William Dyer, Jr., of Newport

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• Wikipedia: William Dyer (settler) <— Please refrain from copy-and-pasting content from Wikipedia. Please click the link and read articles there, which are occasionally updated.
• Find a Grave: CPT William Gulielmus Dyer

Birth: 19 Sep 1609, Strand, Middlesex, England.
Death: 24 Oct 1677, Newport, Newport, Rhode Island.
Marriage 1: 27 Oct 1633 to Mary Barrett <— He never married a "Stewart."
Marriage 2: 27 October 1633 to Catherine, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts.

Books

• Pierce, Frederick Clifton. 1888. Pearce Genealogy, Being the Record of the Posterity of Richard Pearce, an Early Inhabitant of Portsmouth, in Rhode Island, Who Came from England, and Whose Genealogy is Traced Back to 972; an Introduction of the Male Descendants of Josceline de Louvaine, the Second House of Percy, Earls of Northumberland, Barons Percy and Territorial Lords of Alnwick, Warkworth and Prudhoe Castles in the County of Northumberland. England. Joel Munsell & Sons: Rockford, Illinois, USA. Available at: Archive.org.
  • Page 36: THE AMERICAN BRANCH.
    • 1. RICHARD21 PEARCE (Richard20, Richard19,) b. 1615 in England; m. in Portsmouth, R.I., in 1642, Susannah Wright, who was born in 1620. He died in Portsmouth in 1678 and she was deceased at that time. .... etc.
  • page 38: Richard Pearce's Will... etc.
    • He married, probably in 1642, Susannah, daughter of George Wright of Newport, who was probably of Salem, 1637, Newport, 1648, and who in 1649 stabbed one Walter Lettice, as John Winthrop, Jr., received a letter to this effect from Roger Williams.
    • His will was drawn April 23, 1677, and was proved in Portsmouth Oct. 28, 1678. His son Richard was executor and he calls him his "eldest son."
  • page 39: Richard's children were:
    • 1. i RICHARD, b. Oct. 3, 1643; m. Experience ____.
    • ii. MARTHA, b. Sept. 13, 1645; m. Mahershallalhashboz Dyer of Portsmouth, born about 1643; d. 1670. He was the son of William and Catharine Dyer of England, Boston, Portsmouth and Newport. March 22, 1661, he signed certain articles relative to Westerly lands. She d. s.p. Feb. 24, 1744.
    • 2. iii. .... etc.
• Austin, John Osborne, and George Andrews Moriarty. 1969. The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island: Comprising Three Generations of Settlers Who Came Before 1690, with Many Families Carried to the Fourth Generation. Baltimore, Maryland, USA: Genealogical Publishing Company. Available at: Google Books
  • page 146: Richard Pearce d. 1678. m. Susanna Wright, d. 1678 dau. of George Wright
  • Children.
    • I. Martha, b. 1645, Sept. 13. d. 1744, Feb. 24. m. Mahershallalhashbaz Dyer. d. 1670 son of William & Mary ( ---) Dyer.
    • II. .... etc. ___________________

William Dyer

• Born: 19 Sep 1609 - What Is, [county], Massachusetts, USA (sic - no English colonists back then)
• Died: 1667 - Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, USA
  • Note: Two other William Dyer's found in colonial America in this time period. One in Sheepscot, Maine, One in Boston.

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ID: I509695980

• Name: William DYER
• Given Name: William
• Surname: DYER
• Sex: M
• Birth: 19 Sep 1609 in London, London, England
• Death: 18 Apr 1672 in Newport, Newport, Rhode Island
• Christening: 19 Sep 1609 Kirkby, Laythrope, Lincolnshire, England
• Change Date: 16 Jul 2002 1
• Note: Ancestral File Number: 8NR8-L7
  • NOTE: Baptized Sep.19,1609.
  • Feb.20,1686/7, his son, William(2) mentions his deceased father in his will.

NEHGR, Vol 151, pages 408-416 "Walter Blackborne, London Milliner" by Johan Winsser; says (in part): About Midsummer's Day (June 24) 1624 Blackborne contracted fourteen year old William Dyer as an apprentice. Dyer, the son of an affluent Lincolnshire yeoman, was the future husband of Mary (Barrett) Dyer, the Quaker martyr. How the Dyer family came to select Blackborne is not certain, but it may have been through the Hutchinsons of Alford, Lincolnshire, or through the Carres of Sleaford, Lincolnshire, both families with known long standing associations with the Dyers and with close relatives in London. It may also be that the Dyers of Lincolnshire knew of Blackborne through one or more of the many Dyer families living in London, to whom they may have been related. In any case, William Dyer must have labored on a trial basis for the first year, because it was not until 20 August 1625 that his nine year indenture was enrolled with the Fishmongers, and it was made retroactive to the previous summer. In assuming responsibility for an apprentice, Blackborne obligated himself to serve as a surrogate father, teaching young Dyer his trade, providing him with bed, food, clothing, and behavioral supervision, and maintaining him in the religious life of the parish. In return,Dyer agreed to serve his master faithfully for the set term of years, to forgo marriage during his apprenticeship, to keep his master's secrets, and to adhere to strict behavorial standards both in his master's house and abroad in the town.

On 10 February 1632, William Dyer signed a lease to rent "The Globe" in the New Exchange, formerly occupied by Blackborne,for a term of two and a quarter years.

About a year later 1632/33 William Dyer also assumed the lease for Blackborne's tenement on Mr. Greene's Lane.

