Individual Details

http://www.familyorigins.com/users/f/i/s/Gordon-M-Fisher/FAMO1-0001/d58.htm

"William Rockwell -- Bot. 6 Feb. 1590/1, Fitzhead, Somerset/ Died 15 May 1640, Windsorr, CT. He m. Susan Capen, 14 Apr. 1624, Dorchester, Dorset, whjo d. 13 Nov. 1666, Windsor, CT. She m. (2) Mathew [sic] Grant, 29 May 1645, Windsor, CT. She was bpt. 11 Apr. 1602. Dorchester, Dorset, dau. of Bernard Capen and Joan Purchase. William brought his family on the "Mary & John" in 1630, along with Susan's sister, Dorothy Capen and her husband, Nicholas Upsall. Bernard Capen brought the rest of his family over in 1633. (P) In 1990 a memorial stone was placed in the Fitzhead church yard by American descendants of William Rockwell. This was in honor of the 400th anniversay of his baptism. It was sponsored by the Mary & John Clearing House, and dedicated 30 June 1990 by descendants on the "Mary & John, III" tour."
--- Burton Spear, *... Mary & John 1630*, v 17, 1992, p 132

"ROCKWELL, WILLIAM (1591-1640) -- Of Fitzhead, Somerset, Dorchester, Dorset and Windsor, CT. He came to Dorchester, MA with his wife Susan Capen on the "Mary & John" in 1630. She was the daughter of Bernard Capen and Joan Purchase of Dorchester, Dorset. Susan's sister Dorothy Capen also came on the "Mary & John" in 1630 with her husband Nicholas Upsall. In 1633 their parents came to Dorchester, MA with their other children, John Capen and HOnor Capen who m. William Hannum. About 1635 another daughter Elizabeth Capen came with her husband Thomas Swift. Also two of Susan's uncles came to New England who were brothers of her mother. Thoms Purchase came first in 1628 and Aquila Purchase came in 1633 (on the same boat as the Bernard Capen family) with his wife Ann Squire, but he died enroute. Ann Squire was followed by two other sisters. In 1638 Edith Squire came with her husband Henry Adams and Margaret Squire came with her husband John Sheppard. (Ref: Search Series, Vol. 17, pp. 3-9, 25-27 and 121-125)"
--- Burton W Spear, * ... Mary & John 1630 ... *, v 18, 1992, p 165

"WILLIAM [ROCKWELL], Dorchester, f. of John the first. [i.e., 1st listed, who is the John of the succeeding entry in this tree] came prob. in the Mary and John, req.adm. as freem. 19 Oct. 1630, and was sw. 18 May foll. was one of the first two deac. rem. to Windsor, in its sec. yr. there d. 15 May 1640, leav. wid Susanna (prob. sec. w. to wh. Hist. of Dorchester gives the surname Chapin), wh. m. Matthew Grant, and ch. John; Samuel; Joan, who m. 15 Nov. 1642, Jeffrey Baker; Ruth, wh. m. 22 Mar. 1658, Walter Gaylord, as his sec. w. Stiles makes Mary m. Jeffrey Mahon; but I doubt the outlandish surname, and suspect the bapt. name was borrow. from the h. of Joan. Of this name, ten had in 1829 been gr. at Yale and one at Dart."
--- James Savage, *A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register*; Boston (Little, Brown & Co.) 1860, v.3, p. 558

"WILLIAM ROCKWELL (1640), from Dorchester, had a lot granted to him sixteen and three fourths rods wide. He had but one child born here. He died, 1640. His widow married Matthew Grant. His son, John married Mary [looks like should be SARAH ENSIGN, see note under JOHN] Ensign, 1651. He had three daughters, and married, for his second wife, Deliverance Hayes, 1662, by whom he had two sons and two daughters. He died, 1673. He had his father's homestead. His son Samuel married Mary Newton, and had four sons and three daughters, 1661-1678. He was one of the early settlers "over the Great River."
--- Jabez H Hayden, "Early Windsor Families," in *The Memorial History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884*, ed. J Hammond Trumbull, v. 2, 1886, p 557

