William Wetherell ca 1602 England to 1684 Scituate, Mass. and his wife Mary Fisher

 William Wetherell was Puritan minister who was born about 1602, likely in Yorkshire England. He was educated at Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, where he was listed as being from York. He received his BA in 1626 and MA in 1627. [The Genealogical Advertiser, 1:21 (March 1898)]  I have yet to find his parents. His surname is sometimes spelled Witherell.

Corpus Christi College at Cambridge

William Wetherell married Mary Fisher on 26 March 1627 at St. Mildred’s, Canterbury, Kent.

"Witherill, William, M.A. of Maidstone, ba[chelor]., about 25, and Mary Fisher, of Boughton, Monchelsea, maiden, about 22, who is now under govt., of her mother, Joan Martin, alias Fisher, now wife of John Martin, s.p. yeom., who consents. At S. Mildred's Cant. March 26, 1627.” (Canterbury Marriage Licences, Second Series, page 1087)

St. Mildred's, Canterbury

Mary Fisher was born 17 April 1604 at Boughton, Monchelsea, Kent, the daughter of Thomas and Joan (Lake) Fisher. William and Mary are my 10th great-grandparents on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis Davis’ side of the family. 

St. Peter's, Monchelsea, Kent

William Wetherell was licensed as a Curer of Souls and teacher (2 March 1625) at Boughton, Monchelsea, County Kent, England, but not given a church. Perhaps he was already giving an indication of his non-conformist beliefs. So instead of joining the clergy, he used his education to teach school at Maidstone, County Kent. [NEHGR 75:219] Note that Boughton is a village in the Burrough of Maidstone, where William was a teacher. It looks like a picture-perfect English village, with large manor homes, lots of green space, and a quaint thatched-roof pub.

Boughton in Kent

In 1633/34 Wetherell was cited by Archbishop Laud with an order to cease teaching the catechisms of William Perkins who was a well-known Puritan theologian whose catechisms were used by the early Pilgrim Church of Plymouth and to adhere to the official church religious creed. If he were to persist in continuing his path, he would have found himself in the Star Chamber as happened to Charles Chauncy who was later to be his rival in Scituate. (Peter Clark, English Provincial Society from the Reformation to the Revolution: Religion, Politics and Society in Kent 1500-1640. Harvester Press, London, pages 199 & 372)

Perhaps this trouble prompted William and Mary to sail for Boston on the Hercules in 1635. William Witherell is noted as a schoolmaster from Maidstone, and he traveled with his wife Mary, their sons Samuel, Daniel and Thomas, and their servant Anne Richards. Other men from Kent, possibly also religious dissenters, were on the ship as well.

He settled first at Newtowne (now Cambridge), where in the 8 February 1635/6 list of “men who have houses in the town [Cambridge] at this present,” Mr. Willia[m] Wetherall” held one house in the West End and also one house “on the south side the river” (annotated “sold to Mr. Benjamin & by him to Edm[ond] Angier”) [CaTR 18, 19]. In March 1635 William Wetherell sold a house and 12 acres on the south side of the Charles River to John Benjamin, and about 1638 he sold a house and four acres on the southwesterly side of Garden Street to Thomas Parish. 

The Wetherell’s didn’t stay long in Cambridge, removing to Charlestown in 1636 where he established the first grammar school there and was considered part of the gentry class. On 3 June 1636 “Mr Wm Wetherell was agreed with to keep a school [at Charlestown] for a twelve-month to begin the 8 of the vi month [August] & to have £40 for this year.” [ChTR 21] On 13 January 1636/7, he was granted land there, selling his other house and he also held two shares of hay ground. [ChTR 24] On 23 April 1638 “Mr Witherall” was granted lots of fifteen and thirty acres on Mystic Side. [ChTr 37] On 12 Dec 1637 “about Mr. Witherell it was referred to Mr. Greene & Mr. Lerned to settle his wages for this year in part & part to come, & they chose Ralph Sprague for a third” [ChTR 34]

