Jeffrey Ferris, of Greenwich - The Ancestors and Origins of Jeffrey Ferris (c.1610-1666)

Another coincidence: The name of Rev. Thomas Baylie's patron at Manningford Bruce was Oliver Nicholas, armiger. CCEd Record ID: 230750: http://db.theclergydatabase.org.uk/jsp/persons/CreatePersonFrames.j...

http://www.hollingsworthassociates.com/Protected_Files/THE_NAME_AND...

In the early sixteenth century Thomas Bayley, a native of Trowbridge, in Wiltshire, married Agnes Cleaveland and was the father by her of a son named
􏰀 William, who left two sons,
o William, the eldest of these brothers, died without issue,
o and Christopher Bayl (e)y. while Christopher married a Miss Filioll and was the
father by her of
􏰁 William,
􏰁 John,
􏰁 Christopher,
􏰁 and Robert. Only one of these, Robert Bayley, of Wingfield, Wiltshire,
left issue. He married Christian, daughter of Richard Arnold, of Hertfordshire, and was the father in the early seventeenth century of a son and heir,
􏰀 Christopher Bayley or Baylie, whose descendants are numerous.
John Bayley, of Echelhampton, in Wiltshire, in the early sixteenth century, may have been closely connected with the last-mentioned line, but the relationship is not in evidence. He had a son named
􏰀 Robert, who had a son of the same name,
o Robert, who married Jane, daughter of Ambrose Dauntesey, and was the father by
her of two children,
􏰁 Richard who was married before 1617 to Honor, daughter of Edward
Nicholas, and had issue by her of at least two children, • Robert
• and Jane Baylie or Bayley. 􏰁 and Melicent.
Another English line was that of William Bayly, whose son
􏰀 Thomas was born in 1567 in the parish of Bromham, Wiltshire. By his first wife, Anne,
Thomas was the father of
o Daniel, Daniel, eldest son of Thomas, removed to Westbrook, parish of
Bromham, and was the progenitor of one of the New England lined of the family. He was the father by his wife Mary of
􏰁 Thomas, 􏰁 Daniel, 􏰁 Mary,
4
􏰁 Dorothy,
􏰁 Ann,
􏰁 Josias,
􏰁 Joel, (Joel made his home in Pennsylvania sometime before the year 1684
and will be mentioned again later.)
􏰁 and Isaac Bayly.
o Joel,
o Thomas,
o and Rebecca;
and by his second wife, Jane, he had further issue of two children, o of whom the former died young
o and the second was named John.

Honor Bayley

I will look in Visitations for more on the Nicholas family.

Among the earliest settlers in the South were
􏰂 William Bayley, gentleman, who came to Virginia with the ill-fated colonists of 1607;
􏰂 William Bayly, who came to Virginia in 1617 and was living in 1624 in West Shirley
Hundred, where he left issue by his wife Mary of a son name Thomas, who made his
home in Prince George County;
􏰂 William Bailey, who came to Virginia in 1620 and was followed soon afterward by his
wife Mary and son Thomas (possibly the same as the preceding family);
􏰂 Nicholas Bailey, a brother of the immigrant William of 1620, who came to Virginia and
in the same year and was followed in 1621 by his wife Amy;

This is promising with the Noyes crew:

One of the first of the name to come to New England was John Bayley or Bailey, who settled at Newbury, Massachusetts, in 1635 and later made his home at Salisbury, in the same colony. He was a weaver from Chippenham, in Wiltshire, England. He left issue by his wife (possibly Elizabeth Knight) of Robert, John, Johanna, and two other daughters, but only John and Johanna accompanied him to this country.

Yes. I am glad you found that Bailey family history. I was just reviewing it and was about to note that Newbury clan for you. The only Nicholas Bailey recited appears to be the "brother of the immigrant William of 1620, who came to Virginia and in the same year and was followed in 1621 by his wife Amy" (page 7). Given a seeminglu exhaustive catalog of Baileys, I am a bit surprised that the Nicholas Bayly in East Town/Westchester did not get a separate mention in the list on page 7, or at least a note that Virginia Nicholas and East Town/Westchester Nicholas were the same person.

