William Hilton, Sr.

William Hilton, Sr.
Birthdate:	1585
Birthplace:	Northwich, Cheshire, England (United Kingdom)
Death:	June 28, 1655 (69-70) York, York County, Province of Maine, Massachusetts
Immediate Family:	Son of William Hilton and Unknown Hilton Husband of 1st wife of William Hilton and Frances White Father of Elizabeth Hilton; William Hilton, "the Elder"; Mary Hilton; Magdalene Wiggin; Anne Agnes Beale and 3 others Brother of Edward Hilton
Occupation:	The Pilgrim, Founded Dover, N.H., Emmigrated to Plymouth aboard "The Fortune" arr: 11 Nov 1621

Managed by:	Private User
Last Updated:	September 8, 2022

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Immediate Family

About William Hilton, Sr.

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https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hilton-18

William Hilton Sr

Born about 1590 in Northwich, Cheshire, England

Son of William Hilton of Witton and Ellen (Mainwaring) Hilton

Brother of Elizabeth Hilton, Amy Hilton, Edward Hilton and Arthur Hilton

Husband of Unknown (Unknown) Hilton — married before 1616 in England

Husband of Frances (Hayward) White — married about 1635 (to about 1655) in York, York, Maine

Father of Elizabeth Hilton, William Hilton, Mary Hilton, John Hilton, Magdalene (Hilton) Wiggin, Mary (Hilton) Huse, Mainwaring Hilton, Agnes (Hilton) Beal and William Hilton II

Died before 30 Jun 1656 in York, York, Maine Colonymap

William Hilton Sr migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1620-1640).

William Hilton (b. c. 1591 - d. btw 28 Jun 1655/30 Jun 1656), son of William Hilton of Northwich, Cheshire.[1]

m.1 (by 1616) UNKNOWN. Issue:[1] Elizabeth (bp. 27 Jun 1616 Northwich - bur. 01 Aug 1616 Northwich).[1] William (bp. 22 Jun 1617 Northwich).[1] m.1 Sarah Greenleaf.[1] m.2 (16 Sep 1659 Charlestown) Mehitable Nowell.[1] Mary (bp. 11 May 1619 Northwich).[1] John (b. c. 1624 Plymouth).[1] m.2 Frances. Issue:[1] Magdalene (b. c. 1636).[1] m.1 (by 1656) James Wiggin.[1] m.2 (1698) Henry Kenning.[1] Mainwaring (b. by 1646 - d. bef. 04 Jul 1671) m. (c. 1671) Mary Moulton.[1] Agnes (b. c. 1647) m. (by 1667) Arthur Beale.[1] William (b. c. 1653) m. (by 1678) Anne.[1]

Biography

William was of London. He was indebted to his father by accounts preserved with the will in 1605. He was legatee for his brother Arthur of Northwich in 1612. The Hiltons were probably all fishmongers in London. The tax lists for London for 1641 gives the name of Edward Hilton in the list of fishmongers with the note "Newe England" after it.[2]

William and Edward Hilton came to Plymouth aboard the "Fortune" in 1621,[3] the year after the "Mayflower" arrived in America. The "Fortune," a small ship carrying only 35 passengers, left England in July 1621 and didn't arrive at Plymouth until November 10th of that year.

"William Hilton of Northwich county Chester" arrived at Cape Cod on the "Fortune" 9 Nov. 1621.[4] His letter badly misrepresented conditions there and was addressed to his "cousin" and was printed in Capt. John Smith's book, New Englands Trials, being dated two days later. The "cousin" may have been a blind for Capt. Smith himself or one of William's nephews or one of his wife's. He stated "I know not anything a contented mind can here want". In the letter he directed that his wife be sent over and she arrived at Plymouth with two children about 10 July 1623 and they were still in Plymouth in 1624:

"Loving Cousin, At our arrival at New Plymouth, in New England, we found all our friends and planters in good health, though they were left sick and weak, with very small means; the Indians round about us peaceable and friendly; the country very pleasant and temperate, yielding naturally, of itself, great store of fruits, as vines of divers sorts, in great abundance. There is likewise walnuts, chestnuts, small nuts and plums, with much variety of flowers, roots and herbs , no less pleasant than wholesome and profitable. No place hath more gooseberries and strawberries, nor better. Timer of all sorts you have in England doth cover the land, that affords beasts of divers sorts, and great flocks of turkeys, quails, pigeons and partridges; many great lakes abounding with fish, fowl, beavers, and otters. The sea affords us great plenty of all excellent sorts of sea-fish, as the rivers and isles doth variety of wild fowl of most useful sorts. Mines we find, to our thinking; but neither the goodness nor quality we know. Better grain cannot be than the Indian corn, if we will plant it upon as good ground as a man need desire. We are all freeholders; the rent-day doth not trouble us; and all those good blessings we have, of which and what we list in their seasons for taking. Our company are, for the most part, very religious, honest people; the word of God sincerely taught us every Sabbath ; so that I know not any thing a contented mind can here want. I desire your friendly care to send my wife and children to me, where I wish all the friends I have in England; and so I rest. Your loving kinsman, William Hilton"[5] In the 1623 division of land in Plymouth, William received one acre “to the sea, eastward”, as a passenger on the "Fortune" and his wife and two children received three acres, “against the swampe & reedponde”, as passengers on the "Anne".[6]

William's son John was baptised by the Rev. John Lyford in 1624 which was the first of Rev. Lyford's problems with the Pilgrims for which he and John Oldham were expelled from the colony. Lyford had baptised John even though his parents were not members of the church. The Hiltons were followers of the Church of England and this was probably the reason for them leaving Plymouth.[7]

William did not come to the Piscataqua with David Thompson in 1623 and no settlement had been made up the river in the spring of 1624. It was later than this that William left Plymouth and joined Thompson at Little Harbor with the purpose of starting salt works (salt making was the principal industry of Northwich). When his brother Edward arrived in 1628 he moved up river and when Capt. Neale arrived he was living on Dover Neck and planting corn, safe from the hogs, on the other side of the river in Maine. He apparently went with Capt. Wiggins to Newfields (part of Exeter), but soon returned. Edward was in control at Dover Point 4 Dec. 1632 when Gov. Winthrop received a letter from Capt. Neale and William Hilton that they had sent four ships and forty men to protect Pemaquid from Dixie Bull the pirate.[8]

