|
a.
|
Note: CAPT. RICHARD BETTS, ENGLAND TO LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK
Richard Betts, Ipswich 1648, said to have come from Hemel Hempstead, Co. Herts, removed to Newton, L.I. 1656, there was in high esteem many years and died at the age of 100, to render wh. great number of years, doubtful the stupidity of tradition adds, that he dug his own grave. By wife, Joanna, Riker says, he had Richard; Thomas; Joanna, who married John Scudder; Mary, who married Joseph Swazey; Martha, who married Philip Ketchum; Elizabeth who was first wife of Joseph Sackett; and Sarah, who married Edward Hunt. Richard Betts, Newtown, L.I. son of the preceeding died 4 Nov 1711, leaving Richard, Robert, Thomas, Sarah, Elizabeth Joanna, Abigail, and Mary, beside widow Sarah, who may have been mother of all these children. (Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, p. 172)
A paragraph from "The Scaketts of America," pg. 20, has the following: Capt. Richard Betts, the father of Elisabeth, the first wife of Capt. Joseph Sackett, was born in Hertferdshire, England, in the year 1613. He came to New England about the year 1635, and in 1636 settled in Newtown, Mass., from which place, prior to 1642, he removed to Ipswich, where he remained until about 1654, when he removed to and became a permanent resident of Newtown, Long Island, N.Y. There he soon acquired prominence and influence, and for upwards of half a century participated largely in public affairs. In the revolution of 1663 he bore a zealous part, and after the conquest of New Netherlands by the English was a member from Newtown of the Provisional Assembly held at Hempstead in 1665. He was "High Sheriff of Yorkshire, upon Long Island" from 1678 to 1681. For a long series of years he was a magistrate, and several times a member of the "high Court of Assise," then the supreme power of the Colony. His name is honorably mentioned in upwards of thirty distinct paragraphs on the pages of "Riker's Annals of Newtown," the last of which reads as follows: "The last survivor of the original purchasors, Capt. Richard Betts, died on November 18, of this year" (1713) "at the patriarchal age of a hundred years. None in the township has been so eminent as he for commanding influence and valuable public service. His remains were interred on his own estate at the English Kills, on the 20th, with a funeral service by Mr. Poyer, rector of Jamaica Parish." (View the will of Richard Betts Sr.)
The Will of Richard Betts, 1713 Source: (New York) Abstracts of Wills Vol II 1709-1728 page 242.
In the name of God, Amen. I, Richard Betts, of Newtown, in Queens County, on Nassau Island, yeoman, being in good health. I leave to my wife Johanah, all my homestead and buildings and lot of land belonging to the same, lying between the lands of John Scudder and Richard Betts, son of Thomas Betts, deceased; Also my tract of land between the way that leads to the narrow passage and the land of Samuel Albertus, and the meadow adjoining to the same; Also all my movable estate, and liberty to get what hay she may have occasion for during her life. After the decease of my wife I leave to my son, Richard Betts, my Camlet cloak, for his birthright, and all my right and interest in lands in Plunder neck; Also my house and home lot and buildings; Also 1/2 of the lands and meadows that lyeth below the road, that leads from the English Kill to the Dutch Kills, bounded by Samuel Albertus and John Allen, with all the appurtenances; Also 1/2 the meadow land above the homestead, situate between the lands of John Scudder and Richard Betts, sons of Thomas Betts, deceased. I leave to my grandson, Richard Betts, son of Thomas Betts, my tract of land lying between the way that leads to the narrow passage and the land of Samuel Albertus, up to Newtown spring; Also 1/2 the meadow and upland, that lyeth between the road that leads from the English Kills to the Dutch Kills, bounded by Samuel Albertus and John Allen. All movable estate after my wife's death to my daughters Johanah Sander, Mary Swazy, and Martha Ketcham, and the children of my daughter, Elizabeth Sackett, deceased, and the children of my daughter, Sarah Hunt, deceased. I appoint my sons in law, Joseph Sackett and Phillip Ketcham, executors.
Witnesses, John Donan, Hannah Field, John Gould. Proved, November 26, 1713.
|
