Second Generation
Family of George MOREY (1)
2. George MOREY (George1). Born in 1634/1640 in England. Ancestor.
NOTES ON THE ANCESTRY OF GEORGE MOREY OF BRISTOL, RI
The following extracts are presented with minimal comments for use in reaching a tentative position concerning the ancestry of George Morey, who married Hannah Lewis in 1683 at Bristol, RI. There are three possibilities: 1) George is descended from Roger MOWRY of Providence, RI; 2) George is descended from George MOREY of Duxbury, MA; 3) neither of the above. It is this compiler's belief that choice 2) is correct, that George of Bristol, RI was the son or grandson of George of Duxbury, MA. Based on information received from published and correspondent sources, it is further believed that the grandson relationship is correct. These beliefs are not based on original research, and are not presented as fact. It is hoped that any person with contrary beliefs will be forgiving, and will share any proof or evidence that supports a differing conclusion.
"MOWRY: A UNIQUE FAMILY MONUMENT"
by William A. Mowry, NEHGR, April 1898.
north side - front
ERECTED
A.D. 1896.
By
Hon. Arlon Mowry
To the Memory of
ROGER MOWRY
And
Eight Generations
Of His Descendants
Through His Son
Nathaniel.
MOWRY
Roger Mowry registered in Boston, Mass., after his arrival from England, May 18, 1631. He lived in Plymouth for several years, and later in Salem from about 1635 to 1649. He then removed to Providence, Rhode Island, where he resided till his death, Jan. 5, 1666.
He married Mary, daughter of John Johnson of Roxbury, Mass. She died Jan. 1679.
Children.
Roger, died young.
Jonathan, born in 1637.
Bethia, born in 1638.
Mary, born in 1640.
Elizabeth, born in 1643.
NATHANIEL, born in 1644.
John, born about 1645.
Mehitable, born about 1646.
Joseph, born in 1647.
Benjamin, born in 1649.
Thomas, born in 1652.
Hannah, born in 1656.
<The brief commentary that follows the monument description includes> Roger Mowry was in Salem from 1636 to 1649. He and his wife Mary were members of the church at Salem.... In 1637 "he had fifty acres laid out" to him two miles or more from the settlement at Salem toward what was afterwards known as Salem Village.... The records of the church in Salem show that his oldest son, Jonathan, was baptized April 2, 1637, and other children as follows: Bethia, 1638, June 17; Mary, 1640, June 16; Elizabeth, 1643, January 20; Benjamin, 1649, May 20; between Elizabeth and Benjamin were four other children as given on the north side of the monument and no record is found of their baptism. In August 1658, in open Town Meeting, at Providence, Roger Mowry testified that his three youngest children, Benjamin, Thomas and Hannah, were born in Providence. It is supposed that the Salem pastor, when on a visit in 1649 to the members of his church then residing in Providence, found the infant Benjamin, baptized him there and entered the record upon the Salem Church book on his return home.... <The name George is not among the children of Roger, nor the children of his son Nathaniel in this article. Children of Nathaniel: Nathaniel; John; Henry; Joseph; Martha; Sarah; Mary; Johannah; Patience; Marcy; and Experience.>
Genealogy of Captain John Johnson of Roxbury, Massachusetts
by Paul Franklin Johnson, et al., 1948.
2(3) Mary (Johnson) (Mowry) Kingsley
Daughter of Capt. John(1) and Margery (--) Johnson; born --, England; died Jan. 5, 1678/9, buried Jan. 29, 1678/9; married Roger Mowry; born --; died March 5, 1666 <or Jan 5, 1666>. She married 2nd, March 16, 1673/4 John Kingsley; born --; died Jan. 6, 1678/9, Rehoboth, Mass....
CHILDREN of (Mowry)
13 Roger, b.
14 Jonathan, bapt. Apr. 2, 1637; m. July 1659, Mary Bartlett (widow Foster).
15 Bethiah, bapt. June 17, 1638.
16 Mary, bapt. Feb. 16, 1639.
17 Elizabeth, bapt. Mar. 27, 1642.
18 Nathaniel, b. Jan. 10, 1644; d. Mar. 24, 1717/8; m. Johanna Inman.
19 John, b. 1645.
20 Mehitable, b. 1646; m. May 9, 1662, Eldad Kingsley who d. Aug. 30, 1679; m. 2nd Timothy Brooks of Swanzey, Mass.
21 Joseph, b. 1647.
22 Benjamin, bapt. May 20, 1649.
23 Thomas, b. Sept. 19, 1652.
24 Hannah, b. Nov. 9, 1656.
A Genealogy of One Branch of The Morey Family
by Emily Wilder Leavitt, 1890.