By the autumn of 1635 William Dyer had set sail for Boston and soon was prospering in his new home. He was one of fourteen owners of a wharf in Boston.
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The Weaver Genealogy, Page 56, 57

"William Coddington, who had been a crown magistrate at Salem,was chosen Governor of the Rhode Island colony. Thus, two flourishing settlements were planted, each having its own government. Absolute liberty of conscience prevailed, and the persecuted flocked thither from the other colonies. These people were so-called non-conformists and were Quakers, and they formed a plantation which, with Providence and Newport, obtained from England in March 1644, a charter under the title of 'The Incorporation of Providence Plantations in the Narragansett Bay in New England.'" Coddington and his party drew up and signed the following agreement: THE COMPACT "We, whose names are underwritten, do swear solemnly, in the presence of Jehovah, to incorporate ourselves into a body politic, and as He shall help us, will submit our persons, lives and estates, unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Hosts and to His Holy Word of Truth, to be guided and judged thereby. Exod. XXIV. 3; 2 Kings XI, 17."
[Signatories]: William Coddington; John Clark; William Dyer; William Freeborn; John Walker; Samuel Wilbur; Richard Garder; William Baulston; Edward Hutchinson; William Hutchinson; Henry Bull; John Coggeshall

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[e-mail from Aurie Morrison]

The 20th Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Vol. 3, p.366

Captain William and Mary Dyre, who came from England to Boston,Mass., and joined the First church there in December, 1635. Captain Dyre was disfranchised for "seditious writing" Nov. 15,1637, removed to Rhode Island, and was one of the signers of the compact of government for that province, March 7, 1638. He was secretary the same year, general recorder, 1648;attorney-general, 1650-53; member of the general court, 1661-62, 1664-66; g

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Father: George DYER b: Abt 1579 in Bratton, Seymour, Wincanton, Smrsts, Eng.
Mother: Dorothy SHIRLEY b: Abt 1581 in Of, Staunton Harrold, Leicestershire, England
Marriage 1 Mary BARRETT
b: Abt 1610 in London, London, England
Married: 27 Oct 1633 in St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London, England
Note: _UID7F828ECE911B1848B723F3FD55326ECCF417
Children
1. William DYER b: 24 Oct 1634 in London, England
2. Samuel DYER b: Bef 20 Dec 1635 in Boston, Suffolk, Ma
3. Mary DYER b: Abt 1639 in Boston, Suffolk, Ma
4. William DYER b: Abt 1642
5. Mahershallalhashbaz DYER b: Abt 1643 in Boston, Suffolk, Ma
6. Henry DYER b: Abt 1647 in Rhode Island
7. Charles DYER b: 1650 in London, London, England

Marriage 2 Mrs Mary STEWART
b: 1612 in London, London, England c: in Af
Married: 27 Oct 1633 in St. Martin's, London, London, England
Note: _UID257E62E85D37E14BA461AF579375D4D96DBC Children

Children

• Samuel DYER (DYRE) b: 10 Oct 1635 in Newport, Newport, RI c: 20 Dec 1635 in Boston, Suffolk, MA
• Daughter DYER b: 17 Oct 1637 in Boston, Suffolk, Mass.
• Mary DYER b: Abt 1637 in Of, London, London, England
• William DYER b: Abt 1639 in Of, London, London, England
• Christopher DYER b: 1640 in Sheepscot, Mass
• Mahershallalhack Baz DYER b: 1645 in Of, London, London, England
• Henry DYER b: 1647 in London, London, England
• John DYER b: 1648 in Sheepscot, Mass
• Charles DYER b: 1650 in London, London, England
• Mary DYER b: Abt 1650 in Of Wells, York, Me
• Elizabeth DYER b: Abt 1652 in Newport, Newport, Rhode Island
• William DYER b: 7 Mar 1653 in London, London, England
• Giles DYER b: Abt 1655 in Of London, London, , England
• Jonathan DYER b: Abt 1657 in Of London, London, England
• George DYER b: Abt 1659 in Of, London, , England
• Anthony DYER b: Abt 1661 in Of London, London, England

Marriage 3 Catharine (nee?) DYER Married: Aft 1 Jun 1660 in Boston, Suffolk, Ma
Note: _UIDA41A24145F1469419C33FE2170B4B4CDA664
Children: Elizabeth DYER b: Abt 1662 in Newport, Newport, Ri

Sources: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Title: Ancestral File (R) Publication: Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998

Added 4/29/2011
William was baptized at Kirkby Laythorpe, Lincolnshire, England on September 19, 1609. On August 20, 1625, at age 16, he was apprenticed as the son of William Dyer, yeoman, of Kirkby to Walter Blackborne, fishmonger for nine years from midsummer 1624. On August 19, 1641 William Dyer "millyner", "now in New England" was taxed as a member of the Fishmonger's Company. A milliner was one who sold small wares and he was so styled because he imported goods chiefly from Milan in Italy. The trade of Milliner was a branch of the Haberdasher's trade. Milliners imported such articles as "pouches, broches, agglets, spurs, capes, glasses, French and Spanish gloves, French cloth of frizard (Frieze), daggers, swords, knives, Flanders-dyed kersies, Spanish girdles, dials, tables, etc." Milliners often became wealthy and important persons.

The privilege of becoming a member in one of the London Companies was obtained in three ways: by patrimony, apprenticeship, and redemption. Apparently William became a member by the second method. That he was in the Fishmongers Company, though a Milliner, is explained by the fact that the right of membership was also hereditary. "All lineal descendants of a freeman had a right to become freemen. Hence, in course of time all the freemen may in no way be connected with the trade which the name of the fraternity bears." Walter Blackborne, to whom William was apprenticed, though a member of the Fishmongers Company, probably had no connection with the fishing industry. He, too, was doubtless a Milliner.

The apprentices of the Fishmongers Company were kept very strictly and the rules stated that "vicious and unruled apprentices, and using dice, cards, or any such games, or haunting, resorting to taverns, or for other misbehaving" should be punished. In addition to his apprenticeship to Walter Blackborne, William's repeated appointment as clerk or recorder of various jurisdictions in New England demonstrated a high level of education.

On October 27, 1633, William married Mary Barrett at St. Martin-In-The-Fields, London, Middlesex, England. In this connection, it should be noted that Samuel Dyer, son of William and Mary, named his sixth son Barrett, obviously for his mother's family.

William must have been free of the Fishmongers Company by 1633 or 1634 at latest, and he at once started business as a milliner in the New Exchange and late in 1634 or early in 1635 he and Mary emigrated to Boston. On December 13, 1635, William and Mary joined the Boston church of which Rev. John Wilson was pastor. It was this same Rev. Wilson who reviled Mary Dyer when she went to her execution. William became a freeman March 3, 1635/6.

