Symmes, William (b. 7 APR 1559)

Note: The Reverend William Symmes attended Cambridge, matriculating as a pemnsioner at Clare College in 1577. he received his B.A. degree in 1580/81, his M.A. in 1584, and his B.D. in 1591.

He was ordained a deacon and priest at Peterborough on Mar 5, 1586/7. He obtained a living at Canterbury, where he was from.

Cotton Mather, in discussing William's son Zechariah, quotes something William Symmes wrote on a leaf of book that had been given him by another minister. "I note is as a special mercy of God that both my father and mother were favourers of the Gospel, and hated idolatry, under Queen Mary's persecution. I came to this book by this means: going to Sandwich in Kent, to preach the first or second years after I was ordained minister, Anno 1587, or 88, and preaching in Saint Mary's where mr. Pawson, and ancient godly preacher, was minister, who knew my parents well and me too at school, he, after I had finished my sermons, came and brought me this book for a present, acquainting me with the above mentioned circumstances. I charge my sons Zachariah and William, before Him, that shall judge the quick and the dead, that you never defile your selves with any idolatry or superstition whatsoever, but learn your religion out of God's holy word, and worship God as he himself hath prescribed, and not after the devices and traditions of men. Scripsi Dec. 6, 1602."

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Threfall
Title: John Brooks Threlfall, Twenty-Six Great Migration Colonists to New Engl
and & Their Origins (Madison, Wisconsin: n.p., 1993.)
and & Their Origins
and & Their Origins. Madison, Wisconsin: n.p., 1993.

Page: pp. 289-307.

Baptism: 7 APR 1559 St. George's Church, Canterbury, Kent

Given Name: William

Change: Date: 9 Feb 2003

Note: Henry Chickering was a yeoman farmer and lived in Bramfield, Suffolk, from 1588 to 1595. He was living in Ringsfield, Suffolk, when he made his will, dated Jul 11 1626.

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Boyer
Title: Carl Boyer, Ancestral Lines (by the Author, 1998, 3rd Edition)

Page: p. 213

Given Name: Henry

Death: BEF 7 JUL 1627

Change: Date: 9 Feb 2003

Note: Mary Chickering came to America in 1637, ten years after her husband's death, with her sons Henry and Francis. As Henry was born in 1588/9 and was the second oldest child, Mary Chickering must have been very learly a hundred years old when she died in 1668.

Given Name: Mary

Death: 27 JAN 1668/69 Dedham, Massachusetts

Change: Date: 9 Feb 2003

Note: John Fiske was a minor landowner in Suffolk.

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Boyer
Title: Carl Boyer, Ancestral Lines (by the Author, 1998, 3rd Edition)

Page: p. 254

Given Name: John

Death: BEF 14 MAY 1633

Change: Date: 9 Feb 2003

Given Name: Anne

Change: Date: 9 Feb 2003

Note: William Mullins was probably born near Dorking, in Surrey. He was a shoemaker, at least judging by the contents of his estate, for he disposed in his will of twenty-one dozen shoes and thirteen pairs of boots that he had shipped to "Virginia." He was prosperous enough that his will was probated at the Perogative Court of Cantebury rather than in a local court. He was referred to as "Mr." in Goverenor William Bradford's accounts of Plymouth, which would indicate tyat he was considered a gentleman.

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Anderson
Title: Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New E
ngland 1620-1633 (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historical and Gen
ealogical Society, 1995)
ngland 1620-1633
ngland 1620-1633. Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historical and Gen
ealogical Society, 1995.

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Ancestors of American Presidents
Title: Compiled by Gary Boyd Roberts, Ancestors of American Presidents (Santa C
larita, California: C. Boyer 3rd, in cooperation with the New England H
istoric Genealogical Society, 1995.)
larita, California: C. Boyer 3rd, in cooperation with the New England H
istoric Genealogical Society, 1995.

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Alden
Title: Woodworth-Barnes, Esther Littleford, Mayflower Families Through Five Ge
nerations: Descendants of the Pilgrims Who Landed at Plymouth, Mass., D
ecember 1620.
Vol 16, Part 1: Family of John Alden (New York: General Society of Mayf
lower Descendants, 1999)
nerations: Descendants of the Pilgrims Who Landed at Plymouth, Mass., D
ecember 1620.
Vol 16, Part 1: Family of John Alden
nerations: Descendants of the Pilgrims Who Landed at Plymouth, Mass., D
ecember 1620.
Vol 16, Part 1: Family of John Alden. New York: General Society of Mayf
lower Descendants, 1999.