In 1639 the family removed to Duxbury in Plymouth Colony where the church’s beliefs were closer to those William had embraced in England. On 24 January 1638[/9?], “Edward Hall of Duxburrow” sold to “Mr. Willm Wetherell…all that dwelling house and garden place with the enclosure thereunto belonging situate in Duxborrow aforesaid containing two acres.”  This lot was between that of Roger Partridge and Nicholas Robbins. [PCR 12:41] 

William was made a freeman at Duxbury on 3 March 1639/40. On 6 April 1640, “Mr. William Wetherell” and seven other men “are granted the lands lying on the northwest side of Northill in Duxborrow…and to have liberty to set corn at Namassacusset, and to mow grass for their cattle there, and to build a house on the south side of the brook there,” of which Wetherell was to have fifty acres. [PCR 1:144, 161] In addition to serving as Duxbury’s minister, he was Deputy to the Plymouth General Court in 1642. [PCR 8:191]

The family next moved to Scituate in 1645 where he was minister of the Second Church and this turned out to be finally be the right fit for William as he stayed there for the rest of his life. Several other “Men of Kent” settled in Scituate as well. I read that his hand-written baptism records have been preserved, something I’d love to see. The citizens of Scituate had been struggling within their church and sought a new minister after the departure of Reverend John Lothrop who left for Barnstable with many of his followers. Some Church members, led by Timothy Hatherly, voted to invite Charles Chauncy to fill that position. Another faction, led by William Vassal, disagreed and proceeded to form a Second Church of Scituate and invited William Wetherell to be the minister. (GNM 5:12:15) Much of the division was because Chauncy and the First Church parishioners believed in adult baptism. 

Samuel Deane wrote that Vassal was about the only man in town who had the same social standing and wealth as Hatherly and that it was as much a power struggle between the two men as it was a theological one. The establishment of two churches in a small town never would have been allowed in Massachusetts Bay; Plymouth Colony was more lenient. 

On 16 April 1644, Vassall wrote to Rev John Cotton of Boston: “We are about to procure a member of their church of Duckesbury to be a pastor to us, his name is Mr. Witherell who sometimes lived at Charlestowne & Cambridg. He is a teacher of grammar by profession, a man of good report here & elsewhere & it may be known to yourselves.” [Scituate Hist 72; ScitTR 3:363] On 2 Sept 1645, after some months of negotiation, William Wetherell was ordained pastor of the Second Church at Scituate. [Scituate Hist 81; ScitTR 3:375] Scituate Town Records show he was paid from 35 pounds to 50 pounds annually, but he also received substantial land grants. 

On 5 April 1672, the town of Scituate “granted to Mr. William Witherell fifty acres of land to him and his heirs with common privileges thereunto belonging when he or they shall build and live thereon to be laid out as convenient for him as the capacity of the town will permit.” [ScitTR 3:170; see also ScitTR 1:320, 323, 334 and PCR 5:104, which may refer to two separate grants of fifty acres made to William Wetherell]

The problem between the two churches continued as in 1671/2 Josiah Palmer was fined 10 shillings for speaking "opprobriously" of William's church, saying it was a church of the devil. [PCR 5:87] Chauncy accepted a position in Boston to act as head of the new Harvard College, a position he held until his death.

The Second Church of Scituate, also called the South Church, was in the part of town that is now Norwell and the site of the current First Parish/Unitarian Universalist Church. William was ordained the Pastor on 2 September 1645 after writing numerous letters defending his position to many of the other ministers and churches of New England. He held this position the rest of his life.

Mary and William had nine children:

i. Samuel baptized 5 December 1628 in Maidstone, Kent; m Isabel (——-) Hiland; died 1683 in Scituate

ii.Daniel born 29 November 1630 at Maidstone, Kent, m. Grace Brewster 4 Aug 1659, daughter of Jonathan Brewster and granddaughter of Mayflower passenger William Brewster; d. 14 April 1719 New London, CT 

iii.Thomas baptized 28 August 1633 in Maidstone, Kent; died bef. 1684 in Plymouth Colony

iv Mary born abt. 1635 in Massachusetts; m. Thomas Oldham 20 Nov 1656 in Scituate; died 12 December 1710 in Scituate 

