He is married to ELIZABETH UNKNOWN.
They got married
Child(ren):
ANCESTOR OF ELON MUSK
GeorgeWay
Bornabout1619inEngland
Sonof [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband ofElizabeth (Unknown) Wayâ married 1650 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony
DESCENDANTS
Father ofAgnes (Way) Pember,George Way II,Alice Joanna (Way) Chappell,Thomas WayandMehitable Way
Diedabout1684at about age 65inProvidence, Rhode Island
PROBLEMS/QUESTIONS
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Profile last modified9 Apr 2023| Created 26 Jun 2012 | Last significant change:
9 Apr 2023
14:28:M Coleedited the BiographyforGeorge Way (abt.1619-abt.1684).(Fixing typos. )[Thank M for this|1 thank-you received]
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There are disproven, disputed, or competing theories about this person's parents.See the text for details.
George Way is currently protected by the Puritan Great Migration Project for reasons described in the narrative.
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Biography
Caution: Please do not attach parents to this profile without records proving that they were the parents of this George Way, born in England about 1619!!
George Wayof this profile was born about 1619, most probably in England, was initially a fisherman, and was in Maine in 1650. His origins are not known. George has not been found on any lists of inhabitants of Maine, or on any tax lists or deeds, and first appears in the fishing settlement of Winter Harbor, Maine. Since he does not appear to have owned a fishing boat (see below) he likely worked as part of a seasonal fishing crew. These were men who were brought over, mainly from England, on individual annual contracts, and who were housed during the fishing season in fishing stages.
George could not write. He made his mark with a boat anchor, reflecting his maritime identity[1](v.1 p.1).
George made two depositions in which he gave his age. In 1652 he deposed that he was about age 33[2][3], and in 1656 he deposed that he was about age 42[1](v. 15 p. 73), placing his birth year somewhere between 1614 and 1619. The later birth year is more likely, making him 31 years old in the year of his only known marriage.
The first Colonial record of the George Way of this profile was his involvement in a curious incident in April 1650. He and Thomas Wallen / Walling and Richard Carle helped two married women, Katheren Warner and Mary Mills, escape from their husbands[4]. The women's husbands were fishermen, and they lived in what was then called Winter Harbor and is now the area called Biddeford Pool, at the mouth of the Saco River in Maine. Richard's father was a fisherman on the Isles of Shoals, and Richard "borrowed" his boat. The three men and two women sailed to Barnstable, Plymouth Colony, where they were all arrested on 4 April 1650. They appeared in court on 8 April. Thomas and Richard, being Massachusetts residents, were held on charges, while George and the two women, being residents of Maine, were sent back, to be passed "from constable to constable" on their return journey to Winter Harbor[5].
The character of the other two men involved in the elopement is reflected in other records of them. Thomas Walling became a neighbor of George in Providence, which is the reason to suppose that the George Ways of Maine and Providence are the same person. Thomas is discussed in detail inThe American Genealogist, v. 73 pp. 91-100[6]. He abandoned his family in Providence twice, once running off with his neighbor's wife. It can be assumed that he had encouraged one of the Winter Harbor women to live with him after her escape. Thomas is thought to have been born about 1627, the son of Joseph Wallen. (Joseph was a passenger on the 1623 "Anne" and is profiled inThe Great Migration Begins).
Richard Carle was also born about 1627. He was in Dover, New Hampshire in 1655, where "he had occasion to promise not to sleep in the house of John Bursley's wife, Susannah (Wyeth), unless another woman slept with her"[7]. This arrangement may have worked out, as Richard is thought to have later married Susannah's sister Em / Amie[8].
It is not known whether George, at least eight years older than Thomas and Richard, was one of the escaping women's intended partners, but it seems more likely that they would have been attracted to the younger men. Also, George has no other known records of affairs with married women. In Colonial times theft or destruction of a working boat was a serious crime; perhaps George's role in the caper was to sail back to Winter Harbor or the Isles of Shoals and return the boat.
George may have either disappeared in Boston on the way back to Maine, or soon removed to Boston from Winter Harbor, where he was likely to have cultivated some enemies among the fishing community.
