George Gardner, the Second Husband |
| George Gardner/Gardiner, b. ca. 1608-15 England; d. ca. 1677 Newport, Rhode Island; m1) ca. 1644 Newport Herodias (Long) Hicks, b. 1623-4 England; d. perhaps 1705 S. Kingstown, RI. Herodias m1) m1) by license, Mar. 14, 1636-7 St. Faith’s-Under-Paul’s, London, England John Hicks, d. 1672 Hempstead, New York; m3) by Jan. 1, 1671 S. Kingstown, RI John Porter, b. 1590-1608; d. after 1674 prob. S. Kingstown, RI. George m2) 1665-8 Newport or Portsmouth Lydia Ballou; d. after 1722; she m2) Jun. 14, 1678 Newport William Hawkins. All Old Style dates are converted to current dates. Gardner or Gardiner? George’s name was spelled both ways in colonial Rhode Island records, with Gardener tossed as well. Gardiner is the preferred spelling today in Rhode Island, and they jokingly refer to the “Blind Gardners” (those without an “i”). My ancestors were using Gardner by the time they reached New York in the mid-1700s. So do I. 20:3 mo [May]: 1638: The first mention of George Gardner in New England was at Portsmouth, Rhode Island in A Catalogue of such who by the Generall consent of the Company were admitted to be inhabitants. George Gardner was admitted as an inhabitant of Portsmouth, having submitted himself to the government that is or shall be established. Rhode Island General Court records Oct. 1639: On the last Thurs. in the 8th month, 1639 the land which was George Gardiner’s at Portsmouth was mentioned in that town’s records. George Gardner had moved to Newport, Rhode Island before this date, probably in May when Coddington and company relocated there. Rhode Island General Court records Dec. 17, 1639: George was made freeman on this date at Newport. Rhode Island General Court records Apr. 9, 1639: George's signature on a deed shows that he was a witness to William Coddington’s sale to William Tyng of his Massachusetts lands. Herodias (Long) Hicks-Gardner-Porter: A Tale of Old Newport ~ G. Andrews Moriarty ~ Rhode Island History Vol. VII (July 1952): pg. 84-92 May 1, 1639: George witnessed Richard Collacot’s note to William Coddington. Noted genealogist G. Andrews Moriarty suggests that George was a young man in the employ of Coddington at this time. Herodias (Long) Hicks-Gardner-Porter: A Tale of Old Newport ~ G. Andrews Moriarty ~ Rhode Island History Vol. VII (July 1952): pg. 84-92 Mar. 10, 1640: The record of George Gardiner his Land: Whereas according to certaine orders made for ye Establishing & giving assurance of the Land unto such who therein are observant Bee it known therefore that George Gardiner of Nuport having Exhibited his Acquittance under the Threars hand wherein appeares full satisfaction to be given for ye Number of fiftie Eight acr of Land being his portion allotted unto him by the Towne and lying wthin the precincts of such bounds as the Comittees by order appointed did bound wthall vidzt: one prcell conteyning thirtie nine acr more or less lying southerly upon the harbor marshes bounded on the East by Mr Jeffreys ffarme and on the west by Robt Stantons Land and butting upon the Comon wth the south end and north upon ye harbor marsh a drift way passing betwixt and continuing towards the end of the Iland and for as much as his prcell was adjudged & Layd forth primarily for 46 acrs bene under that falling short satisfacon was allowed both for want as well as for the Rocks and in [consideration] of a drift-way ther threw the number of Eighteen acr lying at Nuport Cliffs bounded on the highway South & East and northwest forth East upon the Comon and North East upon Robt Stantons land. Wth a prcell of medow lying at the East end of South Mead next Mr Brierly ffarme wth another prcll of marsh lying in harbor marsh adjoyning to henry bulls marsh and marmaduke wards wth a homlott of foure acr and another prcell of eighteen lying next to Robt Stantons eight common upon the hill on the west side of the swamp, in all wch prclls is contained the sd allowance of fiftie eight acr more or less, wth eighteen acr more since granted to him by the Towne thirteen acr wherof lies at nuport cliffs North upon the Sea or harbor South upon the highway East upon Edward Robinsons land and west upon Edward Andrews Land, wth another prcell of five acr more or less adjoyning to the forsd comon bounded by South Mead drift way & the swamp all wch prcells of Land so butted and bounded allowed & so layd forth for and in consideration of seventie six acr of land more or less is fully impropriated to the said George Gardiner his heirs & assigns for ever, The Title and Tenure wherof by the State Generall is deemed to be sure so firme and so free that neyther the seated nor any pson or other shall intrud into or molest the said George in it to deprive him or his of any thing that is or that bee wthin that & or any the bounds therof wth Lands wth the Tenur therof this prsant prcell doth be continue to be continued to the sd Georg Gardiner his heirs and Assigns to the worlds End: (Recorded by William Dyer) Rhode Island General Court records Mar. 10, 1640: The Record of George Gardiner’s Land: Whereas according to certaine orders made for the Establishing & giving assurances of the Land unto such who shall be therin observant Be it knowen therfore that George Gardiner having exhibited his bill under the Threar [Treasurer's] hand unto the Sessions held on the 10th of march 1640 wherin appeares full Satisfaction to bee given for the number of 58 acres of Land lying wthin the precincts of such bounds as the Comittees by order appointed did bound it withall vidzt: to beginne upon Mr Jeoffries westerly line and so to extend by the marsh side only leaving two Rodd breadth therby for fencing of the sd marsh to a marked tree by Robert Stantons, & so from thence upon a straight line to a marked stump upon the Rocks on this side Mr Coddingtons marsh with a homlot & three Cows of hay and in the harbor marsh next goodman bulls and two acr in East End of Southmead wth three Acres more of Cow comon lying upon the swamp upon the hill, All wch prcells of land Amounts to his proportion. This therfor doth Evidence & testifie that all those prclls of Land before specified Amounting in the aforesd Number of fifty eight acr more or less is fully Impropriated to the sd George Gardiner & his heires for Ever. Recorded by William Dyer) Rhode Island General Court records Mar. 12, 1640: George was present at the general Court of Elections Rhode Island General Court records Mar. 17, 1642: George was chosen Constable and Senior Sergeant Rhode Island General Court records Ca. 1644: Georg Gardner and Herodias (Long) Hicks formed a common-law marriage. Herod/ Horod, (who used a shortened form of her name in New England) was married first to John Hicks on Mar. 14, 1637 in London, at the age of 13 or 14. The couple moved to Weymouth for 2 1/2 years, then relocated to Newport, Rhode Island. After Herod requested a divorce because John Hicks was beating her, the couple was separated. Hicks took their children and an