William Marston of Ormsby St. Margaret, Norfolk, England and Hampton, New Hampshire

The subject of this article is William Martson who emigrated to New England by 1640 when he was recorded as receiving a land grant. There were actually two men named William Marston, both apparently  from the same part of Norfolk, who left England during the period now known as the Great Migration. The genealogy of these two men have been confused and intertwined, making for a genealogy headache for researchers. I am hoping I can straightened them out for you. Note that these men were from Norfolk and not Yorkshire England.

English origins

A surprising number of Great Migation immigrants hailed from in and around a tiny village on the Norfolk coast called Ormesby St. Margaret. The families included Estows, Moultons, Dow, Page and Marstons. These names are found in a 1610 rental agreement for land on the Manor of Ormesby. [1] This and other reseach from the area also shows us that there were multiple extended families with  those surnames. This makes tracing the immigrants ancestry difficult. Both of the William Marstons who immigrated to New England were from Ormesby and were likely related to each other.

The William Marston, who settled eventually in Hampton, was born about 1590. Noyes, Libbey, Davis say that his father was Henry Marston. [2] Henry was the son of Thomas and Alice Marston. This line has been traced back to a Thomas Marston of Bastwick, Norfolk who was born about 1435. Thomas, in his will asked to be buried in the churchyard of St. Sebastian, which is actually in  Woodbastick on the very edge of the Norfolk Broads. [3] His son Robert Marston was born about 1465 and married a woman named Margaret ____. He died in Bastwick in 1514. His son Thomas was born about 1495, most likely in Bastwick. He married Alice ____ about 1525. At some point this couple moved to Ormesby St. Margaret. Thomas wrote his will there on 17 April 1548, it was proved 29 March 1549. His son John inherited his house and lands but Thomas left money and a mare for his son Henry. Alice married again, she was known as Mother Allen in her son John's will. She left all her estate to her son Henry when she died around 1587.

Henry married and lived in Ormesby. The name of his wife is unfortuately unknown. His oldest son, Robert Marston, was born about 1575. This Robert had a son Robert, who also immigrated to Hampton, New Hampshire along with his Uncle William. This dispells the idea that Robet and William were brothers. [4]

william the immigant

William was born around 1590, most likely in Ormesby St. Margaret. He was married by about 1615. The name of his first wife is unknown.  That's right her name is unknown. Many, many current ancestries out there give her name as Sarah Goody. This is not correct. The William Marston who lived in Salem married a woman named Sarah ___. [5] According to Torrey, William and Sarah ____ were married by 1653.[6] Torreys' references for our William's marriage are as follows: Pillsbury: Unknown [7], Stone: Unknown [8], Tingley Meyers: Sarah? [9], Blake-Glidden: Unknown [10] Torrey's Register reference does not address the marriage. Marston-Weaver: Unknown [11]. Tellingly, the more current the publication the more likely the wife is said to be unknown. Libby, Noyes and Davis also say unknown.

The William Marston of Salem and his wife Sarah had eight children all recorded in the Salem records, all after 1653. Sidney Perly in his history of Salem confused him with the William in Marston, actually saying that they were the same man, this might be where the confusion comes from. [12]

Hemsby, Norfolk, England

family

William and his unknown wife had at least five children, all born in England. The baptism of the first two, Thomas and Prudence cannot be found, but the last three, William, Ann and John are believed to have been baptized in the village of Hemsby at St. Mary the Virgin. Their LNAB was spelled Merstone. [13] The last child born in England  was baptized in 1630.

immigration

Most printed genealogies seem to agree that William was in Massachusetts by 1636. Like many new immigrants he took his time before settling in one location. He and many of his Ormesby neighbors may have moved as a group several times before settling in Hampton, New Hampshire. He was certainly there by 1640 when he was allotted a house lot and planting ground. Many of these families intermarried, just as they had done in England, forming and reforming family units. It must have provided some measure of comfort in their strange new home to rely on old neighbors from home. I can only imagine what excitement a letter from Ormesby must have caused for a large portion of the population.

hampton

Not much is known about William but he must have been well respected. In 1643 the towns of New Hampshire, petitioned the General Court of Massachusetts to take them under their wing. William was a signatory of the agreement. In 1649 he was assigned to the first seat in the meetinghouse, not quite the head table but  the best to next. On the woman's side in the first seat was Goody Marston, presumably his wife. This was the only time that Goody Marston was mentioned in any record. Is this where the incorrect surname Goody comes from?

