William BUCKLAND (1606 – 1683) was Alex’s 11th Great Grandfather, one of 4,096 in this generation of the Shaw line.

William Buckland was christened 23 Nov 1606 in Branscombe, Devon, England. His parents were John BUCKLIN and Katherine KERSLAK.  He married Mary BOSWORTH in 1632 in England.

Saint Winifred’s Church is a Church of England church in Branscombe in Devon, England. The church is dedicated to Saint Winifred, a Welsh saint. It is among the oldest and most architecturally significant parish churches of Devon. It probably dates back as far as about 995, but extant records on the vicars only go back to the thirteenth century.

There is some archaeological evidence to suggest an earlier Saxon church may have occupied the site.[citation needed] The building has a traditional west-east alignment. It is built on a levelled area that can not be seen from the coast. The choice of location may have been for protection of the original Saxon church from Viking raiders. Alternatively, the church may have been placed on an earlier pre-Christian holy site. Occupying such a pagan site would have allowed the Church to both challenge paganism and benefit from any positive religious feelings associated with the site.

The church building is partly Norman and partly later medieval. The tower is central and the transepts which are later stand unusually to the west of the tower. The nave is Norman, the transepts perhaps mid 13th century. The chancel is probably 14th century, though the east window was replaced in the time of Bishop Neville (1458–64). Interesting features include the font which is 15th century and the pulpit which is a three-decker pulpit and as such almost unique in Devon. Other woodwork includes the Jacobean screen and west gallery and the altar rails of ca. 1700.

William emigrated to Hingham Mass in 1634 with his father-in-law’s family  “Edward Bosworth, who with his wife Mary….had with them their sons…a daughter Mary, and her husband William Buckland….  They sailed on the shipElizabeth Dorcas, which was detained at Gravesend, Eng., from 22 Feb 1634, until early spring, while it was ascertained that all passengers had secured the necessary paper work for immigration. The ship had many deaths, both among the passengers and animals. One of those who survived the trip was Edward, but he died in Boston Harbor on arrival.” William died 1 Sep 1683 in Rehoboth, Mass

Mary Bosworth was born 1611/1617 Market Bosworth, Leicester, England .  Her parents were Edward BOSWORTH and Mary [__?__].  Mary died in 29 Jul 1687 in Rehoboth.

Children of William and Mary:

	Name	Born	Married	Departed
1.	Lydia BUCKLAND	c. 1632 England	John BROWN 5 Nov 1659 Rehoboth, Mass . William Lord 3 Jun 1664 Conn. . Thomas Dunk Aft 1678 . Abraham Post	Saybrook, Middlesex, CT.
2.	Joseph Buckland	26 JUN 1633 England	Deborah Allen (grand daughter of George ALLEN) 5 Nov 1659 Rehoboth	28 MAR 1718 Rehoboth
3.	Benjamin Buckland	ca. 1640 Hingham, Mass.	Rachel Wheatland (or Wheatley) Rehoboth	Killed at Nine Men’s Misery 26 MAR 1676 Hingham, Mass
4.	John Buckland	ca. 1642 Mass.	Deborah [__?__]	20 Jun 1677
5.	William Buckland	ca. 1644	Elizabeth [__?__]	13 May 1691 Windsor, CT

William’s last name was spelled Bucklin, Bocklands, Buckline and Buckland

Holmes, in his Directory of Ancestral Heads of New England Families (xxxv) says that William Buckland came from Weymouth, England. Pope says the Bosworth family, into which he had married, was probably from Conventry. (Boston Transcript, 24 October 1923.) Much of the early history of many of these first trail-blazers seems veiled in impenetrable obscurity, and we are only left to conjecture what it may have been.

