate during her life; "my said dear wife shall have liberty" to give away by will the full sum of £100; "my dear wife may if she see cause before her decease give some part of my estate to such of my children that shall be in necessity for their present relief, which shall be deducted out of that child or children's portion"; "I hereby forgive my daughter Mary Parcyfull the debt of £10 more or less that her husband now oweth unto me, and also I give unto my said daughter Mary Parcyfull the sum of £10 to be paid unto her in goods"; to "my grandchildren, namely Jonathan, Dorothy and Mary, all children of my son Jonathan Raynsford deceased, the sum of £50 apiece to be paid unto them" at twenty-one, but if "my said grandchildren Dorothy & Mary do not carry themselves dutifully to their grandmother and take her and their Aunt Gording's advice in disposing of themselves in marriage that then such of them that so refuseth to do shall forfeit their legacy"; to "my son Solomon Raynsford ... all the land that I formerly laid out to him for an houselot"; to "my son David Raynsford ... all that piece of land which I formerly laid out to him"; "my son Edward Raynsford shall have that house that was my son Nathan Raynsford's, with all the land that belongs to it, he paying to my executrix £350"; after "my said wife's decease the full remainder of all my real and personal estate ... shall be equally divided amongst my children hereafter named, viz., John Raynsford, David Raynsford, Solomon Raynsford, Edward Raynsford, and Ramus Belchar, Elizabeth Greenough, & Anna Hough, and that if any of my children die before my said wife then my will is that their children shall enjoy the legacy hereby bequeathed to such child or children"; "if any of my said children die before my executrix childless, then the legacy hereby bequeathed unto them shall be equally divided amongst my grandchildren, that is to say the children of the children that have been born to me by my now wife"; "my said dear wife Elizabeth Raynsford the sole executrix"; "my loving friends Mr. Edward Willis and Mr. John Hayward both of said Boston" overseers [SPR 6:330-32].
The inventory of the estate of "Elder Edward Raynsford late of Boston deceased" was taken 3 September 1680 and totalled £1638 7s. 11d., including £810 in real estate: "dwelling house, barn, with the land as enclosed," £260; "house and land late belonging to Nathan Raynsford deceased," £300; "land upon Raynsford's Island," £10; "land upon Long Island," £10; and "a warehouse with privileges bought of John Phillips," £230 [SPR 9:20-21]. The warehouse shop had fish, but it also had dry goods such as thread, gloves, buttons and cloth. The inventory also showed that Rainsford owned much shipping: "three-sixteenth part of the ship [blank], Jeremy Cushen, commander," £150; "one-fourth of the ketch Mary, Jno. Gardner, commander," £100; "one-fourth of the ketch Swallow, Benj[ami]n Pickman, commander," £100; "one-sixteenth of ship Sarah, Tho[mas] Tuck, commander," £30; and a "lighter and canoe," £12. The inventory showed that Rainsford also possessed "1 negro boy Nat [and] 1 negro girl Nancee," valued at £40.
In her will, dated 13 November 1688 and proved 14 February 1688/9, "Elizabeth Raynsford relict of Edward Raynsford of Boston deceased" bequeathed to "my grandchild Atherton Haugh" 40s.; to "my grandchild Nathan Raynsford, Solomon Raynsford his son," 40s.; to "my grandchild Newman Greenough" 40s.; to "my daughter Belcher the ten pounds which formerly I lent to her" and some moveables; to "my grandchild Susanna Raynsford daughter of my son John deceased" £5; to "my grandchild Edward Raynsford son of David Raynsford" a silver cup; to "my countryman Tillee" 20s.; to "my husband's daughter Mary Persevere" 40s.; residue of £140 (after legacies are paid) to "be equally divided among my own children now living and born of my body"; "my sons David Raynsford and Solomon Raynsford" to be joint executors [SPR 10:454-56].
BIRTH: Baptized Staverton, Northamptonshire, 10 September 1609, son of Robert and Mary (Kirton) Rainsford [NEHGR 139:238, 296]. (On 29 December 1671 Edward Rainsford deposed that he was aged "about sixty years" [SPR 7:177]; at his death he was seventy-one years old [King's Chapel 37].)
