John TITUS (1627 – 1689) was Alex’s 10th Grandfather; one of 2,048 in this generation of the Shaw line.

John Titus was baptized 18 Dec 1627 at St. Katherine’ s Parish, near Stanstead Abbotts, Hertfordshire, England, thirty miles from London.  His parents were Robert TITUS and Hannah CARTER.   He emigrated with his parents and younger brother Edmund on the Hopewell, which departed London for Massachusetts in April 1635.  He may have first married Rachel [__?__], but others say no.  He married Abigail CARPENTER about 1650 at Rehoboth, Mass.   John died 16 Apr 1689 at Rehoboth, Mass.

Rachel [__?__] was born 1630 in Rehoboth, Essex, Mass. Rachel died 16 Sep 1658 in Rehoboth, Bristol, Mass.

Abigail Carpenter was baptized 31 May 1629 in Shalbourne, Wiltshire, England.  Her parents were William CARPENTER and Abigail BRIANT.  She was the second eldest of four Carpenter children who accompanied their parents and paternal grandfather to Massachusetts on the Bevis in 1638.  After John died, she married as his second wife,  Jonah PALMER on 9 Nov 1692 in Rehoboth, Mass..  Abigail died 10 Mar 1710 at Rehoboth, , Mass.

Jonah Palmer was born about 1617 in England.  His parents were Walter PALMER and [__?__].  Jonah’s sister, Grace Palmer, married  our progenitor, Thomas MINER. Jonah  married his first wife Elizabeth GRISWOLD on 3 May 1655 in Rehoboth, Mass. and their daughter Hannah is also our ancestor.    Jonah died 22 Jun 1709 in Rehoboth, Mass.

Children of John and Abigail:

He was one of the original purchasers of Rehoboth, north Purchase, now Attleboro, and was an active citizen in church and State. He and his son John, Jr., were engaged in the King Philip Indian war [1675], this renowned sachem residing but a few miles distant.

There are multiple William Carpenters who marry multiple Abigails (Searles, Briant, Bennett the most common matrilineal surname variants); all of the Williams were born about 1605 in England, all of whom migrate to New England. The Rehoboth family has no known connection to the William Carpenter, Baptist founder of Providence, Rhode Island, although such a connection, even identity, is often attested to in error.

There are also multiple Abigail Carpenters, most of whom are offspring of the various William Carpenters. Often confused are the Abigail Carpenter, daughter of William Carpenter and Abigail Briant, b in England ca 1629 and chr at Shalbourne Wiltshire on 31 May 1629, and the Abigail Carpenter, one of the triplets born to William Carpenter, Jr, and Abigail [Searles?] his wife on 9 Apr 1643 at Weymouth. The Internet is replete with this confusion. However, to the discerning reader there is a glaring giveaway: the Abigail born 1643 could not physically be having children in 1650 at age seven, so her marriage has to be postdated, making the first four of her eight children born well before the marriage. [Is there any evidence in VR Rehoboth that she, along with her birth sibs Abiah and Abraham, d young? Triplets who survived in colonial times were extremely rare!] We also have the Abigail Carpenter, daughter of Joseph Carpenter and Margaret Sabin, of Swanzey ca 1660, to whom is attributed the Palmer marriage,

Whereas his parents and younger siblings eventually settled at Huntington on Long Island, NY, John remained in New England. He was one of the original settlers of Rehoboth, North Settlement, now known as Attleboro, Mass, where he took an active part in Civil and Religious afairs.

BIRTH: Amos B. Carpenter identifies Abigail as her brother Abiah’s twin, born at Wey-mouth on 9 April 1643 (see Carpenter [1898] 47). This, however, is the result of his mis-interpretation of their father’s will and of Weymouth vital records (TAG 70:200–3).

MARRIAGE: Amos Carpenter asserts (and others repeat) that Abigail married John Titus about 1659, after the death of a first wife Rachel (see Carpenter [1898] 47). There was no such woman, however. Abigail is recorded as the mother of all John2 Titus’s children, the eldest born on 18 Dec 1650 (TAG 70:198–200).

