The family of Susannah Briggs

In recent posts, I have been exploring the family of William Palmer, the Nailer, who arrived at Plymouth Colony on the second ship, The Julian, which arrived there after The Mayflower. 

By his last wife, Mary, there was another William Palmer who was raised by her second husband, Robert Paddock, the blacksmith. This William moved to Dartmouth and married a young woman named Susannah. She was shown by a variety of maiden names, but those who have well studied the families and record of this era and area have come to the consensus, with undeniable proof, that she was Susannah Briggs, the daughter of John Briggs of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, a Deputy Commissioner.

Every generation adds a new family line in a family tree, whether up or down, the lines of all the mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers and onward, adds as much to an individuals family line as does the paternal lines. Individuals tend to identify with the male lines more, as they usually carry that name.

The Palmer line is a maternal line in my grandson's family tree, as is the Head line that Susannah's granddaughter, Elizabeth Palmer would eventually marry into, Head being the maiden name of his Paternal Grandmother, and I being his Maternal Grandmother.

So therefore, I wanted to look into the family of Susannah Briggs. It was not possible to look into the family line of Mary Trine Palmer Paddock Roberts, the mother-in-law of Susannah Briggs Palmer, as the maiden name of "Trine", could have been contrived, although it had been suggested that her mother was a Bradford, and perhaps Mary was a relative of William Bradford of Plymouth notoriety.

Briggs Coat of Arms

But that of Susannah is another story.

The following book states the origins of the name Briggs as being of Saxon origin and derived from the word 'bridge'. The first mention of this surname was a William "atte Brigg of Salle" mentioned in the records of the Edwards I and II, and origins of this family about Norfolk, England.

New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the ..., Volume 3

 edited by William Richard Cutter

John Briggs, father of Susannah, made quite a name for himself in New England. He is even called "The Founder of Province". 

The basic facts of John Briggs existence are that he was born in 1609 in Essex County, England, the son of  a Henri Briggs. He sailed to America in 1635, settling originally in Boston. He would later migrate to Newport, settling finally in Portsmouth. He died there in 1690, at the age of 81. He married Sarah Cornell and had six known children. 

The not-so-basic facts of his life become a little more fluid. He was even involved as a prosecuting witness in a ridiculous way in the trial of a relative as a prosecuting witness. 

I have discovered the following events in his life as follows.

• John Briggs was a member of an odd religious sect known as "Hutchinsonites" who were followers of Anne Hutchinson, a Puritan spiritual adviser, who was the main participant in the Antinomian Controversy. 
• John Briggs arrived in America on the ship "The Blessing". 
• 
  
• Anne Hutchinson, with her followers, including John Briggs, were ran out of Boston in 1640 and settled in Newport, Rhode Island. 
• John had been followed to Boston by his sister, Rebecca Briggs Cornell and her husband Thomas Cornell. 
• He  married the sister of his brother-in-law, Sarah Cornell. 
• Thomas and Rebecca had arrived in Boston in 1636.
• He testified at the trial of his nephew, Thomas Cornell, Jr. , who was accused of killing his mother Rebecca Briggs Cornell. Thomas Cornell, Jr., was both the nephew of John Briggs, through his mother, and the nephew of Sarah Cornell Briggs, through his father. 
• John Briggs name appears very frequently in all of the early records of the "Town of Portsmouth". 
• He served in various capacities and offices of the town, and for various lengths of time as Counselor, member of many Juries, Surveyor, Commissioner, Deputy to the General Assembly. 
• His most distinct and longest-held office was that of Deputy to the General Assembly of the Colony. 
• He was in possession and control of large tracts of land.
• He served as a personal banker to the town, which was often indebted to him on several accounts.
• His home was described as being located "On the Highway that 'leadth' to the Windmill". 
• Meeting were held in his home, where he served as Moderator. 
• In 1638, he was mentioned as an inhabitant of the Island of Aquidneck. 
• 
• On April 30, 1839, he was listed on a petition with 28 other men. who acknowledged their allegiance to King Charles of England.
• 
• On March 16, 1841 he became a Freeman. 
• October 5, 1643, he was given the order to go to every house and check which arms were defective. 
• On August 24, 1643, he bought a house and lot from John Hall with the stipulation that Mr. Hall and his family and associates have use of the house for a year. 
• In 1662, John Briggs purchased an 140 acres tract in Dartsmouth
• While there, he married a widow named Constant Mitchell Fobes, so it can be assumed his first wife Sarah Cornell had deceased by then. 
• Sarah Cornell Briggs is said to have died at the home of her sister, Rebecca Woolsey. 
• He returned to Portsmouth by the time his daughter Sussanah married William Palmer and there would spend his remaining days.
• All of John Briggs children were by his first wife, Sarah Cornell Briggs. He had none by second wife Constant (or Content). 

