William Backus "The Immigrant" - Evidence for parents

Started by Erica Howton on Monday, October 17, 2022
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If there’s any evidence for William Backus “the immigrant” as son of William Backus & Sarah Backus please advise.

I can’t find any.

There’s a “genealogist to genealogist” discussion at Wikitree (2018 - 2019) with the same query.

https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/642149/parents-of-william-backus-bacchus

The conclusion was this comment:

Notice that none of these credible claims actually tells you what they found in primary records. I am well aware of the apprenticeship records as they were the key discovery to proving that the immigrant was the same person as the cutler from Sheffield. This was published in the NEGHR article which established the English origins of William Backus; if these records named his father they would have appeared in the article. If you type in William Baccus with birth dates 1580-1630 in familysearch.org you get over 1200 hits. There was even another William Backus in New England at the same time as this one. If I recall correctly, and I don't have this immediately available, there were three different William Backhouses who were good possibilities to be the immigrant. The one from Great Hammerton was one of the possibilities.

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LC1S-NC3

Burial information:
William Backus, Sr. came from England and settled in Old Saybrook, Middlesex, Connecticut, by as early as 1637, according to some researchers, or as late as 1657, according to others. He died between June 12, 1661 and June 21, 1665 at Norwich, New London, Connecticut, soon after relocating there. We do not know the exact location of his burial site. Although it is accurate to consider him one of the founders of Norwich, he died soon after moving there, leaving his land and home to his son, Stephen. For this reason, his name does not appear in the records of the original proprietors of Norwich and it is not engraved on the Mason, or "Founders" Monument located there. The monument, located in the variously named: Mason Cemetery, Post Gager Burial Ground/Post and Gager Cemetery, Ancient Norwich Burying Ground, Norwich Founders('s) Cemetery, Founders Cemetery, etc., names only, Ensign Wm (William) Backus (Jr), and Stephen Backus, who are William, Sr.'s sons. Although their names are included on the variously named "Founders", Monument, no record, document or proof of the burial places of either son has been found, so the Mason/"Founders" Monument must be considered a cenotaph for both Ensign William Backus, Jr. and Stephen Backus. I have created Find A Grave memorials linked to William Backus Sr. for these two sons and placed them in the "Founders Cemetery", noting that the monument located there is a cenotaph for their unknown burial locations.

Birth and Death:
From what we know from baptism records of the children of William Backus, Sr., all were born to his first wife, Elizabeth, whose surname and place and dates of birth are not known. William Sr had no children with his second wife, Anne/Anna Fenton. William Sr's first wife's first name, Elizabeth, is extracted from Sheffield England burial records. Some claims of other wives in circulation are clearly wrong. There is one naming the wife of William, Jr. as William Sr’s first wife and others name various women to have been the wife of William Sr, all of whom are not proven. Although it appears from baptism records in The Parish Register of Sheffield in the County of York, (England) that all of his children were born in England and that William, Sr. brought them to America after his first wife died, we do not have exact birth dates or birth places for any of them, so only the country and birth years are given.

For the purpose of giving a history of William Backus, Sr. (in America)
the following is quoted from THE BACKUS FAMILIES OF EARLY NEW ENGLAND, by Reno Warburton Backus:

"HISTORY OF WILLIAM BACKUS OF SAYBROOK, AND OF HIS DESCENDANTS

Factual details on the life of William Backus are few. He is usually said to have been born in Norwich, England, but clear proof of this is lacking. He was established in Saybrook, Connecticut, by 1637, shortly after the founding of that settlement in 1635, probably having entered America through a Massachusetts port. Whether a wife and family accompanied him, or whether he married after his arrival, is not known.

Several authors state that he came to this country on the sailing ship Rainbow, 250 tons burden, of which Captain Haskins was Master. Col. Banks, in his Topographical Dictionary gives a list of emigrants from various cities and villages in the several counties of England in that period; among those coming from the county of York appear the names of Francis and William Backus, but without place of origin or any other data. It is assumed that this William is the one who settled at Saybrook. But what relationship did Francis bear to William, - father, brother, cousin? We do not know.

