Person:William Tubbs (1)

William Tubbs arrived at Plymouth, MA (he first appears in court on 29 May 1635 suing over the sale of bushels of corn) and settled in Duxbury, MA in 1638. He has been identified as coming variously from London, Sutton, Isle of Ely, Cambridge, England or from Cornwall, England. (Great Migration says origin "unknown"). William's name is on a list comprised of "those now freemen, formerly servants" so it is assumed that he was an indentured servant. He appeared first in Plymouth in 1635, and shortly thereafter he went and settled in Duxbury, MA where he was granted land several times by the court. He became a member of the church (Congregational or Pilgrim Church) and was thereafter admitted a freeman, or citizen, of the colony January 2, 1637/1638, which required a member to be in good standing and having a letter from his Pastor affirming his good moral character.

During the Pequot War, William volunteered to go on an expedition against the Indians, June 7, 1637. He was a non-commissioned officer, or private, under Captain Miles Standish, his neighbor. William Tubbs' name appears in 1643 on a list of men, aged 16 to 60, who were able to bear arms, and he was on a list of Freeman in 1646.

William Tubbs was a surveyor of highways in Duxbury 1678 and 1685. He was an original proprietor of Bridgewater, MA and was granted land there when the town was laid out, although we have no knowledge of his ever having lived there. His will, dated February 2, 1677 was probated and settled on June 13, 1688. He died May 2, 1688 in Duxbury.

His marriage to Mercy Sprague, daughter of an innholder who came in 1623, ended in divorce in July, 1668, and he married Dorothy Soames. William disowned any responsibility for Mercy's bills in 1664, indicating perhaps that Mercy had not reformed, or that she had left him. She is said to have left Duxbury and removed to Rhode Island, perhaps remarrying there. His will of 20 Feb 1677 mentions his then wife, Dorothy. He received several grants of land and was an original proprietor of Bridgewater, though he seems never to have removed there. He was surveyor of highways from 1678 to 1685.

In his will, dated 20 February 1677[/8?] and proved 13 June 1688, “William Tubbs Senior of Duxbury” bequeathed to “my loving wife Dorothy (after the payment of the small legacies hereinafter mentioned) all my estate both real & personal, viz: my house & all my land & chattel both movable and immovable … during the time of her natural life to the intent that she improve the said estate for the bringing up of my two youngest children namely Benjamen & Joseph & after my said wife’s decease I give all my estate to my two youngest children abovenamed … to be equally divided between the said Benjamen & Joseph”; to “my son Samuell two shillings”; to “my son William one gun or musket which I had of John Foster”; to “my daughter Bethyah … five shillings”; “my said wife to be sole executrix” [PPR 1:13; PN&Q 4:108; Gen Adv 1:19].

His parents may have been named Samuel and Bethia, judging from the occurence of these names in the colonial family.

1. ↑ Researcher.

   http://www.sprague-database.org/, Elaine Tillquist Pavone

2. ↑ 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)
   4:337.

   WILLIAM, Plymouth and Duxbury, m[arried]. 9 Nov. 1637, Mercy d[aughter]. of Francis Sprague, and was one of the propr[ietor]s. of Bridgewater.

3. ↑ Vital Records of Plymouth, Mass.
   Probate Records p. 19.
4.   William Tubbs, in Great Migration Newsletter. (Boston, Massachusetts: Great Migration Study Project)
   [1].

   BIRTH: By about 1612 (based on date of first marriage).
   DEATH: Duxbury 2 May 1688 [PPR 1:14].
   MARRIAGE: (1) 9 November 1637 Mercy Sprague [PCR 1:68], daughter of FRANCIS SPRAGUE {1623, Plymouth} [GMB 3:1725-28]. They were divorced on 7 July 1668 (see COMMENTS below).
   (2) Soon after 23 March 1671/2 Dorothy (_____) Soane, widow of William Soane