inheritance left to Herod by her mother, and went to “the Dutch” in New Amsterdam. John divorced Herod in New Amsterdam on Jun. 1, 1655 and remarried shortly thereafter. Around 1644, George and Herod appeared before their friends, including Robert Stanton, who declared one night at his house both of them did say before him and his wife that they did take one the other as man and wife. Rhode Island General Court records Mar. 13, 1644: George was Ensign of the Newport Company. Rhode Island General Court records May 25, 1644: Robert Stanton’s Land recorded: Memo That Robt Stanton having Som Land granted unto him having also satisfied the Threasury therfor vidzt 26 ~ acr is layd out with 23 acrs more or less lying on the South sid of Nupt Harbor bounded on ye East by ye Land of Georg Gardiner, on ye west by the Land of Toby Knight, on ye South by ye Comon, & 23 acr Lying on ye South sid of the Sea at Nupt Cliffs bounded on ye West by George Gardiner, East by John Hicks Land North upon the Hie way & South upon ye Comon, wth 13 acr 3/4 mor or less in ye north at Nupt Cliffs bounded viz: by Georg Gardiner East by John Hicks North upon ye sea, & Sthly [Southerly] by the hie way, wth 4 acr of a homlott & 4 acr Cow common between the Lott end. Mr Brarlly beinge bounded Southly Georg Gardiner west by ye hieway & North by Thom Emons, wth 4 acr more or less in South mead, bounded East by George Gardiner & west by marmaduke ward, wth an acr of salt marsh North by Tho: Hazard marsh west by ye Cove & East by Henry Bulls swamp all wch prcells of Land are impropriated to the sd Robert Stanton & his heirs for and wth all priviledges & prerogatives thereof to possess & enjoy to ye worlds end Wittness this [Record] This 25th of may 1644 William Dyre Rhode Island General Court records ca. May 25, 1644: Record of Robert Stanton’s Land: Whereas according to certaine orders made for the Establishing & giving assurances of the Land unto such who shall be therin observant Be it knowen therfore that Robert Stanton having exhibited his bill under the Threar [Treasurer's] hand unto the Sessions held on the 20th of march 1640 wherin appeares full Satisfaction to bee given for the number of 58 acres of Land lying within the precincts of such bounds as the Committes by order appointed did bound itt withall vidzt to beginne upon Georg Gardiners land & so to Runn by the harbor marsh to a marked stake, and so upon a straight line to a markt tree upon the Rocks, wth a homlott & three Cows hay west upon George Gardiner in Southmead & one Cows hay in harbor marsh North upon Mr Jeoffrys & 3 Acrs 3 qts [quarters] of Cow Comon lying next upon George Gardiners being the greater swamp all wch prcells of land amount to his proportion That therfor Doth Contain (the aforesaid Number of fifty eight acre more or less is fully impropriated to the sd Robert Stanton & his heires for Ever) Rhode Island General Court records Oct. 19, 1644: William Dyer sold George Gardner a 10-acre neck of land he had purchased from Thomas Applegate. Rhode Island General Court records 1649: George was a petit juror at Newport. Rhode Island General Court records Oct. 1654 – May 1655: A list of freeman was entered in Rhode Island’s General Court records. George Gardner was not on it, but there are other errors: Alexander Partridge and John Coggeshall Sr. are on the list, though Coggeshall was dead, and probably Partridge was too. Rhode Island General Court records Jun. 26, 1655: On the last Tues. of June George Gardner was accused of adultery with a married woman: at Portsmouth Court of Trials George Gardner presented as followeth: I present George Gardner for keeping John Hicks his wife as his owne Contrarie to Law Thomas X Painter his marke This presentment being found by the Grand Inquest, it is traversed [cleared]. The Petitt juires verdict thereon as followeth The pla[intiff] not having made good his charge, we therefore find for the Deff’t. Damage 6d & costs of the Court, further it being proclaimed by an ______ that if any could further accuse or had further to say they might be heard, but none apeering he was quitt by proclamation in the court. The Deff’t not withstanding of his own free will paid the costs of Court. Rhode Island Court of Trials records Gardner's case was tried on Oct. 12, 1655. The petit jurymen for that day were: William Jefferay, Lawrence Turner, Mark Lucas, Caleb Carr, Robert Griffin, William Woodall, Richard Burden, James Sands, Joshua Coggeshall, Richard Morris, Thomas Gould, and Obadiah Holmes. George Gardner was accused of cohabiting with John Hicks’ wife, but he was found not guilty because Herod had been officially separated from Hicks in 1644. The account of that separation was entered into the colonial records at this time. May 11, 1658: Two years after the first Quaker missionaries, Mary Fisher and Ann Austin, came to Boston, and one year after Mary Dyer’s return from England as a Quaker minister, Herod decided to make a public protest of the mistreatment of Quakers in Massachusetts. At the end of April, Herod enlisted the help of Mary Stanton (perhaps Robert Stanton’s daughter). She shouldered her youngest daughter, Rebecca, and walked sixty miles to Weymouth, Massachusetts. There, she went to the market and described how Quakers were being flogged and jailed in Boston. Weymouth’s citizens were sympathetic, but Herod and Mary were arrested, and taken to Boston. On May 11th, she was tried by Governor John Endicott, who harshly addressed her in approbrious language and commanded she and her attendant should each receive 10 lashes on their naked backs. This cruel sentence was as barbarously inflicted, the woman meanwhile, holding her child, and only protecting it by her sheltering arms from the lash of the executioner. After the whipping with a three fold knotted whip of cords, she was continued for 14 days longer in prison. The woman came a very sore journey, and (according to men) hardly accomplishable, through a wilderness of above 60 miles, between Rhode Island and Boston. After the savage, in-human and bloody execution upon her of the cruelty aforesaid, she kneeld down and prayed the Lord to forgive them. New England’s Ensign ~ Humphrey Norton ~ 1659 Jun. 29, 1660: George Gardner witnessed a deed of land (now in Westerly) from Socho, a Narragansett sachem, to William Vaughn, Robert Stanton, John Fairfield, Hugh Mosher, and James Longbottom, all of Newport. Rhode Island General Court records Aug. 22, 1662: George Gardner and Robert Stanton bought five square miles of swampland from the Narragansett sachem, Wannemaching. This land lay west of the Pettaquamscutt Purchase, and was a parcel five miles long and 1 ½ miles wide, between the Westotowtucket and Ashuniunch Rivers, next to Samuel Wilbore and John Porter’s lines. The deed was witnessed by George Webb and Hugh Mosher (this name was also seen in the records as "Moger"). These rivers are the Beaver & Usquepaug of today. The land is flat, and now drained for sod farms, but was