Roger Mowry, Sr.

Roger Mowry, Sr. was not a known son of Thomas Mowry and Elizabeth Morey. The Great Migration Begins has no parents for him.

Roger Mowry migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1620-1640).

Roger Mowry

• AKA Maury, Morey, Morie, Moorie, Mawry
• Born about 1610 in England
• Died 5 Jan 1667 at about age 57 in Providence, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
• Parents: unknown
• Husband of Mary Johnson — married about 1635 in Roxbury, Massachusetts Bay

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Roger left Bristol, England Dec, 1630 Shown in the index to the Winthrop Fleet of 1630 http://www.winthropsociety.com/settlers/m-data.htm Registered in Boston, Mass. on May 18, 1631. Lived in Salem, Mass from about 1635 to 1649. Was made freeman 1635 in Plymouth, 1655 in Providence. Roger's house was built in 1653, was on Abbot St., near North Main St., not far from the North burial ground. The house has been called the Olney House.

From: http://www.archive.org/details/mowryfamilymonum00mowrrich Reprinted from the New-Eng. Historical and Genealogical Register for April, 1898, with additions.

A UNIQUE FAMILY MONUMENT By WILLIAM A. MOWRY, Ph.D., Hyde Park, Mass.

WITHIN the cemetery near Woonsocket, R. L, opposite the Friends' Meet- ing House, and near the main entrance, has lately been erected a unique monument to one branch of the Mowry family in America, including nine generations. Excellent half-tone cuts showing this monument and the in- scriptions upon its four sides from photographs by Merrill, the photo- graphic artist in Woonsocket, are inserted in this pamphlet.

The monument is beautiful in design, of excellent proportions, every way attractive and imposing, and, standing as it does directly by the side of the thoroughfare, near the principal entrance of the cemetery, cannot fail to attract the special attention of all passers by. It is made of white bronze, in color resembling granite ; is five feet and a half square at the base and sixteen feet high. It is surmounted by a figure of Hope with one hand upon the anchor, and a face, exquisite in expression, turned up- ward. This monument was erected solely at the expense of Hon. Arlon Mowry, now of Providence, but a native and former resident of old Smith- field, later North Smithfield.

Mr. Mowry has been a successful business man ; is now president of one of the banks in Woonsocket, and has served his town and state in various public offices. He has been a member of the General Assembly and has served as State Senator. He has shown great interest in historical and genealogical matters, and his loyalty to the family whose name he bears has impelled him to the erection of this unique monument.

Upon the panels and plinths of the four sides are placed the inscriptions which include the entire genealogy of one direct line of nine generations of Mowrys in this country, beginning with Roger Mowry, one of the early settlers of Boston, and ending with the children of Arlon, including their husbands and wives.

These inscriptions include, as will be seen by reading them, a great amount of information respecting this line of descendants from the patriarch Roger. They give the names of more than one hundred persons, and the entire inscriptions embrace over one thousand words in telling the story*

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From: The Great Migration Begins

ROGER MOWRY

• ORIGIN: Unknown
• MIGRATION: 1630
• FIRST RESIDENCE: Salem
• REMOVES: Lynn by 1646, Providence by 1652
• OCCUPATION: Neat herd at Salem, 1636-41 [STR 1:41, 109]; innkeeper at Providence by 1655 [RICR 1:313]. In 1657 the Rhode Island Treasurer was ordered to pay Roger "Moorie" 1s. 6d. out of the treasury "for this day's firing & house room" [PrTR 2:110].
• CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: In list of Salem church members compiled in late 1636 [SChR 5] (annotated "removed").
• FREEMAN: 18 May 1631 (as "Roger Mawry") [MBCR 1:366].
• EDUCATION: He could sign his name [PrTR 1:63], and his wife made her mark [PrTR 3:213].
• OFFICES: Essex petit jury (from Salem), 25 January 1641[/2] [EQC 1:33].
• Providence constable, 1655 [PrTR 2:81]; one of six men chosen to hear cases in Providence 1662 [PrTR 3:37]; in later life frequently a Providence juryman.
• ESTATE: In the Salem land grant of 1636 "Roger Morie" received 40 [or 50] acres "next to Mr. Cole" [STR 1:20; 26]. On 14 August 1637, he requested a "spot of ground by Estye's" [STR 1:54-55]. He was granted three-quarters of an acre of marsh on 25 December 1637, with a household of five [STR 1:103].

