Thomas Sayre, of Southampton

Thomas Sayre migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 298)

Thomas Sayre

• Birth: July 20 1597 - Leighton Buzzard, Bedford, England
• Death: Will written: 16 September 1669. Inventory of Estate: 10 June 1670 (valued at £307.07.00. Southampton, Suffolk, New York
• Parents: Francis Sayre and Elizabeth Atkins
• Wife: not Margaret Aldrich. 1) unknown, mother of his children. 2) Eleanor, widow of Edward Howell.
• 7 Children: Damaris Atwater (born Sayre), Francis Sayre, Daniel Sayre, Joseph Sayre, Job Sayre, Mary Alice Price (born Sayre), Hannah Sayre

Biography

Thomas Sayre was known as one of the founders of Southampton, NY. The first record of his being in America is 1638, in Lynn, MA. Prior to 1640, the Sayre family and seven other families, purchased a sloop, and sailed to Southampton area. Articles of agreement dated March 10, 1639/40 were drawn up and signed.

Savage's Dict. vol 4, p. 33 - Thomas Sayre lived in Lynn, Connecticut. 1635, one of the purch. 1640, of Southampton, L. I. may be the freem of 22 May 1639, giv. on rec. Say or Says; and also may be f. of one or more of the first nam. sett. at S. Conject. is unsatisfact. when Shurtleff and Paige differ in spell. of the names, and confid. is still less indulg. as to the surname of two syl. when ano. THOMAS is found in the will of Stephen Lincoln, at Hingham, 1658.

- p. 59: SAYRE (Sayer, Sayres) Thomas (1597-1670; son of Francis). from Leighton Buzzard, Co Bedford, New York, England., 1630; farmer and tanner; first recorded at Lynn, Massachusetts, 1638; a founder of Southampton, L. I. 1640; where he built a house still standing; served as a scout against the Indians at Southampton.

Family

Version # 1

2626–2627. Thomas Sayre was born in Leighton Buzzard, Bedford, England, on Wednesday, July 20, 1597, and died in Southampton, Suffolk, New York, on April 23, 1671.

Margaret Aldrich was born probably in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England, in—say—1600, and died in Lynn, Southampton, Long Island, New York. They were married in England about 1625. She took the name Margaret Sayre. He is the son of Francis and Elizabeth (Atkins) Sayre. They had eight children:

• i. Damaris Sayre [#1313]: She was born in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England, in—say—1625, and died in New Haven, Connecticut Colony, on April 1, 1691.
• ii. Francis Sayre was born in Leighton Buzzard in 1628, and died on January 20, 1698.
• iii. Daniel Sayre was born in Leighton Buzzard in 1633, and died in April, 1707-8. He married Hannah Foster in Southampton, Long Island, New York, before 1666.
• iv. Joseph Sayre was born in 1635.
• v. Job Sayre was born in Lynn, Massachusett, or Southampton, in 1637. He married Hannah Rayner Howell in Southampton on June 18, 1670.
• vi. Mary Sayre was born about 1640. She married Benjamin Price before 1669.
• vii. [daughter] Sayre was born in 1642.
• viii. Hannah Sayre was born in Southampton in 1653.

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Version # 2

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Sayre-44
Last modified 26 Dec 2023

Thomas married (1) at England, between 1620 and 1630, say 1620, to a woman whose name is not known. She was the mother of his children. He married (2), before 14 March 1663.[12] Eleanor (_____) Howell, the widow of Edward Howell.[13] See also, Research Notes.

His children, ordered as named in Thomas will.[4]

1. Francis Sayre m. Sarah Wheeler (Inhabitant 1657, 2nd child b. 1665)
2. Daniel Sayre m. (1) Hannah Foster; (2) Sarah ___ (Inhabitant 1657, 2nd? child b. c. 1666.
3. Joseph Sayre m. Martha ___
4. Job Sayre m. (1) Sarah ____; m. (2) Hannah Raynor Howell (land laid out 1667, child b. 1672
5. Damaris Sayre m. David Atwater before 1647; ch. b 1647-1666
6. Mary Sayre m. Benjamin Price before 1669
7. Hannah Sayre was under 18 in 1669, so b. after 1651

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Research Notes

Noteworthy. (a) 1st immigrant to America. Built one of the oldest homes in New York-South Hampton, Long Island; (b) Banta's 1901 Sayre Descendants. this is the "Founder" of the sayre family in Southampton, L.I. settlement.

