Return to main file
GEORGE WATSON (pr. 1608/13–1689)
PHEBE HICKS (bp. 1615–1663), daughter of Robert Hicks
George Watson was probably born about 1610/5. He died on 31 January 1688/9 in Plymouth, age 87. [1][2, 134, 68[worn]] His reported age at death is too high, an error or an exaggeration. He married Phebe Hicks.
George's recorded age at death must be error or an exaggeration. He was a freeman in 1634 so he must have been born by 1613. However, he was a constable—a strenuous job—in 1672. This suggests he was probably not born long before 1613.
Phebe, the daughter of Robert Hicks, was baptized on 15 March 1614/5 at St. Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey. [3] Phebe, the wife of George, died on 22 May 1663 in Plymouth. [2, 663]
George was a mariner.
George arrived in New England by 1631. Wakefield conjectures that George might have been one of the servants sent to New England on the Talbot in 1629. [4]
To Governor William Bradford's horror, Isaac Allerton and the Pilgrim backers in England hired Edward Ashley to manage the fur trade at Penobscot (now in Maine). According to Bradford: [5]
For though he had wit and ability enough to manage the business, yet some of them knew him to be a very profane young man, and he had for some times lived among the Indians as a savage and went naked amongst them and use their manners, in which time he got their language. So they feared he might still run into evil courses (though he promised better) ...George was, apparently, one of the young men of Plymouth who accompanied Ashley to Penobscot. Ashley was charged with selling guns to the Indians and on 19 July 1631 George was examined on the matter. [3][4]
George was admitted a freeman in 1634. [6, 1: 40] He is on a 7 March 1636/7 list of freemen. [6, 1: 52]
On 14 March 1635/6 Mr. Hicks, George Watson, and Richard Higgens were allocated land at Island Creek for planting in 1636. On 20 March 1636/7 they were allocated the same land for 1637. [6, 1: 40, 56]
On 5 February 1637/8 George was granted four acres of land lying next to Mr. Thomas Hill's on the north side. [6, 1: 76] On 7 May 1638 George requested land towards the Six Mile Brook. [6, 1: 68] On 30 November 1640 he was granted six acres of marsh meadow at Green Harbor [Marshfield] marsh. [6, 1: 167]
John Jenney, Thomas Willet, and George Watson were charged with illegally trading with the Indians for corn. On 6 February 1636/7 the court confiscated the corn. [6, 1: 50]
George was on the General Enquiry on 4 June 1639. [6, 1: 126] He was on a jury to set forth highways and set boundaries on 1 February 1640/1 [6, 2: 7] He was on a trial jury on 2 March 1646/7, 6 March 1654/5, and 7 June 1670. [6, 2: 111; 3: 75; 5: 42] On 26 July 1652 he was on a coroner's enquiry into the death of James Glass. The enquiry found that James had gone out in his boat in stormy weather and drowned. [6, 3: 16] On 5 June 1678 he was on a coroner's enquiry into the death of Samuel Drew. The enquiry found that Samuel had been drinking in his boat and drowned while trying to get out. [6, 5: 263] On 6 January 1678 he was a coroner's enquiry into the death of Thomas Lucas. The enquiry found that Thomas, being very old, decrepit and drunk, had fallen into a ditch and frozen to death. [6, 6: 8] On 28 October 1684 he was on a coroner's equiry into the death of Joseph Trewant and Israel Holmes, who attempted to go out into Plymouth harbor in a February storm and drowned. [6, 6: 148]
George is in the Plymouth section of the 1643 list of those men between 16 and 60 capable of bearing arms in Plymouth Colony. [7]
