Richard (#768) and Mary (#769) Sisson

768. RICHARD SISSON
769. MARY ?
Parents: ?
Parents: ?
BORN: 1608
BORN: ca 1615
England
England
DIED: Feb, 1684
DIED: 22 Sep, 1692
Portsmouth, Rhode Island
Dartmouth, Massachusetts

MARRIED: ?

CHILDREN

384.
i.
George
b. ca 1645, d. 7 Sep, 1718

ii.
Anne
b. ca 1647, d. aft 1718

iii..
Elizabeth
b. 8 Apr, 1650, d. 1740

iv.
James
b. 2 Nov, 1652, d. Dec, 1734

v.
Mary
b 1653, d. 1674

vi.
John
b. ca 1658, d. 24 Jun, 1687

Much effort has been expended by the Sisson family to determine the English ancestry of immigrant Richard Sisson, with little reward to date. Two English genealogists retained by the Sisson family have located two Richard Sissons from old English records. The first is from Snaith, Yorkshire, where a Richard Sisson was married to a Mary Atkinson on 14 February, 1632. This matches well with Richard, since we know from New England records that his wife’s name was Mary, and his birth year of 1608 meshes well with this marriage date. The one negative with this couple is that they had a son George who was baptized on 17 July, 1636, whereas we know that our ancestor George was born around 1645. This can be explained by George having given incorrect age information in New England, or perhaps the baptism is for a George who died young, and our ancestor George was born later and given the same name, a fairly frequent occurrence. The second Richard Sisson was born in Saxton-on-Elnet, also in Yorkshire, baptized in 1615. This is several years later than Richard had said he was born in New England records, and lacks the additional corroboration of a wife named Mary. An earlier, undocumented source also mentions a Richard Sisson born in Greystoke, Cumbria and that there were several Sisson records found in the Penrith, Cumbria area. At this stage probably the best we can guess is that Richard came from northern England, where both Yorkshire and Cumbria are located, but even that vague assertion could easily be wrong.

There is additional confusion as to when Richard and Mary migrated to New England, with two possible answers. The first alternative is that the family migrated to Dartmouth, a town in southeastern Massachusetts then part of Plymouth colony, in 1639. They then moved to nearby Portsmouth, Rhode Island in 1651. The second alternative is that they migrated directly to Portsmouth, Rhode Island in 1651. Several facts are indisputable that may help choose between these alternatives. First, the Sissons were definitely Quakers in Rhode Island. Second, Richard maintained two homes, one in Dartmouth and one in Portsmouth. Third, the first appearance of Richard in any New England records is in 1651. I think on balance that these facts argue for the second alternative. The Quaker religion was flourishing in both England and Rhode Island, but definitely not in Massachusetts. If he were living in Plymouth colony, he would have been much less exposed to Quaker teachings when the religion took root beginning in 1650. More likely he was an early convert in England, and set off for the safe harbor of Rhode Island the following year, possibly as a missionary. Also, there are many records of Richard beginning in 1651, which draws attention to their absence prior to that date. It is hard to see how there would be no records for twelve years if he had actually been living in Dartmouth since 1639.

Assuming the second alternative is correct, Richard and Mary would already have joined the Society of Friends, or Quakers, in 1650, and migrated to Rhode Island with their three eldest children, born in England. At that time England was governed by the Puritans under Oliver Cromwell, so most of the Puritan migration to New England had stopped; however, Quakers were unpopular in England so they continued to migrate during the Cromwell government. Richard’s first documented appearance in New England was his admission as an inhabitant in Portsmouth on 16 June, 1651. He was then admitted as a freeman to both Portsmouth and Dartmouth in 1653, which is unusual. He was also elected constable in Portsmouth in 1653, a position he held for many years. In that election, he was referred to as “Goodman Sisson”, a title usually, though not always, given to people of yeoman status.

