William Hoskins - Yeoman, Middleborough Town Clerk
8th Great-grandfather of Roy Ellsworth Stricker
William Hoskins was born in about 1611 in County Cork, Ireland. He migrated to Plymouth Colony in 1634.
Map of Ireland Showing County Cork
William was admitted as Freeman on January 1, 1635. On November 6, 1636 he married Sarah Cushman. They had one child, Sarah Hoskins, in 1637. She died sometime after 1690. Sarah Cushman Hoskins died shortly after the birth of their daughter.
On December 21, 1638, William married Ann Hynes. They had seven children:
Mary b. 1640
Rebecca b. 1642
Elizabeth b. 1645
William b. 1647
John b. 1650
Samuel b. 1654
Richard b. 1661
The records are not clear on death dates for the children, but all lived long enough to marry.
After Ann Hynes death in 1665, William married Elizabeth, the widow of Aaron Knapp.
William farmed lands granted to him or purchased by him in the town of Plymouth. He served on juries thirty-one times between 1636 and 1682. He was the Plymouth assessor in 1681. In 1683, he was appointed town clerk for the town of Middleborough. He served as clerk for several years, and "the town hath agreed that their clerk, William Hoskins, shall have a load of fish brought to his field at Lakenham at their own charge, for his service the year past and as long as he remains clerk". Two things of interest here - he was paid in fish, and he lived in Lakenham but worked in Middleborough. Lakenham is now known as the town of Carver, but in his day it was considered part of the town of Plymouth. It was about six miles from Lakenham to the center of Plymouth. There are records of William holding land in Taunton, but it is not clear if/when he was living there.
In August 1692, a group of men asked William Hoskins to act as a lay minister in Lakenham, to teach them on the Sabbath, and he agreed. When the church in Plymouth found out, they objected, and summoned the men involved to Plymouth to give an account of their actions and motivations. As a result, the "church" at Lakenham was disbanded, and the leaders apologized. The issue was apparently that if the weather was bad, it was reasonable to meet and study on the Sabbath in Lakenham (six miles from the Plymouth church), but to do so when weather was good was deemed "irregular" and not acceptable - they were expected to travel the six miles to the Plymouth church.
One interesting note: On January 13, 1637, Ann Hoskins in Ireland wrote to John Winthrop Jr., her cousin, asking if he could send word to her of her son William Hoskins, since she had not heard from him since he immigrated. John Winthrop Jr. was at one time Governor of the Connecticut Colony and son of John Winthrop, the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Ann was the granddaughter of Adam Winthrop, the father of John Winthrop Sr., so John Winthrop Jr. and William Hoskins were second cousins.
William Hoskins died on September 7, 1695. The site of his grave is unknown.
William Hoskins > Rebecca Hoskins > John Briggs > Phineas Briggs > Esther Briggs >
Josiah Newland > Amos Newland > George Josiah Newland > William Henry Newland > Gertrude Myra Newland > Roy Ellsworth Stricker Charts S-A and S-Main
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