 In 1652 William was elected to serve his community as a selectman. The selectmen were like the city councilmen, they were charged with running the town for the year. In 1652, William would be about 62 years old. His children were grown. Was his wife alive, we don't know.

second family

Like many women of her time, the first Mrs. Maston remains nameless. She is not mentioned in any record other than the seating chart. Around 1662 William married for the second time. This second wife was much younger than her seventy year old husband. She had the very pretty name of Sabina. But what was her surname and who were her parents? Torrey offers up two surnames found in Marston genealogies and lots of question marks. Libby, Noyes, Davis says Hermins Locke, Pillsbury: Unknown; Stone: Unknown; Tingley-Meyers: Page; Marston Gene.: Sabrina Page, d/o Robert and Lucy Page; Blake-Glidden: Sabina Locke. So we have three options: Unknown, Hermins Locke or Page. The problem with each of these possibilities is that no proof is offered for any of them.

Robert Page was one of the most important men in Hampton at that time. He served as a selectman eight times and as deputy to the general court twice.  He too was from Ormesby. The children of Robert Page are pretty well documented. He and Lucy had seven documented children, some born in England and some in New England after they immigrated. All but Susanna, who seems to have died young, married local men/women and had children. If Sabina was a daughter of Robert Page she would have been born after 1640 or so, making her 20 years old or less at the time of her marriage. Why would a twenty year old woman want to marry a seventy year old man?

In his 1679 will, Robert names all of his children and many of his grandchildren, leaving them multiple bequeaths. He even names William Marston, son of William Sr. who married Rebecca Page. There is no Sabina and no Tryphena mentioned in this will. Serious Page family researchers, like John Brooks Threlfall,  do not include Sabina in the family. [14]

not a good puritan

Not all immigrants to New England were satisfied by the enforced Puritan theology. New ideas were creeping into the around the edges. The Quaker religion started in England around 1650 by George Fox. It quickly spread to New England where it was viewed as heretical. In 1657 William was fined for being in the possession of "a paper and two books, inculcated with Quaker doctrine." [15]

william's will

In 1672 William wrote his will, all of his children were grown and married with the exception of Tryphena who was still a child.[16] Surprisingly, other than five shillings apiece, he left his entire estate to that child. His oldest children ranged in age from their 50's to 42. Tryphena was 9. Maybe he felt he had done enough for his older children and wanted to take care of his small daughter, we don't have an answer for that. Her mother Sabina was named executrix of the estate. The following year, Sabina married again, this time to a man named John Redman.

Some of the Marston genealogies suggest that William Jr. contested the will and somehow ended up with the house and land. I have not been able to find the court records referenced, but I'll keep looking.

children
1. Thomas b. prob. 1617 Ormesby, m. Mary Estow d/o William Eastow of Hampton.
2. Prudence b. prob. 1622 Ormesby, m. (1) William Swaine 1642, (2) Moses Coxe 16 June 1658
3. William bp. 11 March 1626 Hemesby, m. Rebecca Page d/o Robert 15 Oct. 1652.
4. Anne bp. 6 Dec 1628, d. 7 Dec 1628 Hemesby
5. John bp. 20 June 1630 Hemesby, m. Martha
5. Tryphena b. 28 Dec. 1633 m. Joseph Philbrick.


Sources:

[1] J. Gardner Bartlett, "Extracts From a Rental of the Manor of Ormesby Co. Norfolk, 1610," The New England Historic and Genealogical Register, (October 1915) Vol. 69, p. 343.

[2]  Sybil I. Noyes, Charles Thornton Libby, and Walter Goodwin Davis, Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, (Baltimore: Genealogical Pub., 1972) 462.

[3] Mary Lovering Holeman, Holman, Ancestry of Charles Stinson Pillsbury And John Sargent Pillsbury, [Concord, N.H.: Priv. print. at the Rumford press], 1938.  

[4] Holeman, Ancestry of Charles Sinston Pillsbury, 354.

[5] John W. Jordan, Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania, Vol. 1 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co. 2004) 1102.

[6] "Torrey’s New England Marriages Prior to 1700," database; AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015.

[7] Holeman, Ancestry of Charles Stinston Pillsbury, 355

[8] Davis, Walter Goodwin,. The ancestry of Sarah Stone : wife of James Patten of Arundel (Kennebunkport) Maine, (Portland, Me.: Southworth Press, 1930)131.

[9] Tingley, Raymon Meyers,. Some ancestral lines : being a record of some of the ancestors of Guilford Solon Tingley and his wife, Martha Pamelia [sic] Meyers.( Rutland, Vt.: Tuttle Pub. Co., 1935) 220.