On 1 March 1652/3 Mistress Joane Barnes was sentenced to sit in the stocks for slandering and defaming Captain Willett's children and George Watson's daughter. [6, 3: 23]
On 12 May 1653, alarmed by reports of war with the Dutch, George Watson and his barque were impressed. [6, 3: 29]
On 6 October 1659 Mr. Alden, Captain Southworth, Constant Southworth, and George Watson were charge with viewing Nathaniel Warren's lands and settling the differences between him and his neighbors. [6, 3: 174]
George was a constable in Plymouth on 6 June 1660 and 5 June 1672. [6, 3: 223; 5: 90]
On 1 May 1660 George asked the court, on behalf of his son John and his nephew John Bangs, that whereas Samuel Hicks was mistakenly listed as purchaser of lands at Cushenah and Accoaksett, could this be corrected to say Richard Hicks. The court deferred the matter until June. [6, 3: 186]
On 19 March 1663 Gyles Gilbert, yeoman of Taunton, for 80 pounds, sold land in Taunton to George Watson, yeoman of Plymouth. James Davis, sometimes resident of Plymouth, seaman, for a "valuable sum," sold five acres of upland in Plymouth to George Watson, seaman of Plymouth. Mr. Nathaniel Souther, yeoman, sometimes of Plymouth, sold half an acre of march meadow to George Watson, seaman of Plymouth. The last two transactions are undated but occurred before 18 November 1664. [8]
George was a selectman for Plymouth on 5 June 1666. [6, 4: 124]
Margaret Hicks, widow of Plymouth, wrote her will on 8 July 1665. Among others, she mentioned the children of her son-in-law George Watson and her deceased daughter Phebe Watson. It was exhibited to the court on 6 March 1665/6 on the oaths of Captain Thomas Southworth and George Watson, whom she had named overseers. [9] George was granted letters of administration on the estate of Mistress Margaret Hicks on 6 March 1665/6. [6, 4: 117]
Iron ore was discovered in Taunton and on 21 October 1652 the town agreed to hire brothers Henry and James Leonard and Ralph Russell as iron workers. They began an iron works and the leading citizens founded a stock company. [10][11] By a 31 January 1662 indenture, James Phillips and Elizabeth Phillips, widow of William Phillips, both of Taunton sold their rights in the Taunton ironworks to Richard Church, carpenter of Plymouth. On 9 March 1670/1 Benjamin Church made over this deed to George Watson of Plymouth. [12, 4]
On 22 June 1672, for five pounds, Tackamanett sold a triangle of upland in Swansea to Constant Southworth, James Cudworth, Sr., Hugh Cole and George Watson. [12, 35]
On 28 October 1681 witnesses testified to an exchange of land agreed between Edward Grey, deceased, and George. George acknowledged the agreement. [6, 6: 76]
Elkanun Watson posted bond on his father's estate on 14 March 1688. [13]
Children of George Watson and Phebe Hicks:
i. Phebe Watson was born say 1636. She married Jonathan Shaw.
ii. John Watson was living in 1660. [3] There is no further record of him.
iii. Mary Watson was born about 1642, based on her age at death. She died on 1 December 1723, age 81. She married Thomas Leonard on 21 August 1662 in Plymouth. [2, 663] Thomas was the son of James Leonard. [14] He was born about 1641, based on his age at death. Major Thomas Leonard Esq. died on 24 November 1713, age 72. Thomas and Mary are buried in the Neck O Land Cemetery in Taunton. [15]
There are apparently no records connecting Mary Watson, the wife of Thomas Leonard, to Mary, the daughter of George Watson. However, there were no other Watson families in Plymouth at the time. [3] Mary might have met Thomas through her father connection to Taunton and its iron works.
An elegy for Thomas can be viewed here.
