MANUSCRIPT - HARRINGTON FAMILY GENEALOGICAL GAZETTEER

APPENDIX

CONTENTS

GENEALOGICAL CHART - BENJAMIN HERENDEEN AND WIFE, ELIZABETH WHITE GENERATIONS: 1-2-3

GENEALOGICAL AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS

by

W. R. CUTTER

LINE OF DESCENT OF HARRINGTON FROM HULOF, FIRST DUKE OF THE NORMANS.

1. Hulof, first Duke of the Normans, a Viking, A.D. 860.

2. William Langword, Duke of the Normans,

3. Richard, the Fearless.

4. Richard, the Good.

5. Robert the first, the Devil.

6. William the Conqueror, b. 1025, King of England, Duke of Normandy, died 1087; married 1054, Matilda Maud of Flanders, daughter of Baldwin.

7. Henry 1, born 1068; married 1100, Matilda Maud of Scotland, daughter of Malcolm III.

8. Empress, Maud of Germany, wife of Henry V, born 1102; married 1128, Geoffrey Plantaganet.

9. Henry II, born 1133; married 1151, Eleanor of Aquitaine.

10. John, King of England, born 1166; married Isabella of Angoulime.

11. Henry III, born 1206; married Eleanor of Province.

12. Edward I, born 1239; married Eleanor of Castille.

13. Princess Elizabeth of England, born 1282; married Humphrey Bohme.

14. Agnes de Bohn; married Robert de Ferrars.

15. John de Farrars, Third Baron Ferrars; married Elizabeth Rolfe, daughter of second Earl of Stafford.

16. Robert de Farrars, Fourth Baron Ferrars; married Margaret de Spencer, daughter of Edmund, Lord Bispence.

17. Edmund Ferrars, Fifth Baron Chartley, born 1389; married Eleanor Roche, daughter of Lord Roche.

18. William de Ferrars, Sixth Baron Chartley; married Elizabeth Belknap, daughter of Sir H. Belknap.

19. Ann de Ferrars; married Sir Walter Derereux, who died 1345.

20. Katherine Derereux; married Sir James Baskerville.

21. Sir Walter Baskerville; married Ann, daughter of Morgan ap Jentin ap Philip of Pencoyd.

22. Sir James Baskerville; married Elizabeth Braynton.

23. Sybil Baskerville; married Sir Robert Whitney.

24. Robert Whitney; married Elizabeth Girillene.

25. Thomas Whitney married Mary Bray and died 1643.

26. John Whitney married Eleanor ______, and died 1673.

27. John Whitney married Ruth Reynolds.

28. Sarah Whitney married Daniel Harrington.

29. Robert Harrington married Anne Harrington.

30. Robert Harrington married Abigail Mason (Ancestor 10 generations removed was Hugo de Payens. See below).

31. Daniel Harrington married Anna Monroe, etc., etc.

ABIGAIL MASON'S known ancestry runs back to:

Hugues de Payens, the Knight Templar who in 1190 with Geoffrey de Saint Ademar (Saint Omer), with seven companions, formed a military band to protect the Pilgrims in Palestine, with quarters assigned to them in the Palace of Jerusalem known as Solomon's Temple. (They were called Knights of the Temple or Knights Templar).

1. HUGUES DE PAYENS

2. SIR THOMAS PAYNE, b. 1239; married Margaret Poltney.

3. EDMOND PAYNE, b. 1445; married Elizabeth Walton.

4. WILLIAM PAYNE, married Margaret Ash.

5. ANTHONY PAYNE, married Martha Castell.

6. WILLIAM PAYNE, born 1566.

7. ELIZABETH PAYNE, born 1587; married Wm. Hammond.

8. LIEUT. JOHN HAMMOND, born 1624; married 1652, Abigail Salter.

9. ELIZABETH HAMMOND, born 1657; married 1675, John Mason.

10.DANIEL MASON, born 1698; married 1717, Experience Newcomb.

11.ABIGAIL MASON, married Robert Harrington.

SARAH WHITNEY, who married Daniel Harrington, son of Robert and Susannah George, traces her ancestry as follows:

1. ROBERT BIGOT, of King John, one of the 26 Magna Charta Barons, after Ward Earl of Norfolk. (See Shakespeare's "King John"). Died 1230.

2. HUGH BIGOT, died 1225.

3. RALPH BIGOT.

4. ISABEL BIGOT, married Gilbert Lacy.

5. MAUD LACY, married Peter de Grenville.

6. JOANNA DE GRENVILLE, married Roger Martiner.

7. JOANNA DE MARTINER, married James Audley, one of the original Knights of the Carter.

8. JOANNA DE AUDLEY, married John Touchet.

9. ELIZABETH TOUCHET, married John Baskerville.

10.SIR BASKERVILLE, married Katherine Devereux.

11.SIR WALTER BASKERVILLE, married Anne, daughter of Morgan ap Jenkins, ap Philip of Pencoyd, etc., etc., following second line above. (See line 21 from Hulof).

NOMENCLATURE

SPELLING OF ANCESTRAL NAME

by

CHAS. B. HERENDEEN, Newark, N.J.

Seventeen varities of spelling the family name are given in "Book Notes" Vol. 9, page 232, and these do not exhaust the subject:

Hearnden,

R.I. Hist. Tract #15, p. 70.4

Herndon

Col. Rcds. 2, p. 303

Herenden

Col. Rcds. 4, p. 491

Herendeen

Col. Rcds. 4, p. 525

Herrington

Col. Rcds. 4, p. 505

Heandrum

Col. Rcds. 4, p. 185

Henendon

Col. Rcds. 4, p. 491

Henington

Col. Rcds. 4, p. 38

Herenton

Col. Rcds. 4, p. 111

Herrenden

Col. Rcds. 5, p. 405

Herrendeen

Col. Rcds. 8, p. 151

Herrendon, Supt. Col. Rcds. p. 48

Herrendeen, Staples Annuals, p. 61

Herendeen, Wilkinson's Genealogy, p. 52

Herenden, Steer's Genealogy, p. 214

Harrinton, Providence Direct, 1824

Harrington, Providence Direct, 1824

The name, Harrington, with varied orthography, is one of the oldest surnames known in history, dating back to the time of William the Conqueror, (1066-1087). In the Latin census taken by this monarch to learn the resources of the people for purposes of taxation, and in the book, Doonsday", we find the name record as Harginton, Hargington, Herynrton. Papworth, in his Directory of Arms, varied the spelling: Harrington, Herrington, Harington, Herendeen, etc.

