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Reverend William Worcester (say 1600–1662)
Sarah Unknown (d. 1650)
William Worcester was born say 1600. William, first minister of the church in Salisbury, died at an advanced age in about the twentieth year of his ministry, on 28: 8m: 1662 in Salisbury. [1] He married first Sarah Unknown. He married second Mrs. Rebecca Hall on 22 (5) 1650. [2] Rebecca was the daugher of Bennett Swayne, gentleman of New Sarum, Wiltshire. [2] She died on 21 July 1695 in Ipswich. [2] She married first Henry Byley. [2] Mrs. Rebecca Byley married second Mr. John Hall (Hale) on 3 April 1641. [2] She married fourth Deputy Governor Samuel Symonds. [2]
Sarah, the wife of William, died on 23: 2m: 1650 in Salisbury. [1]
William was vicar of Olney in Buckinghamshire from 27 July 1624 to 1636. He was suspended for refusing to read the anti-Puritan Book of Sports from the pulpit and after three years of "ecclesiastical difficulty" moved with his family to New England. [3]
William came to New England in 1639. [4]
Salisbury, Massachusetts was settled as Colchester in 1638. Its name was changed to Salisbury as a compliment to Reverend William Worcester, from Salisbury, England. [5]
Ms. Rebecca Hall of Salisbury, widow, conveyed a house and land in Salisbury that she had acquired from her former husband Henry Byley to her two children, Henry and Rebecca Byley, at athe time of her marriage to Mr. John Hall. On 18 November 1647—for the good of the children and on the authority of the General Court—she sold the land to Henry Ambrose. The court confirmed the sale on 24: 2m: 1649 and Christopher Bott and Lieutenant Robert Pike were appointed overseers of the funds derived. Henry Byley was to have his part when of age; Rebecca Bylie to have her part at 17. [6]
William's will was proved on 2 December 1663. He mentions his wife Rebecca, daughter-in-law [stepdaughter] Rebecca Byley, his son Samuel, his daughter Susanna (also his daughter Stacey), his son William, his son Timothy, his son Moses. He asked his loving friend Captain Robert Pike, his brother Edward French, his loving friends Richard Wells and Mr. Thomas Bradbury to be overseers. He refers his wife's former husband John Hall. [7]
In a 1663 letter, William's stepson James Hall called Edward French "Uncle French." Edward French appears to have no connection to William's wife Rebecca and her family. This along with William's will suggests that William's unknown wife Sarah might be Edward French's sister, or that Edward French's unknown wife Anne might be William's sister or that Sarah and Edward French's wife might be sisters. [3]
Timothy and Moses Worcester, both of Salisbury, divided the house and land left to them by Mr. William Worcester on 12 March 1666/7. Susanna, wife of Timothy released her dower on 17 September 1667. [8]
Children of William Worceser and Sarah Unknown:
i. Patience Worcester was buried in Olney on 19 November 1630. [3]
ii. Samuel Worcester died in 1681 in Lynn. [10] He married Elizabeth Parrott, the daughter of Francis Parrott of Rowley, on 29 December 1659. [10] She was born on 1 Mary 1640. [10]
ii. Susanna Worcester was baptized on 3 May 1634 in Olney. [3] She married Thomas Stacey on 4: 8m: 1653 in Ipswich. [9][11]
iii. John Worcester was baptized on 14 August 1636 in Olney. [3] He was buried on 26 March 1638 in Olney. [12]
iv. Mary Worcester was buried on 16 December ____ in Olney. [3]
v. William Worcester was baptized on 15 January 1637/8 in Olney. [12] He died in 1683 in Boston. [10] He married Constant Unknown. [10]
Mr. William Worcester of Boston conveyed property that his father Mr. William Worcester had devised him in his will on 28 May 1668. [13]
vi. Sarah Worcester died on 1: 2m: 1641 in Salisbury. [1]
vii. Timothy Worcester was born on 14: 3m: 1642 in Salisbury. He married Elizabeth Unknown.
viii. Moses Worcester was born on 10: 9m: 1643 in Salisbury. [14] He was living in 1731 in Kittery, Maine. [10] He married an unknown first wife. [10] He married second Mrs. Sarah Soper. [10]
Moses was a well-known Indian fighter and a large land owner in Kittery. [10]
ix. Sarah Worcester was born on 22: 4m: 1646 in Salisbury. [14] She died on 9: 1m: 1649/50 in Salisbury. [1]
x. Elizabeth Worcester was born on 9: 1m: 1648 in Salisbury. [14] She died in 1649 in Salisbury. [1]
xi. Elizabeth Worcester was born on 9: 11m: 1649 in Salisbury. [14]
References:
1. Vital Records of Salisbury, Massachusetts: To the End of the Year 1849 (Topsfield: Topsfield Historical Society, 1915), 634.
2. "Geanealogical Gleanings in England," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 47 (1892): 137–9.
3. Robert L.V. French and Melinde Lutz Sanborn, "The Rev. William Worcester of Salisbury, Massachusetts," The American Genealogist 71 (1996): 50–51.
4. "Time of Arrival in New England of the Following Ministers," New England Historical Genealogical Register 1 (1847): 289.
5. James B. Stone, "Essex County Place Names," Essex Genealogist 8 (1988): 15.
6. "Old Norfolk County Records," Essex Antiquarian 1 (1897): 20. [Christopher Bott was a relative, perhaps a nephew of Rebecca's former husband Henry Byley.]
7. "Will of Rev. William Worcester," Essex Antiquarian 11 (1907): 60–61.
8. "Old Norfolk County Records," Essex Antiquarian 6 (1902): 173.
9. George Francis Dow, Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, digitized volumes (Salem Witch Project: Documentary Archive and Transcription Project : http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/Essex/index.html), 2: 346.
10. Sarah Alice Worcester, The Descendants of Reverend William Worcester (Boston: E.F. Worcester, 1914), 4–6.
11. "Answers to Queries," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 4 (1901): 64.
12. Dean Crawford Smith, "Some Olney Cluster Connections," The American Genealogist 73 (1998): 119–22.
13. "Old Norfolk County Records," Essex Antiquarian 6 (1902): 177.
14. Vital Records of Salisbury, 257.
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18-May-2023