Notes for Samuel Wilbore

Samuel Wilbore and wife Ann, came to America before 1 December, 1633 and lived in Boston. May have come 4 September, 1633 on ship "Griffin" He was a merchant, had a ship, probably sold cloth and lumber and was in the wool business.

He and 6 men under him guarded the gate at Roxbury. He sold his home on what is now Washington St. to Samuel Sherman. In 1634, he and William Blackstene bought "Boston Commons" and gave it to the town. Made "Freeman" 4 March 1633/4 . He was banished from Boston 30 August 1637, and disarmed 20 November 1637 and went to Portsmouth, R.I. because of his association with a religious group lead by Anne Hutchinson John Wheelwright and possibly Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson was the unauthorized Puritan preacher of a dissident church discussion group.

Rhode Island had become a haven for persecuted religious sects. These people, called Antinomians, believed that the moral laws as taught by the Church of England were of no value and that the only law that should be followed was that of the Gospel. Quakers, who eventually merged with the Antinomians, established a meeting house on Aquidneck in 1657.
11 January 1638/9 he was constable at Portsmouth. He owned land at Nt. Wolliston (now Quincy). With Ralph Earle he built a planing mill at Portsmouth,1640. By 1645 was back in Boston, though he kept his Portsmouth and Taunton land, and lived on Mill Street. He was wealthy and gave to the 1st free school in America. The early spelling was "Welleboro", a Norman name. In 1626 he was a "juror" in Sible Hedington, Essex, England.

From: familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/p/e/t/Daniel-D-Peterson/GENE1-0034.html From Who's Who in American History, Hist. Vol. 1607-1896 Marquis, p. 651:
Wilbur, Samuel, Mcht, colonist; b. Eng, circa. 1585; m. Ann, m2d, Elizabeth Lechford; at least four childdren. Came to Am, circa. 1633, settled in Boston; a purchaser of Boston Common, 1634; banished for his part in Antinomian controversy, 1637; went to R.I.; a purchaser Aquidneck Island, (now island of R.I.) from Narragansett Indians; a signer of Portsmouth Compact which organized govt. of Colony of R.I.; returned to Mass. 1645, found colony on brink of war with Narragansetts, apptd. a messenger to return Indian's peace presents, succeeded in preventing war. Died Boston, July 29, 1656.

From The National Cyclopadia of American Biography p. 384
Wilbur, (or Wildbore) Samuel, colonist of unknown origin and parentage, first appeared in Boston, Mass. in 1633. With his wife Ann he was admitted into the first church at Boston, Dec. 1, 1633. In 1634 he became a freeman of Boston and assessor of taxes. Soon after he bought lands in Taunton, Mass and while living there he embraced "the doctrines of Cotton and Wheelwright and Mrs. Ann Hutchinson." On Nov. 20, 1637, he and fifty-six others were disarmed in Boston and given license to depart from the Colony of Massachusetts Bay. With eighteen others, their wives and children, including Mrs. Hutchinson, he fled to Providence and by the advice of Roger Williams purchased from the Indians the island of Aquidneck or Rhode Island. They soon after established on the upper end of the island the town of Portsmouth after having signed what is known as the Portsmouth covenant, as follows, "The seventh day of the first month (March) 1638, we, whose names are underwritten, do here solemnly in the presence of Jehovah, incorporate ourselves into a bodie Politic, and as He shall help ____ will submit our persons, lives, and estates unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and to all those perfect and most absolute laws of his given us in his holy word of truth, to be guided and judge hereby. Exod. 24, 3-4; 2 Chron. 11, 3: 2 Kings, 11, 17. William Coddingham, John Clarke, William Hutchinson, John Coggeshall, William Aspinwall, Samuel Wilbore, John Porter, Edward Hutchinson, Jun, John Sanford, Thomas Savage, William Dyre, William Freeborne, Philip Shearman, John Walker, Richard Carder, William Baulstone, Edward Hutchinson, Sen, Henry Bull, his mark, Randall Holden." Wilbur was one of those excluded from the Massachusetts colony by act of the assembly passed May 12, 1638. After establishing his sons, Samuel and William, upon Rhode Island he returned to Boston toward the close of his life but made his home in both Boston and Taunton, where he had houses, being a man of wealth for that time. He, with Ralph Russell and others, built the third iron furnace on the continent in Taunton, now Raynham, Mass. known as the Taunton forge and put into operation in 1656. Its site is on the main road from Titcut to Taunton and it was in operation during the nineteenth century. This iron business was cared for by his sons, Joseph and Shadrack. In the Boston records we find for 1655 that Samuel Wilbore, Sen, and his son, Samuel, are retained as freemen of Boston. On Jan. 20, 1657, Quassaquanch, Kachanaquant and Quequanquenuet, chief sachems of the Narragansetts, sold to Samuel Wilbor, John Hull of Boston, goldsmith, John Porter, Samuel Wilson, and Thomas Mumford, a large tract of land on the west side of Narragansett bay, including a considerable part ow what is now Washington county, which was known as the Pettaquamscot purchase. Samuel Wilbur's son Samuel, whose wife was Hannah, a daughter of John Porter, succeeded to his father's interests in this purchase. This company afterward bought other tracts in association with William Brenton and Benedict Arnold, both of whom became governors of Rhode Island. Samuel Wilbur was also a signer of the petition presented to Charles II by the Rhode Island colonists and his name occurs in the list of those mentioned in the charter of 1663 secured by John Clark. Samuel Wilbur was a man of enterprise and good standing. His son, Samuel, who inherited the property in Portsmouth was also frequently called to important offices. Many of his descendants became Quakers, among them Gov. Wilbur of Rhode Island and John Wilbur who was the founder of the Wilburites. He was married, first, to Ann, daughter of Thomas Bradford of Doncaster, England, and a cousin to of Gov. William Bradford; second, to Elizabeth, widow of Thomas Lechford. He died in Boston, Mass, Sept (or Nov) 29, 1656.