In Burke's Peerage and Baronage of the British Empire, we read:

This ancient family, (Harrington), derives its name, formerly written Haverington, from their estate, a Lordship in Cumberland. In the reign of Edward I, they removed to Aldringham in Lancashire, which was granted to Robert de Haverington, or Harrington, on his marriage with Agness, sister and heir of its possessor.

It is generally conceded that the name came from a fishing port and the coat of arms is cited as one of the earliest, and intended originaly to represent a fishing net (fretty).

There are many Irish Harringtons. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth Sir John Harrington, with other of his kinsmen, accompanied the Earl of Essex by the Queen's command, to subjugate Ireland. Lands were confiscated for them, intermarriage became common, and the English gentlemen became the ruling class. Thus was the Harrington name introduced.

From: The Whitehaven (England) News.

Copied by C.W. Herendeen

In the Privy Church of Cartmell, North Lancashire, there is an alter tomb with recumbent figures reputed to be those of Sir John Harrington of Gleaston Castle, near Ulverston, A.D., 1305, and his Lady. The arms on the shield and surcoat: argent a frette, or interlacing knot of five points sable.

There was a younger branch of the family at Wraysholme Tower in Cartmell parish, and another at Hornby Castle. They vore variations of the same arms. One of these, Sir John Harrington married Catherine, daughter of Sir Robert Sherborne, died 1360, tempo Edward III. Their grand-son, Sir William was standard bearer at Aginscourt, 1451. Richard Harrington was grand bailiff at Corn, 1440.

The town of Harrington, (just north of Whitehaven, C.W.H.), was formerly Haverington. The name Harrington was long held by his family and by the marriage of their heiress, passed to the Grays, Marquiees of Porset, one of whom became the father of Lady Jane Gray and the Duke of Suffolk. On his and her execution, the manor was forfeited and was granted by Philip and Mary to the Crown, where it is still held.

ENGLISH HARRINGTONS

IN

ANCESTRAL LINE OF

JOHN HARRINGTON OF WIFE, ANN CLINTON, WHO ARRIVED IN BOSTON

HARBOR ABOUT 1630.

The ancient family derived its name from their estates, Haverington, a Lordship in Cumberland, County, England. The first of the name was:

ROBERT de HAVERINGTON, son of Osulphus or Oswolf. He held the manor of Fleming in the time of Richard I. His great-grand-son, during the reign of Edward I, removed to Aldringham, County Lancashire, and married Agnes de Cancefield. This great-grand-son was:
(Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts, by Cutler).

ROBERT HARRINGTON, of Aldringham, Lancashire, England; born before 1260; married Agnes Cancefield, sister and heir of William Cancefield, Lord of Aldringham. Robert's family derived its surname from Haverington, Cumberland County, England. After Robert married Agnes Cancefield, and thereby acquired the manor at Aldringham, during the time of Edward I, this place became the chief seat of the Harrintons The name was shortened from Haverington to Harrington in 1220. Robert and Agnes had a son:

JOHN HARRINGTON, Lord of Aldringham, Lancashire, England; b. about 1281; died July 2, 1347; knighted in the 34th year of King Edward I, with Prince Edward, by bathing and other sacred ceremonies; summoned to parliament as Baron Harrington, Dec. 31, 1324, and served in 1345; married Margaret Burlington, daughter of Sir Richard Burlington. At first Dunstable Trounament, 1308, he was found bearing "sable fretty" argent. (Comp. Guide to Hereldry, by A.C. Fox-Davis). They had an only son:

ROBERT HARRINGTON, who married Elizabeth Moulton, daughter of John de Moulton (Multon) of Egremond. Robert died during the life time of his father and the family honors, titles, and estates descended to his first son, John, who became second Baron Harrington of Aldringham. Robert's third son was Simon, ancestor of the Harringtons of Richton; but Robert's second son, from whom descended the Lords Harrington of Exton, was:

ROBERT HARRINGTON, who married ________, and had a son as follows:

JOHN HARRINGTON, of Aldringham, Lancashire, England; died 1421; married Agnes Flete, daughter of Lawrence Flete, Esq., of Flete, in County of Lincoln. They had a son as follows:

ROBERT HARRINGTON, of Aldringham, England, married Laund, daughter of John de Laund. They had a son as follows:

JOHN HARRINGTON, of Aldringham, Lancashire, England, who through marriage acquired the manor of Exton in Rutlandshire, and fixed his residence there. He married Catherine Colpepper (Culpepper), daughter of Sir Thomas Colpepper. They had a son, as follows:

ROBERT HARRINGTON, of Exton, Rutlandshire, England. He married _____, and they had a son, as follows:

JOHN HARRINGTON, of Exton, Rutlandshire, England, treasurer of the army of King Henry VIII at Boulogne; married Elizabeth Morton, of Peckleton, County Leicester, England. They had a son, as follows:

JOHN HARRINGTON, the Poet, treasurer of the King's camp and buildings; born about 1525, and in about 1550 he resided at Stephney, Middlesex County, a suburb of London; married first, 1546, Etheldreda Dyngley; married second, Isabella Markham. By his second wife, Isabella, he had son as follows:

JOHN HARRINGTON, the Writer, a muse writer and godson of Queen Elizabeth; born 1561, and died 1612; married Mary Rogers, daughter of Sir George Rogers of Cannington of Somerset. (Authority: "Mugae Antiquae"). They had a son as follows:

JOHN HARRINGTON, of Kelston, Bath, England, born after 1584, and died by drowning in Boston Harbor about 1631; married Ann Clinton, daughter of Earl of Lincoln. She was born Newcastle, England, 1596, and died Charleston, Mass., Dec. 25, 1653. (See Vital Rcds of Charleston, Mass.).

