William Compton, of Gravesend

Notes

From https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/144465630/william-compton

William Compton was born between 30 Sept. 1622 and 29 Sept. 1623. He was English and lived among the Dutch who referred to him as Willem. He was not listed on the first division for the town of Gravesend, but his name appears on the second division of Gravesend of 19 December 1646 and received lot #32. He married before 1644 a Dutch lady whose name is unknown.
His son William Compton2 was born about 1644 probably at New Amsterdam ... married Mary Bowne, daughter of William Bowne.

Was Mary Whitlock his daughter?

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From Notes for WILLIAM COMPTON: [family tree.FTW]

William Compton, Jr. was a Baptist who left Long Island, New York to escape religious persecution. Moved to Monmouth Co. New Jersey in 1666. Descendents include Frank Compton, who founded Compton's Encyclopedia. Because of the Dutch/English conflict he went with Capt. John Bowne to Monmouth Co. NJ, married Capt. Bowne's daughter and they had 10 children. ....
Father may have been a Freeholder, living among the Dutch, who spelled his name "Weilleum". Born before 1630 in Kent, England and died Sept. 21, 1694 [SIC], Gravesend, Long Island, New York. Arrived in Long Island, New York 1645. Relocated to Gravesend, Long Island, NY. sometime prior to 1647. He was on a list of 39 patentees in New York in 1645. November 24, 1657, he bought lot plantation #29 in Gravesend from Nicholas Stillwell and was involved in other land transactions in Gravesend in 1658 and 1659. On June 29, 1677 he was sworn in as Constable of Gravesend.

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From https://www.ancestry.com/boards/thread.aspx?o=10&m=6.12.161.162.165... Edited: 26 Jun 2001

The credit should go to Pamela Compton Ware and her father, Earl Roscoe Compton. They did the early work on the generations from William Compton of Gravesend to Ichabod Compton of Mauricetown. I (Elizabeth Wills Crane) took it from Ichabod to the present generation.
My cousin and I have been working on a genealogy of William Compton of Monmouth's family for many years. It still needs some fine tuning before we feel we can publish. Here is info from the first chapter of the draft manuscript: William Compton born 1622(?) in England; parents not known; wife unknown. Ended up in Gravesend, Long Island. Now here is part of the manuscript. I don't mind sharing info but if you publish your family tree at least give credit where credit is due and identify your source:
According to the town records of Gravesend, Long Island, on September 30, 1652 William Compton made a deposition in the slander case of Nicholas Stillwell v. Ann Goulder. In his deposition, William stated he was then 30 years old. This would put the year of his birth at about 1622. Although Bergen's History of King's County claims William Compton spelled his name "Weilleum Cumton" and lived among the Dutch, it is more likely he was one of the Anabaptists who originally settled in the Salem, Massachusetts area. These Anabapists were expelled from Massachusetts by the Puritans for (among other things) preaching against infant baptism.

In 1654, Judge Keith granted a patent for land to Lady Deborah Moody and William Compton at Gravesend, Long Island. On November 24, 1657, William Compton purchased a farm at Gravesend, Long Island from Nicholas Stillwell. It consisted of the home lot of Plantation No. 29, then in the possession of John Hanse, and included the house and barn. The purchase price of this property was 400 pounds of tobacco. On May 3, 1658, William bought the land and housing known by the name of "No. 23" from Lucas Leafharst (Luykas Vander Liphors). On January 1, 1659, William sold to John Wilson, a Quaker preacher, one half of the land with housing known as Lot 23.
An agreement, which William Compton signed on January 5, 1670 at the town meeting concerned the laying out of the lowlands on Garretson Neck, Long Island. William also served as constable of Gravesend, being sworn into office on June 29, 1677. In that year, 1677, William was called as a witness in a land dispute among Samuel Spicer, John Tilton and Samuel Holmes. In 1670, and again in 1683, William Compton was sued by Nicholas Stillwell. These two suits involved William's hogs trespassing on Stillwell's property at Setter's Neck. The 1683 suit appears to be the last mention of William in the surviving records of Gravesend. At this time William would have been about 61 years old; we might assume he died about this time. However, it is possible that he could have left Gravesend and moved to Middletown (Monmouh County, NJ) or Shoal Harbor (NJ) to be with his son and daughter, William Compton of Monmouth County, NJ and Mary Compton Whitlock. (This is still being checked out.)