v.Elizabeth born abt. 1637 in Massachusetts ; m John Bryant 22 Dec 1657 at Scituate; died January 1660/61 in Scituate

vi.John born abt. 1640 in Scituate; m. Hannah Pinson Young by 1675 in Scituate; died 1690 in Quebec, Canada; was a Lieutenant in the militia 

vii.Theophilus born abt. 1642 in Scituate, m. Lydia Parker 9 Nov 1675, Scituate; died bef 6 Jan 1701/2; was a sergeant in the militia

viii.Sarah born 10 February1644[/45] in Scituate; m. Israel Hobart 21 Dec 1668 in Hingham; died 1731

ix.Hannah born 20 February 1646[/47] in Scituate; bp Scituate Second Church 28 Feb 1646/47; no further record

I descend from Elizabeth whom I wrote about here. . 

William witnessed wills of Thomas Lapham of Scituate on 15 Jan 1644 and James Cushman of Scituate on  25 April 1648. On 24 March 1657 William witnessed deeds concerning Scituate land between Thomas Bird and Walter Hatch and on 29 September 1660 a deed between Thomas Robinson and John Otis. 

When Thomas Bird of Scituate wrote his will on 4 February 1663, he left a bequest of 5 pounds to "mr Willam Witherell Pastour of the Church of Christ att Scittuate." He appointed his "trusty and welbeloved frinds" Mr. Willam Witherell and James Torrey overseers of his will. 

On 26 March 1684 “William Wetherell, minister of the gospel in the town of Sittuate” deeded to “my loving son Theophilus Wetherell…all that my fifty acres of land…as it was laid out to me by the committee of Sittuate …& West toward the patent line & is the eight lot of the great lots…also all that my great lot of land containing fifty acres of land & common privileges thereunto belonging which grant was granted to me by the town of Sittuate at a general town meeting the fifth day of April 1672 and I have-not yet taken it up, also all that my marsh or meadow land lying & being in the town of Marshfield being by estimation four acres & eighteen pole or rod;” signed by mark.  [PCLR 5:1:267]

Although Wetherell was well-educated, in 1684 he signed the above deed and his will by mark, rather than signing. Deane noted in his history of Scituate that the records of the Second Church in Scituate were “kept in Mr. Witherell’s hand until 1674, when it appears that some paralytic affliction compelled him to borrow the assistance of another hand.” 

William Wetherell was of Scituate when he wrote his will on 29 March 1684 and mentioned bequests of land and other items to his grandchildren Samuel, Joshua, and Hannah Wetherell, all children of his deceased son Samuel. Samuel was to receive most of the land as the eldest son of the eldest son, but Joshua was to receive seven acres at Hoop Pole Hill and another ten acre lot. His sons John and Theophilus are to equally divide his wearing clothes. He noted that his son Daniel and daughter Sarah Hubbert had already received their portions. His daughter-in-law Isabel Wetherell, widow of Samuel, was made executrix and was to receive the residue of the estate to aid her in raising her children as well as the improvement of his house and orchard and other land until her son Samuel came of age. His daughter Mary Oldham was to receive four pounds. The witnesses were Thomas King Sr., Thomas Clapp and John Cushing Sr.  The will was proved 4 June 1684. (Plymouth Probate Records 4:132) 

Mary Wetherell must have died before 29 March 1684 when she is not mentioned in his will. I have not found her death record. William was also pre-deceased by his sons Samuel and Thomas and his daughter Elizabeth.

William Wetherell died 9 April 1684 at Scituate.  (Scituate Vital Records, page 467)

Not long before his death he baptized his granddaughter and died by the time it was recorded : "Abigail the Daughter of Isreal Hobird March 16th baptized by our late pastor M. William Wetherell.” (NEHGR, “Records of the Second Church of Scituate,” 57:320)

The inventory of “Mr William Wetherell deceased late pastor of the Church of Christ in Scittuate” was taken 21 May 1684 and totaled over 165 pounds of which 123 pounds was real estate. [PCPR 4:2:133] It included over 3 pounds in silver money, books, pewter, two cows, and a steer. 