JOHN HARRINGTON, with his wife, Ann (Clinton) Harrington, and two young sons, and evidently a daughter, Rebecca, later of husband, John Watson, sailed from England for America, arriving in Boston Harbor about 1630. John, the head of the family, was drowned in Boston Harbor soon after their arrival, and before 1640, the year in which the Massachusetts Colony law was passed requiring registration of vital statistics under penalty of twenty shillings. His death seems not to be of record. The younger son, Abraham, of wife, Rebecca Cutter, and the daughter, Rebecca of husband, John Watson, both settled in Charleston, Mass., where there is record of both marriages and their deaths, together with the death of the mother, and these deaths show the relationship between the mother and the two children. Thedate of the birth of Abraham is indicated in his desposition under date of April 15, 1673. He was ten years old at the time fo the arrival of the family at Boston in 1630 and about 12 years was then the age of his brother, Benjamin, who went into Rhode Island with Roger Williams and was among the first settlers in that Colony. He settled in Providence, R.I., where he took the oath of allegiance on Nov. 19, 1645. He married Elizabeth White, daughter of William and Elizabeth White of Boston. They reared a family of nine children whose names, together with those of both parents, appear on many pages of the public records of Providence.

When John Harrington arrived in Boston Harbor in about 1630, with his wife and two young sons, Abraham, then aged 10 years, and Benjamin, then aged about 12 years, there was another Harrington boy, Robert, still in England, and who came to America some four years later in 1634, on the ship "Elizabeth," when he was 18 years old, probably at the expiration of a contract of apprenticeship. He disembarked at the same harbor in Boston, and settled in Watertown, Mass., a neighboring town to Charleston, and we find his name there on a list of land proprietors as early as 1642, and where, in 1649, he married Susannah George. It is thought that this Robert Harrington, and a brother of Abraham of Charleston, Mass., and Benjamin of Providence, R.I.

(Authorities: "Nugae Antiquae," "Harrington Family in America" by Eugene W. Harrington, F.M. Steele, Los Angeles, Calif., and published vital records for Charleston, Cambridge, and Watertown, Mass., also vital records of Providence, R.I.)

May 20, 1929.

THE FIRST GENERATION

BENJAMIN HARRINGTON, (HERENDEEN), PROVIDENCE, R.I.

By Grant W. Harringotn, Barker Bldg., Kansas City, Kan., May 3, 1928.

The Rhode Island branch of the Harrington and Harrington family tree runs back to Benjamin Herndon, one of the earliest settlers of Rhode Island. Few names in American history have been given such a variety of spelling. For at least two or three generations, all of the family signatures, estant, are made by marks so that the bad spelling cannot be charged up to the family, but rests on the more or less learned clerks who wrote the papers in which the name is used. The early records of the town of Providence, R.I. are printed in 20 volumes. They fairly bristle with the family name. In the five or six hundred times the name appears, it is spelled Arendeen, Hearnden, Hearndon, Hearnton, Hernden, Herenden, Herendeen, Herindin, Herendell, Herinton, Hearndale, Herndon, Hernton, Hernton. Often the name will appear in the same paper spelled in two or more different ways. Book Notes, a paper published at Providence, R.I., once gave seventeen varieties of spelling for the name, and then did not exhaust the subject. Robert Williams, perhaps the best educated of all the early Rhode Islanders, spelled it Hernden. (1), By 1790, when the first government census was taken, Harrington and Herrington were the recognized forms of spelling in the four or five states into which the family had scattered although the Rhode Island census takers still found a few families of Harrendens and Herrendens. (2).

The Hernden home on "House Lot" of 25 acres at Providence was bounded by Hearnden's Lane. Evolution produced Harrington's Lane, then North Street, and later the high sounding title of Rochambear Avenue. (3).

Benjamin Hernden married Elizabeth White, daughter of William and Elizabeth White. The Whites came to Rhode Island from Boston, and later returned to Boston. The Herndens reared a family of three daughters and six sons. The daughters married into the families of Whipple, Brown, and Edmund, and sons all settled in the immediate vicinity of Providence. Nineteen grand-sons bor the family name.

Benjamin Hornden died in 1687. His widow, Elizabeth, was named as Executor and his property inventoried 42 pounds, 7 s., 4 d. The next year the widow married Richard Pray. She died in 1701.

Traditionally Benjamin Herndon was a son of John Harrington, of England, (son of Sir John of Queen Elizabeth's court), a writer and poet and godson of the Queen. Benjamin came to America with his parents about 1630, landing in Charlestown, or Boston Harbor. Soon thereafter the father was drowned, leaving a widow and two young sons. Benjamin, the elder, lived with an uncle. At fifteen he became a refugee to Rhode Island and an adherent of the Baptist faith. (4).

More of less fragmentary records were kept by the Town of Providence, the Colony of Rhode Island, and Providence Plantations in those early days. These have been published and so are available for study and just as the gealogist, from a few fossil bones, is able to reconstruct the pre-historic animal, we are able, from these records, to reconstruct the story of Benjamin Hernden.

In 1636 Roger Williams was banished from Massachusetts and crossing over into what is now Rhode Island he laid the foundation for a new colony. In 1643 he went to England and secured a Charter for this new colony from Charles I. Returning in 1644 with the charter, orderly government commenced. The land was originally bought from the Indians and sold to the settlers in 100 acre tracts. In order to get more inhabitants, in 1643 it was voted to offer some of hte adjacent land in 25 acre tracts, free to those who would come. These quarter shares were assigned by lot and the first drawing was made on Jan. 11, 1646. Twenty-eight allotments were made at this time, and Benjamin Hernden was among those who secured land then. (5).

This is the first authentic date we have in regard to Benjamin Hernden. How long prior to this drawing he became a resident of Providence, is only conjecture. It the traditional story is true that at fifteen he became a refugee to Rhode Island, then his coming must have antedated this at least six years, as an allotment of land would not have been made to a minor. At any rate the fixing of this date enables us to say of him that he was one of the earliest settlers of Rhode Island.

