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Samuel Phelps[1]

Male 1621 - 1669  (47 years)


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  • Name Samuel Phelps 
    Birth 5 Aug 1621  Crewkerne, Somerset, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Death 15 May 1669  Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I33130  Master
    Last Modified 31 Aug 2018 

    Father William Phelps,   b. 1593, Crewkerne, Somerset, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 14 Jul 1672, Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 79 years) 
    Mother Mary Marshal,   b. 24 Mar 1603, Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 12 Aug 1626, Crewkerne, Somerset, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 23 years) 
    Marriage 1617  Crewkerne, Somerset, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F8073  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 5 Aug 1621 - Crewkerne, Somerset, England Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDeath - 15 May 1669 - Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, USA Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Notes 
    • Will of William Phelps, the Colonist

      The Phelps family of America and their English ancestors

      The following is the last Will and Testament of Mr. William Phelps, or properly speaking, his Settlement Deed. From Windsor Records.

      “These presents testify, that I, William Phelps, of Windsor, on Connecticut, in consideration of a marriage concluded between my son Timothy, on the one part, and Mary, the daughter of Edward Griswold, on the other part; have given and granted, and by these presents do give and grant unto my son, that he, the said Timothy, shall jointly enjoin and possess, together with me, all my housing, lands and accommodations, as also all my estate, both real and personal, both within door and without, with all the property emoluments, products, and income of the same, during my material life: And my said son is to inhabit and dwell in my house, with me and my wife, in joint way; and that it shall continue during my material life; and if my wife shall survive me, she have and enjoy in a joint way with my son the estate for her maintainence as before expressed. But if my wife chooses to settle in any place and to leave the house, then my son shall pay yearly to my wife the sum of ten pounds during her material life, and in case I myself in my life time, or my wife after my decease, in her lifetime while she abides, to inhabit with my said son Timothy, she see cause or desire it, I do reserve power both for myself and for her, after my decease to dispose of barrel or two of cider and some apples yearly, without any harm to the premises, and likewise I do reserve like liberty for myself and my wife, to dispose of my wearing apparel, and whom we shall meet to enjoy them after our decease. Also I do give full power of bequeathing the great brass pan at her decease; and my son Timothy is to carry the improvements of the whole Estate, and to order and dispose of the stock, so far as the necessity of our subsistence shall require, and after my decease and the decease of my wife, my said son Timothy shall have and enjoy all my whole Estate fore mentioned to him and his heirs forever; always provided that in case my said son Timothy shall die and leave no natural heirs begotten by him, that shall either not attain the age of twenty one years or marry, then the one-half of my lands excepting the orchard and pasture down to the bridge, that goeth into the meadow; aso the upper pasture by the house that shall bwlong to the house, shall return to William, the son of my son Samuel. Also my son Timothy is to pay out of the Estate: Imprimis to discharge my daughter Mary, with that which is paid, the sum of thirty-four pounds, which is the full portion I allow her. To my son William twenty shillings, to Samuel ten pounds, to Nathaniel fifteen pounds, to Joseph five pounds—these legacies to my sons to be discharged within two years of my decease.

      In consideration of the premises we both have hereunto set our hands this 22nd day of April Anno Dom. 1660.

      Witness to the signatures:
      Daniel Clark, William Phelps, James Alford, Timothy Phelps.

      Entered on the Windsor, Conn., Register, July 26th, 1672.
      Mathew Grant, Register.”

      Then the book lists the children by his supposed “first” wife all born in England: Richard (?) bp. 1619 in Tewkesbury, William b. 1620, m. Isabel Wilson, 2nd Sarah Pinney; Sarah b. 1623, m. William Wade; Samuel b. 1625, m. Sarah Griswold; Nathaniel, b. 1627, m. Elizabeth Copley; Joseph b. 1629, m. 1st Hannah Newton, 2nd, Mary Salmon; and by his “second” wife—Mary Dover, in Windsor, Ct.: Timothy b. 1639, m. Mary Griswold; and Mary b. 1644, m. Thomas Barber.

      (Elizabeth Copley was a widow when she married Nathaniel. I believe she was Elizabeth Griswold who married Thomas Copley in England. And that she was closely related to Sarah Griswold and Mary Griswold; their father was Edward Griswold.)

      http://interactive.ancestry.com/13747/dv m_GenMono000370-00047-0?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2fsearch%2fdb.aspx%3fdbid%3d13747%2 6path%3d&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnBrowsing#?imageId=dvm_GenMono000370-00057-0
    • Arrival in America

      William Phelps' actual family--myth and fact:
      This particular source is the only passenger list that I’ve seen that actually lists the family members upon their arrival in America, but please understand there was no actual "list" of passengers. The "Lists" have been assembled from records of the people once they arrived in America using those dates found in other sources. (The house where the records were stored burned. Much of the erroneous information about the Phelps family's arrival in America probably came from the book "The Phelps Family in America" which was published before he completed his investigations in England; there was no wife Elizabeth. "Great Migration" is accurate.)

