William Ross, Sr.

Y-DNA testing of a presumed male-line descendant tentatively assigns him to haplogroup I2b1 (now known as I-M223, subclade I-L126).

William ROSS Sr. was born about 1660, possibly in the Misquamicut plantation that is near  Westerly, Washington, RI.   He lived in Charlestown, next to Westerly, Kings Co., Rhode Island and died before 12 June 1712, when his will was proved.  He was a farmer.  

family

• parents: unknown.  William Ross, 5th of Invercharron  seems unlikely. It is possible he is the William Ross possibly came to Rhode Island in 1678 from Barbados, or that is his father, and that the family originated in Great Britain.  The LDS has London ? As a birthplace, or New London ?

Married

1. Married: 1688/89 in New London, New London Co., Connecticut to Hannah HUNGERFORD b: 01 MAY 1659 in Misquamicutt, Kings Co., Rhode Island.  She was the daughter of Thomas HUNGERFORD b: ABT 1610 in England & Hannah WILLEY b: 06 MAR 1641 in Boston, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts

Children

1. William ROSS b: 1688 in Westerly, Kings Co., Rhode Island
2. John ROSS b: ABT 1690 in Westerly, Kings Co., Rhode Island
3. Thomas ROSS b: 1692
4. Ann ROSS b: 03 JAN 1693/94
5. Mary ROSS b: 21 MAY 1700 in Westerly, Kings Co., Rhode Island

Notes

• PECKHAM genealogy: pp 122-23. RIGR: Vol. 3; pp 46-54. ROSS-LEWIS: typescript @ Westerly Public Library; Westerly, RI. NOTE: He may have been the William ROSS who emigrated from the island of Barbadoes in 1679 -- found in HATTEN's Original Lists, p 399.  (http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jonsaunde...)
• March the 21 1678 RoSS William in the Ketch W'"1 Susan for New England Ralph PArkER Comandr time out
• The Original lists of persons of quality, emigrants, religious exiles ... By John Camden Hotten, Great Britain
• The only ships that came to in America with Rosses before the Scots-Irish migration that started in 1718 were the Unity and the John and Sarah. [Note: these were prison ships, bringing Scottish prisoners of war to be sold as indentured servants.] No other ships arrived until the Scots immigration of 1718, according to Fewkes. I believe he is correct, if he meant just New England. However, Alexander Ross came to Philadelphia in 1682, Andrew Ross came to North Carolina in 1693, and other individuals arrived in 1663, 1670 (John Ross, a forger, sent to Virginia), 1692, 1699, 1708, etc. The numbers were small, an individual, a family, etc. It's very difficult to believe that anyone can speak with authority on the subject - there's so much data and some of it may be incorrect. There were a lot of Scottish prisoners. Mr. Fewkes, at one point, mentioned that about 450 Scots came in the early 1650's and approximates their number to be 10% of the population of the male progenitors in New England at that time. Scots also arrived in New England indirectly. From: http://members.cox.net/steven.ross1/index.htm
• {58} William Ross, Sr. (abt 1655-1712); died in New London, CT or Westerly, RI; may have come from Barbados to New London in 1679, and may have been born in Britain before going to Barbados; no information on ancestors; married (1688/89) Hannah Hungerford (1659-1694) of Westerly, RI.  Ancient Ancestors of Ross Family, Barbados and Rhode Island
• Ross and Lewis, page 58. She may have been Hannah Cottrell. When estate of John Cottrell was divided in 1743, Hannah Ross signed a receipt as having received a share of the estate. She would then have been 75 or 80 years old. This is a second opinion on the Hannah that married William Ross.
• Hannah COTTRELL b: ABT 1668 in Kingston, Kings Co., Rhode Island.  She was the daughter of John COTTRELL b: 1648 in Newport, Newport Co., Rhode Island & Hannah GAYLORD b: 30 JAN 1645/46 in Windsor, Hartford Co., Connecticut
• ROSS AND LEWIS, page 58.  William probably died soon after will (probably according to Austin R.I. Genealogy, page 168 June 12, 1712; wife Hannah ex.) (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~nanc/nanorman/aqwg28.htm)

