Robert TITUS (1600 – 1672) was Alex’s 11th Grandfather; one of 4,096 in this generation of the Shaw line.

Immigrant Ancestor – Titus Coat of Arms

Robert Titus was born in 1600 in St. Catherines Parish, near Stanstead Abbots, Hertfordshire, England  His parents were Silas TITUS and Constatia [__?__]. He married Hannah CARTER 24 Jun 1624 in  Watford, Hertfordshire, England. Robert, Hannah and their two children, John (age 8) and Edmond (age 5), sailed from London on April 3rd, 1635 on board the Hopewell.   Settled at Brookline, MA, moved to Weymouth, Mass, Rehoboth, Mass, then to Huntington, Nassau Co., NY. (near Cold Spring Harbor on the west)  in 1654.  Robert died in 1672 at Huntington, NY.

Hannah (Anne) Carter was born  in 1604 at St. Katherine, London, England. The marriage on 24 June 1624 of Robert Titus and Anne Carter, recorded in the parish register of Watford may refer to the Robert and Hannah Carter of ‘St. Katherines’ who immigrated in the Hopewell. Carter a was very common name in the sixteenth and seventeenth century Watford district and were the English kin of President Carter.  Hannah died 24 Mar 1679 at Huntington, Nassau Co., NY.

Children of Robert and Hannah:

Robert TITUS , Hanna and sons John and Edmond sailed from London on the “Hopewell” on 4 Apr 1635 – William Bundocke, master. They landed at Boston and were granted land in the present town of Brookline, near Muddy River, adjoining Boston. They remained in Brookline two or three years and then moved to Weymouth, about nine miles to the southeast, where he was a freeman in 1643.

In the spring of 1644 they, in company with some forty families, removed with the minister of the Weymouth parish, Rev. Samuel Newman, to Reboboth, Bristol MA. Robert was one of the founders of the first parish. He was commissioner for the Court of Plymouth in Reboboth 1648-1649 and 1650 and 1654.

He had some trouble with the authorities because he harboured Abney Ordway and his family, they being of “evil fame” (Quakers). He gave notice of his intention to leave the colony and sold his property to Robert Jones of Natasket on 23 May 1654. Robert and Hannah, and probably their children Samuel, Susanna, Abiel and Content, moved to Huntington, Nassau Co. New York, near Cold Spring Harbour, on Long Island in 1654. Their son Edmond, who was a Quaker, had moved to Hempstead on Long Island four years before. Their eldest son John remained in Reboboth.

On April 2, 1653, Richard Holbrook, Robert WILLIAMS and Daniel Whitehead, all of Oyster Bay, bought from Raseokan, Sachem of the Matinecock tribe, a parcel of land that is now known as “the First Purchase.” The Oyster Bay men immediately turned the land over to a group of white men who had already settled within its boundaries. This first purchase was bordered on the west by Cold Spring Harbor, on the east by Northport Harbor, on the south by what is now known as Old Country Road and on the north by Long Island Sound.

Most of the early settlers were English people who came to Huntington by way of Massachusetts and Connecticut. As a result, they felt more of a kinship with New England than with their Dutch neighbors to the west in New Amsterdam. The town in fact voted in 1660 to place itself under the jurisdiction of Connecticut to gain some protection from the Dutch.

When in 1664 the Duke of York became proprietor of the area formerly known as New Netherland, he (in the person of Governor Richard Nicolls) informed Connecticut that by virtue of his royal patent they no longer had any claim to any territory on Long Island. Governor Nicolls summoned representatives of each town on Long Island to meet in Hempstead early in 1665. The representatives were required to bring with them evidence of title to their land and to receive new grants affirming that title. The Hempstead Convention also adopted “The Duke’s Laws” which regulated virtually every area of life. At this time, too, Long Island, Staten Island and Westchester were formed into an entity called “Yorkshire,” which was divided into three parts, or “ridings,” as land was divided in England. What is now Suffolk County, including Huntington, became part of the East Riding. With some modifications, including the abolition of “Yorkshire” and “ridings” this was the form that the government of New York retained until the Revolution. Huntington was incorporated by patent on November 30, 1666.

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).

Robert’s brother, Silas Titus Jr married Catherine Winstanley, daughter of James Winstanley, Esq., of Lancastershire. He entered a commoner of Christ’s Church,  Oxford, in 1637, and became about 1640 a member of one of the Inns of  Court. In the grand rebellion, when parliament raised an army against  the king, he obtained a captain’s commission, but disapproving of the  course pursued by the Independents, abandoned his colors for the royal  standard, and was subsequently of eminent service to the two Charleses.  Col. Silas Titus was a man of wit, and the author of a famous pamphlet  called “Killing no Murder.” It was published anonymously, and created a stir in political circles. King Charles rewarded him for services rendered.  He died in December, 1704, aged 82, and was interred in the chancel of the  parish church of St. James, at Bushey, in Hertfordshire, where his father and other members of the family also lie buried.

Robert’s parents and brother are interred at Saint James Church, Bushey, Hertfordshire

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 pas-sengers embarking at London have misled some to conclude that the Titus family came from a parish near Stanstead Abbots, Herefordshire (NEGHR 132:22–23).