RESIDENCES: Shalbourne; Weymouth, Massachusetts (probably 1638); and Rehoboth (1644).

COMMENTS: The passenger list of the Hopewell, which departed London for Massachusetts in April 1635, describes Robert Titus as a husbandman “of St. Katherins” (Hotten 46). The absence of further information implies that St. Katherine’s was a London parish or precinct (see Hotten 50, 70). It is often said online that Robert’s son John, eventual husband of Abigail Carpenter, was baptized at St. Katherine’s, London, on 18 December 1627. There is no basis for this, however: three London churches were dedicated to St. Katherine, and documentation is not found in the records of any of them. The earliest extant baptismal records of St. Katherine Cree are bishops’ transcripts beginning in 1639. A Guildhall Library (London) archivist’s check of the relevant St. Katherine Coleman parish register (containing baptismal records between 1559 and 1659) found no Titus entry for the period searched (1 January 1625/6 to 1 January 1628/9). And from 1584 to 1695, at least, the surname Titus does not appear in the records of St. Katherine by the Tower. His father’s having been a farmer, John was probably baptized in a rural church (see below). It is likely that the Hopewell list’s mention of St. Katherine’s refers not to the Titus’s residence but to the parish or precinct from whose church Robert obtained the minister’s certificate needed for emigration (NEHGR 132:22–23; see Hotten 46, 50, 70).

It is possible (though not proved) that Robert Titus and Hannah Carter, whose 24 June 1624 marriage is recorded in the parish register of Watford, Herefordshire, are the eventual Robert and Hannah Titus of Rehoboth (NEHGR 132:22–23; Hotten 46). The confusing organization of Drake’s and Hotten’s respective transcriptions of 1635 lists of passengers embarking at London have misled some to conclude that the Titus family came from a parish near Stanstead Abbots, Herefordshire (NEGHR 132:22–23).

Repeating a Titus source, Amos Carpenter asserts that John2 Titus and his namesake son were “engaged” in King Phillip’s War (1675–1676) (see NYGBR 12:94; Carpenter [1898] 47). Actually, both were among many Rehoboth inhabitants who advanced money to the town to defray the expenses of the war, but neither is named as having fought in it (NEHGR 99:93–109)

Will of John Titus senior of Rehoboth, he “being weake of Body”, dated Feb. 21, 1688/89, proved Nov. 20, 1689.

…To wife Abigail the house I now dwell in, with orchard, barns, homelot, salt meadow, and use of my Commons, during life, also my oxen, horse, two cows, six sheep, household goods, cart, small plow and chains for her disposal;

…to eldest son John Titus four acres where he hath built, and several other pieces of land;

…to son Silas six acres of land which his house stands on, with other pieces of land;

…to son Samuel 50 acres where he hath sett up his frame, also other lands;

…to son Joseph ye house he now dwells in (except that his Mother shall have ye free use of ye oven without molestation during her life time), with other lands in connection with which “Cozen Samuell Carpenters Land” is mentioned, said Joseph to provide for his mother;

…to daughter Abigail [Cushman] two sheep; to daughter Mercy [Bowen] a cow; to daughter Experience [not yet m.] seven sheep;

…to grandchildren John Fuller and Abiall Fuller [sons of dau. Abigail by 1st husb. John Fuller] 50 acres of land, being the remainder of my 100 acre lot at Squissett;

…to grandchildren John Titus [eldest s. of s. John], Silas Titus [eldest s. of s. Silas] and Elizabeth Bowen [eldest child of dau. Mercy], each a sheep;

…wife to be sole executrix.

…I “Desire my loving Neighbour John Pecke & my Brother [in-law] William Carpenter to be Overseers.”

…Witnessed by John Peck, Gilbert Brooks and William Carpenter, of whom Gilbert Brooks and William Carpenter made oath to said will, Nov. 5, 1689. [Bristol County PR 1:17].

Children

1. John Titus

John’s first Lydia Redway (also spelled Ridgeway, Redaway) was born 30 May 1652 in Rehoboth, Mass. Her parents were James Redway and either an unnamed 1st wife or Mary Whipple. Lydia was buried 25 Nov 1676 at Rehoboth.