That he was an Englishman goes without saying, for at this time, only 25 years after the landing of the Pilgrims on Plymouth Rock only Englishmen were coming to this part of the world. That he was not an educated man is shown by the fact that he affixed his mark to the document which gave him this first allotment of land and by the further fact that during his more than forty years of residence at Providence, his mark was always affixed to any papers he was required to sign.

The next year after this first drawing of land at Providence, R.I. there was a Benjamin Herndale at Lynn, Mass., whom Holmes interprets as the same man as our forebear, (6). but if so then his stay at Lynn was short, for on Apr. 27, 1651, we find the Town of Providence re-affirming the grant of land to Hernden in language indicating that he was living on that particular tract at that time (7). From 1652 on to the time of his death, more than a third of a century later, no list of Providence tax payers had been preserved that does not contain his name.

In January 1653, we find him petitioning the Town Meeting to run the line betwixt Edward Ingman and the Town, concerning the meadows, that in so doing the Town Common may not be damnified for the want of the running thereof. The signature to this petition is by mark and spelling, is, Binietin Herindin. (9).

No record has been preserved as to when and where Benjamin Hernden and Elizabeth White were married. That their second child, Alice, was born in 1652, we know from the history of her husband, Daniel Brown, (1), so it is probable that the marriage was sometime in the late forties. Doubtless the marriage took place in Boston, as that was the residence of William White, the father of Elizabeth. In 1656 the White family, who are said to have been Quakers, (11), moved to Providence where William White is spoken of as the first brick layer in the colony, (12). In that year the Town of Providence granted him a dewlling lot of, supposedly, 60 acres and this was located next to the lot of Benjamin Hernden. (13).

That the early Rhode Islanders had their family jars in evidence by the fact that on Feb. 17, 1659, Benjamin Hernden was bound over to the State of England in the sum of ten pounds to appear at the next term of court to answer to the breach of peace and fright committed upon the family of William White. White was placed under a similar bond to appear and prosecute. (14). No further mention is found of the case so it is probable that the two families adjusted their troubles before the next term of court. This little incident serves to show taht it was a mistake for in-laws to live too close together in the seventeenth century as well as in the twentieth.

William White, evidently did not find brick making or brick laying profitable at Providence and so moved back to Boston. In October, 1662, William White and wife Elizabeth, sold their lot, of supposedly 60 acres, at Providence, to Benjamin Hernden for twenty pounds, and the money was paid by Hernden's wife, Elizabeth. The deed recites that the Whites were then of Boston. (15). In 1685 this land was measured and found to contain but 30 acres and so an additional 30 acres was laid to Benjamin Hernden 1-1/2 miles to the southward.

On May 18, 1658, Benjamin Hernden was admitted as a Freeman.

In the June following, Benjamin Hernden was chosen for jury service. The court records show that he served as a juror in at least four cases tried at that term, he being described three times as "Benja" and once as "Ben". (18).

That the early Rhode Islanders raised swine and that they were prone to trespass is evidenced by the record that on Aug. 31, 1659, Samuel Bennett appeared as plaintiff against Benjamin Hernden claiming "greatedamage in his corn by ye swind of ye defendant--action for trespass in the sum of five pounds." (19). No record was preserved as to the outcome of the suit so we do not know whether Bennett was able to establish his "greate damage."

On the night of Jan. 4, 1660, John Clawson, one of the 1646 allottees, was set upon by an Indian named Waumanio, and given wounds from which he died. He was a hired servant of Roger Williams who administered upon his estate, selling his land some nine years later to Benjamin Hernden. A letter from Roger Williams has been preserved, which shows that Clawson was attended in his dying hours by the Herndens, he making a dying statement to Elizabeth about the administration of his estate, and of his having been suppported by Benjamin, when he tried to talk to Roger Williams. (20). Waumanio pled guilty to the murder at the next term of court and was sentenced to death. At the same term of court, Benjamin Hernden was tried as an accessory to death. At the same term of court, Benjamin Hernden was tried as an accessory to the murder and was found not guilty. (21) More than a century anda quarter later, a romancer, named Foster, sprung a weird story about the "curse of Clawson" upon his murderers, that they might have split chins and be haunted by barberry bushes. (22).

One of the outstanding features of early Rhode Island history is the perpetual quarrel between Roger Williams and William Harris. That the Herndens were partisans of Williams there can be no doubt. That the families of Herenden and William were on intimate terms is shown by some of the Williams letters extant, and by the intermarriage of the grand children. In May, 1667, William Harris had Benjamin Herenden arrested for assaulting a constable. Herenden pleaded not guilty and stood trial. He was found guilty of a breach of the peace and was fined fifty shillings (23). The fine was not paid and the bond was continued at the October term of court until the next term. (24). At the May, 1669 term the same action was taken. (25). In Oct. 1669 the court delaired his bond forfeited but advised the recorder that if he can procure favor for the General Assembly, "he may have his Liberty soe to doe." (26). Herenden, evidently acted upon this tip for we find that upon Aug. 4, 1670, the General Assembly remitted the fine imposed upon him by the general court of trials. (27).

At the same 1667 term of court at which Herenden was fined, William Harris had Benjamin's wife Elizabeth, her son, Joseph, and her daughter Sarah, indicted for contempt. Just what contempt meant in Rhode Island vernacular of 1667 does not appear, but doubtless Elizabeth and her two minor children had said things to hurt the Harris dignity. A jury was impaneled and the court record then reads:

"The court having waited long adn understanding that the jury are Dissipated and are not agreed upon a verdict, the Court does order that they bring in a verdict to the next court of Tryals."

Nothing further apears of record in regard to the case. Possibly by the next term of court the Harris dignity had recovered from its hurt and so the case was not pushed. (28).

