Josiah Willard Sr.

42. Josiah WILLARD Sr. (Simon , Richard , Symon , Richard , William ) was born in 1635 in Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts. He died in Jul 1674 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut. He was buried about Jul 1674.

Josiah married Hannah HOSMER daughter of Thomas HOSMER on Mar 20 1657 in Concord, Middlesex, Ma. Hannah was born about 1636/1638 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut. She died on May 20 1674 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut.

They had the following children:

• + 80 M i Samuel WILLARD Capt.
• 81 M ii Josiah WILLARD Jr. was born on Mar 13 1660 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut.
• + 82 M iii Simon WILLARD
• 83 F iv Dorothy WILLARD was born in 1663 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut. She died on Feb 28 1754. She was buried about Feb 1754. Dorothy married John BELDEN Jr. in 1682. John was born in 1658. He died in 1714.
• 84 M v Stephen WILLARD was born in 1667 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut. He died on Jul 28 1741. He was buried about Jul 1741.
• + 85 M vi Thomas WILLARD
• 86 M vii John WILLARD was born about 1672 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut.
• + 87 F viii Hannah WILLARD

  ---

"Descendants of Josiah-2 Willard of Wethersfield, Connecticut"

Revision as of 1971 Based on the Willard genealogy, 1915 edition of which this is the first supplement. Published by the Willard Family Association of America, Inc. 1972.

It contains 182 pages of the descendants of Josiah Willard

The Willard Family Association of America, Inc. "Willard News" Volume 31, #1, May 1998 - "From the files of the Historian..."

"Josiah Willard, first son of Major Simon Willard and Mary Sharp, was born in Concord, Massachusetts about 1635 and was brought up in a farm house in Concord. The town built South Bridge as access to Simon Willard's farm high on a hill over the Concord River. That house finally burned in 1857."

"Josiah married Hannah Hosmer March 20, 1656-7. There is mention of this marriage in Concord town records, but Thomas Hosmer, her father, never lived in Concord and the notice may have been meant to honor Major Simon and Hannah's uncle, Joseph Hosmer."

"The Hosmers migrated from Hawkhurst, Kent, England to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Hawkhurst was a town near Norsmonden, Major Simon Willard's town of origin. Thomas Hosmer was in Cambridge in 1632. Major Simon came to America in May 1634 and also settled in Cambridge. He owned a dwelling house and garden on Water Street. Thomas Hosmer removed (with Hooker, according to Savage) in June 1636 to Hartford where he had a good estate, and was constable, selectman and representative several times. He was the son of Stephen and Dorothy Hosmer. Thomas was married to Frances who died February 15, 1675 at age 75. He remarried to Katherine Wilson. Thomas had four children. Hannah Hosmer's siblings were Stephen, Clemence and Hester."

"When Josiah and Hannah were married in March of 1657, she was about 18 years old and Josiah was 22. The young couple bought property on the west side of Broad Street in Wethersfield. We have printed the original deed, dated 1661, with this article."

"Josiah was one of the earliest schoolmasters in Wethersfield. He removed to Newington Parish where he may have died in 1674. There is no known record of his burial place."

"The facts about Josiah are well known, but there is much curiosity about what happened to Hannah. Hannah Hosmer Willard married William Maltby of Branford. He came to Branford in 1670; however, records prove that he was first in Guilford. He was the owner of three vessels. In 1679 he went to Wethersfield over a blazed trail from Hartford to New Haven. He bought a horse from Samuel Martin from whom Josiah and Hannah had bought the Broad Street property in 1661. In 1685 Hannah was mentioned in her father's will as Hannah Maltby so they must have married ca. 1680. Perhaps the first Mrs. Maltby died when Daniel was born or soon afterwards. Hannah brought the three youngest Willard children to Branford. William Maltby's children were listed as John, Jane, Mary, William, and Elizabeth. In another record Daniel is listed as born in 1679. In all, there was a household of nine children in their home in Branford. To determine Hannah's death date we have a record of William and Hannah witnessing a deed to John Yale in 1693 (according to Edward Brainard of Guilford) so she must have died ca. 1691 or 92. He remarried Abigail Bishop by whom he had two more children. William Maltby died 1710, and she died the same year."

