Person:Richard Whitehead (5)

The Estate of Richard Whitehead (and Pretty Much Everything Else Known about Him)

"Richard Whitehead of Windsor upon Connecticut River in New England in the parts of America, 26 April 1645, proved 26 June 1645.

Whereas there is or was lately due and owing unto my daughter in law Mary Lewes the sum of one hundred pounds, being a portion given unto her by my wife, hereafter named, whilst she was sole and unmarried, which money was entrusted with my brother in law Hugh Hopkins and by him, by and with the consent of my said wife and daughter, delivered unto me for the use of my said daughter etc. I do therefore hereby give and bequeath unto the said Mary Lewes the sum of thirty pounds, in ready money or goods to be transported over to her, to her liking, towards the satisfaction of her said portion; and I do give and confirm the gift and delivery of several goods and chattels unto her towards further satisfaction thereof, which my wife hath already delivered unto her, which goods etc. were of the value of thirty pounds more. And I give and bequeath unto the said Mary Lewes, and her heirs forever, my messuage or tenement, with the backside, orchard and garden and all edifices and buildings upon the same built and standing, lying in Kuoll in the county of Warwick in the kingdom of England, and now or late in the tenure, use or occupation of Thomas Miles and John Shakespeare or one of them, which said messuage is known by the sign of the Crown; which said premises I conceive are of the value of forty pounds more, which I give towards further satisfaction of her said portion.

To wife Mary Whitehead and her heirs and assigns forever all my lands, tenements and hereditaments lying in New England, also my goods, cattle and chattels upon condition that she shall pay and satisfy unto my said daughter in law Mary Lewes so much more money as will satisfy unto her and fully make up her said portion of one hundred pounds. To my brother John Andrewes of Clifton thirty pounds to secure him for the five pounds a year lying upon his lands due to my brother Edward Whitehead for his life. To John and Edward Whitehead, sons of my said brother Edward, twenty pounds to be equally divided between them when they shall attain their several ages of one and twenty years. To Joane Whitehead, daughter of my brother Matthew Whitehead, twenty shillings. To John Andrewes, son of my brother John Andrewes of Clifton twenty shillings. To my sister Joyce Fisher forty shillings and to her son Richard Fisher forty shillings and to her daughter Mary Fisher forty shillings. There is a demand made by my kinswomen Hannah. Sarah, Rebecca and Abigail Higgins of some part of their mother's portion unpaid to their father, which I am confident was fully satisfied and paid; yet that there shall be no clamor about the same and upon condition that they shall acquite all demands concerning the same I do hereby give them twenty shillings apiece. To my friend Mr. Thomas Fish of Wedgeneckt Park five pounds in part of recompense for my diet and great charge and trouble that I have put him to. To my maidservant Dorothy Underwood ten shillings. I hereby constitute and ordain the said Mr. Thomas Fish and my said brother John Andrewes executors and John Rogers, Edward Rogers, Matthew Edwards and William Smith of Langley to be overseers.

Wit: Fran: Eede. Hester Fishe. Cr: Fishe, Michael Perkins.

Proved by John Andrews, power reserved for Thomas Fish.

Rivers, 87.

[Savage, under Whitehead, says that Richard of Windsor "served on the Jury at July Court, 1640, married Mary, widow of William Hopkins, and no more is known of him; but his wife was living in 1670 with her dau. Lewis." Under Hopkins he says, "William, Stratford, 1640, an assistant 1641 and 2, but it is unknown whence he came, when he died, or what wife or children he had. Perhaps it was his daughter Mary who after his death, in virtue of a contract of marriage made by her mother Mary wife of Richard Whitehead of Windsor (who was living 1670), with William Lewis of Farmington, 1644. became wife of William Lewis, son of the bargainer. If so we might infer that our Connecticut magistrate was then dead, and his widow who married Richard Whitehead was named Mary." It is shown in the above will that Richard Whitehead had a wife Mary, a brother-in-law Hugh Hopkins, and a daughter-in-law Mary Lewis, and this no doubt was the wife of William Lewis, Jr.. of Farmington. Lewis married for a second wife Mary, daughter of the famous schoolmaster Ezekiel Cheever (REGISTER, vol. 33, page 192). His son by the 2d marriage, Ezekiel Lewis, gr. H. C. 1695, was a teacher in Westfield and Boston, and afterwards a successful merchant in Boston. (REGISTER, vol. 8, pp. 47-8; Hill's Old South Church Catalogue, pages 324-5.)—EDITOR.

