Hij had een relatie met Mary Yonge.
Kind(eren):
William Wells, who was second to none in influence, is said to have come from England June 19, 1635, in the same ship with John Baylay, another of the early settlers. The first notice of him on Long Island is the following entry in the records of Southampton: "March 15, 1643, William Wells, Gent., was censured for some unreverent speeches to Daniel Howe, who confessed his offence and promised reformation."
In 1646 his name appears in the same records among a list of men who had evidently abandoned the settlement. The exact time at which he became a settler at Southold is unknown, but he was a resident here before 1649. He was a native of Norwich, England, and was born in 1608. Throughout his life he was the legal authority of the town, and pre-eminently the business man of the place, and it was through him that the purchases were made from the Indians of the region of Cutchogue, Mattituck and Ockabock, including the town of Riverhead. As the insciption on his tob narrates, he was a "justice of the peace and first sheriff of Yorkshire," being appointed to that positon by Governor Nicolls in 1664. He died November 13, 1671, aged sixty-three, and left a wife Mary, who afterward married Thomas Mapes. His first wife, Bridget, was the widow of Henry Tuthill. He and Mary had the following children: William, Joshua, Mary, Bathia and Mehetabel.
His tomb may still be seen in the old burial ground, and after a lapse of two centuries is in a perfect state of presevation, thanks to the reverent care of his descendant, the late William H. Wells. The magnificent genealogical work, "William Wells, of Southold and his Descendants," by Rev. Charles Wells Hayes, contains a full account of this illustrious man and his family.
Ref: The History of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time.
Peter Ross.
NY Lewis Pub. Co. 1902
William WELLS settled at Lynn, Mass., 1635, and at Southhold, L.I., 1640,
Tombstone inscription in the Presbyterian churchyard of Southold was re-cut in 1857 by some of his descendants. It would otherwise have been, at this time, illegible.
"Here lies ye body of William Wells of South-hold, Gent. Justice of ye Peace & first Sheriffe of New Yorke Shire vpon Long Island, who departed this life November 13, 1671, aged 63.
"Yes, here hee lies, who speaketh yet though dead,
On wings of faith his soule to Heaven is fled,
His pious deedes and charity was such
That of his praise no pen could write too much.
As was his life so was his blest decease,
He liv'd in love, and sweetly dyd in peace."
From the peculiar phraseology of the terms used in the instruments drawn up by him, the law books he left, and the lawsuits in which he was engaged, he is supposed to have been a professional attorney. He never, himself, however appended the title to his name.
He was without any question endowed with rare gifts and accomplishments -- competent, shrewd, and equal to any emergency: Upon him the young colony at Southold relied chiefly to make purchases of Lands of the Indians, and to obtain titles from those whose tenure was by conquest or possession. He kept their records-- drew up rules and regulations for their government, and for the preservation of order. He was their leader and guide at Town Meetings, and in Church Ordinances was always promptly at his post to watch, and guard against any infringement of rules of discipline or violation of doctrine. Mr. Wells was early and repeatedly a deputy to the General Court at New Haven, Conn. and held various offices in the Town and in the County: he was a member of Gov. Nicolls' Council, and afterwards held the office of High Sheriff of New Yorkshire till 1669.
His accumulations of lands was very large: in the "Occabauk" and "Corchaug" allotments and dividends he both drew, and bought large sections. The extensive possessions of the late Daniel Wells, and also the fine neck of Land of the late Eurystheus H. Wells, and many other farms, now in the family of the Wellses in the Town of Riverhead, are inheritances under the original grants to (1)William Wells. The most valuable and desirable farm in "Corchaug," made up of the two necks-- "Pequash" and "Pooles," belonged to him. In 1649, he and Richard Woodhull purchased "Corchaug" of the Indians, and took a deed therefor in their own names, though acting for and in behalf of the inhabitants, as they alleged. In 1665 Mr. Wells entered, on the Town Records, a claim to "the moiety or half part of Corchaug." The Town repudiated the claim, and ordered the same (as entered) to be crossed out. A long controversy ensued, and at the end of two years was settled, in 1667, he renouncing his claim to the half of Corchaug and the Town granting to Mr. Wells the Peninsula of Little Hogneck, lying in Peconic Bay. (1)William Wells died 13 Nov. 1671, aged 63--left a widow--two sons, (2)William, and (1)Joshua, both minors, from whom a multitude of the name, are scattered all over the United States.
The grants and allotments of land to (1)William Wells, as recorded, covers about 1800 acres. He had probably a still larger quantity of unrecorded lands, or lands that were entered only in the books of the surveyor. This class of lands lay chiefly in the Occabauk and Wading River dividends, where it is known that he and his sons owned large tracts. (1)William Wells, from the best calculations we are from data able to make, owned 4000 acres of land in the Town of Southold, at the time of his death.
Little Hogneck, in Peconic Bay, was held by the town as town property, and had never been divided or alotted, when on the 1st of July, 1667, it was 'voted that Master William Wells and his heirs shall have the little Hogneck, he to give in consideration thereofa quittaur concerning an and all the oxen or cattle of his killed by the Indians,"
When he died in 1671, the neck became the property of his widow, Mary Wells, who in the division of the estate of her late husband, between the two sons (2)William and (1)Joshua set off Little Hogneck to William; his son (3rd) William inherited it from his father, and died in 1778.
William II Wells | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mary Yonge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
De getoonde gegevens hebben geen bronnen.