Person:Edmund Littlefield (1)

The Estate of Edmund Littlefield

Edmond Littlefield made his will December 11, 1661, and it was recorded July 16, 1662. To Francis Littlefeild, my eldest son, Anthony Littlefeild and Elizabeth Wakefeild, my daughter, the whole tract of land lying off the north-east side of Kennebunk, with the falls, together with a certain quantity of marsh lying up in the woods between Cape Porpus river and Kennebunk, which is specified in two deeds granted by Mr. Geo: Cleve, agent of Mr. Rygby, to be equally divided amongst those three. To Francis Littlefeild, senior, 10s. to be paid out of my goods. To Anthony Littlefeild, all my wearing clothes. To Elizabeth Wakefeild, 5s. to be paid out of my goods. To my three executors, Annas Littlefeild, my wife, Thomas Littlefeild and Francis Littlefeild, my youngest son, all my upland and marsh at home and that which I bought of my son Anthony and that which I bought of Mr. Fletcher, together with the corn mill and saw mill, all my housing and goods, within doors and without, together with all the stock and cattle both small and great, to be equally divided among those three. If Thomas and Francis Littlefeild, junior, pay Annas my wife four bushells of corn yearly for seven years, they are to have the island on the south side of Webbhannett river; if not, my wife is to have power to let it to others. Likewise Thomas and Francis shall pay unto my wife eight bushells of wheat yearly; if they will not, my wife shall have power to let the corn mill to any other. My wife shall have her third of the marsh that lyeth on the south-east side of Webbhannett river, and, if Francis, Thomas and Francis, my youngest son, shall be loving and helpful to their mother, then they shall have all after her decease. To my daughters Mary Barrett and Hannah Littlefeild, £15 apiece. To all of my grand- children, 5s. apiece when they come of age. To my son John Littlefeild, £10 to be paid out of the £40 he is to pay for his purchase at Ogunguett. My sons Thomas and Francis Littlefeild, junior, are to improve and till the ground, and their mother shall have the third part of the corn. To my wife, six or seven acres of marsh that lyeth at Ogunquet. I desire Mr. Ezekell Knight and Mr. Jos: Bowles to be my feofees in trust, if need require, to see my will fulfilled. Witnesses : Ezekell Knights, Jos: Bowles. The appraisers returned an inventory of £588: 13: 4 [Maine Wills, 3]. Of this amount the homestead was valued at £160, the corn-mill at £30 and the Kennebunk upland and marsh at £100. There were books valued at 15s. and very scant household furnishings [Province and Court Records of Maine, II:126].

On December 17, 1661, only six days after the will was made, in which interval Edmond Littlefield must have died, Annis Littlefield and her sons Francis, senior, Thomas and Francis, junior, made an agreement by which Francis, senior's, share of the estate was substantially increased, and pledged themselves "never to trouble one another about the will" [York Deeds, I:147].

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6} Littlefield, of Wells, in Davis, Walter Goodwin, Compiler, and Introduction by Gary Boyd Roberts. Massachusetts and Maine Families in the Ancestry of Walter Goodwin Davis (1885-1966): A Reprinting, in Alphabetical Order by Surname, of the Sixteen Multi-Ancestor Compendia (plus Thomas Haley of Winter Harbor and His Descendants). (Baltimore, Maryland, United States: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1996)
   2:480-84.

   Edmond Littlefield was about forty-five years of age when, in 1636 or 1637, he set sail for New England, taking with him his two oldest boys, Francis and Anthony, who would have been about eighteen and sixteen. His wife and younger children were left in Tichfield, but, after he had viewed the country and decided to remain, he sent for her, and she sailed from the neighboring city of Southampton on the Bevis, 150 tons, Robert Batten, master, in May, 1638, with six children and two servants, John Knight and Hugh Durdal. The oldest child was John, aged fourteen, while the baby, Francis, was two. The reunited family probably remained in Boston for a while where Littlefield may have made friends with the Hutchinson-Wheelwright faction in the Antinomian controversy, for with Rev. John Wheelwright they were later in Exeter and finally in Wells. Mr. Wheelwright was banished from Boston in November, 1637, and although Littlefield is not among those who were ordered disarmed by the Bay government, he proceeded to Exeter, following the exiles, and was among the signers of the Exeter combination, an agreement for self-government, on June 5, 1639. He had land grants from the new town, and two house-lots which had belonged to him were in the possession of Edward Gilman, Jr., in 1651. When Wheelwright left Exeter in 1643 the Littlefields and four other families accompanied him to Wells, but of them all only the Littlefields remained there permanently.

2. ↑ 8 Edmund Littlefield, in Noyes, Sybil; Charles Thornton Libby; and Walter Goodwin Davis. Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire. (Portland, Maine: Southworth Press, 1928-1939)
   437-38.

   8 Edmund Littlefield, Wells, came 1st to Boston, likely with two oldest sons. W. Annis (Austin) ag. 38, six ch., and servants John Knight and Hugh Durdal foll. in the -Bevis- in May 1638 from Tichfield, co. Hants., where he was bap. 27 June 1592 and m. her 16 Oct. 1614. N. E. Reg. 67.343. At Exeter he signed the Combin. 5 June 1639, had two lots in the 1st div. of uplands, and remov. to Wells bef. 14 July 1643, when Thos. Gorges gr. him 100 a. adj. the mill and the neck of marsh bet. that and Webhannet River. There he had a saw and gristmill, and headed a large and promin. fam. The 1st yr. he was agent for R. Vines to give poss.; in Nov. 1645 Vines gr. to John Wadleigh and E. L. 200 a. on S. W. side of Ogunquit River, not intrenching on town of Wells. Tr. j. 1645, 1647; Gr. j. 1645, 1647; O. A. to Mass. 5 July 1653. Com. t. e. s. c. 1654 to death, except 1657. Authorized 1654 to sell wine and strong liq. to Inds. Selectm. 1654, 1657. … Will 11 Dec. 1661; fam. compromise signed 17 Dec. by s. Francis sr., his mo., and bros. Thos. and Francis jr.; inv. 24 Dec. Wid. Annis's will 12 Dec. 1677, inv. 7 Mar. 1677-8. Ch., all but Mary bap. at Tichfield: Ann, bp. 11 Feb. 1615-6, bur. 2 Jan. 1616-7. Edward, bp. 17 Feb. 1617-8; bur. 13 June 1635. Francis, bp. 17 June 1619. Anthony, bp. 7 Oct. 1621. John, bp. 1 Nov. 1624. Elizabeth, bp. 22 July 1627, m. John Wakefield. Mary, m. Lt. John Barrett(2). Thomas, bp. 10 Aug. 1633. Anne (Hannah), bp. 10 Aug. 1633, m. Peter Cloyes(5). Francis, bp. 24 Mar. 1635-6.

3. ↑ Exeter, Rockingham, New Hampshire, United States. Exeter Combination. (Exeter, Rockingham, New Hampshire, United States).
   
4.   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)
   3:100.