First Wife. There are no contemporary records about Thomas's wife. Some records have her name as Aldrich; others as Aldred. Long Island Genealogy; The Sayre Family of Long Island includes a note about Margaret Aldrich, "some question has been submitted that this might not be the spouse of Thomas."

An email from Ralph Sayre addresses the Aldrich/Aldred association, writing, "I have tried for years to track down the source of this name. Clarence A. Torrey published that death date in his book, NEW ENGLAND MARRIAGES PRIOR TO 1700 ... used the surname Aldred. I had his source material searched at NEGHS and nothing turned up to show where he got that name and the accompanying notations ... Some secondary sources have given parents to Margaret Aldred as John and Agnes (Ross) Aldred--but to everyone that I have inquired, no primary source is known. If anyone can add light to this please email either Ralph or Long Island Genealogy. [14]

New England Marriages prior to 1700. Thomas Sayre (1597, 1590, 1594-1670), marriage circa 1620/1630; 1620 at England; wife Margaret Aldred (23 August 1634). Locations as Lynn/Southampton. Works consulted as "Johnson (,7) 12 Chart; NYGBR 12:132; Southampton 374; Sayre 16; Maltby Anc. 108+; Beecher-Bullard 89; Ludington-Saltus 199; Coe-Ward 87; Cory (1914) 79; Williams (#16) 271; Clark (1942)."[15]

Second marriage. See also the especially well summarized 2020 G2G, "Should Eleanor, wife of Edward Howell, be connected as 2nd wife of Thomas Sayre?" < link >

That Thomas Sayre married, as his second wife, Eleanor (Ellinor), the widow of Edward Howell is advanced by a 1663 Southampton record,[16]

Edmund Howell sells to his father in law Thomas Sayer, all that belongs to said Edmund by right of his father deceased, from ye towne, in exchange for Thomas Sayre's share of the highway between the home lots of Thomas Sayre and Edmund Howell. March ye 14th 1663.

In print, this record is found to have been interpreted variously. As below, mostly from the G2G summary:

• 1887. George Howell. Early History of Southampton ... (p. 319) "Edmund Howell must have married a d. of Thomas Sayre."
• 1901. Thomas Banta author of the Sayre Family (p. 24) attributes an unknown daughter of Thomas Sayre, who married Edmond Howell.
• 1939. Herbert Seversmith. Colonial Families of Long Island. (footnote p. 1425) "Thomas Sayre was the "father" of Edmund Howell. Probably a step father, it may be that Eleanor, widow of Edward Howell, had married to Thomas Sayre. ... Further investigation is needed." (No further investigation observed).
• 1985. entered as fact in "Descendants of Edward Howell," The Genealogist, vol 5. p. 3 and footnote #17 p. 37 which cites Seversmith.
• 2011: Entered as fact in Douglas Richardson's Magna Carta Ancestry. p. 426. Also found in his 2009 post here.

The second marriage to Eleanor (_____) Howell is not without controversy. A prior version of this profile reported:

There is a note at Edward Howell's profile that his widow married Thomas Sayre. It is an interesting lead for a second marriage. Especially of note is that her home had been burned by Indians. In his book on the Sayre family, Banta quotes that a house was burned by Indians and "only one gave more than Thomas Sayre." He uses this to suppose that Thomas was generous of heart.

An article in The American Genealogist (TAG) Vo. 38 (1962) page 226 says "...offers the likely solution that Edmund Howell's mother, Mrs. Eleanor Howell, may have married Thomas Sayre as his second wife. Eleanor survived her husband, Edward Howell, who died in 1655; Thomas Sayre had no wife living when he made his will in 1669."[17]

Daughter m. Edmund Howell. A prior version of this profile reported as an additional child, the daughter Banta had included, because Edmund Howell called Thomas Sayre father-in-law. The profile noted, "She may not exist. It may be that the wife of Edmund's father, Edward, married Thomas Sayre, both as second marriages."

The following was provided by Robert Wernersbach (e-mail address invalid as of Oct. 2002).

There was a family tradition that Thomas Sayre was employed by the English mint prior to his emigrating, but there are no records extant to that tradition. He immigrated to Lynn, Massachusetts, sometime before 1638, at which point he first appears on the town records as proprietor of 60 acres, his brother Job Sayre also with 60 acres. Lynn was founded in 1629, so it is possible he may have been there earlier than 1638.