I have a hurdle thinking that the 1620 Virginia Nicholas Bailey is the same Nicholas founding East Town/Westchester in 1654. If he was say 20 to 24 in 1620, then he would have been 54 to 58 in 1654. That seems rather late to be moving to a new frontier settlement in land disputed by the indians, Dutch and English. Perhaps Virginia Nicholas had moved to New England earlier, but I cannot see such a move before at least Watertown in 1630. And, coming from Virginia wouldn't he have been more likely to still have been Anglican? And, wouldn't he then appear in Watertown or other records?

The OPC for Bishops Cannings shows the baptism of "Nicholas Baylie" to Thomas Baylie as having been on 12 Feb 1631.

The OPC Bishops Cannings list also shows a William Baylie baptised on 21 Feb 1629 to a Thomas Baylie.

I would assume those are the original Julian calendar dates, so those baptisms would likely have been in 1630 and 1632 under the Gregorian calendar. The 1632 date for Nicholas Baylie would then match with the FamilySearch date.

I would think the Eastchester Nicholas was entirely different from William & Nicholas Bailey of Jamestown.

Jamestown drew from different classes & origin areas than New England. Puritans were not welcome as we know from Rev Denton. There’s a famous attempt by New England puritan missionaries to proselytize in Virginia - they lasted less than a year.

Also, they died a lot, so no descent line, probably?

Do we have a Geni profile for Eastchester Nicholas Bayley?

I haven't seen one.

Thomas Bayley, of Trowbridge, Esq. Added to Wiltshire project.

If you can find a decent online tree to use as a guide I’ll try to port it over to Geni.

Is the John Ferris mentioned here from Jeffrey?

https://books.google.com/books?id=tQRIAQAAMAAJ&lpg=PA289&ot...

The History of the Several Towns, Manors, and Patents of the County of Westchester: From Its First Settlement to the Present Time, Volume 2 Robert Bolton C. F. Roper, 1881 - Botany. Page 289

Yes, I am 99.9% certain that is Jeffrey's son John Ferris (1640-1714). I have a note that "In 1665, John Ferris (1640-1714) moved to Throggs Neck Westchester, New York. Throggs neck was named for John Throckmorton (1601-1684)."

Good find. The 1686 timing of that patent letter naming both John Ferris and Nicholas Bailey suggests Nicholas may have been more of a contemporary to John than to Jeffrey Ferris.

There’s a lot of Bayley / Baileys in the book. We should be able to hook in.

At the end of the 1686 "Second Patent of Westchester," the Governor, Thomas Dongan, lists the names of Westchester freeholders. The names that jump out immediately, besides John Ferris, are John Bailey (presumably the son of Nicholas), Joseph Palmer (perhaps the son of William Palmer and Judith Feake), Robert Huestis (perhaps the son of Angell or Robert Heusted, both witnesses to the 1640 deed for Greenwich to Robert Feake, Daniel Patrick and Jeffrey Ferris).

All of the names listed as freeholders are: "William Richardson, John Hunt, Edward Waters, Robert Huestis, Richard Ponton, William Barnes, John Bugbie, John Bailey, John Tudor, John Ferris, Joseph Palmer, Thomas Baxter, freeholders of the commonality of the town of Westchester."

"A History of the Town of Greenwich," Daniel Mead (1857), p. 21 et seq.
https://archive.org/details/historyoftownofg00mea/page/n8

The History of the Several Towns, Manors, and Patents of the County of Westchester: From Its First Settlement to the Present Time, Volume 2 Robert Bolton C. F. Roper, 1881 - Botany. Page 289
https://books.google.com/books?id=tQRIAQAAMAAJ&lpg=PA289&ot...

Maybe a little project.

Robert Huestis

https://www.geni.com/projects/Freeholders-of-Westchester-Eastcheste...

A small piece of the Nicholas Bayly puzzle.

Nathan Bayley of Westchester in 1691 was the son of Nicholas Bayley (presumably the original East Town Nicholas) as evidenced by the following 1691 deed:

"To Thomas Baxter, one home lot in the town of Westchester, being two and one-half acres, more or less. As also nine acres of land, lying in the planting ground on Frogg's Neck. As also nine acres of land lying on Frogg's neck, in the planting field. As also three acres of land in the planting field. As also twenty acres of land, be it more or less, lying on the East side of the Bronx River, in the "range of Lotts commonly called the Long Reach," and is a division of land given me by my father, Nicholas Bayley, and is the seventeenth lot in number.