then wet and covered with trees. The Great Swamp, and the Narragansett Indian nation's heartland lay between George Gardner’s land and the Narragansett shore. Perhaps Gardner and Stanton thought they’d made a great land buy, just like John Porter and the rest of the Pettaquamscutt Purchasers. Instead, they now owned land that they would never be able to use. Rhode Island General Court records Oct. 14, 1662: Mr. George Gardner Sr. was on the grand jury at the Warwick Court of Trials. Rhode Island General Court records Oct. 28, 1662: George Gardner was commissioner for Newport to the General Court at Warwick Rhode Island General Court records Nov. 1664: In this month, the Pettaquamscott Purchasers, represented by John Porter, laid out 200 acres of land to Benoni Gardner, bounded south and east by Hored Long’s land, west on the Saugatucket River, north and east by George Gardner Junior’s land. In the same month, George Jr. received 214 acres bounded south by Benoni, west on the Saugatucket River, and east by Hored Long. Herod was not yet officially separated from George Gardner, but she and two of their sons now owned land on the Pettequamscutt River, on the far side of Narragansett Bay from Newport. The Gardiner Family ~ Sheridan Gardiner Mar. 20, 1665: On this date, Herod was living in Pettequamscutt when she presented a petition to the King’s Commissioners. They were then in Rhode Island, and were able to grant a divorce as the king’s representatives. Herod asked for a divorce from George Gardner. Instead, the commissioners handed her petition to Gov. Benedict Arnold to doe justice to the poore petitioner according to the best of your judgement. Rhode Island General Court records Herod’s petition and the divorce proceedings are found on the More Info about Herodias page 1665-8: George Gardner married Lydia Ballou, daughter of Robert Ballou of Portsmouth. She married secondly William Hawkins on Jun. 14, 1678, and died before 1722. Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island ~ John O. Austin Jun. 2, 1668: George was made one of the overseers of his father-in-law, Robert Ballou's will. Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island ~ John O. Austin Oct. 22, 1673: George was a juryman Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island ~ John O. Austin 1677: George died testate about 1677, but the record of the probate of his estate has been lost. Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island ~ John O. Austin John O. Austin ~ Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island ~ 1887 Alden Beaman ~ Descent from George Gardner of Newport ~ 1986 Burke’s American Families of English Descent Carl Boyer ~ Ancestral Lines ~ 1981 Edison I. Carr ~ Carr Family Records ~ 1986 Robert and Caleb Carr ~ The Carr Book Meredith Colket ~ “The ‘Royal Ancestry’ of George Gardiner” ~ The American Genealogist, Vol. 14 (1937): pg. 243-46 George C. Davis ~ The American Family of John Watson ~ 1983 Jane Fletcher Fiske ~ Rhode Island General Court of Trials 1671-1704 ~ 1999 L.M. and C.M. Gardner ~ Gardner History and Genealogy ~ 1907 William Leonard Gardner ~ Gardner and Allied Families Sheridan Gardiner ~ The Narragansett Gardiners ~ 196_ G. Andrews Moriarty ~ “Herodias (Long) Hicks-Gardner-Porter: A Tale of Old Newport” ~ Rhode Island History Vol. VII (July 1952): pg. 84-92 ______________ ~ “The Parentage of George Gardner of Newport Rhode Island” ~ The American Genealogist, Vol. 21 (1944): pg. 191-200 Humphrey Norton ~ New England’s Ensign ~ Feb. 1659 Charles Pope ~ Pioneers of Massachusetts ~ 1900 Rhode Island colonial records Rhode Island Land Evidence Vol. 1 Caroline E. Robinson ~ The Gardiners of Narragansett ~ 1919 Alonzo and Patricia Sherman ~ Sherman Genealogy ~ 1988 Roy V. Sherman ~ The New England Shermans ~ 1974 Melinde Sanborn ~ Supplement to Torrey’s New England Marriages Vol. I ~ 1991 ____________ ~ Supplement to Torrey’s New England Marriages, Vol. II ~ 1995 ______________ ~ Supplement to Torrey’s New England Marriages Vol. III ~ 2003 03 Clarence A. Torrey ~ New England Marriages Prior to 1700 ~ 1985 Frederick Adams Virkus ~ Compendium of American Genealogy John R. Wilbore, B.F. Wilbor ~ The Wildbores in America ~ 1907 Otis O. Wright ~ History of Swansea, Massachusetts ~ 1917 George Gardner/Gardiner's Ancestry A long and impressive lineage has been claimed for George Gardner, with descent from King Edward III and Charlemagne. However, there is very little proof of this ancestry. A George Gardiner was bp. on Feb. 15, 1599 to Rev. Michael Gardiner of Greenford Magna, County Middlesex, England, but there is no proven connection between Michael’s son George, and our George, excepting the name. At the end of this page you will find two articles from The American Genealogist magazine regarding George's ancestry and Sarah Slaughter, correspondence regarding George Gardiner, and also an excellent summary of Herodias Long's life. There is a little new information since they were written - Moriarty said that he could not find Herodias' marriage record, but a transcript of John Hicks' marriage allegation exists. There is also repetition between my writings and these articles, but I want to let these highly regarded genealogists speak for themselves. Michael Gardiner’s son George married Sara/Sarah Slaughter at St. James Clerkenwell Parish, London, by license dated Mar. 28, 1630. After this date, the history of this family is not proven. Asa Bird Gardiner claimed that he found the couple and three sons on a passenger list for the Fellowship, which he said sailed from Bristol, England to Boston, MA in 1637. This claim concludes that Sara and their two eldest children (Edward and Robert) died in the crossing, but their infant son Benoni survived. That would make Benoni Herodias (Long) Hicks’ step-son, not her natural son. George Moriarty points out that a George Gardiner remained in St. James Clerkenwell after 1630, had several children, and was still there on Oct. 29, 1657 when Rebecca, daughter of George Gardiner was buried. On this date, our George Gardner had been a resident of Rhode Island for nearly 20 years. However, St. James Clerkenwell birth and baptismal records have several children born to George Gardiner, including the Rebecca who was buried in 1657. Despite this discrepancy, a transcribed letter from G. Andrews Moriarty to Sheridan Gardiner in the New England Historical and Genealogical Society library best expresses my feelings about this persistent theory: Nobody has ever been foolish enough to state that George brought any children with him, excepting ... the old man [who] wanted to dodge Herodias so he contended that Benoni was born in England … Asa Bird Gardiner would state anything whether true or not, just to prove his point, he being a lawyer. He published the date of sailing and the name of the ship in which George Gardiner came to America but I have never been able to verify his statement. I have appended more of the Moriarty/Gardiner