Given Name: William

Death: 21 FEB 1620/21 Plymouth, Massachusetts

Change: Date: 9 Feb 2003

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Anderson
Title: Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New E
ngland 1620-1633 (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historical and Gen
ealogical Society, 1995)
ngland 1620-1633
ngland 1620-1633. Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historical and Gen
ealogical Society, 1995.

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Ancestors of American Presidents
Title: Compiled by Gary Boyd Roberts, Ancestors of American Presidents (Santa C
larita, California: C. Boyer 3rd, in cooperation with the New England H
istoric Genealogical Society, 1995.)
larita, California: C. Boyer 3rd, in cooperation with the New England H
istoric Genealogical Society, 1995.

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Alden
Title: Woodworth-Barnes, Esther Littleford, Mayflower Families Through Five Ge
nerations: Descendants of the Pilgrims Who Landed at Plymouth, Mass., D
ecember 1620.
Vol 16, Part 1: Family of John Alden (New York: General Society of Mayf
lower Descendants, 1999)
nerations: Descendants of the Pilgrims Who Landed at Plymouth, Mass., D
ecember 1620.
Vol 16, Part 1: Family of John Alden
nerations: Descendants of the Pilgrims Who Landed at Plymouth, Mass., D
ecember 1620.
Vol 16, Part 1: Family of John Alden. New York: General Society of Mayf
lower Descendants, 1999.

Given Name: Alice

Death: FEB 1620/21 Plymouth, Massachusetts

Change: Date: 9 Feb 2003

Note: Only fragmentary records survive, but John Adams was evidently a tenant farmer. He left an estate of sixty-two pounds.

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Ancestors of American Presidents
Title: Compiled by Gary Boyd Roberts, Ancestors of American Presidents (Santa C
larita, California: C. Boyer 3rd, in cooperation with the New England H
istoric Genealogical Society, 1995.)
larita, California: C. Boyer 3rd, in cooperation with the New England H
istoric Genealogical Society, 1995.

Given Name: John

Death: BEF 22 MAR 1603/4 Barton St. David, Somerset

Change: Date: 9 Feb 2003

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Ancestors of American Presidents
Title: Compiled by Gary Boyd Roberts, Ancestors of American Presidents (Santa C
larita, California: C. Boyer 3rd, in cooperation with the New England H
istoric Genealogical Society, 1995.)
larita, California: C. Boyer 3rd, in cooperation with the New England H
istoric Genealogical Society, 1995.

Given Name: Agnes

Death: BEF 15 JAN 1615/16 Barton St. David, Somerset

Change: Date: 9 Feb 2003

Note: Henry Squire was living in Moorlich, Somerset, in 1580, probably apprenticed to a yeoman farmer. Later he lived in Charlton Mackrell where all his children were baptised.

He moved to Kingweston about 1613 where he was a farmer, although whether as a tenant or in possession of his own land is unknown.

He is the 6th great grandfather of President Millard Fillmore and the 8th great grandfather of President William Howard Taft. He is also ancestral to Presidents John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and Calvin Coolidge, giving him more known presidential descendants than any other person.

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Ancestors of American Presidents
Title: Compiled by Gary Boyd Roberts, Ancestors of American Presidents (Santa C
larita, California: C. Boyer 3rd, in cooperation with the New England H
istoric Genealogical Society, 1995.)
larita, California: C. Boyer 3rd, in cooperation with the New England H
istoric Genealogical Society, 1995.

Given Name: Henry

Death: BEF 1649 Kingweston, Somerset

Change: Date: 9 Feb 2003

Note: Sargeant Francis Nichols was one of the original settlers of Stratford, having arrived in Boston in 1635 and coming to Stratford in 1639. he received his military title by virtue of being authorized by the General Court to train a local militia group. It is quite likely that he had prior military experience.

His will, if it existed, has not survived and it is probable that he died intestate. The inventory of his estate had a value of 29 pounds 9 shillings.

The often-given descent of Sargeant Francis Nichols as the brother of Richard Nicholls, Deputy Governor of New York, has been long doubted and was proven false in 1993.

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Nichols
Title: Frederic C. Torrey, The Ancestors and Descendants of Humphrey Nichols o
f Newark, New Jersey, and of his Brothers and Sisters (Lakehurst, New J
ersey, n.p. 1917)
f Newark, New Jersey, and of his Brothers and Sisters
f Newark, New Jersey, and of his Brothers and Sisters. Lakehurst, New J
ersey, n.p. 1917.

