Born about 1482, in Royston, Yorkshire Co., England. Died 1562, in Colchester, Essex Co., England Thomas Wilbore was born in the West Riding section of Yorkshire in 1482. He was just a year old when a series of coups and killings began which rocked the English monarchy. Richard of Gloucester deposed Edward V to become Richard III; Edward and his brother were later murdered in the Tower of London; two years later, Henry Tudor, the Earl of Richmond, defeated and killed Richard III at the battle of Bosworth and became Henry VII, first of the Tudor monarchs. Sometime before 1519, Thomas married a woman named Alice; who was from Colchester, Essex. He left the rocky hills and relatively poor soils of western Yorkshire to live at Halford in her home county of Essex where the land was immeasurably better. The couple's first child was born there, after which they moved to her birthplace of Colchester where two more children were added. He died there at age 82. Thomas Wilbore lived during a time when European countries began staking out positions in the Americas. During the fifty years after Christopher Columbus discovered the West Indies and claimed them for Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, several other historic expeditions occurred. Other Spaniards also were active: Ponce de Leon explored Florida in 1513; Hernan Cortes conquered Mexico in 1521; and Hernando do Soto discovered the Mississippi in 1541. Other countries, too, had their adventurers: Pedro Cabral claimed Brazil for Portugal in 1500; John Cabot carried the English flag to the Canadian maritime provinces in 1497; and Frenchman Jacques Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence River in 1535 to establish a position there for France. About a hundred years later, Thomas Wilbore's great grandson Samual Wilbore crossed the same waters the explorers had sailed to make a new home in North America. (Taken from: A Family History, by Donovan Faust)

Born about 1520, in Colchester, Essex Co., England. Died September 16, 1583, in Braintree, Essex Co., England Nicholas Wilbore married a woman named Ann in his hometown of Colchester, then moved to Braintree, an Essex town 40 miles northest of London. There they raised a family of five boys and three girls, all of whom remained in the area for their entire lives and all of whom were buried in a cemetery at Sible Hedingham, a village about six miles from Braintree. The Wilbores lived during tumultuous royal and religious times. The reign of willful and volatile Henry VIII (he of the six wives), was followed by confusion after his death when three queens were on the throne during a period of 11 years, with accompanying radical changes in religious doctrines with each change of monarch. The Roman Catholic church had been thrown out by Henry only to return under Mary I, (accompanied by 300 Protestants being burned at the stake), then reversed again in favor of the Church of England when she was succeeded by Elizabeth I. All of this may have affected the daily lives of average citizens such as the Wilbores very little but it certainly would have been most upsetting to their religious rituals. (Taken from: A Family History, by Donovan Faust)

Born about 1562, in Braintree, Essex Co., England. Died September 11, 1616, in Braintree, Essex Co., England His father's namesake, Nickolas Wilbore was the youngest of his parent's eight children. He spent his entire life in the town of Braintree. Nicholas married twice. The first was to Mary Plume of Great Yeldham, Essex in 1586, with whom he had four children. The second was Elizabeth Thickines from Sible Hedingham, a village just a short distance away, in 1597. Elizabeth, too, had been married previously (to a man named Harrington) and also brought four children to the new marriage. To this merged family of eight they added another of their own, Samuel. Supporting this sizeable family was probably no problem as Essex provided fertile soil for the growing of cereal grains, which found a ready market in London and on the continent. Wheat, oats and barley as well as peas, beans and a variety of other vegetables were raised. Reaping was done with a sickle, cut a handful at a time. To sharpen it, a stick would be dipped in grease and then in sand to make a whetstone. The cut stalks were bound into sheaves, brought in and stored to be threshed during the winter months be beating them with flails. Winnowing was accomplished by opening doors on opposite sides of the barn allowing the wind to come through, then tossing the grain and chaff into the air so that the chaff could be blown away. Nicholas Wilore passed on at only 49, leaving a 14-year-old son. Elizabeth outlived him by 13 years, long enough to see their grown children start to take notice of new English colonies being started in America. John Smith had established Jamestown in 1607, the Pilgrims had begun New Plymouth in 1620 and there was talk of a new colony to be called Massachusetts Bay. As far as is known, only one of Nicholas' sons (Samuel, the youngest) actually emigrated to the colonies, but several grandchildren did so. (Taken from: A Family History, by Donovan Faust)

