52 ANCESTORS, 52 THEMES. No. 18, "Where There's A Will" - Widow Mary BUELL 1684

This year's challenge by Amy Crow is another weekly blog, but based on Themes. Last week, it was Prosper.  This week, the theme is Where There's A Will - and I chose this one.

Mary POST, wife of the Immigrant, William BUELL (1604/5-1681): her will is marvellous as it lists her married daughters.  Mary's birth is estimated to be about 1615/16 in Chesterton, Huntingdon, England; she married William BUELL on 18 Nov 1640 in Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut. 

William died 16 Nov 1681, aged 76, and his will is dated July 26, 1681.  His wife provided the estate inventory of £142. 2s 7d.  Mary died several years later, aged 69. They had 7 children that we are aware of, all born in Windsor, Connecticut: Samuel William, Mary, Sgt Peter, Hannah, Hepsibah, Sarah, Abigail (predeceased her mother)

Her will has been transcribed as follows, found in the collection "Hartford, Connecticut Probate Records, 1639-1700" on Ancestry.com, taken from "A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records, Hartford District,1635-1700.Vol. I. n.p., 1906"; pages 219-220: 

   Buell, Widow Mary, Windsor. Died 1st September, 1684.  Invt.  £19-15-06.  
   Taken 11 October, 1684, by James Hilliard & Samuel Barber.  

Will dated 29 August, 1684.
I  Mary Buell, being very weak and nigh to death, but having my 
   natural Understanding, having some smale things to dispose of, my Will is 
   that my Eldest daughter Mary Mills shall have my Westcoate, Coat, & 
   that Hatt which was Sarah's, & 1 white linen apron, & 1 blue Apron 
   which it is woue; & the rest of my Wool & Linen Clothes I give to my 
   daughter Hannah Palmer, & my Hatt, & 1 pewter Platter, & 1 tin pann.  
   I give to my daughter Hepzibah Welles 6 yards of linen Cloth, & I give 
   to my gr. child Mary Palmer Wool Cloth to make her a Coat, & to my 
   gr. Child Sarah Palmer Wool Cloth for a Waste Coat, & the rest of 
   my Wool Cloth is to be divided between my daughters Mary & Hannah, 
   & the rest of my linen cloth is to be diuided between my two 
   daughters Mary and Hannah, & I give to my daughter Hannah 1 blue 
   apron, & that is all that I give to my daughter.
   (Will not signed)
Witnesses: James Hillier,   Mary X Hillier.

As you can see, her several daughters are the only persons receiving her goods; the two sons having been given land and other properties and goods from their father when he died 23 Nov 1681. 

The best thing about a will is that if it names the married daughters, giving their married surnames.  Abigail Buell, the youngest daughter, died in late 1681, aged 25 yrs, apparently not married.  The next youngest daughter, Sarah Buell, is said to have lived to 1734, but I have yet to find out if she married, or where she lived. It is possible she left the area, with the clue in the fourth line above - "that Hatt which was Sarah's"  This confusion has yet to be clarified.

Don't you love wills?  I find myself wondering why certain daughters receive some items.  
- And why only 2 of the Palmer grandchildren received cloth, no other grandchildren?  
- Her eldest daughter Mary married Simon Mills and had 11 children (several dying early) before 1678.  
- Hannah married [Fenner or] Timothy Palmer and had 9 children.  
- Hepzibah married Thomas Welles and had 8 children. 
- Samuel [my ancestor] had 12 children with Deborah Griswold.   
- Youngest son, Peter, married three times, first with Martha Cozzens, third with Mary Bissell; a second wife died soon after marriage; he had a grand total of 13 children.  

With wills from both Mary and William BUELL - or BEWELL, as it is spelled in his will of 1681, details of the family, confirmation of names and marriages, are very helpful.  I need to go looking for more wills, and eventually clear up the mystery of what happened to Sarah Buell (b. 1653). 

If you have more information or questions, contact me via calewis at telus dot net, or in the Comments below.  I would love to learn more about these ancestors.

Blogger is still not letting me "reply" to your comments, for some unknown reason. If I don't reply to your Comment, please know that I'm totally thrilled you came to read my post and commented! You truly make my day.

52 ANCESTORS in 52 WEEKS, #32 William STEVENS, 1630-1703

Following the challenge of writing 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, issued by Amy Johnson Crow , here is my 32nd installment, William STEVENS, who came to the New England colonies with his father and several siblings. The surname is sometimes spelled Stephens.

William STEVENS, b.abt 1630 in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England,  was the 3rd child of John & Mary Ann STEVENS (John, 1600-1671). The other children were Mary, b. 1624, Thomas b. 1628, and John, b. 1632. I have no information as yet on his siblings.

We know that on 3 Mar 1652/3 in Guilford, Connecticut, William married Mary MEIGS/Meggs, so we know the family had emigrated before that time. Mary was the daughter of John MEIGS & Tomisina FRYE, and was the granddaughter of the original Meigs immigrant, Vincent. Both immigrant families appear to have arrived in the colony before 1640.

