Dep Gov Samuel SYMONDS [35376]

  General Notes:

Samuel Symonds was a son of Richard Symonds and Elizabeth (Plumb) Symonds. He was baptized at Great Yeldham, Essex, England, on June 9, 1595.

First, he married Dorothy Harlakenden, the daughter of Thomas Harlakenden. They were married on 2 April 1617 at Great Yeldham. Dorothy was buried on August 3, 1636, at Toppesfield, Essex. They had twelve children together:
Richard bp 15 Jun, 1618
Dorothy bp November 9, 1619; m Thomas Harrison
Jane
Anne bp Apr 25, 1622
Samuel bp Oct 29, 1623; died a few days later.
Elizabeth bp Sep 22, 1624;[10] m Daniel Epps
Samuel baptized 3 January 1625/6.
Harlackenden bp Apr 17, 1627.
John bp Jul 15, 1628
Robert bp Aug 13, 1629
William bp Jun 22, 1632
Roger bp. Dec 5, 1633
Second, about 1637, he married Martha Reade, the widow of Daniel Epes, as her second husband, at Wickford, Essex.
They had four children together.
Martha; m John Denison
Ruth; m John Emerson of Gloucester, Mass
Samuel
Priscilla; m Thomas Baker of Topsfield, Mass

Third, Samuel married Rebecca (Swayne) (Biely) (Hall) Worcester, the daughter of Bennett Swayne.
Samuel lived in Toppesfield, Essex, England. He immigrated to New England in about 1637/8, settling at Ipswich, Massachusetts, where he was a deputy, assistant to the General Court and deputy governor of Massachusetts. He died in Boston, Massachusetts, in early October 1678, between the 2nd and the 7th of the month.

He is likely to be the "Samuel Simonds, esq.," with whom a 10 August 1676 document states that two "Indian" children had been placed as servants and to be "religiously educated and taught to read the english tounge." The children were "a boy named John, [age about 12], his father named Alwitankus, late of Quantisit, his father and mother ... both consenting," and "a girle named Hester, her father and mother dead, late of Nashaway ; her age ten years; her vncle John Woosumpegin of Naticke."

He wrote his will on February 16, 1673. In it he left bequests to the following:
wife Rebecca
son Harlakinden Symons
grand daughter Sarah Symons
my son and daughter Epps
my daughter Martha, L 100 as promised on her marriage to Mr. John Denison
my son and daughter Emerson
my daughter Baker (having already given my son Baker)
my daughter Dunkin
my daughter Hale
my son Chewte ( ie. husband of stepdaughter Elizabeth Epes Chute)
my wives grand daughter Rebecca Stacey
Reverend Mr. Cobbett, our pastor
son William Symonds, executor
Captain John Appleton, Lieutenant Samuel Appleton, and my son John Hale to be overseers
Samuel wrote several codicils to his will: On January 13, 1676; again on November 8, 1677 and finally on January 8, 1677. In these he references his son Harlakinden, his daughter Martha and 'my loving brother Richard Fitts Symonds, deceased.
As son William, executor died intestate, without making provisions for the estate division, on June 18, 1680, administration of Samuel's estate was granted to Mrs. Rebecca Symons, widow, eldest son Harlakinden Symons, and Daniel Epps, husband to Samuel's eldest living daughter Elizabeth.

On April 10, 1694, an agreement was made regarding the maintenance of widow Rebecca, and payment of legacies by the following:

Harlakinden Symonds
John Emerson and his wife Ruth Emerson of Gloucester
Thomas Baker and his wife Priscilla Baker of Topsfield
Daniel Epps of Salem
Simon Epps of Ipswich
Joseph Jacob and his wife Susanna Jacob
Dorothy Symonds, Colonel Thomas Wade as guardian for Mary and Elizabeth Symons all of Ipswich
The estate division, mentions portions of William Symons, deceased 'hath diposed of shall remain valid'
The farm called Argilla to be divided among

Harlakinden Symons
John Emerson and Ruth his wife
Thomas Baker and Prisiclla his wife
Daniel and Simon Epps
Richard Martin's children, which he had by his second wife Martha, and her other children
Joseph Jacob and his wife Susanna
Dorothy, Mary and Elizabeth Symons
His widow Rebecca died at Ipswich, Massachusetts on July 21, 1695, in her 79th year.

Symonds was descended from a family in Yeldham, Essex County, England which owned a good-sized estate. He settled in Ipswich in 1638. Like Denison, Symonds apparently married well. His first wife was Dorothy, the daughter of Thomas Harlakenden of Colne, England, a relative of Governor John Winthrop. Symonds served as a selectman, feoffee, and town clerk in Ipswich but spent most of his time playing an active role in colonial government. He served as an Assistant from 1643 to 1673 when he became Deputy Governor until his death in 1678. He was rewarded for his services by large grants of land such as 1000 acres in Maine, 300 acres beyond the Merrimac River, and 300 acres along the Connecticut River. [p. 147]

He was the uncle of the famous Royalist, antiquarian and diarist, Richard Symonds (1617-1660), whose genealogical writings about the County of Essex, England and the Symonds ancestry belong to the College of Arms, London (see Wikipedia: Richard Symonds, Diarist).
WikiTree - 2013

Samuel married Dorothy HARLAKENDEN [35383] [MRIN: 12800] on 2 Apr 1617 in Gt Yeldham ESS. (Dorothy HARLAKENDEN [35383] was born in 1596 in Earls Colne ESS and died in 1636.)

Samuel next married Martha READE [35374] [MRIN: 12795], daughter of Col Edmund READE [35372] and Elizabeth COOKE [35371], circa 1637 in Wickford ESS. (Martha READE [35374] was born on 13 Jun 1602 in North Benfleet Essex and died circa 1695 in Ipswich Essex Massachusetts America.)

Samuel next married Rebecca SWAYNE [35384] [MRIN: 12801] in 1662.