Samuel Wilbore, Pioneer Wheeler Dealer

May 30, 2016 — 13 Comments

Central Burial Grounds Boston

My 10th great-grandfather was banished from the colony of Massachusetts, and signed the Portsmouth Compact.  He did not stay in Rhode Island for very long, but returned to live in Boston, where he was one of the citizens who purchased the Boston Common and donated it to the town.  I am not sure how he became un-banished, but his case is not the only un-banishment in our family.  He kept his property in Rhode Island and had extensive holdings in Boston as well.  He was in the wool business.

Portsmith Compact

Samuel Wilbore and wife Ann, came to America before 1 December, 1633 and lived in Boston. May have come 4 September, 1633 on ship “Griffin” He was a merchant, had a ship, probably sold cloth and lumber and was in the wool business.
He and 6 men under him guarded the gate at Roxbury. He sold his home on what is now Washington St. to Samuel Sherman. In 1634, he and William Blackstene bought “Boston Commons” and gave it to the town. Made “Freeman” 4 March 1633/4 and with John Porter and Philly Sherman bought Aquidneck Island, (Rhode Island). He was banished from Boston 30 August 1637, and disarmed 20 November 1637 and went to Portsmouth, R.I. because of his association with a religious group lead by Anne Hutchinson, Mr. Wheelwright and possibly Roger Williams. Anne Hutchinson was the unauthorized Puritan preacher of a dissident church discussion group.
Rhode Island had become a haven for persecuted religious sects. These people, called Antinomians, believed that the moral laws as taught by the Church of England were of no value and that the only law that should be followed was that of the Gospel. Quakers, who eventually merged with the Antinomians, established a meeting house on Aquidneck in 1657.
11 January 1638/9 he was constable at Portsmouth. He owned land at Nt. Wolliston (now Quincy). With Ralph Earle he built a planing mill at Portsmouth,1640. By 1645 was back in Boston, though he kept his Portsmouth and Taunton land, and lived on Mill Street. He was wealthy and gave to the 1st free school in America. The early spelling was “Welleboro”, a Norman name. In 1626 he was a “juror” in Sible Hedington, Essex, England.

Samuel Wilbore (1595 – 1656)
10th great-grandfather
Dorothy Wilbore (1617 – 1696)
daughter of Samuel Wilbore
Elizabeth Albro (1646 – 1720)
daughter of Dorothy Wilbore
Benjamin Congdon (1676 – 1756)
son of Elizabeth Albro
William Congdon (1711 – 1755)
son of Benjamin Congdon
Frances Congdon (1738 – 1755)
daughter of William Congdon
Thomas Sweet (1765 – 1844)
son of Frances Congdon
Valentine Sweet (1791 – 1858)
son of Thomas Sweet
Sarah LaVina Sweet (1840 – 1923)
daughter of Valentine Sweet
Jason A Morse (1862 – 1932)
son of Sarah LaVina Sweet
Ernest Abner Morse (1890 – 1965)
son of Jason A Morse
Richard Arden Morse (1920 – 2004)
son of Ernest Abner Morse
Pamela Morse

Samuel Wilbore was born in Jan 1595 in Sible Hedingham, Essex, England. He died on 29 Sep 1656 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts. Samuel married Ann Smith on 13 Jan 1619/1620 in Sible, Hedingham, Essex, England.

Samuel Wildbore, said to have been born in 1585, came to Boston not later than 1633, and was admitted to the First Church of Boston on December 1/1633. His house was on the neck of land between the island and the mainland, now called Washington St. and later Milk Street. In 1634 Samuel and others bought the Boston Common for the town, from William Blackstone whose ownership was acknowledged by an entry in the Town Records as early as 1633 by which it was agreed that William Blackstone shall have 50 acres set off to him near his house in Boston. The Town Records have the following statement in reference to Samuel Wildbore’s share in the purchase of the Common. “The 10th day of the 9th month 1654: Item, Edmund Quinsey, Samuel Wildbore, William Baulston, Edward Hutchinson the elder, and William heesborough, constable, shall make and assess all the rates, viz, a rate of œ30 to William Blackstone”. Blackstone sold the whole parcel of land except 6 acres immediately adjoining his house. On August 6/1635, Samuel gave œ10 towards a free school, the first in America. Governor Winthrop gave a like amount, and none other gifts exceeded this amount. Samuel also had a piece of land on Essex St., near where the Touraine Hotel now stands. Samuel married in 1620, at Sibley Hedringham, England, Ann Smith. Most genealogies wrongly give her name as Ann Bradford. Samuel was made freeman on March 4/1634. He bought much property in Taunton and likewise possessed considerable holdings in Boston, evidently dividing his place of residence between the two places. While in Taunton, he with others, embraced the “dangerous doctrines” as they were then called, of Cotton and Wheelwright, for which in 1637 he was banished from the Massachusetts Colony. Acting upon the advice of Roger Williams, he and seventeen others fled to Providence, R.I., where they purchased the island of Aquidnec, (now Rhode Island) from the Naragansett Indians, and early in 1638 moved his family there and formed a colony on March 7/1638. Full details of the purchase and history of this action is contained in the Genealogies quoted, but too long to insert here. He did not remain in Rhode Island for long, and returned to Boston in 1645 and built the first iron furnace in New England at Taunton, now Raynham, on the main road from Tilicut to Taunton. He was clerk of the town board in 1638, Constable in 1639, Sergeant in 1644. He married, 2nd, before November 29/1645, Elizabeth Lechford, widow of Thomas Lechford. Date of his second marriage and date of death of his first wife Ann are not known. Samuel died July 24/1656. After his death Elizabeth married, 2nd, on December 20/1656, Henry Bishop who died in 1664: Elizabeth died in 1665. Samuel was a man of wealth and he was of very respectable standing in society, exerting a wide influence in each of the places he dwelt. His will was dated April 30/1656.

Ann SMITH-8832 was born on 13 Jan 1598 in Sible, Hedingham, Essex, England. She died on 24 Sep 1636 in Taunton, Bristol, Massachusetts. Ann married Samuel WILDBORE-8833 on 13 Jan 1619/1620 in Sible, Hedingham, Essex, England.
They had the following children.
MiSamuel WILBORE-8830 was born on 10 Apr 1622. He died in 1697. MiiWilliam WILBORE-8838 was born on 21 May 1630. He died on 15 Apr 1710.