The inscriptions on Thomas and Mary's gravestones say:
Here lieth ye Body of Mary widdow of Major Thomas Leonard Esq aged 81 years died Decemr ye 1 1723Thomas was a Justice of the Peace, Justice of the Peace, a physician, and a field officer. [14] He took over the management of the Taunton ironworks and continued until his death in 1713. [11]Here lieth the Body of Major Thomas Leonard Esq aged 72 years died Nov ye 24th 1713.
iv. Elizabeth Watson (twin) was born on 18 January 1648/9 in Plymouth. [2, 656] She married Joseph Williams on 28 November 1667 in Plymouth. [2, 666]
v. Samuel Watson (twin) was born on 18 January 1648/9 in Plymouth. [2, 656] He died there on 20 August 1649. [2, 657]
vi. Jonathan Watson was born on 9 March 1651/2 in Plymouth. [2, 659] There is not further record of him. [3]
vii. Elkanah Watson was born on 25 February 1655 in Plymouth. [2, 661] Elkanun, Edward Doty, Sr. and his son John all drowned on 8 February 1689/90 in Plymouth. [2, 134] He married Mercy ___. She was born about 1658 and died on 27 September 1721, age. 62. [16] She married second John Freeman.
In the final settlement of Elkanah's estate on 21 February 1704/5, John Freeman, Jr. and his wife Mercy and Edmond Freeman and his wife Phebe acknowledged that they had received from their mother Mercy Freeman, now the wife of Mr. John Freeman of Harwich, who was the wife of their honored father Elkanah Watson, deceased, and administrator of his estate, their share of his movables and also 20 pounds that was a legacy from their honored grandfather George Watson of Plymouth. Phebe and Mercy Freeman, daughters of Elkanah Watson and their husbands, John and Edmond Freeman acknowledged that they had sold for 120 pounds to their brother John Watson, cooper of Plymouth, their share of Elkanah's housing and land and his interest in the Taunton ironworks. [16]
References:
1. "Plymouth, MA: First Church Records, 1620–1859," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org, 332.
2. "Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620–1850," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org > Plymouth.
3. "The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620–1633, Volumes I-III," digitized book, AmericanAncestors.org, originally Published as: Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 volumes (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 1944–7.
4. Robert S. Wakefield, "Mayflower Passengers in Maine," Mayflower Descendant 42 (1992): 131–2.
5. William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation 1620–1647, edited and annotated by Samuel Eliot Morison (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001), 219.
6. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Records of Plymouth Colony: Court Orders, vol. 1, 1633–1640, vol. 2, 1641–1651, vol. 3, 1651–1661, vol. 4, 1661–1668, vol. 5, 1668–1678, vol. 6, 1678–1691 (Boston: William White, 1855, 1866).
7. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Records of Plymouth Colony: Court Orders, Miscellaneous Records, 1633–1689 (Boston: William White, 1857), 188.
8. "Plymouth Colony Records of Deeds," Mayflower Descendant 34 (1937): 22–23.
9. "Plymouth County Wills and Inventories," Mayflower Descendant 16 (1914): 157–8.
10. "The Ancient Iron Works in Taunton," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 38 (1884), 266–75.
11. James M. Swank, History of the Manufacture of Iron in All Ages (Philadelphia: American Iron and Steel Association, 1892).
12. "Massachusetts: Plymouth Colony Deeds, 1671–1673," database with image AmericanAncestors.org From Scott Andrew Bartley, Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England, Deeds, &c., Vol. III, pt. 2, 1671-1673 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2019).
13. Plymouth County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1686–1881," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org, case 22233.
14. "Major Thomas Leonard," New England Historical and Genealogical Register22 (1868): 140–3.
15. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/17539405/mary-leonard), memorial page for Mary Watson Leonard (2 Aug 1642–1 Dec 1723), Find a Grave Memorial ID 17539405, ; Find a Grave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/17539346/thomas-leonard), memorial page for Maj Thomas Leonard (3 Aug 1641–24 Nov 1713), Find a Grave Memorial ID 17539346, both citing Neck O Land Cemetery, Taunton, Bristol County, Massachusetts, both maintained by Cindi Caltrider (contributor 46772842), both accessed 17 December 2022.
16. George Ernest Bowman, "John Freeman of Eastham and Harwich," Mayflower Descendant 33 (1935): 100–14.
©a. buiter
26-Dec-2022