In looking for ancestors who came from the Somerset area, I came across the Lewis family from south Wales. The relevant person in my line is Patience Lewis, the daughter of John Lewis, whose father, John Lewis, came to Virginia from Wales in 1638. Patience was born in 1682, married Paul Harrelson about 1710, and eventually their line led to my grandmother Daisy Croswell.
I have not spent a lot of time checking the Lewis history in Wales. The trees on ancestry have them as having been in Wales at least since 1500. Another source has the Lewis name originating from French Huguenots who came to Wales. Perhaps I can find out more in the future.
What interests me about the Lewises is that they married in St. Telios Church in Llantilio Pertholey, Monmouthshire. Just the enchantment of that name is enough to draw me there.
Last but not least of the ancestors near Somerset is John Burroughs, who is said, by some mysterious person on Ancestry, to have been born in Barnstaple, Devon. I have contacted the Devon Historical Society, but they say the records from 1618 are hard to read. And sent me a photocopy to demonstrate. I did find a record of a John Burroughs who was baptized on March 2, 1618 in St. Paul, Exeter, Devon. Perhaps this is the John who arrived in Massachusetts, perhaps leaving on a ship from Barnstaple.
The following is the best summary I have found of John Burroughs life.
1. John1 BURROUGHS was born circa 1617 in England.1 He married (first) Joanna JESSUP, daughter of John JESSUP and Joanna KERRICH, in Stamford, Fairfield Co, CT. He married (second) Elizabeth (PETTIT) REED, daughter of Thomas PETTIT and Christian MELLOWS, as her second husband. He died in Aug 1678 in Newtown, Queens Co, NY, (some Internet sources say 3 Aug).1
Some sources have John BURROUGHS of Newtown as the son of Reverend Jeremiah BURROUGHS. Jeremiah, however, was born about 1599 or 1600 and therefore was very likely not the father of John. Also, Jeremiah died 13 Nov 1646 in London and John was in New Haven CT by 1644.
Some sources have John BURROUGHS in Salem in 1637. This John, however, was John BARROWS, who came over in 1637 on the ship Mary Ann, “desirous to pass to Salem in New England, there to inhabit”. John BARROWS later lived in Plymouth MA.
There was a John BURROWS mentioned in a New Haven CT court record in 1644. This was probably the John who settled in Newtown. A number of future Newtown families lived in New Haven. New Haven was founded in 1638 by a group of colonists who had arrived in Boston a year earlier on the ship Hector. John BURROUGHS’s name is not on the passenger list of the Hector. However, there supposedly was another ship that sailed with the Hector. Maybe John was on that ship.2
John BURROUGHS may have been an indentured servant. Indentured servants were not allowed to marry until their service was finished and John’s oldest child, or at least the oldest that lived to adulthood, was not born until he was about 32. 70% of immigrants arriving in America between 1630 and 1660 were indentured servants. John may have arrived in America in 1637 as a servant to someone in the New Haven group and finished his contract in the early to mid 1640s. Freed indentured servants were usually given land at the end of their service. John BURROUGHS may have been given land in Stamford, which was part of the New Haven Colony.
On 3 May 1649, John BURROWS was a witness to a court action against one of the townsmen of Stamford, CT.3
On 12 Apr 1652, John BURROUGHS sold land in Stamford CT as an “attorney” for the widow WHITMOR, then living in Masheag [Maspeth?]. Joanna (JESSUP) BURROUGHS’s mother married John WHITMORE as her second husband.3
John BURROUGHS was one of the early settlers of Newtown, Queens Co, NY. He probably moved there before Apr 1652. At that time his widowed mother-in-law was living in Newtown (then called Maspeth).2,4, 3
On 12 Apr 1656, John BURROUGHS was one of the signers of a deed from the Indians to the founders of Newtown, submitted and recorded on 6 Mar 1666.5
John BURROUGHS was town clerk of Newtown for a number of years. He also served as Constable for awhile.1
The approximate birth year for John BURROUGHS comes from the Newtown town records. In a 13 Aug 1667 court deposition he was called “aged about 50 years”.
John BURROUGHS of Newtown, Queens Co, NY, left a will dated 2 Jul 1678 (the will mentioned his wife, son Jeremiah, son Joseph, son John (not yet 21), daughters Joanna REDER and Mary BURROUGHS, son Jeremiah executor, witnesses were Thomas PETTIT and Gershom MOORE). An inventory of the estate of John BURROUGHS was taken on 29 Aug 1678 in Queens Co, NY.6
A brother of Elizabeth (PETTIT) (REED) BURROUGHS moved to Hopewell Tp, Hunterdon Co, NJ, about 1696.
Some sources have Joanna (JESSUP) BURROUGHS dying in 1679. This would have been very unlikely, since divorces back then were very rare. The error can be explained by the fact that John BURROUGHS’s second wife, Elizabeth, died in 1679.
Known children of John1 BURROUGHS and Joanna JESSUP were as follows:
2. i. Joanna2 BURROUGHS was born say 1649 in Stamford, Fairfield Co, CT. She married John REEDER, son of John REEDER and Hannah THORPE, in Newtown, Queens Co, NY. She died on 9 May 1694 in Newtown, Queens Co, NY.
- 3. ii. Jeremiah BURROUGHS was born circa 1651 in Stamford, Fairfield Co, CT. He married (first) Hannah WAY, daughter of James WAY. He married (second) Martha (FURMAN) REEDER, daughter of Josias FURMAN and Alice Angelche BEERS, as her second husband between 1697 and 1698. He died in 1698 in Newtown, Queens Co, NY, (drowned swimming after a canoe).
- 4. iii. Joseph BURROUGHS died on 16 Feb 1737/38 in Newtown, Queens Co, NY, (“an old man”, maybe 26 Feb).
- iv. Mary BURROUGHS married Samuel HUNT, son of Ralph HUNT and Elizabeth JESSUP, after 2 Jul 1678 (Samuel and Mary were first-cousins-once-removed). She died in 1725 in Maidenhead Tp, Hunterdon Co, NJ.7
Elizabeth PETTIT married (first) Thomas REED. She died shortly before 20 Nov 1679 in Newtown, Queens Co, NY.
Elizabeth (PETTIT) (REED) BURROUGHS of Newtown, Queens Co, NY, left a will dated 25 Nov 1678 (the will mentioned children Joseph REED, John REED, Mary MOORE, Sarah REED, and John BURROUGHS, John BURROUGHS being underage, executor son-in-law Samuel MOORE of Newtown). Administration of the estate of Elizabeth (PETTIT) (REED) BURROUGHS was granted to Samuel MOORE on 20 Nov 1679 in Queens Co, NY.
Known children of John1 BURROUGHS and Elizabeth PETTIT were:
- 5. i. John 2 BURROUGHS was born on 22 Jun 1665 in Newtown, Queens Co, NY. He married Margaret WOODWARD, daughter of Lambert WOODWARD and Sarah BLOOMFIELD. He died in 1699 in Newtown, Queens Co, NY.
From http://swarling.mywebcommunity.org/burroughs/newtown000t.htm#toc0
CASE4339 originally shared this to Burroughs Family Tree
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