Individual Details
Samuel Spencer
(1 Jan 1672/73 - 20 Dec 1705)
Samuel Spencer, merchant, previously of " Barbadoes," originally, no doubt, from England, was in Pennsylvania about 1700, and may have come a few years earlier.
The first of this Spencer family, in Pennsylvania, was probably Samuel, who came here from Barbadoes, and was no doubt of English descent. The tradition has always been that he was a sea captain, and that after bringing his family here, about 1700, he returned for one more voyage, and was lost (or died) at sea. How this tradition grew up it is hard to say, but documentary evidence shows its incorrectness. Samuel Spencer's will is on record in Philadelphia. It describes him a "late of Barbadoes, but now of the county of Philadelphia, merchant, being sick of body, but of good and perfect memory, " [etc.]. This shows him to have been on land, and ill, at the date of the will, which was November 20, 1705, and as its probate was made a month later, December 20, 1705, it is evident that his decease closely followed its making, and that no voyage and death at sea could have occurred before probate.
Samuel Spencer, as is known in various ways, left two sons, Samuel and William. These the will names: "I give and bequeath unto my eldest son, Samuel Spencer, 20 pounds, to be paid unto him when he shall come to the age of 21 years, without any interest, [he] to be fitted with a good suit of cloaths fitt for such a lad, and to be forthwith sent to Barbadoes to his relacions there. I give and bequeath unto my son William Spencer, 20 pounds, " etc., etc.
Of Samuel Spencers "relacions", in Barbadoes, nothing definite is known. Samuel Spencer's two sons were, as the will shows, minors when their father died. Their mother, in all probability, was previously deceased. She was the daughter of Robert Whitton, and her brother Richard is said to have reared the two boys, --Samuel not having been sent back to the Barbadoes, at all. In 1742, Richard Whitton, of Upper Dublin, yeoman, made his will, and after some bequests left to his "two cousins, [i.e. nephews] Samuel Spencer and William Spencer," all his "lands, houses, tenements, and plantations," etc., --this being property in Upper Dublin [now Montgomery county, Pennsylvania].
The first of this Spencer family, in Pennsylvania, was probably Samuel, who came here from Barbadoes, and was no doubt of English descent. The tradition has always been that he was a sea captain, and that after bringing his family here, about 1700, he returned for one more voyage, and was lost (or died) at sea. How this tradition grew up it is hard to say, but documentary evidence shows its incorrectness. Samuel Spencer's will is on record in Philadelphia. It describes him a "late of Barbadoes, but now of the county of Philadelphia, merchant, being sick of body, but of good and perfect memory, " [etc.]. This shows him to have been on land, and ill, at the date of the will, which was November 20, 1705, and as its probate was made a month later, December 20, 1705, it is evident that his decease closely followed its making, and that no voyage and death at sea could have occurred before probate.
Samuel Spencer, as is known in various ways, left two sons, Samuel and William. These the will names: "I give and bequeath unto my eldest son, Samuel Spencer, 20 pounds, to be paid unto him when he shall come to the age of 21 years, without any interest, [he] to be fitted with a good suit of cloaths fitt for such a lad, and to be forthwith sent to Barbadoes to his relacions there. I give and bequeath unto my son William Spencer, 20 pounds, " etc., etc.
Of Samuel Spencers "relacions", in Barbadoes, nothing definite is known. Samuel Spencer's two sons were, as the will shows, minors when their father died. Their mother, in all probability, was previously deceased. She was the daughter of Robert Whitton, and her brother Richard is said to have reared the two boys, --Samuel not having been sent back to the Barbadoes, at all. In 1742, Richard Whitton, of Upper Dublin, yeoman, made his will, and after some bequests left to his "two cousins, [i.e. nephews] Samuel Spencer and William Spencer," all his "lands, houses, tenements, and plantations," etc., --this being property in Upper Dublin [now Montgomery county, Pennsylvania].
Events
| Birth | 1 Jan 1672/73 | London, England | |||
| Marriage | Abt 1698 | Elizabeth Whitton | |||
| Death | 20 Dec 1705 | Pennsylvania |
Families
| Spouse | Elizabeth Whitton (1676 - 1702) |
| Child | Samuel Spencer (1699 - 1777) |
| Child | William Spencer (1701 - 1756) |
| Spouse | Hester Jannet ( - ) |
| Child | John Spencer ( - 1753) |
| Father | John Spencer ( - 1683) |
| Mother | Mary ( - 1683) |
| Sibling | James Spencer (1670 - ) |