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The Williams family of England and Wales is an ancient family dating back to one of the fifteen tribes of North Wales that lived about AD 849. Howell, Lord of Ribour, was the ancestor of Richard Williams of Taunton, Massachusetts, our immigrant ancestor. It was the custom in Wales to designate each male member of a family as "son of" by connecting the given name of the father with that of the son using the Welsh word ap meaning "son of." In the early 1500's, Henry VIII, King of England, urged all Welshmen to adopt surnames. A Morgan ap William was the elder of Howell's descendants at the time and he became Morgan Williams and every male of Howell's descendants adopted the surname Williams at the same time.
Of interest, in general, is the fact that Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England after the execution of King Charles I, was a descendant of Howell, Lord of Ribour. NEHGR, Vol. 51, pp. 210-211.
Our research indicates that the ancestry of the Dighton family can be traced through at least two lines to King Edward I of England. Laurence Clough, "Ancestors of Daniel and Almira Taylor of Sherbourne, Vermont: Dighton Chart I" (privately published), and Charles C. Williams, M.D., "Ancestry of Richard and Frances (Dighton) Williams and teh Posterity of their son Nathaniel Williams of Taunton, Massachusetts," Los Angeles, privately published, 1926, p. 23, book found at the Old Colony Historical Society, 66 Church Green, Taunton, MA, 02780.
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Richard and Frances (Dighton) Williams came to America about 1636 and settled in Taunton, Massachusetts, where Richard's name is second on the original list of the "first purchasers" of territory that included the present towns of Taunton, Raynham, and Berkley, MA. In 1668, there was an additional purchase called the "North Purchase" and here Richard Williams' name appears first along with those of his sons, Nathaniel, Thomas, and Samuel. Then in 1672, a third purchase was made called the "South Purchase." This is now the town of Dighton, MA, which was so named in honor of Richard's wife, Frances (Dighton) Williams. Sarah B. Williams, "Dighton (MA) Bicentennial Book." Richard was admitted freeman in 1639, on the military list in 1643, deputy from Taunton, MA, to the General Court of Plymouth Colony several times from 1645 to 1665, and selectman in 1666 and 1667. Richard and his wife were among the original members of the First Church in Taunton, MA, where he was a deacon and, it was noted, that he was faithful in attendance even after he was blind and deaf with age. Richard was an original stockholder in the Iron Works of Taunton, MA, founded by James and Henry Leonard, his contemporaries, whose descendants, as did Richard's, married into the Wentworth and Pettengill families. Richard and his wife Frances (Dighton) Williams had nine children:
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Elizabeth Williams
See entry for John Bird for details of his family. |
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The Williams Family BibliographyClough, Laurance, Ancestors of Daniel and Almira Taylor of Sherburne, Vermont. Emery, Samuel H., History of Taunton. Little, George Thomas, Genealogical and Family Histories of the State of Maine, New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1909, p. 2029. New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 51, pp. 211-212. Weis, Ancestral Roots of 60 Colonists, p. 85. Papers sent to me by Elaine Varley, Town Historian of Dighton, MA. Papers from the Old Colony Historical Society of Taunton, MA. |
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Last update February 18, 2000.
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