George married Elizabeth (Unknown), stepdaughter of John Smith and daughter of Joanna (Unknown), in 1650, most likely in Boston, based on the record of their having a child Elizabeth there in 1651[9][10]. It would be interesting to know the circumstances of how George and Elizabeth met, as they certainly did not have a lengthly courtship. John Smith was a tailor, and of a good family. Joanna was a "doctoress", skilled at making healing salves and mending wounds. They were both literate people, as was Elizabeth.
In 1652 George gave the deposition cited above regarding a charge that he and other men had used excessive force against an inebriated and belligerent Mr. Henderson. The deposition indicates that George was a man who was physically capable of engaging in a strenuous fight. He was on his way back to his house from the house of John Smith at the time, so he had some ongoing contact with Elizabeth's family[3].
Elizabeth's parents removed to New London, New Haven Colony, about 1653. George and Elizabeth moved to Providence, Rhode Island about 1654, petitioning the town "to grant me comodation to bee a inhabytant with you" in February 1654/5[1](v. 15 p. 70). It was not until 18 February 1661/2 that George was formally received as an inhabitant of Providence[1](v. 3 p. 13): "It hath this day been declared by sufficient witnesses in this court that John Steere and George Way were received into the town after the manner that John Browne was; town hath manifested themselves satisfied therewith". From this year through 1680 George was almost annually chosen as the town sergeant, which was a paid position.
George "Waye" made his mark, a boat anchor, on a document of men who had received grants of 25 acres and Common rights from the town of Providence. The men promised to uphold the authority of the King of England, the colony's Charter, and the laws of the town. Each also agreed that he could not vote in town affairs until he was made a freeman of the town[1](v. 2 p. 29). The document is dated 1645, but signatures were added to it over time, so it cannot be used to definitively date a man's arrival year in Providence.
On 31 May 1666 George pledged allegiance to his Majesty King Charles the Second[1](v. 3 p. 101).
On 11 May 1668 George and Daniel Abbott of Providence brought "Thos Walwin" (Thomas Walling) to court, as they had been bonded to do. Thomas was put into custody, and George and Daniel were released from their bonds[11].
George was among the many early settlers of Providence who frequently bought and sold land and exchanged land with the town:
25 August 1657 - he was granted Swan Pond, formerly granted to Robert Caldwell[1](v. 2 p. 107).
27 January 1660 - he was on the list of men required to help pay for a land purchase from the Narragansetts. George was also granted a small parcel that he had enclosed in his orchard[1](v. 2 p. 138-9).
27 January 1662/3 - he was given permission to alter the form of his 16 acres of land[1](v. 3 p. 31).
9 May 1662 - George, with the consent of his wife, sold half of his lands to William Harris[1](v. 4 p. 95-96).
7 December 1663 - he was granted about 1-? acres of low swampy land[1](v. 3 p. 36).
April 1664 - George Way, planter, sold a small lot to Thomas Walling that Thomas' land abutted. In a January 1679/80 town meeting George attested to the validity of the deed[1](v. 14 p. 50)
27 April 1664 - George was granted several parcels of land in exchange for land that he had put into Common (given back). He was granted permission to "lay down" (exchange) his 16 plus acres of land, in favor of a similar quantity of land "where he shall think it convenient"[1](v. 3 p. 53).
28 April 1664 - George receives 30 acres of land.
2 October 1664 - George asked for 16 acres of land in payment for being the town sergeant for the past two years.. Thomas Olney enters a deed into the town books for land given back to the town by George Way[1](v. 3 p. 55-57).
19 February 1665/6 - George was tenth on the list of men receiving land in the division of land on the East Side of the Seven Mile line[1](v. 3 p. 72).
28 March 1666 - The deed for George and Elizabeth's sale of land to Thomas Olney, dated 30 August 1664, was entered into the town records. George made his mark and Elizabeth signed her name. George is styled "husbandman" on the deed[1](v. 3 p. 78-81).
27 July 1669 - George and Elizabeth sold land to Richard Evernden. George made his mark and Elizabeth signed her name[1](v. 3 p. 237-238).
12 April 1675 - George was on a list of men included in the division of lands on the west side of the seven mile line.
24 May 1675 - George is on a list of men included in the division of lands on the east side of the seven mile line[1](v. 4 p. 45, 47).
26 April 1683 - George Shepard gifted George Way a deed of all of his land west of the Seven Mile line. No wife mentioned[1](v. 14 p. 72-73). The deed was publicly read and recorded the next day[1](v. 8 p. 129).
