Willard memoir : or, Life and times of Major Simon Willard; with notices of three generations of his descendants, and two collateral branches in the United States; also, some account of the name and family in Europe from an early day

Front matter

n pre, a VI V/ilej L I Wa r^

Boston Public Library i^

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Chapter I. NATIONAL ORIGIN OF THE NAME AND FAMILY

Keltic or Teutonic. Tradition in some of the American branches; also in the German Family. Saxon Names of Places and Persons. Battle Abbey Roll. William's followers from different Nations. The German Immigration. The Name in France pp. 1-20.

Chapter II. THE NAME IN SUSSEX AND KENT, FROM THE CONQUEST TO THE PRESENT

DAY.

The Name in Domesday Book, in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex and Kent, and in other Records. Sussex Wills. Parish Registers of Waldron in Sussex; and Horsmonden, Brenchley, and Cranbrook in Kent. Kentish Wills. Sundry Names in Sussex and Kent. Pedigree of Colonel John H. Willard. Arms of the Family pp. 21-80.

Chapter III. SOME ACCOUNT OF THE WILLARDS IN THIS COUNTRY, NEITHER DESCENDED

FROM MAJOR SIMON WILLARD; NOR FROM HIS FATHER,

RICHARD WILLARD.

The Willards of Maryland from Germany in 1746. Descendants of Dewalt Willard. The Newton Willards, descended from Jacob Willard of Watcrtown, in

the Seventeenth Century pp. 81-97.,

h

X CONTENTS.

Chapter IV. SOME ACCOUNT OF A BROTHER AND SISTER OF SIMON WILLARD, WHO CAME

TO NEW ENGLAND.

George Willard of Scituate, and his Children. He engages in the Controversy between Rev. Mr. Chauncy and Mr. Vassall. His Children baptized by Rev. Mr. Witherell. He is "convented" before the General Court in Plymouth. Proceedings against him. Marriage of a Son. Marriage of a Daughter to Paul Sears, with Notice of some of their Descendants. Margery Willard, who intermarried with Dolor Davis: Notice of some of their Descendants, pp. 98-111.

Chapter V. THE COUNTY OF KENT, AND THE PARISH OF HORSMONDEN IN THAT

COUNTY.

Early Settlements of the Kelts, BelgjB, and Saxons. Description of Kent: its Area, Population, and Local Divisions. Tenure of Gavelkind. Relation of Tenures in Kent to those in Massachusetts. Horsmonden described: its Position, Population, Soil, Products, and Freeholds. The ancient Church and the great Oak pp. 112-124.

Chapter VI. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD, WITH THE NAMES OF RICHARD

WILLARD'S CHILDREN, &c. ; PRECEDED BY A BRIEF MENTION

OF HIS IMMEDIATE ANCESTORS.

Richard Willard of Horsmonden ; his Children ; his Character. Tabular View of his Family. The Early Years of Simon. Condition of Puritanism. Remarks upon Emigration. Simon's First Marriage. His Arrival in 1634. His Residence at Cambridge. Negotiates with the Indians for the Purchase of Concord, and removes to that Town. With Gibbons, superintends the Erection of Buildings at Saybrook Fort, at the Mouth of Connecticut River. Clerk of the Writs, Commissioner, Surveyor of Arms, Military Officer, Deputy to the General Court. His Trade with the Indians; treats with the Block Islanders and Pequots. Slavery in Massachusetts considered ; never hereditary. Visit to Passaconaway in company with Eliot. Is on numerous Committees of the General Court. Establishes with Johnson the North Line of the Patent. History of the Massachusetts Title to this Line. Arbitrator in the Lancaster Difficulties. Of the Committee on the Dunster and Glover Controversy, and on other Committees pp. 125-187.

CONTENTS. XI

Chapter VII. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD (CONTINUED)

Chosen to the Command of the Middlesex Regiment. Chosen Assistant: Legislative and Judicial Duties of an Assistant described. Sketch of the Troubles between the United Colonies and the Niantick Indians under Ninigret. Major Willard appointed Commander of the Expedition against Ninigret; the Proceedings of the Expedition; and the Report of the Council of War. The Commissioners' Letter to the Major. Remarks upon the Result of the Expedition.