correspondence at the end of this page. The births of Benoni, Edward, and Robert to George and Sara (Slaughter) Gardiner are not found in London vital records. The sailing of the Fellowship with the Gardiner family aboard is not found in the shipping lists. Until evidence is found, the parentage of George Gardner/Gardiner of Newport, Rhode Island, is best described as “unknown.” THE "ROYAL ANCESTRY" OF GEORGE GARDINER by MEREDITH B. COLKET, JR., of Washington, D. C. From the American Genealogist Magazine, Vol. 14 1937 Contributor's Note: The purpose of this and similar articles is to correct certain errors appearing in print and not to cast reflections upon the ability or integrity of any particular writer. A few months ago the genealogical world was aroused by an announcement of a publication dealing in part with the English ancestry of the New England colonist, George Gardiner (1). For generations the ancestry of George Gardiner had been much sought for and to date only the vaguest clues had been offered to suggest his English origin. Therefore, publication of the book was patiently awaited by interested descendants. Yet great was the disappointment when sufficient proof of the alleged ancestry was lacking. The Rhode Island colonist is identified in the book as the George Gardiner, baptized February 15, 1599, son of Rev. Michael Gardiner of Greenford Magna, Middlesex. He is identified as the George whose licence to marry Sara Slaughter at St. James, Clerkenwell Parish, London, was dated March 28, 1630. The assumption may be true. But almost the only evidence to identify the American George with the English George is the identity of name. No attempt is made to explain why the George Gardiner appearing in the St. James Clerkenwell Parish records as late as 1657(2) is not the same George who married there in 1630. Certainly he would be a much likelier person than the George in distant Newport. No attempt is made to give us the will of the alleged father of the colonist though it is easily available (3): Michael Gardiner, rector of Greenford, Middlesex. Will dated Dec. 6, 1629; proved Sept. 21, 1630. [the extract includes] My grandchildren Mary and Martha Watersfield; Michael, son of my son Henry (exec.); Thomas, George, Henry, Michael, Rebecca, Margaret, Elizabeth, and Mary, children of my son Thomas; my house at Grenford called Tom Harres; lands in Oxford named Botleymead and Northamleas; my sons Michael, Thomas, John and George. A short biography of Michael appears in Alumni Cantabrigienses; yet for all that is now known, the American colonist may be some fifteen years younger than this Michael's son. It would seem that more research should be done before such a claim can be seriously accepted. But this article is not written with the purpose of questioning the validity of the connecting link but rather to consider the general claim as made in the book that George Gardiner was a descendant of Edward III. For even if the father of George were the Rev. Michael Gardiner, the "royal line" giving descent from Edward III, Charlemagne and the Magna Charta sureties is unusually difficult to justify. Accepting as proved the ancestry of Sir William Gascoigne to Edward III and even the alleged ancestry of George Gardiner through Rev. Michael Gardiner to Sir Thomas Gardiner of Collynbyn Hall, Yorkshire, let us examine the difficult "middle period." Generations: 1. Sir William Gascoigne (d. 1487), 25th in descent from Charlemagne, m. Margaret, dau. of Henry Percy. 2. Margaret Gascoigne m. Sir William Scargill. 3. Sir William Scargill m. (2) Dorothy Coniers. 4. Agnes Scargill m. Robert Neville. 5. Elizabeth Neville m. (1456) Thomas Beaumont. 6. Elizabeth Beaumont m. Sir Thomas Gardiner (died 1492), stated to be paternal ancestors of George Gardiner of Newport. The above Sir William Gascoigne of Gawthrop, Yorkshire, died 4 March 1486/7 (Foster, "The County Families of Yorkshire," etc.). The Gardiner Genealogy claims his daughter Margaret, married Sir William Scargill. Now in 1488 Ralph, third Lord Ogle of Bothal, co. Northumberland, thought he was marrying this self- same Margaret, daughter of Sir William Gascoigne of Gawthrop. In fact he was so sure about it that he impaled the quartered arms of the ancestors of this lady with his own on his tombstone at St. Andrew's Church, Bothal (4). . . . impaling quarterly [arg on a pale, sa.] the head of a conger eel [or] for Gascoigne; 2 [gu] a lion rampant [arg. within a bordure engrailed compony arg, and vert] for Mowbray, 3 [gu, a lesse counter compony arg, and sa, between] six crosses patty fitchy [or] for Boteler; [gu] a saltire [arg] for Neville of Ouseley. It is significant to contrast the names of the families on this stone with the female ancestry of Sir William Gascoigne of Gawthrop. The Ogle-Gascoigne marriage not only appears in the records of the Ogle family but was claimed also by the descendants of the Gascoignes who recorded this marriage in their pedigrees (Foster, The County Families of Yorkshire, Vol. I). And if their evidence isn't sufficient, we have also the eminent Cokayne's backing (Complete Peerage, first edition, Vol. 6, p. 116). Margaret, instead of being the wife of Sir William Scargill or anyone else, appears as wife of Lord Ogle and living as late as 1515/16; and in Calendar of Foreign Papers, she is referred to as Dame Margaret Ogele in 1527. Now let us examine the "royal pedigree" a little further. It is known that Ralph, Lord Ogle, was born circa 1468 (age 13 on 1 September 1486). The presumption is that his wife Margaret was also born about 1468 or at least not many years before. Whomever Margaret Gascoigne married, it is apparent from the date of death of her father and other facts that she was born about 1468. Now, according to the book, Margaret (Gascoigne) Scargill had a great-granddaughter, Elizabeth Neville, who married Thomas Beaumont. But the marriage covenant of the said Thomas and Elizabeth was dated 8 August 1456, obviously before Elizabeth's great- grandmother was even born (Foster, The County Families of Yorkshire, Vol. I, sub Beaumont). This opens up an important chronological objection to the pedigree. But above all these objections is the simple fact that the date of death of Sir Thomas Gardiner as given by the Gardiner Genealogy is just five years later than the date of decease of Sir William Gascoigne. The Gardiner-Gardner Genealogy, 1937, is neatly published, beautifully planned and charmingly written. Yet had the compilers given documentary evidences for the difficult ascent to royalty, they would have been more widely acclaimed. Proving a colonist's descent from Edward III is a far more difficult task than is generally recognized. Any writer who, by original research, proves such a line, has made an important contribution to our knowledge of pre-American ancestry. NOTES 1. The Gardiner-Gardner Genealogy ~ 1937 2. Oct. 29, 1657. Rebeccah, daughter of George Gardner, was buried. 3. See Morrison's "Scroope." 