"I took notes at Godfrey Library in Middletown from a small Maltby book that mentioned the following bequest in William Maltby's will: 'To Jane Parker a bedstead and bed hangings of Hannah and furniture in my hall were all Hannah's' It seems strange to me that I could not find any of the Willard children mentioned in that will."

"Sources for this article:

1) Descendants of Josiah Willard by Stephen F. Willard

2) Hosmer Genealogy by James B. Hosmer

3) Concord Climate for Freedom by Ruth R. Wheeler

4) Maltby-Baltbie Family History, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Refr. - Mal 6110

5) Stephen F. Willard's notes from Edward Brainard of Guilford

6) Willard Memoir, by Joseph Willard, 1858 / John C. Willard: conversation with a lady who had researched the later life of Hannah Hosmer Willard.

7) The History of Ancient Wethersfield by Henry Stiler, Vol. II

• ****************************

Families of Early Guilford, Connecticut by Alvan Talcott Fort Wayne Public Library Jan 8, 2001

Page 1219:

"Josiah Willard, son of Simon, died 1674. He married 20 March 1656 Hannah Hosmer. Lived in Hartford and Wethersfield, Conn. Children: Samuel...Josiah...Simon...Stephen...Thomas of Guilford, Conn., John...Dorothy, Hannah..."

• **************************

"History of Wethersfield"

Volume II, Appendices Belonging to Volume I

Page 793

"Josiah 2, (Simon 1), b. prob. in N. Eng.; m. 20 Mch., 1657-7, Hannah (dau. Thomas) Hosmer, of Htfd., where he res. for several yrs.; was adm. inhab. of Weth., Sep., 1661; was one of the messengers sent by the Weth. Ch., to bring Mr. Bulkeley from new Lond., to be the minister at W., 1666; for ldd. ppy. see Chapt. VII, Vol. I; rem. to Newington parish (Weth.) where he kept school; he d. July, 1674."

Page 910

"In 1669, the General Court granted to Josiah Willard, the Schoolmaster at Wethersfield, a hundred acres of land, without stating any location. In 1671, fifty acres more, 'in addition to his former grant,' were granted to him; and Mr. Samuel Boardman and Serg. Hugh Welles were appointed 'to lay it out to him, at Ashowassuck.' This was at Wassue, as it is now called, and is within the Five-Mile Extension. (See Thomas Edwards' grand, below.)"

• *************************

Genealogy.com

ABRIDGED COMPENDIUM, Frederick Virkus

Page 1648

"...10-Maj. Simon Willard (qv);

9-Josiah (d 1674), m Hannah Hosmer;

8-Thomas, m Abigail Bradley..."

• ************************

Genealogy.com

Bullard and Allied Families

Page 263

".. By his third wife Major Willard had eight children, and after his death, the widow, Mary (Dunster) Willard, married (second) July 14, 1680, Deacon Joseph Noyes of Sudbury, Massachusetts, and died December, 1715. Major Willard's children by the first wife, Mary Sharpe, were:

... V--Josiah, b. abt. 1635; d. 1674; m. Mar. 20, 1656-7, Hannah Hosmer of

Hartford, Conn..."

• *************************

Genealogy.com

"Colonial Families" Volume II, Meigs Family

Page 512

"Janna Meigs...m. 18th May, 1698, Hannah Willard...dau. of Josiah and Hannah (Hosmer) Willard and granddau. of Major Simon Willard."

• ************************

Genealogy.com

Hall Ancestry

Author: Charles S. Hall

Call Number: R929.2 H178

A series of sketches of the lineal ancestors of the children of Samuel Holden Parsons Hall and his Wife Emeline Bulkeleyof Binghamton, N. Y.

Bibliographic Information: Hall, Charles S. Hall Ancestry. New York: The Knickerbocker Press. 1896.

