Person:William Parke (7)

THE PIONEERS OF MASSACHUSETTS, William, Roxbury, came, a single man, in the 12th month, 1630. [E.] Deacon, town officer, deputy, commissioner; frm. May 18, 1631. He owned land also at Stonington. Signed inv. of John Levens in 1648. He m. Martha, dau. of John Holgrave, of Salem; she d. Aug. 25, 1708, in her 94th year. Ch. Theoder b. July 26, 1637, (m. Samuel Williams,) Hannah b. Aug. 28, 1639, d. 26 (4) 1665, Martha b. March 2, 1641, Sarah bapt. 19 (9) 1643, bur. 8 (9) 1644, John b. June 30, 1645, d. 16 (4) 1646, John bapt. 13 (3) 1649, Deborah bapt. 6 (2) 1651, William bapt. 8 (8) 1654, d. 14 (5) 1656, John d. 4 (3) 1663. See letter from his bro. Thomas P. of Souther-towne in 1661. He d. May 11, 1685. Will prob. 30 July, 1685, beq. to wife Martha; son (in-law) Samuel Williams and his children, Samuel, John, Park, Ebenezer, Deborah, Martha and Abigail; son (in-law) Isaac William's ch., especially William whom I ( have brought up; refers to land that belonged to bro. Thomas Parks; son John Smith and dau. Smith; bro. Samuel Parks and his sons Robert and William; Hannah

Will

In his will, dated 20 July 1684 and proved 30 July 1685, "William Parke of Roxbury being old and weak of body" bequeathed to "my children now alive being only two daughters both married, my eldest daughter being now wife unto Samuel Williams of Roxbury, she having many children now alive through the mercy of God ... to my son Samuel Williams besides what I had given to him before to him in behalf of the children which he had by my daughter his wife ... to his son John Williams I give £50 and unto his son Parke Williams I give £100 ... out of the great pasture and meadow ... to his eldest son Samuel Williams six score pounds which will grow due for him to pay for the houses, orchards and other lands I sold unto him, also £20 more ... which I give unto Ebenezar, Deborah, Martha and Abigail all the children of my said son Samuel Williams unto whom I give all my great pasture and all the meadow adjoining thereunto containing by estimation twenty-four acres"; to "my son Samuel Williams for which of the children of my daughter he please ... after the decease of my beloved wife Martha Parke, or at my decease, my said son giving in to my said beloved wife that he pay unto my said wife yearly ... £6," fence to be maintained by Samuel Williams; to "my said son in the behalf of his children as aforesaid the one half of my woodland ... reserving liberty to my wife to take wood of said woodland for her own fire as long as she live or so long as she shall remain my widow; if she shall be married to another man yet she shall have paid unto her as long as she live £12 per year as long as she live ... by my son Samuel Williams and Sam: Will: junior and William Williams and my son Smith..."; to "my son Isaac Williams's children besides what I had given to him before, I give unto his son William whom I have brought up ever since he was three years old being given unto me by his dear mother with the consent of his father at the time when she lay sick on her deathbed, I give unto him my said grandson William Williams all that sixteen acres of meadow and upland be it more or less lying in Roxbury ... now in the occupation of Robert Peirpont by lease from me"; to "the said William Williams all that six acres by estimation be it more or less adjoining upon Stoney River ... with about four acres of land ... lately the land of Lawrance Whittamore ... also ... seven acres ... called Small Gains now in the occupation of my grandson Samuel Williams" he to maintain a sufficient fence and pay a small sum to "my wife"; to "either John Williams or unto Eleazer Williams unto which of them father Isaac Williams please to give unto one hundred and eighty acres ... in Stonington upon Latrops Hill, eighty acres that was my brother Thomas Park's land and one hundred acres adjoining to that eighty acres ... also all that meadow of mine lying ... [by] Mistike River ... containing ... five acres ... to enter upon said meadow immediately after the decease of my brother Samuel Park ... also I give unto his son William Williams £50"; to "Hannah Williams £25 ... leaving all the rest of my daughter's children to be provided for and what their father please to add"; to "one of the sons named all the remainder of my land in Stoningtown" excluding John or Eleazer Williams who are receiving the one hundred and eighty acres aforementioned; to "my son and daughter Smith besides what I have given to them before ... if it shall please God to bestow a child or children upon them to live and to enjoy it ... but if it should please God ... to deny them such a blessing of a living child or children" they to enjoy the lands for their lifetime after the decease of "my beloved wife" and if they remain childless the land to revert to "my grandchildren as shall be then alive after the decease of my son and daughter Smith to be equally divided" they to pay "my wife" £6 per year as long as she lives and pay the school yearly "my donation"; also "I reserve to my wife the parlor and some room in the cellar or any other needful for her comfort"; and "if my said son and daughter Smith do not see cause to come to live in my said house" then "neither he nor my son Samuel Williams are to fell any timber to sell"; to "my brother Samuel Park unto him in behalf of his son Robert or William, one hundred acres of land given to me by the town of Stoningtown ... it not being yet laid out"; to "my said brother fifty acres of land adjoining unto that land which he have in his possession of about one hundred acres ... which my said brother have built his house upon ... also all my meadow so long as he live to mow"; to "my beloved wife Martha whom I make my sole executrix ... one chest which she will choose with all that therein is as her own and not to be prised ... also all my debts due unto me ... she paying all my debts and legacies and funeral expenses ... also all my moveables ... also £24 per annum as long as she live or remain my widow"; "every child and grandchild or grandchildren shall have each of them a new Bible bought and given unto them out of what I have given unto my beloved wife"; to "the poor of Roxbury" £5; "my three sons forenamed" overseers [ SPR 6:499].

The inventory of the estate of Deacon William Parke late of Roxbury deceased was taken 28 May 1685 and totalled £1750 13s., including real estate valued at £1500: "great pasture and meadow twenty-four acres," £300; "houses, barn, orchard homstead eight acres," £300; "four acres of land with an orchard and buildings," £140; "the Hilly Field and meadow adjoining nine acres," £100; "Small Gains (so called) being about seven acres," £80; "sixteen acres of land lying on Stony River meadow," £140; "six acres of upland lying on Stony River," £40; "forty acres of woodland," £100; and "five hundred acres of land in Stoningtown," £300 [ SPR 9:233].

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} William Parke entry, in Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995).

   ORIGIN: Semer, Suffolk MIGRATION: February 1630/1 on Lyon FIRST RESIDENCE: Roxbury
   BIRTH: Baptized Semer, Suffolk, 21 April 1607, son of Robert and Martha (Chaplin) Parke [ McArthur-Barnes 98-99; Granberry 286].
   DEATH: Roxbury 11 May 1685 ("Deacon William Park").
   MARRIAGE: By 1637 Martha Holgrave [ RChR 74], daughter of JOHN HOLGRAVE. She died at Roxbury on 25 August 1708 "in her 94th year," widow of "Deacon William."

2. ↑ Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records of Roxbury, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849. (Salem, Massachusetts: Essex Institute, 1925-1926)
   605.

   PARK, William, Dea., May 11, 1685 [1683, a. 79 y. G. R. 1.]

3. ↑ aboard the Lyon