4. Ogle, "Ogle and Bothal," Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1902. THE PARENTAGE OF GEORGE GARDINER OF NEWPORT, R. I. by G. ANDREWS MORIARTY, A.M., LL.B., F.A.S.G., F.S.A From The American Genealogist Magazine, Vol. 21, 1944 In 1937 Mrs. Clara Gardner Miller and Mr. John Milton Stanton published a genealogy of the ancestors and descendants of Stephen Gardner of Gardner's Lake, Conn., on the bounds of New London and Norwich. This handsome volume gives an excellent account of Stephen Gardner and his descendants, as well as of his father, Benoni Gardiner of Narragansett, and his grandfather and emigrant ancestor, George Gardiner of Newport, R. I. The authors then went further and gave the English ancestry of George Gardiner of Newport, whom they identified with a George Gardiner bapt. 15 Feb. 1599/1600 at Great Greenford [Greenford Magna], Co. Middlesex, the son of the Rev. Michael Gardiner, who was rector of that parish from 16 April 1584 until his death on 22 August 1630. The purpose of this paper is solely to consider this identification. The ancestry of the Rev. Michael Gardiner, as given in this book, is beyond the scope of this article. In the identification of our early New England settlers with their old homes, across the Atlantic, the evidences in different cases varies so much and is so diverse in its nature that general rules regarding the proof of such identifications cannot be laid down. Nevertheless, a few general principles apply to all cases. First: The burden, of proof is always on the person seeking to make the identification. Second: The mere similarity of names in England and New England is not enough, even if chronology permits, to predicate an identification upon this alone. Of course if the name was a very rare or unique one, it would, if the chronology were right, be very strong evidence for the identification. In the present instance neither the name George or Gardiner or their combination is sufficiently uncommon as to come within the last considered modification of the general rule and no identification can be based upon similarity alone of name in England and America, in this case, without further evidence. With these general considerations, let us turn to the case in question and consider the evidence for the above cited identification. For this purpose we shall first consider the facts known about the English George Gardiner and then those known about George Gardiner of Newport. The Rev. Michael Gardiner (son of a Henry Gardiner) married on 1 Sept. 1583 Margaret, daughter of Thomas Browne. She died 17 March 1623/4. They had the following children all baptized at Great Greenford: Henry 25 Feb. 1587/8; Michael 21 Dec. 1589; Thomas 4 March 1591/2; Anne 20 Aug. 1593; John 14 June 1595; and George 15 Feb. 1599/1600. From this list it will be seen that the Rev. Michael followed the ancient English custom of naming his eldest son for his father, his second for himself and the third for his wife's father. Of these children Henry, Michael and Thomas settled in nearby London. The will of the Rev. Michael Gardiner was not given but it was easily available in the printed volume of the Register Scrope (Am. Genealogist, April 1938, p. 244). His will dated 6 Dec. 1629 was proved 21 Sept. 1630. He names his grandchildren Mary and Martha Watersfield; his son Henry's son Michael; Thomas, George, Henry, Michael, Rebecca, Margaret, Elizabeth and Mary children of his son Thomas; and his own sons Michael, Thomas, John and George. The executor was his son Henry (P.C.C. 75 Scrope). On 28 March 1630 George Gardiner, whom our authors identify, probably correctly, with the son of the Rev. Michael, had a license to marry at St. James's Clerkenwell, London, Sarah Slaughter. This completes our account of George Gardiner of Great Greenford and London. We now turn to the career of George Gardiner of Newport. In view of the fact that we have the baptism of George, son of the Rev. Michael, the birth date of George Gardiner of Newport becomes a matter of vital importance to the identification. There is no record, so far as is known, of the age of our Newport man - no deposition of his has so far been unearthed and his gravestone is not in existence. Consequently his age cannot be exactly known and his approximate age can only be arrived at by inference from a full and careful study of his career in New England. The loss of the Newport records has deprived us of his will, which from an entry in the Providence records he is known to have made, as well as of much other valuable information about him. However, a careful study of the Rhode Island Colony records and other records, now in existence, enables us to give a complete list of his children, as well as much interesting material about his life. The first statement about his parentage, which is worthy of serious consideration, is that which appeared in a publication entitled "No. 2. Gardiner, Maine, Historical Series, Silvester Gardiner" by Henry Sewell Webster, Gardiner, Maine, 1913. It is there stated, after some loose preliminary talk about mediaeval knights in Lancashire and a connection with Norman houses listed in that worthless compilation, The Battle Abbey Roll, that George Gardiner was bapt. 15 Feb. 1599/1600 and that he married Sarah Slaughter at St. James's Church, Clerkenwell, London, on 28 (sic) March 1630. It is further stated that he sailed from Bristol in the ship Fellowship and arrived in Boston on 29 June 1637; in October 1638 he was residing on Aquidneck; Benoni, third son of George and Sarah, was born in London in 1636 or 1637 and was, therefore, an infant at the time of the emigration. No reference or authority for these statements is given. The name of George Gardiner does not appear in the Shipping Lists preserved in the Public Record Office at London and printed, almost seventy years ago, by Hotten. He does not appear in the late Col. Banks's Planters of the Commonwealth or in the latter's Topographical Dictionary of 2,885 English Emigrants to leave England 1620-50. There is no mention of him in Winthrop's Journal, nor is there anything about his English origin in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register. The first known fact about him is when he appeared at Portsmouth, R. I., in 1638. In view of these facts these statements cannot be given serious consideration, all the more so as they, apparently, originated with an outstanding genealogical romancer, the late Col. Asa Bird Gardiner of New York City. From this loose and unauthenticated statement we turn to what the records have to tell us about our Newport settler. On 20:3 mo. :1638 George Gardiner was admitted an inhabitant of Aquidneck (Chapin's Doc. History of Rhode Island, II, 117) and on the last Thursday in the 8th mo. 1639 the land which was George Gardiner's at Portsmouth is mentioned (Portsmouth Records, p. 5). He evidently belonged to the Coddington faction, which left Portsmouth and settled Newport in 1639, as on 17 Dec. 1639 he was