In 1639, he, along with his brother and six others, undertook to form a new colony on Long Island. Up to that time, six other colonies had been formed by people leaving Lynn to strike out as pioneers. The small group, which intended to form a colony with eventually twenty families, bought a sloop for £80, with the Sayre brothers contributing £5 each. They signed the boat over to one of their number, David Howe, a sailor, in exchange for his agreeing to use the sloop to convey belongings and people three times a year over the next two years. By May of 1640, they had sailed down Long Island Sound and landed at present day Manhasset, at the head of Cow Bay, or Schout's Bay, as the Dutch called it.

What transpired at this point is recorded by Banta in The Sayre Family, drawing on Howell's History of Southampton and New York Colonial Documents, vol. II, pp. 144–150. It seems that the pioneer Puritans had little regard for the Dutch rule at New York, and by landing at Schout's Bay, they sought to challenge it. The land they first set foot on had been sold by the local Indian Sachem to the Dutch, but the intrepid little group paid little heed to the arms of the Prince of Orange that the Dutch had erected on a tree there. Indeed, they tore it down and replaced it with "an unhandsome face...being a criminal offense against his Majesty", to quote the Commissary, Van Curler, who had been sent out to investigate the report of the Sachem that "some foreign strollers" were building houses on the Dutch land.

So on the 13th of May the Council of New Amsterdam ordered Cornelius Van Teinhoven to arrest and bring before them the "strollers and vagabonds" of Schout's Bay who had insulted them. By the 15th, Van Teinhoven, along with two officers and twenty men, arrived at the scene, finding one small house built and another in progress. Being told by the "vagabonds" that they intended to settle there, and that the arms of the Prince of Orange had been torn down by one who was not then present, six of the men were arrested and taken to Fort Amsterdam. Two men, a woman and a child were left behind to watch over the belongings, and it is most likely that one of these was Thomas Sayre, for the six men were named in the records of the Dutch interrogation at Fort Amsterdam. Job Sayre was one of them, but his brother Thomas was not. The six were discharged the next day, "on condition that they promise to deport forthwith from our territory, and never to return without the Director's express consent."

The small band of Puritan colony founders complied with the Dutch, sailing back out Long Island Sound, around the eastern end, landing at a place about three miles from present day Southampton. They settled and remained for about eight years at a place about three-quarters of a mile from the center of the present day Southampton. In 1648 Thomas Sayre built a house on the town lot apportioned to him, and that house stayed in the family until 1892. When Banta wrote his history of the Sayre family in 1901 the house was still inhabited and believed to be the oldest English house on Long Island.

Thomas Sayre went on to be a prominent man in the early history of Southampton. He is named in the first record of the General Court in 1649 as one of three chosen to "agitate town business". Throughout the 1650's he is repeatedly named as one of the townsmen to manage the affairs of the town. He was ordered by the general court on October 23, 1650, to raise a militia. Banta concludes that Thomas may have had a quick temper, as he was censured and ordered to pay a fine on two occasions for challenging the authority of the Magistrate. Banta also considers that he was generous. "The town records publish only one occasion where contributions were made for those in distress, and on that occasion it relates: 'At a town meeting, February 4, 1656, a contribution was made for Goodman Gouldsmith, because of his loss by fire' (house burned by Indians); of the contributors (of wheat) one only gave more than Thomas."

From Trustees Records of the Town of Southampton comes:

The settlers purchased land from the Indians through several deeds, the first of these was the "Indian Deed of December 13, 1640". This deed was made between 13 leaders of the settlement: John Gosmer, Edward Howell, Danial How[sic], Edward Needham, Thomas Halsey, John Cooper, Thomas Sayre, Edward Harington, Job Sayre, George Welbe, Allen Bread, William Harker, and Henry Walton; also, 9 Indians: Pomatuck, Mandusk, Mocomanto, Pathemanto, Wylennett, Wainmenowog, Heden, Watemexoted, and Chchepuchat. The Indians turned over the land from Canoe Place east:

"from the place commonly known by the name of the place where the Indians hayle over their canoes out of the North Bay to the south side of the Island, from thence to possess all the lands lying eastward between the foresaid bounds by water." In return, the Indians received sixteen coats, three score bushels of Indian corn and the protection from raiding Indian tribes.