      William’s wife’s name is given as Elizabeth in the passenger list. Fact: His first wife, Mary, died in Crewkerne 13 August 1626. Fact: He married Ann Dover 14 November 1626 in Crewkerne, but he arrives in America with wife Elizabeth...(myth) In “The Great Migration Begins” the author states, “In 1990 Myrtle S. Hyde resolved the problem of the identity of the wives of William Phelps…” , citing William's marriage record to Ann Dover in 1626 after his first wife, Mary died.

      This wife Elizabeth is part of the myth perpetuated by the published "Phelps Family in America" where the author erroneously believed the Phelps colonists were a family from Tewkesbury. Many of the New England records, and the US and International Marriages records were assembled because of the information in this published Phelps history. This Elizabeth dying in 1635 (as his first wife), and then William marrying a 2nd wife in 1638 information was also perpetuated because of this published Phelps history. It was assumed to be correct information when it was not. There are no real and actual sources to support his theory. There is a real marriage record for William Phelps and Ann Dover marrying in Crewkerne 14 Nov 1626 a few months after his first wife Mary died in Aug. There is a source passenger listing for Anne Phelps on the same ship as William.

      U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s about Samuel Phelps

      Family Members:
      William Phelps and his family arrived in Nantuasket, Massachusetts in 1630 aboard the "Mary & John". His family arriving with him were his wife Elizabeth; brother Richard; son Richard age 10 (1620), son William Jr; daughter Sarah age 7 (1623); son Samuel age 7 (1623); son Nathaniel age 3 (1627); son Joseph age 1 (1629); and brother George.
      http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=pili354&h=1541342&indiv=try&o_vc=Record:Ot herRecord&rhSource=7486

      This summary states Elizabeth was the wife/mother's name in error. There is a Passenger list that names Anne Phelps as being on this ship: Anne Phelps arrival year 1630 in Boston, Massachusetts aboard the Mary & John.

      England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973 about Anne Dover

      http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bi n/sse.dll?db=FS1EnglandMarriages&h=37742369&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt&ssrc=pt_t13693 691_p29326486395_kpidz0q3d29326486395z0q26pgz0q3d32768z0q26pgplz0q3dpid

      U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s about Anne Phelps

      http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=pili354&h=743437&indiv=try&o_vc=Record:Oth erRecord&tid=13693691&tpid=29326486395&rhSource=7486

      BROTHERS?

      The ship's list assumed that they were brothers and is part of the myth perpetuated by the published in "Phelps Family in America" where the author erroneously believed the Phelps colonists were a family from Tewkesbury. Stephen M. Lawson clarifies the relationship.

      PHELPS-GRISWOLD From the files of Stephen M. Lawson

      The Phelps Immigrants
      "While there has been various claims about the Phelps ancestry in England, as yet no positive connection to any of the American immigrants (William, George and Richard) has been established. It has also been determined through Y-DNA analysis that William PHELPS and George PHELPS were not brothers and have no identifiable common patrilineal ancestor. The Phelps DNA Projectshows that the modal Y-DNA of descendants of William and George differ in 26 of 37 markers."

      Here in the ship's list are William’s "brother", Richard, and his "brother" George arriving together. (Further search has shown that George probably arrived in 1634, a year later, on the Recovery.) In researching the cousins of the Phelps family, I see that the family line of George Phelps and of William Phelps both intermarry for generations into the Griswold, Pinney, Holcomb families and have many more family surname marriages in common, and also repeat many of the same family given names. This leads me to believe William and this George are probably related. Although the parents of Richard, William and George Phelps still remains a mystery, we are sure William is of Crewkerne rather than Tewkesbury. Several references to William’s "brother" George are made in “The Phelps Family of America”, but it was an assumption. DNA has proved otherwise. Of course, we can never know about Richard since he was never seen again.

      About George Phelps, in the “Great Migration Begins”, the author leaves this comment:

      ASSOCIATIONS: George Phelps of Dorchester and Windsor (not to be confused with GEORGE PHILLIPS of the same two places) may have been a brother of William Phelps [TAG 65; 165-66]. This George Phelps married as his first wife Philura Randal, daughter of PHILLIP RANDALL; he was also, in some manner as yet undetermined, an uncle of Elisha Hart, son of EDMOND HART.

  • Sources 
    1. [S761] Yates Publishing, Ancestry Family Trees, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.), Ancestry Family Tree.
      http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=152327163&pid=230