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George Woodward (c. 1621–1676), son of Richard Woodward and Rose Unknown
Mary Unknown (d. by 1659)
George Woodward was born about 1619/1621. He died on 31 May 1676 in Watertown. [1, 41] He married first Mary Unknown. He married second Elizabeth Hammond on 17 August 1659 in Watertown. [1, 22] Elizabeth was the daughter of Thomas Hammond of Newton. [2, 272] She died on 24 August 1700, age 66, in Watertown. [3, 14]
George left for New England on the Elizabeth with his parents and brother at age 13 on 30 April 1634. [4]
George deposed that he was 50 in 1669. [5]
George was admitted a freeman on 6 May 1646. [2, 657–8]
George was chosen a constable in Watertown on 4 November 1657. [6, 52] He was chosen a surveyor of highways on 4 February 1672/3. [6, 112] He was chosen a selectman on 3 November 1673. [6, 117]
Administration on the George's estate was granted to his widow Elizabeth and his son Amos on 20 June 1676. [2, 657–8]
Inventory was taken on George's estate on 23 June 1676. A settlement agreement for the widow's share between the widow Elizabeth, and her children George, Elizabeth, and Sarah Woodward, was signed on 5 July 1695. An agreement between the children of George and his first wife—Daniel, John, John Waight, Thomas Fisher, and Stephen Gates—was signed the same day. [7]
Children of George and Mary Woodward: Births recorded as the children of George and Mary.
i. Mary Woodward was born on 12 (6) 1641. [1, 9] She died on 23 August 1718. [2, 617] She married John Waite on 13 January 1662/3 in Watertown. [1, 25] John, the son of Richard and Mary Waite, was born on 6 May 1639 and died on 24 June 1722. [2, 617]
ii. Sarah Woodward was born on 3 (12) 1642. [1, 10] She married [her father's stepbrother] Stephen Gates, Jr. of Boston and later Stow about 1644. [2, 657–8] Stephen, the son of Stephen and Ann (Veare) Gates, was probably born about 1634 in county Norfolk, England. [8] He died on 9 July 1707 in Stow. [8]
Stephen wrote his will on 5 September 1701; it was proved on 15 September 1707. [8]
iii. Amos Woodward was probably born about 1645. He died between 9 October and 5 November 1679. He married Sarah, the daughter of William Patten of Cambridge. [2, 657–8] She probably died on 24 September 1677 in Cambridge. [2, 657–8]
Amos deposed that he was 23 in 1668. [2, 657–8]
Amos of Cambridge, age about 38, made his will on 9 October 1679. It was proved on 5 November 1679. He left bequests to his brothers Thomas and Nathaniel Patten. He left land in Watertown that he had received from their father Woodward to his brother Daniel Woodward. He also left bequests to his brother John Woodward and his sisters Mary Waite, Sarah Gates, and Rebecca Fisher. [7] His age is probably an exageration; he was probably born about 1645.
iv. Rebecca Woodward was born on 30 (10) 1647. [1, 13] She married Thomas Fisher on 11 December 1666 in Dedham. [2, 657–8]
v. John Woodward was born on 20 (1) 1648. [1, 13] He apparently died young.
vi. John Woodward was born on 20 March 1649. [1, 14] He died after 26 February 1727/8, when he made his will. [2, 657–8] He married first Rebecca, the daughter of Richard Robbins of Cambridge. [2, 657–8] He married second Sarah Bancroft of Reading on 7 July 1686. [2, 657–8][9] Sarah, the daughter of Thomas Bancroft and his wife Elizabeth Metcalf, was born on 1 April 1665 in Reading and died on 23 February 1697. [9]
vii. Susanna Woodward was born on 30 September 1651. [1, 16] She died unmarried before 19 December 1676, when administration on her estate was granted to her brother John. [2, 657–8]
viii. Daniel Woodward was born on 2 April 1653 in Watertown. He married Elizabeth Dana.
ix. Mary Woodward was born on 3 June 1656. [1, 19]
Bond says her name was probably Mercy. [2, 657–8]
Children of George Woodward and Elizabeth Hammond: Births recorded as the children of George and Elizabeth
x. George Woodward was born on 11 (7) 1660. [1, 23] He died in 1696. [Ref] He married Lydia Browne on 31 December 1686. He married Lydia Browne. [2, 657–8] Lydia, the daughter of Abraham and Mary (Dix), was born on 11 November 1663. [2, 119]
xi. Thomas Woodward was born on 15 (7) 1662. [1, 24] He died on 3 December 1666 in Watertown. [1, 28]
xii. Elizabeth Woodward was born on 8 May 1664. [1, 26] She married Samuel Eddy on 13 December 1693. [2, 203] Samuel, the son of Samuel and Sarah Eddy, was born on 4 June 1668. [2, 203]
xiii. Nathaniel Woodward died on 28 (3) 1668 in Watertown. [1, 31]
xiv. Sarah Woodward was born on 3 October 1675. [1, 40] According to Bond, she married first John Eddy on 6 July 1693. [2, 657–8] This seems slightly implausible, given the age difference. John, the son of John and Amy Eddy, was born on 16 February 1636/7 and died in 1694. [2, 203] She married second Isaiah Whitney. [2, 657–8][10] Isaiah, the son of Thomas Whitney, was born on 16 September 1671 in Cambridge. [jew] He died before 10 January 1711/2, when inventory was taken on his estate. [10]
George Woodward had two daughters named Sarah alive at the same time.
References:
1. Watertown Historical Society, Watertown Records (Watertown: Fred G. Barker, 1894, 1900): vol. 1, Book 2.
2. Henry Bond, Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts, 2nd edition (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1860).
3. Watertown Records, vol. 2, Book 2.
4. John Camden Hotten, The Original Lists of Persons of Quality ... who Went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600–1700, reprinted (New York: Empire State Book Co., n.d.), 281.
5. "Great Migration 1634–1635, T–Y," digitized book, AmericanAncestors.org, originally published as: Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634–1635, Volume VII, T–Y (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011), 528–31.
6. Watertown Records, vol. 1, Book 1.
7. "Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648–1871," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org, 25568 (Amos), 25580 (George).
8. Clarence Almon Torrey, "Stephen Gates of Hingham, Lancaster, and Cambridge, Mass., and Some of His Descendants," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 120 (1966): 163.
9. John Kermott Allen, "Thomas Bancroft of Dedham and Reading, Mass. and Some of His Descendants," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 94 (1940): 218.
10. Samuel G. Drake, "The Descendants of John and Elinore Whitney of Watertown, Mass.," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 11 (1857): 113–21.
11-Feb-2023