Person:William Sprague (11)

William arrived at Naumkeag (Salem) with his brothers Ralph and Richard. They were employed by Governor Endicott to explore and take possession of the country westward. They explored the land over to (present day) Charlestown, between Mystic and Charles rivers, where they made peace with the local Indians. On February 10, 1634, the order creating a Board of Selectmen was passed, and Richard and William Sprague signed it.^[9]

William lived in Charlestown until 1636, before moving to Hingham, where he was one of the first planters. His house lot, on Union St. "over the river" was said to be the pleasantest lot in Hingham.^[10] He was active in public affairs, and was constable, fence-viewer, etc. William’s will bequeaths to his wife, Millicent, and children, Anthony, Samuel, William, Joan, Jonathan, Persis, Johanna, and Mary.^[11]

Winthrop Society lists him among those who arrived with Higginson in 1629 rather than with Endicott in 1628.^[12] Great Migration says 1629.^[13]

Will

In the Name of God, Amen. The nineteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord God, One thousand, six hundred, seventy & five. I, WILLIAM SPRAGUE, senior, of Hingham, in New England, being sick in body, but yet of perfect memory; praised by almighty God! do make and declare this my last will and testament, in manner and form following: Revoking, and by these presents, making void, and of no force, all and every will and wills heretofore by me made, and declared, either by word or writing, and this to be taken only, for my last will, and none other.

FIRST and principally, I commit and commend my soul into the hands of Almighty God, and my body to the earth, to be decently buried, at the discretion of my executor hereafter mentioned, hoping of salvation, both of soul and body, by the mercies of God in the merits of my Saviour Jesus Christ. And as for such temporal estate as it hath pleased God to bestow upon me, I do order, give and dispose the same in manner and form as followeth -- that is to say:

FIRST -- I will that all those just debts and duties that I owe in right and conscience to any person whatsoever, shall be well and truly contented and paid by my Executor hereafter named out of my Estate, with my funeral charges, which I will shall be first paid.

Item -- I give and bequeath unto Millesaint Sprague, my loving wife, the sum of Ten pounds in money, and one Cow and one Horse.

Item -- I give unto the said Millesaint, my wife, ten pounds per annum during the term of her natural life, (to be paid to her by my son, William Sprague, which I have reserved for her, as may fully appear by a deed of gift under my hand and seal to my said son, William, of my house and several lands and commons, as is therein expressed, ) and the summering and wintering of one cow and one horse, and the use of one half of my dwelling house, and half the orchard, according as I have reserved upon the said deed of gift.

Item -- I give unto Millesaint, my said wife, thirty and five pounds which is due from me by my son, Anthony Sprague, to be paid five pounds a year till the whole be paid: that is to say, in case my said wife live till all the said payments be made to her: but if my wife decease, before all the said payments of thirty and five pounds be made, then my mind and will is, that what is remaining unpaid of the said thirty and five pounds at my wife's decease, shall be divided equally amongst all my children hereafter named, that is to say: my son Anthony Sprague, my son Samuel Sprague, my son William Sprague, my daughter, Perses Doggett, the wife of John Doggett, Joanna Church, the wife of Caleb Church and Mary King, the wife of Thomas King, every one of them to have part and part alike.

Item -- I give unto Millesaint, my said wife, all my household stuff and furniture, linen, woolen, and utensils of household whatsoever, for and during the term of her natural lie; and after my wife's decease my mind and will is, that it shall be divided amongst all my aforesaid children, every one of them to have part and part alike. And all my cattle not before given to this my will, to be immediately after my decease, disposed of by my Executor, as followeth; that is to say: to my son William Sprague two steers three years old and the [?] and one cow; and all the rest of my cattle to be equally divided among the rest of my children aforenamed, every one of them to have part and part alike.

Item -- I give and bequeath unto Anthony Sprague, my SWORD, which was my brother Richard Sprague's and one of my biggest pewter platters, and twenty shillings in money; which, with what I have given him before, in Land, and other things, and his part of my household stuff and cattle, after the decease of myself and my wife, as it is afore expressed, I judge a sufficient portion for him.

Item -- I give unto my son John Sprague, a piece of salt marsh, lying at Lyford's liking river, in Hingham, containing two acres and a half, be it more or less, which was given me by the town of Hingham, to enjoy to him, and his heirs, and assigns forever. And I do give unto my son John Sprague my searge suit of apparel, which with a Neck of Upland, called Sprague's Island, lying by the aforesaid meadow which I formerly gave to him, I judge a sufficient portion for him.