John’s second wife Sarah Millerd (Miller, Millard) was born 15 Oct 1655 at Rehoboth, Her parents were  John MILLARD Sr.  and his 2nd wife Elizabeth [__?__]. Eight children of the marriage.  Sarah m. 2) Aug. 16, 1716 at Rehoboth as his third wife, John Garnsey, Sr. , who d. intestate Mar. 31, 1722 at Rehoboth. There were no children of this latter marriage. Sarah was still living in 1729 at Rehoboth as the widow Garnsey.

John served in the King Philip’s War.

Will of John Titus of Rehoboth dated Nov. 1, 1697,

He “being Very sick & weake.”
To my Beloved wife Sarah my new dwelling house and barn, one half of my cellar in the old house, one half of the house lot my house stands on, one half of the homestead that I purchased of John Carpenter, one half of my pasture, one half of my meadow at Rose Meadow and Bushy Meadow and my plain lot, one half of my second division lot, one half of my Neck lot, one half of my meadow at Palmers River which I purchased of Joseph Peck Senr, William Sabin and John Carpenter, one half of a nine acre lot at the farther side of homes Plain, one half of a ten acre lot that is to be laid out in the thousand acre division, one half of my meadow at the forty acres purchased of John Carpenter, one half of a plain lot, £40 estate of commonage in the old bounds of Rehoboth, and one half of my salt meadow. All the above I bequeath unto my wife “Dureing her Widowhood whilst she Bares my Name,” and at her marriage or decease I give it to my eldest son John Titus. I give to my wife at her own dispose my cart and plow, chains, yokes, and other utensils for husbandry, and all my household goods, sheep, cattle, horses and swine (except what I shall particularly dispose of to my children) all debts due to me and corn and provision towards house keeping.

To my eldest son John Titus my old house, excepting that part of the cellar I have given to his mother, and my shop, also the other half part of above lands bequeathed to her, also £40 estate of commonage in the old bounds of Rehoboth, all to be possessed by him when he comes to the age of twenty-one, also I give him a set of tools for a cooper, “a Broad ax and a Burz, a pair of Chisels and an Inch & half and Inch & quarter Borcior a narrow ax & Square a feather bed & beding a Iron pot and two platter and one Cow & Six Sheep I give my sonne John a sett of Hops & Boxes for a pare of wheeles.”

To my son Samuel the dwelling house and house lot that was my father’s, seven acres of land in the second division, the meadow ground of wright’s meadow and the meadow at forty acres which I purchased of Richard Bowen, likewise a bed and bed clothes, a narrow axe and £17 estate of commonage in Rehoboth, to be possessed of said lands when he comes of age.
To my son Robert fifty acres at Stonny Bottom, a share of meadow at the great meadow, a narrow axe, and my half share of undivided lands in the North purchase, to be possessed when he comes of age.

To my son Timothy my land and swamp upon the Mile River at Mr Brown’s Pond, my meadow at Mr Brown’s Pond and £17 estate of Commons in Rehoboth and a narrow axe to be possessed of them when he comes of age.

To my daughter Lidya twenty acres of land that is to be laid out in the two thousand acre division, “a feather Bed which was her mothers and a pott & two platters that was her mothers, Marekt with her maiden Name,”

To “my Daughter” Hannah and Sarah twenty acres of land on the east side of Palmers River to be equally divided between them, and their mother is to pay to each of them a cow when they come to the age of eighteen years.

To “my Daughter” Elizabeth and Abygail each of them a cow when they come to the age of eighteen years to be paid to them by their mother, also seven acres of land at Beveredge hill in the field.

