Person:Edward Sprague (4)

Their home was the "Mill House" situated near the River Wey, a small stream that worked the Mill for Fulling. (Note: The Mill House is still in existence and the village boasts the "Sprague Wishing Well", and a set of Bells given to the church nearby). Edward was a fuller (working with the plentiful local supply of fleece) and had a fulling mill which was destroyed in the early 20th century

Origins

Edward is often listed as the son of Family:Tristam Sprague and Elizabeth Colt (1), a couple that were married in 1575. The basis for the original identification is unclear, but may be based on the name Tristam itself, which appears frequently among Edward's descendants. However, scholarship in the late 1970s noted tha this identification was unproven, and unlikely, since Tristram and Elizabeth married, left children (not named Edward) and died documented in the Puddleton parish records, the timing would be unlikely for a man whose eldest surviving son (Ralph) was born 1594-1596 to have parents marred in 1575, and that there were actually numerous Tristrams in Dorset in the 16th-17th centuries.^[9] There do not appear to be more recent reputable sources defending the identification.^[10]

Estate

A complete copy of the will and inventory can be found here.

That Edward, fuller, of Upwey, is the father of William (and his immigrant brothers Ralph and Richard), is evident from his will, dated 6 Jun 1614 and proved 13 Oct 1614 in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. It mentions “Ralphe Sprague my eldest sonne,” “my eldest daughter Alice Sprague”, “Edward Sprague my second sonne,” “Richard Sprague my third sonne,” “Crofer Sprague my fowrth sonne,” “William Sprague my youngest sonne” and “Christian Sprague my wife.”

1. ↑ Chamberlain, George Walter. The Spragues of Malden, Massachusetts. (Boston, Massachusetts : T.R. Marvin & Son, 1923)
   p19, 1923.
2.   Sprague, Warren Vincent. Sprague Families in America. (Rutland, Vt.: Tuttle, 1913)
   119, 1913.
3.   Sprague, Frank William. The Brothers, Ralph and William Sprague and Some of Their Descendants. New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Apr 1909)
   3, 1909.
4.   Cutter, William Richard. Genealogical and Family History of Northern New York: a Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation. (New York, New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co., 1910).
5.   Sprague, Edward George. The Ralph Sprague Genealogy. (Montpelier, Vt.: Capital City Press, 1913)
   24, 1913.
6.   The Sprague Project: A Database of Over 316,000 Individuals.

   Edwards parentage is disputed [1]

7.   Genealogical Gleanings in england, in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society)
   V50 p 588, 1897.

   Will of Richard Warren [2]

8. ↑ ^8.0 8.1 Will and Inventory of Edward Sprague
   [3].

   Indicates that both will and inventory are dated June 6.

9. ↑ Kent, D.L. , “The Sprague Family of Charlestown, Massachusetts,” NEHGR, 132 (1978):51 (an article written for the express purpose of disproving this theory); Dowty, Ruth Sprague, "Sprague Records in Weymouth, Tincleton, and Dorchester, Dorset," NEHGR, 134 (1980):194 (Agreeing with Kent and further analyzing Dorset records). See also The Sprague Project notes for Edward, which contain more from Dowty.
10. ↑ As of 1995, the state of the scholarship was such that the profile of son Ralph in the Great Migration Begins identifies Dowty as the latest source addressing Ralph's English origins.