The Will of John Briggs was written on April 19, 1690 and was proved on November 17, 1690. His death was likely around October of that year. 

Old Commons Burial Ground

One of the most striking notes on the life of John Briggs was the testimony of him in the case of the death of his sister, Rebecca Briggs Cornell, who had married the brother, Thomas of John Briggs wife Sarah. It was not uncommon in those days for sibling of one family to marry siblings of another. 

Rhode Island was a haven of sorts, for the Puritans who were not quite so Puritan, or who did not exactly go with the teachings of the most devout in Massachusetts. John Briggs was one of those and in 1656 had converted to Quakerism. 

John Briggs' testimony in part, led to the conviction and hanging of Thomas Cornell II, his nephew, for the death of Rebecca Briggs Cornell, sister of John and mother of the doomed Thomas. A book has been written on the murder, called "Killed Strangely: The Death of Rebecca Cornell", by Elaine Forman Crane. According to the Puritan records, John Briggs, 64 years of age at this time, testified that he had seen a spirit in a dream of  Rebecca, who told him how she had burned. 

This testimony of the apparition of Rebecca, along with other testimony that the relationship between the 73 year old Rebecca, and her middle-aged son, who did not like that fact that his mother and not himself, was in control of the property. The family at that time consisted of Rebecca, her son Thomas, his second wife, his 4 sons by his first wife and their 2 daughters together, along with 2 hired men. His wife Mary was expecting a third daughter when he was hanged. 

After the death of Rebecca, and hanging of her son, two other persons were tried for the same murder, one the wife of Thomas and an Indian man who worked for them. As an interesting aside, the daughter, named ironically "Innocent" born posthumously to Thomas Jr. and Mary Cornell, was an ancestress of the infamous Lizzie Borden. 

The full truth of that horrible winters day of February 8, 1673, will never be known, and John Briggs participation in it would have been fully dismissed by any sane juryman this day and time. 

Such was the uncertain and strange ways of the Puritans. 

John Briggs and Sarah Cornell Briggs were the parents of :

• Enoch Briggs
• Sussanna Briggs  married William Palmer, married John Northway
• John Briggs II
• Thomas Briggs
• Job Briggs
• William Briggs. 

Susanna would marry William Palmer and when he died she married John Northway. 

The Will of John Briggs

 

The Heads of the Head Family: Sir Richard and son Henry Head the First

This beautiful little boy is my first grandchild. But what does he have to do with Sir Richard Head and what does Sir Richard Head have to do with Job Davis?

To answer the first question, this little boy is a descendant of Sir Richard. To answer the second, not really anything, except that this little boys daddy, a descendant of Sir Richard, married my daughter, a descendant of Sir Richard.

When asked to find out where my son-in-laws maternal grandfather came from, as his mothers surname was "Head", I believe they thought the migration from "somewhere" else was much more recent, and from an area entirely different, than it actually was.

The real mystery is where the imagined heritage really came from.

Sir Richard Head Memorial

And the migrant was, Sir Richard, 1st Baronett Rector of Trottiscliff Head.

Wikipedia has this to say about Sir Richard:

Sir Richard Head, 1st Baronet (ca. 1609-18 September 1689) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1667 to 1679.

Head was the son of Richard Head, of Rochester, and his wife Anne Hartridge, daughter of William Hartridge, of Cranbrook.^[1]

In 1667 Head was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Rochester in the Cavalier Parliament and held the seat until 1679.^[2] He was created a baronet, of The Hermitage in the County of Kent on 19 June 1676. In 1689 Head entertained King James II and his small court as the King was about to leave the country.The king was so pleased and surprised by this hospitality that he presented Head with an emerald ring.^[1]

Head died in 1689 and by his will left several houses and lands in Higham to the mayor and citizens of Rochester for charitable purposes.^[1]

Head married firstly Elizabeth Merrick, daughter of Francis Merrick, alderman of Rochester and had three sons (including Francis Head, who died while his father was alive and Sir John Head(2nd son))^[3] and a daughter. He married secondly, Elizabeth Willy, of Wrotham, Kent and had two sons, and three daughters.^[1]

Richard was succeeded by his son Francis,

The following is the list of the Baronetcies of the Head family.

