Dawes-Gates ancestral lines:
a memorial volume containing
the American ancestry of Rufus R. Dawes.
Ferris, Mary Walton,.
Milwaukee. Wisconsin Cuneo Press. 1985
[Transcribed by Elizabeth Hanebury]
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DAWES GATES Family Philip Kirtland [probably born @1580] and his three sons, John, Philip, and Nathaniel of Bucks, England emigrated to New England and became early residents of Lynn, Mass. Philip may have arrived somewhat later than Philip and Nathaniel, who embarked in the "Hopewell" of London, William Bundock, master, on April 1, 1635, but he is definitely of record in 1638 receiving in that year with his son Philip, ten acre lots at Lynn where Philip became the first cordwainer .* Philip and his children are mentioned in the will of his brother John Kirtland of Thckford Parish of Newport Pagnall, Co Bucks, England, the instrument being dated December 12, 1616, and proved August 1, following. In later years Philip and Nathaniel testified that they came from. ` Footnote * [defined in the book as "ladies Shoemaker and was derived from the name of Cordova a city in southern Spain which specialized in the tanning and dressing of goatskins into Cordovan leather, suitable for use in the manufacture of fine shoes. New England limited by law the use of fancy dress shoes as well as other so called excessive ornament. As early as 1641 a law was passed, and in 1651 it was re enacted discouraging over adornment in dress of all persons and forbidding it altogether for those whose estates did not exceed 200pd. The law went on to "declare our utter detestation and dislike, that men or women of mean condition should take unto them the garb of Gentlemen by wearing gold or silver lace, or buttons or points at their knees, or to walk in great boots, (leather being so scarce a commoditie in this Country), or women of the same ranke, to wear silk or tyffany hoods, or scarfex... though the use of such was allowed to "persons of greater estates, or more liberal education..." The law forbade also the use of bone lace [point lace made with bone bobbins] costing over two shillings per yard or of ribbons; it set a penalty of ten shillings for every such offense, with an attendant grand jury hearing; and it required the selectmen of each town to watch for infringements and to tax offenders in the same amount as though their estates had been valued at 200 pd. Exception was made for magistrates and public officers with their families; for an "settled Military officer or souldier in the time of Military Service, or any whose education and employment have been above the ordinary degree or whose estate have been consideerable, though now decayed The Indians taught the colonists to tan deerskin by the use, among other things, of a mixture of the brain, liver and fat of the animal; this method left the skin very soft and suitable for use in garments and such leather was much used for clothing as well as for shoes. The establishment of a tannery, therefore was one of the first requisites in any community and the presence of a cordwainer was encouraged. In 1676 the price of shoes was regulated by law; and depended upon their dimension as "five penc, half penny a size for all pleyne and wooden heeled shoes and above seven pence half penny for well wrought "French Falls" [dress boots with their high, spreading tops folded back toward the ankle, forming a deep cuff, which were similar to the great boots mentioned above]. Wooden heels were worn throughout the seventeenth century and even at that early period, Lynn was the center for the manufacture of shoes and Philip was that town's first shoemaker, unless it was his son who filled the position. page 518 Sherington, Co Bucks, England, this place being about two miles distant from Tickford. In the early records it is somewhat difficult to differentiate between the activities of Philip and his son of the same name. One of them, presumably the elder, sued Francis Dent in 1639 for a debt of 10 pds he won a suit against George Keyser for "four acres of land due by ye bounds [for] trespass and for trees felled" in that year; in 1643 he signed a petition that Goody Armitage might continue to run the ordinary; was on a trial jury in 1645; on the grand jury from 1649 to 1652; took the inventory of Joseph How in 1651 and that of William Knight in 1654-5; was a witness against Matthew Farrington in 1648; witnessed against several neighbors