Timeline

13 May 1640 – Admitted Freeman in Weymouth, Mass

1644 – Robert Titus and family were among the forty families that accompanied Rev. Samuel Newman to Reboboth.  He was one of the founders of that town.

1644 – Court Commissioner in Rehoboth

1648-49-50 – Representative from Huntington

1654 – Removed to Huntington, Long Island where he spent the rest of his live

Will: Page 265. – Hannah Titus, Hunttington.

Leaves to son Content Titus, house and land, and he is to pay to his brother John £10. To son Edmund a horse, and to son Samuel a cow. “To my son Samuel’s wife my warming pan. To my son Abial’s wife, my smoothing irons. To my son, Content’s wife, my skimmer. To my daughter Susannah, my serge hood.” Dated May 14, 1672. Witness, Richard Williams, Thomas Skidmore. Inventory taken March 24, 1678/79, £52 13s. 6d. Administration granted to son Content, March 1, 1679/80.

Children

1. John TITUS (See his page)

2. Edmond Titus

Edmund’s wife Martha Washburn 18 Dec 1637 in Bengeworth, Worcestershire, England. Her parentw were William WASHBURN and Jane Whitehead. Martha died 17 Feb 1727 in Westbury, New York.   She had been bedridden for several years prior to her death. Martha was laid to rest in Hempstead Town, Nassau County, Long Island, New York.

Edmund came to the colonies at an early age before reaching his majority and apparently lived with his brothers in Seaconk. When he came of age about 1650, he removed to Long Island.  He settled in Hempstead, Nassau Co., NY by 1658 when he was given 10 acres on a list compiled on Nov. before moving to Westbury, Nassau Co., NY.  The land that he settled on in Westbury remained in the hands of his descendants, all bearing the name of Titus, at least until 1860.

Edmund was living in Hempstead as early as 1658 and took up a 200 acre tract of land on the north of Hempstead Plains where he lived until his death. He is said to have suffered from being a Quaker [he became one early]. His last words, “I have put away all my filthyness and superfluity of Haughtness. I have received the meekness ye engrafted word that is able to save the Soul.”

31 Aug 1698 – An unknown person and his wife, [ROF:Hempstead Town] were listed on the Hempstead Town Census. Enumerated in this household were Edmund Titus, Martha, Peter, Silas, Hannah, Patience. Edmund departed this life the 7th day of the 2nd month 1715 at age 85 years at Hempstead Town, Nassau County, Long Island, New York. Edmund was laid to rest in Hempstead Town, Nassau County, Long Island, New York.

Martha and Edmund were married in a Quaker wedding ceremony in Westbury, New York.  The Westbury Friends continue to meet today at 550 Post Avenue Westbury, NY 11570 (On the corner of Post Avenue and Jericho Turnpike And 1/4 mile north of Northern State Parkway Exit 32.)

The first worship in 1671 in the homes of Henry Willis & Edmund Titus; first Meetinghouse built in 1702, second built in 1801, burned & rebuilt in 1902.

The Westbury Friends first met in the home of Edmund Titus. Today’s meeting house was built in 1902.

As described in the book, Adam and Anne Mott, Their Ancestors and Descendants,

“A meeting had been established at Westbury, when the place was still called Plainedge, on the 25d of 3d month, 1671. The meeting was to begin on the 25th of 4th month, and so every fifth First day, and was held at Westbury or ‘Plainedge,’ at the house of Edmond Titus. Other meetings were held on the intervening First days at other Friends’ houses in other neighbourhoods at Jericho, Bethpage, &c. After the coming of Henry Willis in 1677, the meetings were sometimes held at his house instead of the house of Edmond Titus in Westbury. In 1697, the Monthly Meeting revised the rule, and it was directed that ‘a meeting shall be held every five weeks, on the First day, to begin at Edmond Titus’, the next First day at Jerusalem, the next at Bethpage, next at Jericho, and next at Hempstead. Traveling ministers, when they reached Westbury, usually stopped at the house of Edmond Titus, and after the coming of Henry Willis they sometimes stopped with him.

References to Westbury/Westbury meeting house in early Friends Minutes:

{Verso of p. 141, refers to p. 142:} This is believed to be the earliest minute extract in America.   Sandwich (Mass.) Monthly Meeting has minutes from 25th of 4th Month {June} 1672.

