Person:Henry Withington (1)

The Will of Elder Henry Withington of Dorchester

"HENRY WITHINGTON.—8: 11: 1664. I, Henry Withington, of Dorchester, in New England, being about the Age of 76 yeares or vpon 77: being in perfect memory doe make my last will. … My will is, That my sonn, Richard Withington, one of my Executo^rs, shall well & truly performe vnto my wife, Margerie, all such Agreements as are Expressed in a writting made & sealed before our marriage, bearing date, 25: 4: 1662: witnessed by M^r John Eliott & M^r Samuell Danforth, And then soe doing I giue vnto him all the rest of my Houses & Orchard & Lands that I haue in Dorchester, Except Tenn Acres in the Twenty Acres Lotts, which Tenu Acres I Giue to my dau. Batte, & I Except also my devision of Land which is about 30 Acres, lying neere Dedam mill, which if it bee not sold before my death, my will is, that it shall bee sould & come in as part of my Estate, And also I Except all my Land that is mine, about Sensions House, which Land I Giue to my dau. Batte, to bee hers foreuer. And her Husband shall haue noe power to dispose of it without her free Consent. But all my Land Except these parcells Excepted I Giue to my sonn Richard to bee his foreuer. And for my goods, my debts & buriall being discharged out of the whole, I Giue as followeth, namly, to my Beloued wife, Margerie, £10, ouer & besides that £10, I promised her before our marriage which is sett downe in a writting, aforesayd, And to my sonn, Richard, £10, & to his fowre sonns, John, Ebenezer, Henry & Phillip, each, £5; to Mr Mather, £5; Mr Tompson, £5; And towards the maintenance of an able ministrie in Dorchester, which they haue or may chuse, I Give £20 to bee improved by the Deacons then in being, And the bennifitt thereof shall bee brought in yearely to the Select men, then in being, to bee giuen to the vse aforesaid. And £10 more I Giue vnto the poorest inhabitants in Dorchester, And the said £10 shall bee disposed at & by the discresion of the Deacons, then in being. I Giue vnto John Baker, £5, Samuell Batte, £5, Samuell Paull, £5, Samuell Danforth, £5. To all the Childeren I am Grandfather vnto, Except Mary Robinson, & such Children as I haue herein giuen legacies vnto, I giue each of them, 40^s. For the rest of my goods, legacies being discharged, shall bee Equally diuided among my 3 dau^s namly, Faith Baker, Mary Danforth, and Anna Batte And for that Fiue Acres of Land that I latly bought of James Batte at the south End of his Lott, next the High way, which Cost mee, £16, it is my will that she, I meane my dau. Batte, shall haue that Fiue Acres, & shee shall dispose of it for her good & for her Children, but her Husband shall haue no power to sell it away, without her Consent, nor any Land that I haue giuen her Else where. And further it is my meaninge, that this £16, which the Land Cost mee, though the Land Returne her as aforesayd, yet it shall bee reconed as part of that Portion which I leaue with hir other Sisters. For my Executo^rs, I Appoint my sonn, Richard Withington, & my sonn, Richard Baker; for my Ouerseers, my sonn, Mr Thomas Danforth, & my sonn, James Batte. The legacies [to be paid] one halfe within a yeare after my death & the other halfe the next yeare after, if it may bee well had & done.

HENRY WITHINGTON.

Wittnes hereof Enoch Wiswall, Samuell Paull.

[In a codicil, Mr Withington states, that he has given to his son, Richard, the £10 expressed in his will, also delivered to him the £5 for John Withington, his Eldest son. 'For the Tenn Acres of Land I gaue to my daughter Batte, lying in the Twenty Acre Lott I haue sold that, since, to Samuell Clap & haue deliuered & giuen to her & her Husband all my Land at Sensions house.' All which is acknowledged by Richard Withington. Samuel Paul, acknowledges 'that I haue receiued from my Father Withington, that Fiue pounds which is Expressed in his will, to bee Giuen me. 23: 9: 1668.']

