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Descendents of Elder William Wentworth
Elder William Wentworth was born 1615 in Alford, Lincolnshire, England, son of William and Susanna (Carter) Fleming Wentworth of Rigsby, Lincolnshire, England, and grandson of Christopher and Katherine (Marbury) Wentworth. He died March 15, 1696/97 in Dover, Strafford, New Hampshire. He married Elizabeth Kenny. Tradition says that William Wentworth left his home in England just subsequent to the time of the disposition of his father's property in England when William was about nineteen years old. Also, that he emigrated from England to America probably in the group with his kinsman, Rev. John Wheelwright. They landed in Boston 26 May 1636. He was a follower of the Reverend John Wheelwright, came with him to Massachusetts in 1636, and was associated with him in his difficulties with the Massachusetts government respecting his Antinomian opinions. With Wheelwright and thirty-three others he signed, on 4 August, 1639, " A combination for a government at Exeter, New Hampshire," of which town he was an early settler. Subsequently he removed to Wells, Massachusetts, but he afterward settled in Dover, New Hampshire, where he was a ruling elder in the church and often preached. He supplied the pulpit in Exeter, after Wheelwright's return to England, as late as 1693. In 1689 he was instrumental in saving a garrison from destruction by the Indians.
The first written evidence of William in America is that, on 4 July 1639, he, with 35 people, including Rev. John Wheelwright, signed a "combination" for government at Exeter, NH, Rev. Wheelwright who because of the contents of his sermons had been "banished from Massachusetts and had, with others, purchased from the Indians the title to certain lands on April 3, 1638." When Massachusetts extended its jurisdiction to the Piscataqua River, and thus included Exeter, NH, Rev. Wheelwright had to move again. William Wentworth went with him to Wells, Maine.
Two of William's relatives through the Marbury family, Rev. John Wheelwright and Anne Hutchinson, were individuals who held strong convictions, views which were contrary to those held by most of their contemporaries and even outlawed in Massachusetts. Both were banished and had to move around as Massachusetts expanded its territory.
It appears that William lived in Wells, ME from 1642 to 1649 as he was recorded in 1642 as a juror from Wells to the York County Court. He was listed as constable in 1648 and again on the jury in 1647 and 1649.
Following this, William moved to Dover, NH, where he was generally referred to as "Elder William Wentworth" by virtue of his being a ruling elder of the church. He was "taxed" there in 1650. Dover, NH, then had four parts: Dover Neck, Bloody Point, Oyster River, and Cochecho, and William settled in Cochecho, which is now the central part of the City of Dover. He became involved in lumber manufacturing at the head of tidewater on Fresh Creek where he, with others, were proprietors of a sawmill. William was a selectman over a period of about 20 years, town moderator in 1661, and commissioner (an office in which small cases were adjudged) in 1663.
It is reported that on "June 27, 1689, a Thursday, Indians attacked, and the garrisons of Peter and Tristram Coffin were destroyed, but (the) Heard garrison was saved by William Wentworth who held the door until help arrived."
Although he was a "Ruling Elder" in the Dover, NH church where he officiated as preacher, he also preached in Exeter, NH 1690-1693, where his contract read, "agreed with Mr. Wentworth to supplyu and perform the office of minister for one year, if he be able, at 40 pounds." Later, an entry in the journal of Rev. John Pike read, "Mar. 16 '96/7, Elder Wentworth deceased a few days after he was taken speechless with a sudden shivering."
All the Wentworths in the United States are supposed to be descended from him. |
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