"1. William Searle of Boston, a carpenter, came to Ipswich and bought land there on May 19, 1663, from Sherborn Wilson. As nothing has been found concerning his early life it remains uncertain whether he was an original emigrant from England or of the second generation in America. Nor is it known where he married his wife, Grace _____. On September 26, 1663, he assigned to Thomas Dennis of Portsmouth the 'deed of sale' covering the house and land purchased from Wilson. [Essex Deeds, 8:69.] Searle's life in Ipswich was short, as he died August 16, 1667. He made a nuncupative will, sworn to on September 24, 1667, by Deacon Thomas Knowlton and Mary Taylor, as follows: 'William Searle when he lay sick sent for mee Thomas Knowlton & Robt Peirse & when we came he asked us to be helpfull to his wife, he said he would leave that little estate he had to his wife & in case what was owing to him would not pay his debts his will was that his land should be sould toward the payment thereof.' Knowlton and Peirse took the inventory of the small estate, the chief item of which was the house valued at £28, the total being £93. On February 23, 1722/3, a grandson, William Searle of Rowley, was appointed administrator of such property of his grandfather as had not already been administered. [Essex Probate, No. 25009.]"