DEATH: Boston 16 August 1680 ("Here lies the body of Mr. Edward Raynsford Senior, aged 71 years, departed this life Anno Domini 1682 [sic]" [King's Chapel 37]; 16 August 1680: "Elder Edward Rainsford died, being old and full of days" [Hull 247]; from the Hobart Journal we learn that on 17 August 1680 "Mr. Ransford ruling elder to the Third Church in Boston [was] buried" [NEHGR 121:206]).
MARRIAGE: (1) _____ _____. "Wife of Edward Rainsford died" Boston June 1632 (no doubt as a result of the birth of her twins) [BVR 1].
(2) By 1633 Elizabeth _____. On 15 December 1633 "Elizabeth Ransford the wife of our brother Edward Ransford" was admitted to Boston church" [BChR 17]; she died at Boston on 16 November 1688 (16 November 1688: "Mrs. Rainsford, the aged Mother, dies" [Sewall 184]; "Here lyeth buried the body of Elizabeth Raynsford aged 81 years deceased the 16 day of November 1688" [King's Chapel 38]).
CHILDREN (all born and baptized Boston):
With first wife
i JOSIAH (twin), b. 1 June 1632 [BVR 1]; bp. 17 June 1632 [BChR 278], d. September 1632 [BVR 1].
ii MARY (twin), b. 1 June 1632 [BVR 1]; bp. 17 June 1632 [BChR 278]; m. (1) by about 1652 William Bassett, son of WILLIAM BASSETT; m. (2) by 1671 James Percival (eldest known child b. Sandwich 18 January 1671[/2?] [MD 14:110]).
With second wife
iii JOHN, b. 30 June 1634 [BVR 2]; bp. 27 July 1634 [BChR 279]; m. (1) about 1661 Susanna Vergoose (eldest known child b. Boston 5 March 1661 [BVR 79]), daughter of Peter and Susanna (Firmage) Vergoose [Dudley Wildes Anc 123-24, citing 23 December 1681 will of Susanna Vergoose, widow, who makes a bequest to the children of her daughter Susannah Raynsford "lately departed this life"]; m. (2) Sarah _____ (in his will of 27 March 1688 "John Raynsford" made a bequest to "my loving and beloved wife Sarah Raynsford" [SPR 10:425-26]).
iv JONATHAN, b. October 1636 [BVR 4]; bp. 23 October 1636 [BChR 280]; m. Boston 29 November 1656 Mary Sunderland [BVR 57].
v RANIS, b. 4 June 1638 [BVR 6]; bp. 10 June 1638 [BChR 283]; m. Boston 3 March 1655 Josias Belcher [BVR 52].
vi NATHAN, b. August 1641 [sic] [BVR 11]; bp. 1 August 1641 "being about 8 days old" [BChR 288]; m. Charlestown 28 November 1665 Mary Allen [ChVR 1:51].
vii DAVID, b. [blank] September 1644 [sic] [BVR 18]; bp. 1 September 1644 "being about three days old" [BChR 296]; m. (1) about 1674 Abigail _____ (first known child b. Boston 20 May 1674 [BVR 133]); m. (2) by about 1683 Hannah Griggs, daughter of John and Mary (Patten) Griggs of Roxbury [TAG 56:174-78].
viii SOLOMON, bp. 25 October 1646 "being about eight days old" [BChR 305]; m. about 1670 Priscilla Getchell (first known child b. Boston 28 December 1670 [BVR 115]), daughter of Samuel and Dorcas (_____) Getchell [NEHGR 139:308-09, citing SPR Case #5209].
ix ELIZABETH, bp. 25 February 1648/9 "being about seven days old" [BChR 314]; m. by 1681 William Greenough (eldest child b. Boston 2 April 1681 [BVR 154]; 25 May 1688: "This day Mis[tress] Elisa[beth] Greenough, Elder Rainsford's daughter, is buried; a very desirable woman of about 40 years old" [Sewall 168]).
x HANNAH, bp. 12 January 1650/1 [BChR 320]; no further record.
xi ANN, b. 1 February 1651[/2] [sic] [BVR 33]; bp. 4 January 1651/2 [BChR 323]; m. by 1675 Samuel Hough (first known child of "Samuel & Anna Haugh" b. Boston 1 February 1675 [BVR 136]), son of Samuel and Sarah (Symmes) Hough.
xii EDWARD, bp. 1 October 1654 [BChR 328]; m. by 1686 Huldah Davis (eldest known child b. Boston 18 July 1686 [BVR 171]), daughter of Captain William and Huldah (_____) Davis [BVR 69; Davis Fam 214].
