Samuel West

Samuel West (1659/1660-1685)

Summary: Samuel West lived in Salem and Bradford, Essex County, MA. He had a short and difficult life. He died at about age 25. He married Rhoda Meacham. A son, Samuel Jr., was born after his death.

Early Years of Samuel West

Samuel West was born 23 Mar 1659/1660 in Salem. [2] He was baptized on 25:1:1665 (March, Julian calendar) at First Church, Salem. [3] He was baptized with his brothers Benjamin and Joseph, and his cousin Elizabeth (daughter of Uncle Henry West and Aunt Elizabeth West). When he was 15 years old, his mother died and his father remarried. The West family moved to Bradford in 1678. [4]

Samuel West’s Head Injury

In 1679, his father brought a case to the Essex County Court: [5]

Thomas West, in behalf of his son, Samuell West v. Anthony Wood. For striking up the heels and violently striking said Samuel down. Verdict for plaintiff.

Today “kicking up our heels” means having fun. In the 1600s, it meant “to be killed.” [6] A footnote to the case reads:

John Bennet, aged about 35 yrs, deposed that a little while after his apprentice, Samuel West, came to live with him he complained of a pain in his head and said it came from a blow he received about a year before. “In the time of the war Thomas West was at my house and desired me that I would let Samuell West his sonne to keep a little out of the way in the time of the press but said if he should be prest I do not fear but that I shall get him freed because he had hurt himselfe by a fall.” Sworn in court.

In the deposition, Thomas West told Bennet to make allowances if there was a “press” on Samuel at “the time of the war.” A press was a military draft. The war was probably King Philip’s War—also called the First Indian War, 1675-1678. [7]

The Last Years of Samuel West’s Life

Samuel West became a member of First Congregational, Bradford on 6:8:1683 (October, Julian calendar). [8] His name is mentioned in a deposition at the Essex County court on 29 Jun 1685. [9]

He may have died in the summer of 1685. An estate inventory for “Samuell Westt” was taken on 14 Aug 1685, and presented in Essex County court. The inventory listed: “cloath left at James Holtons, 10s; 2 old Coates, an old pr. of Breeches & an old Shirt & Hatt, 10s; an old pr. Of shoos, 1s; total £1, 1s.” [10, 11]

This was a very poor man. It is not clear if this was the son of Thomas West. However, West researchers often use this date because of the guardian record (below). Samuel West married Rhoda Meacham before his death, and she was pregnant when he died. [12] Rhoda named their baby Samuel West, Jr.

2. Essex Institute, 1916: Vital Records of the Town of Salem, Volume I—Births, Salem, Massachusetts, p. 413. His name is spelled “Samuell” in the record. 3* . Essex Institute, 1974: The Records of the First Church in Salem, Salem, Massachusetts, p. 27.

• 4. Harry Irwin West, Jr., 1997: Descendants of Henry West (1629-1703) of Salem, Massachusetts with Some Collateral Lines of Interest, Anundsen Publishing Co., Decorah, Iowa, p. 4A. West sourced this as Essex Institute Historical Collections, Volume 16, p. 78, which I could not find.
• 5. George Francis Dow, editor, 1921: Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Volume 8, Essex Institute, Salem, Massachusetts, p. 6. Also referenced as “EIQC,” with volume number, and page number—EIQC:8:6. Presented at the Ipswich Quarterly Court on September of 1680.
• 6. Christine Ammer, 2013: The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, Second Edition, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, p. 252. “This expression originated about 1600 with a totally different meaning, “to be killed.” The modern sense, alluding to a prancing horse or exuberant dancer, dates from about 1900.”
• 7. “King Philip’s War.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Philip’s_War
• 8. J. D. Kingsbury, 1883: A Pictorial History of Bradford, Massachusetts; from the Earliest Period to the Close of 1882, C.C. Morse and Sons, Haverhill, Massachusetts, p. 36.
• 9. EIQC:9:483.
• 10. EIQC:9:560. Reviewed by the court, Nov 1685.
• 11. Essex Probate # 29371, 24 Nov 1685. M.L. Sanborn, compiler, 1987: Essex County, Massachusetts Probate Index, 1638-1840, Salem, Massachusetts. On-line index at ancestry.com.
• 12. Sidney Perley, 1926: The History of Salem Massachusetts, 1638-1670, Volume II, Salem, Massachusetts, p. 304.

Source: http://westproj.blogspot.com/search/label/Samuel%20West

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Links

• http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hwbradley/aqwc129.htm#1988C7