1587 - 1659

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• Birth	17 Dec 1584/1587	Broomehall, Sussex, England   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Died	1659	Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts
  Person ID	I123746	Brainard (Brainerd) / Foster / Fish
  Last Modified	12 Oct 2003 00:00:00
  Family	Hannah CHURCHMAN, b. 1595/1616, Huntington, Suffolk/Broomehall, Sussex, England
  Married	16 Apr 1639	Sussex, England   [1]
  Children	1. Hannah WITTER, b. 1635/1642, Swampscott, Essex County, Massachusetts > 2. Josiah WITTER, b. 1638/1840, England or Swampscott/Lynn, , Massachusetts
  Family ID	F19051	Group Sheet

• Notes

  On 28 February 1642/3, Robert Driver was a witness in the case of William Witter, who questioned infant baptism. We may assume that his testimony was not too adversarial, since Witter called him to witness his will of 5 August 1659 Robert Driver witnessed the will of William Witter of Lynn by signing his name on 5 August 1659 WILLIAM WITTER. Occupation: farmer. William was the first known of his family appearing in Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts court in April 1657 stating as a farmer in Swampscot he was having problems with an Indian named Duke William. Duke William claimed William's house had been erected on the land where his wigwam had been. The case was settled amicably with a compromise satisfactory to both parties.(Larry Chesebro) Feb 28 1643. He was presented at the Court at Salem, for his conduct regarding infant baptism, he regarding it as a sinful rite. Aug 5 1659. Will. Ex., wife Annis. Witnesses, Robert Driver and Wm. Hacker. He mentions his son Josiah and daughter Hannah Burdett, wife of Robert Burdett. (His son, Josiah, went to Stonington, CT.) Inventory, 132 pounds, 11 s. 6 May 1659 Lynn, Essex County, MA wherein he gave one-half his estate to his wife and son Josiah. He only bequeathed an ewe and a lamb to Hannah, in one year after his death. Other sources say Will August 6, 1657, ½ est. to wife Annis, ½ to son Josiah m. April 16, 1639, Sussex, England. (Larry Chesebro) Title: History of Stonington, Connecticut, 1649 - 1900 Author: Richard Anson Wheeler Publication: New London, CT, Press of The Day Publishing Company, 1900 Media: WITTER GENEALOGY Georgia Cooper Washburn 1929, Pg. 13-15 Book Page: page 686 m. April 16, 1639, Sussex, England. (Larry Chesebro); Larry Bentley. Winget: Lists birth as December 17, 1587, Burial Lynn, MA Ancestral File BMFT-8S William Witter, the first American ancestor of the Witter family of the United States and Canada, was born in England about the year 1584, as he was seventy-five when he died in 1659. His surname is one of the earliest found in New England and appears in various forms in the old records of this country and of England, -- as Witter, Whitter, Witton, and Whitton. One branch of the Whitter or Witter, family was of Broomehall, in Sussex, England, in the reign of Edward IV. A descendant of this family was Thomas Whitter of Exeter, Devonshire, who was an officer in Cromwell's army. This affiliation with he Parliamentary Party, and hence with the Puritan movement, which contributed largely to the settlement of New England, may indicate a probable connection between the Devonshire family and the Witters of Early Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, of which William Witter was the first American Ancestor. William was living in Massachusetts as early as 1639, at which date he was probably of Swampscott, near Lynn. At a later period he was a resident of Swampscott, although his i mention in some of the records of Lynn. THe record of this arrival in New England is preserved in an old manuscript, written by his descendant, Samuel Witter, of the sixth generation, entitled: "The Genaligy of the Witters from their first arival fromm England to America, drawn from the Original, March the 20th AD 1773 by Samuel Witter", and the first entry is as follows: "William Witter in his voiage from old England to America with his wife his son Josiah & daughter Hannah, arrived at Lynn in the Massachusetts Bay, where Josiah married Elisabeth Wheeler and Hannah married Thomas Barden. Said William Witter died at Lynn, his Widows Name was Hannah. She came with her Son Josiah to Stonington and Lived to a Great Age."

• Sources

  [S2796] Cary Schabert.