Lawrence Litchfield

Lawrence Litchfield (c1616-1649), immigrant, first appears in New England records at Scituate, Massachusetts. He seems to have been one of a group known as "the men of Kent." He probably arrived on the Griffin about 1639 with a group of settlers from near Egerton, Kent led by Rev. John Lathrop. They settled near Scituate. There was opposition among the colonists to the leadership of Rev. Lathrop and they decided to move as a group to Sippican on the south shore. However, the place was prone to attack from Indians and French pirates and the colonists changed their minds and in 1640 moved instead to Barnstable, Massachusetts, where Lawrence Litchfield married Judith Dennis.

The Boston Artillery Company was chartered about this time and in 1640 Lawrence Litchfield was received as a member, probably in a semi-official capacity as a representative of Rev. Lathrop's colony. He attended the Artillery School at Boston, and became a member of the Ancient and Honourable Artillery Company. He was of Barnstable as late as 1643 when he appears on a muster roll of those able to bear arms.

About 1645 Lawrence Litchfield returned with his wife and two children to Scituate where he had relatives (the Dennises, Rickers, Woodfields and Allens). He was named there in 1646. He is last known alive on 14 November 1648, when he was made a beneficiary of the will of Thomas Rickard. His children inherited property on 16 February 1649 from William Dennis, of Scituate, and on 27 May 1672 from Esther Woodfield.

On his deathbed Lawrence sent for his wife's sister, Anna (Dennis) Allen and her husband John Allen, and gave them his youngest child, Josiah, to raise but his widow Judith would not at first consent. Judith, re-married almost immediately (2 October 1649) to William Peakes - not unusual in those times for a woman with small children. Judith later allowed her son Josiah to be adopted by John and Anna Allen.

The adoption document uses complex descriptions of relationship. A careless reading has caused some to suppose (1) that Judith Dennis was formerly the wife of John Allen, (2) that Anna Allen (wife of a different John Allen) was the former wife of Lawrence Litchfield, (3) that Judith Dennis married William Peakes during the lifetime of her first husband Lawrence Litchfield, and therefore (4) that Judith Dennis permitted her husband Lawrence Litchfield to give their youngest child to a former wife.

"These prsents Witnesse that the 20th of march 1657-8 Judith the wife of William Peaks acknowlidged that her former husband Lawrance Lichfeild lying on his Death bedd sent for John Allin and Ann his wife and Desired to give and bequeath unto them his youngest son Josias Lichfeild if they would accept of him and take him as theire Child; then they Desired to know know how long they should have him and the said Lawrance said for ever; but the mother of the child was not willing then; but in a short time after willingly Concented to her husbands will in the thinge."

Sources

• George H. Smith, Goss Ancestry
• Litchfield Genealogy

  ---

  
  

Lawrence Litchfield was my 8th great-grandfather. He was an English immigrant to America. He married Judith Dennis, daughter of William Dennis and Jane Scarlet, about 1640 in Scituate, MA, so that places him in America at that time. Together they had five children, Experience, Remember, Dependence, Elisha, and Josiah, my 7th great-grandfather. He attented the Artillery School in Boston in 1640 and became a member of the ancient and Honourable Artillery Company. He was in Barnstable, MA as late as 1643, but in 1646 again in Scituate, MA. (George H. Smith, Goss Ancestry)

GEDCOM Note

Lawrence Litchfield (c1616-1649), immigrant, first appears in New England records at Scituate, Massachusetts. He seems to have been one of a group known as "the men of Kent." He probably arrived on the Griffin about 1639 with a group of settlers from near Egerton, Kent led by Rev. John Lathrop. They settled near Scituate. There was opposition among the colonists to the leadership of Rev. Lathrop and they decided to move as a group to Sippican on the south shore. However, the place was prone to attack from Indians and French pirates and the colonists changed their minds and in 1640 moved instead to Barnstable, Massachusetts, where Lawrence Litchfield married Judith Dennis.

The Boston Artillery Company was chartered about this time and in 1640 Lawrence Litchfield was received as a member, probably in a semi-official capacity as a representative of Rev. Lathrop's colony. He attended the Artillery School at Boston, and became a member of the Ancient and Honourable Artillery Company. He was of Barnstable as late as 1643 when he appears on a muster roll of those able to bear arms.

About 1645 Lawrence Litchfield returned with his wife and two children to Scituate where he had relatives (the Dennises, Rickers, Woodfields and Allens). He was named there in 1646. He is last known alive on 14 November 1648, when he was made a beneficiary of the will of Thomas Rickard. His children inherited property on 16 February 1649 from William Dennis, of Scituate, and on 27 May 1672 from Esther Woodfield.

