Nicholas Norris, of Exeter in New Hampshire

No reason to believe he was a son of John Norris, of Southold. Not a known child of John Norris

biography

From Lineage and Biographies of the Norris Family in America, from 1640 to 1892, by Lenoard Allison Morrison, A.M., of Windham, N.H., pub 1892 Boston, Mass, by Damrell & Upham, The Old Corner Bookstore, 207 pages. page 26

1. Nicholas Norris was the progenitor of this family. His prob-
able date of birth was about 1640. By occupation he was a tailor and planter, and was an early resident of Hampton, N. H. The tradition in regard to his origin is that he was of English extrac- tion, being a descendant of one of the Efiglish settlers in Ireland, where he was born. That he was " a stowaway " in an emigrant ship, and arrived in America when fourteen years of age. He be- longed to that goodly throng who at that early day emigrated to New Hampshire to develop and found a successful and prosperous State.

He married Sarah Coxe, 11th mo. 21st day, 1663. This is the first record of him in Hampton. On Sept. 29, 1666, he deeded a dwelling-house and three acres of planting land in Hampton to John Godfrey. That same year he appeared in Exeter, N. H. In 1677 he took the oath of allegiance, desired the jurisdiction of Massachu- setts in 1690, and was a soldier in garrison from Aug. 3 to Aug. 31, 1696, under Kinsley Hall. His home was near Meeting-house hill in Exeter Village.

On March 8, 1720-21, ten acres of land were laid out to him by the town of Exeter, on the *' north side of a masteway leading from Col. Hilton's to Pawtuckawaye Mills," it being the southwest cor- ner of John Sinkler's fifty acres of land. He deeded away land June 10, 1721, which is the last reference to him found upon any record. He must have died soon after that date.

Tradition in relation to him has about died out, but it is said that he was fond of athletic sports, and was an expert in the use of his hands. He was a resident of Exeter for fifty-seven years, perform- ing his duties as a friend, neighbor, citizen, and then disappeared from view. His descendants have become like the sands of the sea for multitude.

CHILDREN, EXCEPT THE FIRST, BORN IN EXETER, N. H.

2. Sarah Norris^ b. 20, 7, 1664 ; d. Feb. 10, 1667.

3. Sarah Norris^, b. 10, 12, 1666; d. youug.

4. John Norris^, b. 10, 5, 1667 ; no record ; he probably d. when young.

5. Moses Norris^ (11), b. Aug. 14, 1670; m. Ruth Folsom; res. Exeter,

6. Jonathan Norris^ (20), b. March 5, 1673; res. Stratham, N. H.

7. Abigail Norris^, b. Nov. 29, 1675 ; no record.

8. Sarah Norris^, b. April 10, 1678 ; no record.

9. James Norris^, b. Nov. 16, 1680; d. before March 28, 1698.

10. Elizabeth Norris^, b. Sept. 4, 1683 ; no record.

notess

The name "Norris" means 'north man,' and is widely found in Normandy and England. Early alternate spellings of the name were Norrey and Norreys. For many centuries it has been common in Sutton and Lancashire. Thomas Norreys of Speke was father to Nicholas Norreys, Esq., of Tarleton, who was succeeded by a son Nicholas Norreys of Tarleton. This Nicholas had a son, also referred to as "of Tarleton" was followed by his own son Nicholas Norreys of Middleworth, Lancashire, whose son Nicholas Norreys of Middleworth, born in 1633 was succeeded by his own son Henry Norris. It is interesting to note that in this family, the Christian name Nicholas is passed down through 5 generations and was also held by our Nicholas Norris here.

Lineage and Biographies of the Norris Family in America from 1640-1892, p. 2 states that "the tradition in regard to his origin is that he was of English extraction, being a descendant of one of the English settlers in Ireland, where he was born." He was an early settler of Hampton, NH. It also notes that he was a stowaway on a ship and arrived in America at the age of 14.

"Tradition in relation to him has about died out but it is said that he was fond of athletic sports and was an expert in the use of his hands. He was a resident of Exeter for 57 years, performing his duties as friend, neighbor, citizen and then disappeared from view. His descendants have become like the sands of the sea for multitude."

The first record of him in Hampton is that of his marriage to Sarah Coxe on 11/21/1663.

