Person:Richard Bartlett (4)

Origin of the Bartlett Family of Newbury

"It has been claimed, within the last quarter of a century, that Richard and John Bartlett of Newbury, and Thomas Bartlett of Watertown, were three brothers,—sons of Edmund Barttelot of Ernley, who died in 1591, who was a son of Richard Barttelot of Stopham; and that they 'sold back' their portion of the land in 1634 to make a fair start in New England. This fabrication has been built up on the mere resemblance of name, and is disproved by every known fact. John of Newbury was the son of Richard of Newbury; while Thomas of Watertown, who was born in 1594, was a poor servant in the employ of Pelham in 1631, and sold his master's tools to raise money enough to bridge over some of his expenses; and not one of them ever signed his name as Barttelot, although the home chapel of the latter family is full of memorials of family pride, with its surname distinct and unvariable from A.D. 1428 until the most recent times.

The surnames Batt, Bartlett and Barttelott, are all mere pet diminutives of the baptismal name of Bartholomew; the two latter merely indicating little-Bart, and shows that the family names, like those of John-son, Jack-son and Williamson, came out of the personal name of a landless father.

W. S. Smith, a distinguished English writer on heraldry, says 'it is the ambition of every family in England, which seeks to display genealogical and heraldic honors, to claim descent from some 'Norman knight' who came over with the Conqueror.'

The Barttelot family may be classed among them. They claim descent from Adam¹ Bartelot, who is stated on the family pedigree to have come over with William the Conqueror, and to have died in A. D. 1100. From him in direct descent are given William,² John,³ Robert,⁴ Thomas,⁵ John,⁶ who married Joan de Stopham, and died A. D. 1428. Six generation, covering 328 years, or nearly 55 years to a generation.

If the pedigree is examined from A.D. 1428 towards our time, which covers a period with corroborative record, 11 generations average less than 25 years each.

It is almost needless to say that every thing given of a previous date to John⁶ was fabulous. The indenture by which he acquired possession of the Stopham lands is dated 7th year of Richard II. (A.D. 1384), and his father may have been a man without a surname—simply known as Bartholomew.

I have not known an instance where a New Englander of intelligence, descended from our early settlers through lines of increasing wealth or reputation, had not been handsomely received and entertained by the present representatives of the 'County Family' from which he supposed that his New England progenitor was derived.

Many members of the Bartlett family have visited Stopham, and while appreciating the courtesy of the host, listened to stories of chivalrous knights, and questioned about the broad acres of the family. Prof. S. C. Bartlett, of Chicago, wrote after visiting Stopham in 1874, that 'an accurate pedigree of the line has been kept from 1069 down to Ada Mary, the youngest daughter of Col, Walter B(arttelot), who celebrated her 12th birthday in August, 1874,' and Col. Bartlett himself wrote that 'the records in the church are complete from John Barttelot, who was born early in 1300 ! down to the prevent day." I have before mentioned that this John Bartellot acquired the estate in 1344 and died in 1428. In the same letter Prof. Bartlett wrote that 'the estate is a large one, some 7000 or 8000 acres,' but the government record gives it as 3633 acres, with a gross income of £1793.

It is necessary in writing of genealogical matters to show the diversity of printed statements, so that the present reader, after hearing both sides of the story, may judge of its truth."^[1]

Estate of Richard Bartlett of Newbury.

"Sometime in the year 1646, Richard Bartlett Sr. of Newbury, for 'certaine bushels of corne in hand paid and received, & for ten bushels a yeare yearly, during his naturall life, to be paid upon demand' sold to Richard Bartlett his son his freehold and four-acre lot in Newtown, and six acres of saltmarsh, and five acres of meadow near the ox common, and seven acres of divided land. Two witnesses, Edward Rawson and Anthony Somersby, came forward before Governor Bellingham on 18 August 1654 and deposed that

This is the some & substance of the bargaine & deed, which was made betweene Richard Bartlett sen'r. & Richard Bartlet Jun'r to which I was a witness, and it being lost I afferme to the truth thereof."^[2]