who wore silver lace in 1652; and in that same year testified that "The way near the mill at Lin" was "dangerous for cattle and Carriages." (5) On October 1, 1652 Philip, Shoemaker," bought from Nathaniel Tyler and his wife, Jane, all their "Lands and houses with their appurtenances, in Lynn." In that year he was a witness against Jonas Fairbanks who had been presented to the court for wearing "great boots" but who was discharged when it found that he did not wear them after the law regarding them was published. (1, 6). Neither the date of the death of Philip nor the name or death of his wife has been found. She died probably in England. The only known children of Philip Kirtland and his wife (--------), all born in England, were (3, 11, 18, 22)
NATHANIEL KIRTLAND (Philip) was born (3,4) about 1616-17 in Bucks England, perhaps at Sherrington from whence he emigrated (Footnote) This man is sometimes confused with his nephew John a son of Nathaniel, and is frequently referred to as unmarried, merely because his sister Susanna (Kirtland) Westall, called him her "childless brother" in 1683 when she willed him a small property at Saybrook, Connecticut. Since however there seems to have been at the time no other John Kirtland [with the exception of his young nephew] it is presumed that the two daughters, (12) both named Sara, born to a man of that name in 1665 and 1666 at Lynn were his, and that he must have lost both of them before the date of his sisters will. It is probable that he lived near his sister at Saybrook where both he and her husband were employed in town affairs (11a). His widow, Barbara, was allowed a life tenure in a home which was to be kept in repair (19a) by John Kirtland (son of Nathaniel) end footnote Page 519 Buried (12) December 27, 1686, aged seventy, at Lynn Massachusetts. He married, doubtless on Long Island and probably about 1642-5 Parnell (-----) * For about five years after his emigration in 1635, Nathaniel lived at Lynn, but in 1640 he, with his brother Philip and about thirty for forty families of Lynn, arranged to remove to Long Island. (8) Those who bound themselves to make this move were called "undertakers" and the approval of the group was necessary before the other could be admitted to the company. Before their departure the group entered into a church covenant. Eight members of the party purchased a sloop for pd 80 to transport their families and their goods to their new home but, on March 10, 1639-40 they sold it to Daniel How on terms which required him to take them to Long Island and, thereafter, to make three trips a year between Lynn and the place of their new settlement. (7) On this same date a contract was signed by the various prospective emigrants, (7,8) including Philip and Nathaniel Kirtland. Lord Sterling at this time held a grant covering Long Island and on April 17, 1640, his agent, James Farret, with the approval of Governor Winthrop of Connecticut, entered into an agreement with the leaders of this group. By the terms of this contract (7, 8, 9a) the Lynn party was authorized to occupy a tract of land eight miles square at any place they chose on the Island " With as full and free liberty in both church order and civil government, as the plantations in Massachusetts enjoyed." Daniel How then brought from the Indians their rights to the land extending "from the eastern part of Oyster Bay to the western part of a bay called after him, How's bay [also called Schouts or Cow's Bay and now Manhasset], to the middle of the plains being half the breadth of the Island" (9a) Assuming that all necessary preliminaries were then arranged, the party embarked and arrived on May 10, 1640, at Cow [Schouts] Bay at the western end of the Island [See map p.533]. Upon landing, they discovered, to their surprise, the coat of arms of the Prince of Orange fastened to a tree ----- the explanation being that certain Indians had just assigned their rights in that vicinity to the Dutch who then gave evidence of their claim to ownership, by defying the authority of Farret's power of attorney over the west end of the Island and repudiating the Indian sale to the Lynn men (8) Ignorant of these facts, however, and confident in the possession of Lord Sterling's contract, How, or perhaps Farret, * It was undoubtedly she who died September 20, 1694, at Lynn as "Parnell Laughton" having married, secondly, there, (12) on October 31, 1687, John Laiton. page 520 Removed this insignia