William Gifford of Sandwich, MA

December 7, 2013

My 9th great-grandfather was one of the Quakers of Sandwich plantation who were heavily persecuted by the Pilgrims of Plymouth.  He owned property when he died in New Jersey, which was controlled by the Dutch.

William Gifford arrived in New England after 1643, as he does not appear among those able to bear arms in that year. The first record of him is in the list of debts due on the inventory of Joseph Holiway of Sandwich dated 4 December 1647: “dew from Willi Gifford” 3s. 4d. On 4 June 1650 he served on the Grand Enquest. The original deed for the Sandwich plantation was executed by Governor William Bradford 22 May 1651. It ordered that Goodman (Thomas) Tupper, Goodman (Thomas) Burges, Sr., Nathaniel Willis, and William Gifford have the power to call a town meeting.Both Brown, and Daniels & McLean say that by 1651 he was married and had a family; that he probably married in England, and children John, Patience and Hannaniah were probably born in England. Birth records are available for only the last four of his nine children; the birth dates of the older children are estimated based upon the birth dates of their first children. There is a sizeable gap in these estimated dates between Hannaniah and William, suggesting William, Robert, Christopher and Mary may have been by a second wife. Only the last wife, Mary Mills, is of record; she is the mother of the last two children, Jonathan and James.
There is a record in England of a “Guilielm Gifford” (i.e., William Gifford) who married Elizabeth Grant on 11 February 1635 in St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London. Also, the London Merchant Taylors’ Guild shows a record: “William Gifford, son of Anthi (sic) Gifford of Dublin in the kingdom of Ireland, gentleman, apprenticed to Thomas Southerne of New Exchange, London, for a period of seven years from 7 December 1628.” Apprentices were forbidden to marry, so this would mean the apprenticed William Gifford would have been given his freedom 7 December 1635, in perfect time to be the one who married 11 February 1635/1636. Also, the records of St. Martin-in-the-Fields show that an Ananias Gifford married Maria Read on 18 November 1621. Ananias (also spelled Hananias, Hannaniah and Annaniah) is a relatively rare name. William named one of his sons Hannaniah, and the name has been carried down in the family. Also, the name occurs in the Giffords of Dry Drayton, county Cambridge, England. But it cannot be proven that these English records apply to the family of William Gifford of Sandwich.
Nor can the English ancestry of William Gifford of Sandwich be proven, according to Daniels & McLean. “English Giffords can be traced back to Normandy at the time of William the Conqueror when most branches usually spelled the name Giffard. Inevitably the temptation to connect the Sandwich Giffords with these celebrated families has produced a rash of printed accounts in which the connection is stated as fact but without solid references. (Cutter’s “Genealogical History of Western New York,” 2:901; “History of Bristol County, Mass.;” “Vineland (N.J.) Historical Magazine,” 3:32; “Seabury-Gifford Families,” Hartford (Conn.) 1941) In view of the fact that highly skilled professional genealogists have found no proof as yet of such connections, it can only be said that evidence has yet to be found to confirm these wishful thoughts.”
William Gifford of Sandwich was a Quaker, and as such, suffered persecution for his faith. “Little Compton Families” says “It is supposed that he was the William Gifford who in 1647 or earlier was ordered by the court at Stanford to be whipped and banished.” On 1 June 1658, he was one of a dozen men who “all of Sandwich were summoned, appeared to give a reason for theire refusing to take the Oath of Fidelitie to this government and unto the State of England, which again being tendered them in open court, they refused, saying they held it unlawful to take any oath att all.” At the court held 2 October 1658, they were fined L5 each. At the court held 1 March 1658/1659 George Barlow, Marshall for Sandwich, Barnstable and Yarmouth, complained against William Gifford and Edward Perry in an action of defamation, asking damages of L100, in saying he took a false oath. The defendants were ordered to pay 50s and make their acknowledgement publically, or else be fined L5 plus costs. As Quakers, they could not accept the verdict, and at the 2 October court William Gifford and 11 other Friends were fined L5 for refusing to take the Oath of Fidelitie. At the June 1660 court Gifford was again summoned to take the oath, again refused, and was again fined L5. In October 1660, for persisting in his refusal and for attending Quaker meeting, he was fined L57 — an enormous sum for those times. At this point he disappears from the records, and may have left Plymouth colony, but where he went is unknown. It has been suggested that he went to New Jersey which, like New Amsterdam, was then under the control of the Dutch. On 8 April 1665 William Gifford was one of the signers of the Monmouth (NJ) Patent, but there is no evidence he actually settled there; his sons Christopher and Hannaniah did, however. In a deed by his son Christopher William was described as a tailor.
On 10 November 1670 Mr. Gifford bought from mistress Sarah Warren of Plymouth, widow of Richard Warren, one half her share in the land at Dartmouth, which he gave equally to his sons Christopher and Robert by deed dated 6 May 1683. In 1673 William Gifford purchased land in Suckanesset (Falmouth) from the Indian Sachem, Job Noantico. Gifford continued to appear in Sandwich town records and in records of the Sandwich Friends meeting, and he married Mary Mills, also of Sandwich, at the Friends Meeting of 16 day 5 mo: 1683. Thirty witnesses signed the certificate, but none of William Gifford’s children signed the document, nor did James Mills, Mary’s brother.

William Gifford (1615 – 1687)
is your 9th great grandfather
John Gifford (1640 – 1708)
son of William Gifford
Yelverton Gifford (1676 – 1772)
son of John Gifford
Ann Gifford (1715 – 1795)
daughter of Yelverton Gifford
Frances Congdon (1738 – 1755)
daughter of Ann Gifford
Thomas Sweet (1759 – 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
I am the daughter of Richard Arden Morse