He had fifty acres laid out 20 February 1637 and on 20 July 1638 he was granted a strip of meadow of 2½ acres and 1½ acres of upland [STR 1:71].

Land was laid out in Providence to Roger Mowry in early 1656 at his request [PrTR 2:92]. On 27 August 1656 he had a house lot laid out to him upon the hill against Robert Williams's meadow [PrTR 2:97]. On 15 January 1658 he bought a house and four acres from Robert Colwell [PrTR 2:16] and sold it to Thomas Olney Sr. of Providence 19 March 1658/9 [PrTR 1:62-63]. On 7 April 1660 was granted six acres of land and three acres of meadow in exchange for land that he had been previously granted [PrTR 2:126]. On 12 June 1660 he sold ninety acres of land a mile outside of Providence to John Acres of Dorchester [PrTR 1:14-6, 3:118]. On 23 November 1660 Henry Neale of Braintree, carpenter, sold Mowry everything he had in Providence, including his house, which had been purchased from Daniel Comstock [PrTR 1:57-8]; on 3 February 1661/2 Mowry sold the right of commonage that came with this land to William Carpenter [PrTR 1:85]. On 4 May 1661 Samuel Comstock's widow, Anne Smith of Providence, sold Mowry four acres in the row of houses in the the north part of Providence, next to a parcel already owned by Mowry [PrTR 1:58-9]. Mowry sold Robert Colwell's right of commonage to William Carpenter of Pautuxett on 22 December 1662 [PrTR 1:70-76]. In the Division on the East Side of the Seven Mile Line, Roger Mowry drew lot #74 on 19 February 1665[/6] [PrTR 3:73].

On 3 June 1685 Timothy Brookes reveals that "for & in satisfaction of a certain sum of money which the said Roger Mawrey promised unto the said Eldad Kinsley in marriage with his said daughter Mehittabell for part of her portion, [Mowry] did ... give ... unto the said Eldad Kinsley a certain quantity of land containing by estimation twelve acres" [PrTR 14:129].

Although Roger Mowry had made her his executrix, the widow Mary ultimately refused administration of his insolvent estate [RICR 2:244]. She later accepted administration, but neither will nor inventory survive and were missing as early as 1677 when a review of town books which had survived King Philip's war revealed that the administration papers and bond were missing. She may have been an ineffective administratrix, for son Jonathan claimed before a Providence town meeting that he had taken possession of twelve acres of upland that had been his father's right, being the "son & heir apparent" [PrTR 8:93].

• BIRTH: By about 1610 based on date of freemanship.
• DEATH: Providence 5 January 1666[/7] [NEHGR 52:207].
• MARRIAGE: By 1637 Mary Johnson, daughter of JOHN JOHNSON. She married (2) Rehoboth 14 January 1673 John Kingsley [ReVR 220] and was buried at Rehoboth 6 January 1678/9 [Early Rehoboth 1:32].

CHILDREN:

