William WARRINER (1583? – 1676) was Alex’s 11th Great Grandfather;  one of 4,096 in this generation of the Miner line.

Family tradition says a William Warriner eloped around 1600 from Lincolnshire, England with Alice, Lady Clifford, daughter of Admiral. Thomas Howard 3rd Duke of Suffolk.

Admiral Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, KG, PC (24 August 1561 – 28 May 1626) was a son of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk by his second wife Margaret Audley, Duchess of Norfolk, the daughter and heiress of the 1st Baron Audley of Walden.  Check out Howard’s tumultuous career as a pirate and ultimate downfall as a rival of King James I protege Sir George Villiers,

I don’t see any Alice in the list of Howard’s 14 children, but let’s continue with the legend.  In the course of the elopement, William and the Lady (along with other family members who were “in on it”) escaped to Yorkshire, fleeing, of course, from the angered Admiral. While crossing a river a few of the family drowned, though Lady Alice, William and another Warriner survived. They settled in Yorkshire. That’s the tradition.

It is believed that Lady Alice died in 1619 and is buried at Canterbury Cathedral.

“The English parish records of that period mention several Warriners, one of whom in particular bears the name William. The parish records, copied in the foot-note, establish a strong probability that the William Warriner mentioned many times in the Canterbury Cathedral register, who had children christened in that church from 1601 to 1614, who buried several children in the Cantebury churchyard, whose wife, Alice was buried there in 1619, and of whom all recordsin the books of Canterbury Cathedral cease at that time, is the same William Warriner who eloped from Lincolnshire about 1600 with Lady (Alice) Clifford (?)

William Warriner was born in 1583? in Canterbury, Kent, or Lincolnshire, England.  His sister Elizabeth Warriner married John Strong, son of our ancestor Elder John STRONG.  He married Joanna SEARLE on 31 Jul 1639 in Springfield, Mass.   After Joanna died, he married Elizabeth Gibbons on 2 Oct 1661.  William died 2 Jun 1676 in Springfield, Mass.

Joanna Searle (Scant) was born 1614 in Ottery, St. Mary, Devonshire, England.  Her parents were Thomas SEARLE and Agnes [__?__]. Old sources indicate that her maiden name, or the maiden name of her mother, was Scant. This is incorrect, and was a misread of the record.  Joanna died 7 Feb 1660/61 in Springfield, Mass .

The best evidence that Joanna’s maiden name was Searle, is that her husband, William, was given a legacy in the will (21 Dec 1641 at Springfield, Hampden Co., Mass.) of her brother, John Searle.

“First I give to my brother-in-law William Warriner my best coate & my cullord hatt: & whereas in some reckinges betwixt him and me he owes me betwixt three and fower poundes: if he pays fortie shillinges thereof I am content that all the rest shall be remitted.”

Joanna was the sister of John Searle Sr, who died in 1641, having married Sarah Baldwin in 1639. John Searle Sr is said to have come from Co.Warwick, and arrived in New England in 1634 with siblings Andrew, Edward, and Joanna.

Elizabeth Gibbons was born in 1617 in Fenny Compton, Warwickshire, England.  Her parents were Thomas Gibbons and Elizabeth Pierpoint..  She first married Luke Hitchcock (b. 1615 in England d. 1 Nov 1659 in Wethersfield, Hartford, CT).   She survived William and became the third wife of Joseph Baldwin (b. 1610, England – d. 2 Nov 1684 Hadley, Hampshire, Mass.)  Elizabeth died 25 Apr 1696 in Springfield, Mass.

Children of William and Joanna:

	Name	Born	Married	Departed
1.	Deacon James Warriner	21 Nov 1640 Springfield, Hampden, Mass.	Elizabeth Baldwin 31 Mar 1664 Hadley, Hampshire, Mass. . Sarah Alvord 10 Jul 1689 . Mary Graves 19 Dec 1706	14 May 1727 Springfield, Mass
2.	Hannah Warriner	17 Aug 1643 Springfield, Mass.	Thomas Noble 11 Jan 1659/60 Springfield, Mass. . Medad Pomeroy 24 Jan 1704/05	12 May 1721 Westfield, Mass.
3.	Joseph WARRINER	6 Feb 1645, in Springfield, Hampden, Mass.	Mary MONTAGUE 25 Nov 1668 in Hadley, Hampshire, Mass. . Sarah Tibbal 15 Jul 1691	21 Apr 1697, in Enfield, Hartford, CT

William joined the settlers of Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1638. His birthplace and ancestry are unknown, but it is very probable he was born in England.