It is generally been accepted (and we're probably not going to publish until we can confirm) William Compton of Gravesend had at least two children:

• William Compton (who settled in Middletown, Monmouth Countin 1664) and
• Mary Compton who married 1st Thomas Seabrook and 2nd Thomas Whitlock. Mary and her second [SIC: third] husband ended up living in Shoal Harbor and their house (known as the Whitlock-Seabrook house) is still standing.

My cousin hired a genealogist in England to try and trace this family but most of the pertinent records were destroyed during the blitz of WWII. You would actually have to go to each parish in the entire country and look for William if you wanted to do it yourself. However, the genealogist thought that the family probably came from either Wiltshire or Shropshire. When Smallhope Bigg died, he left a bequest to his cousin (John Compton) who was then living in the Massachusetts colony and my cousin found an Elizabeth Bigg who married a William Compton in 1595. Grandparents of our first William? Still trying to confirm.

References

• Comptonology, Volumes 1-5 By C. V. Compton. Page 161. GoogleBooks
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Compton-1587

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https://www.ancestry.co.uk/boards/surnames.compton/389.391.393.398

The info that I am sending you is from original research done by my cousin's father, my cousin and me over a period of (believe it or not) 90 years. William Compton, born in England circa 1622 (this date is established from the 1652 slander case of Stillwell v. Goulder; William Compton was a witness and during his deposition he stated he was then 30 years old; so he was born circa 1622). This William Compton was an Anabaptist and with a group of fellow Anabaptists settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. However, they were thrown out of the colony for preaching against infant baptism and ended up relocating in Gravesend, Long Island in the very early 1650s. In 1654 Judge Keith granted a patent for land to Lady Deborah Moody and William Compton. In 1657 William Compton purchased a farm at Gravesend, Long Island from Nicholas Stillwell. This man is William of Gravesend. We don't know the name of William Compton's wife. However, their son, William Compton was born in about 1644. He married Mary Bowne, the daughter of William Bowne and Mary Haverland. She was the sister of Captain John Bowne. William Compton and Mary Bowne Compton came to Monmouth County, New Jersey as first settlers of Middleton circa 1665. This man is William of Monmouth. William Compton and Mary Bowne Compton had the following children: Juda Compton (Judith) born circa 1666 Richard Compton born circa 1667 Cornelius Compton born circa 1669 Jacob Compton born circa 1685 married Elizabeth Rhea. So now are you clear about there being TWO generations? William of Gravesend and William of Monmouth are father-son. You'd be suprised how many think it's just one man. Also there was a William Compton who was about the same age as William of Monmouth who settled in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, New Jersey. We call this William Compton William of Woodbridge.

William Compton was born between 30 Sept. 1622 and 29 Sept. 1623. He was English and lived among the Dutch who referred to him as Willem. He was not listed on the first division for the town of Gravesend, but his name appears on the second devision of Gravesend of 19 December 1646 and received lot #32. He married before 1644 a Dutch lady who's name is unknown. His son William Compton2 was born about 1644 probably at New Amsterdam. William Compton2 died about 1709 in Monmouth County, New Jersey.William Compton1 was listed as Freeholder in Gravesend in 1656 and 1670. On 24 Nov. 1657 he bought of Nicholas Stillwell plantation lot #29 in Gravesend. William Compton1 was sworn in as Constable of Gravesend on 29 June 1677. William Compton2 married Mary Bowne, daughter of William Bowne. William Compton2 was one of the purchasers of Middletown, New Jersey of the Indians in 1667. William Compton1 spelled his name Weilleum. In a deposition 30 Sept 1652, William Compton1 gave his age as 30 years old. William Compton1 died about 1679 in Gravesend.