Sources Not Included Above:

Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins, p 318-3 (2011)

Charles Edward Banks, The Planters of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1620-1640, Boston, 1930, Reprint c. 2006, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore

Torrey's New England Marriages

Barbara Lambert Merrick, Mayflower Families Through Five Generations: Elder William Brewster, Volume 24, Part 1, GSMD, 2014

Mrs. John E. Barclay, William Parker of Scituate, Mass., TAG, Vol 41 (1965)

Lucy Hall Greenlaw, editor, The Genealogical Advertiser, “Rev. William Wittherell, M.A.” 1:21 (1901) page 21 Vol 1, 1901

Samuel Deane, History of Scituate, Massachusetts, from its First Settlement to 1831, Boston 1831; reprint 1975

Potential Ancestry of Ruth Harding Eldredge, born 1776 and died between 1855-1959, wife of Nehemiah Eldredge

Ruth Harding is my 5th great-grandmother on my grandmother Milly Booth Rollins’s side of the family. She has long been a stubborn brick wall as I could not find her birth information. What I knew about her is that she married Nehemiah Eldredge in 1796 as Miss Ruth Harding of Chatham. Their Marriage Intentions:  Mr. Nehemiah Eldredge of Harwich - Miss Ruth Harding of Chatham Jany 30th 1796. (Harwich Vital Records  p 178) Intentions were also published in Chatham.  (Chatham Vital Records p 165)

Nehemiah Eldredge was born 7 June 1775, the son of Elnathan and Dorothy (Freeman) Eldredge. The surname Eldredge is spelled in a variety of ways including Eldridge; I use Eldredge for consistency. 

Perhaps Ruth was a few years younger than her husband, so I looked for a ca 1777 birth record. The only one I have found in Barnstable County close to that is a Falmouth record: 14 May 1780, Ruth Harding was baptized at Falmouth, the daughter of Thomas and Jenny Harding. (Falmouth Vital Records 1:62 citing Church Records 1) If Ruth was born a year or so before her baptism, she would have been 17 or 18 at her marriage.

I haven’t found Ruth or Nehemiah’s death records which might shed further light on Ruth’s birth. I don’t believe they left Cape Cod and are likely buried without gravestones. The pastor at Harwich United Methodist Church (where some of Nehemiah’s family worshipped) told me many of the old records are lost and that has been confirmed by other genealogists. There are some people who give Ruth’s death year as 1823 but no one provides a citation for this.

Nehemiah was living on 7 May 1832 when his father Elnathan Eldredge mentioned him in his will. Many researchers give Nehemiah a 1839 death year, but without a citation. This date does appear in An Eldredge Genealogy, a 1966 manuscript by Ruth Brown McAllister. If only she cited her sources!

Ruth and Nehemiah had at least seven children; only James the eldest son’s birth is recorded:

i.James Harding Eldredge born Chatham 7 April 1797 (Henry K. Bearse Transcript of Harwich Births and Deaths, 1765-1840, citing book 6, page 33); married Rosanna Wixon 3 December 1818 in Harwich; died 1 May 1873 in Dennis.

ii.Rebecca Eldredge born 15 Jan 1802 at Harwich; married Isaiah Edwards 23 Oct 1823 at Harwich; died 20 February 1882 at Dennis as daughter of Nehemiah and Ruth Eldredge [birth date calculated from age at death].

iii.Sarah/Sally Eldredge born 4 July 1804 Harwich [calculated from age at death]; married Samuel Chase; died 2 Jan 1861 at Harwich as daughter of Nehemiah and Ruth Eldredge.

iv.Nehemiah Eldredge, born August 1807 at Harwich (calculated from age at death); married 3 October 1830 Betsey Eldredge at Harwich (Harwich Vital Records p 253); may have been the Nehemiah who married, second, Eliza Sylvia; died 4 Feb 1890 at Chatham as son of Nehemiah and Ruth Eldredge (Chatham VR 2:402).