Signed by Nathan Bayley, Dec. 7, 1691."

"The Baxter family, descendants of George and Thomas Baxter, of Westchester County...," Francis Baxter (1913), p. 31
https://archive.org/stream/baxterfamilydesc00baxt/baxterfamilydesc0...

This Nathan Bailey, I appears to be the Westchester Nathan described above. But it is difficult to determine the authenticity of dates and ancestry without sourcing.

Explanatory Narrative for Revised Timeline

I have been trying to create a better picture of where Jeffrey Ferris was at various times after Watertown. Some of the commentaries conflict making it difficult to be certain where he was and when. But there are some dates and places that are known. A revised timeline including footnoted sources appears below, but first the narrative.

Everyone appears to agree that Jeffrey was in Wethersfield soon after being made a freeman in Watertown on 6 May 1635. Jeffrey then appears as a party to the original purchase of Greenwich in July 1640 along with Daniel Patrick and Robert Feake. This purchase happened in the midst of the religious dispute in Wethersfield which led John Davenport to purchase Stamford (Rippowam) in November of 1640. (By the spring of 1641, 29 Wethersfield families had moved to Stamford.) It seems likely that Jeffrey moved first to Greenwich sometime after his July 1640 purchase, unless he was flipping houses.

1635 May 6 - in Watertown
1635 - moves to Wethersfield
1640 after July - moves to Greenwich

But then sometime in 1641, Jeffrey is shown on a list of landowners with 10 acres in Stamford (Rippowam). Daniel Patrick and Elizabeth Feake (and Jeffrey) had been under pressure to acknowledge the Dutch claim to Greenwich which Daniel and Elizabeth finally acknowledged in April, 1642. Jeffrey apparently did not want to live under Dutch authority and may well have seen the writing on the wall and decided he could not stay in Greenwich, leading him to follow the other Wethersfield settlers to Stamford.

1641, spring or summer - moves to Stamford

I have found no evidence that Jeffrey moved from Stamford until 25 Nov 1650 when he bought William Hallet's house and land on Elizabeth Neck in Greenwich. Again, unless he was flipping houses, he likely moved to Greenwich by early 1651 (moving in December, 1650 would have been no fun).

1651, early in year - moves to Elizabeth Neck, Greenwich

We then know that Jeffrey was in Westchester/East Town in December 1656 and January 1657. We know this from Brian Nuton's journal (the Dutch delegate) describing meetings there on December 29th and January 1st. Because Nuton describes being invited to Jeffrey's for breakfast after a meeting on Janury 1st, it seems likely that Jeffrey's first wife was still alive. Recognizing the customs of the time, I doubt that Jeffrey participated in a meeting and then ran home to cook breakfast to show hospitality to the Dutch delegation. If women customarily did the cooking and Jeffrey had no wife, why not have another family entertain the Dutch?

c. 1655 - moves to Westchester/New Town

While we know Jeffrey was in Westchester/East Town by the end of 1656, we also know he could not have arrived there earlier than 1654 when Thomas Pell made the original purchase from the indians. Robert Anderson places Jeffrey in Westchester/East Town in 1655. Anderson also placed Jeffrey in East Town in late 1658 and early 1659 when he was involved in a lengthy lawsuit.

We then know that Jeffrey married Susanna Norman (Lockwood), probably in 1659. Susanna's first husband, Robert Lockwood, had died on 11 September 1658 in Fairfield, Connecticut, leaving her with 11 children. She appeared in court in Fairfield on 20 October 1658 to take an oath concerning Robert's estate which was valued at about £574. Therefore, sometime between early 1659 and December 1660, Jeffrey married Susanna Norman and moved from Westchester/New Town to Greenwich. Greenwich was probably a safer environment for Susanna's children, especially the youngest seven of them ranging in age from 4 to 17. Suggestions that Jeffrey spent time in Fairfield may have arisen from Susanna's residence there, their marriage and then the move of Susanna's children and household to Greenwich. Unfortunately, Susanna died on 23 Dec 1660 in Greenwich.