5 August 1683 - George sells land to Pardon Tillinghast: all the lands beyond the Seven Mile line, including his Right to the land "being an equal right with any other of the number of purchasers". (Probably the gifted land from George Shephard)[1](V. 20 p. 68-69).
17 March 1683/4 - George was on a list of men included in the division of lands on the west side of the seven mile line[1](v. 4 p.64-65).
For all of his land transactions, George never seemed to have amassed any wealth. On 26 October 1671 George was recorded as paying 12 pence to John Whipple for house rent, six for the current year and six for the ensuing year, implying that he did not even have a house of his own at that time[1](v. 3 p. 204). On the tax lists of 1671, 1679, 1680, and 1681[1](v. 15 p. 224) he is levied at the lowest rate, indicating the poverty of his estate. The 1683 land gift from George Shephard was sold four months later, as no doubt was intended, to help with his support. He may have been an effective sergeant, but as he got older he was probably chosen for the job annually as a form of support from the town. 1680 was the last year he served as sergeant, likely deemed too old or infirm for the job after that.
In 1678 George was assigned to oversee highway repair, and he was assigned to petty jury duty. He served as interim Constable in 1681, and he shows up performing various minor functions over the years. A March 1683/4 record is the last one found for him, implying that he died about 1684. He is referred to as deceased in a 24 November 1689 record[1](v. 17 p. 131). Although he most certainly died in Providence, George's death location is sometimes given as Old Saybrook, Connecticut. There are no records for George ever having been there. Find A Grave:Memorial #149411190reflects several common errors about George and should be corrected.
George and Elizabeth had children, the first two born in Boston, the rest in Providence[3]:
1Elizabeth (19 March 1651)[12], no further records
2Lydia (ca 1653), married Thomas Munsell
3George (ca 1655), married, first, Sarah Nest, married, second, the widow Susanna (Tallman) Beckwith
4Joanna (ca 1656-1689), militant Rogerene, married Samuel Fox
5Alice (ca 1658-ca 1702), married George Chappelle
6Agnes (ca 1660), married first, Samuel Harris (died 3 weeks later), married, second, Thomas Pember; like her grandmother, was a doctoress
7Thomas (ca 1666), married Ann Lester
8Mehitable (ca 1670-ca 1679), living with John and Joanna Smith when she died
In later years Elizabeth's step-father John Smith expressed his dislike for Elizabeth and George, to the extent that his initial will gave nothing to his wife or to Elizabeth "because his wife's daughter was a Quaker and he could not abide the Quakers; and also her husband was a rude and lewd man in his life."[3]. George was of a lower social class than Elizabeth and her mother and step-father, which, combined with George's poverty and the poor health of Elizabeth's parents, led to the separation of George and Elizabeth beginning in 1676.
Providence was burned to the ground by a coalition of Native Americans on 29 March 1676, during King Philip's War. The attack was anticipated and most people abandoned the town prior to the event. George Way was not listed as one of the 30 men who remained in the town, so he must have taken his family to safety, probably to New London, where John and Joanna Smith were living. George soon returned to Providence, where he was again the town sergeant in 1676, but Elizabeth remained in New London with her children. In 1682 she was presented in court on a complaint of not living with her husband, and she was ordered to return to Providence or be imprisoned. Whether she obeyed or ignored the court order is uncertain. At this point her stepfather and her youngest child Mehitable had died, and her mother was blind, so she may well have stayed to care for her mother. She is not mentioned on the 1683 gifted deed or the subsequent sale of the land, cited above. Elizabeth was in New London in 1685, appearing in court on 2 June 1685 for drunkenness. She died in New London on 20 April 1713[3].
Research Notes
Puritan Great Migration (PGM) Adjunct:Although there is no record indicating he arrived in New England before 1641, this profile is managed by the PGM Project due to frequently being identified as a son of a PGM immigrant.