15 Feb. 1666. Enoch Wiswall & Samuel Paule, deposed.

An Inventory of the Estate of Elder Henry Withington, of Dorchester, who deceased this life Feb. 2, 1666, taken & apprised by John Capen sen^r & William Sumner, March 6, 1666-7. Amt. £850.17.3. Due from the Estate, £14.4.6. Mentions, 1/16 pt. of three Ketches; ½ of a warehouse at Boston; two shares in the iron works at Tanton.

Richard Baker & Richard Withington, deposed to this inventory, May 2, 1667."^[3]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7} 1. Henry¹ Withington, in Withington, Frederick Scherer. Henry Withington of Dorchester, Mass., and Some of His Descendants. New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Apr, Jul, Oct 1921; Jan 1922)
   75:142-44.

   "1. Henry¹ Withington, of Leigh, co. Lancaster, England, and Dorchester, Mass., the ancestor of most of those of the name the United States, was baptized in the parish of Leigh, co. Lancaster, England, 22 Feb. 1580/90, the son of George and Margaret Withington, and died at Dorchester, Mass., 2 Feb. 1666/7. He married first, at Leigh, in Sept. 1615, Anne Leech, who was buried at Leigh 26 Sept. 1621, daughter of Richard and Anne (Yale); secondly, at Leigh, 30 Sept. 1622, Elizabeth Smith, who died at Dorchester, Mass., 16 Feb. 1660, sister of Thomas Smith, a well-known merchant of London; and thirdly, at Dorchester, in June 1662, Margery (Turner) Paul, who died at Dorchester 20 May 1676, widow of Richard Paul of Taunton. A deed of settlement from Henry¹ Withington to her is dated 25 June 1662.
   
   With his second wife, Elizabeth (Smith), and his four children, he came to Dorchester, probably in the same ship (the James) with Rev. Richard Mather and his company, arriving 10 Aug. 1635 [probably not since H. W. is not included in the Great Migration sketches by Robert Charles Anderson].
   
   He was one of the signers of the covenant by which the Dorchester church was founded, and was the first ruling elder of the church, continuing in that office for twenty-nine years until his death. He was one of the selectmen of Dorchester in 1636, and was otherwise prominent in the affairs of the town and church, though there appears to be no record of his having been made a freeman. He shared in the division of lands in Dorchester, was a blacksmith by trade, and was one of the founders and original shareholders in the first ironworks in the American Colonies, on Mill River in Taunton, evidently intended by their original founder and operator, James Leonard, Sr., to be named for Henry Withington, notwithstanding the corruption of the name to 'Whittington' and 'Whittenton.' He purchased, 23 Apr. 1638, and occupied the house built on the lot in Dorchester formerly owned by Matthias Sension (or St. John), who went from Dorchester to Windsor, Conn., and was one of the founders of the church there.
   
   Many records attest the fact that he was universally beloved, respected, and trusted. Rev. Richard Mather called him 'Beloved Friend,' and made him overseer of his will in 1664. Rev. Samuel Danforth said of him: 'A man that excelled in wisdom, meekness and goodness.'
   
   In his will, dated 8, 11 mo., 1664 [January 8, 1664/65], he says that he is 'about the Age of 76 yeares or vpon 77.' The inventory of his estate amounted to £850. 17s. 3d. (REGISTER, vol. 16, pages 52-54.)"

2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Henry Withington, in 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)
   4:618.

   "Henry (Withington), Dorchester, came prob. in 1636 or perhaps a yr. bef. was one of the six founders of the ch. 23 Aug. for Richard Mather instal. brot. w. Eliz. and ch. Richard; Faith, wh. m. Richard Baker; Mary, wh. m. 23 Feb. 1644, Thomas Danforth; and Ann, wh. m. James Bates the sec. His w. d. 16 Feb. 1661, and he m. 1662, Margaret, wid. of Richard Paul; was made a selectman, 1636, by the ch. rul. Elder, 1637, yet never a freem. and d. 2 Feb. 1667, aged 79. His wid. d. 20 May 1676. He had good est. and his will of 8 Jan. 1665, div. it among the three ds. and his s. Richard's four s."

3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Trask, William B. Abstracts from the Earliest Wills on Record in the County of Suffolk, Mass. New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (1848-1866, 1876-1878)
   16:52-54.
4. ↑ Henry Withington, in Find A Grave.