Elizabeth Knowles

From http://www.disnorge.no/slektsforum/viewtopic.php?t=40485

Besides the Essex Co. deed above which attests to the marriage of Rev. Knowles and Elizabeth Willis, there is also a late addition to the 1619 Warwickshire Visitation which shows that Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Tomlins) Willis, married John Knowles "of Lincolnshire [sic ]

But to recur to one of Savage's statements about Rev. John Knowles ... "He was not probably a settled minister before coming over to us in Aug. 1638; he joined with the church at Boston 15 Aug. of next year having married probably in England the widow of Ephraim Davis."

I believe this statement is probably correct, even though on the surface it seems at odds with other evidence. Note the following records found in the extracted IGI:

Saint Nicholas Acons, London

• --Epharim Davis, son of Epharim, 5 February 1632
• --Elizabeth Davis, dau. of Ephraim and Elizabeth, 25 Jan. 1633
• --Samuell and William Davis, son of Ephraim and Elizabeth, 16 February
• 1634
• --John Knoles to Elizabeth Davis, 11 Feb. 1637

As Rev. John Knowles had a biographical sketch in the _DNB_ (and is probably in the new _ODNB_), possibly this could be a correction

http://www.disnorge.no/slektsforum/viewtopic.php?t=40485

Another possible marriage for Elizabeth Willis,

Elizabeth Willis, daughter of the famous schoolmaster, Thomas Willis, and his wife Mary Tomlins [of Isleworth, Middlesex, and Lynn, Massachusetts], is known to have become the wife of Rev. John Knowles from an Essex Co. (Mass.) deed printed in _NEHGR_, 30:463:

WILLIS, KNOWLES.---[Essex Co. Deeds, B. iv. page 446.]---Edward Rawson, of Boston, agent and attorney to "the Reverend John Knowles, hearetofore of watertowne, in the county of midlesex in New England aforesaid, lately: & now in & about the citty of London Clerk, as by his the said John Knowles: letter of Aturney the one bearing date from Bristoll, the 23 february 1657: the other from London august the 14th sixteene hundred seaventy two," &c. &c., conveys (31 Dec. 1673) to Isaac Hart "of Lynn or Lynn Village, now called Redding," the five hundred acres granted by the town of Lynn to Mr. Thomas Willis, and "which the said John Knowles then had & enjoyed by the gift of his father in law, the sd above mentioned Thomas Willis." This conveyance Mr. Rawson makes "in the names of the said John Knowles & Elizabeth his wife."

Savage's _Genealogical Dictionary_ says the following about Rev. Knowles:

[KNOWLES,] JOHN, Watertown, the sec. min. of that town, was b. in Lincolnsh. bred at Magdalen Coll. Cambridge, where he was matric. a pensioner July 1620, sign. without final s. had his B. A. Jan. 1623, O. S. and M. A. 1627, with last letter, and was chos. a fellow of Catharine Hall, 9 July 1627, tho. Mather says, of Emanuel in his common heedless way. He was not prob. a sett. min. bef. com. over to us in Aug. 1638; he join. with the ch. at Boston 15 Aug. of next yr. hav. m. prob. in Eng. the wid. of Ephraim Davis; in Mar. foll. was dism. to go to aid Phillips at W. and there was ord. 9 Dec. 1640 as pastor, went on a mission, 1642, to Virginia, back next yr. was freem. 1650, and next yr. went home, and for some time preach. at Bristol, was silenc. by the act of 1662, and dur. the plague of London, 1665, was there with w. Elizabeth. On the d. of Presid. Chauncey, 1672, he was propos. to succeed him as head of Harv. Coll. tho. in Mather's Hist. we should not look to discov. any thing like it, for that writer is very sparing of his facts in the chap. devot. to this life, III. 216, and in the first classis insert. him without bapt. name. He had at W. by w. Elizabeth Mary, b. 9 Apr. 1641; Elizabeth 16 May 1643; and Hannah, wh. are found to be his ch. the first two by a gift in will of Edward How to ea. and Hannah, by her petit. aft. com. back hither in 1681. calls hers. his ch. represent. injury by desert. of her and her ch. by h. Benjamin Eyre, and pray. for divorce, 17 Nov. 1685. He d. 10 Nov. 1685, at gr. age.

• London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 about Elizabeth Willis Name: Elizabeth Willis Baptism Date: 12 Oct 1620 Parish: Collegiate Church of St Katherine by the Tower County: London Borough: City of London Parent(s): Thomas Willis Record Type: Baptism Register Type: Parish Register
• page 39 of "A history of the Willis family of New Englnd and New Jersey and their ancestors, comprising the families of Farrand, Ball, Kitchell, Cook, Ward, Fairchild, Plume, Bruen, Smith, Treat, Pierson, Crane, Cooper, Sanford, Sheafe and others; to which is added a history of the family of John Howard, esq., of Richmond, Virginia, and the Harris and Macleod families of Georgeia"

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Biography

From “Another possible marriage for Elizabeth Willis, wife of Rev. John Knowles of Watertown.” < soc.genealogy.medieval >