At this same 1667 term of court Benjamin Herenden had William Harris, Thomas Harris, Sr. and Thomas Harris, Jr., before the court charged with entering upon the grounds of Herenden and assaulting him. The matter of passing judgment was referred to the next term of court and no further mention of it appears in the records. (29). William Harris says in his diary that he was acquitted of the charge brought by Herenden but he does not say what disposition was made of the case against the other two Harrises. (30).

In 1675 King Philips War broke out and then utmost energies of the colonies were required to defeat and subdue the hostile Indians. A list is preserved of those settlers "who staid and went not away" to this war. (31). The fact that Benjamin Herenden's name does not appear upon this "Slacker list" is sufficient evidence that he was a soldier and did "his bit" in this war.

Oct. 16, 1678 the court imposed a fine upon Benjamin's wife Elizabeth. (32). What the offence was, the record does not disclose, but on Mar. 16, 1680 that fine was remitted by the General Assembly. (33).

In 1682 we find Benjamin chosen "a Surveior for to order mending of ye highways," and later we again find him selected for jury duty. (34).

As the years went by Benjamin Herenden accumulated considerable land. From the records we find that on Feb. 19, 1665, he drew Lot 86 in a division of lands. (35). On May 26, 1884 he had 60 acres laid out to him, (36) and there are numerous other references to exchanges and relocations of land to him. We have seen where he purchased the White and the Clawson lands. He is sometimes referred to as a land holder and land dealer, but with one possible exception (37), he appears to have been a buyer, and tho have passed his lands to his children.

(Note in transcription: the footnotes 1-37 are not found in the text. cah)

WILLIAM WHITE, FIRST BRICK-LAYER IN PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND

(This is written for "Book Notes" by Dr. F.C. Clark)

Under this caption an article in the issue of May 14, 1898 of "Book Notes" reads as follows:

Early in the year 1656 the Town Meeting of Providence, R.I. made an assignment of land to William White. The Town directed that he, White, be accomodated with a house lot adjoining that of Benjamin Herndell (Harrington) and further according to convenience. In the year following, (1657), White was granted by the Town an enlargement of his holding of land, and still later, in 1658, White was allowed a share of his meadow lying about the head of Mr. Dexter's ground by a little swamp, near by Thomas Walling's. None of these assignments of land by the Town of White were in fee simple, but he was simply given that right which was commonly given by the Town at that time, to use the land but not to convey it. This condition was shown by clause in a deed from White to his son-in-law, Benjamin Harrington, as follows:

"The which same right the said William White was possessed with from aforesaid Town of Providence." This was in 1662. (Early Records, Vol. 1, p. 69) The location of the house lot assigned to William White was then Dexter Lane now called Olney Street.

The Benjamin Harrington house lot was bounded on one side by Harrington Lane, later called North Street, and now called Rochambeau Avenue, in memory of the commander of the War of the Revolution, and which lay in camp upon a hill near by.

The assignment of 25 acres of land to William White made him eligible to become freeman or voter and he was granted this political right.

William White was a freeman in January, 1666 in Providence, R.I., and participated in the drawing by lot for the divisions of land on the east side of the seven mile line, and he drew the 19th choice. (Early Rcds., Vol. III, p. 72) In 1675 he again shared in a lotery division and drew land west of the seven mile line. In 1701 William White's daughter, then Elizabeth Pray, gave a deed to his old home place. It was clear that William White, a brick-layer, was a freeman in Providence, R.I. for not less than 30 years.

From the foregoing record it is evident that Benjamin Herenden was a sturdy pioneer who could not be imposed upon. He was not a quitter as is evidenced by the outcome of his trouble with William Harris. He was a friend and partisan of Roger Williams. For more than forty years he played his part as a citizen of Providence, R.I., reared a family and accumulated property, adn left a record that compares favorably with those of his contemporaries.

SKETCH FROM MANUSCRIPT

HARRINGTON FAMILY IN RHODE ISLAND, by IVA HARRINGTON BAKER

From Collinson's History of Somersetshire, England

Sir John Harrington (1550), lived in Stephney, and filled the post of treasurer to the King's camp and buildings. He was confidential servant to Henry VIII and revived the fortunes of his house by marrying a natural daughter of the King, brought up by John Malts with a natural daughter of his own. Henry VIII granted his daughter the monatic forfeitures of Kelston Bath-Eastern and Katherine in Somerset, and on Sir John Harrington's marriage in 1546 he settled at Kelston near Bath on his wife's estate. She, Etheldreda, died without issue, leaving her lands to her husband, who, showed his gratitude to his benefactor by devoting himself to Princess Elizabeth. He was a cultured man, and poet, who, on his visit to Hatfield, turned his muse to the praises of her six gentle women and singled out from among them, Isabella Markham, daughter of Sir John Markham, for his wife. Sir John Harrington, the writer, was of the union.

In "Nugae Antique" we find that Sir John Harrington, as above, married Isabella Markham early in 1554 and in that year they were imprisoned in the tower with Princess Elizabeth.

Their son, Sir John Harrington, the writer, was born in 1561. He was the Godson of Queen Elizabeth, and in 1584 he married Mary Rogers, daughter of Sir Rogers of Cannington in Somerset. Nine children were born to them, of whom two died in infancy, and the estate remained in the hands of their descendants until 1776. Henry and Edward were descendants. (ONE OF THE YOUNGER SONS WAS JOHN, WHO MARRIED ______ CLINTON, AND THEY, WITH THEIR FAMILY AND OTHER KINSMEN, SAILED IN A PRIVATE VESSEL AND LANDED IN CHARLESTON, MASS., ABOUT 1630, according to a tradition handed down through Capt. Henry Harrington of Providence, R.I., and White Creek, N.Y., as shown below:)

One of the most remarkable circumstances attending the settlement of New England is the countenance given the undertaking by the family of Clinton, Earl of Lincoln. Two daughters, of Thomas, the third Earl, removed themselves to this country, America, as early as 1630. Their uncle, Sir Henry Fines, was a zealous Puritan, as were his descendants, also his near relative, Sir James Harrington, of Ridlington. In the company of eighty persons, who in 1630, sailed for Boston, in the ship "Prosperous," having been embarked by Harrington Fines, son of Sir Henry Fines. They must have Puritan emigrants making their way to New England.