"WILLIAM ROCKWELL was born in England in 1591 ..... He married Susan Capen April 14, 1624, at Dorchester, England. With his wife, and two children under five years of age, he left Plymouth, England, on the "Mary and John," with the Winthrop emigration in 1630, and settled at Dorchester, Mass. He removed to Windsor, Conn., in 1637, where he died in 1640. He was one of the two deacons chosen when the Dorchester Church was organized, just when they left England. ..... From the position he held as deacon, he was not called upon to bear arms. At Windsor in 1638, all above sixteen years of age were ordered to bear arms, but church officers, and those who had filled those offices, were exampt "from bearing arms, watchings and ward." [Stiles'] History of Windsor Vol. 1, page 72. ..... On page 387, Vol 1, History of Windsor, under a list of the deacons of the Windsor Church occurs this:-- "William Rockwell (according to the history of Dorchester, Mass.), which says that he and Mr. William Gaylord were the first deacons of this church at Dorchester."
--- Ross Robert Rockwell, *Rockwell Families from the Beginning of Time and Forever*, 1975 (privately printed; borrowed from Connect Historical Society), p. 16-17.

"ROCKWELL ..... WILLIAM. Born ca 1591. Came on "Mary and John" 1630, Boston (Mass.) 1631, Windsor 1637. d. Windsor 15 May 1640. Freeman. Deacon. Brother of John of Windsor whose surviving son did not leave male-line descendants. *Rockwell family in America* 1873; *Three centuries of the Rockwell family* (pamph.) 1930; *Rockwell one line of descent* 1924; College of Arms, *Pedigree of Rockwell and allied families* (anc) ca 1973."
--- Meredith B Colket, *Founders of Early American Families*, Cleveland OH 1985, p 264

"WILLIAM ROCKWELL was born in England. The parish register of Holy Trinity, Dorchester, England, records the marriage of William Rockwell to Susana [sic] Capen, April 14, 1624. (P) The Rockwell family traces its origin to Sir Ralph De Rockwell, Norman Knight, who accompanied Empress Matilda into England, 1139, where she laid claim to the English throne. He ultimately joined King Henry II, and was given large grants of land in the County of York, England. (P) William Rockwell came to Dorchester, Massachusetts from England, 1630. He was a freeman and Deacon of the Dorchester Congregational Church. He removed to Windsor, Connecticut, where he died May 15, 1640. His wife, Susana Capen, was the daughter of Bernard and Joan (Purchase) Capen. She was born April 5, 1602 at Dorchester, England, and died November 13, 1666 at Windsor, Connecticut. After the death of William Rockwell she married Matthew Grant, May 29, 1645. Grant was the immigrant ancestor of General Ulysses Simpson Grant. She was Grant's second wife. She had no children by Grant. However, through one of her daughters by Rockwell she is the ancestress of General U. S. Grant. (P) William Rockwell and wife were the ancestors of General U. S. Grant, Samuel Huntington, Governor of Connecticut, and Signer of the Declaration of Independence, and General Jedediah Huntington. Children --- 1. John [see John (2) ROCKWELL]. 2. Ruth married Christopher Huntington. 3. Mary married Jeffry Mohon. 4. Samuel. 5. Joseph. 6. Sarah married Wait Gaylord."
--- Arthur Orison Dillon, *The Ancestors of Arthur Orison Dillon and His Poems*, 1927, privately printed, p 32. His sources for ROCKWELL: Giles' *History of Windsor*; *Rockwell Genealogy*, *Huntington Genealogy*, *Grant Genealogy*.