William was one of the witnesses on 7 July 1631 to the livery of seizing to his brother Edward to the lands of the Squamscott or Hilton’s Patent dated 12 Mar. 1629/0.[9]

Receavd by me George Ludlow of Mr William Hilton the second of August 1632: these goods following of Mr Jon Hockings

Impr 9 Ruggs It eightt mens Coates It two papowes Coates It N : ne shirts one Hodged of bread It 3 Hodseds of bread George Ludlow"[10]

The following letter to the Worshipful Mr. John Winthrop, the younger, at Agawam, is printed with the Winthrop papers in the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society:

"To the wor mr John Wiathrope the younger at aguawam give these. Pascatque Aprill 18th 1633 Ser

There arived a ffishing shipe at Pascataque about the 15th of this p'sant moneth where in is one Richard ffoxwell whoe hath fformerly lived in this cuntery he bringeth nuse yt there were tow shipes making ready at Barstaple whoe are to bring passingers & catell ffor to plant in the bay he hath leters ffor mr wearom & divers others at dorchester wch hee intends to bring hr to the bay so soone as posible he can like wise he heard ffrom mr Alerton whoe was making ready at Bristole ffor to come ffor this cuntery other nuse he bringeth not that I can heare of onely mr Borowes purposeth to come ffor this cuntery ffrom london & soe desighring you to convey thes leters in to the bay wth what conveniency you can desighring the lord to blesse you in your lawffull designes I humbly rest Your wor ashured to com William Hilton. Ser I purpose eare long be if ye lord will to see you. The masters name of the shipe is John Corbin of Plimouth."[11] "To the wor and his much respeckted Frend mr. John Winthrop governor at aguawam give these Ser, my duty and respeckt remembred to you and to mrs. Winthrope. These are to serteyfie you that after a short yet sumthing a teadeous Jorny it pleased the lord that I arrived at my habetatyon the saterday after my departure From you I praise the lord I am in good health with mr. Leveridge and the rest of our good Frends with us. Ser I must remaine your debter For that kindenes I reseaved From you. I pray you remember my dutyfull respect to your good Father. I am amoungst other his love and kindness to mee much bound to him For his loving counsel to mee in his last letter For the which I most humbly thanke him. Ser presuming upon the goodness of your loving and kind disposison make bould to serteyfie you of that which I apprehend may stand with the good of you and your neighbors with you seeing the extreordenary convenience that your plantation hath above any in this land that I have seene For the keeping of Swine. I inquired what quantity of swine were kept there it was answered mee but a smaule quantity and that it was determined that there shuld not many bee kept there intimating that it was thought that the plumes and clames might prove a greter benefit which cannot bee nor any way the 100 part so benefisiall this winter I have had the benefit of 10 hoges eavery hog worth 7 or 8 pounds beaver. I was constrained the winter was twelve moneth to Feed them all winter yet it was with such meate as was not any way costly being but huskes of indean corne now the maner of ordering them John maning is able to serteyfie you now For the preserving of your Corne From them until you can Fense your grounds aboute your houses you may set your corne very convenetly on the oposit side of the river and you shall Find that if you pracktis the breeding of swine with the benefit of the Iland you may with a smaule charge in short time raise sum hundered of pounds yerely by them as you may gather by the preportyon of my stocke in that behalf whoe have not any such conveinecy as you have. Ser I pray you pardon my bouldnes herein For my eror herein is out of love in that I desigre the good of you all both For speretuall and temporall things. I knowe that mens labors cannot bee had at easie rats until corne and porke with the like provison bee plenty. If I were with you I thinke I could answere all your objecktyons and showe you a way that you might keepe them at an easie rate. I am affred I have bin teadeous unto you and therefore desighring the lord to blese you and yours I humbly rest Your wor Asurd to command William Hilton [c. 1 May 1633]

Ser mr. Leveridge desigreth to be remembred to you though unknowne."[11] "To the Right worpll John Winthrop esqire Governor of the Masachsets give these Pascataque, July the 14th 1637 Ser, My humble duty remembred the bearer hereof being Sonne to Passaconoway is in debted unto mr. Vane, three skines which hee desighreth to pay but hee is affread to come to pay them by reason that the Sagamore of Aguawam serteffieth him that if hee come in to the bay you will take away his head hee hath desighred mee to write in his beehalffe that hee may come and pay his debts and likewise that you would bee pleased to bid him welcome and soe desighring the lord to blese you and yours I humbly rest Your worships to command to his poure William Hilton Ser this bearer desighreth mee to serteyffie in his behalffe that the Eanglish have awais bin very welcome unto him. I am able to testeffie that hee hath ever since I knew him bin a very loving Indean." [12] At the Exeter court, 4 Dec.1639 it was ordered that "Will Hilton and goodm. Smart who are to have the lots on the other side of the river where the town shall be thought most convenient."[13] On 3 Feb. 1640/1 at Exeter it was agreed “that Mr William Hilton is to enjoy those marshes in Oyster River which formerlyhe had possession of and still are in his possession, and the other marsh which Mr Gibbins doth wrongfully detain from him with the rest of those marshes which formerly he hath made use of so far as they may be for the public good of this plantation: And so much of the upland adjoining to them as shall be thought convenient by the neighborhood of Oyster River, which are belonging to this body.” [14] There is an action of trespass on a case against Ambrose Gibbons for detaining this marsh as well as the following action: “George Walton Walton Sumons an acco debt at Suite of Wm Hilton ordered that ex to be granted psent for 3£ damage & 16s Costs. Provided that if Mr Tomkins of norhampton have pd 10£ to mr Rich: Hilton in Norwich then the sd Wm Hilton”.[15]

Before Mar. 1639 William participated in an exploration up the Merrimack River.[16] He was made a freeman with William Walderne 19 May 1642, was a commissioner to end small causes 1642-4, and a representative in 1644. In 1642 William was granted 20 acres in Dover.[17]

William of Dover sold to Francis Matthews of Oyster River, 88 acres and two parcels of marsh adjoyning in Oyster River which was granted to him by the town of Dover. The deed seems to have different dates depending on where you find it, it seems to be 7 July 1644 that was altered to 1641 and was recorded at the Rockingham County Registry of Deeds on 29 Mar. 1653 and the copy in the Dover town records is dated 7 July 1645. [18]

"At a General Court held at Boston, 27 Sept. 1642:

It is ordered, that the associats of Pascataque shall have power to try any cause under 201, though no other bee sent to them. Willi: Hilton, Willi: Wald'n, Edwa: Colcote have authority to end differences under 20sh8. Mr Francis Williams is joyned an associate at Pascataq."[19] There is a suit in the Piscataqua court brought by William 4 Apr. 1642 respecting a payment to "Mr. Richard Hilton of Norwich". There is also a baptism recorded at Wotten-under-edge, Gloucestershire of a child of Richard Hilton "coming out of New England".

