Person Page - 2071

       William/2 Cheney Jr. married, 1661, Deborah Wiswall, with whom he had 7 children.² He died 21 or 22 Sep 1681.^3,4
     "William Cheney had an unhappy life. He had a turbulent marriage to Deborah, which led to at least one separation. In 1681, William was accused of raping Experience Holbrook, a girl he was living with. Deborah (Debbara) testified for William, calling Experience 'a lying wench'. The Grand Jury found William guilty of rape and sentenced him to hang. William could have won a reprieve if he had not refused to hear a sermon on the day of his execution. William 'hardened himself still in his unrepentant frame of mind' and faced the scaffold."²
     Pope glosses over the circumstances of his death, saying only, he "made his home in Medfield on lands which his father had acquired in the early laying out of the town when it was a part of Dedham. He afterward resided in Dorchester. He d. in Sept. 1681, bequeathing his property to his widow and her sons. Only two of his children lived to maturity and had families."⁵

       William/1 Cheney was born 31 Jul 1603 at Lambourn, West Berkshire, England.¹ He married, in England, Margaret (–?–).¹ He emigrated to Massachusetts Bay, where, 1640, he was listed in the "estates and persons of the Inhabitants of Rocksbury," with 24½ acres.¹ Tax assessor of Roxbury, 21 Feb 1648; constable, 1654–6; voted a selectman 16 Jan 1656.¹ "In 1663, William Cheney guaranteed yearly contributions to the Roxbury Free School. The school, a first for Roxbury, was built with care and furnished with 'convenient benches with forms, with tables for the scholars, and a conveniente seate for the schoolmaster, a deske to put the dictionary on and shelves to lay up bookes." Chosen, 15 Feb 1663, one of the feofees [directors] of the school.¹ He joined the Roxbury church, years after his wife (1643), on 5 Jan 1664.¹ Admitted freeman of Roxbury, 23 May 1666.¹ He died at Roxbury 30 Jun 1667 at age 63.²
     "William was a successful farmer. At the time of his death, he owned over 100 acres of land, his home and a house in Boston. The Cheney homestead was located on Dudley Street near Warren Street in Roxbury. Judging from the estate inventory, the main house was large…The [parlor] also boasted a great cupboard, a little cupboard and three chairs…Also included in the estate inventory were 36 bushels of Indian corn, 12 bushels of Rye, 5½ bushels of malt, 5 cows and 3 swine."¹

       Margaret (–?–) was reportedly born in England in 1604.² There she married William/1 Cheney, son of Lawrence/a Cheney and Julian[ne] Waldron.² She joined the church at Roxbury, MA, 1643.² William died at Roxbury 30 Jun 1667.³
     "Margaret had a breakdown after William died. In the church records of the time, it was noted that 'Margaret Cheany widow having been long bound by Satan under a melancholick distemper, (above 10 or 11 yeares) which made her wholly neglect her Calling & live mopishly, this day [24 Mar 1673] gave thanks to God for loosing her chain & confessing & bewailing her sinful yielding to temptation.⁴'"
     "Despite William's careful provision for Margaret in his will, her widowhood was not without financial problems. She petitioned the court regarding her son Thomas's treatment of her, to which it responded: 'In answer to the petition of Margaret Cheeny, widdow: The Court Orders that Thomas Cheeny her Son pay unto his sd Mother Five pounds in mony every quarter of the yeare, yearely for the improvement of the Estate left by his Father & give her good assurance of her living peaceably with him, otherwise that hee leave the house; the Estate being judged to bee worth twenty five pound in mony per annum' (Suffolk County Court, 749, dated 31 October 1676)."²
     Margaret married (2) (–?–) ?Burrage, and moved to Boston.⁵ She made her will 23 Sep 1686, and died sometime later that year.⁵