Rev. Edwin Warriner, author of The Warriner Family of New England  speculates that William Warriner may be the William Warriner of whom there is a record in the parish registers of Canterbury Cathedral. This individual had five children christened there between 1601 and 1614. His wife, Alice, was buried there in 1619, as were three of his children between 1611 and 1615. If this is the William Warriner who appeared in Springfield in 1638, he would have been about 57 or 58 years of age. However, the John Pynchon Account Book contains an entry of 2 October, 1656, in which William Warriner is paid a sum for three canoe voyages down to the foote of the falls on the Connecticut River by which supplies were transported to the Springfield settlement.The Canterbury Warriner would have been 76 years of age, probably too old for such strenuous activity.

William was made a freeman, or voter, in 1638. The records of Springfield show that he was married in 1639 to Joanna Searl, the daughter of Thomas Searl whose origins are unknown. The town clerk made the following record of her death: Johanna, wife of Wm.
Warriner, dyed ye 7th of ye 12th Mon., 1660.

William owned a considerable part of what was considered later the heart of Springfield. His house stood near the spot where the old courthouse stood. The Warriner homelot was the first north of Court Square. City Hall, the store of Smith & Murray and the Five Cents Savings Bank building stood on the lot granted to him by the Town, at least when the main book about the Warriner family was written. This was on the north side of the First Congregational Church, in front of Court Square. There was also a cemetery there where he and sons were buried, but the cemetery was eventually closed and bodies removed to Springfield Cemetery on Maple Street.

Timeline

2 May 1638 – William Warriner was made a freeman.

18 Jun 1640, at Springfield, he complained against Henry Gregory regarding the “layenge false imputations of money” that seemingly involved a contract they both had with Richard Everit.

In violation of a law made in 1640, William Warriner sold his canoe to some person outside the Springfield plantation and was fined.

1642 – Second division of the plantation at Springfield. As one of the “maryed” persons, “Will: Warriner” had “10 rod bredth.” Those having the “biggest familys” had “12 rod to begin upward at ye edge of ye hill” (Chestnut street). In casting lots for land he obtained several acres.

6 Feb 1648/49, William swore the Oath of Fidelity at Springfield.

30 May 1649, along with Samuell Chapin, he was ordered to pay 1½ bushels of marsh wheat to Henry Burt for the damage their team of oxen did to his field.

1 Sep 1652 – At Springfield, he was “chosen and sworne to the office of a Constable of the Towne of Springfeild for the yeare ensueing and till anothe be chosen in his roome”.

1658 – He was chosen to be a Selectman

27 Sep 1659 and 25 Sep 1660 William did a couple of stints as a juror at Springfield.

2 Dec 1661 – He was involved in another lawsuit at Springfield. This time, Richard Fellows Compaines against Willaim Warrinar for withholding pay for his many Harmon Rowleys victualls at Chikkuppy as he passed to and from the Lead mines: to the vallue of wich William Warrinar engaged to pay for Uppon the Testymonys of John Ginny and Garret Dolley which are on file it appeared that William Warriner had ingaged to pay Richard Fellows his just demand wich being examented and rectified William Warriner is Adjudged to pay Richard Fellows the sum of eight and twenty shillings and six pence.

8 May 1663, at Springfield, William took the Oath of Freemanship/Allegiance, with the wording appears thus: “William Warriner [was] made free of this Comon Wealth”.

1664 – William Pynchon was taxed 10 shillings for purchase money to pay the Indians for land. Another similar tax on 40-1/2 acres, owned by “Will: Warrener,” was 11s 2d. “Wm. Warrinar” had one acre in lot 17, as part of the land “on ye Mile River, beginning lowermost on ye southeast branch, and so going up to ye little brooke, and then upward to ye – 16 acres, and so on to ye north branch of ye upper end, and then come downward, and latly to ye lake or pond.”

John Pynchon, the son of Springfield founder William Pynchon, exerted a tremendous influence over the Connecticut River Valley in the late seventeenth century. Once his father returned to England in the early 1650s, John took over and expanded the family’s lucrative fur-trading business. John also shipped local corn, fish and lumber throughout New England, and acquired land holdings in Northampton, Hadley, and Deerfield. As the operator of cider and turpentine mills, flour and corn mills, a lumber mill and an iron foundry, John Pynchon employed much of Springfield’s population.

A small reckoning in Mr. John Pynchon’s Account Book, volume 3, follows:
Wm Warrinar

1664
Carying downe Corne & bringing up goods with G Morgan Ano
1664 youre halfe: £02 00 04
3 Journys your cart tot he foote of the falls: £01 07 00
One Journey your Teame: £00 10 00
By goeing down with Sam Terry: carying downe Corne at 5d per bus & and 2d ½ from the foote of the falls & carrying barrels at 2[s] pce: bringing up Salt at 6d per bush & goods at 12s per Tun:
In all you have earned togither £26  2s 10d your halfe of it is
£13 2s 5d [only you are] to abate for the Boate wich I am to all to: £13 02 05

1665
By carting 2 load ofWheate to the wharfe: £00 02 00
3 load to the Warfe: £00 03 00
1 Load of wheate to the warf: £00 01 00
Bringing up 50 bsh salt from the wharfe: £00 02 00
more bush salt from the warfe: £00 01 00
carying 20 bush wt to the foote for the falls & bring up Boards from fresh water River: £00 09 00
Nov 65 Carting to the foote of the falls: £00 03 06
Total £18 01 03 – out of which £01 01 00, I say out for which I am to pay for your Boate which you had downe the falls to G Morgan, so tis £17 00 03.