ASSOCIATIONS: In his will Edward Rainsford mentions that his grandchildren Dorothy and Mary Rainsford, daughters of his son Jonathan Rainsford, should mind their "Aunt Gording"; in her will Edward Rainsford's widow makes a bequest to "my countryman Tillee." Neither of these persons has been identified.
COMMENTS: On 8 February 1635[/6] Owen Roe wrote from London to Governor John Winthrop asking him to "help forward that Mr. Ransford may be accommodated with lands for a farm to keep my cattle, that so my stock may be preserved" [WP 3:226]. In January 1637[/8] "Edward Raynsford" at Boston made out a bill of exchange to "his loving master Mr. Owen Roe at the sign of the Three Golden Keys in Cheape Syde" [WP 4:6].
"Edw[ar]d Rainsfoard" was one of the Wheelwright supporters ordered disarmed, 20 November 1637 [MBCR 1:211]. On about 22 November 1637 he ac~know~ledged his error in signing the petition in favor of Wheelwright [WP 3:514].
John Tey bequeathed £2 to "Mr. Raynsford" and 10s. to John, Mr. Rainsford's man [Suffolk Wills 3]. Christovell Gallop named him overseer of her will 24 July 1655 [Suffolk Wills 60]. Thomas Snow of Boston called Edward Rainsford and other men his "beloved brethren" and asked them to be overseers of his will 10 November 1668 [Suffolk Wills 342].
BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTE: In 1985 James A. Rasmussen carefully presented the correct English ancestry of Edward Rainsford, followed by accounts of the immigrant and his sons [NEHGR 139:225-38, 296-315].
In 2000 Douglas Richardson proposed for this immigrant a line of descent from Henry III [NEHGR 154:219-26].
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Mary (__________) |
| DNAbassett |
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dna kit #9466 & 5901 - see http://bassettbranches.org/ and click on DNA Project then the Excel spreadsheet to find see the kit number. |
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[BASSETT-L] William Bassett line to Plymouth 1621 on 8 Mar 2002 My version of the Bassett line to Plymouth in 1621 starts William Bassett of Sandwich, Kent, England, hodman, married (1) Cecily Light, married (2) Margaret Oldham of England 12 Aug. 1611 in Leiden, Holland. William was also engaged to Mary Butler of Norwich, Norfolk, England on 19 Mar. 1611 but she died before the publication of the third banns in Leiden.
The above data was taken from:
- Besset, Willem (Willem Bassett) of Sandwich in England, Hodman, widr. of Sisle Lecht (Cecily Light), ace. by Rogier Wilson (Roger Wilson) and Willem Bruystaert (William Brewster) his acq. betr. 19 Mar. 1611 by Mayeken Botler (Mary Butler) of Norwich in England, ace. by Anna Foller (Ann Fuller) and Roos Leyl (Rose Jennings nee Lisle) her acq. The bride died before the publication of the third bann (Sch.vol.A.fo.165v).
- Basset, Willem (William Bassett) widr. of Sisle Lecht (Cecily Light) ace. by Rogier Wiltson (Roger Wilson) and Eduwaert Sodert (Edward Southworth) his acq. betr. 26 July 1611, mar. 12 Aug. 1611 to Margriete Odlum (Margaret Oldham) of England, ace. by Wybram Pantes (Wybran Pontus nee Hanson) and Elisabeth Neel (Elisabeth Buckram nee Neal) her acq. (Sch.vol.B..fo2).
Abbreviations:
- Sch. = Schepeneboeken = married before the town bailiffs
- ace. = accompanied by
- acq. = friends
- betr = betrothed.
According to Buell B. Bassette, "One Bassett Family in America" (1926), 1, Margaret Butler was buried 9 Apr. 1611 "as the records of St. Peter's Church in Leyden show."
Incidentally, a hod man was a man who delivered bricks and mortar to a bricklayer in a V-shaped trough attached to the end of a pole and carried over the shoulder -- not a "master mason" as often eported.
