Weaver

 

Clement Weaver I - Rebecca Holbrook

Clement Weaver, from whom were descended a large proportion al all the Weaver families found in New England and many of Those in New York and other states, came to America from Glastonbury, Somersetshire, England, where he was united in marriage May 19, 1617, to Rebecca Holbrook, dughter of William Holbrook of that same town. The entry of this event in the parish register of St. John's

Church reads: "1617, Mensos May Clementus Weaver duxit in uxorem Rebecca Holbrook 19 Maij p'dict."

Two years later, December 11, 1625, his father-in-law, William Holbrook made his will, naming "Clement Weaver, ye elder, Thomas Tyly, and my sonne Thomas Holbrook" as overseers.

His brother-in-law Thomas Holbrook with his family came with Rev. Joseph Hull's company in 1635 and settled in Weymouth, Mass. How long Clement had lived there at this time is not known, but thought he was among those who came after 1630 and before the coming of Hull and his followers.

Sometime between 1643 and 1651 Clement Weaver left the settlement at Weymouth and took up his abode on the Island of Rhodes, which at that time comprised the Portsmouth settlement started in 1638 and that of Newport begun in 1639. It is possible that the Weavers may have settled temporarily in Portsmouth, as Clement II married a Portsmouth girl and owned land in that town in 1651. Clement I was a wall builder. Certain it is that both Clement I and II had lived in the jurisdiction of Newport long enough before 1655 to gain admission there as freeman, as their names both appear in the roll of freeman that year. When they were first admitted is unknown as this is the earliest such list which survives. Nor can it be positively stated whether they first dwelt in the little village that established itself "on both sides of the spring and by the sea-side southward,," that is in the very heart of the present city of Newport,--or settled on a large farm in the north-west part of the town which lies in the territoty which became Middletown in 1743. This land lies on the west side of the west main road at the head of Forest Avenue, about one mile from Narragansett Bay and about two and one-half miles from the Newport line. Tradition has it that Clement Weaver lived on this farm and built himself a stone house which stook until comparatively recent years, but has ere now been pulled down. This tract was owned, at the time when the town of Middletown, was set off from Newport, by Thomas Weaver, a grandson of Clement I and his sons, and at least part of it remained in the Weaver family over two hundred years thereafter.

Clement and Rebecca had three children: Clement II, Eleanor and Elizabeth.

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©2002 by Joan Case
Last updated on Sunday, November 10, 2002

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