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EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!
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ORIGIN: Dorchester, Dorsetshire MIGRATION: 1630 on Mary & John FIRST RESIDENCE: Dorchester REMOVES: Windsor 1638 CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: The claim has been made that William Rockwell was made deacon of the Dorchester congregation at the time of the sailing of the Mary & John early in 1630, but the evidence for this has not been found. Certainly Rockwell was performing the duties of a deacon in his earliest days in New England. On 3 September 1633 "[t]here is administration granted to William Gaylord & William Rockwell, of the goods and chattels of John Russell, of Dorchester, who deceased August 26th, 1633" [ MBCR 1:107]; this sort of service was frequently provided by the deacons. Also, prior to the establishment of selectmen in Dorchester, many of the town orders were signed by JOHN MAVERICK , JOHN WARHAM , WILLIAM GAYLORD and William Rockwell - in other words, the two ministers of the congregation and the two deacons. William Rockwell would certainly have retained his membership in the church, and presumably his position of deacon, for the short time of his residence in Windsor as well. FREEMAN: Requested 19 October 1630 and admitted 18 May 1631 [ MBCR 1:79, 366]. EDUCATION: Signed his name to Dorchester town orders [ DTR 1-7]. OFFICES: Signed Dorchester town orders either as selectman or deacon, 21 January 1632/3 to 2 June 1634 [ DTR 1-7]. Jury of life and death in the case of Austen Bratcher, 9 November 1630 [ MBCR 1:81]. ESTATE: On 17 December 1635 it was ordered that William Rockwell have half an acre of ground next to Mr. Stoughton's near the fish house "to build him a house with condition that if he go away and leave the plantation, he leave the said house and ground to the plantation in paying him the charge" [ DTR 13]. On 27 June 1636 he shared a marsh lot with Nicholas Upsall [ DTR 17]. On 5 July 1636 William Rockwell received eight acres added to his former lot [ DTR 18]. On 2 January 1637/8 it was ordered that "Nicholas Upsall and Will Rockwell are to take what is theirs where their eight acres was granted and none elsewhere and that equally betwixt them" [ DTR 26]. In the meadow beyond Naponset William Rockwell had lot #75 of four acres [ DTR 322]. In the Windsor land inventory on 4 February 1640[1], William Rockwell had "granted from the plantation an homelot nine acres"; eight acres in the Great Meadow; forty acres in the Northwest Field (annotated "this sold to Mr. Horsford"); and over the Great River a parcel twenty rods by three miles, adjacent to a parcel ten rods by eightscore rods [ WiLR 1:69]. (This entry was made posthumously, and probably as something of an afterthought, as it appears below the entry for ROGER WILLIAMS , rather than having a page to itself.) BIRTH: Baptized Fitzhead, Somersetshire, 6 February 1590/1, son of John and Honor (Newton) Rockwell [Sir Anthony Richard Wagner, Pedigree of Rockwell and Allied Families: Extracted from the Records of the College of Arms (London, n.d.), p. 2]. (Other sources give the year of baptism as 1591/2 [Rockwell Gen 188-92; M&JCH 17:131-33].) DEATH: Buried at Windsor 15 May 1640 [ Loomis Rec 1:50; Grant 79 (gives only year of death)]. MARRIAGE: Holy Trinity, Dorchester, Dorsetshire, 14 April 1624 Susan Capen [ Dorset Marr 7:9], daughter of BERNARD CAPEN . She married (2) Windsor 29 May 1645 as his second wife MATTHEW GRANT [ Goodwin Anc 106]. She died at Windsor 13 November 1666 [ CTVR 22]. SOURCE: The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III -- NEHGS Bernard Capen: ORIGIN: Dorchester, Dorsetshire MIGRATION: 1633 FIRST RESIDENCE: Dorchester OCCUPATION: Shoemaker. CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: Admission to Dorchester church prior to 25 May 1636 implied by freemanship. He did not join the second church of Dorchester after its organization in August of 1636. FREEMAN: 25 May 1636 [ MBCR 1:371]. OFFICES: On 2 October 1636 ordered by Dorchester to replace one barrel of [gun]powder [ DTR 19]. ESTATE: Granted four acre lot in Dorchester, 5 August 1633 [ DTR 2]; 30 acre Great Lot granted to "Bernard Gapin and his son," 4 January 1635/6 [ DTR 14]; "Barnard and John Gapin shall have 2 acres in the marsh next Goodman Grenwayes," 27 June 1636 [ DTR 17]; with others, granted "ground adjoining to their home lots," 2 January 1637/8 [ DTR 25]; granted two lots each of two acres and a fraction, 18 March 1637/8 [ DTR 31]; granted lot #8, 6 acres, in Meadow beyond Naponset [ DTR 321]. (Two