Ancestry & Descendants of Lt. Jonathan and Tamesin (Barker) Norris of Maine notes :

p. 1 : On 9/29/1666, he "deeded away his house lott 3 acres more or less with his dwelling house being and standing upon ye same" along with 6 acres of "planting land in ye north field" to his brother-in-law, John Godfrey and then moved to Exeter, NH. The following year he took the Oath of Allegiance there. He sold another house in Hampton ( previously purchased from Thomas Webster ) after his removal to Exeter.

1676 - He served as soldier in King Philip's War.

1677 - He took the oath of allegiance. ["The names of them yet tooke ye oath of Allegance to his majestic & fidelitic to ye contrey, this 30th of November, 1677" for the town of Exeter] -NEHGR, April, 1852, p. 202.
1/31/1681 - He was laid out 100 acres of land by the town of Exeter.

He signed a "Petition of New Hampshire Settlers," on 2/20/1689 [see associated scanned copy].

1690 - "He desired the jurisdiction of Massachusetts" [not known what this pertains to]. 8/3/1696-8/31/1696 - He was again a soldier in the garrison under Kinsley Hall. 2/3/1698 - He was granted 3 acres by the town. "The First Monday in April,"1705 - He was granted 20 additional acres by the town.

He was granted 10 acres on the "north side of a masteway leading from Col. Hilton's to Pawtuckawaye Mills on 1720-1721. He deeded away land on 6/10/1721. His house stood near the Meeting House in Exeter Village.

1725 - He was granted 30 more acres, this is the last record on him to be found. It is probable that he died soon after. [Ancestry & Descendants of Lt. Jonathan and Tamesin (Barker) Norris of Maine only follows the descendants of Nicholas and Sarah's son Moses. There is a note in it that states that "only one other child besides Moses was known to have had children...they may be referring to Sarah].

The preface of the book states that the first Norris recorded coming to America was John Norris who immigrated at age 18 in 1635 to the "Barmoodes or Somer Islands," on the ship "True Love" from London. He seems to have been travelling with at least 3 other young men and may have been the "Mr. John Norris" with whom conveyances of "400 acors graunted to Roxbury" the General Court of Election, held at Boston the 23rd of the 3rd month of 1655, expressed itself as being satisfied.

The only other Norris' known to have been in America at that time were the Reverend Edward Norrice and his son Edward. The Reverend Edward was born in England in 1640 and resided in Salem, MA with his wife Eleanor. Per Savage, the son Edward and a daughter Mary joined the Church of Roxbury MA in 1639-1640. Son Edward was born in 1615. He married Dorothy Johnson and had a daughter Elizabeth and a son Edward who was born on 10/18/1651 or 1657.

Since John Norris owned land in Roxbury, it is possible that John and Mary Norris (Norrice) were part of the same family. Since John was over 21 by 1655, it is improbable that he was the son of Edward, the son of the Rev. Edward Norrice as neither he nor Mary were mentioned in the will of the Rev. Edward. This will was drawn in 1657 and proved in 1660. Therefore we are drawn to conclude that provided both did not die before the Rev. Edward, they must have belonged to a different family, or perhaps they were husband and wife.

Nicholas named his oldest daughter Sarah after his wife and his second son Moses after his father-in-law, Moses Cox. It is probable that his oldest son John was named after Nicholas' father.

The progenitor of the Norris family appears to have been "Alain Norreys" who settled at Sutton, England long before the time of Henry III. His descendant, William Norreys of Sutton was the ancestor of Sir Henry Norreys who acquired in 1311, by marriage with Joan, daughter of Sir Henry Molyneaux, the Manor of Speke in Lancashire. Sir Henry had a descendant, Thomas Norreys of Speke whose son Nicholas Norreys, Esq. of Tarleton was the father of Nicholas Norreys of Tarleton. This Nicholas was had a son, Nicholas, also of Tarleton, who was the father of Nicholas Norreys of Middleworth, whose son Nicholas Norreys of Middleworth was the father of Henry Norris whom it is thought may have been a close relative of this Nicholas Norris.

https://archive.org/stream/lineageandbiogr00morrgoog#page/n25/mode/1up

• Updated from FamilySearch Family Tree via brother Oliver Norris by SmartCopy: Jun 22 2015, 14:58:52 UTC