At a Boston Town Meeting held 23rd of the 11th month 1635, William Dyer was chosen Clerk of a special commission for the fortification of Fort Hill. At this meeting it was, "agreed yt, for ye raysing of a new Worke of fortification upon ye Fort Hill, about yt which is there alreddy begune, the whole town would bestowe fourteene dayes worke a man. For this end, Mr. Deputie (Bellingham), Mr. Harry Vane, Mr. John Winthrop, senr., Mr. William Coddington, Mr. John Winthrop, junr., Captain John Underhill and Mr. William Brenton are authorized as Commissioners."

They were directed to "sett downe how many dayes worke would be equall for each man to doe, and what money such should contribute beside their worke as were of greater abilities and had fewer servants, that therewith provision of tooles and other necessaryes might bee made, and some recompence given to such of ye poorer sort as should be found to bee overburdened with their fourteene dayes worke; and Mr. John Coogan in chosen Treasurer, and Mr. William Dyer, Clarke, for ye furtherance of this worke."

At a meeting of January 8, 1637/8 it was recorded that "whereas att a Generall Meeting the 14th of the 10th month (December) 1635, it was by generall Consent agreed upon for the laying out of great Allottments unto the then Inhabitants, the same are now brought in." Among these "great allotments" were those of Rumney Marsh and Pullen Point, within the town of Boston, on the north and northeast side of the harbor. "Mr. William Dyar" received 42 acres, "bounded on the North with Mr. Glover, on the East with the Beach, on the South with Mr. Cole, and on the West with the highway."

Rumney Marsh and Pullen Point were part of what later became the town of Chelsea, and were north and northeast of the town proper of Boston, though at the time included in the boundaries of Boston. As Rumney Marsh and Pullen Point were apportioned to the dwellers in Boston for farm lands, good water communication with that town was essential. This probably explains why William Dyer had part-ownership in a Dock in Boston. Eight of the fourteen owners of the Dock were land holders at Rumney Marsh across the harbor. This Dock was conveyed on March 25, 1639 to Richard Parker, merchant.

William Dyer's "house-plot" was in the vicinity of what is now Summer Street in the present business district of the city. Evidently William did not hold his Rumney Marsh land long. On September 23, 1639, Elizabeth Glover, widow, sold the 49 acres allotted to her husband, they abutted on the lands of Samuel Cole, towards the South. Thus Cole must have acquired the Dyer allotment, which on January 8, 1637/8, was Glover's southern boundary.

By the time the bounds of the Rumney Marsh and Pullen Point allotments were finally described and recorded, January 8, 1637/8, the religious controversy in Boston had reached its climax. Rev. John Wheelwright was called into Court for opinions expressed in a sermon preached on a special day of Fast, and was adjudged guilty of sedition and also of contempt. The Governor, Henry Vane, and a few others protested against the decision of the Court. The Church of Boston tendered a petition in behalf of Rev. Wheelwright. On March 15, 1637, William and others signed a remonstrance, affirming the innocence of Rev. Mr. Wheelwright, and that the Court had condemned the truth of Christ. Seeing he had so many and such strong friends, the Court concluded to suspend sentence until the next Court. In the end, after a delay of some months, he was sentenced to banishment from the jurisdiction of Boston. Wheelwright's followers persisted in their opinions and the Court decided to proceed against the persons who had signed the petition in his favor. Singly, and in groups, they were called before the Court. William was summoned with three other of the "principal stirring men." He had little to say for himself, the account says. William Coddington was a member of this Court, which may explain in part the antipathy shown later by William Dyer toward Coddington when they were settled on Rhode Island.

On November 15, 1637 William was disfranchised for signing the above remonstrance. Five days still later, on November 20, 1637, by order of the General Court, he and fifty or more others of the petitioners were warned to give up all guns, pistols, swords, powder, shot, etc. "because the opinions and revelations of Mr. Wheelwright and Mrs. Hutchinson have seduced and led into dangerous errors many of the people here in New England." Several people were dismissed peremptorily by Governor Winthrop in his aristocrat fashion as "very apt to meddle in public affairs beyond their calling and skill." Among them was William Dyer, the milliner and husband of Mary whose recent grotesque stillbirth and near-death still haunted Anne Hutchinson. Governor Winthrop in his Journal thus alludes to William and his wife: "The wife of one William Dyer a milliner in the New Exchange, a very proper and fair woman, and both of them notoriously infected with Mrs. Hutchinson's errors, and very censorious and troublesome."

"All were ordered to deliver their arms at Mr. Keayne's house in Boston, before the 30th of November, under penalty of £10 for every default; guns, pistols, swords, powder, shot and match; and they were forbidden to buy or borrow" more.

Upon the banishment of Anne Hutchinson and Rev. Wheelwright and the disfranchisement and disarming of their adherents, William Dyer joined eighteen others in the settlement of the Island of Aquidneck (Island of Peace), afterwards named Rhode Island. The deed for the purchase from the Indians was made to William Coddington, John Clarke and their associates, and bears the date of March 24, 1636/7. It was witnessed by Roger Williams and Randall Holden.

The parcel of land William had been allotted at Rumney Marsh and Pullen Point was soon acquired by Samuel Cole. Prior to leaving Boston, a compact was drawn up on April 28, 1639 William and eighteen others. This Portsmouth Compact was officially signed in Portsmouth on , March 7, 1638. William was elected clerk this same day. On May 20, 1638, William was granted "at the cove by the marsh 6 acres," in Portsmouth.

A disagreement among these members was followed by the settlement of some of the Portsmouth families into the new town of Newport. William was chosen clerk when the agreement for the settlement of Newport was drawn up on April 28, 1639. He was made General Recorder of the Colony in 1647 when the government of "Providence Plantations in Narragansett Bay" was set up under the first charter.