v.Ruth Eldredge born Harwich 2 Oct 1810 (birth based on age at death); married Elisha Smalley at Harwich 11 Feb 1830 (Harwich Vital Records p 252); died 5 Feb 1892 at Harwich (Chatham Vital Records 2:409), daughter of Nehemiah Eldredge and Ruth Harding Smalley (the surname appears to be an error possibly stemming from confusion over mother and daughter’s names).

vi.Susan/Susanna Eldredge, born 29 Jan 1813 at Harwich (based on age at death); married first George Rogers, second 28 Sept 1845 at Brewster, Enoch Crosby as daughter of Nehemiah and Ruth Eldredge (Brewster VR p 207); died 30 Sept 1904 at Dennis (MA VR 36:38).

vii.Didama Eldredge born 29 May 1819 at Harwich (calculated from age at death); married Benjamin/Bani Eldredge 16 Nov 1837 at Harwich; died 11 May 1910 at Chatham daughter of Nehemiah Eldredge and Polly Harding (MA VR 1910/29 p 246); Polly must be Ruth’s nickname; negative death record search using that name.

They may have had two additional sons, but I’ve found no supporting records other than being included in Ruth Brown McAllister’s manuscript:  

Freeman, born 1802 probably Harwich, died 1822, probably Harwich, unmarried

Harding, born 1816, nothing further 

By searching census records for Ruth’s children, I found two important traces of Ruth which refute the 1823 death date. In 1850 at Chatham, Ruth Eldredge is age 74, living in the household of her daughter Diadama Eldredge, age 30. Ruth’s daughter Susan Crosby, age 27, is living next door. This gives Ruth a birth year of about 1776, a good fit with Nehemiah’s age.

In the 1855 Massachusetts State Census, Ruth Eldridge, age 79, is living in Chatham in the household of her daughter Susan Crosby, age 43. 

I do not find Ruth in the 1860 census living with any of her children, so I believe she died between 1855 and 1860, likely at Chatham. Nehemiah’s absence from these census records infers that he died before 1850 so that 1839 date is possibility.

Ruth’s Potential Parents: Thomas Harding and Content/Jenny Howes

Thomas Harding was born Chatham 29 April 1738 to Maziah and Bethiah (Sears) Harding (Ancestry database “Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988") Intentions to marry Content Howes 23 May 1760 in Chatham. He married Jenny Howes 15 December 1760. It seems Content and Jenny are the same person as both are used in records relating to Thomas’ children. The long gap between intentions and marriage could be explained if he was a mariner away at sea. 

Some researchers have Content/Jenny born about 1740, the daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth/Betty (Doane) Howes, but I have not confirmed this with my own research.

The main issue I find with this couple is that they didn’t have children until 16 years after their marriage. Not sure how that could be explained other than they lived out of the area or their children’s births were unrecorded. I can’t find any other Thomas Harding married to a Content or Jenny and there is plenty of evidence pointing to Thomas and Content/Jenny as the parents of Ruth and her known siblings. 

Jenny Harding was dismissed from the Chatham Church and admitted to the Falmouth Church on 1 May 1781. (Falmouth Congregational church Records, Vol 1 & 2) This date is a year after Ruth’s baptism in Falmouth. 

Thomas and Content/Jenny’s children, born Chatham and Falmouth:

i.Mulford Harding born Chatham 10 July 1776. (Chatham Vital Statistics and Town Meetings 1727-1856, p 275) He married Sarah/Sally Young 12 May 1799 at Chatham, called the son of Thomas and Content. (Chatham Vital Records p 193) Many people give Mulford’s parents as Thomas Harding and his wife Phebe Hopkins, but Mulford’s Chatham birth record clearly gives his parents as Thomas and Jenny Harding; his death record names his parents as Thomas and Content. The use of names Content and Jenny add credence to his parents being the couple married in 1760. His unusual name comes from his maternal great-grandmother Patience Mulford Doane.

ii.Ruth Harding baptized Falmouth 14 May 1780, daughter Thomas and Jenny Harding.