In 1659, the "Quogue Purchase" added land from Canoe Place to Beaverdam (Accobanke) Creek in Westhampton:

"beginning at the west end of Southampton bounds ... Northward to the water of the bay and to the creeke of Accobaucks ... Westward to the place called pekeconnache (Peconic), and Southerly to potunk ..."

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References

1. Source of Info: Mr. and Mrs. R. H. Sayre, Rt. 1, Box 92, Buckhannon, W. VA 26201
2. Sayre Family Lineage of Thomas Sayre, a Founder of Southampton by Theodore M. Banta 1901.
3. 1638 Resided at Lynn, MA 
4. Howell, History of Southampton
5. New York Colonial Documents, vol. II
6. Sleight, Harry D., Ed., Trustees Records of the Town of Southampton, Volume II, Addendum p. 33, p. 33, and p. 35 (via Hampton Bay Online)
7. LDS Family Search web site under "Thomas Sayre" (unconfirmed information)
8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suffolk_County,_New_York Suffolk County was an original county of the Province of New York, one of twelve created in 1683. From 1664 until 1683 it had been the East Riding of Yorkshire.Its boundaries were essentially the same as at present,
9. Banta, Theodore Melvin. (1901) Sayre Family: Lineage of Thomas Sayre, a Founder of Southampton. Chapter ll: The Southampton Founder. Page 15-24. < GoogleBooks >
10. Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Jun 15 2019, 18:36:45 UTC
11. Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jun 15 2019, 18:42:46 UTC
12. Reference: FamilySearch Genealogy - SmartCopy: Jun 15 2019, 18:57:50 UTC
13. Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Jun 16 2019, 17:12:18 UTC-
14. Reference: FamilySearch Genealogy - SmartCopy: Jul 17 2019, 1:21:48 UTC
15. GEDCOM Note. Daniel's fother, Thomas Sayre, born about 1590 was one of the eight original undertakers who came to Southhampton from Lynn, Massachusetts.
16. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106371405/thomas-sayre: accessed April 4, 2024), memorial page for Thomas Sayre (1597–10 Jun 1670), Find a Grave Memorial ID 106371405, citing Old Southampton Cemetery, Southampton, Suffolk County, New York, USA; Maintained by Bette Downs Hickok (contributor 47886090).
17. https://www.familytreedna.com/public/sayre?iframe=yresults Thomas Sayre: Line of Daniel, b. 1624, d. 1708. Green. J-M172
18. https://www.southamptonhistory.org/post/finding-god-in-southampton “It all began in 1640 with a scene that could have inspired a sketch in the British comedy series Monty Python. According to Dutch accounts, on May 10, a group of British settlers of Lynn, MA took a small sloop to Long Island, NY. When they landed, the Sachem of the local Native American tribe informed the Dutch governor that some “foreign strollers” had arrived and cut down trees to build houses. They “had even hewn down the arms of their High Mightinesses,” said the Sachem. The Governor sent a Dutch commissary, and he not only found the account to be true, but noticed that where the Dutch arms of State had been nailed to a tree, a scowling caricature had been drawn over the spot, presumably with a rock or stick. The Dutch deemed this “a criminal offense against his Majesty.” On May 15th, my ancestors were arrested as “vagabonds.” … Never mind that, the Dutch said, “for what reason did you throw down our Mightinesses’ Arms and set up a fool’s face in his stead?” One intruder said he had no idea. Another suggested vaguely that the Scotsman might have done it. The upshot of the case was that my ancestors and their fellow settlers were discharged. Immediately, they boarded their sloop, sailed a mere three miles Eastward through Long Island Sound, and created a new settlement which is in present-day Southampton. They lived freely, governing themselves under their own laws as the first English settlement in New York. It is a quintessentially American story of mischievous defiance and ingenuity.“
19. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Sayre-44 Cites
    1. Howell, George Rogers. The early history of Southampton, L. I., New York (Albany : Weed, Parsons and company, 1887.)
    2. "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975." Database. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 3 March 2017. Index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City.