William was a very active member of the Colony. There are many references to him in Colonial Records of Rhode Island. On January 5, 1639, he and three others were to proportion the land. On March 10, 1640, he had 87 acres of land recorded to him at Newport. William was on the list of freemen in Newport, March 16, 1640/1 and again in 1655. He was Secretary for the towns of Portsmouth and Newport in 1640 and for six consecutive years thereafter. When in 1647 the government of Providence Plantations in Narragansett Bay was set up under the first charter, William Dyre was chosen General Recorder of the Colony. On May 16, 1648, he acted as Clerk of the assembly. In May, 1650, the office of Attorney-General for the Colonies was created which he filled until 1653. In 1653, he received a commission from the Assembly to act against the Dutch by sea. He was named Captain and Commander-in-Chief upon the land. In 1661 William was chosen surveyor of Misquamicut. William served as Commissioner in 1661-62 and General Solicitor 1665-66-68. William was on a Committee for "taking care that the state's part of all prizes be secured, and account given," May 17, 1653.

William served as a Deputy to the Rhode Island General Assembly from Newport, June 28, 1655, May 22, 1662, and June 17, 1662. He served as a Deputy for Warwick on May 21 and May 27, 1661. He served on a Rhode Island grand jury May 26, 1649 (foreman), October 13, 1663 (foreman), October 19, 1664, December 10, 1663 (foreman), May 8, 1665, and May 6, 1667 (foreman). He served on the Portsmouth committee "appointed for the venison trade with the Indians" on November 16, 1638 and on a Committee to lay out land, January 2, 1638/9.

William did not get along with the Governor of Portsmouth, William Coddington. In describing the bounds of certain highways laid out by himself and two others, William complains on February 15, 1654 of encroachments upon the highway by Mr. Coddington and Richard Tew, closing with the following language: "Let them therefore that know any injury in this kind put it down under their hands, as I now have done, and be ready to make it good as I am, so shall we avoid hypocrisy, dissimulation, backbiting and secret wolvish devourings, one of another, and declare ourselves men, which, how unmanlike the practice of some sycophants are, is and may safely be demonstrated. Therefore let us all that love the light come forth to the light and show their deeds."

On May 22, 1649, it is "ordered that the suits presented unto this Assembly by Mr. William Dyre against Governor William Coddington, be deferred until the General Court of Trials to be holden for this colony in October next at Portsmouth." It was another matter when he sued William Coddington for the princely sum of £500 in March of 1655/6 in a case that would struggle on through the courts for more than a decade. The court commented that the "case hath been much debated and the result of the court is that they have taken full cognizance of the matter and if it shall be proceeded in yet upon consideration 5 menÉare desired to see if they can compass the matter." They couldn't. Despite pretending to agree, as late as September 19, 1664, in an action of trespass, William was still seeking redress, but lost. Bad feelings caused trouble out of court. On March 27, 1666, execution was ordered by the Assembly to proceed in a case brought against William by Coddington for killing a mare. On May 7, 1666, William Dyer again sued William Coddington, this time for "uttering words of contumacy &c."; once again Dyer lost.

On May 22, 1661, William was chosen one of seven finalists to be chosen as colony agent in England. He made two trips to England in 1651 and 1653 at his own expense with Roger Williams and John Clarke, to obtain a revocation of Governor Coddington's power. He left his wife, Mary abroad, where she became converted to the Quaker faith.

In 1648 William Dyer was called "Lieutenant." On May 18, 1653, William received a commission from the General Assembly to act against the Dutch. The officers were to be "Captain John Underhill, Commander in Chief upon the land and Captain William, Dyer, Commander in Chief upon sea." He was named in the charter of 1663, and on September 7, 1664, was one of a committee sent upon the arrival of the Royal Commissioners at New York with the congratulations and thanks of the colony. In October, 1664, he was one of a committee "to ripen the matter about the peoples votting by proxces."

William was involved in several land transactions throughout Rhode Island.

On September 29, 1643, John Vaughan, husbandman, sold to "William Dyre of Nuport" land on the east side of Newport which Vaughan had purchased of Robert Bennett. On March 1, 1642/3, Mr. Samuel Wilbore of Portsmouth sold to "William Dyer of Nuport" six acres in Newport once owned by John Lawrence.

On September 29, 1643, Thomas Roberts of Newport, carpenter, described his purchase of Newport lands given to Henry Knolls and Lambert Woodard and the intervening purchases and sales "all neglecting records;" record was then made that Roberts sold these lands to James Rogers, who then sold them to William Dyer.

On May 5, 1644, Thomas Applegate of Newport sold to William Dyer thirty acres adjacent to Dyer's farm. On December 20, 1644, William Dyer of Newport sold to George Gardiner a ten-acre neck of land which Dyer had bought of Thomas Applegate.

In a marginal note, William Dyer (who was the recorder), described his lands:

Wm Dyers farm [June or January] 20th 1644 Memorandum that the farm of William Dyre of Newport in the Isle of Rhodes consisting of al well the lands that was granted unto him by the said town as also of several purchases that he said William made of divers lands that adjoined hereunto amounteth to the number of one hundred forty acres more or less.

On October 18, 1669, testimony was given in his behalf by Governor Coddington: "I do affirm that we the purchasers of Rhode Island (myself being the chief), William Dyer desiring a spot of land of us, as we passed by it, after we had purchased the said island, did grant him our right in the said island, and named it Dyer's Island." Others so testified also.

On February 18, 1669/9, "William Dyre of Newport...Senior and Kathrin Dyre his wife" sold to Peleg Sanford of Newport "a tract or parcel of land containing twelve acres."

On July 7, 1670, "William Dyre of Newport..., gent.," deeded to "my son Henry Dyre...that part of my farm lying at the northerly end thereof...but in case my son Henry should have issue only females then my son Samuell...after the death of the said Henry shall give one hundred and fifty pounds sterling the eldest to have a double portion the rest an equal divident of the residue...the land to return to...Samuell."

On July 25, 1670, "Samuell Dyre & Henry Dyre both of Newport," bound themselves in £300 to "our father William Dyre of Newport," they to pay "unto their sister Mary Dyre the eldest daughter of...William Dyre" £100 within three years after William's decease, and to "Elizabeth Dyre the second daughter of William Dyre" £40 "when she cometh to the age of eighteen years."