William and his family moved to Kittery Point about 1642 as his wife Frances deposed on 27 Feb. 1687/8 (she was then married to Richard White) “that about forty sixe years past shee leived in a house at Kittery point that stood then between the house that was mr Morgans & the house that Mr: Greenland afterward leived in which house above sayd the depot husband William Hilton did hyer of Major Nicholas Shapligh”.[17]

At a court at Gorgeana, 27 June 1648:

"It is ordered this Court that Mr. William Hilton being licensed for to keep the ordinary at the mouth of the river of Pascataquack and that none other shall keep any private ordinary ther, nor to sell Wine, beare nor Licker upon any p’tence what so ever under ii gallons by retaile”. [20] It is Ordered this Court that hee that keeps the ordnary is for to keepe a ferry and to have to the great Iland for one vi d if more iii d a peese to Strawbury banck for one xii d if more viii d p man to Dover or Kitterry xviii d for one if more xii d a man." In Apr. of that year he was in Dover as the town allowed him and Thomas Turner to gather 70 loads of pine knots on Madbury Neck.

At a court held at Gorgeana on 16 Oct. 1649: “Mr. William Hilton presented for not keeping victual and drink at all times for strangers and inhabitants, admonished”.(28) Also at this court: “It is Ordered this court: That ther shall be ahieway cut from the head of Rogers Cove, unto the head of Bray bote harber & so to the little marsh ner Unto Capt Champanownes howse & so to mr William Hiltons the In habitance of Gorgeana: to cut: Unto a Cove neare Unto Jon Andrews: and the Inhabitance of Pascataquacke to cut from Wm Hiltons to that cove, by so many of each towne as they shall thincke fit; and this to be done by the 30th Octor 49.” John Treworthie in a deposition taken on 25 Oct. 1650 testified “that the cellar wch is at Pascataway now standing neere the house wch Wm Hilton now lives in, did not any way belong to the land wch was bought by me for my Grandffather mr Alexander Shapleigh”.[21]

In 1647 Mendum, the Kittery Point innholder, had bought and given up the house owned by Capt. Shapleigh, who got the license transferred to William who rented the house and lived there until Shapleigh put him out soon after 15 Oct. 1650 because of his wife Frances who by her own deposition had been living there some years before: "for as much as the house at the river's mouth where Mr. Shapleigh's father first built and Mr. William Hilton now dwelleth; in regard it was first house there built and Mr. Shapleigh intendeth to build and enlarge it, and for further considerations, it is thought fit it should from time to time be for a house of entertainment or ordinary with this proviso, that the tenant be such a one as the inhabitants shall approve of". [21]

On 7 June 1651 Mr. Nicholas Shapleigh of Kittery leased to Mr. Hugh Gunison for 21 years “all his Edifices Land & accomodations and Priveledges: Att the point wher mr William Hilton now Dwelleth containing ffive Hundred ackers.”[21]

William then moved to York where he was promptly given the ferry and tavern license and signed the submission to Massachusetts on 22 Nov. 1652 and took the oath of freeman.[21]

At a town meeting held at York about the 8th of December, 1652:

"It is ordered that mr William Hilton is to have the use of the ferry for the Term of one & twenty years. Lying betwixt the house where he now liveth, and The Town of York : and he is duly to attend the sd Ferry with Cannoos sufficient for the safe transportation both of Strangers & Townsmen if occasion requireth. If time & tydes be Seasonable, he is to pass persons over to & from the Stage Island : If not he is & must provide a Canoo to Lye ready at the point of Land on his own Side the River, upon all Such occasions to transport people without danger. In Consideration whereof the sd William Hilton is to have allowed him two pence a peice for Every strangers, & four pence apeace for Every beast, or horse which he swimmeth over, or that are Swom by any Strangers themselves, he or his servants being ready to attend, & one penny a time for Every Townsman he fetcheth or carrioth over : unless the sd Inhabitant go over In his own Cannoo, which Liberty remaines to Every Townsman, being made use of to Exempt him or them from the payment of any ferriage." He was an alderman there and then selectman 1652-4, on the grand jury 1651, 1653-5 and foreman of the jury in 1650. He was evidently educated and sufficiently familiar with the courts to almost invariably win his frequent lawsuits.

There is the railing of his wife Frances (for which the court sentenced her severely) that one John was his bastard (she was beneath his class). His other wife/wives kept out of court and are therefore nameless.