We know that a William Bassett arrived in Plymouth in 1621 aboard the "Fortune." According to Charles E. Banks, "The English Ancestry & Houses of the Pilgrim Fathers" (1929), 106, William Bassett was unmarried on arrival. By 1623, however, he was married according to Robert S. Wakefield, "The 1623 Plymouth Land Division" (Mayflower Quarterly, May 1974), 56, when William Bassite was allotted 2 acres, one for himself and one for his wife Elizabeth. In "The Great Migration Begins" (1995), 1: 127-130, Robert C. Anderson suggests that it is possible (but not likely) that the marriage of William Bassett & Elizabeth [-?-] took place in Plymouth, and Elizabeth came on the "Fortune" as a single woman. Note, however, that in his "Plymouth Colony Marriages to 1650" (1978) Robert Wakefield does not show any arriage for William. So just where and when they were married appears to be still undetermined.
If he were a son of William & Cecily (Light) Bassett of above, probably he was living in Leiden with his father as early as 1611. Buell B. Bassette recounts an undocumented story that "Wm Bassett left Delft Haven in the ship "Speedwell" July 22, 1620, and went to Southampton, England, with other Pilgrims. There the "Mayflower" was waiting for them and after the Company was divided between the two vessels they set sail for America Aug. 2, 1620. The "Speedwell" was found to be leaking and both ships put into Dartmouth for repairs and again set sail Aug. 21. The "Speedwell" again commenced to leak and with such immigrants as could not be accommodated in the "Mayflower," about 20 in all, including Robt. Cushman and Wm. Bassett, returned to London." This account would place William in London at he right time to board the "Fortune" there in July 1621. But we are sill lacking documentation that his parents were William and Cecily.
I see that his birth is reported as before 24 Oct. 1600 in Bethnal Green, London. What record provides this information and who were his parents? Regards,
Bill Barton bartstam@juno.com
reply
Nothing new--just my thoughts re Wm Bassett
Attn: Bill Barton and all the rest of us who have been trying to find documentation to explain all those William Bassett marriages and banns.
We dig, hope, think, then dig some more. But where is the documentation? Quite a number of years ago I followed much the same discussion in the Boston Transcript published about 1930. They, however, still were sorting out the Wm. Bassett of Lynn, Mass. as well as all the references to marriages for Wm Bassett. I think we are much farther along now by accepting that the Wm. Bassett of the Fortune had a father with the pilgrims who was the mate of those earlier marriages. Although we are told not to accept anything as fact without proper documentation, I wonder is there is such a thing in this case. After three generations of searching, we are still at the gate. Does there come a time when you fall back on what seems the most reasonable conclusion? Perhaps. Oh, we'll keep looking, but maybe it is time to move along to the next problem.
Does anyone besides me remember reading a paper written by Arthur Bassett at a Bassett reunion? I don't recall the year. I read it at the Burton Historical Library in Detroit back in 1968. When I attempted to review it, the Burton library had been badly damaged by a storm. When they got everything put back, there was no paper by Arthur Bassett. I remember that he told the reunion that he had determined that the marriages naming William Bassett referred to the father of the Wm. of the Fortune. I do not have a note or memory of how he concluded this. Perhaps that was our documentation that has gone to the winds and waves. I wonder if there is another library with the same one page document. Something to hang a hope onto.
Dorothy DVekasi@aol.com
Another
Had this in my files........ I have to agree that the "many marriages" were most probably those of William Bassett the father of William Bassett who arrived on the Fortune in 1621.
GENEALOGICAL REGISTER of PLYMOUTH FAMILIES
page 23
BASSETT, JOHN, m. Hannah Holmes, 1787.
THOMAS, m. Abby, d. of John Chase, and had, 1836, Angeline Stephens, m. George Bailey; Jesse Thomas, 1838; Avis, 1846; Samuel R., 1848; Edward E., 1552, m. Mary F. Swift; Harriet Elizabeth, 1854; George W., 1857; Albert, 1858.
WILLIAM; m.[p.23] Abigail Lee, 1769.
