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RICHARD SWAN (c. 1606–1678)

ANN SPOFFORD (d. 1658)

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Richard Swan was born about 1606. He died between 25 April and 23 May 1678. He married first Ann Spofford on 24 February 1622 in South Cave, Yorkshire. [1] He married second [as her third husband the widow] Ann Trumble on 1 March 1658[/9?] in Rowley, Essex County, Massachusetts. [2] She married second John Trumble.

Ann Spofford was buried on 4 April 1658 in Rowley. [2]

Richard deposed that he was 68 in March 1675 and about 70 in April 1677. [3, 6: 13, 269]

Shortly after Ezekiel Rogers arrived in New England in December 1638, eight people joined the church in Boston, including Richard Swan, husbandman. On 9 November 1639 Richard was dismissed to the church in Rowley. [1]

Richard was a freeman on 7 October 1640. [1]

Richard was fined three shillings for striking Ezekiel Norton in the face on March 1651. [3, 1: 219]

Richard was on the trial jury at the March 1649, September 1651, September 1659, and September 1664 courts at Ipswich. [3, 1: 161, 232; 2: 168; 3: 119] He was on the grand jury at the September 1653, September 1654, September 1655, and September 1662 courts at Ipswich. [3, 1: 289, 362, 396; 2: 433]

Mr. Anthony Crosby sued Richard for not making good on land according to a deed of sale from Swan to Crosby, specifically two hundred acres, being the right of his father. The March 1665 court found for the defendant. [3, 3: 239]

Richard Swan of Rowley made his will on 25 April 1678; it was proved on 23 May 1678. He named his wife Ann; his son Robert Swan and Robert's son Richard; Elizabeth, Samuel and Sarah, the three children of his son-in-law and daughter Stickney; his grandson Richard Sutton; his four daughters, Jane Wilson, Frances Quilter, Dorothy Chapman, and Mercy Warner; his son-in-law Joseph Boynton and Sarah, his wife. Inventory was taken on 22 May 1678 and attested to on 23 May 1678; it amounted to £486-19-02. [4]

Children of Richard Swan and Ann Spofford:

i. Robert Swan was baptized on 26 February 1625/6 in Dicke [Gilberdike], East Riding, Yorkshire. [1] He died on 11 February 1697/8, age 73, and is buried in the Pentucket Cemetery in Haverhill. [5][6] He married first Elizabeth Acie of Rowley. [5][7] She died in 1689. [5] He married second Hannah (Bull) Russ in 1 April 1690 in Haverhill. [5][6] Hannah was born about 1649. [6] She died, or was incapacitated, by 1 July 1720, when her son Robert Swan replaced her as administrator of her husband's estate. [6] She married first Fennel Ross. [6] Fennel—far older than Hannah—was born about 1621 and died by 12 February 1683/4. [6]

Robert was made a freeman at the March 1650 court in Ipswich. [3, 1: 186] He settled in Haverhill in 1650.

ii. William Swan was baptized on 25 November 1627 in Gilberdike. [1]

iii. Frances Swan was baptized on 7 November 1630 in Gilberdike. [1] She married Mark Quilter. [7]

iv. Dorothy Swan was baptized on 23 October 1634 in Gilberdike. [1} She married first Thomas Abbott on 13 July 1655 in Rowley. [2] Thomas, the son of George and Mary (Felstead) Abbott, was baptized on 1 September 1675 in Chappel, co. Essex, and buried on 7 September 1659 in Rowley. [8] She married second ___ Chapman.

v. Julian Swan was born say 1636. She died by 6 April 1674. She married Lieutenant Samuel Stickney.

vi. Jane Swan was born say 1638. She married Thomas Wilson. [9] Thomas, the son of Theophilus and Elizabeth Wilson and grandson of Reverend Thomas and Christian (Ower) Wilson, was born about 1634 in England and died about 1703. [9]

vii. Mercy Swan was born on 4 July 1640 in Rowley. [2] She married Samuel Warner on 21 October 1662 in Ipswich. [10]

viii. Sarah Swan married Joseph Boynton on 13 May 1669 in Rowley. [2]

ix. Faith Swan was born on 30 March 1644 in Rowley. [2] She married Richard Sutton as his second wife. [11] She was apparently dead by 25 April 1678.

Endnotes:

1. Patricia Law Hatcher, "Ezekiel Rogers' Company," Great Migration Newsletter 18 (2009): 19–22, 27–30.

2. Vital Records of Rowley, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849, vol. 1, vol. 2 (Salem: Essex Institute, 1928, 1931).

3. George Francis Dow, ed., and Harriet S. Tapley, trans., Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, 9 vols., digitized books, Salem Witch Trials: Documentary Archive and Transcription Project (http://salem.lib.virginia.edu).

4. George Francis Dow, The Probate Records of Essex County, Massachusetts, vol. 1, vol. 2, vol. 3 (Salem: Essex Institute, 1916, 1917, 1920), 3: 225–30.

5. William B. Lapham, "Swan Family," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 33 (1879): 404.

6. Kathleen Canney Barber, Janet Ireland Delorey, and Alan Bruce Sherman, "The Ross Families of Ipswich, Massachusetts," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 157 (2003): 229.

7. Harriet Swan Cadle, "Descendants of Richard Swan," New York Genealogical and Biographical Record 29 (1898): 213.

8. Leslie Mahler, "The English Origins of George Abbott of Rowley, Massachusetts," The American Genealogist 85 (2011): 27.

9. Doris Schreiber Willcox, "Massachusetts Descendants of the Reverend Thomas Wilson," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 163 (2009): 12.

10. Vital Records of Ipswich, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849, 2 vols. (Salem: Essex Institute, 1910), vol. 1, vol. 2.

11. "New England Marriages to 1700," digitized books, AmericanAncestors, originally published as Clarence Almon Torrey, New England Marriages Prior to 1700 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015), 2: 1474 SUTTON, Richard (1621?-) & 2/wf Faith [SWAN]; by 1674; Reading.

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© A. Buiter 2014

24-Nov-2023 6:50 PM