Windsor records show but little trace of "Goodman" Whitehead:—he had, In 1640, a lot 10 rods wide on what was known as "The Island," directly opposite the lot of Henry Wolcott, and about 15 rods south of the road to the Island, on west aide of street; died early—and his wid. sold the place to Thos. Orton, who, in 1665, sold (with dwelling) to Simon Wolcott. This location was among the "best families" of Windsor—the Wolcotts, Phelps, Loomises, etc.—inferentially, then, his social status was high.—HENRY R. STILES, M.D., of Hill View, N. Y.

On page 55, vol. i. of the Colonial Records of Connecticut, the name of Richard Whitehead appears in the list of "The Jury," July 2, 1640. He probably failed to bring in to the recorder his land for record, as none is entered in the Land Record under his name; but Henry Wolcott the younger has a lot bounded north by Goodman Whitehead, and Christopher Wolcott has a lot bounded south by Richard Whitehead, under date of 1640. The same lot, without date, is sold to Thomas Orton by Mary Whitehead, widow. On the map of the first settlers of Windsor, in volume 2 of the Memorial History of Hartford County, the lot of Whitehead appears between the lots of George Phelps and H. Wolcott, Jr.

Mr. Whitehead's name does not appear in Matthew Grant's record of births, marriages and deaths.— JABEZ H. HAYDEN, of Windsor Locks, Ct.]"^[2]

Founders of Windsor, CT

Windsor was the first permanent English settlement in Connecticut. Local indians granted Plymouth settlers land at the confluence of the Farmington River and the west side of the Connecticut River, and Plymouth settlers (including Jonathan Brewster, son of William) built a trading post in 1633. But the bulk of the settlement came in 1635, when 60 or more people led by Reverend Warham arrived, having trekked overland from Dorchester, Massachusetts. Most had arrived in the New World five years earlier on the ship "Mary and John" from Plymouth, England. The settlement was first called Dorchester, and was renamed Windsor in 1637. See: Stiles History of Ancient Windsor - Thistlewaite's Dorset Pilgrims - Wikipedia entry Loomis homestead, oldest in CT. Settlers at Windsor by the end of 1640, per the Descendants of the Founders of Ancient Windsor: Abbot - Alford - S. Allen - M. Allyn - Barber - Bartlett - M. (Barrett) (Huntington) Stoughton - Bascomb - Bassett - Benett - Birge - Bissell - Branker - Brewster - Buckland - Buell - Carter - Chappel - D. Clarke - J. Clarke - Cooke - Cooper - Denslow - Dewey - Dibble - Dumbleton - Drake - Dyer - Eels - Eggleston - Filley - Ford - Foulkes - Fyler - Gaylord - Francis Gibbs - William Gilbert - Jere. Gillett - Jon. Gillett - N. Gillett - Grant - Gridley - E. Griswold - M. Griswold - Gunn - Hannum - Hawkes - Hawkins - Hayden - Haynes - Hill - Hillier - Holcombe - Holmes - Holt - Hosford - Hoskins - Hoyte - Hubbard - Huit - Hulbert - Hull - Hurd - Hydes - Loomis - Ludlow - Lush - Marshfield - A. Marshall - T. Marshall - Mason - M. (Merwin) (Tinker) Collins - M. Merwin - Mills - Moore - Newberry - Newell - Oldage - Orton - Osborn - Palmer - Parsons - Parkman - Pattison - Phelps - Phelps - Phillips - Pinney - Pomeroy - Pond - Porter - Preston - Rainend - Randall - Rawlins - Reeves - J. Rockwell - W. Rockwell - B. Rossiter - St. Nicholas - Saltonstall - Samos - M. Sension (St. John) – R. Sension - Sexton - Staires - Starke - F. Stiles – H. Stiles - J. Stiles – T. Stiles - Stoughton - Stuckey - Talcott - E. Taylor - J. Taylor - Terry - Thornton - Thrall - Tilley - Tilton - Try - F. (Clark) (Dewey) (Phelps) - Vore - Warham - Weller - Whitehead - A. Williams - J. Williams - R. Williams - Wilton - Winchell - Witchfield - Wolcott - Young Current Location: Hartford County, Connecticut   Parent Towns: Dorchester, Massachusetts   Daughter Towns: Windsor Locks; South Windsor; East Windsor; Ellington; Bloomfield

1. ↑ Richard Whitehead, 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)
   4:516.

   Richard (Whitehead), Windsor, serv. on the jury of July Ct. 1640, m. Mary, wid. of William Hopkins, and no more is kn. of him; but his w. was liv. 1670 with her d. Lewis.

2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} "Genealogical Gleanings in England, in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society)
   44:386-88, Oct 1890.

   The fact that his will is noted in Waters' "Gleanings" suggests that Richard Whitehead died during a return trip to England, having left his wife and stepdaughter in Connecticut.