**Savage was wrong in making Ann Bradford the wife of Samuel Wilbore. Actually a Zacharias Wildbore was the husband of the Ann Wildbore mentioned in the will of Thomas Bradford.

Wilbur, Samuel (c. 1585-July 29, 1656), Rhode Island merchant and colonist, whose name is also spelled Wilbor and Wildbore, was born in England and came to America some time before 1633. The first known fact about him is that with his wife Anne he joined the First Church of Boston, Oct. 1, 1633. He turned to trade and soon became a person of considerable importance. He owned a parcel of land near the present site of the city of Revere, another near the Roxbury boundary, a house and lot on Essex Street in Boston, and still another house on Milk Street. His interest in public affairs is evinced by the fact that he was one of the small circle of men who bought the Common for Boston from William Blackstone in 1634. A year later he contributed 10L for the first Massachusetts free school. In1637 he became involved in the Antinomian controversy and was banished for having been "seduced and led into dangerous errors." Accordingly he turned south to the more liberal colony of Rhode Island. He was one of the eighteen purchasers of the Island of Aquidneck (now the island of Rhode Island) from the Narragansett Indians, and a few months later established there his wife and four sons. He was one of the signers of the Portsmouth Compact, which organized the infant government; he farmed the lands granted to him; he built and managed the only planing mill in the community. He was chosen clerk of one of the train bands, and subsequently served as sergeant and constable. In 1645 he returned to Massachusetts to find the colony about to declare war on the Narragansetts, whose feud with the Mohegans of Connecticut was endangering the security of New England. Three messengers were therefore appointed to give back to the Indians the presents they had recently offered as promises of peace. Wilbur was one of those chosen for this critical task, which successfully frightened the Indians into submission. His last years proved to be more tranquil. After the death of his wife, he married Elizabeth Lechford, widow of Thomas Lechford, who had been Boston's only trained lawyer. Settling in Taunton, Mass. Wilbur devoted himself to his commercial interests and identified himself with the life of the town. He died in Boston, leaving a comfortable inheritance for his sons. He was one of that courageous early group of settlers who by successfully meeting the many problems of frontier life in the seventeenth century founded American civilization in the wilderness.

See Also:
Wilbore/Wilbur Page at
KJ Whyte's genealogy pages
Notes at the GardLine Web Site
The Wilbour Family
Ancestors of Daniel Dean Peterson

Lineage:

  1 Samuel Shadrack WILBORE (b. 6 SEP 1594 Sible Hedergton, Essex, Eng.;
                   m. 1620 Sible Hedingham, Eng.;d. 24 JUL 1656 Boston, MA)
.  +Ann Smith (b. 13 JAN 1597/98  S England; d. 24 SEP 1656 Rhode Island )
.  2 Shadrack WILBORE (b. 16 SEP 1631      at: Christenes Sible Hedington, Essex, Eng.;
                   m. 13 JUN 1662 Sible Hedington, Essex, Eng.; d. 16 FEB 1696/97 Taunton, MA)
..  +Mary Dean (b. bef 1640)
..  3 Rebecca WILBORE (b. 13 JAN 1664/65;
                   m. 28 AUG 1684 Taunton, MA;d. 30 AUG 1727 Berkley, MA)
...  +Abraham HATHAWAY
...  4 Benjamin HATHAWAY (b. 1699 Taunton, Bristol, MA; d. 21 Apr 1762 Morristown, NJ)
....  5 Benjamin HATHAWAY Jr. (b. Abt 1728 Hanover, Morris, NJ; d.Aft 1797, Morris, NJ)
....   +Mary FAIRCHILD (b. ABT. 1725 Morristown,  NJ;
                  m. 12 NOV 1746 Morristown, NJ;d. 18 MAR 1750/51 Morristown, NJ)
.....  6 Sarah HATHAWAY (1748 Of Morristown, NJ; d. 1810); d. 1800-1810 Uniontown, Fayette Co., PA)
......  +Jacob Gard   (b. 1750  Morristown, NJ; d. 1815, Fayette, PA)
......  7 Noah Gard (b. ABT. 1774 Morris Co., NJ; d. 18 SEP 1838 Preble Co., OH)
.......  8 Mahala Gard (b. 17 Dec 1803 Fayette Co., PA; d. (AFTER 1887)Lake Cty, CA)
........  9 Charles Gard (b. 1824, Dixon, OH; d. 1876, Morgan Valley, CA)
......... 10 Susan Francis Fanny GARD (b. 7 MAR 1867;
                          m. 28 Dec 1884 Kelseyville, CA;d. 2 Dec 1939 Finley, CA)
..........  +Benton THOMAS
..........  11  Delwin Lewis Thomas (b. 16 May 1886, Kelseyville, CA; d. 17 Apr 1940, San Francisco; buried Kelseyville))
..........  11  Alta Eugenia Thomas (b. 28 Jun 1887, Kelseyville; d. 19 Jan 1962, Saratoga, CA)
..........  11  Clara Edna Thomas (b. 11 May 1889, Kelseyville, CA; d. 19 Oct 1966, Davis, CA)
..........  11  Crystal Frances Thomas (b. 29 Mar 1891, Kelseyville; d. 5 Jun 1977, San Jose, CA)
..........  11  Verna Vivian Thomas (b. 27 Apr 1894, Kelseyville; d. 6 Feb 1981, Kelseyville)
..  +Elizabeth Lechford Samuel's 2nd wife.  Widow of Thomas Lechford only lawyer in Boston at the time.

 

Colonial Massachusetts