William Makepeace

Family/Spouse: Mary. Mary died before 8 Sep 1604; was buried on 8 Sep 1604 in Burton Dassett, Warwickshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Aft 30 Jun 1666
• Alternate death: Between Jan 1667 and Feb 1667, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts

Notes:

Emigrated in 1635; first at Dorchester, then Boston by 1648 or 1649. He was a merchant. His will mentions his daughter "Hester, ye wife of Jno Browne".

He appears to have had some social standing in Burton Dassett, where he is recorded more than once as "gentleman." In Massachusetts he was called "Mr. Makepeace," and he is frequently seen in New England records in conjunction with persons of known aristocratic ancestry such as Richard Saltonstall. George Wyllys, who became governor of Connecticut (and whose son Samuel married a daughter of proven royal descendant Mabel Harlakenden) was a friend in both Warwickshire and in New England.

He was admitted to the "Military Company of the Massachusetts" in 1638, at about the same time as he was being prodded by the local religious authorities to bring himself into stricter compliance with the ruling ideology. From History of the Military Company of the Massachusetts, Now Called the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts, 1637-1888, volume 1, page 71 (citation details below): "He was a man of prominence, and had the prefix 'Mr.'; but these did not prevent his being brought before the court (1638) perhaps at the instigation of the clergy. That body labored and decided, 'Mr. Thomas Makepeace, because of his novel disposition, was informed, we were weary of him, unless he reforme.'" According to The Ancestry of Russell Makepeace (citation details below), the General Court's problem with Thomas Makepeace wasn't that he wasn't a Puritan, but rather that he wasn't sufficiently devoted to core principles of the Bay Colony's version of Puritanism. Makepeace's roots were in the Puritanism of south Warwickshire, with its emphasis on professions of faith and spiritual growth, relative tolerance for dissent within the body of believers, and less interest in posing a direct challenge to the Church of England and to episcopacy. Presumably Thomas Makepeace made peace with the colony's leadership, as he went on to a long and successful career in Dorchester and Boston over the next quarter-century.

The History of the Military Company of the Massachusetts further notes that "He was an early friend of free schools, and was one of those citizens of Dorchester who agreed to a direct tax for the support of a free school in that town. In 1641, he was one of the patentees of Dover, N.H., and signed the petition to come under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts. In 1654, he was in the Narraganset expedition against the Indians. At this time he was about sixty-two years of age."

Thomas married Alice Brasier on 10 Oct 1620 in Alkerton, Oxfordshire, England. Alice died before 1641 in Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Thomas married Elizabeth Hawkredd before 25 Jul 1641. Elizabeth was born before 8 Dec 1604; was christened on 8 Dec 1605 in Boston, Lincolnshire, England; died after 1670 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1631

Esther married John Brown on 24 Apr 1655 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts. John died after 20 Nov 1697 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Abell Langley. Abell was born in of Rowley, Essex, Massachusetts; died before 7 Oct 1693. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 4 Jan 1728, Stow, Middlesex, Massachusetts

Notes:

Also called Marcy.

Family/Spouse: Thomas Daby. Thomas was born about 1657; died on 13 Oct 1738 in Holliston, Middlesex, Massachusetts; was buried in Old Cemetery, Holliston, Middlesex, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Deborah married Jeremiah Meacham on 25 May 1693 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts. Jeremiah (son of Jeremiah Meacham and Margaret) was born about 1644; died on 14 Apr 1743 in Windham, Windham, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]