Seventeen ships arrived in 1630 for the increase of population to New England; one was sent out by a private merchant, stated by Gov. Dudley to be the Count of Lincoln.

In July, 1630, several hundred Englishmen, women and children, where trying to live in huts and tents and around the Town hill of Charlestown, Mass., which town was started during the preceeding year, 1629. They had recently escaped discomforts on the sea for privations on the shore. Seven small vessels that had brought these people from their mother land, lay in the river. Plainly the reasons that brought them from home and kindred were strong ande the principles of their belief had a vital power.

An act of the General Court of Massachusetts, dated Mar. 12, 1637, virtually prohibited any of the inhabitants of Providence, R.I., from coming into Massachusetts. This act caused much suffering for the Rhode Island Colonists in as much as they were dependent upon Boston for all supplies from abraod.

"In 1640 a public register was drawn up in Massachusetts for births, deaths and marriages which were regularly inscribed upon under penalty of twenty shillings for omission.

On of the earliest historians of the first settlers of Rhode Island relates that they wasted paper to keep the necessary registers. (Such documents as still exist are written on small pieces of paper as closely scribbled as possible). They could not obtain these luxuries from Boston or Plymouth, from which the rude winter shut them out, and they had only small Indian canoes in which to travel.

RECORDS AND TRADITIONS OF THE FAMILY OF HARRINGTON, HANDED DOWN THROUGH CAPTAIN HENRY HARRINGTON OF PROVIDENCE, R.I., AND LATER OF WHITE CREEK, N.Y., AND WHO MARRIED HIS COUSIN, FREELOVE HARRINGTON.

"John Harrington, (by another called Henry, and by still another called Thomas), a younger son of Sir John Harrington, the Writer, (Godson of Queen Elizabeth), came to America with his wife, ______ Clinton (probably Ann), and two sons, (probably Abraham who was born in 1620, and who married Rebecca Cutter, and Benjamin, who married, Rebecca, who married John Watson). They came in company with other relatives, in a vessel fitted out by a kinsman. The voyage was attended with great hardships and after almost miraculous escapes, it landed in Charlestown, or Boston Harbor about 1630. (Another Harrington who landed in this same harbor, but who settled in the neighboring town of Watertown, Mass., was Robert who married Susannah George. He was about the right age, and was probably a third son of this family. He was fourteen years old at this time, and he seems to have stayed in England for another four years, when he crossed on the ship "Elizabeth." Shortly after their arrival the father, John Harrington, perished at sea and left his widow with her children. (Probably his body was never recovered. We find buried in a lonely grave at Charlestown, Mass., widow, Ann Harrington, probably the earliest born person of the name Harrington to be buried on the American continent, she having been born near Newcastle on Tyne, England, in 1576, and died in Charlestown, Mass., Christmas day, Dec. 25, 1653).

The older of the widow's two sons, Benjamin, went to live with his Uncle. (Probably the uncle was on his mother's side. The name may have been Clinton). When Benjamin was about 15 years of age he embraced the Baptist faith, then under ban in Massachusetts. The uncle remonstrated with him but without effect, and then punished him severely, but the spirited lad was not to be thus conquered and as a final resort hhis uncle tied him to a post and administered a most unmerciful flogging, and then threatened to turn him over to the authorities if he persisted in his heretical opinions.

Soon thereafter, the lad arranged to escape, stealing away from his uncle's house, penniless and alone, and with his Bible, a fishing line, a few articles done up in a handkerchief, and a scant supply of food for a few days, he started for Roger William's settlement in Rhode Island.

When hungry, foot sore and weak from exertion, Benjamin fell in with a family of Quakers traveling toward the same goal. They welcomed him to their midst, gave of their simple fare, and cared for him in his enfeebled condition. In a short time he was strong and vigorous as before and was able to repay his benefactors in labor, caring for the team which was always overburdened and helping to load and unload the wagon, and carrying household chattles over logs, steep banks and other impassible portions of the trail. At times a more pleasing task befell him, that of carrying Elizabeth, the oldest daughter, across streams and bog holes. On account of the excessive load on the wagon, the family was required to travel mostly on foot. The acquaintance thus begun, with Elizabeth White, ripened into love and not long after their arrival in Providence, R.I., in about 1642, she became his wife.

Among the private records of Capt. Henry Harrington, there have been several references to Massachusetts cousins. It is a matter of common knowlege among the descendants of Capt. Henry that his wife, Freelove Harrington, was his cousin. It is said that Capt. Henry, himself a Revolutionary soldier, always claimed that the Jonathan Harrington who was killed at the Battle of Lexington, was his cousin. This Jonathan was clearly a descendant of Robert Harrington of Watertown, Mass., while Capt. Henry himself was descended from Benjamin Harrington of Providence, R.I., who married Elizabeth White. There was certainly a close relationship between Robert of Watertown and Benjamin of Providence, R.I.

About the year 1630 three Harrington boys landed in New England from England. There were Robert, born in 1616 and who settled in Watertown, Mass., Benjamin, born probably about 1618 and who settled in Providence, R.I., and Abraham, born in 1620, and Rebecca, a younger sister of Abraham. Of these Abraham, and his sister, Rebecca married and settled in Charlestown, Mass., as indicated in the marriage records of that town and in which records they are referred to as the children of widow Ann Harrington whose death occured there Dec. 11, 1653. (Pope, in his Pioneers of Mass., says Dec. 25.) She was born near Newcastle on Tyne, England, in 1576 and is probably the earliest born person of the name Harrington to be buried on the American continent. There seems to be no vital record in New England showing a Harrington man who was old enough at that time to have been her husband. If widow Ann came to America with her husband, he must have been deceased for some years before their son, Abraham, married, otherwise his, Abraham's marriage record would have the name of his father as well as that of his mother.