    3. “Leighton Buzzard parish register 1562-1731” transcript by Bedford Archives and Records Service, Published by Bedfordshire County Council Vol XXXI 1945. p.7
    4. Banta, Theodore Melvin. Sayre family; lineage of Thomas Sayre, a founder of Southampton. New York [The De Vinne press], 1901. pp. 13, 15-24
    5. Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts, 1636-1686 (The Essex Institute, 1911-1975) Volume 2. p. 270
    6. 'Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts, 1636-1686 (The Essex Institute, 1911-1975) Voume 1 Vol 1.p. 12 [EQC 1:12]
    7. Theodore M. Banta, Sayre Family ... (New York, [The De Vinne Press] 1901), 19; digital images, Hathi Trust.
    8. Theodore M. Banta, Sayre Family ... (New York, [The De Vinne Press] 1901), 19; digital images, Hathi Trust.
    9. The first book of records of the town of Southampton : with other ancient documents of historic value. Sag Harbor, N.Y.: John H. Hunt, book and job printer, 1874. page before the introduction. pp 1, 7, freeman 18, drum 52, freeman 55, townsmen 56, Oct 1649 57, training exemption 63, with Joshua Barnes 97, Jun 1657 114, Dec 58 124, w/Richard Post 125, townsman 152, Oct 1651 76, pitts 93, [land pp. 101, 140, 141, 151], trespass 84 [juryman pp [p. , 93, 112, 114, 117, 128, 139, 141]
    10. Thomas Sayre 1669 will, 1670 inventory, "New York Probate Records, 1629-1971"; images, FamilySearch in New York > Wills 1665-1683 vol 1 > image 88-90 of 323; will is image 88-89; inventory is image 89-90; 1671 Job Sayre statement is image 90.
    11. Record of Wills, 1665-1916; Index to Wills, 1662-1923 (New York County); Author: New York. Surrogate's Court (New York County); Probate Place: New York, New York. Notes: Wills, Vol 001, 1665-1683 Two different copies: at Ancestry. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8800/images/005518... https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8800/images/005523...
    12. Citing "Faris, Descendants of Edward Howell (1985): 5-9, 18-38," Douglas Richardson, "Ancestry of Edward Howell, of Southampton, Long Island (died 1655)," post to newsgroup>soc.history.medieval, 26 February 2009; GoogleGroups.
    13. The Second Book of Records of the Town of Southampton ... (Sag-Harbor, N.Y. : J. H. Hunt, printer, 1677), 228; digital images, Hathi Trust."
    14. There has been no update or further input given as of 1 Dec 2015. Link to Ralph Sayre's e-mail is apparently not current. [NFD]
    15. Sayer-Aldred 1620/1630 marriage, New England Marriages prior to 1700 (2015), multiple vols., 2:1338 (Sayre); database and digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.
    16. The Second Book of Records of the Town of Southampton ... (Sag-Harbor, N.Y. : J. H. Hunt, printer, 1677), 228; digital images, Hathi Trust; record noted as "abstract."
    17. The American Genealogist. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .) Walter Lee Sheppard, Jr. "Possible Sayre Connection of the Mother of the Daytons of Cumberland County, New Jersey" Vol. 38 (1962) p. 226.subscription needed See also--
    18. https://www.familysearch.org/service/records/storage/das-mem/patron...
    19. Sayre Family: Lineage of Thomas Sayre, a Founder of Southampton, by Theodore Melvin Banta, De Vinne Press, New York, 1901. Thomas Sayre, founder of Southhampton, Pages 15-24. Sayre Pg. 15
    20. The Hissem-Montaque Family; The Sayre Family
    21. Find A Grave: Memorial #106371405; Old Southampton Cemetery, Southampton NY
    22. Sayre Family: Another hundred years by Ralph Sayre
    23. Thomas Sayre: Before 1638 First Sayre To Emigrate From Eng.To Colonies, Probably Near Age 40
    24. Collections of the New-York Historical Society (New York, 1893) Vol. 25: Abstracts of Wills on File in The Surrogate's Office, City of New York, Vol. 1, 1665-1707. Page 69
    25. "Southampton Village History" on Village of Southampton, New York website, accessed 13 June, 2021
    26. Long Island Genealogy
    27. Sayre Family History by George Anagnost [Needs further description, unable to locate]
    28. SpicerWeb website, created 30 Jun 2022 maintained by steve at spicerweb.org (Sourced genealogy.) https://spicerweb.org/Genealogy/LegacyFiles/3344.htm