"The testimony of william Titcombe & Anthony Somersby concerning the last wilt & testament of Richard Bartlett sen of Newbury deceased the 20^th of May 1647 About a month before he deceased we being with him & two of his sonnes being p^rsent he being very ill & had bene weake all the spring finding in himselfe that he was not like to continew he desired vs to take notice what his mind was concerning that small estate he had how he would dispose of it. As for his sonne John Bartlett he had done for him more then for the rest of his children & at that tyme did not dispose any to him. To his sonne Christofer Bartlett he did bequeath the debt which latly he had borrowed of him which was five bushells of wheat if soe be it should please the lord to take him away at this sicknesse or ells if he should lye longe vizitted his necessity would require that he should pay it againe. To his daughter Johan wife of william Titcombe he bequeathed one paire of new shoes for herselfe & her foure daughters each one a paire of shoes And all the rest of his goods & chattells that were not disposed of he bequeathed wholly to his sonne Richard Bartlett whom he made his sole heire & executor. I Anthony Somersby the next day Pswaded him to give somthing to his sonne John Bartlett his answere was that he had bene with his sonne Richard Batlet this twelve month & all that he had was to little for to give him seing he had bene weake & ill & could doe little but lay vpon his sonnes charges; besides said he if I should lye longe sick I shalbe chargable to Richard & not to any of the rest and for John I have done more formly yet I will give him the warming pan and vpon his sonnes request he gaue him a great bible: this he spake being in pfect memory & soe continewed to the last breath.

'I Edward Rawson wittnes to the last pt of the will that I often heard the said Richard Bartlett sen (the tyme of his sicknesse) say he would & did give all to his sonne Richard Bartlett 29th Septemb 1647. This was before the witness Edward Rawson.'

The first part of this will proved 28: 7 : 1647, by Mr. Rawson, the whole by Anthony Somersby. Ipswich Deeds, vol. 1, leaf 25.

Inventory of estate of Richard Bartlett of Newbury, shoemaker, deceased May 21, 1647, taken by William (his mark) Titcombe, John Batlett & Anthony Somersby: [no real estate, moveable estate only, untotalled] Ipswich Deeds, vol. 1, leaf 26."^[7]

1. ↑ Brown, John Coffin Jones. Newbury and the Bartlett Family. New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Apr 1886)
   40:202.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Bartlett, in Smith, Dean Crawford, and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. The Ancestry of Eva Belle Kempton 1878-1908. (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1996-2008)
   2:39-46.

   "Richard¹ Bartlett, shoemaker, born say 1585; died in Newbury, Mass., 20 May 1647*; married by 1610 _____ _____, born say 1590, living in 1625/6 when her last child was born, but died prior to April 1647 when Richard did not mention her when dividing his estate. Conflicting stories place Richard Bartlett in Newbury, Mass., as early as 1635 or 1637. Eldest son John Bartlett was a freeman in May 1637, but Richard is not found in records until 1640/1. Claims by earlier writers that Richard Bartlett in 1639 petitioned the general court and was granted twenty pounds were incorrectly based on a misreading of the name 'Richard Brackett.'†
   
   *As stated in his probate. The Newbury vital records state 25 May, but are notoriously inaccurate. In June of this year an influenza epidemic swept through the entire countryside, see The Annals of Lynn, 222.
   
   † See English Origins of New England Families From The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Second series, 3 vols. (Boston: NEHGS, 1984), 1:113."

3.   Richard Bartlett, 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)
   1:131-132.

   "Richard (Bartlett), Newbury 1637, shoemaker, br. [f.] of the first Christopher, had brot. two s. and one d. and others he had here, tho. we are igno. of the dates of any but the youngest, and approx. the eldest. Their names were Richard, b. 1621, prob. the first b. John, Christopher, Joanna , and Samuel, wh. was b. 20 Feb. 1646;* and the f. d. 25 May 1647."
   
   *This Samuel was son of Richard² and grandson of this man.

4.   1 Richard¹ Bartlett, in Hoyt, David W. The Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury, Massachusetts. (Providence, RI, 1897-1919)
   1:54.

   "1 Richard¹ Bartlett, 'shoemaker,' [b. ab. 1575?], prob. came to Newbury in 1635 or '37. He d. there May 25, 1647[Nb]; will May 21, 1647. He bought a 'Breeches Bible' in 1612, which has been preserved, and is described in G. R., 1886, p. 203. In this are given the … dates of births [of his children]."

5.   Cutter, William Richard. New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of the Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation. (New York, New York, United States: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1913-14)
   2:707.

   Richard Bartlett, s/o Edmund, b. Wiltshire in 1575, in Newbury, MA as early as 1637, d. 25 May 1647. Will admitted 29 Sep 1647, mentions son John, son Christopher, daughter Joane, son Richard. [List of children also includes Anne.]

6. ↑ Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records of Newbury, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849. (Salem, Mass.: The Essex Institute, 1911)
   2:544.

   "Barlett, [Richard (copy of vital records made by Henry Short about 1690.)] sr., [died] May 25, 1647."

7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3} Estate of Richard Bartlett of Newbury, in Massachusetts, Probate Court (Essex County). The Probate Records of Essex County, Massachusetts. (Salem, Massachusetts: The Essex Institute, 1916, 1917, 1920)
   1:86-87.