WILLIAM, m., in Leyden, 1611, Margaret Oldham, having previously m. Cecil Lecht, and came in the Fortune 1621, with wife, and had William; Nathaniel; Joseph, m. Martha, d. of Edmund Hobart of Hingham; Sarah, m. Peregrine White; Elizabeth, m. Thomas Burgess; and Jane, (?) m. Thomas Gilbert of Taunton. In the division of cattle, 1627, his wife is called Elizabeth. He afterwards moved to Duxbury, and finally to Bridgewater.
Linda CHWarwick@aol.com
Regarding my 8 Mar. e-mail same subject, I just discovered on Duane Cline's excellent site "The Pilgrims & Plymouth Colony: 1620" http://www.rootsweb.com~mosmd/ the passenger list of the "Speedwell" on its 1620 voyage from Delfshaven , Holland, to Southampton, England, to join the "Mayflower." No passenger by the name of Bassett was aboard! So it looks like the undocumented story reported by Buell Bassette joins our large "discard" file.
Also, I forgot to provide the reference for the 1611 Leiden records on William Bassett's wives. It is Johanna W. Tammel, "The Pilgrims & other People from the British Isles in Leiden, 1576-1640" (Isle of Man: The Mansk-Svenska Publishing Co., Ltd., 1989), compilation of records in Leiden registers, page 44.
Regards, Bill bartstam@juno.com |
| Biography |
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The Great Migration Begins Sketche
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WILLIAM BASSETT
ORIGIN: Unknown
MIGRATION: 1621 on Fortune
FIRST RESIDENCE: Plymouth
REMOVES: Duxbury by 1637 [PCR 1:63], Bridgewater by 1656
OCCUPATION: Blacksmith (the first five lines of the inventory included blacksmith's tools, including a pair of bellows, an anvil, a vice, tongs and hammers and coal shovels, and "all the rest of the smith shop" items).
FREEMAN: In "1633" Plymouth list of freemen, among those admitted before 1 January 1632/3 [PCR 1:3]; also in list of 7 March 1636/7 [PCR 1:52]. In Duxbury portion of list of 1639 [PCR 8:174]. In Bridgewater portion of list which has been dated in 1658 [PCR 8:202].
EDUCATION: Inventory included more than twenty books listed by title, mostly theological, valued at £9 18s.
OFFICES: Plymouth coroner's jury, 2 March 1635/6 [PCR 1:39]; committee to admit newcomers to Duxbury, 7 May 1638 [PCR 1:84]; Plymouth grand jury, 5 June 1638, 6 June 1654 [PCR 1:87, 3:49]; Plymouth petit jury, 7 March 1636/7, 2 January 1637/8, 6 March 1637/8, 4 June 1639, 3 September 1639 [PCR 7:5, 7, 8, 12, 13]; Duxbury deputy to Plymouth court, 2 June 1640, 6 June 1643, 29 August 1643, 5 March 1643/4, 7 June 1648 [PCR 1:154, 2:57, 60, 68, 123]; committee to lay out land, 3 September 1638, 7 January 1638/9, 4 February 1638/9, 4 March 1638/9, 31 August 1640, 5 October 1640 [PCR 1:95, 109, 112, 115, 161, 163]; committee on bounds between Duxbury and Marshfield, 2 March 1640/1 [PCR 2:9, 42]; council of war for Duxbury, 27 September 1642 [PCR 2:46]; Duxbury constable, 3 June 1652 [PCR 3:8]; committee to lay out highways [PCR 3:61, 62]. In Duxbury portion of 1643 list of men able to bear arms [PCR 8:190].
ESTATE: In the 1623 Plymouth land division "William Bassite" received two acres as a passenger on the Fortune in 1621 [PCR 12:5]. In the 1627 Plymouth division of cattle, the sixth company included William Basset, Elizabeth Basset, William Basset Jr. and Elizabeth Basset Jr. [PCR 12:11].
Assessed £1 7s. in the Plymouth tax lists of 25 March 1633 and 27 March 1634 [PCR 1:10, 27].
On 1 July 1633, 14 March 1635/6 and 20 March 1636/7 William Bassett was ordered to "mow at the end of his own ground" [PCR 1:14, 40, 56].