In a cramped irregular hand. In writing of Henry Onderdonk Jr. “Woodedge i.e. Westbury”

at a mens meet the 23d day of 3d month {May} 1671.  It was agreed that the first dayes meetings be one day at oysterbay and another day at Matinacock: to begin at or about the 11th houre: and the weekly meeting to begin about the first houre in the aftertoone

It <was> allSo ageeded <agreed> ther Shall bee a meetting keept at the wood edege <Westbury> the 25th of the 4th {June} month and Soe ever {every} 5^th first day of the weeke

At a Yearely meeting held at the meeting house in Flushing, beginning this 24th day of the 3 month {May} 1701

It wass spoken at this meeting concerning the Quarterly meeting that wass formerly at Henry Willisis [in Westbury]; it wass concluded that the Same meeting Should Contenew [continue] at Same plase Until Friends should See a Service in Removing the Same. It hath beane farther Spaken t[o] at this meeting Concening bulding a Meeting house Ne[ar the] Same plase which thing Is left to [the] next Quarterly meeting

Genealogies of Long Island Families From the New York Genealogical & Biographical Record, Volume II: pages 346-347 – [New York Genealogical & Biographical Record, 1876, page 42]

In 1650, [Edmund] moved to Hempstead & a short time later to old Westbury. “Edmund Titus, one that Received ye truth many years since and lived and dyed in it. In his later days his Eyes grew dim that he could not see and thick of hearing, all which he bore very patiently. In the time of his last sickness his daughter Phebe field standing by him, he said, my Life is in Christ my God, with many more comfortable words. His last words were these: – I have put away all filthiness & superfluity & Hautiness. I have Received with meekness ye engrafted word that is Able to save the soul & soon departed this life in a quiet frame of Spirit senseable to the last ye 7d. 2d. mo., 1715 aged near eighty five years.”

“His wife survived him twelve years and died the 17th of 2d mo., 1727 in ye ninetieth year of her age. Some years before her death she was helpless and kept her bed. Her natural faculties became much impaired; yet she retained a lively sense of the Divine goodness, and many times near her door, feeling the fresh springs of Divine life to well up in her soul, she would exhort her children and others to wait upon God, that they might there by be maid senseable of the workings of Truth in their hearts which was the way through obedience thereunto to find peace with God.”

3. Samuel Titus

Samuel’s first wife Elizabeth Bowne was born 1637 in Huntington, Suffolk, New York. Her parents were Thomas Bowne and [__?__].  Elizabeth died 1668 in Huntington, Suffolk, New York.

Samuel’s second wife Elizabeth Rogers was born about 1640 in Brookline, Norfolk, Mass. Elizabeth died 1712.

4. Susannah Titus

Susannah’s husband Robert Jones was born 1600 in Caversham, Oxfordshire, England. His parents were Joseph Jones and Judith Leavitt. He was much older than Susannah and had married three women before her:

13 Jun 1625 in Reading, Berkshire, England to Elizabeth Soane , 15 Jan 1649 in Hingham, Plymouth, Mass. to Elizabeth Alexander,and 1651 in Swansea, Mass. to Anna Bibble.  Robert died 17 Nov 1691 in Hingham, Norfolk, Mass

5. Abiel (Abial) Titus

Abiel’s wife Mary (Rebecca) Scudder was born 1640 in Weymouth, Norfolk, Mass. Her parents were Henry Scudder and Catherine Este.  Her maternal grandparents were Jeffrey ESTEY and Margaret POTTS. Rebecca died 1725 in Newton, Rhode Island.

6. Content Titus

Content’s wife Elizabeth Moore was born 1651 in Huntington, Livingston, New York. Her parents were John Moore and Margaret Howell. Elizabeth died 1730 in Long Island, New York.

He was a very active man in the affairs of church and State. He was a captain in the war against the Indians and became an elder of the Presbyterian Church at the age of 80. He died Jan. 17, 1730, aged 87. His gravestone is in the S. W. corner of the ancient burial place in Newtown.

Content’s estate was probated on 31 Jan 1730

In the name of God, Amen. This 24th day of February, 1727/8. I Content Titus, of Newtown, in Queens County, on Nassau Island, being old and crazy, but of sound mind. I leave to my son Robert, all my real estate in Newtown, he paying out the legacies, and allowing grass and hay for 2 cows for Hannah. And all my wearing apparel, and all my tools for building, turning, and husbandry. Also 3 horses, 4 cows, and a Negro man Jack. I leave to my sons, Silas, John, and Timothy, 5 shillings each. I leave to my daughter Hannah, the use and whole command of my newest house, during her single state, and then to my son Robert. Also 2 Negro girls, and all household furniture, belonging to the Great room, in the new house, and the rest of the movable estate. And she is to have 1/3 of the crop of every sort, and grass and hay for her cows, and if she dies unmarried, then to my daughters, Phebe and Abigail. I leave my daughters Phebe and Abigail, each a Negro girl and boy and 20 pounds, having heretofore dealt out household goods to them. I make my son Robert, and my daughter Hannah, executors. Witness, Moore Woodard, Charles Wright, Samuel Pumroy. Proved January 31, 1729/30.

Sources:

http://www.e-familytree.net/F59/F59647.htm

http://members.cox.net/jrcrin001/Abigail3-Rehoboth.pdf

http://www.genealogy.com/users/w/i/e/Kathy-Wiebe-/FILE/0001text.txt

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hoxieschenck/Stuart_10_08_06/b4602.htm

http://trees.ancestry.com/owt/person.aspx?pid=15831899&st=1

The Titus family in America : three generations (1881]) By Titus, Anson, 1847-1932

http://mccurdyfamilylineage.com/ancestry/p207.htm#i31838