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The Official Site for the One-Named Study of Harvey (et var) |
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PART IIGENEALOGIES HARVEY THOMAS HARVEY (see page 21 ante) died in Somersetshire prior to 1647, as is shown by the "will of Agnes Clarke of Ayshill [Ashill], Somerset, widow". [See (4){7}William Harvey, {2} post] The name of the wife of (1) Thomas Harvey is not known. His children, so far as can be ascertained, were as follows:
+2......i. ___, a daughter, b. about 1610 About the time of the birth of Thomas Harvey's first child, King James' declaration that he would make all men conform to the established church, or drive them out of England, was having its due effect. Some of his subjects--known as Dissenters and Puritans-- were not long in coming to the conclusion that teach body of Christians had a right to form a religious society of its own wholly independent of the state. To those who thus thought the names Independents and Separatists were applied; and as early as 1608 a body of these Independents, under their spiritual leader John Robinson, resolved to leave England for Holland, where all men were at that time free to establish societies for the worship of God in their own manner. With much difficulty and danger they managed to escape to Holland, and after remaining there upwards of twelve years a part of them succeeded in obtaining from King James the privilege of emigrating to America. A London trading company, which was sending out an expedition for fish and furs, agreed to furnish the Pilgrims passage by the Mayflower, though on terms so hard that the exiles said the "conditions were fitter for thieves and bond slaves than honest men." In 1620 these wanderers, or Pilgrims, set forth for this New World beyond the sea, which they hoped would redress the wrongs of the Old. They came to find in this new Western Continent a home where they might enjoy that toleration and freedom denied them in the land of their birth. They came
"To seek a home and rest; Landing at Plymouth in Massachusetts they established a colony on the basis of "equal laws for the general good." Ten years later John Winthrop, a Puritan gentleman of wealth, followed with a small company and settled Salem and Boston. The great immigration into New England under the Massachusetts Bay charter, which began in 1630, continued for a period of ten years or more, or until the cessation in England of persecution for non-conformity. It is estimated by Hutchinson, the eminent historian of the Massachusetts Colony, that during this period 20,000 persons came to these shores. "It was not the peasantry of Great Britain, nor her paupers, nor her fortune hunters that founded New England. It was her staunch yeomanry, her intelligent mechanics, her merchants, her farmers, her middle classes -- and of devout women not a few -- whose enlarged vision beheld a realm of freedom beyond the ocean, and whose independent spirits disdained the yoke of oppression, were it to be imposed either on the soul or the body." During the first few years of the Massachusetts Colony Dorchester (the oldest town in the Bay, but now included within the municipal limits of Boston and constituting the 16th Ward of the city) was its most important town; * and, among the mass of immigrants who landed upon the shores of Massachusetts from all parts of England in 1630, the first settlers of Dorchester may be regarded as the special delegation of the south-western counties of England, among which is Somersetshire. -------------------------------------- * In the old first meeting house of the Dorchester plantation was held the first town meeting in America - A.D. 1630.
(2) --------- HARVEY, {2} daughter of (1) Thomas Harvey, and who was born in Somersetshire about 1610, was married in England to Anthony Slocum, presumably of Somersetshire. She came with her husband to America about 1636, and it is believed that they settled at Dorchester. Anthony was one of the forty-six "first and ancient purchasers" in 1637 of Taunton, Mass [ see (4) William Harvey, post] where he resided from 1638 to 1662, when, having united with the Society of Friends, he disposed of his rights in Taunton and removed with his family to that part of New Plymouth incorporated later under the name of Dartmouth township. He and one Ralph Russell were the first settlers there. A fragment of a letter written by Anthony at Dartmouth (the date is torn off, but it was probably about 1670) to his "brother-in-law, William Harvey in Taunton" has been preserved. In it is this paragraph: "Myself, wife and sons, and daughter Gilbert who hath four sons, remember our respects and loves, and my sons are all married." The Children of Anthony and ----- (Harvey) Slocum were:
i. Giles, born about 1635 in Somersetshire; died in Rhode Island in 1682. It is said that (i.) Giles Slocum "was the common ancestor of all the Slocums whose American lineage has been found to date from the 17th century." ----------------------------------- * In the division of Taunton lands made 28 Dec. 1659, among the "first purchasers," the records indicate that the family of Anthony Slocum then consisted of six persons - who were himself, his wife and four children; his son John having died in 1651.