[10] Edith Bartlett Sumner, Ancestry of Edward Wales Blake and Clarissa Matilda Glidden, with ninety allied families, (Ann Arbor: Edwards Bros. 1948) 171.

[11] Eve Weaver O'Connell, Marston-Weaver, A Tribute to My Parents, (Boston: Privately Printed, 1951) 2.

[12] Perley, Sidney. The History of Salem, Massachusetts. Salem, MA: S. Perley, 1924. Print.

[13] search FreeReg.org

[14] John Brooks Threlfall, Fifty Great Migration Colonists, (Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, 1992) 216.

[15] Court records of the Province of New Hampshire

[16] "Essex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1638-1881,"Online database, AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. "Will of Henry Marston, Sr. of Hampton," (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.)

Francis (1616-1691) and Christian Rand of Sandy Beach (Rye), New Hampshire

map of New Hampshire

Francis Rand was one of the brave souls who left England to help Captain John Mason establish a plantation in the wilds of New Hampshire in 1631. Francis settled in what was then called Sandy Beach, eventually to be known as the town of Rye, New Hampshire. He married Christian Unknown by 1645 and together they had at least six children. It is not known from where in England Francis originated or anything about his wife other than her given name. 

Francis' name appears in the earliest town records for Portsmouth, of which Sandy Beach (Rye) was then a part. His name is first found on 5 April 1652. He was one of 21 listed as Townsmen. At that meeting in April 1652 it was laid down that he would lay the land for the men at Sandy Beach. Those men were William Berry, Anthony Brackett, Thomas Seavy, Francis Rand and James Johnson. The Portsmouth records only cover about 10 years and hey mostly have to do with the distribution of land, Francis' name and his land are found in those records.

Francis and Christian also appear in the Court Papers for New Hampshire. In 1640 he was involved in a court case along with others charged with trespass. In 1648, Francis and Christian were in Court in Dover to testify in the adultery case of Anne Crowther and Henry Taylor. In 1649 Henry was sworn in for one years' term as constable of Upper Strawberry Bank.  In 1650 in he was a witness in a case in which a man was drunk and swearing at him while he was acting as Constable. Christian was brought to court and accused of slander by Walter Abbott in 1655, the court ruled in favor of Walter and she was fined. Francis was on the Grand Jury in 1656, 1667 and in 1677 he was called to the Grand Jury but failed to show for which he was fined.


At the court held June 1668 Francis Sr. made an unusual request that the court "please to free his son Francis Rand Jr. from common training by reason of a grief that is upon him". The court granted this request for a time period of three years, "supposing that in that time he would grow out of his distemper".  This same court had Francis before them for drinking to excess the year before, for which he was fined. In June 1674 Francis was presented for again drinking to excess but also for beating his wife. In reading the court records this seems to have been a fairly common offense committed by the men of New Hampshire. In June 1679 he was presented for being drunk on the Sabbath and once again fined.


In 1689 Francis wrote his will.  He included his children: Thomas, Samuel, John, Sarah (Herrick), (Mary Barnes) and Nathaniel. Most of the land was divided between Thomas and Samuel. John was to be given money paid by Thomas and Samuel.  Mary and Sarah were also given land which they later sold to their brother Thomas.  The brothers were to care for their mother Christian.  Nathaniel was given 5 shillings. Francis Jr. was not named and was presumably dead.  John Rand was living at Oyster River by this time on land given to him by his father-in-law John Ault.  Nathaniel was certainly slighted in the will, the reason for which we will never know.

On the last Tuesday of September in the year 1691 about 40 or so Indians landed their canoes on Sandy Beach.  Avoiding the Garrison they attacked the settlers. Killed were Francis and Christian Rand as well as their son Nathaniel.  Their neighbor, Anthony Brackett, was also killed along with many others.  Some children were taken captive and sent to Canada. I knew this attack as the Brackett Lane Massacre.  Francis' will was proved on February 19, 1691/2.

Like many of my ancestors, I don't think I would have liked Francis and possibly even Christian, and I doubt they would like me very much either.  It's disappointing to find that your ancestors is a drunk and a wife beater, but it was a vastly different time, life was incredibly hard and living under the constant threat of death from Indians would probably drive a lot of people to drink.

Sources:

The Pioneers of Maine and New Hampshire, 1623 to 1660,  By Charles Henry Pope

New Hampshire State Papers, Vol 40

History of Rye, New Hampshire, Landon Brown Parsons, 1906

Capt. John Mason, The Founder of New Hampshire, John Ward Dean, Boston 1887

History of the Town of Durham Vol 1, Everett Stackpole.