Jonathan (2) Morey married (1st) July 8, 1659, Mary, widow of Richard Foster, and daughter of Robert and Mary (Warren) Bartlett, of Plymouth, Mass.; she died --; he married (2d) Hannah --.
His children were:
1. Jonathan(3).
2. John(3).
3. Hannah(3) (Bumpas).
Jonathan(3) Morey married Hannah Bourne, in Plymouth.
Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England
by James Savage, 1884.
<selected entries> Morey, Benjamin, Wickford 1674, was some relat. prob. of Isaac Heath of Roxbury, who names Mary and Benjamin in his will of Jan. 1661. George, Duxbury 1640, d. that yr. may be the passeng. 1635, from London, aged 23, by the Truelove.... Joseph, Wickford 1674. Thomas, Roxbury, m. 6 Sept. 1673, Susanna, d. of the sec. Abraham Newell, had Thomas..., Abigail..., Abigail..., Susanna..., John..., Eliz...., and Nathaniel.... He was freem. 1685, and d. 25 Dec. 1717; but I do not find the date of d. or w....
<Conclusion: Neither George of Duxbury, nor any other George, is mentioned as son or grandson of Roger of Providence in those sources cited.>
"An Account of a Search for the Identity of
Mary Morey, Wife of Timothy Crosby"
by Paul W. Prindle.
William T. Davis, in his Ancient Landmarks of Plymouth (1883): 186, shows under Morey: "George, came in the Truelove in 1635, and settled in Duxbury, where he died 1640, leaving one son Jonathan.... Jonathan, son of George, m. 1659, Mary, wid. of Richard Foster and d. of Robert Bartlett, and had Jonathan. Jonathan, son of above, m. Hannah Bourne of Sandwich...."
This statement of the parentage of Jonathan(2) Morey, who married Mrs. Mary (Bartlett) Foster, is incorrect. He was the son of Roger(1) Morey, not of George, as is shown in Salem, Mass. Vital Records, II: 67 and elsewhere, and in the following three extracts from Early Records of the Town of Providence. <follows quotes from Vol. VIII: 93; XIV: 298; and XIV: 190>
The Pioneers of Massachusetts...
by Charles Henry Pope, 1900.
George, Duxbury, propr. 31 Aug 1640.
"The Founders of New England," NEHGR, Oct. 1860.
xix Sept. 1635. Theis vnder written names are to be transported to New England imbarqued in the Truelove, Jo:- Gibbs, Mr the men have taken the oathes of Alleg: and Suprem:
Geo: Morrey 23 <only Morey or variant listed>.
From a book, title unknown, of Duxbury, MA genealogy information.
MORREY (Morey)
George, Dux., 1640, was granted land for a house in Dux., near North hill, and d. same year.
Southeastern Massachusetts, by Cutter.
The Morey Family.... George Morey, the first of whom we have record, made his home in Bristol, Rhode Island. He married there Jan. 22, 1683, Hannah Lewis, and their children were....
"Census of Bristol," NEHGR, Oct. 1880.
CENSUS OF BRISTOL IN PLYMOUTH COLONY, NOW IN RHODE ISLAND, 1689
This list is copied from the original records of the "Church of Christ in Bristol," which was afterwards called the Catholic Congregational Church. In 1689 it was incorporated as the first Congregational Church in Bristol.
1688-9 Feb. 11 All the Families in New Bristol and children and servants.
<follows 70 families, 421 souls, but none by the name of Morey.>
"Bristol Records," NEHGR, April, 1880.
Under the date of June 13, 1697, the following children of George and Hannah Moorey are listed as being baptized: John, George, Mary, Sarah, and Hannah.
"Preface," by Prof. William Carey Morey, about 1890
<This preface has been found in three different publications, the earliest being A Genealogy of One Branch of The Morey Family, by Emily Wilder Leavitt, 1890.>
The name of this family occurs at a very early period in the colonial records of New England.... In his "List of Emigrants to America, 1600-1700," Hotten refers to two persons only of this name. The one, "Jo. Morey," aged nineteen years, was a passenger of the ship "Blessing," June, 1635. The other, "George Morrey, aged 23 yrs.," was a passenger in the "Truelove," in September of the same year. This George settled in Duxbury, in the Plymouth Colonly, and several references are made to him, in colonial records, between 1635 and 1640. In the latter year he died, leaving, it is supposed, no children....
Besides these immigrants mentioned by Hotten, Mr. Savage, in his "Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England," mentions seven other persons by the name of Morey, who settled in American previous to 1700. These are: Benjamin, of Wickford, 1674; Francis, of Salem, 1686; Jonathan, of Plymouth, 1666; Joseph, of Wickford, 1674; Nathaniel, of Providence, 1666; Roger, of Providence, 1649; and Thomas, of Roxbury, 1673.... Benjamin is now admitted to have been a son of Roger. Jonathan, of Plymouth, and Thomas, of Roxbury, are also now regarded by all genealogists as having been sons of Roger.
Of the other names mentioned by Savage, Joseph, of Wickford, arrived in Rhode Island in 1674. It is declared by his descendants that he was born in England, in 1664, and must, therefore, be regarded as the founder of a distinct family in America....
In addition to these, there should not be passed over the names of two other persons who settled in New England previous to 1700. The first of these was George Morey, of Bristol, R.I., who took the freeman's oath in 1685; who afterwards removed to Norton, Mass., and became the founder of a large family, with a number of distinguished members. The other person was Capt. Nicholas Morey, of whom there is preserved a definite record to the effect that he came to America in 1675, from East Woodlam, County Hampshire; that he was the third son of Thomas and Mary Morey of that place, and that his brothers, John, Thomas, and Edward, were living in England when he left.... Capt. Nicholas left no children.... the following persons were the founders of distinct families in New England:--
1. Roger Morey, of Plymouth, Salem, and Providence, who arrived in New England in 1631, and who was undoubtedly the father of Jonathan, of Plymouth, Thomas, of Roxbury, and Benjamin, of Roxbury, Mass., and of Kingston, R.I.
2. The brothers, John and Nathaniel Mowry, of Providence, who are first mentioned in the records of 1666 and 1668, and whose descendants, only, have preserved the spelling of Mowry. <That Nathaniel and John, who came on the "Blessing," are brothers is 'well supported.' J. O. Austin in his "Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island" opines they were sons of Roger.>
3. Joseph Morey, of Wickford, who was born in 1664, and arrived in Rhode Island in 1674.
4. George Morey, of Bristol, who is first mentioned as having taken the freeman's oath in 1685.
<Note that Prof. Morey does not connect George of Duxbury with George of Bristol, stating the former had no children.>
From an undocumented note from unknown source.
George Morey took the Oath of Fidelity in New Jersey May 17, 1652.
From research of William A. MacLellan.
The reference to "Georg Morye" as an inhabitant of Bristol at the first Town Meeting in 1681 is the earliest documentation of his presence in America; that entry and the record of his marriage and the births of his children identify him as the founder of the family in Bristol, Rhode Island.....
A George Morey is mentioned in several sources e.g., Savage, George Morey, Duxbury, 1640; George Morey a passenger in the Truelove in 1635 from London; The Pennocks of Strafford and the Moreys of Fairlee, Vermont, "George Morey who came in the Truelove was perhaps the one who died in Duxbury, Massachusetts."; A Genealogy of One Branch of the Warren Family by Emily Wilder Leavitt notes that George Morey of Bristol as one of the Moreys who were the founders of distinct families in New England.
Re: "We and Our Kindred, Ephraim and Rebeckah Waterman Briggs Descendants---by Mary Balch Briggs, Boston 1887. page 93: George(1) Morey came in the Truelove, was at Scituate and at Duxbury, where he died in 1640; George(2) Morey was at Taunton, 1650; Lieutenant in 1659; Mr. in 1690.
The former was possibly the grandfather, the latter probably the father of George Morey, an original settler of Bristol, Rhode Island, who removed to Norton about 1720"----.
(My Report of November 29, 1965 to Mr. Smith commented on the statement of Savage that "George, Duxbury 1640, may be the passenger, 1635, from London, aged 23, by the Truelove." Further comment to Mr. Smith, "In view of the doubt expressed by Savage, would require more than the assertion, unsupported, appearing in the Briggs Genealogy that George of the Truelove was possibly the ancestor of George of Bristol. Acceptance of that uncertainty would be contrary to your intention to produce a documented work.")
CONCLUSION
This compiler's 'conclusions' are brief. 1) George of Bristol is NOT a descendant of Roger of Providence. 2) George of Bristol MAY be a descendant of George of the Truelove, as son or grandson. 3) The references to a George being at Taunton in 1650, taking the oath in New Jersey in 1652, and again taking the oath in 1685 SUGGESTS that there are three Georges, namely of Duxbury who died in 1640, of Taunton and New Jersey in the 1650s, and of Bristol in the 1680s. 4) George of Duxbury MAY be the George of the Truelove. 5) Therefore, George of Bristol MAY be the son of George of Taunton, and grandson of George of Duxbury who may have arrived in America in the Truelove in 1635. End conjectures.
-S. Lawson
Research: Oath of fidelity 17 May 1652 in NJ (Family notes)
Child:
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