On August 5, 1670, "William Dyre of Newport..., gent.," deeded to "my son William Dyre...my island...called Dyre's Island lying and being situated in Narrogansett Bay upon the northern side of Rhode Island over against Prudence Island."

William's wife, Mary, was hanged in Boston on June 1, 1660. About 1664, William married secondly, Katherine (____). William died sometime before December 24, 1677, on which date Governor Benedict Arnold in his will of this date mentions William Dyer, Sr., now late deceased.

His widow Katherine had her dower set off by order of Town Council in 1681, and she was alive six years later. As William's widow, Katherine Dyer and widow Anne Dyer, Samuel's relict [Samuel was William's son], went at it tooth and nail for three years in the courts over a "breach of covenant" before the justices saw fit to "cease the action." At the May 12, 1679 court, "upon indictment by the General Solicitor against Katherine Dyre of Newport for misbehavior she being in court called, appeared: pleads not guilty and refers for trial to God & the country. The Court upon serious consideration of the matter see cause to quash the bill." Katherine was not through, however, and went after her step-son Charles Dyer in 1682 in a £30 complaint of trespass, in which the jury found against her. These actions probably represent the attempts of William's widow to gain possession from the children of William Dyer's first wife of the estate that she felt belonged to her children with him.

• Residence: Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA
• Residence: Newport - 1639
  • Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Jul 1 2016, 7:57:50 UTC

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William Dyer, First Attorney General

From: Christy K. Robinson (© 2012 used by permission). Blogspot: Mary Barrett Dyer

Engaged for the people, by the people, or in the peoples' name

Husband of Quaker martyr Mary Barrett Was Rhode Island's first Attorney General

In 1628, the founders of Massachusetts Bay Colony followed the lead of the Plymouth Colony, and obtained a royal charter to form a community that was self-governed but answerable to the King, Parliament, and laws of England. The Massachusetts Bay Company purchased a huge tract of wilderness that was later subdivided to become part of New Hampshire and Connecticut.

In late 1637, a large group of religious dissidents in the Boston area, including Anne and William Hutchinson, and William and Mary Barrett Dyer, were given the choice of submitting to the MassBay church-state, or being banished. They may have been planning to leave anyway, but the expulsion of Anne Hutchinson for heresy certainly hurried their departure. While she was under house arrest in the winter of 1637-38, the men were searching for and purchasing land from the Narragansett Indians, for what would become the Colony of Providence Plantations and Rhode Island.

They formed the first democracy in America (Massachusetts governors John Winthrop and Thomas Dudley were disdainful of democracy), and obtained their own charter from the English government in 1643, after Massachusetts Bay's Gov. Winthrop implied that Rhode Island would be annexed to Massachusetts, thus bringing the heretics back under his control.

In May 1650 the General Assembly, meeting in Newport, created the offices of Attorney General for the Colony and Solicitor General. William Dyer and Hugh Bewitt/Buit, respectively, were immediately engaged.

Notice the wording in the order and commission for Attorney General below, that he was "Engaged for the people, by, or in the peoples name..." Does that sound familiar, like, say, the Gettysburg Address by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, when he said that "Government by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth?"

You won't see many "one people" or "We the People" empowering statements until 1776, in the Declaration of Independence, or 1787, when the United States Constitution was written. But Rhode Island was there in 1650, advocating for us—the People.

GEDCOM Note

Category: Antinomian Controversy Category: Portsmouth, Rhode Island Category: Signers of the Portsmouth Compact Category: Newport, Rhode Island Category:Rhode Island Friends Society, Newport, Rhode Island Category:Quakers Category: Founders and Settlers of Rhode Island

Disputed Parents

Over a century ago, Professor Louis Dyer of Harvard University published a pamphlet with the supposition that William Dyer was the son of George Dyer and Dorothy Shirley of Bratton St. Maur, Somerset. This has been disproved, and it is now known that William Dyer was baptized in 1609 at Kirby Lathrope, Lincolnshire, son of William Dyer.<ref>William Allen Dyer, [https://archive.org/stream/rhodeislandhisto14rhod#page/n173/mode/2up "William Dyer, a Rhode Island Dissenter -- From Lincoln or Somerset?" in Rhode Island Historical Society Collections, vol. 30, no. 1 (Jan. 1937), pp. 8-26, especially pp. 22-23.</ref>