To “my Cozen John ffuller” twenty acres of land lying upon the Mill River by the way that leads to Kenrick Run, also “I give him a sett of Tools for a Cooper & a Broad ax & a Square that was his Grandfather titus,” I hereby engage my wife and my son John to fulfil all my engagements which I am under to “my Mother Abigail Palmr Dureing her Mariage state and likewise if god should order that my mother should be left a widow that they take the Care of her according to my Ingagements.” If my wife should marry again and the house and land which I have given her during her widowhood return to my son John, then she shall be clear of any engagement to my mother, and my son John shall fulfill the same. I do appoint my wife Sarah Titus executrix and my son John Titus executor of this my will. I give to my son Samuel “the Loames & slayes & harness & other Vtensels for a weaver to be possessed by him when he comes of age of Twenty one years. I do Desire & appoint my Loveing friends Brother Samuel Millard and my Brother Leonard Newsum to be my overseers of this my last will to be helpfull to my wife & sonne in the Managment of their Busines.”

Witnessed by Richard Bowen Senr, Richard Bowen, Samuel Carpenter and William Carpenter, of whom the first three all of Rehoboth made oath to above will before John Saffin Esqr, Judge of Probate, Jan. 10, 1697/98, John Cary Registr.

Entered same day by John Cary Registr.

Inventory of above estate taken Dec. 8, 1697 by Jonah Palmer, William Carpenter and Samuel Millerd, and sworn to at Bristol Jan. 10, 1697/98 by Sarah Titus executrix and John Titus executor of above will before John Saffin Esqr. Judge of Probate, John Cary Registr:
Entered same day by John Cary Registr:
Amount, £293 12 06

2. Abigail TITUS (See Thomas CUSHMAN Jr.‘s page)

3. Silas Titus

Silas’s first wife Sarah Battelle (Battle) was born 8 Aug 1654 in Dedham, Norfolk, Mass. Her parents were Thomas Battelle and Mary Fisher. Sarah died 8 Apr 1689 in Rehoboth, Bristol, Mass.

Silas’ second wife Hannah Miller(d) Thurston 23 Dec 1653 in Rehoboth, Bristol, Mass. Her parents were John MILLARD Sr. and Elizabeth Baugh. Hannah died 1717 in Rehoboth, Bristol, Mass.

Silas’ third wife Mehittable Boyden was born about 1683 in Medfield, Mass.  Mehitable  was previously married to Joshua Ormsby, son of our ancestor John ORMSBY Sr.

5. Samuel Titus

Samuel’s wife Elizabeth Johnson was born 19 May 1673 in Rehoboth, Bristol, Mass. Her parents were John Johnson and Mary Amadowne. Elizabeth died 5 Sep 1726 in Rehoboth, Bristol, Mass.

Samuel Titus Headstone — Newell Burying Ground Attleboro, Bristol, Mass

6. Joseph Titus

Twin of Mercy.  Joseph’s wife Martha Palmer was  born 6 Jul 1666 in Rehoboth, Bristol, Mass. Her parents were Jonah PALMER and Elizabeth GRISWOLD. In 1692 Martha’s father Jonah became her husband’s stepfather.  Martha died 18 Sep 1762 in Rehoboth, Bristol, Mass.

7. Mary (Mercy) Titus

Twin of Joseph.  Mercy’s husband Dr. Richard Bowen was born 1659 in New London, New London, Connecticut,  His parents were Thomas Bowen and Elizabeth Brewster.  He was a medical doctor, having been raised by his step-father, Dr. Samuel Fuller”. Richard died 12 Feb 1736 in Rehoboth, Bristol, Mass.

lthough educated for the ministry, Dr Samuel Fuller practiced medicine, as did most ministers; perhaps best exemplified by Rev. and Dr. John Clarke of Newport, R.I. In 1663 he negotiated with the town of Rehoboth to settle there as doctor, but never came. His mother [Bridget Fuller] was also also asked to come as mid-wife. He was the first minister at Middleborough and preached there for several years although hew was not ordained until 1694.

8. Experience Titus

Experience’s husband Leonard Newson (Newsum) was born about 1673. Leonard died 1724 in Rehoboth, Bristol, Mass.

Sources:

http://www.e-familytree.net/F59/F59646.htm

http://trees.ancestry.com/owt/person.aspx?pid=4005008

http://genforum.genealogy.com/carpenter/messages/5625.html

http://carpentercousins.com/Abigail3_Rehoboth.pdf