Robert Haseltine of Rowley and Bradford, Massachusetts 1609-1674



St. Peter's Church in Rowley

The story of Robert and John Hazeltine should probably start with the Reverend Ezekiel Rogers, who was to play a large role in their future as well as many others who came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Ezekiel was a radical puritan minister in England.  The Church seems to have been a family calling. His father Richard, brother Daniel and cousin Nathaniel Rogers were all ministers. After graduating from Christ College Cambridge University in 1608 Ezekiel became Chaplain to Sir Francis Barrington of Hatfield Broad Oak in Suffolk. Sir Francis was very wealthy and was able to procure for Ezekiel the living of St. Peter's in Rowley, Yorkshire in February 1620. 

In 1638, the village was very small, but parishioners would travel from nearby villages to the church for services. Ezekiel's career ended, as did many other puritan ministers, because he refused to read from "The Book of Sports". This book, first written by James I of England in 1617, was reissued by his son Charles I. The purpose of the book was to spell out what "sports" were allowable on the Sabbath. Puritans, of course, did not allow anything on the Sabbath, except going to church. Ezekiel convinced his congregation to leave England and sail with him to Massachusetts, where they would be free to worship in the manner of their choosing.

The village of Rowley does not exist today. Twenty local families left England and emptied the parish of its residents. Ezekiel and his group sailed from nearby Hull on the ship "The John of London".  They landed first in Boston, and then sailed to Salem, where they sought permission from the General Court to start a new plantation.  In 1639, the plantation of Rowley was underway. Ezekiel, with most of his original settlers, was joined by about 40 more families in their undertaking.  



english origins

So how do Robert and John Hazeltine fit into this scenario?  Did they sail on the John or did they join up with Ezekiel after they arrived in Massachusetts? For starters, there is no ship manifest of passengers for "The John of London", so there is no way to prove they were on board. Their lives were rather ordinary, so nothing much is recorded about them. If they ever discussed where they were from, it was not written down.  There was, however, a family named Haseltine which lived in a village rather close to Rowley, Yorkshire, called Knedlington.  A Robert Haseltine of Knedlington had at least four sons baptized in the nearby Village of Holden, they were: Edward (6 Feb. 1608), Robert (2 Jan 1610,[1] John (23 Aug. 1612) and George (23 March 1613). These baptisms can be found in the Howden parish register. 

Robert Sr. is said to be the son of Edward Hesseltine, b. 2-22-1582.  He married Joanna Swanne of Gilberdyke at the parish church of Eastrington in 1609. I have not seen the documentation for these names and dates, but am hoping to find some kind of confirmation. WARNING:  This is in no way proof of any kind, it is only a possibility!

rowley, massachusetts
Anyway, Robert and John Hazeltine, whether on the John or not, arrived in Massachusetts by 1639 and are among the first settlers of the new plantation of Rowley. Robert and John were farmers and everyone knows that a farmer needs a wife. The first recorded marriage in the new town of Rowley was that of Robert Hazeltine and Ann Unknown. Thery were married on 23 October 1639.

Robert and John began the arduous task of clearing land for planting. The brothers were the first settlers, along with William Wild, to clear land along the Merrimack River by 1650. This became known as Rowley Village on the Merrimac and finally as an independent village called Bradford. John would eventually cross the river and finally settle in Haverhill, MA.

In 1652 the town of Rowley gave Robert, John and William Wild 40 acres of upland each and each was to have commons for 20 head of cattle to fence in if they wanted and 20 acres of meadow land. They were allowed to fell trees for pipe staves, firewood, timber to build houses and fences. They were given the right to keep swine. They would also be freed from paying taxes to the town for the space of seven years.  In return Robert, John and William would be in charge of the towns cattle herd.

bradford
When enough families had settled in Rowley Village, the settlers petitioned the General Court, asking to be incorporated into their own town. In 1668 the Court agreed to their petition provided they hire an orthodox minister and be able to pay his rate. The Bradford men seem to have already anticipated this and had hired their minister.  John Hazeltine had donated an acre of his land to be used for a meeting house.  At a town meeting in 1670 Robert Hazeltine and his son-in-law Benjamin Kimball were appointed to a committee charged with setting up and furnishing said meeting house. In 1671 Robert was given the authority to call and require men to work on the meeting house. A list of the first church members includes the names of Robert Hazeltine's family.


 court orders
Robert is mentioned several times in the records of the Essex Quarterly Court.  If you have never read the records, they are actually pretty entertaining.  Those naughty puritans! Anyway, Robert served on several juries, and was ordered to keep a ferry for crossing the river.  One case of interest, in which Robert was called as a witness, involved a man named Robert Swan.  The case is very confusing and involves a cow which is claimed by various men as their own.  Anyway, Robert Swan is asked why he did not go to "his cousins" the Hazeltines. This wording might mean anything or nothing, but it reinforces the idea of a connection with Yorkshire, as Robert's mother was supposedly Joanna Swanne.  A good deal of ancestry trees have Richard Swan of Rowley as coming from Gilberdyke.  Again, I have not seen any of the actual records which support this claim.