1. JONATHAN, bp. Salem 2 April 1637 [SChR 16]; m. (1) Plymouth 8 July 1659 Mary (Bartlett) Foster, widow of Richard Foster and daughter of ROBERT BARTLETT [PCR 8:22; TAG 32:193-96, 53:154-56]; m. (2) say 1694 Hannah (Pincen) (Young) Witherell, daughter of Thomas Pincen [TAG 32:194-95].
2. APPIA/BETHIAH, bp. Salem 17 June 1638 [SChR 16]; m. 30 September 1662 George Palmer [TAG 20:53-54].
3. MARY, bp. Salem 16 January 1639[/40] [SChR 17]; no further record.
4. ELIZABETH, bp. Salem 27 March 1642 [SChR 18]; living in 1690 when she appears in an account of payments from the estate of her brother John [Providence Probate A50]; apparently unmarried.
5. NATHANIEL, b. say 1643; m. (intention) Providence 28 August 1666 Joanna Inman, daughter of Edward Inman [RIVR 2:Providence:134].
6. MEHITABLE, b. say 1644; m. (1) Providence 9 May 1662 (or shortly thereafter) Eldad Kingsley [PrTR 3:23]; m. (2) by 1685 as his second wife Timothy Brooks, son of Henry Brooks (they made a deed together on 3 June 1685 [PrTR 14:129-31]).
7. JOHN, b. say 1646 ; m. by about 1674 Mary _____ [Austin 348-49].
8. JOSEPH, b. say 1647; m. by 1672 Mary Wilbur, daughter of William Wilbur [Austin 228].
9. BENJAMIN, b. 8 May 1649 [PrTR 2:18]; bp. Salem 20 May 1649 [SChR 22]; m. say 1676 Martha (Hazard) Potter, widow of Ichabod Potter and daughter of Thomas and Martha (_____) Hazard.
10. THOMAS, b. Providence 19 July 1652 [PrTR 2:18]; m. Roxbury 6 September 1673 Susanna Newell.
11. HANNAH, b. Providence 28 September 1656 [PrTR 2:18]; m. Portsmouth 3 December 1674 Benjamin Sherman [Austin 179].

• ASSOCIATIONS: Hannah Mowry and Elizabeth Mowry were members of the Salem church in the 1640s and may have been connected in some way to Roger Mowry [SChR 11]. Alternatively, their surnames may have been variants of "Moore" or "More."
• COMMENTS: In a warrant to the constable of Lynn, dated 29 December 1646, one of the witnesses was "Roger Morey" [EQC 1:107].

Mention is made of "where Rogr Morey's old house stood" in 1649 [EQC 1:175], perhaps referring to his remove from Salem to Lynn. A flawed reading of records in the case in which Mrs. Lydia Bankes sued Mowry for debt in June of 1650 resulted in the erroneous conclusion that Lydia was the daughter of John Johnson of Roxbury [EQC 1:193].

John Clawson, a servant of Roger Williams, is said to have complained of some men, "such as Roger Mowry," according to the deposition of Edward Inman on the occasion of Clawson's violent death [PrTR 15:83-84].

Roger was administrator of the estate of William Robinson of Providence in October 1657 [PrTR 2:108]. BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTE: In 1992 Dean Crawford Smith and Melinde Lutz Sanborn published a comprehensive treatment of Roger Mowry and his son Nathaniel [Angell Anc 414-34].

WILLIAM MULLI

The Mowry Tavern was one of only five buildings not burned by the Indians during King Philip's War. It probably was spared because the Indians' friend Roger Williams had held religious services there. The tavern was demolished in 1900. It had been on Abbott Street, Providence. Not only did Roger Mowry operate his own tavern, but as constable he was also able to keep his competition in line. As did most taverns in the colonies, the tavern served as much more than just a house of "publick entertainment". Town meetings, council meetings, the quarter court and religious services all met here and it served as the local jail.

Roger Mowry was a great friend of Roger Williams, removed with him to Rhode Island; both went to Plymouth, on to Salem, then to Providence. The "Olney House" on Abbott Street in Providence was built by Roger Mowry in 1653. This house had a fireplace measuring ten feet wide. Freeman 18 May 1631 Plymouth, Plymouth, MA Of 1636 Salem, Essex, MA Removed to by 1652 Providence, Providence, RI Freeman Bef 1655 Providence, Providence, RI Occupation by 1655 Providence, Providence, RI a tavernkeeper

Ship "Abigail", Henry Gaudens, Master, sailed from Weymouth, Dorset June 20, 1628. Arrived at Salem September 6 with the new government for London's Plantation, under the Governorship of Captain John Endicott. Passenger Roger Morey, Drimpton, Dorset. Another account has Roger arriving in Boston May 18, 1631. This account says Roger lived in Plymouth, MA for several years, later moving to Salem where he lived c1635-1649. He then moved to Providence, RI where he died 5 Jan 1666.