iii. Fanny Harding baptized 15 December 1782 at Chatham, daughter of Thomas and Content.  (Falmouth VR 1:62, CR 1) She married Henry Nickerson of Long Island on 8 May 1802, at Chatham, no parents listed. I believe Fanny was a nickname to differentiate her from her mother and she is Content Nickerson, wife of Capt. Henry Nickerson, who is buried in Noyack, New York. She died 28 March 1836, in 51st year, so dates aren’t exact match. (Findagrave memorial ID 17180444)

iv.Hawes/Howes Harding baptized Falmouth 1784, son of Thomas and Jenny Harding (Falmouth Vital Records 1:62, CR 1) Another clue that I have the right parents as Jenny’s maiden name was Howes and his grandmother Bethiah’s maiden name was Hawes. 

v.Sally Harding baptized Falmouth 9 July 1786, daughter of Thomas and Jenny (Falmouth Vital Records 1:62, CR 1)

I have not found Thomas and Content’s death records or a probate record for Thomas in Barnstable County. 

Ruth’s Potential Paternal Grandparents: Maziah/Amaziah Harding and Bethiah Hawes

Maziah Harding was born about 1693 at Chatham (based on age at death), the son of Joseph Harding and Dinah Hedges. He died 31 Mar 1760 in his 68th year and is buried at Chatham’s Old Burial Ground. (Mayflower Descendant, “Records in the Oldest Burying Ground in Chatham,” 8: 238)

Maziah Harding's gravestone

He married about 1721 Bethiah Hawes. 

Bethiah Hawes born July 1701 at Yarmouth, the daughter of Lt. Isaac Hawes and his wife Bethiah Howes. She is a descendant of Mayflower passengers John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley, as well as Elizabeth’s parents. She died 10 March 1788 at Chatham. 

Maziah and Bethiah’s children (first eight from Chatham Vital Records published in Mayflower Descendant 5:121): 

i.Silvanus Harding born 18 May 1723

ii.Joseph Harding born 21 Feb 1725

iii.Seth Harding born 16 January 1727

iv.Desire Harding born 24 April 1729

v.Bethiah Harding born 22 March 1731

vi.Grace Harding born 30 March 1733

viii.Samuel Harding born 29 March 1736

viiii.Thomas Harding born 29 April 1738

ix.Prince Harding born 20 July 1740 (NEHGR 7:388)

I’ve seen additional children Paul and Susanna, but I need to do more research to confirm.

Maziah had a homestead in Chatham near that of his father, on the road leading out of Ragged Neck to the highway. 

Ruth’s Potential Paternal Great-Grandparents: Joseph Harding and Dinah (?Hedges)

Joseph was born 8 July 1667 at Eastham, son of Joseph and Bethia (Cooke) Harding. By 1693 the family had removed to Chatham. He married Dinah, probably the daughter of Tristram Hedges.

Children of Joseph and Dinah from Joseph’s will, order uncertain, from Smith’s Early Chatham Settlers:

i.Joseph Harding m. 1st Jane Adams dau of John of Boston 23 July 1713; m. 2nd Mary Stewart, widow of Michael between 1716-1720

ii.Maziah Harding born about 1693; m. Bethiah Hawes, dau of Isaac about 1721

iii.Dinah Harding b about 1700; m. first William Beer Jr. of Yarmouth who died soon after marriage; m 2nd John Young, son of David of Eastham (Intentions10 March 1721, Eastham VR)

iv.Bethiah Harding m. William Nickerson son of Thomas before Oct 1725

v.Priscilla Harding m. Joseph Howes son of Thomas 2 Feb 1726/7 (Chatham VR)

vi.Grace Harding d. before her father leaving dau Mary

vii.Mary Harding m. John Buck after 1726

viii.Nehemiah Harding b about 1708; m. Priscilla Collins, dau of Joseph of Eastham 14 Jan 1730/1 (Eastham VR) 

Rev Abner Morse in The Harding Genealogy mentions a son John who married a Deborah Nickerson, but the will of Joseph Harding does not mention him or any children of his. 

Joseph and Dinah lived in the southwest corner of Chatham at Cockle Cove, then called Ragged Neck. Hardings Beach, which adjoins this land, is named for him. He served as selectman for seven years, treasurer for two years, and held other offices. He was first a Lieutenant and then Captain of the military company. 