other small parcels of land granted on 2 January 1637/8 to "Good: Gapin" may be intended for Bernard [ DTR 27, 28]). In his will, dated 9 October 1638 and probated 19 November 1652, "Barnard Capen" bequeathed to his son John five acres out of his great lot, the residue to his wife during her life, "and when it shall appear her days draw to an end, that she with the rest of my friends whom I put in trust, to divide these lands and goods to my children equally," naming trustees "Mr. Minit the elder, my brother George Dyer & Will[ia]m Sumner" [ SPR 1:84]. Given the terms of the document, probate of the will was presumably delayed until the widow's last illness, as she died just four months later. BIRTH: About 1562 based on age at death, but this may be an exaggeration, judging by date of marriage. DEATH: Dorchester 8 November 1638, aged 76 [ NEHGR 2:80, 5:97]. MARRIAGE: 31 May 1596 Joan Purchase, daughter of Oliver Purchase [ NEHGR 2:80]; born about 1578 based on age at death; admitted to second church of Dorchester, probably about 1638 [ DChR 4]; she died Dorchester 26 March 1653, aged 75 [ NEHGR 2:80]. SOURCE: The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III -- NEHGS
ORIGIN: Dorchester, Dorsetshire
MIGRATION: 1630 on Mary & John
FIRST RESIDENCE: Dorchester
REMOVES: Windsor 1638
CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: The claim has been made that William Rockwell was made deacon of the Dorchester congregation at the time of the sailing of the Mary & John early in 1630, but the evidence for this has not been found. Certainly Rockwell was performing the duties of a deacon in his earliest days in New England. On 3 September 1633 "[t]here is administration granted to William Gaylord & William Rockwell, of the goods and chattels of John Russell, of Dorchester, who deceased August 26th, 1633" [ MBCR 1:107]; this sort of service was frequently provided by the deacons. Also, prior to the establishment of selectmen in Dorchester, many of the town orders were signed by JOHN MAVERICK , JOHN WARHAM , WILLIAM GAYLORD and William Rockwell - in other words, the two ministers of the congregation and the two deacons. William Rockwell would certainly have retained his membership in the church, and presumably his position of deacon, for the short time of his residence in Windsor as well.
FREEMAN: Requested 19 October 1630 and admitted 18 May 1631 [ MBCR 1:79, 366].
EDUCATION: Signed his name to Dorchester town orders [ DTR 1-7].
OFFICES: Signed Dorchester town orders either as selectman or deacon, 21 January 1632/3 to 2 June 1634 [ DTR 1-7]. Jury of life and death in the case of Austen Bratcher, 9 November 1630 [ MBCR 1:81].
ESTATE: On 17 December 1635 it was ordered that William Rockwell have half an acre of ground next to Mr. Stoughton's near the fish house "to build him a house with condition that if he go away and leave the plantation, he leave the said house and ground to the plantation in paying him the charge" [ DTR 13]. On 27 June 1636 he shared a marsh lot with Nicholas Upsall [ DTR 17]. On 5 July 1636 William Rockwell received eight acres added to his former lot [ DTR 18]. On 2 January 1637/8 it was ordered that "Nicholas Upsall and Will Rockwell are to take what is theirs where their eight acres was granted and none elsewhere and that equally betwixt them" [ DTR 26]. In the meadow beyond Naponset William Rockwell had lot #75 of four acres [ DTR 322].
In the Windsor land inventory on 4 February 1640[1], William Rockwell had "granted from the plantation an homelot nine acres"; eight acres in the Great Meadow; forty acres in the Northwest Field (annotated "this sold to Mr. Horsford"); and over the Great River a parcel twenty rods by three miles, adjacent to a parcel ten rods by eightscore rods [ WiLR 1:69]. (This entry was made posthumously, and probably as something of an afterthought, as it appears below the entry for ROGER WILLIAMS , rather than having a page to itself.)
BIRTH: Baptized Fitzhead, Somersetshire, 6 February 1590/1, son of John and Honor (Newton) Rockwell [Sir Anthony Richard Wagner, Pedigree of Rockwell and Allied Families: Extracted from the Records of the College of Arms (London, n.d.), p. 2]. (Other sources give the year of baptism as 1591/2 [Rockwell Gen 188-92; M&JCH 17:131-33].)
DEATH: Buried at Windsor 15 May 1640 [ Loomis Rec 1:50; Grant 79 (gives only year of death)].
MARRIAGE: Holy Trinity, Dorchester, Dorsetshire, 14 April 1624 Susan Capen [ Dorset Marr 7:9], daughter of BERNARD CAPEN . She married (2) Windsor 29 May 1645 as his second wife MATTHEW GRANT [ Goodwin Anc 106]. She died at Windsor 13 November 1666 [ CTVR 22].