2 Jun 1676 – William  died in Springfield, age unknown. No memorial marks the place of his burial. While William made no will, a document of agreement was submitted to the court in which his estate was divided between Elizabeth, his wife, who received one-third of his whole estate during her natural life, and the remainder to his three children. Thomas Noble signed the agreement

In his Will, written after the birth of his son, Joanna’s brother, John Searle, mentions being “very sicke in body” – many of the early settlers died of unspecified illnesses aggravated by the hardships. He bequeathed all his estate to be divided equally between his wife and his infant son, except for his “beste coate and my cullord hatt” which he left to “my brother in law William Warrener” (who had married John’s sister, Joanna, in Springfield July 31st 1639). Warrener also owed “betwixt three and fower poundes“, which John Searle was content to remit to £2. An inventory was taken and showed property worth £101  14s 0d, including the house lot.

Children

1. James Warriner

James first wife Elizabeth Baldwin was baptized Mar 1645 in the First Church of Milford, New Haven, CT. Her parents were Joseph Baldwin and Hannah Whitlock.  Her father later married James step-mother Elizabeth Gibbons.  Elizabeth died 24 Apr 1687 in Springfield, Hampden, Mass

James’ second wife Sarah Alvord 24 Jun 1660 in Windsor, Hartford, CT. Her parents were Alexander Alvord and Mary Vore.   Sarah died 16 May 1704 in Springfield, Hampden, Mass.

James married third 19 Dec 1706 as her third husband to Mary Graves.  She was the widow of Samuel Ball and Benjamin Stebbins.

James’ name appears on the list of soldiers in Kings Philip’s War.  He was a Deacon of the First Congregational Church, Springfield, Mass.  James was a witness to the following deed between John Winthrop and Sachem Wasecums

2. Hannah Warriner

Hannah’s first husband Thomas Noble was born 1632 in England. His parents were Thomas Noble and Rachel Gardner. Thomas died 20 Jan 1703/04 in Westfield, Hampden, Mass.

Hannah’s second husband Medad Pomeroy was born 19 Aug 1638 in Windsor, Hartford, CT.  His parents were Eltweed Pomeroy and Margery Rockett.  He first married Abigail Strong.   Medad died 30 Dec 1716 in Northampton, Hampshire, Mass.

Abigail Strong was born 1645 in Taunton, Mass.  Her parents were John STRONG and Abigail FORD.  She first married 12 NOV 1673 Dorchester to Nathaniel Chauncy (b. 1639 in Plymouth, Mass. d. 4 Nov 1685 in Hatfield, Mass.).  Abigail died 5 Apr 1704 in Durham, CT.

Thomas Noble was born as early as 1632 in England. Unfortunately, we know nothing about the exact place or date of birth or his parents’ names; nor what year he came to these shores. He was most definitely here in 1653 as Drake, in his History of Boston, states he was “admitted” as an inhabitant of Boston on January 5th, that year. In the same year he removed to Springfield, Massachusetts, and opened an account at the store of John Pynchon. He was not one of the founding settlers of Springfield, but he certainly was one of her early settlers.

Farming was almost everyone’s year-round occupation, and certainly Thomas Noble must have farmed. But while he was at Springfield, he also worked as a part-time tailor, probably during the winters. This is easily seen in the contents of the Inventory of his estate.

For an unknown reason, Thomas travelled to England in 1657, according to the account book of Mr. Pynchon; e.g., the entry for September 1, 1657, show that Noble was indebted to Pynchon in the amount of £32. 3s. 6d:
To what I pd. for yor passage to and fro. Engld., and for yor charges (beside what I give you) as in my pocket book, £16. 00. 00.

Besides farming and tailoring, Thomas Noble and several other townsmen were given permission to erect a saw-mill on the west side of the Connecticut River in 1664. They were also granted about 40 acres where the mill would stand, and 30 acres of “Meddow” within 2 or 3 miles of the place. They must set up the saw mill and “sett to work in Sawing by the first day of Aprill wch shal be in ye yeere 1666”. If they abandoned the work within three years, they’d have to give up the place and lands to the town. In order to make the business a success, they would have access to the Commons, “for all sorts of tymber for their use for Sawing or otherwise”. John Pynchon ran Springfield and this type of assistance was what his father, William Pynchon, gave out when he was in the multi-decade process of founding the town. Click here to read the unique story of the founding of Springfield.