Born about 1597, in Braintree, Essex Co., England. Died July 29, 1656 in Boston MA Samuel Wilbore (also spelled Wilbur) grew up in Braintree and, in 1619, took for a wife Ann Bradford, who had previously been married to a man named Smith. She was from Yorkshire where she grew up at Maiden Manor and was descended from a line of at least four generations of Bradford in the Bently, Yorkshire area dating back to 1435. Her great grandfather Peter Bradford was the great great grandfather of William Bradford, the longtime governor of the Plymouth colony founded by the Pilgrims. The families probably were farmers as the area in which they lived possessed the richest soil for growing crops in all of Yorkshire. Their home village of Bentley is located in the eastern part of the county about 15 miles northeast of Sheffield, a town that became famous as a cutlery making center and later for its silversmiths. After their marriage Samuel and Ann moved up the road to Sible Hedingham, Essex, a village six miles north of Braintree and near the ancient Castle Hedingham. They were the parents of five sons, two of whom died in infancy. At some point in the 1630's, Samuel uprooted his family, hoping to capitalize on opportunities for them in the colonies. They arrived in Boston and lived there for a time. The next known of him comes from WEBSTER'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY: "Samuel Wilbur 1595?-1656. American pioneer, born in England; to America and settled in Boston. Became one of the 18 original purchasers of Aquidneck Island from the Narragansett Indians, and a signer of the Portsmouth Compact organizing a government for the colony." Another reference quotes the first part of the document as follows: "The 7th day of the first month 1638. We, whose names are underwritten, do solemnly in the presence of Jehovah incorporate ourselves into a Bodie Politick and He shall help, will submit our persons, lives and estates unto our Lord Jesus Christ and to all those perfect and most absolute lawes given us in His holy word of truth to be guided and judged thereby." It is unclear if or when he may have moved the family to their new acquisition at Rhode Island but probably did so at some point since he signed the Compact at Portsmouth organizing the colony. It is known that one son lived there and two others settled inTaunton, Massachusetts, which is not far away from Aquidneck Island. Samuel also may have lived in Taunton as his wife Ann is listed as having died there sometime before (1639 at about 40 years of age. (Taunton had been established by the Pilgrims as a western outpost of their colony.) He later married a widow named Elizabeth Leckford and lived on for another 16 years. At some point, Samuel Wilbore apparently moved back to Boston where he is recorded as having died in 1656 at age 59. (Taken from: A Family History, by Donovan Faust) Wildbore/Wilbore/Wilbor/Wilbur - Descendants of Samuel Wildbore Wilbur (Wildbore) Arms – Sable, on a fesse between two boars passant argent, a javelin point of the field. Crest – The upper part of a spear proper thrust through a boar’s head erased argent, Cropping blood proper. One of the many notable characters of early Massachusetts history, who were identified with the teachings of Mr. Wheelwright and Anne Hutchinson, and in consequence were exiled from the colony by the Puritan authorities, was Samuel Wildbore, the progenitor of a large proportion of the Wilbur families of New England to-day. The surname as used by the founder continued through one or two generations of his descendants, and in the records of the towns where they settled we find the entries Wilbore, Wildboare, Wildbore. Soon afterward the contracted forms, Wilbur, Wilbar, Wilber and Wilbor appeared, and it is to the first orthography that the family in New England at the present time adheres most consistently. The majority of the descendants of Samuel Wildbore, of Boston, Portsmouth, and Taunton, where the scene of his life was chiefly laid, have used the spelling Wilbur since the third generation. The name in its original form had its source in a nickname and signifies literally “the wild boar.” We find the entry “Willelmus Wyldebore” in the Poll Tax for the West Riding of Yorkshire, 1379. (I) Samuel Wildbore, immigrant ancestor and founder, was born in England and is believed to have come to this country before 1633 with his wife and several children. His first wife, Ann Wildbore, is thought by many authorities to have been the daughter of Thomas Bradford, of Doncaster, County York, England. He married (second) Elizabeth Lechford, widow of Thomas Lechford. In 1633 Samuel Wildbore was made a freeman in Boston, and with his wife was admitted to the church in December of the same year. In 1634 he was assessor of taxes. By 1637 he seems to have fallen away from the recognized church, for on November 20 of that year he was one of several disarmed “in consequence of having been seduced and led into dangerous error by the opinions and revelations of Mr. Wheelwright and Mrs. Hutchinson,” and given license to depart from the