Mary Willett

Mary Brown, daughter of John Browne Sr. and Dorothy, married Capt. Thomas Willett on 6 July 1636 in Plymouth. She died on 8 January 1669/70 in Little Neck RI. Some sources say that she died in Wannamoisett, Bristol, RI and was buried in Little Neck Cemetery, Riverside, Bristol, RI

10 children were known issue of Thomas and Mary:

1. Martha Willett, married John Saffin, a merchant of Boston and had eight sons; four of them were mentioned in Thomas Willett’s will.
2. Esther Willett, b. July 6, 1647
3. Hezekiah Willett, born and died in 1651
4. Rebecca Willett died April 2, 1652
5. James Willett, mentioned in will
6. Hezekiah Willett, mentioned in his father’s will, killed by Indians at the Willett plantation in Swansea.
7. Andrew Willett, mentioned in will
8. Samuel Willett, mentioned in will
9. Thomas Willett
10. Mary Willett, married Samuel Hooker

2 additional children have been attributed.

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From http://www.newenglandancestors.org/pdfs/willett_thomas.pdf

The return trip to New England was arranged. Thomas Willett had the company of another old family friend from Leyden on the outbound trip. this was his father’s friend, John Browne, along with his daughter, Mary Browne, and other members of that family who were immigrating to the new world. They left England on June 22, 1632, on board the Lion, which was a fairly large ship for the day. The return trip took twelve weeks; they arrived in Boston on September 16. Thomas Willett and Mary Brown must have seen a lot of each other during that voyage. An enduring romance must have had its inception on board the Lion.

On July 6, 1636, he married Mary, the daughter of Worshipful John Brown (b 1584 in England; d April 10, 1662, at Swansea, Massachusetts), the son of Thomas Browne. Peter Browne, the uncle of John Browne had come over on the original Mayflower, and he and the elder Thomas Browne were sons of Thomas Browne, Senior.

(comment from Miner Descent: Some romantic tales say that he was brother of  Peter Browne (1594 – 1633),  the Mayflower’s carpenter and a signer of the Mayflower Compact, but this has been disproved.  I had to delete my fun stories about Peter Browne.  ;()

The Browns were from Swansea, England, and his wife Dorothy (nee Beauchamp) had immigrated from Cambridge, England, to Holland, and then followed the Puritans to Massachusetts. Governor Winthrop performed the ceremony. The Browns had been one of the last of the Green Gate Pilgrims to leave Holland for the new world. They were old friends of the Willett family.

“By this marriage, Willett allied himself with one of the most influential families of the Plymouth Colony. Mr. Brown had become one of plymouth’s [sic] most prominent figures and had been given a patent on the Kennebec. For twelve years he was a commissioner of the United Colonies of New England, and for eighteen years he was a governor’s assistant.

Thomas Willett died at Swansea and was buried at the head of Bullock’s Cove, in what is now East Providence, RI. His tombstone gives the date of his death as August 4, 1674 “in the 64th year of his age”. His will dated April 26, 1671 and probated on August 12, 1674, left bequests to his four sons, two daughters, a brother-in-law and the church of Rehoboth.

His wife Mary died on January 8, 1699.

SOURCE: The Willett Families of North America; compiled by Albert James Willett, Jr., A Willett; House Publication

Notes

According to http://minerdescent.com/2010/06/07/john-brown-sr/, was born 1614 in Glencairn, Dumfrieshire, Scotland "There's no explanation of her being born in Scotland which seems anomalous.". Erica Howton believes (April 2014) this is a mixup with a Mary Browne of Glencairn, daughter of a Rev. Browne of Glencairn, & to be disregarded.

Leftover material:

Source for Mary Brown as daughter of John Browne of Salem, Taunton, and Rehoboth is: Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal ..., Volume 1 edited by Ellery Bicknell Crane. Page 39.

Mary BROWN was born on 24 March 1637 in Watertown, Middlesex,Massachusetts.
Sources:
1. Anderson, R.C. "The Great Migration Begins" pp.255-257. Parents: John BROWN and Dorothy KENT.

Excerpted from:

http://www.theharmons.us/harmon_t/b239.htm#P73716

note: The evidence is not convincing that her parents were John Brown and Dorothy Kent. Also, the conflicting birth dates need resolving. LDC

DEATH:

Thomas Clapp Cornell, Adam and Anne Mott: their ancestors and their descendants (N.p.: A. V. Haight, 1890), p. 251.

Footstone daughter of Worf. John Browne Esq. deceased

Thomas Willett married (1) Plymouth 6 July 1636 Mary Brown, daughter of John Brown. She died 8 January 1669[/70]. They had 7 known children:(see COMMENTS below): i MARY, b. 10 November 1637; m. Plymouth 22 September 1658 Samuel Hooker, son of THOMAS HOOKER; m. (2) Farmington 10 August 1703 Rev. Thomas Buckingham. ii MARTHA, b. 6 August 1639; m. Plymouth 2 December 1658 John Saffin . iii JOHN, b. 21 August 1641; m. in 1663 Abigail Collins, daughter of Edward Collins. iv SARAH, b. 4 May 1643; m. by 1662 John Eliot, son of JOHN ELIOT . v REBECCA, b. 2 December 1644; d. Plymouth 2 April 1652. (The death record does not give her age.) vi THOMAS, b. 1 October 1646; no further record. vii HESTER, b. Plymouth 6 July 1648; m. 24 January 1671/2 Rev. Josiah Flint of Dorchester [ Sibley 2:153 (the marriage is said to have taken place in Swansea, but the event does not appear in the published vital records of that town or of Dorchester)]. viii JAMES, b. Plymouth 24 November 1649; m. (1) Rehoboth 17 April 1673 Elizabeth Hunt [ PCR 8:52], daughter of Peter Hunt; m (2) Swansea 2 August 1677 Grace Frinck. ix HEZEKIAH, b. Plymouth 20 July 1651 [ PCR 8:12; PVR 659]; d. 26 July 1651. x HEZEKIAH, b. Plymouth "16 November or thereabouts" 1653; m. Swansea 7 January 1675[/6] Anna Brown, daughter of John Brown. xi DAVID, b. 1 November 1654; no further record. xii ANDREW, b. 5 October 1655; m. 6 March 1693/4 Susannah Holbrook [ BrVR 721; NEHGR 59:145 (defective entry)]. xiii SAMUEL, b. 27 October 1658; said to have married and had a large family at Flushing, Long Island, but there is much confusion with the descendants of another Thomas Willet who did settle in Flushing. Source: Anderson's Great Migration Study Project.

Parents John Browne 1585–1662 Dorothy Browne 1584–1674

Spouse Thomas Willett 1605–1674 (m. 1636)

Siblings John Brown unknown–1662 James Brown 1623–1710

Children Hezekiah Willet unknown–1675 Mary Willet Hooker 1637–1712 Sarah Willett Eliot 1643–1665 Esther Willett Flint 1648–1737 Andrew Willett 1656–1712

Inscription 1669 Here lyeth ye body of ye virtuous Mary Willett, wife of Thomas Willett, esqr. who died, January ye 8th, about ye 55th year of her anno.

Footstone daughter of Worf. John Browne Esq. deceased

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/54940423/mary-willett