William WETHERELL

1600 - 1684  (84 years)

• Name	William WETHERELL  [1, 2]
  	William Wetherell was of the educated class in England, where he was born in the year 1600. His education was completed at Cambridge, where he graduated with the degree of A.B. in 1623, and three yeas later he took the degree A.M. at the same university. In 1625 he was married to Mary Fisher, who was born in England in 1602. With his wife, three children and one servant, he emigrated to New England, coming in the ship HERCULES, and in the ship's register he is recorded as "Schoolmaster," from Maidstone, England. He arrived in 1634 or sooner, and in 1635 he was employed in a grammar school at Charleston, Massachusetts, and in Cambridge during the two years following that. In 1638 he removed to Duxbury, Massachusetts, where he purchased a house, but it has not been discovered what his occupation at that time was. In 1644 he moved to Scituate, Massachusetts, and on September 2, 1645, he was ordained as the first minister of the church organized there, and from that time the church records are in his handwriting until 1674. As his pastorate did not terminate at the latter date we conclude he was compelled by some infirmity to permit others to write the records after that. He died at Scituate April 9, 1684, aged 84 years. He seems to have been a man of marked personality, and to have given the impress of his strong character on the community in a way that has left its legacy of legendary lore. One anecdote handed down by tradition will serve to illustrate alike the quality of the man and the customs of the day; customs so different from our own in church matters that it is difficult to fully realize it. One of his congregation had entered church after service had commenced, and at the close of his prayer Mr. Wetherell thus addressed him: "Neighbor Bryant, it is to your reproach that you have disturbed the worship by entering late, living as you do within a mile of this place, and especially so, since here is Goody Barstow, who has milked seven cows, made a cheese, and walked five miles to the House of God in good season." Dean's "History of Scituate, Massachusetts," gives some account of him, and credits the tradition that his mother was the daughter of John Rogers, the martyr of Smithfield. Beside attending to his schoolteaching and later to his ministerial duties, it would seem that he found time to court the muse, for it is recorded of him that he "was one of the best of the early colonial poets. [1]
  Birth	1600	England   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Death	09 Apr 1684	Scituate, Plymouth Co., Massachusetts
  Person ID	I60567	Main Tree
  Last Modified	5 Nov 2016

  
  

  Father	WETHERELL,   b. Abt 1565, Yorkshire, England
  Relationship	Birth
  Mother	Miss ROGERS,   b. Abt 1578, Maidstone, England
  Relationship	Birth
  Family ID	F04616	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Mary FISHER,   b. 1602, England d. Bef 29 Mar 1684 (Age < 82 years)
  Marriage	1625	England   [1]
  Children	1. Samuel WETHERELL,   b. Between 1627 and 1630, Maidstone, England d. 1683, Scituate, Plymouth, Mass. (Age 56 years)  [Birth]   2. Capt. Daniel WETHERELL,   b. 29 Nov 1630, Maidstone, England d. 14 Apr 1719, New London, New London Co. Connecticut (Age 88 years)  [Birth]   3. Thomas WETHERELL,   b. Abt 1633, Maidstone, England d. Bef 1684 (Age < 51 years)  [Natural]   4. Mary WETHERELL,   b. 1635   d. 12 Dec 1710, Scituate, Plymouth Co., Massachusetts (Age 75 years)  [Birth]   5. Elizabeth WETHERELL,   b. Between 1635 and 1639, Scituate, Plymouth Co., Massachusetts d. Bef 1664 (Age < 28 years)  [Birth]   6. Theophilus WETHERELL,   b. Abt 1640, Middleborough, Plymouth Co., Massachusetts d. 06 Jan 1702, Middleborough, Plymouth Co., Massachusetts (Age 62 years)  [Birth]   7. John WETHERELL,   b. Abt 1642, Scituate, Plymouth Co., Massachusetts d. 17 Mar 1691, Scituate, Plymouth Co., Massachusetts (Age 49 years)  [Birth]   8. Sarah WETHERELL,   b. 10 Feb 1645, Scituate, Plymouth Co., Massachusetts d. Bef 14 Jul 1729 (Age 84 years)  [Birth]   9. Hannah WETHERELL,   b. 20 Feb 1646   d. young  [Birth]
  Family ID	F04614	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	4 Nov 2016

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 1600 - England Marriage - 1625 - England  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Sources

  [S8840] Charles E. Benton, Ezra Reed and Esther Edgerton, Their Life and Ancestry. [S02658] Mayflower Increasings 2nd Edition by Susan E. Roser.