Page 168 & 169

"JOSIAH WILLARD of Wethersfield, was the eldest son of Major Simon Willard of Concord, and brother of Rev. Samuel Willard, Vice-President of Harvard College, and acting President after the retirement of Increase Mather in 1701. He was born at Cambridge or Concord, and married March 20, 1657, at Concord, HANNAH HOSMER, daughter of Thomas Hosmer of Hartford. His children born at Hartford were, Samuel, born September 19, 1658, and Josiah, March 13, 1660. He taught school at Hartford and was afterwards employed at Wethersfield where we find the following entry in the town records respecting him:

'December 8, 1665. At a town meeting of Wethersfield, it was voted and agreed that Josiah Willard should teach school for the ensuing yeare, and that for his encouragement therein, the town do engage to allow him six pounds besides what will come in, in particular by the scholars, and he to begin the work the 18th of this instant.'

In 1674, shepherds were chosen by the town, and we find that Mr. Willard and Sergeant John Kilborne held the office that year. At Wethersfield were probably born his other children, Dorothy, our ancestress, who married John Belden, Jr., eldest son of John and grandson of Richard, the first settler; and Simon, Stephen, Thomas, John, and Hannah. In 1665, he was admitted freeman. From school teaching he in time became a trader, but his studious habits and fine education did not contribute to his success, and he died in 1674, leaving his estate insolvent."

• *******************************

New England Genealogical Society

Cemetery Transcriptions from the NEHGS Manuscript Collections

"...Thomas Willard, m. Abigail, dau. of Nathan Bradley, gr. gr. gr. gr. gr. dau. of Josiah Willard, b. abt. 1635, d. 1674, m. 20. Mch. 1656/57..."

• ******************************

"The History of Ancient Wethersfield, Connecticut"

by Judge Sherman W. Andams and Henry R. Stiles, A.M., M.D.

Page 103

"In 1672, the following persons, dwelling on the east side of the River, made claim to being entitled, each, to a 52-acre lot in the 'West Division'...Mr. Josiah Willard was granted 50 acres. As these parcels all laid outside of the then limits of Wethersfield, the titles were taken directly from the Indian Chief Tarramuggas, et. alios."

Page 313

"Willard, 'Mr.' Josiah, the Settler (s. of Maj. Simon and Mary Sharpe, who were of Horsemondon, Co. Kent, Eng., and later of Concord, Mass.) b. prob. abt. 1635; adm. inhab. of Weth., Sept. 1662; was one of the messengers sent by the Town of Weth. to New Lond., 1666, to bring Mr. Bulkeley, as minister...was many yrs. the Town schoolmaster."

Page 754

"...formal consent of the First Society of Farmington to the proposed plan of double annexation. A meeting of the society was held for the purpose on April 11, 1715, and their request received from the Farmington Society a favorable response; so that all which was now needed, was the consent of the General Assembly to the project. A petition to that body was signed by...John Andrus...Simon Willard...Josiah Willard...Isaac Buck, Joseph Andrus.

"Remonstrance.-'We, the subscribers, proprietors, or instrusted with the rights of minors, in the Western Tract of Weathersfield, allowed for a district parish or Ecclesiastical Society, expressive of our dissent from the project of uniting of a part of said Tract to Farmington South Society, and of Farmington to the Northward part of our Society, as subversive to the said Society, have hereto subjoined our names...Michaell Griswold...Jacob Griswold..."

Father: Simon WILLARD b: BEF 7 APR 1605 in Horsemonden, Kent, England

Mother: Mary SHARPE b: BEF 16 OCT 1614 in Horsrmonden, Kent, England

Marriage 1 Hannah HOSMER b: ABT 1636 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut

Married: 20 MAR 1657 in Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts 28 29 30 31 9 32 14 15 33 17

Children

Samuel Willard b: 19 SEP 1658 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut

Thomas WILLARD b: ABT 1660 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut

Simon Willard b: ABT 1660 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut

Josiah Willard b: 13 MAR 1660 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut

Dorothy Willard b: 1663 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut

Stephen Willard b: ABT 1667 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut

John Willard b: 8 SEP 1673 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut

Hannah Willard b: 1674 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut

SIMON, Cambridge, s. of vol. 4, p. 555 Richard of Horsemonden, Co. Kent, where he was bapt. 7 Apr. 1605, came 1634, arr. in May, with w. Mary, d. of Henry Sharpe of Horsemonden, bapt. 16 Oct. 1614; and d. Mary; rem. next yr. to the new settlem. of Concord, where prob. this d. soon d. aft. m. with Joshua Edmunds, and b. of her first ch. 16 Feb. 1650. At Cambridge or Concord, he had Elizabeth whose date of b. is not found, wh. m. 8 Apr. 1653, Robert Blood; Josiah, whose date is also unkn.; Samuel, in recorder's rec. at Boston, call. Simon, b. 31 Jan. 1640; Sarah, 27 June or 24 July 1642, wh. m. 2 July 1666, Nathaniel Howard of Charlestown, and d. 22 Jan. 1678; Abovehope, 30 Oct. 1646, d. at 17 yrs. unm.; Simon, 23 Nov. 1649; Mary, again, 7 or 27 Sept. 1653, wh. m. 22 Jan. 1672, Cyprian Stevens; Henry, 4 June 1655; John, 12 Jan. or Feb. 1657; Daniel, 29 Dec. 1658; but of these the last four were b. of a sec. w. Elizabeth Dunster, sis. of the presid. of the coll. or third w. Mary Dunster, a niece of the presid. for the dates of m. are not giv. But bef. the b. of his next ch. he rem. to Lancaster, there had Joseph, 4 Jan. 1661; Benjamin, 1665; Hannah, 6 Oct. 1666, wh. m. 23 May 1693, capt. Thomas Brintnall of Sudbury, and was the last surv. ch. of her f.; and Jonathan, 14 Dec. 1669; beside two others, Elizabeth and Dorothy, wh. both d. young. I suppose he must have had some acquaint. in Eng. with milit. duty, for he was made lieut. here so early as 1637, capt. 1646, and maj. the highest rank at that time, in 1655; and was rep. 1636-49, chos.

Assist. 1657 to his d. 24 Apr. 1676. Bef. the Ind. destr. Groton in 1676, to wh. he had rem. a few yrs. earlier, he had estab. his retreat at Salem, but d. at Charlestown, during the sess. of the Ct. of Assist. For his serv. the governm. had many yrs. bef. made him a gr. of 1,000 acres, wh. he had never taken up, but had giv. to his d. Elizabeth on her m. but his wid. Mary was compel. to petition for it in the yr. of his d. SIMON, Salem, third s. of the preced. m. a. 1679, Martha, d. of Richard Jacob of Ipswich, where he liv. some time, had at I. Jacob, b. perhaps 17 Sept. 1680; but at S. Josiah, 24 May 1682; Martha, 27 Jan. 1684; Simon, 4 Nov. 1685, d. under 2 yrs.; and Richard 26 or 29 Jan. 1687; was freem. 1680, capt. in the E. war with the Ind. 1689, and deac. (had sec. w. 30 Apr. 1702, Elizabeth wid. of John Walley, perhaps, but the Geneal, 371, ignores this sec. w.) and late in July 1722 took ano. w. Priscilla Buttolph, and d. 21 June 1731. THOMAS, Northampton 1668, br. of Nathaniel of the same, and subject to the same maledict. See Weller. Farmer notes in 1834, that gr. of this name at Harv. were 23; at Yale, 2; at other N. E. coll. 11. In ea. of the seven generat. from maj. Simon are one or more s. of the coll. to our times.

It is not clear which on of Maj. Simon Willard's wives is the mother of Josiah.

References

1. Simon Willard, in Anderson, Robert Charles; George F. Sanborn; and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635. (NEHGS, 1999-2011), VII:421. "Mary Willard, b. say 1629; m. by 1649 Joshua Edmonds [eldest known child b. Concord 16 February 1649[/50?] [CoVR 5], son of Walter Edmonds {1638, Concord} [Wyman 423-25]." database and digital images by subscription, < AmericanAncestors >