Monday Mumblings - Thomas Dewey the Settler

“…it is fit and becoming thus to remember our fathers – fit toward them and becoming for us.  They who do not remember and revere their ancestors who have done worthy deeds are not likely to leave a posterity that will be worthy of being remembered.”

Quote by Reverend Orville Dewey, Sheffield Mass centennial celebration, June 1876 from Life of George Dewey Rear Admiral, U.S.N. (by Adelbert M. Dewey) and Dewey Family History (by Louis Marinus Dewey), 1898, Dewey Publishing Company, Westfield, MA, page 203.

I have been doing genealogy research on my ancestors for about 30 years.  Early on in my research, I found a book on the Dewey family in the Boston Public Library – Life of George Dewey Rear Admiral, U.S.N. (by Adelbert M. Dewey) and Dewey Family History (by Louis Marinus Dewey), 1898, Dewey Publishing Company, Westfield, MA.  (This book can be found on the web, but I cannot link to it. You can access it by internet search.)  The author, Louis Marinus Dewey, states that he started collecting family records 15 years prior to the publication of the book in 1898 and at the time of publication there were approximately 15,000 descendants of Thomas Dewey the Settler listed in the book.  Francis Osman Dewey (number 6293), my grandfather, is listed at the top of page 708.  Several years ago I had the good fortune to find this book on eBay and bought it for less than $10.   The following theories of Dewey Family Origin are from pages 206 and 207 in that book.  (The hyperlinks are obviously mine.)

Family Origin

“...  The Dewey was an old Feudal family in French Flanders, from which the town of Douai in France takes its name; some of the family came to England with William the Conqueror and settled in Lincolnshire, northeast of London.  One authority says a nobleman named de Wey (pronounced De Vay) came with William the Conqueror, after whom Weymouth, in Dorset, England, was named.

“…  Dewey or Dewi in Welsh is a corruption of David, and there is a tradition in some Dewey families that the origin of the race was in Wales where the patronymic was originally derived from Archbishop Dei, chosen patron saint of Wales; canonized by Pope Calixtus in 1120 as St. David; founder of monastery at Meneria, West Britain, now St. David’s Head, Wales, and in which the beautiful and imposing Cathedral of St. David now stands, and in which his remains repose, “OY Dewi” “House of David” being the most sacred spot in the kingdom to all true Welshmen. 

“In Burke’s Heraldry it is claimed that the name Dewey was originally “de la Wey.”  The ancestors came over with William the Conqueror and took this name… Another authority asserts that the name Dewey was originally De Ewes, and went from French Flanders into England in the reign of Henry VIII, when one branch of the family had the name “de vie,” another branch “Dewey,” as well as one branch of the name “Davie.”

“After the massacre on St. Bartholomew’s Eve, in August 1572, many thousands of families… left France for the Netherlands and England; in the latter country they erected silk manufactories, in the eastern suburb of London, and taught the Saxons to make the stuffs and hats of which France had long enjoyed the monopoly.  In England these people were known as Walloons, and landing at Sandwich, England; Norwich was one of the cities to give them the most welcome, and in a few years there fifteen hundred Walloons in that place alone.

“Thomas Dewey, the Settler at Dorchester, Mass., sailed from Sandwich, which leads us to believe he was of the Huguenot extraction; his descendants, even in the second generation, were millers, carpenters, and wheelwrights.  In the third generation the sons of Israel were weavers, tailors, etc., which is strong evidence to support this position.”

Thomas Dewey, the Settler (1^st Generation)

Thomas was born in 1602 in England and died on April 27, 1648 at Windsor, CT.  He married Francis (Clark from previous marriage) on March 22, 1638 at Windsor, CT.  Francis was born in 1611 in England and died on September 27 1690 at Westfield, MA. 

Thomas and Francis had 5 children:

Thomas (1640 – 1690)

Josiah (about 1641 – 1732)*

Anna (about 1643 – 1707)

Israel (1645 – 1678)

Jedediah (1647 – 1715)

Francis had 2 children Joseph and Mary by her first husband Joseph Clark.  Francis married a third time to George Phelps in 1649.  Francis and George Phelps had 3 children Jacob, John, and Nathaniel.

Thomas Dewey’s History

The Puritan Great Migration refers to the years between 1620 and 1640 when approximately 20,000 colonists came to New England.  The families of the Great Migration first settled in Plymouth, Salem, and Boston/Dorchester, MA.  My ancestors were part of this migration with ancestors settling in each of these colonies.

At this time, I do not know the town where Thomas Dewey lived in England nor do I know exactly when he came to New England.  However, I do know that Dewey was in Dorchester, MA by August of 1633 because “his mark” is found as witness on the will of John Russell.  Other witnesses on this will are (Rev.) John Warham’s and Thomas Moore.  Early Dorchester, MA town records show that on August 12, 1635, Dewey and Thomas Holcomb sold their land in Dorchester to Richard Joanes.  In 1635, 60 or more settlers, led by Rev. John Warham moved to Windsor, CT.  Thomas Dewey, Rev. John Warham, John Russell and Thomas Holcomb are all listed as “founders” of Windsor, CT.  I list these other names (Warham, Holcomb, and Russell) because it is evident by these documents that Dewey was closely associated with these men.  Warham and Holcomb show up on the passenger list for the Ship Mary & John which was one of the Winthrop Fleet of ships.  Dewey and Russell do not show up on any ships passenger list, but it may be possible to assume that Dewey was also on the Mary & John because of his association with Warham and Holcomb.

Dorchester, MA

Dewey certainly landed and settled in Dorchester, MA (between 1630 – 1633).  The Dorchester Atheneum says that the “the farmers settled on Allen’s Plain near the intersection of Pond, Cottage and Pleasant Streets.”  The oldest house in Boston, the James Blake House (1648), is located near this intersection. (See the “William Meaney Playground in the same block for the actual intersection.)  In Dewey’s Dorchester land sale to Richard Joanes, he sold 4 acres with house and belongings, and 4 other lots of 8 acres, 10 acres, 4 acres, and 2 acres.

Windsor, CT

Thomas’ name appears on a monument in memory of the original founders of Windsor.  Various documents list the land holdings of Thomas Dewey.  His home lot is shown on an early map just to the north and outside the Palisado of Windsor.  The Palisado was built in 1637 as a result of the Pequot war.  Thomas’ will lists six children: Mary Clark (Francis daughter from her marriage to Joseph Clark), Thomas, Josiah, Annah, Isreall, and Jydidiah.

Cousins Donald Dewey and Donald Gonsalves (10th generation) point to Thomas Dewey name on Windsor, CT founders monument

Thos. Dewey house lot shown just above the "Palisado" on old Windsor, CT map