Disputed Origins.Filby has a George Way as a passenger on theMary and John,which sailed March 20, 1633[13]. Banks lists a George Way, from Dorchester, co. Dorset, England, as the only positively identified passenger on a ship that arrived in Boston in 1633[14]. This was probably the same person and arrival. If accurate, based on the name and origin, this was the Mr. George Way who was granted land in Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony. Anderson, in hisGreat Migration Directory, says that this George Way "almost certainly never came to New England," even though he was granted land in Dorchester in 1637. Anderson says that the Dorchester land grant is the only record of him in New England,[15]and he cites a 1961TAGarticle that in turn cites an abstract of the will of George Way, who was a resident of Dorchester, co. Dorset, England, when he made a will on 30 Sep 1641 that refers to assets and creditors that were then in New England.[16]See WikiTree profile:George Way. (Research Note by WikiTree contributorStu Bloom, 14 May 2021). This George Way's only son was named Eleazer[17].
AHenry Way (abt.1583-1667)arrived with his family in 1630. Henry is mentioned in Winthrop's journal: "Mr. Way with five sons were passengers on the ship Lyon, Captain Pierce master, for the Massachusetts Bay Colony." The GMB lists his children and he did not have a son named George[18], although some older secondary sources give Henry a son named George. See for instance[19]. The GMB article cited above says that Mr. George Way and Henry Way may have been related in some degree. But neither had a son named George.
There was a Thomas Way, fisherman, who came to Cape Neddick from the Isles of Shoals in 1649, and with three other fisherman obtained land there. They soon sold out. He may have moved to Marblehead by 1652, where a Thomas Way was presented in court for "living here and his wife in England. Ordered to go to her."[20][21][22]. This would indicate that he was young enough that as an unattached man he posed a threat to the order of Marblehead society, so he was probably too young to be the father of the George Way of this profile. Absolutely no records have been found to support it, but he may have been George's brother, as George named his second son Thomas.
FamilySearch has the George of this profile as born in 1613/4 in Ottery Saint Mary, Devon, the son of Thomas Waye. They provide no records to support this. This is echoed on Find A Grave. There is also speculation that George may have come from the area of Powerstock, Dorset, where George was a common given name in the extended Way family living there, in the period in which George would have been born. See the Notes below for what was formerly part of the Biography section. No records have been found to support either hypothesis, and it should be incumbent on future researchers to find actual source records before attaching parents to this George Way.
Quaker?'Some sources imply that George was a Quaker, possibly because of his move to Providence or because of John Smith's characterization of Elizabeth as a Quaker. Regarding the move to Providence, this occurred before Quakerism became widespread in the Colonies. George "signed" one petition to the town council as "ffreind", but that was unlikely to mean that he was signing as a Quaker. Elizabeth Way's daughter Joanna was a Rogerene, a radical religious sect in New London led by John Rogers. They were often called Quakers due to their behavior and beliefs. Elizabeth may have had sympathy for the Rogerene movement through her daughter, but there is no evidence that either Elizabeth or George was a Quaker.
Possible English RecordsThe following were parts of the earlier profile for George Way.Unless proven otherwise by source records, they do not refer to the person of this profile:
George Way was born in 1614 in Ottery St. Mary, Devon, England, the son of Thomas Way. Name: George Waye Gender: Male, Baptism date was 2 Mar 1614. At Ottery Saint Mary, Devon, England.[23]
Parish record: George Waye, Gender: Male, 2 Mar 1614. Baptism Place: Ottery Saint Mary,Devon, England. Father: Thomas Way England, Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013. His mother has not been found.
Georgeâs siblings were Johan born 5 May 1609, John and Thomas, born or christened 25 Dec 1611, all born in Ottery St. Mary, Devon. Joane was born 16 Jan 1616, and Ann and Christopher born or christened 27 Nov 1618.
His father Thomas Way was born 10 March 1583 at Powerstock, Dorset, son of George and Agnes Symes Way.