(4) WILLIAM HARVEY, {2} (Thomas, 1), was born in Somersetshire, England, about 1614. Accompanied by his brother Thomas he came to American in 1636, and settled at Dorchester. In the 1637 he was one of the company of the forty-six "first and ancient purchasers, " so called, who, "feeling much straitened for want of room", purchased from Massasoit, the chief sachem of the Wampanoag tribe of Indians, whose seat was Mount Hope, the Indian title to Cohannet, lying thirty-two miles south of Boston, in the colony of New Plymouth. "In the Summer of 1638," says Winthrop, "there came over [from England] twenty ships and at least 3000 persons, so as they were forced to look out new plantations." Thereupon the proprietors of Cohannet removed from Dorchester to their new plantation. As a number of these proprietors had come to America from the Ancient town of Taunton, and its neighborhood, in Somersetshire, they gave to their new purchase on the 3 March, 1639, the name of Taunton -- "in honor and love to our dear native country. ** and owning it a great mercy of God to bring us to this place, and settling of us, on lands of our own bought with our money in peace, in the midst of the heathen, for a possession for ourselves and for our posterity after us," as they afterwards declared.* William Harvey's name appears in the list of original proprietors." [See Baylies' "Old Colony Memoirs," I.:286.] He was the owner of eight shares in the new purchase. The first recorded marriage occurred in the new settlement 8 Nov. 1638, and in the following Spring the second marriage took place. It was that of William Harvey, and is recorded upon the court records of New Plymouth thus: " At a Court of Assistants, William Harvey and Joane Hucker of Cohannet were maryed te 2 of Aprill 1639." At that time marriage was quite an undertaking, since both parties must travel to te town of Plymouth if inhabitants of Plymouth Colony, or to Boston if inhabitants of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and have the ceremony performed by the Governor or one of the magistrates.† ---------------------------------
* At a later date, when the Colony of Massachusetts was divided into counties, another
Somersetshire name -- Bristol -- was selected for the county of which Taunton was to be,
and is, the sire-town.
In the south-western part of this county is the town of Somerset.
The ancient town of Bridgewater (another Somersetshire name with an "e" inserted in the
middle of it) was the first interior settlement in the county of Plymouth, Mass. It
adjoined Taunton, was incorporated in 1656, and embraced within its limits the four
towns now known as Bridgewater, North, East and West Bridgewater.
† Ministers of the gospel were not allowed to solemnize marriages in the early colonial
days. The Puritans had firmly implanted in the social soil of New England the strict
Protestant principle that marriage is purely a civil rite. Throughout all New England
previous to 1680 the marriage rite was performed by magistrates, or by persons specially
empowered by the colonial authorities. Hutchinson supposes that in Massachusetts there
was no instance of a marriage by a clergyman during the existence of their first charter--
that is to say, previous to 1684.
It was not until 1692 that the Provincial statute provided the "every Justice of the Peace
within the county were he resides, and every settled Minister in any town, shall and are
hereby respectively empowered and authorized to solemnize marriages."
In the latter part of 1639, or early in 1640, William Harvey and his wife removed to Boston, where they remained until 1646--during which period four children were born to them. [See The N.E. Hist & Gen. Reg. II.: 189, and VIII.: 38,350.] The family then returned to Taunton. In 1648 William was one of the heirs named in the "will of Agnes Clark of Ayshill [Ashill], Somerset, widow." The will was executed 20 Oct., 1647, and proved 10 May, 1648, and from it the following paragraphs have been taken: * * "I give and bequeath unto William Harvey the son of Thomas Harvey, deceased, my kinsman now in New England, eighteen pounds, being parcel of thirty-five pounds which is owing unto me by Richard Parke of Ayshill upon his bond, which sum is to be paid as soon as it can be recovered, if he shall come to demand it at nay time within four years, but if he come not then my will is that William Harvey the son of James Harvey shall have the said money at such time as he shall be of lawful age to give a discharge. " I give and bequeath to the said William, son of James Harvey, fifteen pounds parcel of the said thirty-five pounds, when of age. * * * "I give and bequeath unto William Harvey in New England all my household stuff during his life, if he come to claim it; and after his decease to remain in the house to the use of James Harvey his brother, and the said James to make use of it until William his brother shall come to claim it." * * * [See "Genealogical Gleanings in England," New Eengl. Hist & Gen. Reg., XLVI: 453] "At an orderly town-meeting warned by the constable," and held in Taunton 28 Dec 1659, it was voted that there should be a general division of land to every inch and to whom rights of division shall belong"; and it was agreed that the apportionment should be made upon the following plan: "two acres to the head, * two acres to the shilling, † and two acres to the lot.‡ ----------------------------------------
* Each member of the family of a proprietor or holder of a right in the purchase was
regarded as a "head". An unmarried man was "to be looked upon as two heads".
† Refers to the tax or rate levied in shillings against every inhabitant by the duly
appointed "raters" or "listers".