Elizabeth Willis, daughter of the famous schoolmaster, Thomas Willis, and his wife Mary Tomlins [of Isleworth, Middlesex, and Lynn, Massachusetts], is known to have become the wife of Rev. John Knowles from an Essex Co. (Mass.) deed printed in _NEHGR_, 30:463:

WILLIS, KNOWLES.---[Essex Co. Deeds, B. iv. page 446.]---Edward Rawson, of Boston, agent and attorney to "the Reverend John Knowles,

hearetofore of watertowne, in the county of midlesex in New England aforesaid, lately: & now in & about the citty of London Clerk, as by his the said John Knowles: letter of Aturney the one bearing date from Bristoll, the 23 february 1657: the other from London august the 14th sixteene hundred seaventy two," &c. &c., conveys (31 Dec. 1673) to Isaac Hart "of Lynn or Lynn Village, now called Redding," the five hundred acres granted by the town of Lynn to Mr. Thomas Willis, and "which the said John Knowles then had & enjoyed by the gift of his father in law, the sd above mentioned Thomas Willis." This conveyance Mr. Rawson makes "in the names of the said John Knowles & Elizabeth his wife."

Savage's _Genealogical Dictionary_ says the following about Rev. Knowles:

[KNOWLES,] JOHN, Watertown, the sec. min. of that town, was b. in Lincolnsh. bred at Magdalen Coll. Cambridge, where he was matric. a pensioner July 1620, sign. without final s. had his B. A. Jan. 1623, O.S. and M. A. 1627, with last letter, and was chos. a fellow of Catharine Hall, 9 July 1627, tho. Mather says, of Emanuel in his common heedless way. He was not prob. a sett. min. bef. com. over to us in Aug. 1638; he join. with the ch. at Boston 15 Aug. of next yr. hav. m. prob. in Eng. the wid. of Ephraim Davis; in Mar. foll. was dism. to go to aid Phillips at W. and there was ord. 9 Dec. 1640 as pastor, went on a mission, 1642, to Virginia, back next yr. was freem. 1650, and next

yr. went home, and for some time preach. at Bristol, was silenc. by the act of 1662, and dur. the plague of London, 1665, was there with w. Elizabeth. On the d. of Presid. Chauncey, 1672, he was propos. to succeed him as head of Harv. Coll. tho. in Mather's Hist. we should not look to discov. any thing like it, for that writer is very sparing of his facts in the chap. devot. to this life, III. 216, and in the first classis insert. him without bapt. name. He had at W. by w. Elizabeth, Mary, b. 9 Apr. 1641; Elizabeth 16 May 1643; and Hannah, wh. are found to be his ch. the first two by a gift in will of Edward How to ea. and Hannah, by her petit. aft. com. back hither in 1681. calls hers. his ch. represent. injury by desert. of her and her ch. by h. Benjamin Eyre, and pray. for divorce, 17 Nov. 1685. He d. 10 Nov. 1685, at gr. age. (p. 41)

http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC24021998&id=5hwiMrhaBMUC&pg=P...

Besides the Essex Co. deed above which attests to the marriage of Rev. Knowles and Elizabeth Willis, there is also a late addition to the 1619 Warwickshire Visitation which shows that Elizabeth, daughter of Thomasnand Mary (Tomlins) Willis, married John Knowles "of Lincolnshire [sic ?]."

(p. 311)

http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC03975659&id=pTMEAAAAIAAJ&pg=R...

But to recur to one of Savage's statements about Rev. John Knowles ...

"He was not probably a settled minister before coming over to us in Aug. 1638; he joined with the church at Boston 15 Aug. of next year having married probably in England the widow of Ephraim Davis."

I believe this statement is probably correct, even though on the surface it seems at odds with other evidence. Note the following records found in the extracted IGI:

Saint Nicholas Acons, London

--Epharim Davis, son of Epharim, 5 February 1632
--Elizabeth Davis, dau. of Ephraim and Elizabeth, 25 Jan. 1633
--Samuell and William Davis, son of Ephraim and Elizabeth, 16 February
1634
--John Knoles to Elizabeth Davis, 11 Feb. 1637

As Rev. John Knowles had a biographical sketch in the _DNB_ (and is probably in the new _ODNB_), possibly this could be a correction.

5. Ephraim was left twenty shillings in the will of his uncle Thomas, and his father in his will of 1626 left him 12 pence. He apparently never left England, but is probably the Ephraim Davis who is mentioned in Massachusetts records as having married the sister of Robert Bills [sic: Willis] who died December 15, 1635. This Ephraim died in England before January 8, 1638 when his widow's second husband, the Rev. John Knowles of Water­town, was appointed administrator of Bills‘ estate.

References

• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Davis-2259
• Davis, Edwin Pountney. Davis, of Acton Turville, Gloucestershire: The Ancestry of James, Thomas and John Davis, who Settled in Newbury, Massachusetts c1638. (São Paulo, Brazil : privately published, 1984). (document attached).
• https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~cdavis2/
• A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: K-R By James Savage. Page 41. < GoogleBooks >
• WikiTree contributors, "John Knowles (abt.1606-1685)," WikiTree: The Free Family Tree, (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Knowles-163 : accessed 16 February 2024).