On 23 June 1637 William Bassett of Duxbury released to Mr. Ralph Partridge "so much of the lot of his lands lying in Ducksborrow aforesaid as is now enclosed by the said Mr. Partridg" [PCR 12:18-19], and again on 7 November 1637 a similar agreement was reached regarding land released to William Leverich and Ralph Partridge [PCR 12:25].
On 6 April 1640 Plymouth Colony granted to "William Basset of Duxburrow" one hundred acres of upland with "meadow convenient" [PCR 1:144, 146].
On 3 June 1652 William Bassett of Duxbury gave to "his son-in-law Leiftenant Perigrine White" forty acres of upland with the meadow adjoining [MD 1:96, citing PCLR 2:1:5]. On 16 June 1656 "William Bassett Senior of Duxburrow now living at Bridgewater" made a deed of gift of his Marshfield lands to his "two sons there living viz: Perigrine White and Nathaniell Bassett" [MD 10:25-27, citing PCLR 2:1:177-78].
William Bassett and Mr. [John] Howland jointly held one share as Dartmouth purchasers, 7 March 1652 [MD 4:187, citing PCLR 2:1:107].
On 8 November 1666 William Bassett, blacksmith, of Bridgewater sold to John Sprague of Duxbury, husbandman, for £40 four lots of upland containing fourscore acres and five acres of meadow, with dwelling house, cowhouse, stable, barn, outhouse, orchard and garden; William Bassett acknowledged the deed on 7 November 1666, and on 5 November 1666 "Mary Bassett the wife of William Bassett Sr. ... of Bridgewater" consented to the sale [PCLR 3:66, with dates in the unlikely order as given].
On 3 April 1667 William Bassett Senior made a nuncupative will, bequeathing the movables to his wife, and the house and land to her during her life, after which it was to go to his son William's son, and bequeath~ing his tools to his son Joseph, and "being demanded about his books which he formerly took care about, answered he could not now do it" [MD 16:162, citing PCPR 2:2:37]. His inventory was taken 12 May 1667 and totalled £123 2s. 6d. (which included no land, but did include his blacksmith's tools and more than twenty books) [PCPR 2:2:37-38]. On 5 June 1667 letters of administration were granted to William Bassett Jr. on the estate of William Bassett Sr. deceased [PCR 4:155].
On 2 June 1669 "William Bassett of Sandwich ... the eldest son and heir of William Bassett sometimes inhabitant of ... Bridgewater ... now deceased" confirmed to "Joseph Bassett of Bridgewater my youngest brother" land in Bridgewater granted him by his father in his lifetime but not legally confirmed [PCLR 3:140].
BIRTH: By about 1600, assuming that Elizabeth was his first wife.
DEATH: Bridgewater between 3 April 1667 (date of will) and 12 May 1667 (date of inventory). (The claim that William Bassett died on 4 April 1667 derives from a peculiar misreading of the probate documents, in which the date of probate is taken as 5 April rather than 5 June, and the assumption is made that the death must have occurred between the third and the fifth.)
MARRIAGE: (1) By 1623 (and probably by 1621) Elizabeth _____, probably also a passenger on the Fortune in 1621; she appears in no record after 1627, and may have died soon after the birth of the last child about 1634, or she may have lived until just before William Bassett married his second wife.
(2) After 1651 and before 12 December 1664 Mary (Tilden) Lapham, daughter of Nathaniel Tilden, widow of Thomas Lapham [see TIMOTHY HATHERLEY]; she was living at Bridgewater as late as 28 March 1690 [Bassett Gen 6, citing BridTR 1:320].
CHILDREN:
i WILLIAM, b. Plymouth about 1624; m. by about 1652 Mary Rainsford, daughter of EDWARD RAINSFORD [NEHGR 139:299].
ii ELIZABETH, b. Plymouth about 1626; m. Sandwich 8 November 1648 Thomas Burgess [PCR 8:6], from whom she was divorced on 10 June 1661 [PCR 3:221].
iii SARAH, b. Plymouth say 1628; m. by 6 March 1648/9 Peregrine White, son of WILLIAM WHITE [PCR 2:183; MF 1:101-03].
iv NATHANIEL, b. say 1630; m. about 1661 Dorcas Joyce, daughter of John Joyce [TAG 43:3-5].
v JOSEPH, b. say 1632; m. (1) by about 1660 Mary _____ (said to be his stepsister Mary Lapham, daughter of Thomas Lapham [see NEHGR 115:85]); m. (2) Hingham 16 October 1677 Martha Hobart [NEHGR 121:200].
vi RUTH, b. say 1634; m. (1) by 1655 John Sprague, son of FRANCIS SPRAGUE [TAG 41:178-81, citing PCR 6:109 for evidence of marriage]; she m. (2) _____ Thomas [TAG 41:179; Robert S. Wakefield suggests that this was John Thomas of Marshfield, who died before 12 January 1691/2, and whose first wife had died 2 January 1682/3].
