William FELLOWS
William Fellows

"BIRTH: In an Ipswich court deposition given September 27, 1659, he is stated to be "aged about fifty years."

William Fellows appeared at Ipswich in 1639, when he purchased a house and house lot of one acre and a planting lot of six acres "with appurtenances" from the estate of Humphrey Wisse. This land was on the south side of the Ipswich River. Shortly thereafter, he was chosen to be the herder of cows on the south side of the river.

William Fellows was shown on a list of commoners in 1641. He was made a freeman in 1654.

"The English emigrant William Fellows who located at Ipswich, Mass., is the first of the name who is traceable on American soil...There is no ship record of the coming of Fellows to New England. He first appears in the year 1639...The presumption is that Mary Ayers was married to Fellows in Leicestershire and came with him about 1639 to the colonies. About March 26, 1639, he bought a six-acre tract...at Ipswich. On March 5, 1639-40, he took contract to be chief herder of the town cattle from April to November...In October 1643, he was one of 26 townsmen fined for not returning their powder supply to the custodian...On December 22, 1648, he was one of 20 townsmen who received bounties for killing foxes. On March 25, 1651, he was a trial juror at the county court. On August 26, 1653, he was summoned to county court as witness in a prosecution. On March 28, 1654, he was admitted at county court to be a freeman of the colony...On November 29, 1676, he made his last will and testament."

Source: Fellows, Fallowes, Fellow and like names : Fellows ancestry in New England and old England : with data on English origins of Fallowes, Fellowes, Followes, Fellow, Followe, Faleyse, Fallas, Felice, Felix, Fells, Fell, Fylot, Fylowe, Valeys, Goodfellow, Longfellow, New York: T.A. Wright, 1926, Pages 12-14.

His will was made November 29, 1676, and proved March 27, 1677. He left a substantial estate to his wife and children.

Source: Fellows, Erwin, W., "Fellows Families: First American Settlers and Possible English Origins," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Page: vol. 138, p. 17

Morris, Myrtle M., Joseph and Philena (Elton) Fellows - Their Ancestory and Descendants, Page: pp. 24-39

"Samuel and Sarah (Fellows) Knowlton," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Page: vol. 86, pp. 140-1 (1932)

McPherson, Mrs. William Wallace, "Fellows Family," The American Genealogist, Page: vol. 17, p. 159

William Fellows appears in Ipswich, Massachusetts records in 1642.

Source: History of Ipswich, Essex, and Hamilton, page 11.