On his deathbed Lawrence sent for his wife's sister, Anna (Dennis) Allen and her husband John Allen, and gave them his youngest child, Josiah, to raise but his widow Judith would not at first consent. Judith, re-married almost immediately (2 October 1649) to William Peakes - not unusual in those times for a woman with small children. Judith later allowed her son Josiah to be adopted by John and Anna Allen.

The adoption document uses complex descriptions of relationship. A careless reading has caused some to suppose (1) that Judith Dennis was formerly the wife of John Allen, (2) that Anna Allen (wife of a different John Allen) was the former wife of Lawrence Litchfield, (3) that Judith Dennis married William Peakes during the lifetime of her first husband Lawrence Litchfield, and therefore (4) that Judith Dennis permitted her husband Lawrence Litchfield to give their youngest child to a former wife.

"These prsents Witnesse that the 20th of march 1657-8 Judith the wife of William Peaks acknowlidged that her former husband Lawrance Lichfeild lying on his Death bedd sent for John Allin and Ann his wife and Desired to give and bequeath unto them his youngest son Josias Lichfeild if they would accept of him and take him as theire Child; then they Desired to know know how long they should have him and the said Lawrance said for ever; but the mother of the child was not willing then; but in a short time after willingly Concented to her husbands will in the thinge."

GEDCOM Note

GEDCOM Note

Contents

[hide] 1 Biography 1.1 Parentage 1.2 Date of Birth 1.3 Disputed Origin, Immigration, Initial Settlement in New England 1.4 Settlement in Barnstable; Move to Scituate 1.5 Military Company of Massachusetts 1.6 Marriage 1.7 Children 1.8 Death 2 Records 3 Sources Biography

Parentage

The parentage of Lawrence Litchfield of Barnstable and Scituate is unknown, and no reasonably plausible candidates have been proposed.

Date of Birth

Lawrence's date of birth is uncertain. The earliest record of him is as an adult inhabitant of the town of Barnstable in 1639. He was therefore born no later than 1618. Based on the fact that his first child was born about 1641-2, he was probably born no earlier than 1612. It is therefore likely that Lawrence was born sometime in 1612-1618, with 1615 being a reasonable midpoint.

Disputed Origin, Immigration, Initial Settlement in New England

In his 1855 NEHGR article "Genealogy of the Descendants of Lawrence Litchfield," Abner Morse stated that Lawrence had "numerous connexions" with men from Egerton, Kent who immigrated with Rev. John Lathrop aboard the Griffin in 1634 and initially settled in Scituate before moving to Barnstable about 1640.[1] Based on this premise, Morse implied that Lawrence may have come from Kent and immigrated aboard the Griffin and said that Lawrence initially settled in Scituate before moving to the town of Barnstable by 1643.[1] In probable reliance on Morse, a number of secondary sources (e.g., Cutter and Whittemore) adopted some or all of these assertions.[2][3]

All of those assertions, however, are quite speculative and have little or no evidentiary support. The evidence of Lawrence's earliest presence in New England is a 1643 list of townsmen of Barnstable which states that he settled in Barnstable in the spring of 1639. While the entries in that record for a number of other Barnstable townsmen indicate that they moved there from Scituate, the entry for Lawrence does not. Moreover, there is no evidence that shows that Lawrence had any association with any of the "men of Kent" until after 1639 and no evidence that he lived in Scituate prior to 1646.

The one piece of evidence that suggests that Lawrence may have been in Scituate prior to 1646, is the fact his father-in-law, William Dennis, is known to have been a resident of Scituate by 1643. It is therefore reasonably plausibly that Lawrence met his wife in Scituate before moving to Barnstable in the spring of 1639.

From the reliable evidence:

There is no reasonable basis for suggesting Lawrence's place of birth or origin, beyond the proposition that it is likely that he was born in and immigrated from England. Based on the 1643 record referenced above, it appears that Lawrence immigrated to New England sometime in spring of 1639 or earlier; however, his date and means of immigration are unknown. There is no evidence that he settled in New England at any location prior to Barnstable, although it is possible that he may have. Settlement in Barnstable; Move to Scituate

As discussed above, a 1643 list of townsmen of Barnstable states that Lawrence settled there in 1639.[4] He also appears in other lists of inhabitants of Barnstable in 1640[5] and 1643.[6][7] There is no record of him in Barnstable after 1643. The first record indicating that Lawrence had moved to Scituate is the record of the birth of his daughter Dependence in February 1646/7.[8] It therefore appears that Lawrence lived in Barnstable from 1639 until moving to Scituate sometime between 1643 and February 1646/7.