The private record mentioned above as handed down from Capt. Henry Harrington would seem to be confirmed in its essential features by the vital statistics of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. We believe that widow Ann was none other than Ann (Clinton) Harrington who arrived in Boston Harbor in 1630 with two sons and possibly a daughter, Rebecca, and with her husband, John Harrington, who perished at sea soon after their arrival. This was some years before the passing of the Massachusetts law requiring the registration of statistics. The sons were Abraham, who stayed with his widowed motheri n Charlestown, Mass., and Benjamin who became a religious refugee in Providence, R.I. We believe that a third son, Robert, then only fourteen years of age, stayed in England, possibly under contract of apprenticeship, until, when he was eighteen years of age, in 1634, he came over in the ship Elizabeth, to the same harbor at Boston, and settled in Watertown, Mass. That Robert belonged in this family and was a brother of Benjamin, of Providence, R.I., is indicated in the fact that when their children in the fourth generation intermarried, they were acknowledged, as cousins.

LIST OF HARRINGTON FREEMEN

N. B. Foster was taken from Scituate, Aug. 24, 1781.

Authority: Grant W. Harrington

Reports on enlistments and service in Rev. War seldom ever show names of wives, except when she outlives her husband and draws pension. Those shown have been inserted from other records, and some may be in error.

REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS OF CONNECTICUT

CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS

HARTFORD REVOLUTIONARY ROLLS

HARRINGTONS:

ANDREW, son of David and M. Willard, from Norwick, Conn.

BENJAMIN, (of wife p. Ruth Inman), from Enfield, Conn.

CLARK, from Canterbury, Conn.

DANIEL, from Plainfield, Conn.

ELISHA, from Simmsbury, Conn. (Enlisted for 3 years.)

EZEKIEL, from Canterbury, Conn.

ISAAC, from Groton, Conn. (Married)

JOHN, p. son of Jonathan and Zernia, served in Rev. War from Conn.

REUBEN, from Stafford, Conn.

SAMUEL, of wife, Persis Russell, from Mansfield, Conn.

STEPHEN, of wife, Sebra Buck, from Simmsbury, Conn.

TIMOTHY, son of Timothy and Greer, from Stafford, Conn.

WILLIAM, from Mansfield, Conn.

REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS OF CONNECTICUT

ONE VOLUME, IN WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL LIBRARY, CLEVELAND, O.

JUNE, 1926

HARRINGTONS:

EBENEZER, served in Rev. War from Conn.

DAVID, served in Rev. War from Conn. (p. son of Jonathan and Zernia

PARLEY, served in Rev. War from Conn. (p. son of Jonathan and Zernia

MASSACHUSETTS HARRINGTONS

SOLDIERS AND SAILORS OF REVOLUTIONARY WAR

NEW YORK STATE

in

REVOLUTIONARY WAR

HARRINGTONS

First Edition Revolutionary War Foster, Cong. Library, Washington, D.C.

HERRINGTONS

NEW YORK LINE:

HARRINGTONS AS SHOWN IN RECORDS OF LEVIES:

PENNSYLVANIA

IN

REVOLUTIONARY WAR, 5th SERIES

HARRINGTONS:

Congressional Library

Washington, D.C.

ISAAC

Vol. III, p. 654, 753, 999
Vol. IV, p. 127

JACOB

Vol. II, p. 721
Vol. III, p. 625, 860, 273, 881
Vol. IV, p. 125, 178

JAMES

Vol. IV, p. 469

JOHN

Vol. II, P. 144, 874
Vol. III, p. 656
Vol. IV, p. 117

RICHARD

Vol. V, p. 459, 553, 790

RUFUS

Vol. IV, p. 91

THOMAS

Vol. II, p. 495, 497, 874
Vol. III, p. 78, 178, 660
Vol. IV, p. 178

HERENDEENS.

AMNEAS

Vol. VIII, p. 420

ANNENIAS

Vol. VIII, p. 379

JESSE

Vol. VIII, P. 386, 421, 418

ANNEAS

Vol. VIII, p. 435

RHODE ISLAND CIVIL AND MILITARY LISTS.

Grant W. Harrington

PROVIDENCE, R. I. MILITIAMEN:.

Apr. 15, 1687

Rhode Island Hist. Soc. Pub.
Vol. VIII, p. 232, 1899

BENJAMIN HERINDEN, Jr. Son of Benja. & Hannah Clarke

WILLIAM HARINDEN, son of Rufus and E. Aylesworth

JOSEPH HARINDEN, son of Ebenezer and Martha

JOHN HARINDEN, son of John and M. Jenks

ISAAC (IZACK) HARINDEN, son of William and Bethia Peters

Note: Scituate was taken from Providence Feb. 20, 1730-1732.

VERMONT

IN

REVOLUTIONARY WAR -- ROLLS

Congressional Lib.

Washington, D.C.

HARRINGTONS:

VIRGINIA

IN

REVOLUTIONARY WAR

Congressional Library
Virginia State Library

By M. J. Eckenrode
Washington, D.C.
Dept. of Archives

HARRINGTONS:

OWEN (HARRINGTON)

CHARLES

JOHN

THOMAS

REVOLUTIONARY PENSIONEERS, ALL STATES 1818

DOCUMENT NO. 4, U. S. CONGRESS, SESSION 1819-1820, ACT OF MAR. 18, 1818

HARRINGTONS:

NEW HAMPSHIRE:
ASA, Private from Massachusetts, married ASENATH BROWN

MAINE:
JOSEPH, Private from R.I., resided Pawnalborough, Me., 1790
ABEL, Private from Mass., married LYDIA GAGE.

VERMONT:
NATHAN, Private suspended for evidence of indigence; m. ELIZ. DAVIS
SAMUEL, Private from Mansfield, Conn., and Hartford, Conn.
SIMEON, Private from Mass., married HANNAH HOLDEN.

MASSACHUSETTS:
LEMUEL, Sergeant from Mass., son of Nathan and Eliz. Flagg.
BENJAMIN, Private from Enfield, Conn.
NOAH, Private from Mass., married ABIGAIL HART.
SAMUEL, Private from Mass., married LUCY COOLEDGE.
LOAMMIE, Private from Shirley, Mass., married SARAH NUTTING.
JAMES, Private from Mass., prob. from Adamstown.