colony. Shortly thereafter he removed to Rhode Island, where he is next recorded in Portsmouth, on March 7, 1638, on which date he was one of eighteen who entered into the following compact: “We, whose names are underwritten, do here solemnly in the presence of Jehovah incorporate ourselves into a Bodie Politick, and as he shall help, will submit our persons, lives and estate, unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and to all those perfect and most absolute laws of his given us in his holy word of truth, to be guided and judged thereby.” In 1638 Samuel Wildbore was chosen clerk of the train band. In the following year he was made constable and given an allotment of a neck of land lying in the great cove, containing about two acres. In 1640 he and Ralph Earle, who seems to have been associated in some way with him, were ordered to furnish the town of Newport with new sawed boards at eight shillings per hundred feet, and half-inch boards at seven shillings, to be delivered at the “pit,” by the water-side. On March 16, 1641, he was made a freeman in Portsmouth; in 1644 he was sergeant of militia, and in 1645 returned to Boston with his wife. On November 29, 1645, Samuel Wildbore and his wife were received into the church in Boston, and in a deposition made May 2, 1648, he made oath that when he married the widow of Thomas Lechford he received no part of her former husband’s estate. In 1655 he was again at Portsmouth, but at the time of making his will he lived in Taunton and at the same time had a house in Boston. His will was recorded both in Massachusetts and in Plymouth Colony. It bore the date of April 30, 1656, and was admitted to probate November following. His estate was inventoried at £282 19s. 6d. (II) William Wilbor, son of Samuel and Ann (Bradford) Wildbore, was born in England about 1630, and died in 1710 at Tiverton, R. I. On June 10, 1654, he received a deed of ten acres from Samuel Wildbore, then of Taunton. On December 10, 1657, he was granted eight acres. On June 7, 1671, he served as juryman. In 1678, William Wilbor represented the town of Portsmouth in the Rhode Island General Assembly. He owned property in Portsmouth, Little Compton, Swansea, and in Kings Town, the greater part of which he disposed of by deed to his sons before his death. His will, dated March 1, 1710, was proved August 15 following. (III) Samuel (2) Wilbur, son of William and Martha Wilbor, was born in 1664, and died in 1740. He married, in 1689, Mary Potter, daughter of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Stokes) Potter. He was a resident of Little Compton, where he followed the occupation of farming. His will, dated January 14, 1730, was proved June 17, 1740. (IV) William (2) Wilbur, son of Samuel (2) and Mary (Potter) Wilbur, was born in Little Compton, R. I., January 6, 1695, and died in September, 1774. He married, June 20, 1717, Esther Burgess, daughter of Thomas and Esther Burgess, who was born in 1696, and died in 1768. William Wilbur was executor of his father’s estate, and inherited his dwelling house and west half of the homestead farm. He also received part of his working tools. (V) Thomas Wilbur, son of William (2) and Esther (Burgess) Wilbur, was born in Little Compton, May 31, 1718, and died March 5, 1797. He married (first) Edith Woodman, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Briggs) Woodman, who was born December 20, 1719. He married (second) July 27, 1761, Mary Hoxie, daughter of Solomon and Mary (Davis) Hoxie, who was born September 9, 1737, and died August 4, 1827. (VI) John Wilbur, son of Thomas and Mary (Hoxie) Wilbur, was born July 17, 1774, and died May 1, 1856. He married, October 17, 1793, Lydia Collins, daughter of Amos and Thankful Collins, who was born April 29, 1778, and died December 19, 1852. Their children were: 1. Thomas. 2. Amos C., mentioned below. 3. Lydia. 4. Phebe. 5. Susan C. 6. Sarah S. 7. Mary. 8. John. 9. Hannah C. 10. Ruth. 11. William H. 12. Anna A., born April 20, 1818, died Oct. 29, 1896; married, Oct. 24, 1837, Ethan Foster, 13. Elizabeth W., born Jan. 16, 1821. (VII) Amos C. Wilbur, son of John and Lydia (Collins) Wilbur, was born in Hopkinton, November 25, 1796. He was educated in the local schools and for a few years taught the Hopkinton school during the winter months. During the summer he assisted his father on the farm. Eventually determining on the medical profession for his life-work, he entered Bowdoin College, Maine, from which he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He began active practice in Peace Dale, R. I., but later removed to Fall River, Mass., where for several years he conducted a drug store. In 1852, with Rev. John Wilbur, Amos C. Wilbur visited England, on a religious mission for the Society of Friends. Here he met and, in 1854, married, in the town. of Bakewell, County Derby, Catherine Smith, daughter of Edward and Elizabeth (Holt) Smith. On their return to America they settled in Hopkinton, where Mr. Wilbur died, December 1, 1873. Mrs. Wilbur died in 1861. Their children were: 1. John E., of Tampa, Fla., where he is engaged in the growing of oranges. 