At a Portsmouth town meeting on 30 November, 1657, Richard and nine other freemen were awarded planting rights on Hog Island (in Mount Hope Bay between Portsmouth and Bristol). On 6 July, 1658, he purchased 1/300th of both Coanicut Island and Dutch Island. (Coanicut Island is present-day Jamestown, the second largest island in Rhode Island after Aquidneck, and Dutch Island is a smaller island to the west of Coanicut Island that was used as an Indian trading post by the Dutch). This must have been a speculative venture, as two years later he sold these island holdings, plus an additional 1/300th of each island that he must have purchased along the way to Peleg Sanford.

In 1667, he moved to Dartmouth, Massachusetts, where he had probably owned land since being admitted as a freeman in 1653. (Under a royal decree from King Charles I, Massachusetts was no longer permitted to imprison Quakers, so it was now safe to make the move.) He was the first inhabitant in what is now Westport, Massachusetts, establishing a large farm on the west bank of the Coakset River. His house was located in what is now the historical village of the Head of Westport, on what is now the corner of the road leading from the Head of Westport to South Westport, and the “Rhode Island Way” leading between Sandy Pond and Stafford Pond to the Sakonnet River. This area was far from the town center of Dartmouth, and a very risky place to live in light of the simmering tensions with the Indians. With the outbreak of King Philip’s War in 1675, the Sissons returned to their safer Portsmouth home.

Richard appears one last time in New England records, with his testimony in an Indian dispute presided over by our ancestor John Alden. Two of Richard’s friends, John Sanford and John Archer, had contracted to purchase Sakonnet Point from the Indian princess Namumpan, but there were apparently irregularities in the contract. Namumpan protested to the Plymouth court, and Richard and Mary testified in the proceedings. To their credit, they sided with Namumpan against their friends. Richard testified that “John Archer, being at my house did speak as followeth, and said the deed of gift made by Namumpan to John Sanford and himself was a cheat, and the intent thereof was to deceive Namumpan, squaw Sachem of her land: and they were to have both corn and peague to secure her land from Wamsutta or Peter Tallman, and was to resign up the deed at her demand.” Wife Mary also testified as follows: “And I, Mary Sisson, do testify that I heard the same words at the same time, and further, when my husband was gone out of the house, I heard them both say they were troubled in conscience they had concealed it so long, and did refuse to take part of the gratification.” While I can’t piece together all the details, it appears that Archer and Sanford confessed to the Sissons that they cheated the land from the Indians, and planned to offer them corn and peague (Indian money) in recompense, or surrender the land to make amends. I would guess that they later had second thoughts and decided to keep the land, which precipitated the court case.

Richard died in Portsmouth in February, 1684, leaving a will dated 18 October, 1683 and an estate inventory 15 November, 1683. His will is fairly confusing, but in it he leaves his wife Mary “my dwelling house and movables during her life, and twelve pounds sterling yearly rent; with firewood, orchard fruit, land for garden, liberty to keep poultry for her use, and also a horse to be maintained and kept at her command to ride on, also 2 oxen and two cows that I bought with my money; all debts due me I give to my wife. She shall have a milch cow maintained for her use, with winter shelter and summer pasture during live and two parts of all my swine. Also she shall have her corn carried to the mill and the meal brought home again sufficient for use during life, and 10 bushels of Indian corn, 3 of Rye and half of my wheat and barley.” His daughter Anne received a tract of land on Pogansett Pond in Dartmouth. Son James was named executor of the will, and received all of Richard’s home and land in Dartmouth “excepting land near Pogansett Pond and reservations to wife as aforesaid.” Son John received all the land and home in Portsmouth. Son George and daughter Elizabeth each received five pounds, and George’s daughter Mary was to receive three cows and a bed, plus a pewter flagon and brass kettle that had belonged to her Aunt Mary, at the time of her wedding. Finally, he left his Indian servant Samuel a two year old mare. As far as I can understand, I believe wife Mary was to live in the Dartmouth property left to James. James already had a large farm adjacent to this property, so I believe he was meant to take care of his mother during her lifetime, after which this property would become his. I don’t understand the reference to twelve pounds rent, but perhaps part of the property was leased to someone else, and Richard was granting that rental income to Mary during her lifetime. Son John received the Portsmouth property, while eldest son, our ancestor George, received no property, nor was he named executor of the will. This seemed to be a snub to hint at a disagreement between George and his son, but George’s daughter was given a wedding dowry, partly from the estate of Richard’s daughter Mary who had already died (the “Aunt Mary” mentioned above”. I know that George in fact owned Richard and Mary’s original property in Portsmouth, where he built his house on the foundations of Richard and Mary’s old house. So my best guess is that there was no falling out between father and son, but that Richard had given his Portsmouth property to son George at the time of his move to Dartmouth. He then purchased another home when he returned to Portsmouth during King Philip’s War, and it is this house that he left to son John, not the original Sisson homestead. This would explain why son George received very little in the will, and why George ended up owning the original Sisson homestead when the will says the Portsmouth property was given to son John. I’ve made a number of assumptions in putting this together, all of which could be wrong, but it seems plausible to me.

