William Blake (1620-1703): An "Ordinary" Man in Massachusetts Bay Colony

My 9th great grandfather William Blake baptized at Pitminster, Somerset, England on 6 September 1620 was one of many men in his family carrying the same name. His father too was William Blake (1594-1663) and his father before him (William Blake ca.1560-1642). Not surprisingly, our William also had a son named William Blake (1656-1699). Confusing!

Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1531-1812
for Pitminster 1620-1621 (baptism William Blake son of William Blake)

Pitminster is located four miles south of Taunton in Somerset. The Church of St. Andrew and St. Mary where William was baptized is considered unusual in this area for having a spire.

The copyright on this image is owned by Derek Harper and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license: Pitminster Church photo by Derek Harper

William's father had married the widow Agnes Lyon Bond (or Band) in 1617, also at Pitminster Church. William was the third of four children born to them, the first two being twins Anne and John born in 1618.

By the mid 1630s, William's parents decided to move their family across the Atlantic to the growing Massachusetts Bay Colony. William would have been in his mid-teens. No record of the ship name or date has yet been located, but the first record for the family is a land grant in dated 14 May 1636. William's father became a freeman and member of the church on 14 March 1638/9.  He served as constable 1641, selectman 1645-47 and 1651, on committee for new meetinghouse 1645, and as town clerk 1656 until within 6 weeks of his death on October 25, 1663. Clearly, he was an active participant in his community.

William's father's will is interesting not only for providing equally for all his children, but also for the unusual first bequest being a small gift to the town for the repairing of the burying ground on condition that it would be done within a year of his decease. (This was done as requested.)

Our William had in the meantime married his first wife Anna (possibly Lyon) in 1649 in Dorchester, which is now a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. They had numerous children beginning with Samuel in 1650 and others following at fairly predictable 2 year intervals until 1673. My 8th great grandmother Experience Blake was born to them in 1665 in Milton. In 1660 William had received an allotment of land in a part of Dorchester set off as Milton and he had moved his family there to a farm on Brush Hill the same year that new daughter Experience was born.

Like his father, William occupied many public offices in Milton over the years, beginning with membership on a committee to build a new meetinghouse in the new town. He served as selectman in local government for several years and was sergeant of the local military company. He was chosen as Deputy to the General Court in 1680, 1683, 1690 and 1697. His main occupation was farming, but it also seems he was a carpenter. He obtained the right to obtain "clobords" (clapboards) out of the swamp for his own use. In 1683, he and Reverend Peter Thatcher righted the hedge in the minister's pasture and "Sergeant Blake agreed to ground sill my house and lay a double floor and new sleepers," according to the minister's diary.

It appears that William and Reverend Thatcher were good friends. Also from Reverend Thatcher's diary we learn that in January of 1684, he and William were joined by Brother Clap and Mr. Taylor to go deer hunting, but having no luck, they returned for supper at Sergeant Blake's. This may have been to William and Anna Blake's home or it could have been to their inn, if it was still in operation. William had been authorized to keep an inn or "ordinary" in December of 1682 as shown by the County Court records: "Upon consideration of the necessity of a house of entertainment for Travellers in the new road from Taunton to new Bristol over Brush Hill, William Blake is allowed to keepe an Ordinary until April next." No further records show any extension to this right to keep his ordinary beyond April of 1683 so we don't know how long he remained an "ordinary" man.

William's wife Anna died in about 1680. He remarried the widow Hanna Tolman on 22 November 1693 at the age of 73. William died about ten years later on 3 September 1703. His will, executed shortly before his death, made provision for the comfort of his "dear loving wife. He left property to his sons Nathaniel and Edward and legacies to his son Samuel and daughters Anne Gilbert, Mary Willis, Experience Carver and Mehitable Briggs.

Gravestone of William's daughter Experience (Blake) Carver
Bridgewater Cemetery, Massachusetts
1999 photo by Joanne Barnard

Helpful Resources:

• Blake, Francis E., Increase Blake of Boston: His Ancestors and Descendants, With a Full Account of  William Blake of Dorchester and his Five Children, 1898,  Boston, Mass. accessible online at https://archive.org/stream/increaseblakeofb00blak/increaseblakeofb00blak_djvu.txt
• Schutz, John A., Legislators of the Massachusetts General Court 1671-1780: A Biographical Dictionary, 1997, p. 165.
• Cutter, William Richard, New England Families: A Genealogical and Memorial, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1996, p.1436