THE ANCESTRY OF BETHIA HARRIS 1748-1833 WIFE OF DUDLEY WILDES OF TOPSFIELD MASSACHUSETTS BY WALTER GOODWIN DAVIS PORTLAND, MAINE THE SOUTHWORTH PRESS 1934 frro •~ 1•:-1 s-T1•:10 s II EAi>, <'o, D1wos I lo:\I 1•: oF (:11.1-:s ('11\n:s CONTENTS I. HARRIS, OF IPSWICH 3 II. HARRIS, OF IPSWICH, FROM IsLES oF SHOALS • . 35 III. MASON, OF CHELTENHAM, co. GLOUCESTER, ENG­ LAND 41 IV. LAKE, OF NoRTH BENFLEET, co. EssEx, ENGLAND 45 V. SANDELL, OF BASILDON, co. ESSEX, ENGLAND . 57 VI. READE, OF WicKFORD, co. EssEx, ENGLAND . 67 VII. CHURCH, OF RuNWELL, co. EssEx, ENGLAND • . 79 VIII. CooKE, OF PEBMARSH, co. EssEx, ENGLAND . 85 IX. SEAR.LE, OF IPSWICH AND ROWLEY . 95 X. COWES, OF IPSWICH . 101 XI. BERRY, OF IPSWICH 109 XII. JONES, OF IPSWICH . 113 XIII. BRADFORD, OF BEVERLY . 121 XIV. RAYMENT, OF BEVERLY • . 129 -xv. SCROGGS, OF LONDON, ENGLAND, AND SALEM • • 135 William Harris Thomas Harris Thomas Harris I I I John Lake John Harris John Lake --------I Elizabeth Sandell_ Martha Lake Edmund Reade John Harris Margaret Reade I Elizabeth Cooke William Searle _,:_::__Grace Searle I William Cowes John Harris Thomas Cowes Honor Lang Giles Cowes Mary Lux Elizabeth Cowes Bethia Harris Thomas Berry ~-~-Agnes Berry I Nathaniel Jones William Bradford Bethia Jones 1- ·--· George Rayment i , Rachel Bradford J·ohn Rayment I Rachel Rayment William Scroggs William Scruggs I , Rachel Prentice Rachel Scruggs I HARRIS, OF IPSWICH THE ANCESTRY OF BETHIA HARRIS HARRIS This account of the Harris family of Ipswich does not pre­ tend to be an exhaustive genealogy even of the generations with which it deals. The effort to prove the direct paternal ancestry of Bethia Harris became so involved in a maze of John Harrises, four or five of whom lived in the town simultaneously during the greater part of the eighteenth century, that a vast amount of materiai was accumulated dealing with other branches of the family, and it seems unkind not to include this and the conclu­ sions drawn from it for the benefit of other perplexed geneal­ ogists. After many doubts had arisen, the descent of Bethia Harris from Thomas Harris, the first of the name to settle in Ipswich, was brought to the point of genealogical proof by the evidences of the descent of the Sergt. John Harris homestead and the "clay-pit" meadow, both of which were property of the original settler, and the first of which is still in the possession of a direct. descendant in the person of Mrs. James Damon. Harris is one of the commonest of English surnames and initially it seemed very improbable that the English home of the family would ever be disclosed. Iles, however, is an equally un­ common surname, and it was through the relationship of the Harris emigrant to Richard Iles, who died in Charlestown in 1639, that we acquire two earlier generations of English Har­ rises. In treating of Richard Iles in his "Genealogical Diction­ ary of New England" Judge Savage stated "at the other end of. the same volume (referring to the first volume in the Suffolk Probate Registry) will be found the official papers of the parties at Bristol claiming as heirs." An exhaustive search of the early volumes of the registry drew a blank, and it was concluded that the papers had been placed loosely in the volume and had been lost or destroyed some time after Judge Savage had seen them 3 4 The Ancestry of Bethia Harris there. A year after this search a chance glance at the first vol­ ume of Suffolk deeds disclosed the desired power-of-attorney from the Iles heirs and produced the information that, beside a brother in Bristol, Richard Iles had a brother in "Katherope in the Countye of Clone" and a sister in "ffairefield" in the same· non-existent county. It took a surprisingly short time, with the aid of a topographical dictionary, to translate these hideously mis-transcribed localities into Hatherup and Fairford, two neighboring parishes in the county of Gloucester, and the printed index of wills at Gloucester, containing references to several wills of Harrises of Hatherup brought the search to a satisfactory conclusion. Hatherup is situated on a hill rising from the valley of the river Coln in one of the most picturesque districts of Gloucester­ shire. The village itself is a mere appendage to the manor house, now called Hatherup Castle and the home of Sir Thomas Bazeley. The village· church, in which the early Harrises wor­ shipped, was so pulled about in a drastic "restoration" in Vic­ torian days, that nothing of its original character remains. 