On 16 Oct. 1649 Mrs. Hilton was presented and admonished for fighting and abusing her neighbors with her tongue. At the same court Mr. William Hilton was presented for breach of the Sabbath in carrying of wood from the woods and for failing to keep food and drink on hand for strangers and inhabitants. [22]

On 15 March 1649/50 Mr. William Hilton brought cases against Hatevell Nutter, Thomas Hanscom and Robert Mendam. He was still suing Hanscom and Mendam on 11 March 1651 . On 15 October 1650 Mr. William Hilton and Frances his wife were sued by Mr. George Moncke for slander . On 11 March 1651 Jeremy Sheires reviled Mr. William Hilton when Hilton was foreman of the jury, and Sheires was fined £2 . On 14 October 1651 Mr. William Hilton posted bail for Clement Campion, sued Thomas Way for debt, and sued Michaell Powell for debt .[23]

"This Indenture made the sixth day of Septembr… one thousand six hundred fivety & two between William Ellingham of Agamenticus… Millwright of the one part & Henery Webb of Boston… Mrchant…. Whereas Edward Godfrey Gent, Abraham Preble Major, John Twisden, Edward Johnson Hene : Norton, William Hilton & John Davess all of Agamenticus… on the behalf of the Inhabitants of Agamenticus… by a deed of Gyft beareing date the tenth of Aprill last past did give & grant unto ye sayd William Ellingham, & Hugh Gayle of Agamenticus aforesd, Carpenters full power… to build Erect & sett up a Corne Mill or Mills, Saw Mill or Mills on a place or Cricke Comanly Called Mr Gorges Cricke with the ffalls thereto belonging…"[24]

On 30 June 1653 "William Hilton Senior" sued Samuell Allcocke for cutting and carrying away his timber . On 25 October 1653 Mr. William Hilton Senior sued Ann Mason of London and, in a separate action, sued Sir Ferdinando Gorges, for damage done against him . [25]

On 28 June 1655 the court found Frances Hilton, the wife of William Hilton, guilty of "railing at her husband and saying he went with Joane his bastard to his three halfe penny whores and that he carried a cloak of profession for his knavery." For this offense she was sentenced to have "twenty lashes upon the bare skin, only the execution thereof upon her husband's request to be respited upon her good behavior until the next county court, except any just complaints come in against her. In the meantime, which if they do unto authority then the punishment to be inflicted upon her by order of the commissioners of York at what time they shall see cause to order it" .[26]

At the same court in which Richard White became William Hilton's administrator (30 June 1656, "the said Whitte having married his widow,"), White also brought a charge of slander against Rice Jones for an offense against his wife, Frances White.[27] As the court dragged on, Frances White was countersued for "causelessly abusing" the wife of Rice Jones with opprobrious and disgraceful speeches and was sentenced to acknowledge her offence in court, 3 July 1656 . At court 6 July 1657 the infamous Joan Andrews was presented for "threatening Goody Whitte at York in a profane manner saying that she would swear herself to the devil but she would be avenged of her". [28]

On 30 July 1656 Magdeline Wiggin the wife of James Wiggin was presented for saying she saw "William Moore & her mother Frances Whitte in the act of adultery”. [29]

On 5 July 1658 complaints were heard about Richard White and his wife fighting and quarrelling. Things got worse. On 3 July 1660, Richard White and his wife Frances White were presented for allowing men to be drunk in their house on the Sabbath not attending public meeting, and "common lying and backbiting of their neighbors & slandering them & for their great disorder in falling out & fighting one with another & for beating company in their house & for beating Mistress Gunnison & Joseph Davesse his servants, & Ric Whitte for being drunk several times" . On 1 July 1673 Richard White was paying fines for himself and his wife . On 6 July 1675 they were presented for not attending the public worship. [30]

Frances White, wife of Richard White, in a deposition taken Feb. 27, 1687-8, says " that about forty sixe years past shee leived in a house at Kittery poynt that stood then between the house that was mr : Morgans & the house that Mr : Greenland afterward leived in- which house above sayd the depo husband William Hilton did hyer of Maior Nicholus shapligh."

William had two sons named William. It was not an unusual occurance to have two children by the same name by two different mothers. The elder of the two lived in Newbury and Charlestown. A deposition of 30 May 1683 shows that: Willia Hilton now resident in York ... was commonly known, & reputed, to be the son of William Hilton Senior deceased, & formerly lived in York.[31]

Notes

Note: http://www.starnewsonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060416/C...: When Capt. William Hilton Jr. named and "purchased" the Cape Fear River, circa 1663, he named the now Brunswick River the "Hilton River." Should the Brunswick River resume its original name, Leland might reasonably be named Hiltonton, as in Hilton Head Island, S.C. His kinsman, Nicholas Shapleigh, drew one of the first charts of the Cape Fear and Hilton rivers. Though an old New England name like Hilton (Exeter, NH), Shapleigh or Shapleighton might be a nice name for Leland? I descend from Capt. Hilton's lawyer brother, Edward Hilton Sr. of Exeter, NH, who wed the widow Mrs. Catherine Shapleigh Treworgye, the sister of Capt. Shapleigh... MA Bay Settlers web site: Mr. William HILTON; Born c1590; Died a June 1656; English Origin Northwich, Cheshire; Came to New England 1621 With the Fortune; Occupation tavernkeeper, ferryman; First Spouse unk (c1595 - a1646); Children Elizabeth, William, Mary, John, Magdalene; Second Spouse Frances _____ (c1618 - p1688); Children Mannering, Agnes, William (Oops. This same second wife and children are also given to brother William at the site); William was elder brother of Edward Hilton Sources

↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 "A genealogical profile of William Hilton." Plimouth Plantation & NEHGS. PlymouthAncestors.org. PDF ↑ Cutter, W.R. (1908). Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts, IV, pp. 1813. NY: Lewis Historical Publishing Co. ↑ William Hilton from Northwich bound for Plymouth 1623. Dover N.H. 1624, (Banks, Mass. 36 pg 14).[1] ↑ Pedigree of the Family of Hilton- David Manly Hilton, Damariscotta, 1933 ↑ Barbour, P. (1986). The Complete Works of Captain John Smith, pp. 430-431. Williamsburg; Hassam, 1877, p. 179. read letter...[2] ↑ Shurtleff, N. & Pulsifer, D. (1855/61). Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England, XII, pp. 5-6. Boston. ↑ Bradford, W. (n.d.). Of Plimouth Plantation. N.p. ↑ Haubrich, A. (1990). Early History of the New Hampshire Settlements. Piscataqua Pioneers. ↑ Bell, C. (n.d.). The Squamscott Patent, 24, pp. 264-9. NEHGR. ↑ York Deeds,. I, pt. 1, fol. 60 ↑ 11.0 11.1 "The Winthrop Papers," (1920). Massachusetts Historical Society, III, p. 119ff. Boston. ↑ "The Winthrop Papers," (1929). Massachusetts Historical Society, III, p. 449. Boston ↑ Bouton, N. (1867). Documents and Records Relating to the Province of New Hampshire, I, pp. 138. Concord. ↑ Bouton, 1867, p. 141 ↑ Rockingham County Registry of Deeds, I, fol.7, 12 ↑ Winthrop Papers, IV, p. 101 ↑ 17.0 17.1 Hassam, J. (1877). Some of the Descendants of William Hilton. NEHGR, 31, p. 181. (citing Dover Town Records: Book I). ↑ Rockingham County Registry of Deeds- Vol. I, fol. 95; Some of the Descendants of William Hilton- NEHGR- Vol. 31, 181 ↑ Dover Town Records- book I, fol. 20 ↑ Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, I, pp. 125, 135, 147; Hassam, 1877, p. 181-2 ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 Hassam, 1877, p. 182 ↑ Province and Court Records of Maine, I, p. 135 ↑ Province and Court Records of Maine, I, pp. 138, 145, 156, 160, 169 ↑ York Deeds, I, pt. 2, fol. 15 ↑ Province and Court Records of Maine, II, p. 11,19 ↑ Province and Court Records of Maine, II, p. 43-4 ↑ Province and Court Records of Maine, II, p. 47, 51, 54 ↑ Maine Province & Court Records, II, p. 50, 56 ↑ Maine Province & Court Records, II, p. 52 ↑ Maine Province & Court Records, II, p. 63, 91, 260, 307 ↑ York Deeds, III, p. 125, NEHGR, 31, p. 184; 36, 40 The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633- Robert Charles Anderson, NEHGS, 1995 Genealogical Dictionary of Maine & New Hampshire- p. 331ff http://kerrysdavis.home.comcast.net/~kerrysdavis/p18.htm#i177 MPCR: Province and Court Records of Maine, 6 volumes (Portland 1928-1975, Newburyport, Massachusetts, 1991), MPCR 2:47; 2:51; 2:54. John T. Hassam, "Some Descendants of William Hilton," The New England Historical & Genealogical Register, (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Mass.) 31:179-87 (1877). John T. Hassam, "The Dover Settlement and the Hiltons," The New England Historical & Genealogical Register, (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Mass.) 36:40-46 (1882). "Pedigree Resource File," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:2:SRZG-9C4 : accessed 2014-12-30), entry for Manwaren (Mainwaring) /Hilton/. Bell, Charles Henry. History of the Town of Exeter, New Hampshire (J.J. Little & Co., Astor Place, New York, 1889)p. 27 https://books.google.com/books?id=ngo1AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA27 Scales, John,, ed., Piscataqua Pioneers, 1623-1775; register of members and ancestors,,pp. 111-117, PDF https://archive.org/stream/piscataquapionee00pisc#page/111/mode/1up Wikipedia: Passengers of 1621 Fortune voyage Wikipedia: Passengers of the Anne and Little James 1623 for (Mrs) ____ Hilton (Wife of William Hilton) & 2 children on the Anne: Hotten, John Camden, The Original Lists Of Persons Of Quality (John Camden Hotten, 1874) Page xxviii https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/william-hilton_c8fcl1n9-...: According to this source, William had several wives and many children, none of which have been added because the source may not be entirely correct.

William Hilton

Summary
ORIGIN: London
MIGRATION: 1621 in Fortune
FIRST RESIDENCE: Plymouth
REMOVES. Piscataqua, Dover 1628, Kittery 1648, York 1651
OCCUPATION: Tavern keeper and ferry operator (at Kittery)
BIRTH: By about 1591 based on estimated date of marriage, son of William Hilton of Northwich, Cheshire. The name of his mother is unknown. He is brother of Edward Hilton
DEATH: Between June 1655 and 30 June 1656 [Maine Provincial Court Records 2:47]
MARRIAGE: (1) By 1616 an Unknown Wife, who came with two children to Plymouth in 1623 on the Anne; she .died by about 1648
MARRIAGE: (2) By about 1642 Frances ______, born about 1618 (deposed on 27 February 1687 /8, aged about seventy, regarding events that had taken place forty-six years .earlier involving William Hilton [NEHGR 31:181, citing York Court Files]). She survived him and married again by 30 June 1656 Richard White [Maine Provincial Court Records 2:74]. (In a footnote in his MPCR series, Charles Thornton Libby remarked: "This woman's [Frances's] court records serve to illustrate the social distinctions of the period, While married to Mr. William Hilton she was always entitled 'Mistress,' even when called into court for rude behavior, but after his death and upon her marriage to Goodman Richard White; she promptly dropped to 'Goody'" [Maine Provincial Court Records l :267].)

Children

With first unknown wife:

ELIZABETH, hp. Northwich 27 June 1616; bur. there 1 August 1616.
WILLIAM, bp. Northwich 22 June 1617; m. (1) by 1641 Sarah Greenleaf, daughter of Edmund Greenleaf (eldest child b. Newbury June 1641; in his will of 22 December .1668 Edmund Greenleaf made a bequest to "my grandchild Elizabeth Hilton" [Pillsbury Anc 590, citing SPR 7:112]); m. (2) Charlestown 16 September 1659, Mehitable Nowell [Ch VR 1 :38], daughter of INCREASE NOWELL. (See NEHGR 124:88-108 for his activities as an explorer.)
MARY, bp. Northwich 11May1619; apparently the second of .Hilton's two children who arrived at Plymouth in 1623; no further record. (See COMMENTS below.)
JOHN, b. about 1624, perhaps the child whose baptism caused such strife in Plymouth; did not marry [GDMNH 332 ("3 JOHN (17)").. (There is no assurance that the child born shortly after the family's arrival in Plymouth was named John, but there does not appear to be any other child who would have been born at this date.)