1659 - moves back to Greenwich

Jeffrey's marriage to Susanna Norman sometime in 1659 or 1660 indicates that Jeffrey's first wife had died between January 1657 and the end of 1658.

There is no evidence that Jeffrey left Greenwich after returning there in 1659 or 1660. Jeffrey did marry Judith Feake (Palmer) about 1662. Judith Feake's husband, William Palmer, had died on 25 Nov. 1661 at Newtown, Long Island (now in the area of Elmhurst, Middle Village, Queens), across the East River from the Dutch settlement on Manhattan.

1666 May 31 - Jeffrey died in Greenwich

Jeffrey Ferris (b.c.1604-1610) in America - Revised Timeline

c.1634-35 - Migration to New England. Not on any ship list. [fn.1 below]

c.1634-35 - Son Peter born (Anderson postulates c.1629 in England [fn. 1])

1635 May 6 - Made a Freeman in Boston. No record of Jeffrey in Watertown before the 1635 List of Freemen. [fn.2]

1635 - Moved to Wethersfield, CT (established 1634 by John Oldfield, et al). [fn.1 & fn.3]

c.1635-36 - Son Joseph born (Anderson postulates c.1632 in England [fn. 1])

c.1636-37 - Daughter Mary born [fn. 1]

1640 - A Wethersfield religious dispute led to a split in the church. John Davenport of the New Haven Colony purchased Stamford (Rippowam) from the indians and sold it to disaffected Wethersfield residents in November 1640. [fn.3]

1640 July 18 - Party to original Greenwich purchase from the indians with Daniel Patrick & Robert Feake. [fn.4]

1640 after July - Jeffrey probably moves to Greenwich

c.1640 - Son John born [fn. 1]

1641, spring - Rev. Denton and 29 men and their families arrived in Stamford from Wethersfield. [fn.1 & fn.3]

1641 - Jeffrey on a list at Stamford of "acres of marsh and upland allowed" (ten acres). [fn.1] Jeffrey apparently was unwilling to live under Dutch rule at Greenwich and moved to Stamford. [fn.4]

1642 April 9 - Daniel Patrick and Elizabeth Feake acknowledged the Dutch claim to Greenwich. [fn.4]

c.1642 - Son James born [fn. 1]

1644 - Rev. Denton and 17 families (but not Jeffrey Ferris) left Stamford for Hempstead, Long Island. [fn.3]

1641-1650 Jeffrey probably remained at Stamford.

1650 Nov 25 - Jeffrey Ferris bought William Hallet house and land in Greenwich on Elizabeth Neck. [fn.1] Probably moved to Greenwich.

1654 July 15 - Son Peter married Elizabeth Reynolds [fn.1]

1655 - Jeffrey resided at Westchester/East Town. [fn.1]

1655 after April 19 - Dutch authorities detained male Westchester/East Town settlers (perhaps including Jeffrey) on a prison ship near Fort Amsterdam for not acknowledging Dutch authority. [fn.5]

1656 Dec - Jeffrey known to be in Westchester/East Town [fn.5]

1657 Jan 1 - Jeffrey's first wife likely alive cooking breakfast for visiting Dutch delegation in Westchester/East Town. [fn.5]

1657 Nov. 20 - Son Joseph married Ruth Knapp [fn.1]

1658 Sept 11 Robert Lockwood, husband of Susanna Norman, died in Fairfield, Connecticut. Susanna appeared for probate proceedings in Fairfield on 20 Oct 1658. [fn.6]

1658-59 - Jeffrey was of Westchester/East Town when he prosecuted a lengthy lawsuit in late 1658 and early 1659. [fn.1]

1657-1659 - Jeffrey's first wife died

1659 - Married Susanna Norman (Lockwood). [fn.1] Jeffrey may have moved briefly to Fairfield. Anderson says he returned to Greenwich "by about 1659." [fn.1]

1660 Dec 23 - Susanna Norman (Lockwood) died at Greenwich. [fn.1]

1661 Nov 25 - Judith Feake's husband, William Palmer died at Newtown, Long Island (now in the area of Elmhurst, Middle Village, Queens) [fn.7]

c.1662 - Married Judith Feake. [fn.1]

