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| WITTER, Josiah
(1638-1690) |
WITTER, Josiah 2 3 4
Josiah married Elizabeth WHEELER on 25 Feb 1662 in Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts. (Elizabeth WHEELER was born in 1648 in Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts and died on 5 Aug 1672 in Stonington, New London County, Connecticut.)
Josiah next married Sarah CRANDALL about 1676 in Stonington, New London County, Connecticut.1 (Sarah CRANDALL was born about 1650 and died after 1694 in Stonington, New London County, Connecticut.) |
1
Witter, Harold John, The Descendants of William Witter and Hannah Churchman of Lynn, Massachusetts (1991. Gateway Press, Inc: Baltimore.), p. 6. Surety: 4. JOSIAH married [2] SARAH CRANDALL, daughter of Elder John CRANDALL and his first wife. Her father was one of the original purchasers of the land comprising Westerly, Rhode Island from which Hopkinton was later formed. He was the first Baptist Elder at Westerly and he was one of the religious leaders from the Newport Church that made the trip to Swampscott in 1651 to hold a religious meeting at the home of WILLIAM WITTER for which he was imprisoned and fined.
2 History of the Wheeler Family in America, page 290. Surety: 3
3
Savage, James, A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, Before 1692 (Online version, Nov 2000). Surety: 4. WITTER, JOSIAH, Lynn, s. of William of the same, m. 25 Feb. 1662, Elizabeth Wheeler, had Elizabeth b. 15 Mar. 1663; and Mary, 20 Feb. 1665; may have been at Stonington 1670, perhaps with f. of his w. WILLIAM, Lynn, an early sett. had w. Annis, and ch. Hannah, wh. m. a. 1650, Robert Burden; and Josiah, bef. ment. was troubled as a Bapt. early in 1646 by prosecut. of wh. the substance may be read in Col. Rec. III. 67, but d. 1659, aged 75. His will of 5 Aug. in that yr. mak. w. extrix. nam. s. d. and her h. was not pro. bef. June 1661. It is prob. that Burden stands for Burdett.
4
Witter, Harold John, The Descendants of William Witter and Hannah Churchman of Lynn, Massachusetts (1991. Gateway Press, Inc: Baltimore.), p. 5-8. Surety: 4. Second Generation
Page: 5.
3. JOSIAH WITTER (William 1), b. Swampscott, MA or England in 1638, d. Stonington, Connecticut probably in 1685 (the old Witter manuscript says he died in 1690). He married (1) at Lynn, Massachusetts on February 25,
Page: 6.
1662, to ELIZABETH WHEELER, b. Lynn, Massachusetts about 1648, d. Stonington, Connecticut August 5, 1672, daughter of Thomas and Mary WHEELER. In Thomas Minor's diary is this entry: "1671 the Seventh moneth is September and hath 30 days . . . Tuesday the 10 good-wife witer was Lost." The shock of her being lost may have hastened her death. His diary also states: "1671 The sixth moneth is Agust and hath 31 days . . . the 7th day wensday ELIZABETH WITTER was buried." JOSIAH married [2] SARAH CRANDALL, daughter of Elder John CRANDALL and his first wife. Her father was one of the original purchasers of the land comprising Westerly, Rhode Island from which Hopkinton was later formed. He was the first Baptist Elder at Westerly and he was one of the religious leaders from the Newport Church that made the trip to Swampscott in 1651 to hold a religious meeting at the home of WILLIAM WITTER for which he was imprisoned and fined.
JOSIAH, his mother, wife, and child moved from Lynn, Massachusetts to Stonington, Connecticut between the years 1662 and 1666. He was listed in the census of February 2, 1668 in Stonington with 43 other early inhabitants. He purchased large tracts of land as stated on August 15, 1667 at a town meeting at Stonington: "it was voted that Goodman WITTER shall have four score acres of land where it may be found and to take it according to order." He built a dwelling house situated a short distance from the residence of his father-in-law, THOMAS WHEELER, where he resided for the remainder of his life and where the rest of his children were born. The house was situated in what is now North Stonington. He was a Deputy to the General Court in Connecticut from 1667 to 1670-1. On April 12, 1670, Thomas Park of New London sold to JOSIAH WITTER of Stonington one hundred acres of land which had been granted to the said Park by the town of Stonington. The Town of Stonington records read as follows: The Record or Register of the Inhabitants Names taken this 29th of December 1670 by the selectmen of Stonington according to a towne order formerly made the 15th of November 1670; JOSIA WITTER 8 acres of land. Also in the town records but later than the foregoing entry and without date, JOSIAH is noted among the Freemen of Stonington. He also owned large tracts of land on which the town of Hopkinton, Rhode Island was founded.