Military Company of Massachusetts

The records of the Military Company of Massachusetts (later called the Ancient and Honorable Military Company of Massachusetts) show that Lawrence joined as a member in 1640-1. While the Military Company conducted its exercises in Boston, since (i) Barnstable records list him as a resident in 1640, (ii) there are no records of him as a resident of Boston and (iii) the Military Company only trained on the first Monday of every month,[9] it is likely that Lawrence merely visited Boston once a month for training and never resided there.

Marriage

Lawrence married Judith Dennis, daughter of William Dennis.[10][11] The fact of their marriage is established by William Dennis's will made after Lawrence's death, which refers refers to "my son in law William Peakes and my daughter Judith his wife" (Scituate vital records include an entry for the marriage of Judith Lechfeeld (Lawrence's widow) and William Peaks in Scituate on October 2, 1650.[12]%29 and includes bequests to Remember Leichfeild, Dependance Leichfeild and Experience Leichfeild.[13]

Lawrence and Judith were probably married about 1640.[10][11] Their date of marriage is based on the estimated date of birth of their first child. They were almost certainly married somewhere in the Plymouth Colony, but in which town is uncertain. Based on Lawrence's residency in Barnstable starting in the Spring of 1639, they may have been married there. However, based on the fact that Judith's father, William Dennis, was living in Scituate by 1643, it is also possible that they were married there.

Children

Lawrence and Judith had the following children:

Experience, b. probably sometime in 1641-2 in Barnstable,[14] never married,[14] d. August 1, 1673 when he slipped while carrying a heavy piece of timber onto a ship and it fell on his head[14] Remember, b. probably about 1644 in Barnstable,[15] m. probably sometime in 1666-70 Henry Luce,[15][16] d. probably after November 1708[15] Dependence, b. February 15, 1646/7 in Scituate,[8][17] probably never married,[17] d. after 1672[17] Josiah/Josias, b. April 3, 1648,[18] m. February 22, 1671/2 Sarah Baker in Scituate,[12][18] d. before January 1707/8 (date of inventory of estate)[18] Death

The last record of Lawrence as a living person is the will of Thomas Rickard of Scituate, dated November 14, 1648, which includes a bequest to "Laurance Letchfeild."[19] Since (i) Scituate records show a marriage between Judith Lechfeeld and William Peaks[12] and (ii) the will of Lawrence's father-in-law William Dennis, dated February 16, 1649/50, refers to "my son in law William Peakes and my daughter Judith his wife,"[13] Lawrence must have died, and his widow married William Peakes, sometime before the date of the will. Lawrence therefore died sometime between November 14, 1648 and February 16, 1649/50.

Records

1640. Laurence Lichfield included in list of inhabitants of the town of Barnstable in 1640.[5] 1640-1. Lawrence Litchfield included in list of new members of the Military Company of Massachusetts recruited in 1640-1[20] 1643. A list of the townsmen of Barnstable Jan. 1643-4, includes Lawrence Litchfield of B., Spring 1639 [indicating that he first settled in Barnstable in Spring 1639][4] 1643. Lawrence Litchfield included in a list of the inhabitants of Barnstable in 1643[6] 1643. Laurance Lichfield included in the August, 1643 list for Barnstable township of males able to bear arms between the ages of 16 and 60[7] 1647. Dependance, d. of Larance Lechfield, born February 15, 1646/7 (recorded in Scituate)[8] 1648. Will of Thomas Rickard of Scituate, dated November 14, 1648 includes a bequest to Laurance Letchfeild[19] 1649. Will of William Dennis of Scituate, dated February 16, 1649/50, refers to "my son in law William Peakes and my daughter Judith his wife" and includes bequests to Remember Leichfeild, Dependance Leichfeild and Experience Leichfeild.[13] 1650. Judith Lechfeeld [Lawrence's widow] married William Peaks in Scituate on October 2, 1650.[12] [Note: Based on date of 1649 will above, the date for this marriage must be incorrect.] 1657. Judith, wife of William Peaks testifieth that her former husband, Lawrence Litchfield, lying on his death bed, did send for John Allen and Ann his wife, and desired to give their youngest son Josiah, to be their adopted child--where-into all consented. Signed: John Allen, Ann Allen, Judith Peaks.[21]

GEDCOM Note