admitted a Freeman of Newport (Chapin, p. 66). On 12:1 mo. :1640 [1639/40] he was present at a General Court of Elections in Newport ib., p. 95). On 16 March 1641 he was on a roll of Freemen and on 17 March 1641/2 he was chosen Constable and Senior Sergeant at Newport and on 13:1 mo. :1644 he was Lieutenant of the Newport Company (ib., pp. 120, 122, 128). The rest of his long life was passed in Newport, where he died about 1677 and certainly before 14 June 1678, when his widow Lydia remarried (Austin's Gen. Dic. of R.I., p. 81). In view of the fact that we have no statement regarding his age, the ages of his wife and children become a matter of importance in arriving at an approximate estimation of his age. In or about 1643 or 1644 he formed a connection with Herodias (Long) Hicks, the wife of John Hicks of Weymouth and Newport and later of Newtown and Hempstead on Long Island (Savage's Gen. Dic. of N. E., Vol. II, 410). This John Hicks first appears in Weymouth about 1636-8, when he was granted land there (Weymouth Hist. Soc. No. 2, p. 276). On 14:7 mo. :1640 he was admitted a Freeman at Newport (Chapin, II, 103) and his name occurs in the list of those admitted inhabitants of Newport since 1:3 mo. :1638 (ib., 118). He was on the roll of Freemen of 16 March 1641 ib., 120). He last appears in Newport on 7:1 mo. :1644, when he was bound to keep the peace for beating his wife Harwood (Herodias) Hicks ib., p. 151). The cause for this conduct may be reasonably inferred as the result of her escapades with George Gardiner, as on 12 Dec. (apparently 1644) Hicks addressed a letter from Flushing to John Coggeshall on the subject of his wife's bad conduct (ib., p. 152). He subsequently obtained a divorce from her at Long Island, where he henceforth lived. He remarried and raised a family there. From this time George Gardiner and Herodias lived together as common-law man and wife until 1665, during which time they raised a large family. In the Spring of 1665 Herodias petitioned the King's Commissioners for a separation from Gardiner, which they referred to Gov. Arnold, who on 3 May 1665 laid it before the General Assembly. In this petition she calls herself Hored Long and states that upon the death of her father she was sent to London by her mother and there, unbeknownst to her friends, she was privately married to John Hicks in St. Faith's Church under Paul's Church and a little while after was brought to New England, when she was between 13 and 14 years old and lived 2 1/2 years at Weymouth and then came to Rhode Island about 1640, where she has lived ever since, until I came here to Pettyquamscott. Not long after her coming to Rhode Island there happened a difference between herself and John Hicks and the authority that then was under grace saw cause to part us. She then relates that Hicks went to the Dutch, taking most of her property with him and that, not being accustomed to labour, she joined up with George Gardiner for her maintenance but was never properly married to him. She desired a separation from him and that he cease to trouble her. This the Assembly decreed, after discovering that there had been no regular marriage. It further fined both the parties and passed a law to prevent such further occurrences (R. I. Colony Rec. II, 99-105). The real reason for her desire for separation, after some twenty-one years as the reputed wife of George Gardiner, appears in a petition presented to the same session of the General Assembly by Margaret Porter, the wife of John Porter, a very well-to-do inhabitant of Portsmouth, who had apparently gone over to Pettyquamscut leaving her without means of support and dependent on her children, as her petition states. She asks that her husband be made to provide for her. The Court, finding her statement to be true and that there was danger of her husband's conveying away his estate and taking to heart the sad condition of this poor anciante matron, decreed that all conveyances made by Porter of his estate, not being recorded, shall be void and that he should not dispose of his estate, until he had made proper provision for her support. It exempted from this order certain conveyance made by Porter to Gov. Arnold, for which he had received a real and valuable consideration (ib., pp. 119-21). Subsequently, on 27 June 1665, his property was released, as he had made a proper provision for his wife and one which satisfied her (Austin, p. 155). This John Porter was one of the important citizens of Portsmouth and was one of the five Pettyquamscut purchasers of a large tract of land in the Narragansett Country from the Indian Sachems. Not long afterwards he married Herodias and, about 1671-73, made large conveyances of his Pettyquamscut lands to Herodias' children. The children of George and Herodias were seven in number, apparently born in the following order: Benoni (certainly the eldest), Henry, George, William, Nicholas, Dorcas and Rebecca, the latter, apparently, the child at the breast, whom Herodias took with her to Weymouth, when she went there to bear witness. She was a zealous Quakeress, for which she was whipped in Boston on 11:3 mo. 1658 (Bishop's New England Judged, pp. 52, 406). Benoni testified in 1727, calling himself aged 90 years and upwards (Austin, p. 81). If this statement is correct, he was born in or shortly before 1637 and so could not have been the son of Herodias. However, there is no doubt but that Benoni overstated his age considerably. Anyone, who has had experience with Colonial depositions and gravestones, knows that, in nine cases out of ten, the ages given are usually some years off the true age. This variation is usually from one to four years out, but this writer has met instances where the age given is from six to ten years out. He has in mind particularly the deposition of a Marblehead man, where the age he gave himself was ten years out, and the gravestone of President John Coggeshall at Newport makes him born in 1591, whereas he was baptized at Halstead, Co. Essex, on 9 Dec. 1601 (Austin, p. 49; N. E. Hist. Gen. Reg. LXXIII, 29). Of course cases of so large a discrepancy are comparatively rare. Benoni, at the time he made this deposition, was a very old man and very old people have, as is well known, a tendency to overstate their age. Furthermore, he was not a well educated man; he usually signed with a mark. One careful antiquary in the writer's own family who was well acquainted with the Narragansett records once described him as an illiterate old man at the time this deposition was made. His brother, Henry, usually allowed to have been the second child of George and Herodias, deposed in March 1738 and called himself about 93 years of age (Austin, p. 81). This statement of his age, making himself born about 1645-6 fits far better with all the known facts. Nicholas, the fifth child, testified on 12 March 1710/1, and called himself aged about 57 years (ib.), thus placing his birth in or about 1654; a date which would coincide very well