Children with second wife Francis _______:

MAGDALENE, b. say 1636;Â· m. (1) by 1656 James Wiggin; m. (2) Newbury (int.) 14 May 1698 H.enryÂ· Kenning. (On 30 June 1656 "Magdeline Wiggin the wife of James Wiggin" was presented at York Court for "reporting that she saw William Moore &: her mother Frances Whitte In the act of adultery" [MPCR :52]. The claim that this marriage took place by 1646 [GDMNH 335] seems to be a simple typographical error.)
MAINWARING, b. by 1646 (YLR 2:33]; m. by about 1670 as her first husband Mary Moulton, daughter of Thomas Moulton (eldest child of daughter Magdalen b. York 24 September 1691 [NEHGR 110:60]; on 4 Juiy 1671 administration was granted to "Tho[mas] Mowlton of the estate of Mannering Hilton Â·his son-in-law lately deceased" [MPCR 2:214]) ..
AGNES b. say 1647; m. by 1667 Arthur Beale (apparently based on his occupation of Hilton land and subsequent activity in association with Mainwaring Hilton and Richard White [YLR 2:33]).
WILLIAM, b. about 1653 (age twenty-four December 1677 [GDMNH 336, citing unknown source]); m. by .1678 Ann [GDMNH 336, 531].

Biography

Of the early life of William before he emigrated to New England, but little is known. He was in London at the date of his father's will and may be identical with a William Hilton, a vintner's assistance in Greenwich in 1613, in view of his engaging i the occuaption of taverner in the latter years of his life in Maine and New Hampshire. About 1615 he had returned to Northwich, probably married there (wife's name unknown). Two children were baptized there, the last in 1619; and a further presumption is that he again went to London where in association with his brother Edward, living in the parish of St. Botolph's Billingsgate near London Bridge, he was undoubtedly cognizant of the sailing of the Mayflower and familiar with all the tales of adventure in the New World. He decided to cast his lot with the Pilgrims and when the Plymouth Adventurers made up a passenger list for sailing in the Fortune in the summer of 1621 he decided to go in that party. After arrival he wrote to an unnamed 'loving cousin' in which he asked 'your friendly care to send my wife and children to me' Following his removal from Plymouth to Dover, N.H. about 1624, he remained there for about twenty years, during which time he was Deputy to the General Court and a Commissioner. He removed later to Kittery, residing at the Great Cove on Piscataqua River. He was licensed on June 27, 1648 to keep an ordinary there and also to operate a ferry at that point. It is probable that he married a second wife, Frances (surname unknown), and continued to reside there for the next two years preceding his removal to this town in 1650. There is no record of his purchase of land here or a grant to him from the town, but his home was situated on the opposite shore from Stage Neck and in December 1652, he was appointed to keep the ferry at that place, as stated elsewhere. He was Selectman 1652, 1653, 1654 and Grand Juror 1654, and died the following year or the year after. He must have been a man of education and ability as he was a correspondent of Governor Withrop and is gnerally called 'Mr.' in the records. When a member of the General Court of Massachusetts in 1644, as representative from Dover, he was appointed one of a committee to examine the new law book prepared by Bellingham and advise on same before printing.

His widow, Frances, married (2) Richard White of York (q.v.) The genealogy of this family will appear in Volume III.

Fishmonger and freeman, emigrated to North America in the ship Fortune in 1621, wrote a letter of impressions, settled at Plymouth. Moved to Dover, New Hampshire.

William Hilton, was the son of Roger Hilton of North Biddick Hall in the "Original" Washington, in North East England and was the Founding Father of New Hampshire in America.

He sailed on the ship "Fortune" in 1621 to rescue the Pilgrims at Plymouth, in New England, America, who had arrived on the "Mayflower" a year earlier. He decided to stay and in 1623 his wife and two children joined him. They moved to Hilton Point, on the Piscataqua river, now named Dover, where they built the first house in what is today the U.S. State of New Hampshire

His father was Roger Hilton, 4th son of William Hilton and his wife Margaret. His brother, Sir William Hilton, Knight, was heir to Hylton Castle at Monkwearmouth, now in the City of Sunderland, England, and estates in Northumberland and Yorkshire and died in 1600 A.D. His son and heir, Thomas Hilton, Esquire, had married Anne, daughter of Sir George Bowes, of Streathlam Castle near Bowes but died within his father's lifetime in 1597 A.D. Hylton Castle and the Hylton estates passed to his son Henry Hilton, then 13 years of age who became a ward of Queen Elizabeth I and was taken by the Bishop of Carlisle to be educated in London and the Bowes family took over control of the estates, until Henry Hilton came of age to inherit them.

The Hilton family had long been a sea faring family, many of them earning a living from north sea fishing or in the saltmaking industry that thrived on this part of England's coastline in Elizabethan times. Saltmaking was then a monopoly controlled by a man called Casper Seeler, and over 400 people were employed making salt by evaporating seawater in salt panns using the easily accessible coal in the region. Cod was caught out in the North Sea, landed along the Northumberland coast and at both South Shields on the River Tyne and at Sunderland on the River Wear, where the fish was salted, then shipped for sale at the salted fish market at Billingsgate in London where Edward Hilton, William's cousin, was a fish merchant and a member of the Fishmonger's Guild of London. There was also a thriving coal industry in this region where "coals from Newcastle" were shipped to London to heat the homes in the rapidly expanding capital city.

( http://www.ancestryuk.com/HiltonWilliamNHFoundingFather.htm )

The Hiltons of Hylton Castle had been Barons of the Palatinate of Durham, virtually a kingdom within a kingdom, ruled by the "fighting" Prince Bishops of Durham. They were of ancient lineage first recorded in the area as early as 924 A.D. and are thought to be of Viking origin as many families of North East England are. Hylton,Helton (Norman-French spelling) and Hilton descendents can be traced from family pedigrees published in Surtees' History and Antiquities of Durham and in The History of Darlington by William Hylton Dyer Longstaffe, a distinguished Durham antiquary. Many of the Hilton family held important positions throughout the County of Durham, and many descendents of the Westmoreland branch of the family had settled along the banks of the River Tees, the southern boundary of the Palatinate of Durham. For centuries, their loyalty was to the Prince Bishops of Durham and through him to King or Queen of England.

William Hilton was born circa 1589/90 in North Biddick Hall, Biddick, Durham, England.1 He was the son of Captain Roger Hilton and Ellen Mainwarring. William Hilton married Mary before 1616 in London, England.2 William Hilton married Frances circa 1636 in Dover, Strafford County, New Hampshire.3

William Hilton died between 30 June 1655 and 30 June 1656 in York, York County, Maine; he was 65 years old. Administration of the estate of William Hilton was granted 30 June 1656 to Richard White, "the said Whitte having married his widow," Frances. White posted a Â£100 bond as administrator.4

Genealogies: The Hassam Family, the Hilton Family, the Cheever Family https://books.google.com/books?id=LE8UAAAAYAAJ

John Tyler Hassam - 1896

THE

HILTON

FAMILY.