‡ The "home" lot which each of the "first purchasers" took possession of, and which was
charged against him as an advancement. In the list of those who participated in this distribution of Taunton lands the name of William Harvey appears, and he is charged with at "rate" of fourteen shillings and credited with seven "heads"--himself, his wife and five children. According to the plan of apportionment "two acres to the head" gave him fourteen acres and "two acres to the shilling" twenty-eight acres. Adding the "two acres to the lot" made a total of forty-four acres--which was the quantity of land that William Harvey received. [See "Quarter- Millennial Celebration of Taunton," 1889, p 243.] His "home" lot was on the north side of what is now Cohannet street, between what is known as Taunton Green (formerly the town's commons or training-field), and Mill River. A description of the lots is to be found in Taunton Prop. Rec., IV.: 59,&c. In 1661 William Harvey was Excise Commissioner. [See Plym. Records, XI:133] In 1664 he was a Representative to the General Court. This latter office he held again in 1677. The law requiring towns in Plymouth Colony to elect selectmen, and giving them many judicial powers and duties, was passed in 1665, and the first "Celect Men" chosen in Taunton under that law were William Harvey and four others -- who were approved by the General Court 5 June, 1666. [See Plym. Col. Recl, IV.: 124.] In 1666 and '7, and in 1671 and other years later, William Harvey was a selectman. 10 Jany, 1669, he was one of ten men chosen by the town "to draw [up] a list of the purchasers or free inhabitants" in Taunton. He was one of a committee of seven appointed 2 Sept., 1672, to manage for the "free inhabitants" the purchase of a certain tract of land from "Philip, alias Metacum, Chief Sachem," who was the son and successor of Massasoit, heretofore mentioned, and is known in history as King Philip, the most wily and sagacious Indian of his time. The committee immediately attended to their duty and soon obtained from Philip, in consideration of £143, a deed for a tract of land "lying three miles along ye Great River," and extending westerly four miles. The year 1675 brought with it the gloom and horror of an Indian War. After nearly forty years of quiet, following the vindictive struggle with the Pequots, the Colonies were terror struck with the news that a wide-spread combination of Wampanoags, Narragansetts and other tribes of savages had been formed under the leadership of King Philip with the design of exterminating the white race from the land. The first overt act of hostility by Philip was committed on Sunday, June 24, 1675, when several houses were burned and men slaughtered at Swnazey, about twelve miles from Taunton. During the Summer the principal seat of the war was in the interior of Massachusetts, and from its central position Taunton was the chosen rendezvous of the troops from Plymouth, Boston, and elsewhere. For te same reason it was a constant point of attack by te savages, and several of its dwellings were consumed and their inmates butchered. In te Spring of 1676 the danger of the entire destruction of the village was so imminent that the Cape towns invited the people of Taunton to take up their abode with them until the war should be ended. The offer was declined in a remarkable letter "subscribed in the name of the town" by William Harvey and three other inhabitants. The following paragraphs are from the letter, which is printed in full on page 325 of the "Quarter-Millennial Celebration of Taunton." * * * "Our sins are already such as might render our friends (did they know us) afraid to entertain us; and what can we expect as the issue of such an addition thereunto, but that the hand of the Lord would follow us, and find us out wheresoever we fled. * * * The Lord do with us as seemeth good in His sight. Here we have sinned, and here we submit ourselves to suffer, except the Lord's Providence, and order or advice of Authorities, should plainly determine us to removal. * * * We are willing, if it may be judged convenient by you, to secure some of our cattle in your parts, that they may be no booty or succor to the enemy, if the Lord spare them so long as that we may have opportunity to convey them, in which we desire your speedy advice. And beseeching you not to cease to pray for us that the Lord would heal our backslidings, and prepare us for what measure of the cup of His indignation it may seem good to Him to order us to drink." * In March, 1677, "William Harvey of Taunton" received £10 from contributions made by "Christians in Ireland" for the relief of those "impoverished by the late Indian War." Assonet Neck, a peninsula about two miles long and less than one broad, lying near Taunton and belonging to the Indians, having been seized by the Colony to pay the expenses of the Indian Wars, was ordered to be sold by the General Court in July, 1677. In the following November Constant Southworth, the Colony Treasurer, conveyed the land to William Harvey and five other Taunton men; and in 1682 the tract was annexed to and made a part of Taunton. In January, 1678, William Harvey was named as the first member of a committee of seven of the inhabitants of Taunton appointed to regulate the settlement of lands, and to attend to the confirmation of titles to purchasers and the ratification of supposed lost grants and town orders. About this period, and during some years later, William's name appears often in connection with important affairs of the town; which indicates that he continued to be a man of character and influence in the community. ------------------------------- * see sketch of (130) John Harvey, part III, post. for further references to King Philip's or the Narragansett War.
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