2. Lucy M., who became the wife of the late Edwin Bragg Foster, of Westerly. Mrs. Foster possesses a picture of the old Wilbur house on Diamond Hill, Hopkinton, built prior to 1739, which was the birthplace of the Rev. John Wilbur. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------ The History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations: Biographical, From pages 121 to 123 of the larger edition. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------ Philip Herbert Wilbour From the time Samuel Wilbore fled from Taunton, Mass., to Providence, driven by the persecutions of his religious opponents, the family has been prominent in the public and business life of the Colony and State of Rhode Island. Without an exception the heads of each of the nine generations of the branch herein recorded have been land owners and substantial farmers, the family possessions lying mainly in the town of Little Compton. Isaac Wilbour, of the sixth generation, although a member of Congress, 1807-09, lieutenant-governor of Rhode Island in 1810, and from May, 1818, to May, 1827, chief justice of the Supreme Court, Rhode Island, ever made his home at his farm, following in that regard the example of his father, and was likewise emulated by his son Philip, his grandson, Isaac Champlin, and his great-grandson, Philip Herbert Wilbour, who inherited from his father the distinction of owning and operating the most extensive poultry farming business in the United States. He has made the continuation of that farm the aim of his business career, but since 1900 has figured prominently in public life. He is of the ninth American generation of the family founded by Samuel Wilbore, of Boston, who was admitted to the church there, December 1, 1633, that being the first recorded mention of the founder of the family in New England. The name Wildbore became Wilbore in the second generation, was so spelled by the third, but in the fourth generation William changed it to Wilbour, which since prevails in this branch, although many of the same family line spell it both Wilbour and Wilbur as well. Samuel Wildbore was one of the founders of the iron industry at Taunton, Mass., building with his associates a furnace at what is now Raynham, the first built in New England. He became wealthy for his day, but his standing in the community could not preserve him from religious persecutions, and for embracing the “dangerous doctrines” of Cotton and Wheelwright he was banished from Massachusetts with seventeen others. Although he owned a house in Boston, and one in Taunton, he abandoned both, and on the advice of Roger Williams he, with seventeen fellow exiles, purchased from the Indians the Island of Aquidneck, he moving there with his family in 1638, these eighteen persons forming a colony under a solemn compact, March 7, 1638. The founder died September 29, 1656, twenty-two years after having been made a freeman at Boston. His first wife Ann was a daughter of Thomas Bradford, of Dorchester, Yorkshire, England. Two of their sons, Samuel and William, settled in Portsmouth, R. I.; another, Joseph, located at Taunton, Mass.; the fourth, Shadrach, in that part of the same town now known as Raynham. Prior to November 29, 1645, Samuel Wildbore married a second wife, Elizabeth. The line of descent from the pioneer settler, Samuel Wilbore, to Philip Herbert Wilbour is through William Wilbor, of Portsmouth, deputy in 1678; his son, Samuel Wilbor, a farmer of Little Compton, R. I., and his wife, Elizabeth (Potter) Wilbor; their son, William Wilbour, also a farmer of Little Compton, and his wife, Esther (Burgess) Wilbour; their son, Charles Wilbour, who owned and cultivated a large tract of land near Sakonnet river in the town of Little Compton, and his first wife, Hannah (Borden) Wilbour; their son, Isaac Wilbour, a farmer of the old homestead, member of Congress, lieutenant-governor, and his wife, Hannah, daughter of Captain Philip Taber; their son, Philip Wilbour, a farmer of one hundred and twenty-five acres yet owned in the family, and his wife, Eliza Penelope (Champlin) Wilbour; their son, Isaac Champlin Wilbour, of further mention, and his wife, Deborah Josephine Wilbour; their son, Philip Herbert Wilbour, of further mention. Isaac Champlin Wilbour, born at the homestead in Little Compton, R. I., May 11, 1831, died September, 1899. He became owner of the home farm of one hundred and twenty-five acres, added to it by purchase until he had increased its area to two hundred and sixty acres. He was the pioneer poultry farmer of his district and developed that business to enormous proportions, having five thousand hens, his yearly shipments of eggs to all parts of the United States, Canada and Europe averaging 150,000 dozen. His energy and progressive ideas won him great success, and he ranked with the leading business men of his section. A work of love which was carried to completion with the aid of his cousin, Charles Edwin Wilbour, was the building of Sakonnet Cemetery, the beautiful chapel therein having a chime of bells imported from Belgium. Within are marble tablets commemorative of many