Immigration and Quaker claimsHarry Way, in his 1989The Connecticut Way Family,claims that George arrived in Boston in 1631 on theLyon,settling initially in Maine, that he married Elizabeth Smith in 1650, removing first to Providence, Rhode Island, then to New London, Connecticut. The author also claims that George was a Quaker.[24]This doesn't seem to be available online.Find in a Library
Sources
1?1.001.011.021.031.041.051.061.071.081.091.101.111.121.131.141.151.161.171.181.191.201.211.221.231.24The early records of the town of Providence, v. 2 p. 1, viewable on FamilySearch;v.1 p.1;v.1 p 29;v.2 p.107;v.2 p.138-9;v.3 p.13;v.3 p.31;v.3 p.36;v.3 p.53;v.3 p.55-57;v.3 p.72;v.3 p.78-81;v.3 p.101;v.3 p.237-238;v.3 p.204;v.4 p.45, 47;v.4 p.64-65;v.4 p. 95-96;v.8 p.129;v.14 p.50;(v.14 p.72-73);v.15 p.70;v.15 p.73;v.15 p.24;v.17 p.131;V.20 p.68-69;
2?Massachusetts Archives38B: 73, viewable on film 7702972, image 1230,FamilySearch
3?3.03.13.23.33.4Smith, Dean Crawford,The ancestry of Emily Jane Angell, 1844-1910, 1992, pages 531-537, borrowable onInternet Archive
4?"Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, Vol. 5",FamilySearch
5?Records of the colony of New Plymouth in New England: printed by order of the legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, v. 2 p. 149,Internet Archive
6?"Thomas Walling and his way with women", Saxbe, William B. Jr., FASG, The American Genealogist. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-., v. 73 pp. 91-100, (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .) by subsciption,NEHGS member site
7?Libby, Noyes,Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, v. 2 p. 128,FamilySearch
8?New England Marriages to 1700. (Torrey's, v. 1 p. 277), (Online 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, TEXT: CARLE, Richard (±1627-1697+) & Em?/Amie? [WYETH?]; Kittery, ME {Kittery 570; GDMNH 128, 408, 773; Warner-Harrington 789}; by subscription,NEHGS member site
9?Boston, MA: Inhabitants and Estates of the Town of Boston, 1630-1822 (Thwing Collection). Inhabitants and Estates of the Town of Boston, 1630Å1800 and The Crooked and Narrow Streets of Boston, 1630Å1822. CD-ROM. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014.)NEHGS member site
10?New England Marriages to 1700. (Online 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. (Torrey's Vol. 3 page 1610); TEXT: WAY, George (1619-), Saybrook & Elizabeth ____ (dau of Joanna, wf of John SMITH); by 1651; Boston/Providence/Saybrook, CT {Bos. Trans.; Reg. 9:249; New London Hist. 362; New Haven Gen. Mag. 1957; Way 9; New London Hist. 252, 323; Sv. 4:122};NEHGS member site
11?Records of the Court of Trials of the Colony of Providence Plantations, 1647-1670; v. 02. p. 64FamilySearch
12?"Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHT1-CRP: 15 January 2020), Elizabeth Way, 1651.
13?Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s; George Way, 1633, Massachusetts, Primary Immigrant: Way, George Source âNEW ENGLAND SHIP AND PASSENGER LISTS." In Boulder Genealogical Society Quarterly (Boulder, CO). Vol. 4:4 (Nov. 1972), pp. 36-39 (1633-1634). Pg 37 Boston, Massachusetts; Year: 1633; Page Number: 37, Filby, P. William, ed. Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s. Farmington Hills, MI, USA: Gale Research, 2010.
14?Banks, Charles,The planters of the commonwealth; ..., 1930; page 104Internet Archive
15?Robert Charles Anderson,The Great Migration Directory(Boston, Mass., 2015), page 362
16?John Insey Coddington, "Stephen Taylor of Windsor, Connecticut,"The American Genealogist 37 (1961), pages 197-198 (subscription required)
17?The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. V. 43 p. 151: Will of George Way; Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2018.)NEHGS member site
18?The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010), (Originally Published as: New England Historic Genealogical Society. Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols., 1995). Page 1952; by subscription,NEHGS member site
19?Pioneers on Maine rivers, with lists to 1651, Spencer, Wilbur Daniel, 1900,Internet Archive
20?Banks.History of York..., page 20,Hathitrust
21?Libby, Noyes,Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, v.5 p. 725,FamilySearch
22?The Essex Antiquarian. Salem, MA: The Essex Antiquarian, 13 vols. 1897-1909. Vol. 7 page 133; (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2006.), by subscription,NEHGS member site
23?England, Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.
24?Book review,Connecticut Nutmegger,38(2004):426
â¢Caulkins, F. Manwaring. (1852). History of New London, Connecticut: From the first survey of the coast in 1612, to 1852. New London: The author [Hartford, Ct., Press of Case, Tiffany and company]. pg 252
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The data shown has no sources.