Jedediah Dewey
| Charts | Ancestors of Wilford Ervie Billings |
Jedediah Dewey, son of Cornet Thomas Dewey and Frances (…), was born at Windsor, Connecticut, 15 December 1647.1,2 He died at Westfield, Hampden Co., Massachusetts, May 1718.3
Jedediah married Sarah Orton, daughter of Thomas Orton and Margaret Pratt, at Farmington, Connecticut, before 1672.1,4,5
Jedediah was the only one of the sons of Thomas Dewey the Settler to make a will.
Jedediah Dewey, of Westfield, being of perfect mind and memory, thanks be God, considering ye mortality of my body and knowing yt it is appointed for all men once to die, do make and ordain this my last will and testament and principally and first of all I give and recommend my soul unto ye hands of God who gave it and my body to be buried with Christian burial at ye discretion of my friends, hoping that at ye resurrection I shall receive ye same again by ye almighty power of God. And concerning such worldly estates as God hath pleased to bless me with in this life, I give, Demiss and dispose of as follows:
Imprimis Item. I give to my son Jedediah ye house and lot where he now lives, there being about twelve or thirteen acres of the land and also my six acre lot an Mun's Meadow and also my four acre lot in ye Neck, bounded by ye land of John Sacket westerly.
Item. I give to my son Thomas ye lot which I bought of Mr. Cornish being about ten or eleven acres and also my lot south of ye road as we go to Two Mile Brook. I give to Thomas all but five acres, which five acres Joseph is to have, running through ye ten acre lot and yt which I bought of Deacon Noble. Also I give to Thomas my three acre lot by Two Mile Brook near where ye mill was formerly.
Item. I give to my son Joseph my twelve acre lot in ye meadow lying and bounded by ye land of John Sacket easterly and also five acres of my land south of ye road against Daniel Bagg's houselot, also I have given him my black mare which he has already received and also about thirty acres of land lying by ye Squawfield, for which I have received about twenty pounds.
Item, I give to my son Daniel all yt land given to some of my sons by my honored Father Orton, lying in Farmington bounds, south of Hartford Road; my sons having given me right to dispose of it they having ye share at home of my land in Westfield; and also I give to Daniel twenty lbs. of my estate which he as halready received.
My daughters which are by ye disposing hand of God deceased, have already had near thirty lbs. apiece of my estate; also give to their children surviving, forty shillings apiece six lbs. to my daughter Sarah's three children and ten lbs. to my daughter Margaret's five children. My daughter Hannah having received something considerable at her marriage as her sisters had, but being taken away by ye providence of God and her children both, I think it will not be expected that I should add anything further upon her account.
Item. I give to my other two daughters Mary and Abigail forty lbs. apiece out of my moveable estate.
Item. I give to my son James my seven acre lot bounded by ye land of David Ashley westerly. Item. I give to my son James my house and homestead where I now live and my two acre lot by ye meeting house and also my three acre lot in ye neck bounded by Pixley's land easterly; also I give to my son James eight acres of land by ye mountain at ye hinter end of it next to Daniel Bagg's marsh I give to James tools sufficient for his use about his trade and my black gun; the rest of my land in ye field and with out ye field I give to my four sons in Westfield to be equally divided amongst them the rest of moveable estate I give to all my surviving childresn to be equally divided amongst them and I do constitute my sons Jedediah and James to be my executors of this my last will and testament, hereby ratifying this my last will and testament.
In witness hereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 4th day of April, 1715. Signed, sealed and delivered by ye said Jedediah Dewey to be his last will and testament.
Witness:
David Ashley,
Sam Taylor,
Joseph Root.
We the subscribers being legates to ye estate of Our Honored Father Jedediah Dewey of Westfield, deceased, do unanimously agree that the within written will or form shall stand good and we do humbly desire the Judge of Probate to ratify and confirm the same.
Jedediah Dewey, [L. S.]
Joseph Dewey, [L. S.]
James Dewey, [L. S.]
Thomas Dewey, [L. S.]
Joseph Noble, [L. S.]
Daniel Bissell, [L. S.]
Daniel Bissell, Jr., [L. S.]
Margaret Bissell, [L. S.]
Hampshire, ss:--
May 25, 1718. Jedediah Dewey and James Dewey, two of ye persons aforesigning, appeared before me, underwritten Judge of ye Probate of Wills, etc., for sd. County, and acknowledges ye aforesaid instru;ment to be their act and deed which I approve and allow of, provided all persons concerned consent to and acknowledge ye same.