1. JoHN HARRIS, yeoman, of Hatherup, co. Gloucester, was born at least as early as 1513. He married Anne or Annis ---, perhaps about the year 1533. His will, dated October 22, 1553, and proved June 4, 1554, left the lease of the house in which he dwelt to his daughter Alice Wynchcumbe, and,·if she should die before it expired, the remainder of the term was to belong to her daughter. His two sons, vVilliam and John Harris, received seventy-two acres of land occupied by William Carney, a sheep pasture and also ten sheep and a bullock apiece. The residuary legatee and executrix was his wife Anne Harris, and John Sermon, John Fathers and John Chapleyn were named overseers. The witnesses were John George, William Manne and John Sermon.* The will of Annis Harris, widow, of Hatherup, was made June 17, 1585, and proved February 5, 1585/6. She gave to her daughter Alice Winchkome a new gown, three sheets etc., and made small personal gifts to Anne, James, John and Thomas Winchkome, William Harris the younger, Anthony Harris and John Harris the younger, Joan Reve, Alice Kirbie, George and Marie Vincen and Elizabeth Robins. The residuary legatee and executor was Richard Harris. t * Gloucester Registry. t Gloucester Registry. Harris 5. Children :-. 1. ALICE; m. --Winchcombe before 1553, living in 1585; doubtless mother of Anne, James, John and Thomas Winchcombe, men­ tioned in her mother's will. 2. ii. WILLIAM. iii. JOHN; Richard Harris, executor of the will of John Harris's mother was probably John's son. 2 1 2. WILLIAM HARRIS (John ), of Hatherup, married No­ vember 21, 1568, in Cheltenham, co. Gloucester, Katherine Kiche. She died before 1579, when on January 30 he married Agnes Mason, daughter of Henry Mason of Cheltenham, who left legacies to her and her husband's daughter Anne Harris in his will in 1584. His will, dated ·October 1, 1598, was proved November 8, 1599, by his widow and executrix, Agnes Harris. After directing that he be buried in the church or churchyard of Hatherup, he left £5 apiece to his sons William (eldest), Anthony and John, £12 to his son-in-law John Iles and a cow to Joan Iles, daughter of his son-in-law, to be given her when she became seven years old. He then devised the residue of his property to "Annis Har-· ris my late vVife but if it please God to change the mind of Annis Harris my late Wife and Join herself in marriage and so alter the name, then my 4 youngest Sons: Thomas Harris, Edmund, William and Robert Harris shall have one half of my Goods." Henry Mason of Cheltenham and John Iles of Hatherup were named overseers.* Children, by first wife:- i. A DAUGHTER (Anne?, legatee of her step-mother's father in 1584); m. John Iles before 1598; Iles was listed as living in Hatherup in the military roll of Gloucestershire in 1608. Children:- !. Joan Iles; legatee in the will of her grandfather Harris in 1598. 2. Henry Iles; a husbandman, of Hatherup, in 1640, when he gave power of attorney to Henry Hazard of Bristol to collect the legacy left him by his brother Richard Iles of Charlestown. 3. John Iles; a carpenter, of Bristol, in 1640, when he joined his brothers and sister in the power of attorney to Henry Hazard. 4. William Iles; a blacksmith, probably of Bristol, in 1640, when he joined in the above mentioned power of at­ torney. 5. ]fargaret Iles; m. Thomas Hinton of Fairford, co. Gloucester; both joined in the above-mentioned power of attorney; his nuncupative will, declared Aug. 17, 1647, left his house to his wife Margaret for life, and * Gloucester Registry. 6 The .Ancestry of Bethia Harris named his sons John and Thomas and his daughters Ann and Katherine. 6. Richard Iles; cooper and carpenter; emigrated to Amer­ ica and settled in Charlestown, Mass., before 1639, when on Oct. 29 he made his will, the first recorded in Suffolk County, in which he directs that 45s. be sent · to England to his brother John Iles and John Keene, gives his coverlet to his aunt "for her pains and her love," 20s. apiece to his cousins Thomas, William, Anthony, John and Daniel Harris and Anne Maverick, 5s. apiece to "my two little cosins John and Abigaile Maverick," and the residue of his estate to his three brothers and one sister; on Jan. 25, 1640, (Henry) Iles of Hatherup, co. Gloucester, (John) Iles of the city of Bristol, house carpenter, William Iles of the (same) city, Thomas Hinton of Fairford, co. Glouces­ ter, yeoman, and Margaret, his wife, and John Keene of the city of Bristol gave a power of attorney to Henry Hazard of Bristol, mariner, to recover of Wil­ liam Stilson of Mass. Bay such sums as Richard Iles devised or bequeathed to them by his last will.* ii. WILLIAM; legatee in the wills of his grandmother in 1585 and of his father· in 1598.