7 July 1635 – The court ordered that William Buckland should together with the three sons of Edward Bosworth, pay to Henry Sewall the sum of £20 advanced by the latter to pay the expenses of the Bosworth family on the voyage to America

1635 Land Obtained in Hingham, MA.

“Wm. Buckland had land granted to him as follows: 4 acres …Wearyall Hill; a house lot of 5 acres near present …West Hingham; 2 acres at Great Plain; 2 acres at Layford… Meadow; and 3/4 acres of salt meadow at Cohasset. He also owned 1 lot at Broad Cove.”

ca. 1643, Rehoboth, MA. The land of William referred to in the following two items, below, was immediately north of the original 1643 purchase of the Rev. Samuel Newman‘s congregation, when they they moved from Weymouth MA to Rehoboth. William’s purchase most likely was before the arrival of Rev. Newman’s congregation, because from the start of Rehoboth there was discussion on exactly where was the boundary between the Newman group and Bucklin’s land; Bucklin was recognized as having a prior right to the land which blocked the Newman group from immediate and easy access to the Seconk River, and that Bucklin had the right to the land at the falls..

“At the same time the way to William Bocklands house is agreed on by those partyes which it doth conform.”

In 1650 and afterwards, he owned land at Broad Cove, near Hingham (Hingham Genealogies, Lincoln, 2:96.)

In 1652 William Buckland’s name is recorded in connection with the inventory of an estate in Hingham, but it is likely that he removed within a few years thereafter to Rehoboth, where on 19 May 1656 he was chosen “grandjuryman.”

1656 – Old Proprietary Records of Rehoboth,  show that at the town meeting Bucklin formally recorded his land as being:

“600 acres of land wch John Hasels wch I bought of Edward Smith bounded on Pawtucket River on the west & unto a Run yours truly, somes from the cedar swamp on the east upon the south with lands yours truly, was John Reads and upon the north the common as we go to Mr. Blaxtons.”

22 Feb 1657/58, Freeman of Rehoboth

3 Jun 1656, Rehoboth, MA – Appointed Grand Juryman.

It is recorded there, that on 17 Mar 1657 he was engaged “to enlarge the meeting house the bredth of 3 seats throughout & to find boards,” etc. From this entry we gather he was a carpenter, though the contract seem to have been canceled, indicated by lines drawn through the record

The following year he is listed among those who had taken the “oath of Fidelitie” in Rehoboth , and in a drawing of lots in the north meadow there on 22 June 1658, he drew number 46. On the Old Proprietary Records of Rehoboth (Book 2:81) is listed the land which he owned in that locality, totaling well over seven hundred acres.

3 Jun 1657, Rehoboth, MA – Appointed Constable

1 Sep 1659 – He signed  a contract by which he conveys considerable property to his son Joseph, then purposing to enter into a marriage contract with “Deborah Allin of the same plantation.” (Plymouth Colony Records 2: 2: 66.) In 6164, on 18 April, he makes a liberal conveyance of land and possessions to his “son Benjamine,” which document was “Signed sealed and delivered in the presence of William Lord, Lydia Browne.” (Ibid. 3:117.)

22 Jun 1658, Rehoboth, MA. – At a town meeting lawfully warned, lots were drawn for the meadows that lie on the north side of the town, in order as followeth….46. Will. Bucklin….”

30 Jan 1658/59, Rehoboth, MA – Newman Church. “enlarge the meeting-house the breadth of three seats throughout, to find boards and to finish it complete and answerable to the rest, with seats, the town finding nails.”

09 Dec 1659, Rehoboth, MA – Shingle Newman Church.

“It was agreed upon that the town of Rehoboth and Lieutenant Hunt and William Bucklin that the said Lieutenant Hunt and William Bucklin is to shingle the new end of the meeting-house, and to be done as sufficiently as the new end of Goodman Payne’s house; and they are to furnish nails, and to be done my May-day next ensuing, provided that the frame be ready in season; in consideration whereof they are to have L8 to be paid in good, merchantable wampum, when their work is done.”

25 May 1661, Hingham, MA. – “He sold land in Hingham

18 Apr 1666, – Boundary Negotiations Bucklin North Boundary Rehoboth, MA – Fence Erected.  , Disputes about the exact line of the North Purchase and Bucklin’s land lead to a committee chosen to decide and “there shall be a three railed fence set up and maintained, between the late purchased land on the north side of the towne, ..from Goodman Buckland’s lands to the Mill river….”

26 May 1668, Attleboro, MA. – William drew lot 58; his son Joseph participated and drew lot 74; and William’s son Benjamin drew lot 17.