Samuel Partridge.6
Property:
The lands at Windsor belonging to him were sold in his twenty-first year to John Grant and Lieut. Fyler.
In the same year, he is mentioned at Westfield, Mass., which was then being settled under the direction of a committee appointed by the town of Springfield for that purpose, Captain John Pynshon being chairman. On page thirty-six of the Westfield Proprietors' Records we find the following under the date of Aug 27, 1668: "There was granted by the Committee to Jedediah Dewey, fifteen or sixteen acres of land (viz.), the remainder of Weller's lot and a homelot."
About two years after (1670) he received a grant of "a homelot of six acres on the fort side," and it was probably then that he moved.
During the year 1672, "a saw and corn-mill" was erected on a brook then called Two Mile brook (which connects Southwick ponds with the Westfield river), by Thomas, Josiah, and Jedediah Dewey, and Joseph Whiting; they were "to give a twelfth part of the corn they powdered" and were "granted forty acres of land for the use of the mills."
It was not until after the quiet that succeeded the defeat and death of the Indian warrior King Philip, that the settlers began to move much from the "compact dwelling," that they then were ordered to form, and commenced to make grants "two miles without the meeting house;" in other words, outside the stockade which enclosed an area of about two miles in circumference around their fort, which stood near the confluence of the Westfield and Little rivers; then in February, 1687, he, with other proprietors, received a grant of twenty acres "two miles without the meeting house.7
Jedediah served in the various town office of the period; selectman in 1678, 1686, 1695, 1699. He was first mentioned as ensign in 1686; He was made a freeman on January 1, 1680 and joined the church September 28 in the same year.
He was a wheelwright and lived on the east corner of Silver and South Streets, as Westfield, Mass.8
Jedediah married Sarah Orton, daughter of Thomas Orton and Margaret Pratt, at Farmington, Connecticut, before 1672.1,4,5
Jedediah was the only one of the sons of Thomas Dewey the Settler to make a will.
Jedediah Dewey, of Westfield, being of perfect mind and memory, thanks be God, considering ye mortality of my body and knowing yt it is appointed for all men once to die, do make and ordain this my last will and testament and principally and first of all I give and recommend my soul unto ye hands of God who gave it and my body to be buried with Christian burial at ye discretion of my friends, hoping that at ye resurrection I shall receive ye same again by ye almighty power of God. And concerning such worldly estates as God hath pleased to bless me with in this life, I give, Demiss and dispose of as follows:
Imprimis Item. I give to my son Jedediah ye house and lot where he now lives, there being about twelve or thirteen acres of the land and also my six acre lot an Mun's Meadow and also my four acre lot in ye Neck, bounded by ye land of John Sacket westerly.
Item. I give to my son Thomas ye lot which I bought of Mr. Cornish being about ten or eleven acres and also my lot south of ye road as we go to Two Mile Brook. I give to Thomas all but five acres, which five acres Joseph is to have, running through ye ten acre lot and yt which I bought of Deacon Noble. Also I give to Thomas my three acre lot by Two Mile Brook near where ye mill was formerly.
Item. I give to my son Joseph my twelve acre lot in ye meadow lying and bounded by ye land of John Sacket easterly and also five acres of my land south of ye road against Daniel Bagg's houselot, also I have given him my black mare which he has already received and also about thirty acres of land lying by ye Squawfield, for which I have received about twenty pounds.
Item, I give to my son Daniel all yt land given to some of my sons by my honored Father Orton, lying in Farmington bounds, south of Hartford Road; my sons having given me right to dispose of it they having ye share at home of my land in Westfield; and also I give to Daniel twenty lbs. of my estate which he as halready received.
My daughters which are by ye disposing hand of God deceased, have already had near thirty lbs. apiece of my estate; also give to their children surviving, forty shillings apiece six lbs. to my daughter Sarah's three children and ten lbs. to my daughter Margaret's five children. My daughter Hannah having received something considerable at her marriage as her sisters had, but being taken away by ye providence of God and her children both, I think it will not be expected that I should add anything further upon her account.
Item. I give to my other two daughters Mary and Abigail forty lbs. apiece out of my moveable estate.