members of the family beginning with Lieutenant-Governor Isaac Wilbour, and there the donor rests. Isaac Champlin Wilbour married (first), Deborah Josephine Wilbour, born July 13, 1834, died, 1865, daughter of Benjamin and Abby M. (Taylor) Wilbour, and granddaughter of Daniel Wilbour and of Samuel Taylor. Mr. and Mrs. Wilbour were the parents of Philip Herbert, of further mention; Caroline Corey, died aged seven; Elizabeth Champlin; Deborah Josephine, married Frederick Marcy Patten, of Brookline, Mass. Mr. Wilbour married (second), Amelia French, of Nantucket, who survived him. They were the parents of a son, William French, a lawyer of New York City. Philip Herbert Wilbour, only son of Isaac Champlin Wilbour and his first wife, Deborah Josephine (Wilbour) Wilbour, was born at the homestead at Little Compton, which he now owns, August 27, 1856. He was educated in the public schools and Friends’ School, Providence, and grew to manhood at the homestead, his father’s chief assistant and later partner in the poultry raising business for which the farm was famous. After the death of the founder of the business in 1899, the son assumed entire control and has continued to successfully manage it along the same lines, improved and added to as experience dictated. The house which sheltered several generations has been remodeled and added to until, with its beautiful grounds, conservatory and location, it is most attractive to the eye of the beholder, and a source of deep pride and satisfaction to its owner. Inheriting the public spirit of his forbears, Mr. Wilbour has taken an active part in public affairs, and given much time to the service of the people of his State. He had been a member of the Town Council prior to the year 1900, and in that year was elected representative from Little Compton to the State Legislature. He served three years in the House, being chairman of the committee on special legislation, and a member of other committees. His work in the House pleased his constituents, and in 1903 he was elected State Senator, and in 1907 reelected. He was chairman of the committees on corporations and finance, and other committees, also upon the floor of the Senate proved one of the able, influential and valuable members of that body. In 1912 Senator Wilbour was elected president pro tempore of the Senate, holding until March 15, 1917. During that period, in the absence of the governor and lieutenant-governor, he officiated several times as acting governor. On November 30, 1897, he was appointed a member of the Shell Fish Commission by Governor Dyer, and after five years on the commission was chosen its president, holding that office twenty years, until January 19, 1917. In 1917 he was elected to his present post, state auditor and insurance commissioner. In politics he is a Republican, influential in the party and potent in council. His farm responsibilities and State public service have not caused him to neglect local duties, and for fifteen years he served Little Compton as town treasurer, was a director of the Tiverton & Little Compton Mutual Fire Insurance Company, a charter member of Pomona Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, and with his wife has continued that membership until the present. He is also a member of the State Grange and the National Grange, and keeps in close touch with the efforts made through these bodies to improve farming conditions. He is a member of Eureka Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Portsmouth, R. I., and Sekonnet Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. There is no interest of his State but what appeals to him and commands his loyal support. As a public official his record is one of efficiency, every office being regarded as a trust to be faithfully administered as though it were his own private business. A genial, pleasing personality adds to his popularity, and he has never yet received an adverse decision at the polls. Mr. Wilbour married, in Brooklyn, N. Y., May 28, 1885, Grace Frances Ropes, born in Salem, Mass., daughter of Ripley Ropes. Mr. and Mrs. Wilbour are the parents of a son, Lincoln, born March 6, 1886, now enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve Force, District No. 2, Station, New London, Conn., in business in Providence, R. I.; and two daughters: Elizabeth Champlin, who died young, and Dorothy. There is a portion of the old farm, however, which is held sacred to the preservation of a historical spot, and a story which dates back to the early Indian occupation. This part of the farm bears the name Awashonks Park, and was once the home of the Saugkonnates tribe of Indians, it being known in an earlier day as the Tompee Swamps. Over this tribe reigned Queen Awashonks, a Queen who was gifted with a keener insight and greater wisdom than even the powerful King Philip, and stood firm in her insistence upon the white man’s right to live among them in peace. When King Philip sent his chiefs to her inviting her to join him and them in a war of extermination against the Whites, she flatly refused her aid and tried to dissuade the King from attempting war. She