1666 May 31 - Died in Greenwich, CT. [fn.1]

************
Footnotes:
fn.1 Robert C. Anderson, The Great Migration immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, (New
England Historic Genealogy, 2011), pp. 517-520

fn.2 "Records Relating to the Early History of Boston, Miscellaneous Papers," Boston (Mass.) Registry Dept (1900), p. 140
https://books.google.com/books?id=UJPJiDOvpXsC&pg=PA136.........

fn.3 Stamford Historical Society, Stamford’s Colonial Period 1641-1783 http://www.stamfordhistory.org/dav_colonial.htm

In his "The History of Ancient Wethersfield, Connecticut," Sherman Adams lists at pages 24-28 the ten original 1634 settlers of Wethersfield after describing the permission granted to them by the General Court of Massachusetts. Jeffrey Ferris was not on that list.
https://archive.org/details/historyofancient11adam/page/52

After listing the original settlers, Adams lists additional settlers prior to 1641. (Ibid p. 29) The list including Jeffrey Ferris is prefaced by the statement that:

"The following are the names of additional settlers, nearly all from places other than Watertown; some directly from England; most of them came between 1636 and 1640."

fn.4 Greenwich Purchase. The original purchase of Greenwich, Connecticut is often described as having been made by Robert Feake and Daniel Patrick in July 1640. While they are named as the primary grantees, Jeffrey Ferris's name is included as a grantee after the main grant as follows: "Keofferam hath sould all his right in ye above sd to Jeffere Ferris." "A History of the Town of Greenwich," Daniel Mead (1857), p. 21 et seq.
https://archive.org/details/historyoftownofg00mea/page/n8

On April 9, 1642, Daniel Patrick and Elizabeth Feake (Robert's wife), decided to acknowledge the Dutch claim to Greenwich to obtain Dutch protection from the local indians. (Ibid. p. 28.)
Apparently, Jeffrey Ferris was not prepared to pledge loyalty to the Dutch, so he moved to Fairfield and did not return to Greenwich until 1656. (Ibid. p. 60)

fn.5 "Dutch Records Regarding Thomas Pell's Settlement at Oostdorp, Known by the English as the
Village of West Chester," Historic Pelham
http://historicpelham.blogspot.com/2015/08/dutch-records-regarding-...

fn.6 See Geni Profile for Sgt. Robert Lockwood

fn.7 See Geni Profile for Lt. William Palmer, of Plymouth, Yarmouth & Newtown, LI

Errata

In the "Explanatory Narrative for Revised Timeline" above, I twice wrote "Westchester/New Town" when it shoud have been "Westchester/East Town."
https://www.geni.com/discussions/158751?msg=1280124

Also in the "Jeffrey Ferris (b.c.1604-1610) in America - Revised Timeline" above, in footnote 4, I should have clarified the second paragraph by writing it as follows:

On April 9, 1642, Daniel Patrick and Elizabeth Feake (Robert's wife), decided to acknowledge the Dutch claim to Greenwich to obtain Dutch protection from the local indians. (Ibid. p. 28.)
Apparently, Jeffrey Ferris was not prepared to pledge loyalty to the Dutch. While describing the inhabitants of Greenwich between 1645 and 1665, Daniel Mead said: “Jeffere Ferris returned from Fairfield, where he had gone upon the ceding of Greenwich to the Dutch.” This statement is likely based on an October 26, 1660 deed quoted immediately thereafter that describes some property on Elizabeth Neck, Greenwich as being “bounded by Jeffere Ferris land on ye southeast.” (Ibid. p. 60.) Mead did not explain why he believed Jeffrey had been in Fairfield before returning to Greenwich. It seems more likely that Jeffrey married Susanna Norman sometime in 1659 and moved her family from Fairfield, where she had been living, to Greenwich.
https://www.geni.com/discussions/158751?msg=1280125

I added a "Timeline for Jeffrey Ferris in America" to the Sources tab. It is not much different from the timeline given above. It does include a narrative and a few more footnotes. I also added a revised Origins of Jeffrey Ferris memo which includes the new timeline.