In a memoir of LeRoy Manson Backus, Sr., of Seattle, in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, July, 1949, (the material having been submitted by Mr. Backus himself), an interesting reference to William Backus appears, his year of birth being given as 1589/90.* The present writer has been unable to find any confirmation of that date elsewhere in spite of repeated search. So, for solid ground, we again must return to Saybrook and 1637.

The story of Saybrook is that of a seacoast village, now old, still small, on the Connecticut shore of Long Island Sound, at the mouth of the Connecticut River. Barber gives a fine, succinct account of the settlement and its early history. The actual site of the settlement was a broad peninsula or lip on the west bank of the river, measuring about a mile in length, connecting with the mainland by a narrow neck. Convenient for defense against marauding Indians, it did not lend itself to large development.

Records of the early personal happenings at Saybrook are sparse indeed. There are accounts of John Winthrop, The Younger, first “governor” of the settlement, and references to Lion Gardiner, the engineer engaged by Winthrop to construct fortifications. There are references also to the three chief patentees of the land grant, Lord Say and Seal, Lord Brook, whose names are commemorated by the town, and Colonel George Fenwick, who visited the settlement in 1636 and 1639 and remained several years on the latter occasion. Beyond these items, little remains of the early local history. In a town meeting of January, 1648, however, an account is given of plans for development of outlying lands around the original settlement. In this, William Backus is found among twelve men assigned land across on the east side of the Connecticut River, in that area which later became known as Lyme. Whether this was William’s homestead, or was in addition to a home in the town, is not indicated. There is no reference in the town records to his work, activities, station in life, or when or whom he first married, the dates or order of birth of his children, or when their mother died. Older accounts incorrectly show his first wife to have been Sarah Charles; but Jacobus has demonstrated clearly that Sarah Charles was the first wife of his son William, Jr., not of the senior William. By 1659 William, Sr., had taken as his second wife a widow, Mrs. Anne Bingham, variously recorded by earlier writers as Anne (Stenton) Bingham , or as Anne (Stetson) Bingham. She was the widow of Thomas Bingham, they having been married July 6, 1631, in Sheffield, England. ... Thomas and Anne (Fenton) Bingham had a son Thomas, recorded in Saybrook, Connecticut, also Norwich, and later Windham, where he was known as Thomas, Sr.. Curiously and confusingly, two children of this stepson of William Backus, Sr., later married grandchildren of William.

The records of Saybrook indicate that the shore-line soil was thin and unproductive. In time, some of the Saybrook settlers became desirous of moving to better ground. An opportunity to improve their lot came in the form of warfare between two of their neighboring Indian tribes. Mohegans under a sachem, Chief Uncas, occupied the valley of the Connecticut. To the east lived the Narragansetts, a related tribe, but one with whom they were frequently on bad terms. During this new conflict, the home stockade of the Mohegan was surrounded and placed under siege for some days. A plea to the English colonists from Chief Uncas for help against the Narragansetts caused a relief party to set out from Saybrook under Lieut. Leffingwell, breaking the siege and turning the tide of battle. For this act, the Mohegans later granted to the English a generous tract of land '''nine miles square''' around the head of the Thames River. A settlement, first occupied in the fall of 1659, was more firmly settled in the spring of 1660, and became the town of Norwich. Thirty-five families (or thirty-eight according to other authority) moved to the new location as original settlers.

William Backus, Sr., did not long survive the transfer, his share of the new land descending to his younger son, Stephen, presumably just coming of age, while his elder son, William, Jr., had a share in his own right. In this manner the two sons appear on the records among the thirty-some original proprietors of Norwich, but William, Sr., does not. Older accounts show him dying in 1664. Mary E. N. Backus in her excellent history of the family gives good reason for believing he died between June 12, 1661, the date of his will, and August 28 of that same year, since an official record of property transfer indicates that Stephen had already succeeded to his father's estate by the latter date. With the colony still in the early stages of governmental organization, legal matters sometimes suffered delay. It was June 2l, 1665, before the will of William, Sr., was allowed in the New London Court. A copy of the will is filed in the records of New London Town, Book 1646-66, pp. 143-4,...