with that given by Henry and with the other known facts. In addition to all this there is further evidence of a very strong nature tending to show that Benoni was also a son of Herodias. After her marriage to John Porter they made large grants in the Pettyquamscut Purchase to her children by George Gardiner. On either 1 Jan. or 21 Jan. 1670/1 (cf. Austin, pp. 81, 155; Updike's Hist. of the Narragansett Church, ed. Goodwin, I, 439) John Porter and Hored his wife deeded land there to William Gardiner, "son of George," which bounded on land already deeded to his brother Henry. On 27 Dec. 1671 and on 19 May 1671 and 2 Nov. 1673 they deeded land to Nicholas Gardiner (Austin, pp. 82, 155; Updike; op. cit.). On 7 Nov. 1673 George Gardiner (son of George and Herodias) and Tabitha his wife sold land there to Nicholas Gardiner (Austin, p. 81). Prior to 1 Dec. 1679, 400 acres of land bought by Samuel Wilbor & Co. (i.e. the Pettyquamscut Purchasers, Wilbor was one of the purchasers and the son-in-law of John Porter) of the Narragansett Sachems was laid out by the Pettyquamscut Purchasers to George and,"Ben" (ie. Benoni) Gardiner (Fones Record, pp. 34-7; Updike, op. cit.). On 8 April 1692, at a meeting of the Pettyquamscut Purchasers, Benoni, George, William and Nicholas Gardner (Gardiner) and John Watson (ie. husband of their sister Dorcas), their brother-in-law, represented themselves as, together with their brother Henry Gardner (Gardiner), assigns of John Porter deceased, one of the original purchasers, and appointed the said Henry to sign the agreement then made by the purchasers, in his own and on their behalf (Potter's Hist. of Narragansett, ed. 1835, p. 279). On 17 Nov. 1705 Benoni Gardiner and wife Mary, Henry Gardiner and wife Joan, George Gardiner and wife Tabitha, William Gardiner and wife Elizabeth, Nicholas Gardiner and wife Hannah and John Watson and wife Rebecca (i.e. Rebecca Gardiner his second wife) sold land in Kingstown (South Kingstown) near Point Judith Pond to John Potter, the purchase price to be paid Thomas Hicks of Flushing (Austin, p. 81). In The Gardiners of Narragansett by Caroline E. Robinson (at p. 204, inset) there is an old map, dated 5 Oct. 1705, showing the contiguous lands of Benoni, Henry, William, George and Nicholas Gardiner and John Watson on the west side of the Pettyquamscut River. It is to be observed that the children of George and Herodias Gardiner came to Narragansett after her marriage with John Porter and as grantees of the said Porter; none of George Gardiner's children by his second wife came to Narragansett. Benoni was one of those who went to Narragansett as an assign of John Porter, hence there can be no doubt but that Herodias was his mother, in which case, as the eldest son of George and Herodias, he must have been born between 1643-1645 and probably late in 1644 or the first half of 1645, while his brother Henry was probably born in 1646-7. Not long after his separation from Herodias, George Gardiner married Lydia, daughter of Robert Ballou of Portsmouth, R.I., and later of Boston, Mass., where he died testate in 1668 (Austin, p. 12). By her he had five children. George Gardiner died about 1677, certainly after 22 Oct. 1673, when he was a juryman and before 14 June 1678, when Lydia married her second husband, William Hawkins of Providence. By him she had four more children and died prior to 17 March 1721/2, the date of Hawkins' will. (Austin, p. 318.) The children of George and Lydia Gardiner were: 1) Joseph of Newport, R. I., who married on 30 Nov. 1693 Catherine Holmes. On 9 Jan. 1690/1, he sold land in Newport to William Hawkins of Providence, which had belonged to his father George and named his brother Peregrine in the deed. 2) Robert, of Providence, died between 17 April 1689 and 28 April 1690, leaving a will of which William Hawkins, his step-father, was executor. 3) Mary. She gave a receipt to her step-father William Hawkins on 30 Nov. 1688 for a legacy due to her under the will of her father George Gardiner, and married Archibald Walker on 18 July 1690. 4) Lydia, married Joseph Smith of Providence on 4 April 1689. 5) Peregrine. An agreement was made for his schooling on 11 June 1684 between his step-father, William Hawkins, and the Providence schoolmaster, William Turpin. (The Gardiners of Narragansett, by Robinson, pp. 3, 206-208; Austin, pp. 82, 318.) This completes the account of George Gardiner and his family and we can now draw some conclusions from it regarding his age. With respect to his common-law wife Herodias, this writer many years ago made a search for the parish register of St. Faiths', the church under St. Paul's Cathedral in London, in order to find the marriage of John Hicks and Herodias Long, but was unsuccessful. [The parish register may be gone, but the marriage record is found in London Marriage Extracts - JB] The register appears to have been one of those which perished in the Great Fire of 1666, but inasmuch as Hicks first appears in Weymouth in or about 1637 and as Herodias states that they lived there about 2 1/2 years before they came to Newport in 1640, it seems reasonable to suppose that they arrived in Weymouth in the latter half of 1637 or early in 1638, and it seems further reasonable to suppose that they were married in 1637 or 1636 at earliest. When she came to Weymouth she was between 13 and 14 years old, so she was born somewhere between 1623 and 1625 and probably about 1624. As Hicks left her between 7: 1 mo: 1644 (7 March 1643/4) and 12 Dec. 1644, we may reasonably consider that Benoni, clearly the [Gardiners’] eldest child, was born about 1644-5 (possibly as early as 1643) and Henry their second child was born in 1645-7 and probably in 1646. The children of George by Lydia Ballou were probably born at the following approximate dates: Joseph born about 1666-67; Robert, about 1667-8; Mary, about 1670; Lydia, about 1672; Peregrine, about 1674/5. We note, therefore, that George Gardiner's children were born approximately between 1644 and 1675, a period of some thirty odd years. The following is a brief resume of the above data. George Gardiner first appears in Portsmouth in 1638, nothing certain is known about him prior to this. He commenced to live with Herodias (Long) Hicks about 1644. She was born about 1624. He was separated from her in May 1665 and. Married secondly, about 1665-6 Lydia Ballou. He died about 1677 and certainly before 14 June 1678, leaving a will now lost. Children of George and Herodias: 1. Benoni born 1643-45 and about 1644. 2. Henry born 1645-7 and about 1646. 3. George born about 1649. 4. William born about 1652. 5. Nicholas born about 1654. 6. Dorcas born about 1656. 7. Rebecca born about 1658. George and Lydia had: 8. Joseph born about 1666-7. 9. Robert born about 1667-8. 10. Mary born about 1670. 11. Lydia born about 1672. 