COMMENTS: In 1611 a William Bassett, formerly of Sandwich in England, widower of Cecily Light, was twice betrothed at Leiden in Holland. His first bride-to-be died, but he succeeded the second time. Some have held that this was the man who came to Plymouth, but this seems unlikely given the ten-year gap before the arrival in Plymouth in 1621, and the lack of evidence for children of the Plymouth man born before that date, assuming that he had been married at least twice before. It is also possible that the William Bassett of Leiden in 1611 was the father of the immigrant to Plymouth in 1621, but there is no evidence directly favoring this hypothesis. (See discussion in Stratton 242-43.)
If the two-acre grant to William Bassett in 1623 was for William and his wife Elizabeth, then the first child would not have been born until 1624, three years after William's arrival in Plymouth. It is possible (though not likely) that the marriage took place in Plymouth, and Elizabeth came on the Fortune as a single woman.
Savage has misread the 1627 Plymouth cattle division, somehow including daughter Sarah Bassett in this list, when in fact only two children, William and Elizabeth, were included. Sarah must have been born soon after 1627, however, to have married by the end of 1648.
Pope claims that William Bassett resided at Sandwich in 1650, but this would be the son of the same name.
Munsey-Hopkins (p. 67) lists a "probable" seventh child, a daughter Jane who married a Thomas Gilbert. This must be a simple error in which "Rossiter" was misread for "Bassett," as there was a Thomas Gilbert of Taunton who married Jane Rossiter.
Various secondary sources claim that William Bassett volunteered for service in the Pequot War, and in the index to the first volume of published Plymouth Colony records he is listed for the page on which such volunteers appear, but he does not actually appear in the list [PCR 1:61]; a number of the index entries for William Bassett actually seem to be for William Paddy.
On 6 March 1648/9 William Bassett was fined 5s. "for not mending of guns in seasonable time," and on 9 June 1653 he was fined 10s. "for neglecting to publish and make known an order directed to him from the council of war, prohibiting provisions for being transported out of the colony" [PCR 2:137, 3:36]. On 9 August 1655 and 10 June 1661 the colony treasurer received payment of fines by William Bassett [PCR 3:93, 8:104].
|
| Birth |
circa 1590 |
Bethnal Green, (near London), Middlesex, England |
| Christening |
24 October 1600 |
Stepney, London, England, He was Christened 24 Oct 1600 Stepney, London, England per Ancestral File. But how could anyone know that without parents. Suspicious - to be checked out |
| Immigration |
1621 |
Came on the Fortune - Father Wm Bassett of Bethnal Green?
William Bassett's delayed trip to America was because the Fortune deveoped a leak and couldn't sail with The Mayflower.
The leaky ship was the SPEEDWELL that left with the MAYFLOWER. Wm. Bassett was on the SPEEDWELL, when the SPEEDWELL became unseaworthy and both ships returned to port. The Speedwell proved to be unfit for any more sea duty and another replacement ship could not be found. So the MAYFLOWER left alone in August. The following spring the ship Fortune was found and hired to make the trip with the Speedwell passengers and others. Wm. Bassett then sailed with the FORTUNE to Plymouth. |
| Marriage |
|
Elizabeth Neil (Immigrant) |
| Residence |
1635 |
To Duxbury circa 1638 |
| Marriage |
circa 1651 |
Mary Tilden |
| Residence |
1655 |
To Bridgewater circa 1655 |
| Death |
Bur 12 May 1667 |
Bridgewater, Plymouth Co., Massachusetts |
| Will |
5 June 1667 |
Will probated |
Mercy Prence (F)
Rachel Willis(t)on (F)
Daniel Axtell