Philip Verin
| Charts | Ancestors of William Jerome Pierce |
Philip Verin, son of Philip Verin and Dorcas (…), was born probably shortly before his baptism at Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, 1 May 1619.1
Philip married Joanna (…), whose ancestry is unknown (or not traced here), at Salem, Essex Co., Massachusetts, between 1640 and 1641.1,2
Philip Verin was made freeman of Boston, 2 Jun 1641. In Jul 1642 he and his mother were in the Salem court charged with slander of Robert Cotta. Jacob Barney testified that Philip had charged Cotta with removing a bound stake. In July 1653 at Salem court Philip confessed that he, John Hill and Thomas Bishop "did each fire a gun in the woods in the second month last (April) in the morning before day, causing an alarm in the town." He was fined 40 shillings.
He was a man of independent mind and willing to pay the price for it. He and his wife were presented in court many times from 1660 to 1663 for nonattendance at public worship. In Nov 1663 he was ordered by the court to be set by the heels in the stocks for one hour for disowning in open court the country's power to force any to come to public worship. He does not appear to have been a member of the Quaker meeting, but his sympathies were certainly with them. Once he was summoned to appear in court for "assembling himself at a Quaker meeting on the Lord's day" and on 28 Jun 1661 he paid a fine for so doing. He spoke to some of his neighbors of the cruelties toward Quakers, declaring that "the government had murdered the dear saints and servants of God and that he himself saw one of them murdered at Boston." For these "seditious and treasonable words against the government" and "great offence against the country in slandering the government," he was ordered to be severely whipped.
In November 1663 he was discharged from common training, paying 5 shillings annually for the use of the company.
He sold 1/4 acre of his home lot to Richard Sibley, 22 Nov 1662.
His wife died in 1664, he was left with several young children. Apparently soon afterwards he decided to leave Salem, for on 15 May 1665 he sold to Mary Verin, widow of his brother Nathaniel, who had returned to Salem from Jamaica not long before, his house and approximately 2 3/4 acres of adjoining land. She was to have possession of the property on 15 Sep following, but he reserved the right to harvest his fruit and corn and to remove any belongings from the house even after that date. Strangely, five days after this deed, on 20 May, he bought back from Richard Sibley 28 rods of the original 40 rod-lot, but this land was clearly part of his sale to his sister-in-law, made five days before he had it to sell. The recorded deed, a copy of the original document, contains other errors, so perhaps there is an error in one of the dates. The deed to Mary says he holds all property in "perfect and absolute estate of inheritance" so this town lot was part of his inheritance from his father and was his home.
On 12 Oct 1665 he sold to John Small 40 acres that had been granted him by Salem on 21 Jan 1649/50. He is called wheelwright in the several deeds. At this point he disappears from the records of Essex Co., so he probably left the area, perhaps going to Jamaica or Barbados to join a brother or to take over the management of Nathaniel's affairs. Of his children, only Philip, Jr., and Hannah appear as residents of Essex Co. in the following years .1
Philip married Joanna (…), whose ancestry is unknown (or not traced here), at Salem, Essex Co., Massachusetts, between 1640 and 1641.1,2
Philip Verin was made freeman of Boston, 2 Jun 1641. In Jul 1642 he and his mother were in the Salem court charged with slander of Robert Cotta. Jacob Barney testified that Philip had charged Cotta with removing a bound stake. In July 1653 at Salem court Philip confessed that he, John Hill and Thomas Bishop "did each fire a gun in the woods in the second month last (April) in the morning before day, causing an alarm in the town." He was fined 40 shillings.
He was a man of independent mind and willing to pay the price for it. He and his wife were presented in court many times from 1660 to 1663 for nonattendance at public worship. In Nov 1663 he was ordered by the court to be set by the heels in the stocks for one hour for disowning in open court the country's power to force any to come to public worship. He does not appear to have been a member of the Quaker meeting, but his sympathies were certainly with them. Once he was summoned to appear in court for "assembling himself at a Quaker meeting on the Lord's day" and on 28 Jun 1661 he paid a fine for so doing. He spoke to some of his neighbors of the cruelties toward Quakers, declaring that "the government had murdered the dear saints and servants of God and that he himself saw one of them murdered at Boston." For these "seditious and treasonable words against the government" and "great offence against the country in slandering the government," he was ordered to be severely whipped.
In November 1663 he was discharged from common training, paying 5 shillings annually for the use of the company.
He sold 1/4 acre of his home lot to Richard Sibley, 22 Nov 1662.
His wife died in 1664, he was left with several young children. Apparently soon afterwards he decided to leave Salem, for on 15 May 1665 he sold to Mary Verin, widow of his brother Nathaniel, who had returned to Salem from Jamaica not long before, his house and approximately 2 3/4 acres of adjoining land. She was to have possession of the property on 15 Sep following, but he reserved the right to harvest his fruit and corn and to remove any belongings from the house even after that date. Strangely, five days after this deed, on 20 May, he bought back from Richard Sibley 28 rods of the original 40 rod-lot, but this land was clearly part of his sale to his sister-in-law, made five days before he had it to sell. The recorded deed, a copy of the original document, contains other errors, so perhaps there is an error in one of the dates. The deed to Mary says he holds all property in "perfect and absolute estate of inheritance" so this town lot was part of his inheritance from his father and was his home.
On 12 Oct 1665 he sold to John Small 40 acres that had been granted him by Salem on 21 Jan 1649/50. He is called wheelwright in the several deeds. At this point he disappears from the records of Essex Co., so he probably left the area, perhaps going to Jamaica or Barbados to join a brother or to take over the management of Nathaniel's affairs. Of his children, only Philip, Jr., and Hannah appear as residents of Essex Co. in the following years .1
Family | Joanna (…) d. 30 Aug 1664 |
| Children |
| This person was last edited on | 20 Sep 2017 |
Citations
- [S1253] John B. Threlfall, "The Verin Family of Salem, Massachusetts," The New England Historical and Genealogical Register 131 (April 1977): 100-112, further cited as Threlfall, "Verin Family."
- [S1872] Clarence Almon Torrey, New England Marriages Prior to 1700, 3 vols. (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011), 1569, further cited as Torrey, New England Marriages (2011).
- [S644] Galusha B. Balch, Genealogy of the Balch Families in America (Salem, Massachusetts: Eben Putnam, 1897), 15-18, further cited as Balch, Balch Families in America.