Capt. William Hilton

Summary

• Born about 1631 (deposed aged 46 years 30 March 1677/8 [Pillsbury Anc 335, citing an unknown source]);
• Married by 1662 Rebecca Simmons, daughter of John Simmons (eldest child b. by about 1662 [GDMNH 336] on 18 April 1667 "john Symmons of Kittery" deeded land· and a dwelling house to "my son-in-law William Hilton ... as a dowry with my daughter Rebeckah now wife unto the said William" [YLR ·2:33]
• Children: John, Richard, William, Samuel, Jonathan (Possibly also Rebecca, Josiah and Anne)
• Died bef 9 Apr 1694 when administration of his estate was granted to his son Richard. See NH Deeds 43:227

Children

Known Children of William Hilton and Rebecca Symonds:

1. John, eldest son born say 1662 (Possibly the John Hilton of Marblehead who married Abigail Snelling but this is not proven)
2. Richard, born about 1664 married by about 1687 his cousin Ann Hilton
3. William, born say 1666 apprent. to Roger Rose, mariner, and sent to jail in Boston for striking his master and quitting his service. Wit. 1681; fa. called ‘sen.’ 1687. Mariner, belonging to H. M. S. Deptford, adm. gr. to bro. Richard 25 Nov. 1700.
4. Samuel, born say 1667 wit. 1687; had worked for Wm. Ardell bef. Mar. 1688-9. D. bef. his fa.
5. Jonathan born say 1684, called Richard’s brother in 1712; married his cousin Sobriety Hilton. A 1750 deed shows his ch. or heirs: Jonathan, called ‘jr.’ 1724; Charles, m. Hannah Pike (Robert) and removed to East Andover, N. H., where she died 28 Mar. 1794; John; Sobriety, m. in Beverly 25 July 1740 Ebenezer Sallows; Ann, m. Joseph Davis of Durham; Mary, m. Benj. Smart. Possible/Probable Children of William Hilton and Rebecca Symonds (not proven):
6. Rebecca, called ‘sister’ to Richard above in Bell’s Exeter, likely m. a Smart and witnessed Robert Smarts probate 1 Dec. 1703.
7. Josiah, who also witnessed with Rebecca Hilton Robert Smart’s Probate records,
8. Anne who married in Portsmouth 1 Nov. 1716 John Lobden

Biography

In 1663, as constable of Kittery, he tore up the special warrant for the election of a deputy to the Massachusetts General Court. He was on the Grand jury in 1660 and in NH in 1671, 1673, 1681, 1684-5. He was Constable in Kittery in 1660. He was selectman at Exeter in 1690. He was Capt. and Provost Marshall under Gov. Cranfield Massachusetts archives includes a letter to Gov. Andros dated 7 July 1687 which states that his ‘predecessors and himself have been inhabitants of the Province ‘neere upon 50 years,’ and that he was commander under Cranfield ab. 6 yrs. ago and that he declines a command under Capt. Robert Wadleigh.

Administration of his estate granted to son Richard 9 Apr. 1694. It includes many unpaid notes dating from 1674.

His widow Rebecca Simmons (daughter of John) of Kittery who was living in 1715.

Disambiguation

Note this is not William Hilton the famous mariner. That was William2 Hilton 1617-1675 son of William1 Hilton 1591-1655 [See NEHGR 124:88-108]. This William was a Captin in the army.

Sources

1. The Pilgrim Migration: Immigrants to Plymouth Colony, 1620-1633 (Boston, MA: NEHGS 2004) 254-261
2. "Edward Hilton", in Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), II:947-951.
3. Hilton (17)", in Noyes, Sybil; Charles Thornton Libby; and Walter Goodwin Davis. Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire. (Portland, Maine: Southworth Press, 1928-1939), 334ff.
4. Mary Lovering Holman, Ancestry of Charles Stinson Pillsbury and John Sargent Pillsbury . . . 2 vols. (Concord, 1938) 333-35
5. Charles H. Bell, History of the Town of Exeter, New Hampshire(Exeter 1888; rpt. Bowie, Maryland, 1979)