Have we been looking for Jeffrey's first wife in all the wrong places?

No, because it is logical to look for her marriage records in England.

Yes, because there may be one other place to look... New Amsterdam.

If Jeffrey's first wife cooked breakfast on January 1st, 1657 in Westchester, then she must have died in Westchester between 1657 and 1659. But on the same day she cooked breakfast, Jeffrey signed an agreement to obey Dutch laws. In addition, the Dutch delegate Brian Nuton (Newton) observed the day before, which was a Sunday, that the Westchester settlers had no clergyman. "Dutch Records Regarding Thomas Pell's Settlement at Oostdorp, Known by the English as the Village of West Chester," Historic Pelham, Blake A. Bell (2015). http://historicpelham.blogspot.com/2015/08/dutch-records-regarding-...

If Jeffrey's first wife died in Westchester in 1657 or 1658 and they did not have a minister, who performed the religious service for her funeral? Was it a Dutch clergyman? Did Dutch law require any record of the burial to be made in New Amsterdam?

Brian Nuton noted in his journal that when the Dutch left Westchester, they rowed for about 3 hours before reaching New Amsterdam. Since the Dutch travelled by canoe, they must have rowed up the East River and then Westchester Creek to reach the settlement at Westchester/East Town, Westchester Square.

Joannes Megapolensis (1603-1670) was the minister of the Dutch Reformed Church between 1649 and 1670. His Geni profile indicates he was "employed by the Van Rensselaers" and "lived in 'his own house' on the east side of the Hudson at Greenbush." I have only found records for Dutch marriages, not burials, during this period. "Records of the Reformed Dutch Church in New Amsterdam and New York: marriages from 11 December, 1639, to 26 August, 1801," Samuel Smith (1890), p. unnumbered after title page.
https://archive.org/details/recordsofreforme01coll/page/n47

Elizabeth Fones (Winthrop, Feake) and William Hallett lived at Hellgate just across the East River from New Amsterdam at this time. And, Judith Feake (Palmer) also lived just across the East River from New Amsterdam in Newtown and near Hellgate. Did those early Queens settlers have a Puritan minister who may have performed a funeral service for Jeffrey's wife? Of course, Jeffrey had earlier invested in Greenwich with Elizabeth Fones (Feake) and her husband Robert Feake, Judith Feake's uncle. And Jeffrey later married Judith Feake (Palmer) as his third wife circa 1662.

Oh what a nice thought. Would a DRC minister have performed a ceremony? If she was Dutch, absolutely. And plenty of examples of English / Dutch intermarriage.

Freeholders of Newtown 1666

https://archive.org/details/annalsofnewtowni00rike/page/427

(A theoretical ancestor on that list)

Plenty of theoretical ancestors on that list. Nice mix of English and Dutch names next door to Elizabeth Fones (Winthrop, Feake) and Judith Feake (Palmer)

The New Amsterdam connection caused me to look back at my Dutch ancestry which is, in part, through Adam Peterse Brouwer (1621-1691). My notes on him indicate there was a Dutch Reformed Church in Brooklyn in 1660 where he was a member. RootsWeb re Adam Brouwer: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~brouwergenealogyd...

This suggests to me that in addition to a main Dutch Reformed Church on Manhattan in New Amsterdam and on Long Island in Brooklyn, there may have been others. If there were other DRC's, perhaps there were additional ministers. And, the Dutch and English congregants may have been flexible since they were neighbors.

But it would still be interesting to find a proselytizing Puritan in the mix.

Well, well, well... There was a Presbyterian minister that Jeffrey Ferris had previously met in Wethersfield and who moved to nearby Hempstead, at least until circa 1658. His name was Reverend Richard Denton.

And, Rev. Denton and Jeffrey Ferris would have been in Stamford together from about 1641 to about 1644.

What a surprise (not). The Rev. got around.

Old peg leg was a pious man, although extremely tight with a guilder, and the DRC was well stocked with unfortunate younger son ministers begged to attend to the unruly New Amsterdam crowd. And they kept good records. Alas, not so much on burials: baptisms and Marriages. I think your first wife died too soon for (say) Flatbush Records, and I seem to recall that’s the oldest extant.