Hardings Beach in Chatham

Dinah, wife of Capt. Joseph Harding died 28 Jan 1738/9, age 76 years. She is buried at the Old Burial Ground, Chatham. Joseph died early in 1745, leaving a will dated 16 February 1738/9; proved 8 May 1745. He is buried with Dinah with just a foot stone surviving that reads Capt Joseph Harding. (The Mayflower Descendant, “Records of the Oldest Burying Ground in Chatham,” 8:238)

Dinah (?Hedges) Harding gravestone

Ruth’s Potential Paternal Great-Great-Grandparents: Joseph Harding and Bethia Cooke

Joseph Harding was born about 1629 in Plymouth Colony, the son of a man of the surname Harding and his wife Martha whose maiden name was probably Doane. He was raised from a young age by John Doane, presumably his maternal uncle, as both of his parents died young.

Joseph married Bethiah Cooke 4 April 1660 at Eastham. (Mayflower Descendant, “Eastham and Orleans, Mass., Vital Records," 7:13) She was born Plymouth about 1640, the daughter of Josias Cooke and Elizabeth Ring.

They had 10 children born Eastham as children of Joseph Harding with no mother listed (Mayflower Descendant, “Eastham and Orleans, Mass., Vital Records," 7:13)

i. Martha Harding born 19 August 1665

ii.Joseph Harding born 8 July 1667

iii.Josiah Harding born 15 August 1669

iv.Maziah Harding born 1 November 1671 [“1” written over “3”]

v.John Harding born 9 October 1673

vi.Joshua Harding born 15 Feb 1675

Joseph married second a woman whose name is unknown. They had children: 

vii.Nathaniel Harding born 25 December 1674 [sic]

viii.Abiah Harding born 26 January 1679

ix.Samuel Harding born 1 September 1683

x.John Harding born 14 June 1697 [could year be transcription error?]

Bethiah’s death date is unknown but likely died at Eastham. She is named in her father’s 22 September 1673 will and in a 1 June 1687 document pertaining to the settlement of his estate. 

Josiah Cooke and Joseph Harding were witnesses to a deed from William Twining of Eastham to Thomas Doghead dated 7 March 1671, Joseph signing by mark so perhaps he was unable to write. (Mayflower Descendant,”Dean—Twining—Snow,” 15:52)

Ruth’s Potential Great-Great-Great Grandparents Unknown Harding and Martha Doane

Martha, likely Martha Doane sister of John Doane, married a man named Harding whose first name is not known, in or about 1632 in England. Some researchers believe his name was Joseph Harding and there is a great deal of conflicting information about this family. Some of the stories say that he was a member of Gov. Gorges party that settled at Wessagussett (now Weymouth) and that they had an older son John Harding. But it seems more likely that she married Mr. Harding in England where he died and that she came to Plymouth in 1632 with her young son, Joseph. 

Sadly Martha died at Plymouth between 25 March 1633 (tax assessment) and 28 October 1633 (administration of her estate). She left personal property totaling over 20 pounds in an inventory taken 28 Oct 1633, but had debts of a greater value. She left her young son, Joseph, in the care of John Doane, presumably her brother who also administered her estate.

John Doane removed to Eastham on Cape Cod, with his large family including Joseph Harding.

Sources Not Mentioned Above: 

William C. Smith, Library of Cape Cod History & Genealogy, No. 36, “Early Chatham Settlers,”  1915

Ruth Brown McAllister compiler, An Eldredge Genealogy, 1966, privately printed manuscript

Luella Eldridge, The Family of Clyde Mulford Eldridge and Other Desc of William Eldred of Yarmouth,  1983 [Nehemiah Eldredge’s death year]

Wilbert J. Harding compiler/editor, The Hardings in America, 1925

Mayflower Descendant, “Descendants of John Young of Plymouth and Eastham,” vol 57, no 1 (2008)

The Nickerson Family Association, The Descendants of William Nickerson 1604-1689 First Settler of Chatham, Massachusetts, Part 1, 1973: 

Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins, 1995