Biography

• Signer of the Portsmouth Compact, 7 Jan 1638

Great Migration Excerpts

• Anderson, Robert Charles; Sanborn, George F. Jr.; Sanborn, Melinde L. (2001). The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England 1634–1635. Vol. II C-F. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society. ISBN 0-88082-120-5. pp 379-___ (membership required), esp.
  • p. 381. He was baptized 19 Sep 1609 in Kirkby Laythorpe, Lincolnshire.<ref>Anderson cites, for this information, William Allan Dyer's, "William Dyer, a Rhode Island Dissenter - From Lincoln or Somerset?" in RIHSC 30(1930):9-26
  • He emigrated in 1635, settling initially in Boston, then Portsmouth 1638 and Newport 1639. He was a milliner (a maker of hats) as well as a fishmonger. He and Mary were admitted to the Boston church on 13 Dec 1635. While made a freeman in Boston 3 Mar 1635/6, he was disenfranchised on 20 Nov 1637 (as part of the Antinomian controversy).
  • One of the founders of Portsmouth, RI, and then Newport, RI. He removed to Newport by 16 Mar 1640/1 when he was made freeman there.Once in Rhode Island, he served in public office under many differentroles, including town clerk, recorder, general attorney, grand jury and more. He had a decades' long lawsuit with William Coddington, that even his widow attempted to pursue. He married first at St. Martin-in-the-field, Westminster, Middlesex, 27 Oct 1633 Mary Barrett;<ref>Anderson cites for this marriage Theresa A. Dyer, NEHGR 94(1940):300-1</ref> she was hanged as a Quaker in Boston on 1 Jun 1660. He married second by about 1664 (estimated birth of daughter) Katherine ____ She was living in 1687. (Anderson cites "Arnold 292, source notstated") She sued (unsuccessfully) her step children for part of herhusband's estate as late as 1682.
  • He died before 24 oct 1677 when his wife was referred to as widow.
  • Children by Mary:
    • William bp St. Martin in the fields 24 Oct 1634; bur there 27 Oct 1634
    • Samuel, bp Boston 20 Dec 1635; m by 1663 Anne Hutchinson, daughter of Edward Hutchinson.
    • Daughter, premature, stillborn and deformed, 17 Oct 1637# Henry b abt 1640; indicted 11 May 1674 for fornication with Elizabeth Brayton; m by an unknown date Elizabeth Sanford, dau of John Sanford.# William, b abt 1642; m Mary ____ (no supporting evidence has been found that she was the daughter of Richard Walker of Lynn.
    • Mahershallalhashbaz, b by 1642; m Martha Pearce, dau of Richard. (Anderson cites Austin 146, 290, no evidence given) Along with brother Samuel, was charged by the (RI) General Court of Trials for "larceny against the state," probably for refusing to serve in the military. (Evidence that they practiced Quakerism as did their mother.)
    • Mary b abt 1647; m by 1675 Henry Ward; emigrated to Cecil Co., Maryland.
    • Charles, b abt 1650; m1 Mary _____ (no documentation to support that he was dau. of John Lippett); m2 after 1690 Mary (Brownell) Wait who survived him. He died by 1721.
  • Children by Katherine:
    • Elizabeth, b abt 1664; m by 1693 John Greenman.

NEGHR excerpts

About Midsummer's Day (June 24), 1624 Blackborne contracted fourteen year old William Dyer as an apprentice. Dyer, the son of an affluent Lincolnshire yeoman, was the future husband of Mary (Barrett) Dyer, the Quaker martyr. It was not until 20 August 1625 that his nine year indenture was enrolled with the Fishmongers, and it was made retroactive to the previous summer. In assuming responsibility for an apprentice, Blackborne obligated himself to serve as a surrogate father, teaching young Dyer his trade, providing him with bed, food, clothing, and behavioral supervision, and maintaining him in the religious life of the parish. In return, Dyer agreed to serve his master faithfully for the set term of years, to forgo marriage during his apprenticeship, to keep his master's secrets, and to adhere to strict behavioral standards both in his master's house and abroad in the town.
On 10 February 1632, William Dyer signed a lease to rent "The Globe" in the New Exchange, formerly occupied by Blackborne, for a term of twoand a quarter years. About a year later 1632/33 William Dyer also assumed the lease for Blackborne's tenement on Mr. Greene's Lane. By the autumn of 1635 William Dyer had set sail for Boston and soon was prospering in his new home. He was one of fourteen owners of a wharf in Boston.<ref>Johan Winsser, "Walter Blackborne, London Milliner, NEHGR, Vol 151, pages 408-416</ref>

+Proof of Marriage Date

• The Marriage Record of Mary Dyre The Quaker Martyr - The Parish Registers of St. Martin in the Fields, Liverpool, Lancashire, England, contain the following marriage record:
• October 27, 1633 Gulielmus Dyer and Maria Barret
  • There seems no doubt that this is the record of the marriage of William Dyre (as he consistantly spelled his name) and wife Mary, the Quakermartyr. The date of their marriage was known to be between mid-summer1633, when William Dyre's nine-year apprenticeship in London ended, and December 1635, when his son Samuel was baptized in Boston in New England.:: It was through the professional services of Mr. Richard Holworthy of London that the record of William Dyre's apprenticeship was found. Through his efforts, also, the baptismal record of William Dyre was discovered. Therefore, when Mr. Holworthy wrote: "There seems to me to beno doubt as to the wife of William Dyre and I want to congratulate you on having this information," there need be no hesitation in offeringthe marriage record for publication. Mary Dyre's maiden name of BARRETT explains why her son Samuel named ason of his, BARRETT Dyer. The Registers of St. Martin-in-the- Fields record the baptism, October 24, 1634 of "William Diar, son of William and Marie," These records show that William and Mary Dyre emigrated toAmerica not earlier than very late in 1634. The details of the baptismal and apprenticeship records of William Dyre and other facts of his life and that of his wife may be found in an article written by Mr. William Allan Dyer and published in the Rhode Island Historical Society's Collections for January 1937. His efforts quite as much as those of the writer made possible the discovery of themarriage record, and it was Mr. Dyer who conducted the correspondencewith Mr. Holworthy. Acknowledgement is also due the Harleian Society of London, as it was from their publication for 1936 that the Parish Records of St. Martin-in-the-Fields were obtained.<ref>New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 94, July 1940, Page 300</ref>

Mary Barrett Dyer

• Finally, we are able to prove who Mary Dyer was, thanks to Miss Theresa E. Dyer, of Brookline, Norfolk, Mass., who published in The Registerfor July 1940 (vol. 94, p.300) the marriage record of William and Mary from the parish register of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London (cf. also Harl. Soc., 1936).
• On 27 Oct. 1633 William Dyer married Mary BARRET. In this connection it should be noted that Samuel Dyer, son of William and Mary, named hissixth son BARRETT, obviously for his mother's family (cf. Austin's Gen. Dic. of Rhode Island, p.291)<ref>By G. Andrews Moriarty, A.M., LLB., F.A.S.G., F.S.A., New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 104, January 1950, Page 42</ref>