"WILLIAM ROCKWELL, who has been considered the ancestor of all of that name in America, was one of the deacons of the church formed in the New Hospital at Plymouth, which was the first church at Dorchester, the oldest in the Colony of the Bay except that of Salem, and the only church that came over in a body in church fellowship, the others being gathered here. (P) DEACON REOCKWELL was one of the first "*three selectmen*" of the town, signed the first land grants, and was one of the "twenty-four freemen" who took the oath of fidelity, May, 1630."
--- Henry Ensign Rockwell, *The Rockwell Family in America, A Genealogical Record, from 1630 to 1873*, Boston (Rockwell and Churchill) 1873, p 17. On p 44, Rockwell has: DEACON WILLIAM ROCKWELL, b. 1595; m. Susanna Chapin, b. April 5, 1602. "He was a prominent and highly respected member of the community, and was buried at Sunsetting, forty-five years old." (Windsor, Conn.) Susanna Chapin is said to have been probably his second wife. He died May 15, 1640."

Of the voyage, Rockwell says in the book just cited (p 14-15): "REV. JOHN WHITE was the rector of Trinity parish, Dorchester, Dorset Shire, England ..... In the summer of 1629, Mr. White wrote to Gov. Endicott of Massachusetts. "to appoint a place of habitation for sixty families out of Dorset Shire," which were to arrive in the following spring. ..... Two devoted ministers, Messrs. John Maverick and John Warham, were selected, not only with a view to the spiritual welfare of the plantation, but especially that their efforts might bring the Indians to the knowledge of the gospel. ..... Messrs. Rossiter and Ludlow, men of character and education, were joined to the association, and several gentlement past middle life, with adult families and good estates, were added. Among these latter were the deacons of the church, William Gaylord and William Rockwell, though Deacon Rockwell was probably not much over thirty years of age, having then only one son, born in 1627. Among the men of some military experience, who came over at this time, were Capt. John Mason and Capt. Richard Couthcote. This company assembled at Plymouth, Devonshire, where a large ship of four hundred tons, the Mary and John, Capt. Squeb, chartered for the voyage, was fitted out. "Just as they were to embark for New England, upon a day of solemn fasting and prayer, they were formed into a Congregational Church." ..... The vessel sailed on the 20th of March, 1630, and after a passage of seventy days, arrived at Nantasket (Hull), May 30th, :the Word of God being preached and expounded every day during the voyage." The number of passengers was one hundred and forty, and, in consequence of some misunderstanding as to the place of landing, or, as some say, because the captain would not risk the passage of the harbor without a pilot, and was not able to obtain one, they were obliged to land at this point. Trumbull says the captain was compelled to pay damages afterwards for his conduct; but, at the time the Mary and John arrived, the refusal of Captain Squeb to attempt the passage into the harbor, without pilot or chart, does not seem unreasonable. After some delay, boats were procured to take the colonists, with their goods, up the Charles river, and they landed where Watertown now is." On p 18, Rockwell observes that William Rockwell probably removed to Windsor in 1636, "where he was a deacon in the First Church, and a leading man in the settlement, until his death, May 15, 1640. Subsequently, the widow became the wife of Matthew Grant, who came over from England in the same vessel, and who removed with the colony to Windsor, and was a surveyor, and recorder of deeds." He was married to Susan(na) CAPEN on 14 Apr 1624 in Dorchester, Dorset, England. Savage says m. "on the Monday of Whitsun week, 1596".

Birth	Ca 1590	Fitzhead, Somerset, England
Christen	6 Feb 1590/91	Fitzhead, Somerset, England
Marriage	14 Apr 1624	Dorchester, Dorset, England - Susanna Capen
Death	15 May 1640	Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut

Spouse	Susanna Capen (1602 - 1666)
Child	Joan Rockwell ( - )
Child	John Rockwell ( - )
Child	Mary Rockwell (1639 - )
Child	Samuel Rockwell (1631 - )
Child	Ruth Rockwell (1633 - )
Child	Joseph Rockwell (1635 - )
Child	Sarah Rockwell (1638 - )