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Richard Woodward (c. 1589–1664)
Rose Unknown (c. 1584–1662)
Richard Woodward was born about 1589. He died on 16 (12) 1664 in Watertown. [1] He married first Rose Unknown. He married second as her second husband Ann Veare after 18 April 1663. [2] She died on 5 February 1682/3 in Stow. [3] Ann married first Stephen Gates on 5 May 1628 in Hingham, England. [2] Stephen was probably born about 1600 near Norwich, County Norfolk. [2] He died between 9 June 1662 (will) and 22 September 1662 (inventory taken). [2]
Rose was born about 1584. She died on 6 October 1662 in Watertown. [1][4]
Richard was a miller. It is not clear if he was literate. He owned books, but signed deeds with his mark. [4]
Richard, age 45, Rose, age 50, George, age 13, and John, age 13, left for New England on the Elizabeth on 30 April 1634. [5]
Richard was a miller. He was on a 2 September 1635 list of freemen. [6]
Richard was granted 35 acres in the Great Division at Watertown on 25 July 1636; six acres in Beaverbrook Meadows on 28 February 1636/7; six acres in the Remote Meadows on 26 July 1637; a 125-acre farm on 10 May 1642. [4]
On 16 January 1646/[7?] Richard Woodward sold nine acres in the Little Plains to John Whitney of Watertown. [4]
On 8 September 1648 Mr. Edward Holioke and his wife Ann of Boston sold a windmill in Boston and the land it stood on to Richard Woodward, miller. On 26 December 1648 Richard Woodward of Boston sold his windmill in Boston along with its land to William Aspinwall of Boston. [4]
Richard was on a coroner’s jury on 5 May 1654, investigating the death of Caleb Johnson, a child who was accidentally shot. [7]
On 18 April 1663 Richard Woodward of Watertown and the trustees of Stephen Gates agreed that, as Richard was planning to marry Ann Gates, he would relinquish all claim to her estate except 100 pounds worth. [4]
On 23 March 1663/4 Richard Woodward of Cambridge sold four acres of meadow lying at Little Nonesuch in Watertown to Richard Blois. [4]
Inventory was taken on Richard's estate on 21 February 1664; it included books. [His sons] George and John took oath to it on 4 April 1665. [5]
Widow Ann Woodward made her will on 18 April 1663; it was proved on 9 April 1683. [2]
Amos Woodward of Colchester, carpenter, left a bequest to his uncle Woodward's children's children in New England in his will of 13 October 1665. He may have been referring to his family. [4]
Children of Richard and Rose Woodward:
i. George Woodward was born about 1619/1621. He died on 31 May 1676 in Watertown. He married first Mary Unknown. He married second Elizabeth Hammond.
ii. John Woodward was born about 1621. [4] He married first Mary Unknown. [4] She died on 8 July 1654 in Sudbury. [4] He married second Abigail (Benjamin) Stubbs, the daughter of John Benjamin and widow of Joshua Stubbs. [4]
References:
1. Watertown Historical Society, Watertown Records (Watertown: Fred G. Barker, 1894, 1900): vol. 1, book 2, 25–26.
2. Clarence Almon Torrey, "Stephen Gates of Hingham, Lancaster and Cambridge, Mass., and Some of His Descendants," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 120 (1966): 161–70.
3. Henry Bond, Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts, 2nd edition (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1860).
4. "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.
5. 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.
6. Lucius R. Paige, "List of Freemen," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 3 (1849): 94.
7. "Middlesex County, MA: Abstracts of Court Records, 1643–1674," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org, 1: 47.
8. "Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org, case 25605.
21-May-2023