http://www.geocities.ws/ResearchTriangle/Forum/3876/GenealogyLDS/pa... - Stephen L. Compton

The Gravesend, New York, William lived with the Dutch and was referred to as Weilleum. Gravesend was an early English settlement in an area in modern Brooklyn adjacent to Coney Island. It is a mere hop, skip and a jump to Sandy Hook, New Jersey and Monmouth County. (Sandy Hook is also known as one of the haunts of Captain Kidd.)

William was one of the 39 original settlers of Gravesend, became a leading citizen and was appointed constable in 1677. Both the elder and the son William, who migrated to New Jersey appear in the early records (See inter alia, Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany, New York and New Jersey, 1930, Blalock, Comptonology, V. 1, No. 1, p. 1; see also History of Monmouth County 1664-1920, Lewis Hist. Publ. Co., pp. 321 et seq.; Mandeville, The Story of Middletown, Christ Church (pub.), 1927, pp. 36 et seq., and others.

Comptonology and Blalock, among others, then opine that his son, William, married Mary Bowne, daughter of Captain John Bowne and Mary Haverland [whose descendants also reportedly include Daniel Boone], and went with a number of others in 1666 to Monmouth County, New Jersey, and were among the founders of Middletown. In December 1667, the records indicate William was was identified with lot 15 in the town itself, and lot 14 in the "Poplar field [sic]". (Aside: Mary's sister Sarah's descendants include Abraham Lincoln, see Blalock, also Comptonology, V. 1, No. 4, p. 17).

It is reported both Comptons and Bownes were Baptists and left to escape religious persecution, but the political and land patent conflicts between the Dutch and British between 1650-1670, which ultimately resulted in New Netherlands being titled to the British and becoming New York around 1670, were undoubtedly the principal cause for this particular migration. We do know they founded a church. It is reported that there was an earlier migration of the Bownes and Comptons from Massachusetts, probably for religious reasons (as "accursed Baptists"), but the documentation is scant. William and Mary had ten children.

William died ca. 1709 (Comptonology, V. 2, No. 6, pp. 28-29). One of his sons, Richard, married Prudence (Providence) Isselstyne [or Usselton] (of Dutch extraction), and had a son (among other children, Isselstyne, the father of John I, who in turn married a Lydia Carhart and after her death Margaret Raemer, a German lady. Richard was born December 1673. He and Prudence had seven children. It is from this theory that this genealogy is based. In Whitehead (ed.), New Jersey Colonial Documents, v. 2, 1687-1703, p. 397, Comptonology, Blalock (pp. 2-3), Richard signed a petition to the King to appoint a suitable person as Governor, 17 July 1701.

It is relevant to note that the next signature on the document is that of William Bowne, thus reinforcing the Dutch (and New York) circumstantial evidence supporting the New York identity of William. (See also Comptonology, V. 1, No. 1, p. 1; Comptonology, V. 2, No. 7, p. 31; Comptonology, V. 3, No. 9, p. 121; Comptonology, V. 4, No. 3, p. 161). Richard died prior to 1711 (Comptonology, V. 2, No. 9, p. 42.) Others believe the William here is the son of John Compton of Roxbury Massachusetts and Kent County England. There is some discussion of this in Comptonology, v. 1, No. 1, pp. 2-3.

There is certainly a William of Middlesex County with a family with issue including an eventual John, but the William of Monmouth (New York) has the virtue of the multiple Dutch and Bowne historical connections. We also believe with Comptonology (Comptonology, V. 1, No. 3, p. 1) that the Middlesex Comptons eventually migrated through Maryland to Virginia. My research, particularly a copy of an old family Bible and an accompanying analysis, at the Maryland state archives, indicates this branch migrated to Culpeper County Virginia, and includes Zachariah, although I have not thoroughly researched it.