1 Jan 1665/66 – At Springfield, it was recorded in the terminology of the day, “This day according to Towne order we considered about (making Rates &) takeing a list of ye estate of ye Plantation. And for Prizing ye Living Stock of ye Towne we choose Tho. Noble and James Warriner.” This would indicate they were taking an inventory of the town livestock. James Warriner was Hannah’s brother.

Jul 1666 – Lands in Westfield (Warronoco) were granted to Thomas, on the condition that he settle upon them before the end of May 1667. Because he didn’t settle them, those lands were forfeited.

1667 – Thomas was living beyond his means and was in debt to Henry Smith and John Pynchon. He signed over to Pynchon his house and all his lands in Springfield, keeping only a grant of land south towards Windsor Connecticut. He was raising a very large family and the loss of his property in Springfield must have been a blow. Men at this time needed to have land to give to their first-born son, if not the others, and this is what kept many families moving on to the newer settlements where more land was available.

9 Jan 1668 – Thomas’s Westfield grant was renewed and the deadline for settlement was extended to November 10, 1668.

Mr. Noble was at Warronoco as early as January 21, 1669 on which date, at a meeting there, it was voted that he as well as James Cornish, Geo. Phelps, and Thomas Dewey were to go to Springfield the first Tuesday in February to settle affairs regarding where the line would run between Springfield and Westfield. They were also to ask the General Court to let Westfield be a township of its own.

7 Apr 1674 – Thomas was chosen constable of Westfield, Hampshire county, on April 7, 1674, and “was sworne to discharge ye sd office.”

At Westfield, the Nobles lived about 2-1/2 miles east of the present center of the town in the family home until the beginning of “King Philip’s War” in 1675. His son, Thomas Jr., inherited the farm and the property remained in the family until after the death of Thomas’s great-grandson, Lt. Stephen Noble, in 1791, when it passed to Ambrose Day.

During King Philip’s War, Thomas was much exposed. One night during family prayers, Gray Lock (an old indian), stepped up and pulled the string and let the door swing open, and as soon as all was quiet, he would pull the string again. Mr. Noble was persuaded by his friends to move into town. Gray Lock said he had several opportunities of killing most of his children at a shot, but did not want scalps as much as captives.

23 Jan 1678 – At Westfield, Thomas Noble took the oath of allegiance to his Majesty

20 Feb 1681 – Thomas joined the Westfield church and was made a freeman the same year, on October 12th. He took the Freeman’s Oath at the Hampshire county court on September 26th in 1682. All of these steps were very important to becoming a full-fledged citizen and a man of responsibility and respect.

But along with that responsibility and respect came duties and obligations that were sometimes hard to keep. For instance, in 1683, Thomas travelled once on a Fasting Day. Yep! And he got caught! The Hampshire County records state:
At a County Corte held at Northampton, March 27th, 1683. Thomas Noble of Westfield being prsented by the Grand jury for Travelling on a day of Humiliation, publiquely appointed by the Genll Corte, which he owned, pleading his necessity for Comeing home, and yet this Corte Considering said offense, being a growing evil amongst us, many Persons too much disregarding such extraordinary Dutys, & Seasons, have adjudged sd. Noble to pay as a fine to the County treasurer five shillings.

10 Sep 1684 – Thomas along with others signed a court document of the inquest into the hanging of Eliezer Weller of Westfield. At the County Court held at Springfield on September 30, 1684, it was concluded that Weller died “intestate in his own selfe Murther.” The document continued, “through the strength of temptation he became his own Executionr, by hanging himself, al signes & circumstances fully concurring therein.”

6 Sep 1685, Thomas Noble and George Sexton were chosen “to join with the Selectmen to prize buildings.” The same day, the town of Westfield granted to Noble, Isaac Phelps, Nathaniel Weller, and David Ashley (another of my ancestors), liberty to erect a saw-mill “on the brook, on the northeast side of the river.”

22 Sep 1691 – Noble was appointed with Lt. Phelps and John Sacket, “to atend the Court upon the town account with respect to the difference between our town and Suffield, and do what they can in the towne’s behalf settling our bounds between us and Suffield.” And on March 2, 1696, he was chosen to be the county surveyor.

4 Mar 1694/95 town meeting
…there was Granted unto Tho. Noble, Senr, upon the plaine knowne by the name of fower miles plaine, the contents of halfe a mile Square, that is to say the Liberty of the Pines one this pice of Land for Roysume, wc is to continue for three years ensuing the date heare.

3. Joseph WARRINER (See his page)

Sources:

http://trees.ancestry.com/owt/person.aspx?pid=7443872&st=1

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

http://josfamilyhistory.com/htm/nickel/griffin/sheldon/noble/noble-warriner.htm#wm-3