failed and one of the adornments of Awashonks Park is a monument to the good Queen’s memory. This monument is in the form of a great boulder of slate through which runs a gleam of white Hint quartz. The face of the rock bears this inscription: “To the memory of Awashonks, Queen of the Saugkonnates, and friend of the white man.” This inscription is deeply engraved in the face of the rock, and by chance curiously enough the words “White Man” are cut into the strata of white flint in the boulder. Another large boulder serves as a monument to both King Philip and the Queen, commemorating her refusal to join the King in his war against the Whites, a war which resulted in his death. The inscription on this monument is as follows: “Pometocum – August12, 1616 (Philip) King of the Wampanoags.” This part of the old farm Mr. Wilbour has converted into a park, which he has improved and traversed with roads and paths, making all parts of its beautiful area accessible to the public to whom he has opened it, free of charge or expense. He has devoted much time and money to preserve this historic spot for future generations. The beautiful drives reach the spots preserved by tablet or inscription, and no part of the farm, no matter how important it may be to the business thereon conducted, receives the care and attention bestowed upon Awashonks Park, which commemorates the worthy deeds of this so-called “Savage” Queen. The development of its beauty and the preservation of its historical value has given him deep satisfaction, and it is with an honest pride that he regards this chapter in his life’s history. No trees are allowed to be moved until they mar the landscape, and forestry is combined with skillful landscape gardening to produce the best results. To the natural timber Mr. Wilbour has added different varieties with especial regard to their autumn coloring, selecting those whose colors will form with the native trees a beautiful landscape view full of warm color when the frosts of the autumn have developed their richest tints. For the later winter landscape he has caused to be planted the choicest evergreens, and thus in spring, summer, autumn and winter, some particular form of sylvan beauty is presented in Awashonks Park. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------ These documents are made available free to the public for non-commercial purposes by the Rhode Island USGenWeb Project.

Born April 10, 1622, in Sible Hedingham, Essex, England. Died 1697 in Little Compton, RI Samuel Wilbore was the eldest of the three young brothers who came to America with their parents from their birthplace of Sible Hedingham, England. After the family's sojourn in Boston, the young Samuel moved to the colony of Rhode Island. There he lived in three different settlements -- Portsmouth, Kingston and, finally, Little Compton, where he resided until his death. During his stay in Boston he must have met a young lady named Hannah Porter for, after moving to Portsmouth, he brought her there from Boston to be married in 1648. She was just 15 years old at the time, 11 years younger than he. Her parents, John and Elizabeth Lang Porter, originally from Dedham, England, were married in Boston where their daughter was born, then later followed her to Rhode Island. At the time of their marriage, Rhode Island was sparsely settled, as it was only four years after Roger Williams had obtained the official patent for a colony on behalf of his Providence settlement and three other communities (one of which Samuel's father had helped establish). True to the principles of freedom of religion and politics Williams and his compatriots espoused, it was a society made up of residents who were resolutely self-reliant and generally tolerant of the views of others. So far as is known, Samuel and Hannah Wilbore had but one child, Rebeca. (Although there may have been another, Abigail, who probably died young). Both lived full lives, Samuel to age 75, Hannah 89. (Taken from: A Family History, by Donovan Faust)

Born about 1653 in South Kingston, RI died March 18, 1727/28 Rebecca Wilbore was born in Kingston, a village on the Rhode Island mainland west of Narragansett Bay and, in 1687, married William Browning. He was from Portsmouth on Aquidneck Island, the community that her grandfather had helped found. They established a home in South Kingston where all of their five children were born between 1688 and 1696. William Browning's parents were from England, his father Nathaniel having been born in London and his mother Sarah Freeborn in Ipswitch, a port town on the eastern coast of England. Her family may have been involved with the shipbuilding industry that was the major employer in Ipswitch. Because of its available timber and tidal basin, Ipswitch had long been a leading shipyard. As early as the late 1500's, an impressive three dozen ships were built in a year -- ranging in size from 10 to 150 tons each. The emigration of William's father Nathaniel from London proved to be a prescient move. He avoided both the Great London Plue and the Great Fire of London, which occurred on successive years shortly