Richard’s estate was worth six hundred pounds, equivalent to approximately $1.7 million in today’s economic power. Interestingly the inventory valued Richard’s beds at fifty pounds, greater than the value of his Dartmouth farm (forty pounds), reflecting the relative scarcity of English furniture versus land in New England. It also included an “Indian servant” valued at ten pounds and a “Negro servant” valued at twenty eight pounds.

Wife Mary died eight years later, in Dartmouth on 22 September, 1692. She had apparently been quite ill for some time, as in her will dated “the fifteenth day of the second month called April, 1690, she described herself as “very ill in body”. (For those paying close attention you will have noticed a discrepancy in the date of the will. This is because Quakers refused to use the names of the months since they derived from Pagan sources, and used the Julian rather than Gregorian calendar, which began in March. Therefore the Quaker second month is equivalent to our April.) She gave our ancestor George, thirty five pounds and a bible and the children of her son John thirty five pounds. Her remaining estate, consisting of brass, pewter, iron, linen and wools, chests, spinning wheels, milk vessels and pails, was divided into three parts. Her daughters Elizabeth and Ann, and George’s daughter Mary, each received one part. Mary’s estate also included 29 cheeses, the ultimate disposition of which is unknown.

Richard and Mary had six children, of whom the first three, including our ancestor George (#384) were most likely born in England and the others born in Portsmouth. With the next generation, the Sissons generally shifted from Portsmouth to Dartmouth. Eldest daughter Anne (ii) married Peleg Tripp in Portsmouth ca 1666. Peleg’s parents owned land in both Dartmouth and Portsmouth, like the Sissons, and Peleg and Anne moved frequently between the two. They had ten children, whose descendants include General Motors founder William Durant, and Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Warren Harding. Elizabeth (iii) married Caleb Allen at the Quaker Meeting House in Sandwich, Massachusetts. They had seven children, all born in Sandwich. Elizabeth appears to have moved back to Dartmouth, as her death is recorded there in 1740, perhaps to live with one of her siblings after her husband’s death.

James (iv) was the first of Richard’s children to be born in Portsmouth, in 1652. He married Lydia Hathaway in 1680 in Portsmouth, and was the first of Richard’s children to move to Dartmouth, purchasing a farm near Richard’s Dartmouth property. When Richard died in 1684, he named James the executor of his will and left him the Dartmouth house and property, as well as various obligations to take care of Richard’s widow, Mary. James was a farmer but also held several local government positions. James and Lydia had ten (possibly twelve) children, all born in Dartmouth. The Sissons of Massachusetts are all descended from James and Lydia. Lydia died in 1714, and James in 1734. Although they both died in Dartmouth, they were buried in the Common Burial Ground in Newport, Rhode Island. Many Sissons of subsequent generations are also buried here.

Mary (v), born ca 1653, married Isaac Lawton, the son of our ancestors Thomas Lawton and Elizabeth Salisbury. Mary died in 1674 during the birth of her first child. John (vi), born ca 1658, also died young. John married a Mary, surname unknown, in Newport in 1681. John and Mary both died in 1687. They had two children before they died, and it is unknown who took care of them after their parents’ death, although Richard’s wife Mary left them thirty five pounds in her will. Of the two children, one son survived to adulthood, and raised a family in Newport. While the large majority of Rhode Island Sissons are descendants of George, a small minority of Rhode Island Sissons are descended from this son of John.