The 20th Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans

• Captain William and Mary Dyre, removed from England to Boston, Suffolk, Mass., and joined the First church there in December, 1635. Captain Dyre was disfranchised for "seditious writing" Nov. 15, 1637, removed to Rhode Island, and was one of the signers of the Portsmouth Compact of government for that province, January 7, 1638.
• He was secretary the same year, general recorder, 1648; attorney-general, 1650-53; member of the general court, 1661-62, 1664-66; general solicitor, 1665-66, and 1668, and secretary to the council, 1669. He was commissioned commander-in-chief upon the sea in 1653, and headed an expedition fitted out in Rhode Island against the Dutch. His wife, Mary Dyre, was the only woman to suffer capital punishment in all the oppression of the Friends the world over. She accompanied her husband on his mission to England with Roger Williams and Dr. John Clarke to obtain the revocation of Governor Coddington's power in Rhode Island and while there became a convert to Quakerism and a preacher in the society.
• On arriving in Boston in 1657, she was imprisoned and on the petition of her husband was permitted to go with him to Rhode Island, but never to return to Massachusetts. She returned, however, and with William Robinson and Marmaduke Stevenson was tried and convicted for "their rebellion, sedition and presumptuous obtruding upon us notwithstanding their being sentenced to banishment on payne of death, as underminers of the government."
• Robinson and Stevenson were executed, but through the petition of her son, Mayor William Dyre, she was reprieved on the same conditions as before, but in May, 1660, again appeared on the public streets of Boston, and was brought before the court, May 31, and condemned to death. She was executed June 1, 1660.
  • <ref>(e-mail from Aurie Morrison), The 20thCentury Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Vol. 3, p.366</ref>

Note and Reference

• William Dyre did receive a commission the English Council of State (about 1652) that appointed him admiral and, upon his return to Newport in 1653, received a commission from Rhode Island to operate as a privateer against the Dutch.
  • Some of the details are found in: Arnold, James N. "The First Commission at Sea from Rhode Island," in The Magazine of History, Vol. VII, No. 4, April 1908, 197-207; Vol. VII, No. 5, May 1908, 262.

RICR References

• Three weeks later (2 October 1652), Coddington's authority in Rhode Island was effectively undercut by an official decree issued by the Council of State. The new document is explicit in appointing William Dyre to oversee measures against the Dutch at sea -- clear sanction for Dyre to act as a privateer. When war broke out between the English and Dutch in early 1653, William took quick advantage of the hostilities to advance his own position. On 18 March, he had himself appointed head of a committee of seven to oversee the fortification and arming of Newport. Dyres appointment was legitimized in part through his prior military experience, having been directed by the General Court a few years earlier to organize the Newport training band, which had apparently lapsed.

Then in May the island towns held their first General Assembly since the Coddington usurpation but this was an Assembly still without the representatives of Providence and Warwick. On 17, Mary Dyre was chosen, along with John Sanford and Nicholas Easton, to attend to the colony's part of all prizes secured in the war.

• * (RICR 1:265). [FYI: RICR = Rhode Island Colonial records, and United Colonies = Records of the United Colonies.]
• The next day the General Assembly was more explicit and forceful; it granted commissions to "Captain John Underhill, Commander-in-Chief upon ye lands and Captain William Dyer Commander-in-Chief at ye sea "to go against the Dutch. Captain Edward Hull of Braintree and Boston received a similar but more plainly stated commission (RICR 1:266 and Arnold, 1908).
• A meeting of the United Colonies noted with concern that Dyre had quickly gathered around him a band of "resolute fellowes" to fall on the Dutch farmes (United Colonies, 51). Some would hold that old English proverb that Dyre had now put out a bigger sail than his boat could sustain. The news of these preparations for war and Dyres commission were received with alarm by the more sober magistrates in Providence.
• On 25 May 1653, the town of Providence noted Dyres commission as one "to make war upon the Dutch."

The Providence magistrates were still further disturbed because the commissions granted to Underhill, Dyre, and Hull were awarded also in the name of the mainland towns without their consent and Dyre, in particular, was regarded as an opportunist and provocateur. Where there already had been considerable ill-feeling between the mainland and island towns, this presumptuous appointment became a further wedge between the divided colony.*

• On the 3rd and 4th of June, the towns of Providence and Warwick addressed "A Brief Remonstrance" intended to disassociate themselves from what they perceived to be the "illegal and unjust proceedings" of Dyre and those who supported him. The commission was characterized as one "tending to war, which is like, for aught we see, to set all New England on fire, for the event of war is various and uncertaine. (RICR 1:270).
• In June, 1660, there is record of a challenge from William Dyre of Newport as to "ye proporiety of our lands and libarties of ye people."
  • Publications of the Rhode Island Historical Society, New Series Vol.V, January 1898 No. 4, Whole Number, 20.

Land transfer from William to Henry Dyre

• Wm. Dyre to Henry Dyre William Dyre of Newport, Gent, granted to my sonn Henry Dyre into that part of my farme lyinge at the northerly and thereof: to witt, from the Stone Ditch. as alsoe from the tree where my sonn Mahers Tobacco house stood, from the Cave to and by that tree upon an Equi distante line from the said Stone Ditch downe unto and through the swamp unto mr. Coddingtons line by the brooke. (the fence is equally devided) percell of Land so bounded with a free Egress ingress and regress to and through the land of my sonn Samuels, but in case my sonn Henry should have Isue only Femailes then my sonn Samuell after the death of the said Henry shall Give one hundred and fifty pounds starllinge the eldestto have a double portion the rest an equall dividend of the Residue, but if only one all to her &c besides the Valluation of the houssinge thereon built the Land to return to Samuell.
• 7th day of July 1670.
• William Dyre : Wit : The X marke off. : Robert Spinke : John Furnell.
  • Source: Rhode Island Land Evidences 1648 -1696, Baltimore Publishing Co. 1970 (Collections were made of these land evidences by the Rhode Island Historical Society. Some are viewable on line, like THIS ONE.