SOURCE: The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III -- NEHGS
Bernard Capen:
ORIGIN: Dorchester, Dorsetshire
MIGRATION: 1633
FIRST RESIDENCE: Dorchester
OCCUPATION: Shoemaker.
CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: Admission to Dorchester church prior to 25 May 1636 implied by freemanship. He did not join the second church of Dorchester after its organization in August of 1636.
FREEMAN: 25 May 1636 [ MBCR 1:371].
OFFICES: On 2 October 1636 ordered by Dorchester to replace one barrel of [gun]powder [ DTR 19].
ESTATE: Granted four acre lot in Dorchester, 5 August 1633 [ DTR 2]; 30 acre Great Lot granted to "Bernard Gapin and his son," 4 January 1635/6 [ DTR 14]; "Barnard and John Gapin shall have 2 acres in the marsh next Goodman Grenwayes," 27 June 1636 [ DTR 17]; with others, granted "ground adjoining to their home lots," 2 January 1637/8 [ DTR 25]; granted two lots each of two acres and a fraction, 18 March 1637/8 [ DTR 31]; granted lot #8, 6 acres, in Meadow beyond Naponset [ DTR 321]. (Two other small parcels of land granted on 2 January 1637/8 to "Good: Gapin" may be intended for Bernard [ DTR 27, 28]).
In his will, dated 9 October 1638 and probated 19 November 1652, "Barnard Capen" bequeathed to his son John five acres out of his great lot, the residue to his wife during her life, "and when it shall appear her days draw to an end, that she with the rest of my friends whom I put in trust, to divide these lands and goods to my children equally," naming trustees "Mr. Minit the elder, my brother George Dyer & Will[ia]m Sumner" [ SPR 1:84]. Given the terms of the document, probate of the will was presumably delayed until the widow's last illness, as she died just four months later.
BIRTH: About 1562 based on age at death, but this may be an exaggeration, judging by date of marriage.
DEATH: Dorchester 8 November 1638, aged 76 [ NEHGR 2:80, 5:97].
MARRIAGE: 31 May 1596 Joan Purchase, daughter of Oliver Purchase [ NEHGR 2:80]; born about 1578 based on age at death; admitted to second church of Dorchester, probably about 1638 [ DChR 4]; she died Dorchester 26 March 1653, aged 75 [ NEHGR 2:80].
SOURCE: The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III -- NEHGS
William Rockwell
(6 Feb 1590 - 15 May 1640)
William Rockwell (6 Feb 1590,
Fitzhead, Taunton, Somerset, England
- 15 May 1640,
East Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, USA
)
Pedigree Chart
William was the child of John Rockwell and Honor Newton
Ancestor's Life Events
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Bio "William Rockwell, founder of the Rockwell family in America, was born on February 6, 1591, at Fitzhead, Somersetshire, England, the son of John Rockwell and Honor Newton, who were married at Fitzhead on July 19th, 1585. Besides William, John and Honor Rockwell had three other sons, Richard, John, and Roger, and a daughter, Joan. According to the English history of the family, the Rockwells descend from Raoul or Ralph de Rocheville, a Norman Baron who crossed over into England with Queen Mathilda, the granddaughter of William the Conqueror, and aided her in her struggles against King Stephen to secure the throne of England for herself and her son Henry. When Henry II became King in 1154, he rewarded Ralph de Rocheville with 'three knight's fees' of land." Source: Three centuries of the Rockwell family in America : 1630-1930, page 9. "William Rockwell grew up in Somerset County, one of the fairest and richest shires in England. The climate is mild and the land fertile... In William Rockwell's time, Somerset was strongly Puritan... William Rockwell married Susanna Capen, daughter of Bernard and Joan Purchase Capen, on April 14, 1624, at Holy Trinity Church, Dorchester, in the county of Dorset. " Source: Three centuries of the Rockwell family in America : 1630-1930, pages 10-14. William and Susan were married at Holy Trinty Church in Dorchester County Dorset England by John White on 14 April 1624. He was a deacon in the church formed by Mr. Warhem in the New Hospital at Plymouth, England. On March 20, 1630, they sailed to New England on the "Mary and John" from Plymouth and landed at Watertown MA. He applied for freemanship on Oct. 19, 1630 and took the oath of fidelity May 18, 1631 in the new settlement of Dorchester. He had land granted to him near Savin Hill, Dorchester June 27, 1636. In the spring of 1637 he moved to Windsor, CT, where he built a house 2 miles from the original settlers. William was the son of John Rockwell and Honor Newton Susan was the daughter of Bernard Capen (c1562, Dorchester, Dorset, England - 8 Nov 1638, Dorchester, MA, age 76 -- shoemaker who came to America in 1633 on "The Discovery of London") and Joan Purchase (c1578 - 26 March 1653, age 73), daughter of Oliver Purchase. Mary and John Passenger Lists The Mary & John left England in March of 1630 and arrived seventy days later, on May 30, 1630, at the mouth of what is now Boston harbor. The ship's captain refused to sail up the Charles river as planned, because he feared running the ship aground in waters that he had no charts for. He instead left the passengers in a desolate locale miles from their intended destination. The settlers were forced to transport 150,000 pounds of livestock, provisions and equipment 20 miles overland to their final destination. William Rockwell 1590, age 39, Dorchester, Dorset Susan Capen (w) 1602, age 28, Dorchester, Dorset Joan Rockwell (d) 1625, age 5, Dorchester, Dorset John Rockwell (s) 1627, age 2, Dorchester, Dorset The pilgrims sailed to America in the Mayflower in 1620 and planted a colony at Plymouth. Ten years later it was still small and isolated. In 1625, Charles I became King of England. He was very unpopular and was beheaded nineteen years later. By 1630, so many English had become discontented with Charles' monarchy that it led to the "Great Migration" of that year with many families leaving England to make their way to the freedom for their religious beliefs that they hoped to find in America. The first group to leave that year sailed in ten ships that made up the Winthrop fleet under the command of Gov. John Winthrop. These ten ships carried one thousand men, women, and children plus their cattle and provisions. Then on March 20, three weeks after the Winthrop fleet sailed, the Mary and John, a Mayflower-type ship under the command of Captain Squib, sailed from Plymouth in Devon to what is today Boston Harbor. The 400 ton ship carried 140 passengers, their livestock, and 75 tons of provisions. They made landfall on May 30. The Mary and John was twice the tonnage of the Mayflower. The top deck carried livestock, the ship's galley, and the captain's and crew's quarters. The second deck carried the passengers fitted into its space of 25 by 60 feet, barely 10 square feet per person. The hold carried a minimum of rock ballast and the provisions. Interestingly, the ship had no steering wheel. Instead, it used a rudder, and the captain called out directions from the top deck to the helmsman in the bottom aft of the ship. The man who recruited passengers for both the Winthrop fleet and the Mary and John was the Rev. John White, pastor of the Holy Trinity and St. Peter's churches in Dorchester. He concealed the passengers' Puritan connections for their own protection. Rev. White also helped form the Massachusetts Bay Company, having never traveled himself to America. Most of the Mary and John passengers came from the areas of Dorcet, Somerset, and Devon in the southeast of England. Many came from the cities of Dorcetshire, Bridport, Exeter and Crewkerne. As they arrived in Dorcetshire, they were housed in the new hospital, an alms house and spent their last day there fasting and praying. The next day, March 20, they set sail for America. The ship's contract with Captain Squib specified that he enter the harbor at the mouth of the Charles River and carry the passengers up the river before landing, but the captain was unfamiliar with the rock- and island-strewn inlet and landed the party far away from the harbor. He was brought up on charges when he returned to England, but the outcome is unknown. The passengers made their way to their destination by land, eventually spreading out to settle in Dorcet, Massachusetts and Windsor, Connecticut. Some 150 years later, their descendents began a new migration to the plains of America and on to the west. William and Susannah had a daughter, Ruth Rockwell who married Christoper Huntington. NOTE: The Rockwells are ancestors of Ulysses S. Grant through Ruth Rockwell and Christopher Huntington. Ruth and Christopher's son John married Abigail Lathrop and had a daughter, Martha. Martha Huntington married Noah Grant. They had a son, Noah Grant. He married Susannah Delano. They had a son Jesse Root Grant who married Hannah Simpson. Their son was Ulysses Simpson Grant. http:/www.geocities.com/ckhansgw/rockwell.htm |
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1637-1640 "In 1637, the Rockwells moved to the new settlement of Windsor, CT, recently established by a group from Dorchester, MA. William died there on 15 May 1640; his widow married Matthew Grant in 1645 and died on 14 Nov. 1666." http:/www.rockwell-family.org/2007/12/rockwell-immigrants-to-17th-century.html |
Ancestor's Marriage(s) and Child(ren)
 married
Susannah Capen
-- Date: 14 April 1624 Place:
Dorchester, Dorset, England
Holy Trinity Church |
Family Group Record
for William Rockwell and Susannah Capen
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Children:
Joan Rockwell (25 Apr 1625, Dorchester, Dorset, England - , )
John Rockwell (18 July 1627, Dorchester, Dorset, England - 13 Sept 1673, Stamford, Fairfield, Connecticut)
Mary Rockwell (, Dorchester, Dorset, England - , )
Samuel Rockwell (28 Mar 1631, Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA - 1711, East Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, USA)
Ruth Rockwell (16 Aug 1633, Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA - 14 Feb 1683, )
Sarah Rockwell (21 July 1638, Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, USA - , )
Mary Rockwell (1639, Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, USA - , ) |
Added: 12/16/1999 12:00:00 AM - 1
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