Head baronets, of The Hermitage (1676)[edit]

• Sir Richard Head, 1st Baronet (c. 1609–1689)
• Sir Francis Head, 2nd Baronet (c. 1670–1716)
• Sir Richard Head, 3rd Baronet (c. 1692–1721)
• Sir Francis Head, 4th Baronet (c. 1693–1768)
• Sir John Head, 5th Baronet (c. 1702–1769)
• Sir Edmund Head, 6th Baronet (1733–1796)
• Sir John Head, 7th Baronet (1773–1838)
• Sir Edmund Walker Head, 8th Baronet (1805–1868)

A Second Barontage of the Head family was begun in 1838 as the Baronetcy of the United Kingdom. This one is still in existence and began with Sir Francis Bond Head (1793-1875). 

Sir Francis Bond Head

The Current Baron is Sir Richard Douglas Somerville Head, who was born in 1951.

So how does this barony relate to my beautiful blue-eyed boy?

Sir Richard had a son by wife Elizabeth Merrick named Henry.

Head Coat of Arms

Henry Head the First was born September 23, 1847. As his older brother Francis, was heir to the barony, Henry sought his fate and legacy in America. Many younger sons of the British Gentry sought property and prosperity in the New World as the lands of England were taken. There was land and property to be had in the New World. A Gentleman could make his mark there.

After arriving to the new land, probably to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Henry Head found a wife.

He married in 1670, to Elizabeth Lovett. She was the mother of Benjamin Head, at least. In 1677 Henry married Elizabeth Ketchum in Little Compton, Rhode Island (1654-1878).

Henry had 6 children: Jonathan, Henry II, Elizabeth, Mary, Innocent and Benjamin. They settled and made their estate in Compshire, Rhode Island.

Elizabeth left a will. The following is excerpts.

 Will Dated 9 Jun 1739  

Will-proved 11 Jul 1748. 

Widow Elizabeth.

 Executor was son Henry. 

In the will she refers to  herself  as very aged. 

   To sons Jonathan and Henry 43 acres.  

   To son Jonathan 5 shillings. 

   To grandson William Head, son of Benjamin, 5 shillings. 

   To daughters Elizabeth Wilbur, Mary Cudburth, and Innocent Church, 5shillings  each. 

   To grandson Lovet Head and Amey his wife, all my household stuff, and to said granddaughter Amey, a side saddle. 

   To grandson Lovet, also confirmation of a deed already made of ten cows and a bull. 

   To grandson Benjamin Cuthbert £30.

 To son Henry, rest of real and personal.

It appears that son Benjamin predeceased his mother.

Henry the 1st died in 1716 in Little Compton, Newport, Rhode Island.

Here I want to look a little bit at New Compton, where the Head family settled for several generations. Little Compton is said to have been settled first by Englishmen men from the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts who wanted to expand their land holdings. This goes perfectly hand in hand with Henry Head marrying in Massachusetts and then living in Rhode Island.



Henry made his will in  March of 1708 and it was proved on August 20, 1716. Henry was not always agreeable with the law. He made his stand. It appears he settled amongst the Pilgrims, but was not always agreeable with them. Perhaps that is why he and others had removed to Little Compton.

View of Sakonnett River, Little Compton, Rhode Island, from City Data.

There have been several books written pertaining to the history of the Little Compton area that mention Henry Head. Among these are "Little Compton Families" by Benjamin Franklin Wilbour and"Franklin D Roosevelt's Colonial Ancestors" by Alvin Page Johnson, Boston: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co, 1933. Yes, my Grandson is related to Franklin D. Roosevelt. 

From these sources and others certain facts can be established about Henry Head the first. 

• He was born in England in 1647
• He had emigrated to America before 1683
• After marrying in Massachusetts, he settled with others in Little Compton, Rhode Island. There the Head family made their home for several generations. 
• He appears in a list of families who settled in Rhode Island before 1690 published by J.O. Austin in 1881. In this list he is presented as "Henry Head, born 1647, died 1716, married Elizabeth, who died 1748. 

Although it is recorded that most of the early citizens of Little Compton were Pilgrims or 'of Pilgrim stock' who had migrated from Duxbury or Marshfield, I am pretty sure Henry was not, he just lived among them, but was a bit of a rebel. 



From 1673 to 1689 he served as a Deputy. 
In February of 1686, he was chosen as an Agent, along with David Lake, to appear in court representing the town, which was ordered to raise a sum for the "encouragement of preaching the gospel", ordered by the court, but the town had either refused to or neglected to raise the fund. The Court ordered the town to pay a larger sum for contempt and neglect, stating that they "write rather as equals of neighbors than as delinquents or offenders. "

-On Christmas Day, in 1689, he was fined 20 shillings, along with three other gentlemen, for disorderly departure from the General Court. I don't believe the Pilgrims, who ran the court, celebrated Christmas, and Henry was obviously unhappy with the verdict of the Court. 