Item. I give to my son James my seven acre lot bounded by ye land of David Ashley westerly. Item. I give to my son James my house and homestead where I now live and my two acre lot by ye meeting house and also my three acre lot in ye neck bounded by Pixley's land easterly; also I give to my son James eight acres of land by ye mountain at ye hinter end of it next to Daniel Bagg's marsh I give to James tools sufficient for his use about his trade and my black gun; the rest of my land in ye field and with out ye field I give to my four sons in Westfield to be equally divided amongst them the rest of moveable estate I give to all my surviving childresn to be equally divided amongst them and I do constitute my sons Jedediah and James to be my executors of this my last will and testament, hereby ratifying this my last will and testament.
In witness hereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 4th day of April, 1715. Signed, sealed and delivered by ye said Jedediah Dewey to be his last will and testament.
Witness:
David Ashley,
Sam Taylor,
Joseph Root.
We the subscribers being legates to ye estate of Our Honored Father Jedediah Dewey of Westfield, deceased, do unanimously agree that the within written will or form shall stand good and we do humbly desire the Judge of Probate to ratify and confirm the same.
Jedediah Dewey, [L. S.]
Joseph Dewey, [L. S.]
James Dewey, [L. S.]
Thomas Dewey, [L. S.]
Joseph Noble, [L. S.]
Daniel Bissell, [L. S.]
Daniel Bissell, Jr., [L. S.]
Margaret Bissell, [L. S.]
Hampshire, ss:--
May 25, 1718. Jedediah Dewey and James Dewey, two of ye persons aforesigning, appeared before me, underwritten Judge of ye Probate of Wills, etc., for sd. County, and acknowledges ye aforesaid instru;ment to be their act and deed which I approve and allow of, provided all persons concerned consent to and acknowledge ye same.
Samuel Partridge.6
Property:
The lands at Windsor belonging to him were sold in his twenty-first year to John Grant and Lieut. Fyler.
In the same year, he is mentioned at Westfield, Mass., which was then being settled under the direction of a committee appointed by the town of Springfield for that purpose, Captain John Pynshon being chairman. On page thirty-six of the Westfield Proprietors' Records we find the following under the date of Aug 27, 1668: "There was granted by the Committee to Jedediah Dewey, fifteen or sixteen acres of land (viz.), the remainder of Weller's lot and a homelot."
About two years after (1670) he received a grant of "a homelot of six acres on the fort side," and it was probably then that he moved.
During the year 1672, "a saw and corn-mill" was erected on a brook then called Two Mile brook (which connects Southwick ponds with the Westfield river), by Thomas, Josiah, and Jedediah Dewey, and Joseph Whiting; they were "to give a twelfth part of the corn they powdered" and were "granted forty acres of land for the use of the mills."
It was not until after the quiet that succeeded the defeat and death of the Indian warrior King Philip, that the settlers began to move much from the "compact dwelling," that they then were ordered to form, and commenced to make grants "two miles without the meeting house;" in other words, outside the stockade which enclosed an area of about two miles in circumference around their fort, which stood near the confluence of the Westfield and Little rivers; then in February, 1687, he, with other proprietors, received a grant of twenty acres "two miles without the meeting house.7
Jedediah served in the various town office of the period; selectman in 1678, 1686, 1695, 1699. He was first mentioned as ensign in 1686; He was made a freeman on January 1, 1680 and joined the church September 28 in the same year.
He was a wheelwright and lived on the east corner of Silver and South Streets, as Westfield, Mass.8
Family | Sarah Orton b. 22 Aug 1652, d. 20 Nov 1711 |
| Children |
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| This person was last edited on | 28 Apr 2016 |
Citations
- [S2281] Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I–III, 3 vols. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 1:537-39 (Thomas Dewey), further cited as Anderson, GMB.
- [S507] Adelbert Milton Dewey, Louis Marinus Dewey, William T. Dewey, Orville C. Dewey and George Dewey, Life of George Dewey, Rear Admiral, U.S.N., and Dewey Family History, Illustrated (Westfield, Mass: Dewey Publishing, 1898), 229, further cited as Dewey, et al., Dewey Family.
- [S507] Dewey, et al., Dewey Family, 843.
- [S507] Dewey, et al., Dewey Family, 845.
- [S1872] Clarence Almon Torrey, New England Marriages Prior to 1700, 3 vols. (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011), 447, further cited as Torrey, New England Marriages (2011).
- [S507] Dewey, et al., Dewey Family, 844-845.
- [S507] Dewey, et al., Dewey Family, 843-844.
- [S507] Dewey, et al., Dewey Family, 844.
- [S507] Dewey, et al., Dewey Family, 846.
- [S507] Dewey, et al., Dewey Family, 864.