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General Notes

• Kirkby la Thorpe, Lincolnshire, England In 1930 William Alan Dyer published "William Dyer a Rhode Island Dissent er - From Lincoln or Somerset"
• [RIHSC309-26], which presented the baptism and apprenticeship records of the immigrant, and dispoded of a number of misconceptions. In 1940 Theresa A. Dyer published the English marriage record for William Dyer NEHGR 94-300-1.
• In 1991 Johan Winsser documented the lives of Henry & Mary (Dyer) Ward. NEHGR 145:22-28].
• Extracts from the Parish Registers, Kirkby Laythorpe, County Lincoln, England:Giving the date of baptism of William Dyre; that of his brother, Ni cho las (older); that of his sister Margaret (younger); the transcript bei ng s igned on Ladyday 1610 by the father, William Dyer, Church-warden (t he o ne who apprenticed his son, William -- William of Rhode Island - in 623, to Walter Blackborne, fishmonger).William Dyer, the son of Willi am Dyer was baptized the 19th September 1609.
• NEHGR, Vol 151, pages 408-416 "Walter Blackborne, London Milliner" by Johan Winsser; says (in part): About Midsummer's Day (June 24) 1624 Blackb or ne contracted fouteen year old William Dyer as an apprentice.
• Dyer, the son of an affluent Lincolnshire yeoman, was the future husband of Mary (Barrett) Dyer, the Quaker martyr. How the Dyer family came to sele ct Black borne is not certain, but it may have been through the Hutchinso ns of Alfo rd, Lincolnshire, or through the Carres of Sleaford, Lincolnshi re, both fa milies with known long standing associations with the Dyers a nd with clo se relatives in London. It may also be that the Dyers of Linco lnshire kn ew of Blackborne through one or more of the many Dyer famili es living in L ondon, to whom they may have been related. In any case, Wil liam Dyer mu st have labored on a trial basis for the first year, becau se it was not un til 20 August 1625 that his nine year indenture was enrol led with the Fi sh mongers, and it ...

Marriages

1. Catharine (nee?) *Dyer Jr.June 1660 Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States
2. Marriage to: Catharine (nee?) *Dyer Jr. June 1 1660 Boston, Suffolk, Mass.
3. Mary Barrett *Dyer Jr. (born Seymour): Feb 1661 St. Martins, London, Middlesex, England

Death: Apr 18 1672 Newport, Aquidneck Island, Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
Death: Apr 18 1672 Newport, Aquidneck Island, Newport, RI
Death: 1677 Newport, Newport, RI

Mélange of Sources

Leach, J. Granville. "Major William Dyre, ofNew York", The American Historical Register (The Historical Register Publishing Co., Philadelphia, Sept. 1894) Vol. 1, Page 37* Massachusetts, Town Records, 1620-1988 (Provo,UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011) Original data - Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook). Death: 18 Apr 1672 Dorchester, Massachusetts* U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970. Louisville, Kentucky: National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Microfilm, 508 rolls. Volume: 249; SAR Membership Number: 49705* Torrey, Clarence Almon. Torrey’s New England MarriagesPrior to 1700 (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore, 1985)* The Great Migration and The Great Migration Begins, 1620-1635, New England (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Provo, UT, USA; 2013) * Find A Grave Index, 1700s-Current, U.S. & International (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Provo, UT, USA; 2012) * Hatcher, Patricia Law Abstract of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots (Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Provo, UT, USA;1999) Volume: 1; Serial: 8399; Volume: 7.* Ancestry Family Trees (Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network) Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. * Filby, P. William, ed. Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s (Farmington Hills, MI, USA: Gale Research, 2012) ::: Boston, Massachusetts; Year: 1635; Page Number: 96. ::: Boston, Massachusetts; Year: 1637; Page Number: 191* Netherlands, GenealogieOnline Trees Index, 1000-Current Publication: Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2014; Repository: #R1 * The Millennium File (Heritage Consulting, Salt Lake City, UT, USA) ::: Birth: 19 Sep 1609 Strand, London, England ::: Death: 1677 Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, USA* Yates Publishing, U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 (Provo, UT, USA, The Generations Network, Inc., 2004) Birth: 1600 Lo. Marriage: 1633* Edmund West, comp. Family Data Collection - Births (Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2001) Birth: 19 September 1609 London, London, England* AGBI: American Genealogical-Biographical Index, Godfrey Memorial Library, Middletown, CT, USA. Birth: 1610 Eng, Massachusetts* A complete record of the John Olin family : the first of that name whocame to America in the year A.D. 1678: containing an account of theirsettlement and genealogy up to the present time--1893 (1893) by C. C. Olin* William Allan Dyer, The Name of Dyer, A Genealogical Record, 194* John Osborne Austin, Ancestry of Thirty-Three Rhode Islanders Bornin the 18th Century, Albany, N.Y.: Published by Joel Munsell's Sons: 1889* William Allan Dyer, "William Dyer, a Rhode Island Dissenter - From Lincoln or Somerset?," in Genealogies of R.I. Families, Vol.1, Gen Pub. Co. Inc. 1983* William Dyer (Wikipedia)* Review of Dyer children

RE Ancestral Trees and GEDCOM Data

Neither Trees nor GEDCOM are sources and do not belong in Overviews without corresponding sources to buttress each datum.
Therefore, mess glob of sources above is of far more value than what follows below:

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MyHeritage Family Trees

Capt. William Dyer Jr. (1609 - 1672)
Birth: ca. 1609 Kirkby la Thorpe, Lincolnshire, England
[%C2%BF] Birth: Sep 19 1609 London, London, England [? <— Says what alternate source?]
Baptism/Christening: Sep 19 1609 Kirkby Laythorpe,Lincolnshire,England
Employer: Walter Blackborne, fishmonger, contracted 14 year old William as an apprentice; June 24 1624
Occupation: Blackborne contacted fourteen year old William as an apprentice Fishmonger; June 24 1624
Occupation: Enrolled as a Fishmonger, Aug 20 1625
Move: Assumed lease for Blackboure's tenement; 1632/33 on Mr Greene's Lane
Occupation: Signed lease to rent "The Globe" formerly occupied by Blackbourne; Feb 10 1632, New Exchange, London, England
Immigration: in Autumn, set sail for Boston, 1635.
Departure: 1635
Occupation: One of fourteen owners of a Wharf in Boston
Arrival: 1635, but not on port: Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony
Occupation: Milliner, fishmonger, Capt
Residence 1: c.1635-1639, Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony
Residence 2: 1639, Newport, Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, British Colonial America
Residence 3: Mar 1644, Narragansett, New England: