William Wadsworth (patriarch)
Encyclopedia
William Wadsworth was an early pioneer of New England
, a founder of Hartford, Connecticut
and the patriarch
of numerous and prominent Wadsworth
descendants of North America, including the poet Ezra Pound
.
point strongly to this connection.
, Massachusetts Colony on Sunday, September 16, 1632. He states his wife and three children are with him. Soon after his arrival to Boston he moved to “Newtowne” now Cambridge, Massachusetts
. He was made a Freeman
of this town on 2 November 1632. He built his home on the west side of Holyoke Street near Harvard Square
. He was chosen to be on the Board of Selectmen for Newtowne
, and held this position from 1634 to 1635.
. In 1635 Rev. Thomas Hooker
and his followers from Chelmsford, England had arrived to Newtowne and soon, after dissenting with Puritan leaders in Massachusetts, made up their minds, in council, to move westward. In June 1636, William moved with his family and others of the congregation to a settlement they named Hartford
. He was an original proprietor of the town. His home-lot, in 1639, was on the west side of the map from Seth Grant's to Sentinel Hill, extending along what is now the south side of Asylum St., from Trumbull St. to Ford St.
At Hartford, William was active in the community and held prominent public office positions throughout his life. William was chosen "Townsman" of Hartford in 1642, 1655, 1661, and again in 1673; he was also chosen Constable in 1651; he was the town’s List and Rate Maker in 1668; he was elected Deputy Constable nearly every session between October 1656 and May 1675 [probably due to age and failing health]. William died in 1675. His will was dated 16 June 1675 and it was inventoried on 18 October 1675 at a value of £1677. 13. 9. (approx. $300,000 US).
, England
and had the following children:
Sarah Wadsworth (1626 - 04 Oct 1648) m. John Wilkock, Jr. on 17 Sep 1646
William Wadsworth (1628 – d. young)
John Wadsworth, Hon. (1630 - 06 Nov 1689) m. Sarah Stanley on 14 Apr 1652
Mary Wadsworth (1632 – 1685) m. Thomas Stoughton in 1656
William married 2nd) Elizabeth Stone (2 October 1621 – 1682) on 2 July 1644 at Hartford, Connecticut
and had the following children:
Elizabeth Wadsworth (17 May 1645 - 12 Mar 1715) m. John Terry on 27 Nov 1662
Samuel Wadsworth (20 Oct 1646 – Aug 1682) unmarried
Joseph Wadsworth, Capt. (1647 – 1729) m. Elizabeth Barnard
Sarah Wadsworth (17 Mar 1649 - ) m. Jonathan Ashley
Thomas Wadsworth (1651 – Sep 1687) m. Elizabeth
Rebecca Wadsworth (1653 - )
Some of William Wadsworth's Notable Descendants
The following persons are the descendants of William's sons Hon. John Wadsworth or his half brother Capt. Joseph Wadsworth of Charter Oak
fame.
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
, a founder of Hartford, Connecticut
Founders of Hartford, Connecticut
Here are the 163 men and women listed in the Book of Distribution of Land as being those who settled in Hartford, Connecticut before February 1640. Their names are on a monument in Hartford's Ancient Burying Ground....
and the patriarch
Patriarch
Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is called patriarchy. This is a Greek word, a compound of πατριά , "lineage, descent", esp...
of numerous and prominent Wadsworth
Wadsworth (surname)
Wadsworth is a surname. Notable persons with that surname include:*Alexander S. Wadsworth , U.S. Navy officer; fought in the War of 1812; eponym of three ships*Andre Wadsworth , American professional football player...
descendants of North America, including the poet Ezra Pound
Ezra Pound
Ezra Weston Loomis Pound was an American expatriate poet and critic and a major figure in the early modernist movement in poetry...
.
Origins
William’s exact origins have challenged descendants and researchers over the centuries. Recent researchers have postulated that the William Wadsworth, who is born 1594 in Long Buckby, Northamptonshire, England and baptized on 26 February 1594, the son of William and Elizabeth Wadsworth, is one and the same as the subject of this article. This is not proven, though his age, place and onomasticsOnomastics
Onomastics or onomatology is the study of proper names of all kinds and the origins of names. The words are from the Greek: "ὀνομαστικός" , "of or belonging to naming" and "ὀνοματολογία" , from "ὄνομα" "name". Toponymy or toponomastics, the study of place names, is one of the principal branches of...
point strongly to this connection.
New England
William Wadsworth’s name appears on the top of a list of those who have taken the "Oath of Allegiance" and desired to be "transported to New England", dated 22 June 1632. William Wadsworth is found, again, at the top, on the list of 123 passengers on the ship Lion, who arrived in Boston HarborBoston Harbor
Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, and is located adjacent to the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the northeast.-History:...
, Massachusetts Colony on Sunday, September 16, 1632. He states his wife and three children are with him. Soon after his arrival to Boston he moved to “Newtowne” now Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
. He was made a Freeman
Freeman (Colonial)
Freeman is a term which originated in 12th century Europe and is common as an English or American Colonial expression in Puritan times. In the Bay Colony, a man had to be a member of the Church to be a freeman. In Colonial Plymouth, a man did not need to be a member of the Church, but he had to be...
of this town on 2 November 1632. He built his home on the west side of Holyoke Street near Harvard Square
Harvard Square
Harvard Square is a large triangular area in the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street, and John F. Kennedy Street. It is the historic center of Cambridge...
. He was chosen to be on the Board of Selectmen for Newtowne
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, and held this position from 1634 to 1635.
To Hartford
William Wadsworth was one of the original Founders of Hartford, ConnecticutFounders of Hartford, Connecticut
Here are the 163 men and women listed in the Book of Distribution of Land as being those who settled in Hartford, Connecticut before February 1640. Their names are on a monument in Hartford's Ancient Burying Ground....
. In 1635 Rev. Thomas Hooker
Thomas Hooker
Thomas Hooker was a prominent Puritan colonial leader, who founded the Colony of Connecticut after dissenting with Puritan leaders in Massachusetts...
and his followers from Chelmsford, England had arrived to Newtowne and soon, after dissenting with Puritan leaders in Massachusetts, made up their minds, in council, to move westward. In June 1636, William moved with his family and others of the congregation to a settlement they named Hartford
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
. He was an original proprietor of the town. His home-lot, in 1639, was on the west side of the map from Seth Grant's to Sentinel Hill, extending along what is now the south side of Asylum St., from Trumbull St. to Ford St.
At Hartford, William was active in the community and held prominent public office positions throughout his life. William was chosen "Townsman" of Hartford in 1642, 1655, 1661, and again in 1673; he was also chosen Constable in 1651; he was the town’s List and Rate Maker in 1668; he was elected Deputy Constable nearly every session between October 1656 and May 1675 [probably due to age and failing health]. William died in 1675. His will was dated 16 June 1675 and it was inventoried on 18 October 1675 at a value of £1677. 13. 9. (approx. $300,000 US).
Family
William Wadsworth married 1st) Sarah Talcott (1600 - 24 Oct 1643) of Braintree, EssexBraintree, Essex
Braintree is a town of about 42,000 people and the principal settlement of the Braintree district of Essex in the East of England. It is northeast of Chelmsford and west of Colchester on the River Blackwater, A120 road and a branch of the Great Eastern Main Line.Braintree has grown contiguous...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and had the following children:
Sarah Wadsworth (1626 - 04 Oct 1648) m. John Wilkock, Jr. on 17 Sep 1646
William Wadsworth (1628 – d. young)
John Wadsworth, Hon. (1630 - 06 Nov 1689) m. Sarah Stanley on 14 Apr 1652
Mary Wadsworth (1632 – 1685) m. Thomas Stoughton in 1656
William married 2nd) Elizabeth Stone (2 October 1621 – 1682) on 2 July 1644 at Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
and had the following children:
Elizabeth Wadsworth (17 May 1645 - 12 Mar 1715) m. John Terry on 27 Nov 1662
Samuel Wadsworth (20 Oct 1646 – Aug 1682) unmarried
Joseph Wadsworth, Capt. (1647 – 1729) m. Elizabeth Barnard
Sarah Wadsworth (17 Mar 1649 - ) m. Jonathan Ashley
Thomas Wadsworth (1651 – Sep 1687) m. Elizabeth
Rebecca Wadsworth (1653 - )
Some of William Wadsworth's Notable Descendants
The following persons are the descendants of William's sons Hon. John Wadsworth or his half brother Capt. Joseph Wadsworth of Charter Oak
Charter Oak
The Charter Oak was an unusually large white oak tree growing, from around the 12th or 13th century until 1856, on what the English colonists named Wyllys Hyll, in Hartford, Connecticut, USA...
fame.
- Daniel WadsworthDaniel WadsworthDaniel Wadsworth of Hartford, Connecticut, was a traveler, amateur artist and architect, and arts patron. He is most remembered as the founder of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art....
(1771 – 1848) - Decius WadsworthDecius WadsworthWadsworth's cipher was a cipher invented by Decius Wadsworth, a Colonel in the Ordnance Corps of the United States Army. In 1817, he developed a progressive cipher system based on a 1790 design by Thomas Jefferson, establishing a method that was continuously improved upon and used until the end of...
(1768 - 1821) - Elijah WadsworthElijah WadsworthElijah Wadsworth was a Captain in the American Revolutionary War and a Major General in the War of 1812...
(1747 - 1817) - Frederick WadsworthFrederick WadsworthFrederick K. Wadsworth was an Ohio militia officer, businessman, banker, and politician.-Family:...
(1786 - 1869) - George WadsworthGeorge Wadsworth (diplomat)George Wadsworth II was a United States diplomat, specializing in the Middle East.Wadsworth was born in Buffalo, New York and received a degree in chemical engineering from Union College in Schenectady, New York...
(1893 – 1958) - James WadsworthJames Wadsworth (of Geneseo)James Wadsworth was an influential and prominent 18th and 19th century pioneer, educator, land speculator, agriculturalist, businessman, and community leader of the early Genesee Valley settlements in Western New York State...
(1768 - 1844) - James WadsworthJames WadsworthJames Wadsworth was an American lawyer from Durham, Connecticut. Initially a brigadier general of the Connecticut militia during the Revolutionary War, after the death of David Wooster in 1777 he became the major general of militia and the second-highest ranked militia officer in the state...
(1730 – 1816) - James S. WadsworthJames S. WadsworthJames Samuel Wadsworth was a philanthropist, politician, and a Union general in the American Civil War. He was killed in battle during the Battle of the Wilderness of 1864.-Early years:...
(1807 – 1864) - James WadsworthJames Wadsworth (mayor)James Wadsworth was Mayor of the City of Buffalo, New York, serving 1851–1852. He was born in Durham, Connecticut on August 25, 1819. He graduated from Yale College in the class of 1841 and came to Buffalo the same year. He then moved to New Haven, Connecticut and for two years studied...
(1819 - 1891) - James Wolcott WadsworthJames Wolcott WadsworthJames Wolcott Wadsworth was an American farmer, soldier and statesman.-Life:...
(1846 – 1926) - James Wolcott Wadsworth Jr.James Wolcott Wadsworth Jr.James Wolcott Wadsworth Jr. was a U.S. Republican politician from New York. He was the son of New York State Comptroller James Wolcott Wadsworth, Sr., and the grandson of Union General James Samuel Wadsworth, Sr.-Biography:...
(1877 – 1952) - James Jeremiah WadsworthJames Jeremiah WadsworthJames Jeremiah "Jerry" Wadsworth was a U.S. diplomat. A member of the prominent Genesee Valley Wadsworths, he was a direct descendant of pioneer William Wadsworth, a founder of Hartford, Connecticut....
(1905 – 1984) - Jeremiah WadsworthJeremiah WadsworthJeremiah Wadsworth was an American sea captain, merchant, and statesman from Hartford, Connecticut who profited from his position as a government official charged with supplying the Continental Army...
(1743 – 1804) - Martha Wadsworth BrewsterMartha Wadsworth BrewsterMartha Wadsworth Brewster was an 18th-century American poet and writer. She is one of only four colonial women who published volumes of their verse before the American Revolution and was the first American-born woman to publish under her own name.-Early life:She was born on April 1, 1710 in...
(1710 - 1757) - William Wadsworth (1765 - 1833)