Little Compton Cemetery, Rhode Island

-On June 3, 1690, he was chosen as a "Selectman".

But in 1692, Henry became not just a Little Compton resident unhappy with fees and penalties, he, with his neighbors, had had a bit of fun placing bets, and then took arms up against the law enforcement sent to charge them for this prohibited action. 

Rhode Island Rebellion Against Massachusetts. 
1692 Proclamation by Governor William Phips, Massachusetts Bay by His Excellency. 

"Whereas, divers persons of ye, Town of Little Compton & parts adjacent in ye, County of Bristol within this, their Magisties province, have been inveigled & drawn into a bett & take part with Christopher Almy Senr., Dan.Wilcox, Henry Head, & W"' Briggs of y Said Town of Little Compton, in opposition to yc. majisties Government, & with force & arms to protect them against their officers having lawful warrant to take them into custody to be brought to answer for several High misdemeanours wherewith they Stand charged. �His Excel' & Council being rather desirous to reduce them by clemency than to use great severity, doe hereby declare & make known to all such persons, that if upon publication hereof they shall desist & come in to one or more of their majesties Justices within the Said County, submitting themselves to their majesties Authority and Govern'., they shall be Indemnified for what is past behaving themselves peaceably & orderly for time to come, but in default of making such submissions they may expect to be proceeded against as High Criminals. And the said Christopher Almy, Dan Wilcox, HENRY HEAD & Wm Briggs are hereby required in yr Majesties names within the space of ffourty eight hours next after publication hereof to render themselves unto some of yr Majesties Justices of the peace within the said County of Bristol, that they may he brought to answer what shall be objected against them on yr Majesties behalfe as they will answer their (refusal) at uttmost peril. Given under ye Seale of the sd Province at Boston, ye eighth day of Dec. 1692, in the fourth year of yr Majesties Reign. WILLIAM PHIPS By order in Council" 

"Little Compton Families", Wilbore

Henry Head's will is recorded in the Taunton Probate Book Number 3 on page 286 and was written on March 24, 1708, which he recorded as "the eighth year of our sovereign Lady Ann, Queen of England".  It was proved Auguse 20, 1716. In it, he leaves 20 pounds each to his daughters Elizabeth, Innocent and Mary. He left a slave named Jeffrey to his wife Elizabeth and a woman named Rose to his children. He also left a little boy named Scipio to his daughter Elizabeth. The total inventory of his estate was 609 pounds cash, Four slaves and 32 head of cattle.  The Inventory was taken on August 20, 1716. The name of the fourth servant is not mentioned.

Warren Point, Little Compton, Rhode Island

His will, recorded in Taunton Probate Book 3, Page 286, made March 24, 1708 "in the eighth year of our sovereign Lady Ann, Queen of England" and proved August 20, 1716. "

To son Jonathan, the land and house where he dwells in Coakset, and certain other lands in Little Compton. To son Henry, 60 acres, etc. To daughters Elizabeth, Innocent and Mary 20 pounds each; Negro man called Jeffrey to wife; Negro woman called Rose to my children; little Negro boy called Scipeo to daughter Elizabeth." Total inventory 609 pounds-09-08. Four negroes 40 pounds; 32 head of cattle, L30 worth of Apparel, L78 worth of silver, several bills of credit and bonds worth L186, 12shillings and 3 "d's". Feather beds, a bible and other books, a book called "Doltan's Country Justice", spinning wheels and looms, Silver spoons, 5 horses, cider, corn, hogs, sheep, lambs, pigs" . Inventory taken August 20, 1716.

It appears that Henry was fairly well-settled and had a sustaining and sustainable farm upon his death. He left a decent legacy to his widow and children. 

Wilbor House in Little Compton, built in 1692

Henry and Elizabeth had 6 children;

1) Jonathan Head 1678-1748 Little Compton, RI.  Married Susannah Wilcox.

2) Henry Head 1680-1755  Little Compton RI. Married Elizabeth Palmer. 

3) Elizabeth Hannah Head 1682-1734 Died in Portsmouth, RI. Married Benjamin Wilbor.

4) Mary Head b 1684 d abt 1729. Married William Cuthbert

5) Innocent Head b 1686 - 1717 Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Married Nathaniel Church.

6) Benjamin Head b 1687 - 1717 Little Compton, R I. Married Deborah Briggs.

Next post will be concerning Henry Head II.