and the party proceeded to fell trees and build houses. (9) One of the Indians notified the Dutch authorities of this action by the “foreign strollers" and they, after an investigation, sent two officers and twenty men, on May 13, 1640, to arrest the "strollers and vagabonds." This squad arrived two days later, seized six men, including Philip and Nathaniel Kirtland,* and took them before the Dutch Council at Net Amsterdam where, after examination, there were confined in prison for four days while the Governor wrote a letter in Latin to Governor Winthrop of Massachusetts and received a reply in the same language. (9) The verbatim testimony of these prisoners is extant and gives their ages, places of birth and intention as emigrants (9) They were exonerated from the charge of tearing down the arms of the Prince and were released without penalty upon "condition that they do promise to depart forthwith from our territory, and never to return to it without the Director's express consent. (8, 9, 9a) The Lynn party then jour eyed about eighty miles to the eastern end of Long Island, arriving there evidently by June, for thei received a deed from Lord Sterling dated June 12, and confirmed August 20, which, with another from the Indians, secured to them the locality which was later named Southampton (9) [see map on p 645]. Philip soon returned to his old home at Lynn and a document dated December 23, 1641, shows that his holdings on Long Island were then in possession (4a) of his brother Nathaniel, who is said likewise to have returned to Lynn before (4) 1644 and certainly was there before July, 1647 when he took the oath of freeman (13) After his return he served (13 on trial juries in 1647, 1651-2, 1657 and 1675; on grand juries in 1658-9, 1663, 1666, 1668-70 and 1675 and on inquest juries in 1665 and 1669. In 1649, suit for trespass and for appropriating two cows was instituted against Nathaniel and George Burrill but the verdict favored the defendants, granting them (14) the animals in question or ps12. He was a soldier in King Philip’s War (28) under Capt. Nicholas Manning of Ipswich and in February, 1675-6 was credited with service to the amount of pd1-16-00 and on December 24, 1676, with additional pay due of thirteen shillings eight pence. Nathaniel was a selectman, or one of "the Seven Prudential men," in 1673 and 1678. He frequently (14) acted as overseer of wills, witnessed both wills and bonds, helped to take inventories and testified in lawsuits. In 1673 *The carelessness as to spelling which obtained in that early day is seen in the fact that the signatures of these two brothers, in this case, show four variations in the spelling the last name ---Cartelyn, Carteland, Carelant and Karteland. (9a) Page 521 he was one of a committee appointed to grant permission, on occasion, to the inhabitants to fell trees in the town common (15) and, in 1677, was one of eight men chosen by the selectman "to have inspection into housed unlicensed, to prevent excessive drinking and tippling." (15) He was called Sergeant in 1677, 1680 and 1681, and was fined for not appearing for grand jury duty in 1680 but this fine was remitted (15) "on account of weakness and inability" in 1681. He was taxed (15) for the "country rates" six shillings eleven pence, in 1681. The children of Nathaniel and Parnell (-----) Kirtland, several of them born undoubtedly on Long Island and in unknown order were, (3, 11, 12, 19a, 19b,22, 24)
*Since the will (22a) of Philip gave his clothes to his brothers Nathaniel Kirtland, John Bread and Samuel Bass, there is a suggestion that one of his sisters may have been the wife of Samuel Bass (as one certainly was the wife of John Bread). It may have been Ann or Elizabeth. + Concerning Martha dn Sarah there is some discrepancy of statement in the references quoted under (19b), but evidence goes to show that the dates given are correct. ++ The name Priscilla is not found earlier, nor elsewhere contemporaneously, in the Kirtland family, and is seen subsequently only in the family of Nathaniel and John> This ends Nathaniel next page starts John son of Nathaniel Notes: Vol. II has subtitle: The American ancestry of Mary Beman (Gates) Dawes. "Privately printed." Includes indexes. "References" at end of each chapter. v.1. Dawes and allied families -- v.2. Gates and allied families. Subjects: Dawes family. Gates family. Dawes, Rufus R., 1838-1899. Dawes, Mary Beman, 1842-1921. REFERENCES |