20 Feb 1671/72, Rehoboth, MA., “lots for the Second devision”. William had lot 20; Joseph 9; Benjamin 45.

10 Mar 1673/74, Rehoboth, MA. The common lands of Rehoboth were leased out to various persons, including the Bucklins. William and Joseph and Benjamin were paying substantial amounts for the fencing of the lands of which they had the lease use. The number of rods (feet) of fencing they were to provide indicates they were the largest landowners or husbandmen involved in the Commons.

1676 – Contributed for  King Phillip’s War.

20 Feb 1677/78, Wachmoket Neck. –  William Buckland of the town of Rehoboth government of New Plymouth in New England, deeds to Jonathan Bosworth, Senior of Rehoboth, a lot of upland in Wachamoket Neck…twelve acres.

22 Oct 1680, Rehoboth, MA -Bucklin’s south land boundaries and that of the original Newman group was still in dispute . On this date a committee of six distinguished men were appointed to personally do the survey . At the same time this committee was given power to agree with the Bucklins for a highway to be used by the cattle of the rest of the town residents to go down to the salt river area

Land was laid out to William Bucklen, and a Comitte was Impowered by the Town to agree with Buicklens Respectting a highway to the Sal water for the Cattle to go to Drink. [copied form Proprietors of Rehoboth–Meetings, at Taunton.].

9 Apr 1680, Rehoboth, MA. –  Again, William and his son Joseph participate in the lots drawn for the division of new lands.

“October ye 22d 1680 Land was laid out to William Bucklen, and a Comitte was Impowered by the Town to agree with Bucklens Respecting a highway to the Salt water for the Cattle to go to Drink — Proprietors of Rehoboth Meetings, at Taunton.

Other records are frequent showing his hand in various transactions not only in Rehoboth, but in Attleboro (Original Records of the Town of Attleboro ,1) and in New Bristol, at which latter place he witnessed a deed 1 May 1682. (Bosworth Genealogy, Clarke, Part I; 58.) This disproves the statement made by Savage (Genealogical Dictionary 1:285) and others, that he died and was buried 1 Sep 1679. Mrs. Mary Bosworth Clarke, in Bosworth Genealogy (part I; 59), points out that the error was made through some undated records in Rehoboth. An entry in the records of the meetings of the proprietors of Rehoboth, at Taunton, also shows he was living after this date.

1684 – Plymouth, MA. Bond of 100 pounds given by Joseph Bucklin to administer estate of William Buckland, of Rehoboth, late deceased, given 28th of Oct 1684.

He seems to have lived in East Hartford for a brief period at some time, his residence there, according to some writers (Massachusetts Genealogies, Cutter and Adams, 3: 1998), being on the present site of the Buckland homestead on Meadow Hill, at the corner of Mill and Prosp0ect streets. Under the east front room was a secret cellar, entered by a trap door from above; its common cellar was on the west side.” Mrs. Clarke, compilerk of Bosworth Genealgoy (part I;51) says: “There was a William Buckland in Boston in 1631, but I cannot find that he had any connections with this one, whom I believe came to this country in 1634, as stated. The former may have been the one, or related to the one, whom Savage says went to Hartford, Connectyicut, and died there 13 May 1691.” Mrs. Clarke does not include a son William among the children of our immigrant, although the writer of New England Genealogies (Cutter, 3:1304) does, identifying him as the one mentioned whose death occurred in May, 1691, and states that his wife was Elizabeth Hills. Two genealogists in tracing this line have come to the conclusion that the male line of Thomas Buckland, an early settler of Hartford and who is thought to have been a brother of William, died out, and that the later members of the Buckland family in Windsor were descendants of William, the early settler of Hingham. (Ibid. 3:1304.)

William Buckland’s name is on a list of those who gave money for the Colonists in King Philip’s War.  The money cost was sestimated at one million dollars, and most of the settlements contributed portions to that expense.

William Buckland died in Rehoboth, and was there buried 1 September 1683, his wife following him on 29 July 1687. In November 1684 Joseph Buckland was granted rights of administration on his father’s estate, he giving bond in the sum of £100 for the just discharge of his responsibility.