John Hazeltine married a few years after his brother, his wife was Joan Auter (Anter). In the book "Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine", George Thomas Little, stated that Joan was from Biddeford, England.  She came as a servant to the Holman family.  Many family researchers have glommed onto the name Biddeford, which is in Devon. Many, many websites and ancestry tree say that the Hazelton's are from Biddeford, but if the evidence that they are from Howden is not enough to be called proof, then there is certainly nothing that I have seen that would lead me to believe that they were from Devon.

Parish Map showing Howden, Eastrington and Gilberdyke

This map shows the area where the Hazetines and the Swans are from.

Children of Robert and Ann Hazeltine

1. Anna b. 1 Feb 1640 Ipswich, m. 7 Nov 1660 Caleb Kimball, d. 9 April 1688

2. Mercy b. 16 Aug. 1642 Rowley, m. 16 Apr. 1660 Benjamin Kimball, d. 5 Jan 1707

3. David b. 1644 Rowley, m. 26 Sept. 1668 Mary Jewett, d. 31 Aug 1717 Bradford

4. Samuel b. 20 Dec 1645, m. Deborah cooper, d. 19 Aug 1717 Bradford

5. Mary b. 14 Dec 1646 d. 1647

6. Abraham b. 23 Mar 1648, m. 7 Oct 1669 Elizabeth Longhome, d. 28 Apr 1711 Bradford

7. Deliverance b. 25 Jan 1651, d. 14 May 1654

8. Elizabeth b. 15 Jan 1652, d. 18 May 1654

9. Deliverance b. 15 Jan 1653, m. 12 Dec 1672 Nathaniel Dane, d. 15 June 1735 Andover

10. Robert b. 7 Sep 1657, m. 21 Jul 1680 Elizabeth Jewett, d. 8 Mar 1728 Bradford

11. Gershom b. 31 Jan 1661 m. 23 Jun 1690 Abiah Dalton d. 16 Oct 1711

rip

Before they died, Robert and Ann buried three of their small children.  Robert died in Bradford on 27 Aug 1674 and Ann on 26 Aug 1684.  I have seen Ann's date of death attributed to Joanna Swanne Hazeltine.  I'm not sure why that is, but I do not believe that she left England.

Deliverance Hazeltine Dane
Isn't that a great name, Deliverance? Robert and Ann named two daughters this special name, the first one died as a young child on 14 May 1654 aged 3, her younger sister Elizabeth, aged 2 died four days later. As was their habit, Robert and Ann named the next daughter Deliverance. They had no more girls so there was no second Elizabeth.

Deliverance lived to adulthood and married Nathaniel Dane, son of Francis Dane. During the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692, Deliverance was accused of Witchcraft. She was interrogated and confessed. She also implicated her father-in-law, Francis Dane, a Puritan Minister. He was not questioned and in fact was instrumental in the ending of the trials. Sadly, her testimony did not survive. Deliverence survived and died in 1735.

Deliverance Dane was featured in the novel, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe. I've read this book and found it very enjoyable. It is a work fiction, so reader beware.

My Family Tree with links:
Robert Hazeltine - Ann Unknown

Benjamin Kimball - Mercy Hazeltine

Abraham Kimball - Mary Green

Mary Kimball - Edmund Chadwick

James Chadwick - Mary Thurston

Hannah Chadwick - Jonathan Blanchard

James Blanchard - Phebe Carter

Chloe Blanchard - Samuel Thornton

John C. Thornton - Jennie Clover Rowell

sources:

[1] "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JW6T-CYK : 11 February 2018, Robart Haseltine, 02 Jan 1610); citing , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 0844553-555.

[2]  Yorkshire Marriages," database with images, Findmypast (https://www.findmypast.co.uk/ : accessed 28 January 2019), marriage entry image for Robet Hessletine and Joanna Swanne, 6 July 1606, Eastringham; East Riding Archives & Local Studies Service.

J. L. Ewell, The First Minster of Rowley, The Bay State Monthly, p.2-   September 1899

England, Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JW6T-CYK : accessed 20 May 2012), Robert Haseltine, 1610.

Kingsbury, J. D., A Memorial History of Bradford, Haverhill, MA, 1883