Person:William Witherell (3)

Tradition says that this William Wetherell came from England, in the capacity of a cabin-boy, with William Dunn, the master of the vessel, and one of the original proprietors of Taunton, who is said to have soon returned to England, leaving his cabin-boy in charge of his proprietary, with the under standing, that, if he (Dunn) did not return to claim it, the right should escheat to young Wetherell; and such was the result. Of the exact time Capt. Dunn arrived in America, we have no reliable account: it might have been just before the settlement of Taunton, and he might have brought over in his vessel many of the first settlers of the town; and, as most of these were from the vicinity of Taunton in England, it is possible that the birthplace of Wetherell was in that neighborhood. All this is, however, mere conjecture. The first reliable evidence we have of William Wetherell being in Taunton is in 1643, when his name appears on a list of males, between the ages of sixteen and sixty, subject to military duty. He was one of the inhabitants of Taunton, who, on the 28th of December, 1659, had a division of land made in the proportion of two acres on each shilling of the rate paid by the individual, two acres on each head in the family, and two acres to the lot. Mr. Wetherell's rate was seven shillings and tenpence; and there were five heads in his family (supposed to be himself, wife, and three children); and twenty-eight acres of land were assigned him. His wife's name was Dorothy --. When they were married is uncertain: but it is supposed to have been about 1650 ; for, in 1672, William Wetherell, and William Wetherell, jun. (supposed to be his son), were among the proprietors of the South Purchase of Taunton, including what is now Dighton and a portion of Berkley.

He was admitted a freeman at the Plymouth Court in June, 1658. June 6, 1664, William Wetherell and three others, of Taunton, were fined "twenty shillings for an abuse done to a sawmill att Taunton, belonging to James Walker and others, by coming in the night and breaking downe some parte of the said mill, and for takeing away sevuerall thinges from the same." It is presumed that this difficulty grew out of the fact, that the dam to this mill was so built as to prevent "the alewiues from goeing vp" the river, and hence was not legally built; for, on the same day that Wetherell and others were fined, the owners of the mill were required, before "the next season of the fishes goeing vp," to make "a free, full, and sufficient passage for the said fish."

Just before the commencement of Philip's war in 1675, a list of the proprietors of Taunton was made ; and on this list is the name of William Wetherell, who owned "on his own rights and that which was Mr. Dunn's." His name appears several times on the Grand Inquest between 1650 and 1690. He was a constable in Taunton for the years 1662 and 1676. In 1671 and 1685, he was a "deputy," or representative, from Taunton to the Plymouth-Colony Court. He was also a deputy at a special court held on the last day of October and first of November, 1676. In 1685, he was one of the selectmen. In 1671, he was one of a committee "appointed in each town to see to the gathering-in of the Minister's Maintainance," &c. In 1679-80, he was one of the court's committee" to bound the meddowes on Assonett Necke." June 2, 1685, he was licensed "to retaile cider, beeir, and strong liquors." It is presumed, as he lived at this time on the road leading from Taunton to Boston, and known then and now as the "Bay Road," that he kept a sort of "ordinary," or victualling-house, for travellers; and hence he no doubt kept the first public-house within the limits of Norton. May 25, 1680, he was appointed one of a committee of the town "to revise the town-orders, records of land," &c.

Thus it will be seen that he was a man of some consequence, and possessed a good reputation among the early settlers of Taunton. From an old deed now in possession of our townsman (descendant of the first settler), William D. Wetherell, given by John Wetherell, son of William, to his son Jonathan, it appears that William Wetherell was an "Eldest Sergeant in Capt. Gorrom's (Gorham's) Company in the great Narragansett-Swamp fitt," which took place Dec. 19 (?), 1675, in the present town of South Kingston, R.I.; and that a grant of land was made by the court to the soldiers who were wounded in that ever-memorable battle. From the Plymouth-Colony Records, vol. vi. p. 119, it appears that "Sergt. Witherly" and "other Taunton men" came wounded to the house of Peleg Sanford, Dec. 24, 1675; and that he remained till Oct. 17, 1676. His wound must, therefore, have been of a pretty severe character, to have confined him almost a year before he was able to return home. It was in consequence of his wounds received in the battle of Narragansett Swamp, we presume, that the court granted Mr. Wetherell ten pounds in 1685, and five pounds in 1686.

From all the facts that we can gather relating to Mr. Wetherell, he seems to have been a man blessed with a good share of worldly goods; holding two rights in the original purchase of Taunton (his own and Mr. Dunn's), one right in the South Purchase of Taunton, and, at the time of his death, half a right in the North Purchase. In the year 1690, he deeded most of his property to his children and grandchildren; and in his will, dated Aug. 15, 1691, and probated Nov. 18 of same year, he makes some little legacies to his children, and confirms the deeds he had previously given of his lands. He mentions in his will his sons William, John, and Ephraim (who was dead at the date of the will), and his daughter Dorothy Wood, who was the wife of William Wood (her second husband), to whom she was married April 1, 1686. Her first husband was Elias Irish; and they were married Aug. 26, 1674. He lived only about three years; for, in October, 1677, William Wetherell was appointed administrator of his estate.

The text, above, is taken from Source:Clark, George Faber. History of the Town of Norton, Bristol County, Massachusetts, from 1669 to 1859

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 William Witherell, in Find A Grave.

   Inscription: "Site of the first house in Norton build by William Witherell, A.D. 1669. Erected by order of the town, A.D. 1889"
   
   He is buried in the west end of this burial ground.

2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Clark, George Faber. A history of the town of Norton, Bristol County, Massachusetts, from 1669 to 1859. (Boston, Massachusetts: Crosby, Nichols and Co. ;  The author, 1859)
   p. 6-11.