William and Mary STEVENS first settled in Guilford, then moved to Killingworth by the mid 1660s, but returned to Guilford shortly after. They had 7 children to the best of our knowledge:
1.  John, b. 3 Mar 1653/4, d. 1676
2.  Samuel, b. 1 Mar 1656/7, d. 7 Jul 1712

3.  Nathaniel, b. 29 Oct 1661, d. 22 Oct 1709
4.  Daniel, b. 1664, d. 1704
5.  Judith [ancestor], b. 1 Oct 1665, Windsor, d. 31 Oct 1732 Killlingworth; m. Samuel BUELL Aug 1686; 11 children
6.  Josiah, b. 9 Dec 1670, d. 15 Mar 1754; m. Sarah Hubbell 28 Jun 1699; 2 sons
7.  Mary, b. 2 Nov 1677, d. 30 Oct 1718

Much of my information on William & Mary came from the following book, Record of the Descendents of Vincent Meigs: who came from Dorsetshire to America about 1635 (Westfield, N.J., USA: self-published, 1935 (based on 1st pub. by H.B.Meigs, 1901)). There are some dates and details which contradict others from various documents, but it is a worthwhile place from which to start further research. 

William & Mary died within two months of each other:  William, aged 73, died 26 Feb 1702/3, and Mary, aged 70, died 30 Apr 1703.  

Naturally I need to do more research on William and his family, but this is a start. If you have any questions or have further information, do contact me via calewis at telus dot net, or leave details in the Comments section below. I always appreciate corrections, as well.

SURNAME SATURDAY - BUELL, England to CT

The first BUELL immigrant is William BUELL, born possibly before 17 Feb 1604/5 in Chesterton, Huntingdon, England, according to several records.  He arrived in approximately 1630, apparently settling first at Dorchester MA, then moved to Windsor, settling there in about 1635 or shortly after.  In England, the surname was sometimes seen as Bevil(le). Occasionally the Buell family is considered from Wales, but this may well be an error.  In the link about Chesterton in 1870-1872  HERE, the Bevil name shows up as of the surname of early owners of the Manor in the Parish of Chesterton.  And more information for searching in this region of Huntingdon is found HERE.  

One major source for Buell records is Albert Welles' publication in 1881: The History of The BUELL FAMILY in England, From the Remotest Times Ascertainable from Our Ancient Histories, and in America, from Town, Parish, Church and Family Records.  Illustrated with Portraits and Coat Armorial.  This book is available on  Google Play free.  There are apparently some errors and confusion with some of the details in this book, particularly with the earliest statements of ancestry, but as providing a set of clues for early settlers in America, it has been very helpful in my first steps with the Buell families.  

William BUELL & his wife Mary POST married in Windsor, Connecticut, 18 Nov 1640, and eventually had 7 children, 2 boys and 5 girls, all born in Windsor. William was apparently a skilled cabinet maker, and general carpenter, excellent skills for the new colonies.  

My line goes as follows - # is generation number:

  1. William BUELL, 17 Feb 1604/5 Chesterton, Huntingdon, Eng;  d. 1681 CT;  Mary POST

  2. Samuel William BUELL, 2 Sep 1641, CT;  d. 1720 CT;  Deborah GRISWOLD

  3. Samuel BUELL, 20 Jul 1663 CT;  d. 1732 CT;  Judith STEVENS

  4. Nathaniel BUELL, 29 Sep 1700 CT;  death date not known;  Deborah HORTON

  5. Grover BUELL, 4 Apr 1732 CT;  d. 1818 NY;  Jerusha BUCK

  6. Grover BUELL, 22 Jan 1759 NY;  d. 1811 NY;  Mehitable [unknown]

  7. Grover BUELL, 24 Dec 1794 NY;  d. 1874 NY;  Charlotte BORTLE

  8. Harriet F. BUELL,  27 Jan 1829 NY;  d. 1911 NJ;  James M. TERWILLIGER

  9. James Grover "Grove" TERWILLIGER,  27 May 1856 NY;  d. 1929 NJ;  Clara GRAVES

10.  Marguerite Josephine TERWILLIGER,  19 May 1880 NY;  d. 1973 BC Canada; ChasEK

   -  then, my mother;  JnoG

   -  then, ME    

Do you see all those "Grover Buell" individuals?  Some of their siblings named their sons Grover Buell as well, living in the same region, in the same years. Challenging, very challenging!   Because first names were repeated in each generation of each sibling - making a rather confusing mixture of finding same-named individuals in the same geographic setting at the same time - many records need to be followed with local histories, christenings, birth/marriage/death/burial records, land use, and early census records are essential to follow the lines.  

Early BUELL settlers in the first and 2nd generations married into well-known New England families:  Fenner,  Griswold,  Horton,  Palmer,  Parmalee,  Porter [many marriages], and Welles/Wells.  Mary POST, wife of William BUELL, has listed her mother as Mary Porter Mills... and the Porter intermarriages may be cousins of course.  Both the BUELL and POST families were originally from Chesterton; Mary's parents apparently died at sea on the way over from England to the colonies.

Several wives of these BUELL men [#'s 6, 7] are very difficult to research, and continue to be end points in my family tree. Bit by bit by bit, I hope to start filling in more information.  This is by no means the only information I have on the Buell line, but I'm always happy to find out a bit more, see another land grant, or a record of any kind.  

If you have any information on any of these individuals, please feel free to comment below and/or contact me at calewis at telus dot net.