Chapter YIII.

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD (CONTINUED).

The Commissioners of Charles II. Their Proceedings. The Major on a Committee concerning them. Chairman of the Board to superintend the Town of Lancaster. His Removal to Nonaicoicus. County Courts in Dover and Yorkshire.

Chapter IX. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD (CONTINUED)

Beginning of Philip's War. Major Willard's Command. He relieves Brookfield when on the Eve of Destruction. Contemporary Commendation of his Gallant Conduct. Letter of Secretary Rawson. Letter of the Major, &c., to the Secretary. Captain Henchman's and the Secretary's Letters. The Major's Military Services, in the Fall and Winter of 1675, on the Frontiers. Mission to the Waraesit Indians in company with Gookin and Eliot pp. 241-264.

Chapter X. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD (CONTINUED)

Military Services on the Frontiers in February and March, 1676. Secretary Rawson's Letter as to " a full Command." Savage, why appointed. The Essex and Norfolk Levies placed under the Major's Command. Secretary Rawson's Letter. Various Notices of the Attack upon Groton. The Major's Dwelling-house burnt; the Family escape to Charlestown. His Narrative of Proceedings, Mai'ch 21-29. Allowance by the General Court. His last Appearance on the Bench. Military Service, September, 1675, — April, 167G pp. 265-284.

Xll CONTENTS.

Chapter XL

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD (CONTINUED).

Tlie Statement of Rev. Dr. Fiske, that the Major was censured by the Government for marching his Force beyond the Bounds of Middlesex, in the Relief of Brookfield, considered, and shown to be without Foundation. Contemporary Evidence uniform in Refutation of the Allegation pp. 285-303.

Chapter XII. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD (CONTINUED)

Epidemic in New England. Sickness and Death of Major Willard and other distinguished Individuals. His Funeral. His Character. Extent of his Military, Legislative, and Judicial Service pp. 304-312.

Chapter XIII. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD (CONTINUED)

A Brief Review of the Leading Historical Events in the Colony during the Forty-two Years of his American Life, 1634-76. The Early Towns. Disputes between the Assistants and Freemen, resulting in the Establishment of a Representative Government. The " Negative Voice." Separation into Two Branches. Settlement of Connecticut. Treaty with the Narragansets. The Pequot War. Harvard College. The Antinomian Controversy. Various Proposals by Friends of the Colony in Favor of Removal. Jurisdiction over New Hampshire. Confederation of the New-England Colonies. The Navigation Act. Jurisdiction over Maine : its Loss and Resumption. The Mint. The Synod of 1662. The Third Church in Boston. Commissioners of Charles H. Abolition of the Feudal System. Restriction of " Freedom." Appeals to the King. Philip's War.

Chapter XIV. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD (CONTINUED)

His Patrimony. Estates in Cambridge and Concord. The Two-thousand Acre Grant. The Assabet Grant. Nonaicoicus Grant. The Lancaster Estate. His Inventory. Grant of a Thousand Acres to his Widow and the six youngest Children pp. 325-337.

CONTENTS. Xlll

Chapter XV. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD (CONTINUED)

His Marriages: Mary Sharpe, Elizabeth and Mary Dunster. Relationship of the Dmisters to President Dunster. The "Balehoult" Letter. The Dunsters a Lancashire Family. The Name in the Bury and Middleton Parish Registers. Other Memoranda of the Name. pp. 338-352.

Chapter XYI.

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD (CONTINUED).

His Children. Estimate of the number of Descendants, Eight Generations. Order of Births, Marriages, &c., of the Children. Genealogy of the Family extended to Four Generations, with some Brief Sketches of Individuals. . pp. 353-440.

Conclusion

Brief Remarks on Genealogical Investigations, and wherein they are of Value. The Puritan Descent; its Character and Results. The New Element in our Population; its Dangers and Hopes. The Voice of Warning and Instruction in the supposed Words of the Subject of this Memoir, addressed to his Descendants pp. 441-452.

WILLARD MEMOIR,

WILLARD MEMOIR.