Item -- I give unto my son Samuel Sprague my cloth coat, which was my brother's and one of my biggest pewter platters.

Item -- I give and bequeath unto my son Jonathan Sprague, threescore acres of Land, lying in the bounds of the township of Providence, in New England, which I lately purchased of John Dexter, of the said Providence which said threescore acres of land, I do give to my son Jonathan during the term of his natural life; and after his decease unto his heirs male, lawfully begotten of his body, lawfully begotten or to be begotten; and for want of such hairs, the said threescore acres of Land to return to the next heirs of the Spragues descended from me. Also, I give unto my said son Jonathan Sprague my best cloth suit of apparel.

Item -- I give unto William Sprague one feather bed, which the used to lodge upon when he lived with me, and one on my biggest pewter platters.

Item -- I do make and ordain Millesaint Sprague, my loving wife, my full and sole executrix of this my last will and testament. In witness whereof, I the said William Sprague have hereunto set my hand and seal, the day above written.

WILLIAM SPRAGUE and a seal.

Signed, sealed, published and delivered by the above said William Sprague, senior, to be his last will and testament, in the presence of us witnesses.

DANIEL CUSHING, sen. MATTHEW CUSHING.

Daniel Cushing, sen., and Daniel Cushing, jr., appeared before John Leverett, Esq., Governor, etc.

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article William Sprague (1609–1675).

Text References

1. ↑ Lincoln, George; Thomas T. Bouve; Edward T. Bouve; John D. Long; Walter L. Bouve; Francis H. Lincoln; Edmund Hersey; Fearing Burr; Charles W. S Seymour; and Town of Hingham. History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts . (Hingham, Massachusetts: The Town, 1893)
   vol. 3, p. 164.

   "Selectman 1645; and constable 1661."

2. ↑ The Brothers Ralph and William Sprague and Some of Their Descendants', by Frank William Sprague, in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society)
   Vol. 63:147 (1909).

   "[William] came with his brother in 1628."

3. ↑ Chamberlain, George Walter. The Spragues of Malden, Massachusetts. (Boston, Massachusetts : T.R. Marvin & Son, 1923).
4. ↑ Hobart's Journal. (Microfilm of manuscript filmed at Hingham, Plymouth, Massachusetts. Published by Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1965).

   (Hingham Vital Records)

5.   William Sprague (1609–1675), in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
6.   The Sprague Project: A Database of Over 316,000 Individuals.

   [1]

7.   Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co, 1860-1862)
   4:156.

   WILLIAM, Hingham 1636, br. prob. youngest, of Ralph, and perhaps brot. by him in 1629, m. 1635, Milicent Eames, prob. d. of Anthony, bapt. says the Marshfield early, but back to H. in few yrs. had Anthony, bapt. says the rec. of Charlestown ch. 23 May 1636; John, b. 1638; Samuel, 1640; Jonathan, 1643, d. at 4 yrs.; Jonathan, again, 1648; William, 7 May 1650, beside ds. Elizabeth 1641; Persis, 1643; Joanna, 1644; Mary, 1652; and Hannah, 25 Feb. 1655. He d. 26 Oct. 1675, and his wid. d. 8 Feb. 1696. Of his ds. Persis m. John Doggett; Joanna m. 16 Dec. 1667, Caleb Church; and Mary m. Thomas King of Scituate.

8.   William Sprague, in Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995).

   ORIGIN: Upway, Dorsetshire MIGRATION: 1629 FIRST RESIDENCE: Charlestown REMOVES: Hingham 1636 OCCUPATION: Yeoman.
   BIRTH: By about 1611 based on estimated date of marriage.
   DEATH: Hingham 26 October 1675 [ NEHGR 121:197].
   MARRIAGE: By 1635 Millicent Eames, daughter of Anthony Eames [see COMMENTS below (explaining indirect evidence)]; on 3 April 1635 Millicent Sprague was admitted to Charlestown church [ ChChR 8]; she died at Hingham on 9 February 1695/6 [ NEHGR 121:284].

9. ↑ “The Cranston-Johnston Spragues of Rhode Island,” Transcribed from History of Rhode Island (American Hist. Soc. 1920) by Susan W. Pieroth, Online at RI USgenweb archives, ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ri/all_ri/sprague.txt.
10. ↑ Sprague, Warren Vincent. Sprague Families in America
11. ↑ Cranston-Johnston Spragues, supra
12. ↑ Winthrop Society [2]
13. ↑ Great Migration Begins