WILLIAM1 HILTON came from London to Plymouth, in New England, in the "Fortune," Nov. 11, 1621.* The "

Fortune " sailed for England, on her f^"'

return, within a month thereafter, and the / ^^ *

following letter which he sent by her to /

his cousin in England, was first printed 1655-

in Capt. John Smith's " New Englands Trials," edition of 1622.

Louing cousin, at our ariuall at New Flimmoth in New England,

we found all our friends and planters in good heahh,

though they were left sicke and weake with very small meanes,

the Indians round about vs peaceable and friendly, the country

very pleasant and temperate, yeelding naturally of it self great

store of fruites, as vines of diuers sorts in great abundance;

there is likewise walnuts, chesnuts, small nuts and plums, with

much varietie of flowers, rootes, and herbs, no lesse pleasant

then wholsome and profitable : no place hath more goose-berries

and straw-berries, nor better, Timber of all sorts you haue in

England, doth couer the Land, that affbords beasts of diuers

sorts, and great flocks of Turkies, Quailes Pigeons and Patri

ges : many great lakes abounding with fah, fowle, Seuers and

Otters. The sea affbords vs as great plenty of all excellent sorts

of sea-fish, as the riuers and lies doth varietie of wilde fowle

of most vsefull sorts. Mines we find to our thinking, but neither

the goodnesse nor qualitie we know. Setter grain cannot be

then the Indian corne, if we will plant it vpon as good ground

as a man need desire. We are all free-holders, the rent day doth

not trouble vs, and all those good blessings we haue, of which and

what we list in their seasons for taking. Our companie are for

most part very religious honest people ; the word of God sincere

ly taught vs euery Sabbath : so that 1 know not any thing a con

tented mind can here want, I desire your friendly care to send

T/i,y wife and children to me, where I wish all the friends I haue

in England, and so I rest

Your louing kinsman William Hilton.

His wife and two children followed in the " Anne," July or August,

1623. In the allotments of land in 1623, there was granted

to him one acre lying " to the sea, eastward," and to his wife and

two children three acres butting "against the swampe & reed- Â»

See New-England Historical and Genealogical Register for April, 1877 (xxxi. 179).Loading...Loading...

ponde."* He waa of Plymouth in 1624, for the friends of John

Lyford, who came over in the beginning of that year, and who was

driven from thÂ« colony soon after with some of liis adherents, affirmed "

that the first occasion of the quarrel with them was the baptizing

of Mr. Hilton's child, who was not joined to the church at Plymouth, "

f As his name does not appear among those present at the

division of cattle in 1627,$ he must have removed from Plymouth

before that date. His son William, who came to Plymouth in the "

Anne " in July or August 1623, states that " in a little tyme following "

his arrival, they settled themselves on the Piscataqua River

with Mr. Edward Hilton and that they were the first English planters

there. Â§

He was one of the witnesses, July 7, 1631, to the livery of seizin

to his brother Edward Hilton || of the lands embraced in the Squams-

cott, or Hilton's Patent,H which bears date March 12, 1629 [i.e. 1629-30] . The following letter to the Worshipful Mr. John Win- throp, the younger, at Agawam, is printed with the Winthrop papers in the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society.** Pascatque Ser Aprill 18th 1633

There ariued a ffishing shipe at Pascataque about the 15th of this p'sant moneth where in is one Richard ffoxwell whoe hath fformerly liued in this cuntery he bringeth nuse y' there were tow shipes making ready at Barsta- ple whoe are to bring passingers & catell ffor to plant in the bay he hath leters ffor mr wearom & diners others at dorchester wch hee intends to bring hi to the bay so soone as posible he can like wise he heard ffrom mr Aler- ton whoe was making ready at Bristole ffor to come ffor this cuntery other nuse he bringeth not that I can heare of onely mr Borowes purposeth to come ffor this cuntery ffrom london & soe desighring you to convey thes leters in to the bay wl* what conveniency you can desighring the lord to blesse you in your lawffull designes I humbly rest Your wor ashured to com WILLIAM HILTON. Ser I purpose eare long be if ye lord will to see you. The masters name of the shipe is John Corbin of Plimouth. To the wor mr John Wiathrope the younger at aguawam give these. The following letter, although it bears no date, was probably written in the same year, 1633

He waa made freeman, May 19, 1642, and had a grant of twenty

acres of land in Dover in that year.* At a General Court held at

Boston, Sept. 27, 1642, "

It is ordered, that the associats of Pascataque shall have power to try

any cause under 201, though no other bee sent to them. Willi: Hilton,

Willi: Wald'n, Edwa: Colcote have authority to end differences under 20sh8.

Mr Francis Williams is ioyned an associate at Pascataq."t

He was deputy from Dover to the General Court at Boston, 1644.

He conveyed to Francis Matthews, of Oyster River, 88 acres of land

in Oyster River, granted him by the town of Dover, and two parcels

of marsh land adjoining.! In this deed he styles himself of

Dover.