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: TAG
Title: The American Genealogist

Page: Vol. 9, No. 1 (July 1932), pp. 9-12.

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: TAG
Title: The American Genealogist

Page: Vol. 68, No. 2 (1993), pp. 113-114.

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Boyer
Title: Carl Boyer, Ancestral Lines (by the Author, 1998, 3rd Edition)

Page: pp. 409-410

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: TAG
Title: The American Genealogist

Page: Vol. 75, No. 4 (October , 2000), pp. 267-271.

Baptism: 25 MAY 1575 Sedgeberrow, co. Worcester

Given Name: Francis

Death: BEF 8 JAN 1650/51 Stratford, Connecticut

Change: Date: 9 Feb 2003

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Anderson
Title: Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New E
ngland 1620-1633 (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historical and Gen
ealogical Society, 1995)
ngland 1620-1633
ngland 1620-1633. Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historical and Gen
ealogical Society, 1995.

Given Name: Christopher

Death: BEF 4 OCT 1624 South Kilworth, Leicestershire, England

Change: Date: 9 Feb 2003

Given Name: Lutterworth

Death: BEF 1606

Change: Date: 9 Feb 2003

Note: Little is known of this Henry Adams. He is referred to as a husbandman in a marriage bond and, judging from an inventory of his goods after his death, he was certainly a man of modest means. He died intestate.

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Ancestors of American Presidents
Title: Compiled by Gary Boyd Roberts, Ancestors of American Presidents (Santa C
larita, California: C. Boyer 3rd, in cooperation with the New England H
istoric Genealogical Society, 1995.)
larita, California: C. Boyer 3rd, in cooperation with the New England H
istoric Genealogical Society, 1995.

Given Name: Henry

Death: BEF 12 AUG 1596 Barton St. David, Somerset

Change: Date: 9 Feb 2003

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Ancestors of American Presidents
Title: Compiled by Gary Boyd Roberts, Ancestors of American Presidents (Santa C
larita, California: C. Boyer 3rd, in cooperation with the New England H
istoric Genealogical Society, 1995.)
larita, California: C. Boyer 3rd, in cooperation with the New England H
istoric Genealogical Society, 1995.

Given Name: Rose

Death: BEF 20 SEP 1598 Barton St. David, Somerset

Change: Date: 9 Feb 2003

Note: The Rev. William Squire was rector of Charlton Mackrell from a young age, as he is mentioned in a will dated Sep 21 1545 as "William Squyre, parson of Charlton Mackrell."

It was not an easy time to be in such a position. Henry VIII broke with Rome over his divorce from Catherine of Aragon; his daughter Queen Mary I then tried to return the country to Rome; and his daughter Queen Elizabeth I, made the break final. Glastonbury, where Christianity is popularly thought to have started in England, is only a few miles from Charlton Mackrell, and its destruction by Henry VIII and the hanging, drawing, and quartering of its last abbot must surely have made a vivid impression on a small boy thinking of the church as a career.

When Queen Mary came to the throne in 1553, she ordered that all clergy who were married must divorce and conform to the rules of celibacy. This order was obeyed, evaded, and ignored in about equal parts. In 1554, the annual ecclesiastical visitation of Charlton Mackrell recorded that "William Squyre was marryed and doth mynister ageyne, not separated."

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Ancestors of American Presidents
Title: Compiled by Gary Boyd Roberts, Ancestors of American Presidents (Santa C
larita, California: C. Boyer 3rd, in cooperation with the New England H
istoric Genealogical Society, 1995.)
larita, California: C. Boyer 3rd, in cooperation with the New England H
istoric Genealogical Society, 1995.

Given Name: William

Death: ABT 1567 Probably Charlton Mackrell, Somerset

Change: Date: 9 Feb 2003

Note: Nothing is known of this William Torrey except his name, inferred from wills left by his son, Philip, and others.

It is entirely possible that he had more children.

Given Name: William

Change: Date: 9 Feb 2003

Note: William Torrey is known only by his will, and his wife only by her being mentioned in it. It is from the internal evidence of this document that genealogists have concluded that these are the great grandparents of Captain William Torrey and the furthest back that the Torrey line can, in all probability, be traced.

Given Name: William

Death: BEF 18 JUN 1557

Change: Date: 9 Feb 2003

Given Name: Thomasyne

Change: Date: 9 Feb 2003

Given Name: Thomas

Change: Date: 9 Feb 2003