will dated 12 June 1712

Extract of will, - To eldest son, William, half of my land on east side of farm, and if he sell it shall only be to brothers of name of Ross.     To second son, John, the other half of farm at wife's decease, on same conditions.     To wife for life the use of all lands, house and moveables.     To son, Thomas, one ewe sheep.     To daughter, Ann, a pot and kettle.     Son John to maintain his mother, and if he neglect to do so, power is given her to sell the part of farm given John, to maintain herself in her old age.     To John Babcock, 2 cows, a 3 year old heifer, 2 calves and a yearling, being for my son Thomas' joint dept.     Inventory, - 37 pounds, 8s, 2d, viz, 2 beds, wearing clothes 3 pounds, 4 sheep, 11 lambs, mare, colt, cow, calf, steer, yearling etc.

When Charlestown was set off from Westerly RI the line ran between two halves of the farm of William Ross Sr. so that from that time William Sr. lived in Charlestown RI.

about Misquamicut

• In 1661 John Maxson with others formed a company at Newport for purchasing and settling a tract of land called by the Indians Misquamcut which now comprises Westerly, Charlestown, and Hopkinton, RI.  
• The colony of Westerly had connected itself as a branch to the Newport Seventh Day Baptist Church of which William Hiscox was pastor; In 1708 the Westerly branch was made a separate church.  The congregation in and about Westerly is now called the First Hopkinton S.D.B.C. at Ashway, RI.
• Westerly is located on the southern tip of Rhode Island, bordering the southeastern corner of Connecticut. 
• The Town has an atmosphere of an old New England village,and a unique history in the annals of U.S. History. The indian name for Westerly was Misquamicut - a place for taking salmon.
• Westerly was the first town incorporated in the King's Province on May 13, 1669, and the fifth town in the colony. On the 23rd of June 1686, the name was changed from Westerly to Haversham, but the former name was restored in 1689. The Towns of Charlestown, Hopkinton, and Richmond were later taken from the Town of Westerly.
• In its early beginnings, Westerly was the frontier town of the colony. Out of this beginning, many diversified industries grew, but Westerly has been best known for the granite that was once taken from its quarries for building purposes in neighboring towns and cities, and for monuments in various parts of the country. 
• http://dunhamwilcox.net/ri/westerly.htm "Early Settlers of Westerly, RI, J.D. Champlin, Jr., NEHGR, Vol 14, January 1860, p. 23. " Ross does not appear.

about Seventh Day Baptists

According to R.C. Nickels, in his book entitled Sabbatarian Baptists in America:

•  Stephen Mumford came over from London in 1664, and brought the opinion with him that the whole of the ten commandments, as they were delivered from Mount Sinai, were moral and immutable; and that it was the Antichristian power which thought to change times and laws, that changed the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week...Mumford, who originally came from Tewkesbury, was sent to Newport, Rhode Island, by the Bell Lane Sabbatarian Church of London...
•  Mumford may have been induced to come by Dr. John Clarke, pastor of the Newport First-Day Baptist church, who was agent of the colony to the court of Charles II. The King's charter held by Clarke granted 'unlimited toleration in religion to all people of Rhode Island. ' Mumford could thus be escaping religious persecution by coming to the New World.
• Evidently one of his first converts -- possibly the first person in America to start keeping the seventh-day Sabbath (unfortunately according to the Gregorian calendar and not according to the moon's cycles) -- was a woman by the name of Tacy Hubbard. Her husband Samuel joined in the observance a short time later. The little group gradually EXPANDED; and in 1671 Stephen Mumford, Samuel Hubbard and some others, officially formed the first Seventh-Day Baptist Church in the American colonies. (http://www.hope-of-israel.org/i000060a.htm)

Links

• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jonsaunde...