after he left. Nathaniel and Sarah came to Rhode Island before starting to raise a family in 1651. And what a family it was -- 12 children, four boys and eight girls. The unbridled joy at the birth of two of their daughter was evidenced by the names given them -- Hallelujah and Hosana. The senior Brownings had come to Rhode Island only about 15 years after the first small communities were established. They located in a settlement begun by people who, like Roger Williams, had left what they believed to be the oppressive religious/political dictates of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They called it Pocasset. The village was located on the upper eastern edge of the 15-mile-long Acquidneck Island in Narragansett Bay. The residents of the colony were noted as a stubbornly independent lot, especially with respect to any jurisdiction of a central government. They rejected the conditions that would have allowed them to become members of a New England Confederation. A hundred years later, their individualistic tendencies were still apparent when they refused to send representatives to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and would not ratify the constitution until the Bill of Rights amendment was added. Rhode Island was, therefore, the last of the thirteen original colonies to sign. They found not only land for grazing but a relatively benign climate for the part of the country due to the moderating winds off the bay. The area was rich in game. There were deer, rabbits and squirrels and plenty of birds -- partridge, pheasant, quail, wild ducks and woodcocks. Also, fresh and saltwater fish abounded in the rivers, bays and inlets. It was in this land of nature's bounty and independent thought that William and Rebecca Browning spent their entire lives. She died in 1728 when she was 75 years old; he lived two years longer, reaching the age of 79. (Taken from: A Family History, by Donovan Faust)

Born 1616 in.

Born 12 FEB 1618/1619 in Portsmouth,Newport,Rhode Island

Born 1653 in Portsmouth, Newport, Rhode Island. # Death: 18 MAR 1727/28 # Change Date: 10 OCT 1998 # Reference Number: 1614 # Note: Rebecca Wilbore was born in Kingston, a village on the Rhode Island mainland west of Narragansett Bay and, in 1687, married William Browning. He was from Portsmouth on Aquidneck Island, the community that her grandfather had helped found. They established a home in South Kingston where all of their five children were born between 1688 and 1696. William Browning's parents were from England, his father Nathaniel having been born in London and his mother Sarah Freeborn in Ipswitch, a port town on the eastern coast of England. Her family may have been involved with the shipbuilding industry that was the major employer in Ipswitch. Because of its available timber and tidal basin, Ipswitch had long been a leading shipyard. As early as the late 1500's, an impressive three dozen ships were built in a year -- ranging in size from 10 to 150 tons each. The emigration of William's father Nathaniel from London proved to be a prescient move. He avoided both the Great London Plue and the Great Fire of London, which occurred on successive years shortly after he left. Nathaniel and Sarah came to Rhode Island before starting to raise a family in 1651. And what a family it was -- 12 children, four boys and eight girls. The unbridled joy at the birth of two of their daughter was evidenced by the names given them -- Hallelujah and Hosana. The senior Brownings had come to Rhode Island only about 15 years after the first small communities were established. They located in a settlement begun by people who, like Roger Williams, had left what they believed to be the oppressive religious/political dictates of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They called it Pocasset. The village was located on the upper eastern edge of the 15-mile-long Acquidneck Island in Narragansett Bay. The residents of the colony were noted as a stubbornly independent lot, especially with respect to any jurisdiction of a central government. They rejected the conditions that would have allowed them to become members of a New England Confederation. A hundred years later, their individualistic tendencies were still apparent when they refused to send representatives to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and would not ratify the constitution until the Bill of Rights amendment was added. Rhode Island was, therefore, the last of the thirteen original colonies to sign. They found not only land for grazing but a relatively benign climate for the part of the country due to the moderating winds off the bay. The area was rich in game. There were deer, rabbits and squirrels and plenty of birds -- partridge, pheasant, quail, wild ducks and woodcocks. Also, fresh and saltwater fish abounded in the rivers, bays and inlets. It was in this land of nature's bounty and independent thought that William and Rebecca Browning spent their entire lives. She died in 1728 when she was 75 years old; he lived two years longer, reaching the age of 79. (Taken from: A Family History, by Donovan Faust)