1636- He was a member of the church at Salem, MA.

1637, January 20- He was appointed cattler herder for the town for 8 mouths. He was paid 7 shillings per head, except for bulls.

1637, February 20- He had 50 acres laid out.

1643- He arrived in Providence, RI about this year.

1655- Freeman.

1655, May 25- He was appointed by the Court of Commissioners to keep a house of entertainment.

1656, August 27- He had a house lot laid out to him "upon the hill over against Roger Williams (Founder of RI) his meadow."

1658- Commissioner.

1659, April 27- Roger Mawrey acknowledged that he sold Robert Colwell the house that he dwellth in...bounded north with the land of Edward Inman.

1661, February 18- Juryman.

ROGER MOWRY, by a tradition of the family said to be a cousin or kinsman in some degree of Roger Williams, came from England, and settled at Plymouth, Mass., as early as 1631 as they both lived successively in the same towns (Plymouth, Salem and Providence).

He was made a freeman on 5/18/1631.

In 1636 he had been admitted a member of the church at Salem, of which Roger Williams was pastor. The next year he undertook, "with the help of another sufficient man," to care for the town's cattle. He was to be ready at the pen gate an hour after sunrise each day to take them, and those who did not have their cattle ready were to bring them after the herd. For each head, "all except bulls," he was to have seven shillings, to be paid "always one quarter beforehand." This price, some years later, was reduced to five shillings.

He had 50 acres laid out on 2/20/1637.

12/25/1637 - He appears on the list of inhabitants of Plymouth and his family numbered 5 persons.

6/25/1638 - He was granted a strip of meadow containing 2 1/2 acres and 1 1/2 acres upland.

3/25/1642 - He and Lawrence Southwick agreed to keep the cows in all things according to agreement of last year, except wages, which were to be 5 shillings per head.

Removing from Salem to Providence, R. I., about 1643, he was in 1655 appointed to keep a house of entertainment, and instructed to "set out at the most perspicuous place of said house a convenient sign to give notice to strangers." This occupation may account for his "entering" thirteen ankers of rum and two barrels of sack the next year. He was also made freeman in 1655.

In 1657, January 27, he was allowed by the town six pence "for this day's firing and house room." 5/4/1661 - He bought of Anne Smith, widow of John, a house and lot.

His wife, Mary Johnson, daughter of John and Margery Johnson, of Roxbury, Mass., was a kinswoman of Isaac Heath, of Roxbury, and they were married previous to 1637, probably while at Salem [Thayer and Burton Ancestry : Reminiscences of A Christmas Eve at Windermere and some early events in the life of the writer by Thayer, Geo Burton (Hartford Conn: Press of the Plimpton Mfg. Co. 1894, p. 81).

It is possible that some of Roger's children were by an earlier wife. There was a Hannah Mowry who was a member of the church at Salem in early times, and an Elizabeth Mowry, a member of the church in 1641 (with the mark of removed next to her name).

References

1. www.generationsgoneby.com
2. www.findagrave.com
3. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24639252/roger-morey
4. cady genealogy
5. http://gailstapestry.com/id135.htm
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Mowry_Tavern
7. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Mowry-83 aka Morey, Morie, Moorie, Mawry
8. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/9HRQ-TFP
9. http://db.whipple.org/getperson.php?personID=I12260&tree=Whipple
10. WikiTree contributors, "Mary (Johnson) Kingsley (1614-1679)," WikiTree: The Free Family Tree, (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Johnson-1249 : accessed 28 April 2024).
11. Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 1995. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010) Subscription Link $. < AmericanAncestors > Page 1312.
12. Dutchess County, NY: The Settlers of the Beekman Patent. Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2016), (Orig. Pub. by Frank J. Doherty, Pleasant Valley, NY. Frank J. Doherty, The Settlers of the Beekman Patent, Dutchess County, New York: An Historical and Genealogical Study of All the 18th Century Settlers in the Patent, ten volumes. 1990–2003). < AmericanAncestors > Volume 9, page 176 - 179 . “The Morey Family.” (document attached); page 179 - 182 (document attached)