The Norwich Vital Records (153, v.1, p. 8) list William's wife Anne, "Mother of Thomas Bingham, Sr." as dying in May, 1670."

Reference:

Backus, Reno Warburton. The Backus Families of Early New England, 1966, p. 4-9.

PLEASE NOTE:

I have marked the burial place “Unknown” because that is the only accurate category to describe what we know at this time about the actual burial location of William Backus Sr.. It is possible that he was buried in the Post Gager burial ground ("Founders Cemetery "), or that he was buried at his home on the land in Norwich that he willed to his son, Stephen. I have not created a memorial marked as a cenotaph for William Backus Sr., as I did for his sons, because his name is not engraved on the "Founders" Monument, located in the Find A Grave, "Founders Cemetery". I will not place a memorial in a cemetery without documented proof of interment (will not base interments on assumptions, internet family history trees, Millenium Files, unsubstantiated Find A Grave memorials, etc.).

The purpose of creating this memorial is simply to present as accurate a record as possible of a person who is documented to have existed, link that person to family members with known burial locations and have the record be searchable on Find A Gra

William Backus III
1606–1661 • LC1S-NC3​​
Marriage: before 1628
Yorkshire, England

Elizabeth Ellen
1603–1643 • L8M6-55L​​
Preferred

Childrenof Elizabeth Ellen and William Backus III (7)
Sarah Backus
1628–1702 • MP1D-MDT​​

Backus
1629–1630 • L82N-LPJ​​

Mary Backus
1632–1717 • LZBG-PD3​​

William Backus
1634–1721 • KNZ7-KSM​​

Lydia Backus
1637–1696 • LCV5-C25​​

Stephen Backus
1640–1695 • 9453-PQ7​​

Samuel Backhouse
1640–1640 • LZKX-38G​​

Add Childto William Backus III and Elizabeth Ellen

William Backus III
1606–1661 • LC1S-NC3​​
Marriage: about 1659
Saybrook, Colony of Connecticut, British Colonial America

Anna Fenton
1615–1670 • LVHK-NMV

Hi Susan,

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LC1S-NC3 cites unproven children and gives his wife Elizabeth a maiden name of Ellen, for which there is no record.

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/sources/LJJ5-G7R (the FamilySearch profile for Willam Backhouse (1580-1664) linked there as a father) cites trees, no records for his children.

In their “notes” section they quote publications by New England genealogist Donald Lines Jacobus, who had nothing to say about his origins.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/119440774/william-backus does not link to parents or reference any in their bio.

His father William Backus Sr died shortly after William the immigrant was born in green hammerton.west riding of Yorkshire.

William Sr IS BURIED at Whixley Green Hammerton a few miles from where i live.

So as I understand the issue, Backhouse (variously spelled) was (and is) an extensive family. William’s approximate geography & dates were established by his apprenticeship papers, this was a big “find” by genealogists. There are extant Bishop’s Transcripts for the area, they have been published, but there is still no “smoking gun” to define which birth records are associated with the immigrant.

And it takes more than baptism records, of course; and certainly we can presume the exact ones are lost to time. So wills are often a great way to “cross the ocean” in this era.

Have any been published that are promising?

BTW then obviously the FamilySearch record for https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/sources/LJJ5-G7R needs correction.

I’ve reread the previous discussion at https://www.geni.com/discussions/145975?msg=1008452

Where it seemed that there were two Williams, possibly brothers, one died about 1609 (his Will written 1592); and the other 1622.

So if William the immigrant was born 1606, he wasn’t in the 1592 will.

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