Religion Baptist Spouse(s) Juliann Marchante | Name Stukely Westcott | |
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Born 1592 Ilminster, Somerset, England Occupation Commissioner, surveyor of highways, innkeeper Children Damaris, Samuel, Robert, Amos, Mercy, Jeremiah Died January 12, 1677, Portsmouth, Rhode Island, United States | ||
Stukely Westcott (1592 – 12 January 1677) was one of the founding settlers of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and one of the original members of the first Baptist Church in America, established by Roger Williams in 1638. He came to New England from the town of Yeovil in Somerset, England and first settled in Salem in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but difficulties with the authorities prompted him to join Roger Williams in settling near the Narragansett Bay in 1638 at Providence. He remained there for a few years, but he was recorded as an inhabitant of Warwick in 1648, probably having settled there several years earlier. He was most active in colonial affairs from 1650 to 1660 when he was a commissioner, surveyor of highways, and the keeper of a house of entertainment. His highest offices held were as an Assistant in 1653 and much later as a deputy to the General Court in 1671 when he was almost 80 years old. He made his will on 12 January 1677, dying the same day with the will unsigned, leaving his affairs in limbo for the following two decades.
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Early life
The place of origin of the Westcott family appears to center around the town of Affton in county Devon in England. Here the unusual combination of the surnames Stukely and Westcott appears, as does the very unusual female given name of Damaris, found in the Stukely family.
Stukely Westcott first appears on a public record when he was married in St. John's Church in Yeovil, Somerset, England on 5 October 1619 to Juliann Marchante; his marriage record indicated that he was from Ilminster, a town in Somerset about twelve miles west of Yeovil. Juliann was the daughter of John Marchante (baptized at Yeovil 8 August 1571) who was the son of John Marchante (died 1593) by his wife Eva Corninge, which couple was married in Yeovil 18 July 1568. John Marchante was the same as the John Marchant who sailed with Sir Francis Drake and died in Panama in 1595. The baptisms of two of Stukely Westcott's children were also recorded in Yeovil: a daughter Damaris in 1620/21 and a son Samuel in 1622/23. There is no record of where Westcott lived following the baptisms of these two children, but there is evidence that in 1635 he and his family accompanied the family of William Arnold to New England, departing from the port town of Dartmouth in county Devon. Roscoe Whitman states this as a fact, based upon a memorandum made in April 1656 by Benedict Arnold, the oldest son of William Arnold, and found among old family papers. The Arnold family came from the town of Ilchester, scarcely five miles north of Yeovil, and it is probable that the two families were acquainted with each other before sailing to the New World. Both families came to Providence at about the same time. The oldest daughter of Stukely Westcott, Damaris, married Benedict Arnold several years later.
Settling in New England
Once in New England, Westcott first settled in the town of Salem in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Here he was received as an inhabitant and made a freeman in 1636. In late 1637, he was granted a house lot in Salem, his family then consisting of eight members. Soon tensions arose with the local authorities, and he was given a license to depart Salem in March 1638, along with several others, with the proviso that he would be summoned if not gone by a court date in May. Within weeks, Westcott and his family joined Roger Williams and other settlers in establishing a new settlement on land that Williams had bought from the local Indians on the Narragansett Bay. The settlement was named Providence, and the initials S.W. for Stukely Westcott appear first on the initial deed signed by Roger Williams, followed by the initials W.A. of his future in-law William Arnold.
In 1640, Westcott signed an agreement with 38 others to form a civil government in Providence. He lived in Providence for a few years, but he was recorded as one of the inhabitants of Warwick in 1648. However, he had likely gone to Warwick shortly after its establishment by Samuel Gorton in 1642, and he may have been there as early as 1643. He lived in Warwick for most of the remainder of his life until the events of King Philip's War compelled him to move across the Narragansett Bay.
Stukely Westcott appears most often on the public records for Rhode Island between 1650 and 1660. He was a commissioner from Warwick during five different years and, during most of these years, he was a surveyor of highways. In 1653, he had the position of assistant in the colony and was on a committee to confer with the Indians about fencing and other matters. Warwick settlers had been accused of treating the Indians unfairly, and Westcott and a Mr. Smith were ordered in 1655 to gather up compensation that was due the Indians. In 1660, he was the foreman of a grand inquest to look into the beating death of a local Indian.
In 1655, Westcott was appointed to keep a house of entertainment, and he again received authorization in 1664 for keeping "an ordinary for entertainment" while the King's Commissioners held court in Warwick.
King Philip's War
One of the highest offices held by Westcott was Deputy to the General Court which he held during 1671 when he was nearly 80 years old. Within a few years, he was surrounded by the tumultuous events of King Philip's War which was the outcome of severe friction between several of the indigenous New England tribes and the English settlers. The settlement of Warwick was totally destroyed, and the aged and infirm Westcott was taken to the settlement at Portsmouth on Aquidneck Island to the house of his grandson Caleb Arnold, the son of Governor Benedict Arnold. On 12 January 1677, he knew that the end of his life was near, and he drafted a will under the direction of his grandson. He did not sign it, however, expecting his sons to arrive from Prudence Island the next day. He died before they could get to his side, however, and the will was never signed. It was not until 20 years after his death that the will was approved and recorded into the town records. Shortly after his death, his remains were carried back to Warwick where he was buried by his wife on their old homestead.
Children
Stukely and Juliann Westcott had six children, but a baptismal record has only been found for the first two. The oldest child was Damaris, baptized at Yeovil on 27 Jan 1620/21. She married Benedict Arnold, the son of William and Christian (Peak) Arnold, on 17 December 1640, and the couple had nine children. She died after 1678.
Samuel was baptized at Yeovil on 31 March 1622, but he probably died before adulthood in New England.
Robert (died 1676) married Catharine Rathburn and they had six children. He was a lieutenant who was killed during King Philip's War.
Amos (1631–1685) married Sarah Stafford on 13 July 1667, the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Stafford. He married Deborah Stafford on 9 June 1670, the sister of Sarah. He had one child with his first wife and five with his second.
Mercy (died 25 March 1700) married Samuel Stafford, son of Thomas and Elizabeth Stafford, and the couple had nine children.
Jeremiah (died 1686) married Eleanor England on 27 July 1665, daughter of William and Elizabeth England, and the couple had eight children.
Descendants
Notable descendants of Stukely Westcott through his daughter Damaris (wife of Governor Benedict Arnold) include great-great-grandson Benedict Arnold, the general during the American Revolutionary War who initially was a great leader, but who is now remembered for his treason and betrayal of his homeland and fellow American soldiers.
Another descendent of Westcott was Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, American hero of the Great Lakes during the War of 1812. His younger brother Commodore Matthew C. Perry was sent by President Millard Fillmore to compel the opening of Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854.
Stephen Arnold Douglas debated Abraham Lincoln in 1858 before a senate race and later lost to him in the 1860 presidential election. Rhode Island colonial Deputy Governor George Hazard is another descendant.