Person Page - 2458

       Hannah/3p Curtis was born 28 May 1681 at Scituate, MA.¹ There baptised at the Second Church, 9 Jul 1682.²

       William/3p Curtis was born 15 Sep 1683 at Scituate, MA.¹ There baptised at the Second Church 17 May 1685.²

       Joanna/3p Brooks was born 5 Sep 1695 at Scituate, MA, and there baptised the same year at the Second Church.^1,2 She married, 26 Oct 1720 at Scituate, Dea. John/4 Ruggles of Roxbury, son of John/3 Ruggles.³ Her husband succeeded to the farm of her father Thomas Brooks, which, Deane wrote in 1831, "lies a half mile east of the residence of William above described. It was the farm of William Richards 1640."⁴ Her name appears on a list of Second Church members, 13 Nov 1751.⁵ Dea. John Ruggles died 5 Dec 1772.⁶ Joanna died 26 Mar 1779 (g.s.) at age 83.⁷ They are buried in South Parish Cemetery, Norwell (formerly South Scituate).⁸

       John/a Vassall married, in England, Anna Russell.^1,2
     "The Vassall family is of French origin, and has been traced back in France to the eleventh century. From it descended 'the gallant John Vassall, an alderman of an unknown place , who, in 1588, at his own expense, fitted out and commanded two ships of war, with which he joined the royal navy to oppose the Spanish Armada.' He had two sons, William and Samuel, both of whom were among the original patentees of Massachusetts, in 1628."²

       John White, of Dorchester, Wessex, leader of the failed Dorchester Adventurers Company which had colonized Cape Ann in 1623, organized a corporation of London merchants in 1628 which became the Massachusetts Bay Company. Among these, says Morison, were "Matthew Cradock, who owned £2000 worth of East India Company stock; Sir Richard Saltonstall, nephew and heir of a Lord Mayor of London who was Master of the Worshipful Company of Skinners (what we should call the hide and leather men)…Samuel and William Vassall, interested in the Guinea trade and sons of a Huguenot member of the Virginia Company who commanded a ship against the Spanish Armada; and, in addition, a group of East Anglia puritans: William Pynchon, squire of Springfield in Essex, Isaac Johnson, and Richard Bellingham."³
     Says Harris in Cambridge Epitaphs, "The Vassall family is of French origin, and has been traced back in France to the eleventh century. From it descended 'the gallant John Vassall, an alderman of London, who, in 1588, at his own expense, fitted out and commanded two ships of war, with which he joined the royal navy to oppose the Spanish Armada.' He had two sons, William and Samuel, both of whom were among the original patentees of Massachusetts, in 1628….²
     "Samuel, the brother of William, remained in England. He was a merchant in an unknown place , an alderman, and, in 1640 and 1641, a member of Parliament. In the year 1766, his great-grandson, Florentius Vassall, of Jamaica, caused a monument to be erected in honor of him, in King's Chapel, Boston. It is recorded thereon that 'he was one of the largest subscribers to raise money against the rebels in Ireland; a steady and undaunted asserter of the liberties of England in 1628; the first who boldly refused to submit to the tax of tonnage and poundage, an unconstitutional claim of the Crown, arbitrarily imposed; for which (to the ruin of his family) his goods were seized, and his person imprisoned by the Star Chamber Court. The Parliament, in July, 1641, voted him £10445.12.2 for his damages, and resolved that he should be further considered for his personal sufferings; but the rage of the times, and the neglect of proper applications since, have left his family only the honor of that vote and resolution.'"
     [The memorial continues, noting that Samuel Vassall's descendants, who were Loyalists in the Revolution, returned to England.]²

       Cornet Robert/1 Stetson was born circa 1613, and is said to have been of County Kent, England.^1,2 He married Honour Tucker.³ Deane includes him in "A list of those who took 'the oath of fidelity'" at Scituate, MA, 1668, and in a list of allowed and approved inhabitants granted land in 1673.⁴ He died at Scituate 1 Feb 1702/3.⁵ Cavalryman, representative, commissioner. See Savage 3:183.¹

       Samuel/2 Carpenter married, as her 1st husband, 25 May 1660 at Rehoboth, MA, Sarah Redaway, daughter of James Redaway, with whom he had 9 sons and 1 daughter.^2,3,4 List of Rehoboth freemen, 1670.⁵ On a list of men who made advances of money to sustain the government during Philip's War, his sum being £11.19.5.⁶ He was buried at Rehoboth 20 Feb 1682/83.⁷ His widow married (2) Gilbert/1p Brooks.^8,3,9