RHODE ISLAND:
None

CONNECTICUT:
ANDREW, Private from Norwick, Conn.

NEW YORK:
BEZELIAH, Private from Rhode Island
EBENEZER, Private from Mass., married MARTHA WILT.
WILLIAM, Private from Mass., married COMFORT COMBS.
JOHN, Private from Mass., married BETSY COOGSDELL.

NORTH CAROLINA:
ISAAC, Private from North Carolina

Note: The Rolls on no other states showed Harringtons.

REVOLUTIONARY PENSIONEERS, June 1, 1840

HARRINGTONS:

MAINE:
None

NEW HAMPSHIRE
None

VERMONT:
ELIZABETH DAVIS, widow of Nathan, of Barre, age 74, resides with Joseph D. Harrington.
JONAS, of Edens, Vt., age 54, son Ephraim and Abigail Hunt. (Age shows birth later than Rev. War. Probably was in War of 1812).
SAMUEL, of Hartford, Vt., age 79, from Mansfield, Conn.

MASSACHUSETTS:
ELEANOR McCLANATHAN, wife of Lemuel, of Hardwick, Mass., age 83; head of family.
RELIEF SMITH, widow of Daniel of Shrewsbury, age 73, resides with Holloway Harrington.
MICHAH, of Paxton, Mass., age 81, son of Thomas and Lucy Perry.
NOAH, of Barre, Mass., age 76; married ABIGAIL HART, resides with Timothy Adams, his son-in-law.

RHODE ISLAND:
PENELOPE SLOCUM, widow of John of Foster, R.I., age 85; resides with son, Peleg Harrington.
JOSIAH, of Foster, R.I., age 80, married SUSANNAH WARNER.
FREELOVE HARRINGTON, age 72.
JOB W., of Greenwich, R.I., age 80; married MERIBAH WHITFORD.

CONNECTICUT:
None

NEW YORK: Northern District
COMFORT COMBS, widow of William of Hanover, N.Y., age 86, resides with Andrew Irish.
JAMES, OF Onondago Co., N.Y., age 70; resides with Henry B. Harrington.
SUSANNA (GARDNER) of Burlington, N.Y., age 73, widow of Eber (or Ebenezer) b. 1767.

HARRINGTONS WHOSE SERVICE IN REVOLUTIONARY WAR WAS BASIS FOR PENSIONS

Copied by Mrs. W. L. Hagen

Early Federal Census Reports do not show wife's names. These have been inserted from other sources and some may be in error.

FEDERAL CENSUS OF 1774

LIST BY MRS. W. L. Hagen

HARRINGTONS IN RHODE ISLAND

Note: Names from Gloucester are on the authority of Rhode Island Census by Bartlett

EARLY MARRIAGES IN GLOUCESTER, R.I.

WILLIAM, married ANNER HARNON (ANNE HAMMON) Apr. 1744

JOHN, married SARAH GARDNER, 1755

BENJAMIN, of Elder Benjamin, married MARY BROWN, 1758

STEPHEN, married, ANN BROWN, 1760.

ISAIAH, married ANNE MITCHELL, 1762. He p. went to Clarksburg, Mass.

PRESERVED, married NAOMI HARRINGTON, 1764. He p. went to Easton, N.Y., 1800.

ANDREW, son of David, married ISABEL BALLOU, 1768.

THOMAS, son of Thomas, married SUSANNAH RAYMOND, 1771.

BENJAMIN, son of Benjamin, married ALICE BROWN, 1771. Prob. son of Benjamin and Hannah.

ISRAEL, of Gloucester, son of William, married RHODA MANN, 1772.

ELIAH, of Solomon, married ELEANOR KIMBALL.

BEZALEEL, married MARY BISHOP, 1782. Prob. son of Jabez and Martha

ELISHA, aged 83, married in Gloucester, Mrs. ELEANOR LUSHURE, aged 80, Nov. 18, 1777. She was his fifth wife.

Taken from Federal Census of 1774, List copied by Mrs. W. L. Hagen.

FIRST FEDERAL CENSUS, 1790

HARRINGTONS IN CONNECTICUT

HARRINGTONS IN VERMONT

VIRGINIA CENSUS OF 1790

FIRST CENSUS OF 1790

FIRST FEDERAL CENSUS 1790

HARRINGTONS IN MAINE

HARRINGTONS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

HARRINGTONS IN NEW YORK

HARRINGTONS IN MASSACHUSETTS

FIRST FEDERAL CENSUS 1790

HARRINGTONS IN NORTH CAROLINA

HARRINGTONS IN SOUTH CAROLINA

HARRINGTONS IN MARYLAND

HARRINGTONS IN PENNSYLVANIA

HARRINGTONS IN RHODE ISLAND

FEDERAL CENSUS 1800

MASSACHUSETTS HARRINGTONS (INCOMPLETE LIST)

VERMONT HARRINGTONS (INCOMPLETE LIST)

FEDERAL CENSUS 1800

NEW YORK HARRINGTONS (INCOMPLETE LIST)

CONNECTICUT

PARTIAL LIST OF AUTHORITIES AND PUBLICATIONS

SEARCHED FOR HARRINGTONS

MASSACHUSETTS

PARTIAL LIST OF RECORDS SEARCHED

FOR HARRINGTONS

NEW YORK STATE

PARTIAL LIST OF RECORDS SEARCHED FOR HARRINGTONS,

AND OTHER AUTHORITIES

NEW HAMPSHIRE

PARTIAL LIST OF RECORDS SEARCHED FOR HARRINGTONS,

AND OTHER AUTHORITIES

RHODE ISLAND

AUTHORITIES AND PUBLICATIONS SEARCHED FOR

HARRINGTONS

PARTIAL LISTS

VERMONT

PARTIAL LIST OF AUTHORITIES AND PUBLICATIONS

SEARCHED FOR HARRINGTONS

MISCELLANEOUS AUTHORITIES

AND PUBLICATIONS SEARCHED FOR HARRINGTONS - PARTIAL LISTS