About this time he removed to Kittery Point, as Frances White,

wife of Richard White, in a depositionÂ§ taken Feb. 27, 1687-8,

says " that about forty sixe years past shee leived in a house at Kittery

poynt that stood then between the house that was mr : Morgans

& the house that Mr : Greenland afterward leived in- which house

above sayd the depo* husband William Hilton did hyer of Maior

Nicholus shapligh." She must have been a second wife of William

Hilton, as she was " adged seauenty years or thereabouts " at the

time when this deposition was taken, and could not therefore have

been the wife who, with two children, came in the "Anne" to Plymouth

in 1623. At a court held at Gorgeana, June 27, 1648, " It

is ordered this Court that mr. William Hilton being lisensed for to

keep the ordnary at the mouth of the River of Pascataqua, and that

none other shall keep any private ordnary ther, nor to sell Wine

beare nor Licker upon any p'tence what so ever under ii gallons by

retaile : "|| "It is Ordered this Court that hee that keeps the ordnary

is for to keepe a ferry and to have to the great IlandlT for one

vi d if more iii d a peese to Strawbury banck for one xii d if more viii d p man to Dover or Kitterry xviii d for one if more xii d a man."** At a court held at Gorgeana Oct. 16, 1649, " It is Ordered this court: That ther shall be ahieway cut from the head of Rogers Cove, unto the head of Bray bote harber & so to the little marsh ner Unto Cap' Champauownes howse & so to mr William Hiltons the In habitance of Gorgeaua : to cut: Unto a Cove neare Unto Jon Andrews : and the Inhabitance of Pascataquacke to cut from Wm Hiltons to acknowledge that hee had assigned to Edward Colcord a Bill for pipe staves which Nathaniel! Boulter did ow to ye sd willm Hilton wch was about five hundred according to my best remembrance. Deposed the first of the 5 mo : 1059." * Dover Town Records, Lib. i. t Records of Mass., ii. p. 31. Also recorded Dover Town Records, Lib. i. fol. 20. t This deed was recorded with Rockinprham Deeds, Lib. i. fol. 95, 29th 1 mo. 1653. Its date seems to be 7 July, 1644, altered to 1641, or blotted so as to look like 1641. The same deed is also found in Dover Town Records, where its date is 7 July, 1645. 6 York Court Files. I Page 20, in unbound or stitched MS. in office of Clerk of Courts, York Co., Me. I1 This seems to be the only authority for Mr. Savage's assertion that he had " control of Great Island." ** Page 21, in unbound

or stitched MS. in

office of Clerk

of Cour

ts, Y

ork

Co.. Me.

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that cove, by so many of each towne as they shall thincke fltt; and this to

be done by the 30th Octor (49."*

John Treworthie in a deposition! taken Oct. 25, 1050, testifies "

that the cellar wch is at Pascataway now standing neere the house

wch -yym Hilton now lives in, did not any way belong to the land

wch was bought by me for my Grandffather mr Alexander Shap-

leigh." At a court held at Gorgeana, Oct. 15, 1650, "

ffor as much as the house at the Rivers mouth wher mr Shapleighs

ffather first built and mr William Hilton now dwelleth : In regard it was

first house ther bylt, and mr Shapleigh Intendeth to build and Inlarge it:

and for furder considerations, it is thought fit it should from time to time, be

for a house of Eutertayment or Ordnary wth this p'viso that the Tenant

bee such a one as the Inhabitants shall approve ui'.".i.

June 7, 1651, Mr. Nicholas Shapleigh, of Kittery, leased to Mr.

Hugh Gunison, for the term of twenty-one years from that date, "

All his Edifices Land & accomodations and Priveledges : Att

the poynt wher mr William Hilton now Dwelleth contayning ffive

Hundred ackers. "Â§

He thereupon removed to York, and when the Massachusetts

Commissioners arrived there to receive the submission of the inhabitants,

Nov. 22, 1652, he was one of the fifty persons who acknowledged

themselves subject to the Government of the Massachusetts

Bay, and took the oath of freeman. At a town meeting held at

York about the 8th of December, 1652, "

It is ordered that mr William Hilton is to have the use of the ferry for

the Term of one & twenty years. Lying betwixt the house where he now

liveth, and The Town of York : and he is duly to attend the sd Ferry with

Cannoos sufficient for the safe transportation both of Strangers & Townsmen

if occasion requireth. If time & tydes be Seasonable, he is to pass

persons over to & from the Stage Island : If not he is & must provide

a Canoo to Lye ready at the point of Land on his own Side the River, upon

all Such occasions to transport people without danger. In Consideration

whereof the sd William Hilton is to have allowed him two pence a peice

for Every strangers, & four pence apeace for Every beast, or horse which

he swimmeth over, or that are Swom by any Strangers themselves, he or

his servants being ready to attend, & one penny a time for Every Townsman

he f etcheth or carrioth over : unless the sd Inhabitant go over In his

own Cannoo, which Liberty remaines to Every Townsman, being made use of

to Exempt him or them from the payment of any ferriage." ||

He was one of the Selectmen of York in 1652, 1653 and 1654,

and had grants of land from the town, one July 4, 1653, and

another June 4, 1654, of twenty acres "next adjoining unto mr ' *

Page 6. in unbound or stitched MS. in office of Clerk of Court*, York Co., Me.

t Suffolk Deeds, Lib. i. fol. 128.

i Page 16, in unbound or stitched MS. in office of Clerk of Courts, York Co., Me.

J Loose sheet in unbound or stitched MS. in office of Clerk of Courts, York Co., Me.

Recorded also with York Deeds, Lib. i. fol. 18,

U York Town Records, i. p. 17.

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Edward Godfreys house."* He died 1655 or 1656, and letters of

administration on his estate were granted June 30, 1656, to Richard

White, who had married Frances, his widow.

William Hilton, was the son of Roger Hilton of North Biddick Hall in the "Original" Washington, in North East England and was the Founding Father of New Hampshire in America.

He sailed on the ship "Fortune" in 1621 to rescue the Pilgrims at Plymouth, in New England, America, who had arrived on the "Mayflower" a year earlier. He decided to stay and in 1623 his wife and two children joined him. They moved to Hilton Point, on the Piscataqua river, now named Dover, where they built the first house in what is today the U.S. State of New Hampshire

His father was Roger Hilton, 4th son of William Hilton and his wife Margaret His brother, Sir William Hilton, Knight, was heir to Hylton Castle at Monkwearmouth, now in the City of Sunderland, England, and estates in Northumberland and Yorkshire and died in 1600 A.D. His son and heir, Thomas Hilton, Esquire, had married Anne, daughter of Sir George Bowes, of Streathlam Castle near Bowes but died within his father's lifetime in 1597 A.D. Hylton Castle and the Hylton estates passed to his son Henry Hilton, then 13 years of age who became a ward of Queen Elizabeth I and was taken by the Bishop of Carlisle to be educated in London and the Bowes family took over control of the estates, until Henry Hilton came of age to inherit them.