The land that JOSIAH owned in Lynn, Massachusetts came under dispute in 1680. The Quarterly Court of Essex County, MA describes the case of JOSIAH WITTER vs John Richards of Swampscott which was a case of trespass. John had received Mulliner's Right from his father, Edward Richards, and John and JOSIAH became embroiled in a boundary dispute of the land. JOSIAH came all the way from Stonington for the dispute. Perhaps due to the distance, JOSIAH was nonsuited the first time, and Richards was awarded 1 pound 16 s costs. JOSIAH came right back at the next session of the Court and this time got a verdict. John appealed to the Court of Assistants. John Richards reasons of appeal were that he had hald the land for the above forty years, as a residence of Henry Collins Jr. and Henry Collins Sr., and had a legal title; that WITTER under pretence of a record of Grant by the Town of twenty acres of land, dated March 31, 1676, lays claim to this parcel which the town had no right to dispose of; that he had his twenty acres and more unless he conveyed it to another, and "therefore connot but Judg him Insatiable that he cannot be contented to run loose in his own pasture but he must break over fences and feed mine down also"; that WITTER's conscience in former years would not allow him to claim it, although he had a "Itching desire after it"; as appeared by
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the testimony of Henry Collins and John Lewis, whom affirmed that WITTER would have borrowed a yoke of oxen of said Lewis to purchase the land now in controversy which he then acknowledge to be Thomas Joye's; that THOMAS WHEELER, father-in-law of WITTER, deposed that about eighteen years ago he was JOSIAH WITTER's house in Lynn; that Captain Marshall testified that WITTER never sold any land within the fence, which Richards owns to be true, "for he sold not all of Mulliner's to Oliver purchase, for he reserved some part hemself within fence which afterward he sold to Edward Richards, as appears by a deed from Thomas Joy to Capt. Marshall which bears the date May 30, 1661, at Stonington before Samuel Mason, Commissioner. The depositions on file with the Court recite the various disputes over Mulliner's Right for the past forty-odd years. The jury serving with the Court of Assistants found the case for John Richards, with costs. JOSIAH's bill of cost for the journey of 106 miles from Stonington and other costs was 4 pounds ls 6 d.
This land came into dispute again in 1684 in the case of Ezekiell Needham vs Benjamin Farr and the dispute was again over the boundary of WITTER's and Farr's land. It was testified that the fence which divided the land of George Farr Sr. and WILLIAM WITTER, both deceased, had been standing for 35 or 36 years. The case of JOSIAH WITTER of Stonington vs Benjamin Farr of Lynn for fencing in and withholding the defendant's land. The verdict was for the plaintiff. A letter of Attorney dated At New London, CT July 14, 1684 given by JOSIA WITTER of Stonington, son of WILLIAM WITTER of Lynn, deceased to Ezekiell Needham of Lynn in this action concerning WITTER's land at Lynn. It was testified that the bounds of land in controversy were agreed upon between JOSIAH WITTER and his father-in-law, THOMAS WHEELER, then of Lynn, and also old George Farr, and so remained for 22 or 23 years.
JOSIAH WITTER's will is indexed with the date November 24, 1685 at Salem, Massachusetts. The document itself is not on file at Salem, and it's whereabouts is unknown. After his death his sons EBENEZER and JOHN WITTER, relinquished their interest in and to their late father's estate, by giving to the administrator thereof a receipt in full discharge in the year 1689. The son JOHN WITTER, also by receipt, relinquished all right, title and claim against his mother, Mrs. SARAH CRANDALL BUTTON, and her husband, PETER BUTTON, after the death of his father. SARAH married (2) about 1687 to PETER BUTTON b. Haverhill, Massachusetts July 17, 1660 d. Westerly, Rhode Island 1726-7 and they had four children born in Stonington: Peter b. January 1, 1688; Mary b. October 6, 1689; Matthias b. January 16, 1692; and Eliphal b. December 16, 1694.
CHILDREN: WITTER
(by first wife)
4. i. Elizabeth, b. Lynn, MA, March 15, 1662-3
5. ii. Mary, b. Lynn, MA, February 20, 1664-5
6. iii. Ebenezer, b. Stonington, CT, March 25, 1668
(by second wife)
7. iv. John, b. Stonington, CT, March 11, 1677-8
8. v. Sarah, b. Stonington, CT, February 7, 1679-80
9. vi. Hannah, b. Stonington, CT, March 17, 1680-1
10. vii. Abigail, b. Stonington, CT, August 14, 1684
Page: 8.
REFERENCES: 1929 Witter Genealogy: Essex Institute Historical Collection, Vol. 109, (1973) p. 243-285, "Swampscott, Mass. in the Seventeenth Century" by Richard R. Johnson; Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex Co., Mass.; Button Genealogy.
5
Vital Records of Lynn. Surety: 4. Name: Josiah Witter
Birth Place: Lynn
Father's First Name: William
Mother's First Name: Annis.
Gender: Female
Source: Vital Records of Lynn
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