Children

1. Lydia BUCKLAND (See John BROWN‘s page)

2. Joseph Buckland

Joseph’s wife Deborah Allen was born 10 Nov 1645 in Hingham, Plymouth, Mass.  Her parents were John Allen and Christian [__?__]. Her grandparents were George ALLEN and Katherine WATTS. Deborah died 26 Mar 1718 in Rehoboth, Bristol, Mas

3. Benjamin Buckland

Benjamin’s wife Rachel Wheatland (or Wheatley) was born 1643 in Hull, Plymouth, Mass. Her parents were John Wheatley and Leah Sanders. Rachel died 20 Sep 1713 in Hull, Plymouth, Mass

The Buckland family not only gave money, but the son Benjamin, with eight other pioneers, was slain on 26 March 1676 in Pierce’s fight with the Indians, at a place afterwards called “Nine Men’s Misery.

Benjamin died at Nine Men’s Misery.  On March 26, 1676 during King Philip’s War, Captain Michael Pierce led approximately 60 Plymouth Colony colonial troops and 20 Wampanoag Christian Indians in pursuit of Narragansett Indians who had burned several Rhode Island towns and attacked Plymouth, Mass. as part of King Philip’s War. Pierce’s troops caught up with the Narragansett Indians, Wampanoag, Nashaway, Nipmuck, Podunk but were ambushed in what is now Central Falls, Rhode Island. Pierce’s troops fought the Narragansetts for several hours, but were surrounded by a larger force of Narragansetts. The battle was one of the biggest defeats of colonial troops during King Philip’s War with nearly all killed in the battle, including Captain Pierce and the Christian Indians (“Praying Indians“) (exact numbers vary by account somewhat). The Narragansetts lost only a handful of warriors.

Nine of the colonists who were among the dead were first taken prisoner (along with a tenth man who survived). These men were purportedly tortured to death by the Narragansetts at a site in Cumberland, Rhode Island, currently on the Cumberland Monastery and Library property. The nine dead colonists were buried by English soldiers who found the corpses and buried them in 1676. The soldiers created a pile of stones to memorialize the colonists. This pile is believed to be the oldest veterans’ memorial in the United States, and a cairn of stones has continuously marked the site since 1676.

The “Nine Men’s Misery” site was disturbed in 1790 by medical students led by one Dr. Bowen looking for the body of one of the dead colonists, Benjamin Bucklin, who was said to be unusually large with a double row of teeth. They were stopped by outraged locals. The site was desecrated several more times until 1928 when the monks who then owned the cemetery cemented the  stone cairn above the site. The cairn and site can still be visited on the Monastery grounds.

Pierce’s Fight was followed by the burning of Providence three days later, and then the capture and execution of Canonchet, the chief sachem of the Narragansetts. The war was winding down even at the time that Pierce’s party was destroyed, and in August, King Philip himself was killed.  Our ancestors John LOW and John Millard  son of John MILLARD also died in the battle.

The site is located on the grounds of the former Trappist monastery of Our Lady of the Valley, now the Cumberland public library, and is an approximately 15 minute walk behind the main building on a rise in the woods.

Directions:  Follow the road to the right past the main building, you will come to a low white building on your left and at that point should see a break in the chain link fence that is on your right. There is a low metal guardrail in the break, step over and you should be on a walking path. Turn right and not far up the path will divid, take the left path, it will bring you through a field. In the field, it again branches out – take the left again and keep walking out of the field through the trees. From leaving the field to reaching the monument is about the same distance that you walked to get out of the field from the start. Coming down over a small rise, there is a path to the right that brings you to the elevated area that the monument occupies – you can see the monument from the rise when on the path.

4. John Buckland

John’s wife Deborah [__?__] was born 1646 in Melksham, Wiltshire, England

5. William Buckland

William’s wife Elizabeth [__?__]

Sources:

http://www.genealogyofnewengland.com/b_b.htm

http://www.bucklinsociety.net/Wm1_Story_docs.htm

http://www.telusplanet.net/public/jcushman/gen/buckland.html

Ancestry and Posterity of Joseph Smith and Emma Hale, (Anderson 1928) pp 496

http://trees.ancestry.com/owt/person.aspx?pid=31501805