12. Peregrine born about 1674/5. Now while it would, perhaps, be possible for a man born in 1600 to have a child born as late as 1674, when he was 74 years old, it is pot probable, and it is still more improbable for a man, born in 1600, to have five children born between 1667 and 1674, i.e. between the ages of 67 and 74 years. George Gardiner was of age in 1638 and so born prior to 1618, but the above considerations make it most likely that he was born about 1608-9 to 1615. Conclusions: First: While, from the point of view of chronology it is possible for George Gardiner, son of the Rev. Michael Gardiner, to have been identical with George Gardiner of Newport, no evidence, beyond the similarity of names, has as yet been produced to prove that identification, and in the case of a not uncommon name like" George Gardiner," other evidence besides this is required before the identification can be accepted as proved; Second: As the case stands there is considerable evidence tending to refute the identification. There is no evidence that George Gardiner of Newport had a wife Sarah, prior to his going to live with Herodias. There is no evidence as to the subsequent life of Sarah Slaughter, after her marriage in 1630, and no evidence of her death either in England or New England has been presented. Nothing is known as to George Gardiner of Clerkenwell, subsequent to his marriage with Sarah Slaughter in 1630. While George Gardiner of Newport might have been born as early as 1600, the known facts of his New England life render it most unlikely that he was born prior at earliest to 1604 or 1605 and it is far more likely that he was born between 1608 or 1609 and 1615, and the latter date seems the more probable. Lastly, there is an entry in the parish register of St. James's Clerkenwell that on 29 Oct. 1657, Rebecca, daughter of George Gardiner was buried. (Am. Gen., April 1938, pp. 244, 246.) No attempt is made [by Moriarty in this article] to show who this George Gardiner was and, consequently, the presumption is that he may be the same George Gardiner, who in 1630, married Sarah Slaughter in this parish. At this time, 1657, our George Gardiner had been residing for at least nineteen years on Rhode Island. [Note from J. Butler: Moriarty’s analysis here is complicated by the 1656 birth/baptismal record of Rebecca Gardiner in St. James Clerkenwell to George and Mary Gardiner. One cannot say that this discrepancy proves that George and Sarah came to Newport – it seems more likely that Sarah died young and George of St. James Clerkenwell remarried Mary ___] Accordingly, until more evidence, both of a positive and negative nature, is forthcoming, no critical genealogist can accept the identification of George Gardiner, son of the Rev. Michael Gardiner, with George Gardiner of Newport, as proved. Note: Much stress has sometimes been laid upon the spelling of the name with an 'i,' Gardiner, instead of Gardner. In view of the looseness of 17th century spelling and of the fact that the name of George Gardiner's family appears both ways, although Gardiner is the more prevalent, no significance can be attached to this. Note: In connection with the English origin of that colorful and somewhat lurid character, Herodias Long alias Hicks alias Gardiner alias Porter, the following item from the Somersetshire Wills, Brown, 4th series, p. 58, is worthy of notice. Will of John Aysleford [sic – should be Ayshford] 26 Jan. 1638/9, proved 23 Feb. 1638/9, names his brothers Anthony and Robert Aysleford, his lands in Little Ockenbury, his plantation in Barbados, and leaves a legacy of £5 to Odias Long. In view of the fact that the given name "Herodias" is very rare - this writer cannot recall another instance of its occurrence besides this one, for the obvious reason that the biblical lady was not likely to have been held in high esteem among the pious English of the seventeenth century - this mention of Odias Long (Herodias Long) would seem a lead for further research. Correspondence between G. Andrews Moriarty and Sheridan E. Gardiner Extracted from the collection of the New England Historical and Genealogical Society Here is an entertaining debate between highly respected, curmudgeonly genealogists regarding the two George Gardiners. I have added clarifications in brackets [ ]. From Sheridan E. Gardiner: Mount Pleasant, Michigan, February 25, 1943 “My dear Mr. Moriarty; … In your letter of January 31, you say ‘also in the present case, there is evidence tending to show the two men were not the same [George Gardiner of St. James Clerkenwell, London, and George Gardiner of Newport, R.I.]. The Middlesex (London) was older than the Newport man, he had been married and had children in England, not one of whom appears over here and no evidence has been produced to show that they all died in England young. You state as a fact that this George Gardiner [of London] is older than the George Gardiner who appeared in Newport along about 1638, but this is simply your private opinion. I asked you what evidence you had that our George Gardiner [of Newport] had children but you ignored my request. In my opinion, all that you know about this is what Mr. Colket had to say in the American Genealogist [Meredith Colket, in his articles, The Parentage of George Gardiner and The 'Royal Ancestry’ of George Gardiner]. He simply questioned the matter as to the identity of the two George Gardiners. You seemed to grasp at the death notice of a Rebeccah Gardner “Oct 29, 1657, Rebeccah, daughter of George Gardner, was buried.” Our Gardiners knew how to spell their name. As you well say, there was “many persons of similar names in England, the most of the others spelling their name Gardner. Rebeccah may well have been of some of these other Gardiners (Gardners), but she may well have been a daughter of the grandson, son of Thomas, mentioned in the will of Rev. Michael, the name having been spelled incorrectly by the recorder or the man who may have made the tombstone, that is if the record was taken from the tombstone. But what right had you to say children? To me this looks like an over-statement. Nobody has ever been foolish enough to state that George brought any children with him, excepting the two old fools who tried to escape being descended from Herodias. In saying two old fools, I am referring to the late dishonorable Asa Bird Gardiner who was once the Attorney for the City of New York and whom Theodore Roosevelt put out of office on account of his dishonesty, and the late Joseph Warren Gardiner, school teacher, lawyer and editor who wrote much for one of the Rhode Island papers regarding the early Narragansett Gardiners. Asa Bird Gardiner, Sr. wrote me that he was head of the Gardiners in America. It was he who wrote the line as published by the Gardiners of Maine. I dropped him after telling him what I thought of him and his genealogical work. Joseph Warren Gardiner lived to be 84, but before he died, he admitted that his life work on the Gardiner family was a failure, wasted time. He died broken hearted over the matter. It was he who got Austin mixed up in the Genealogical Dictionary [of Rhode Island]. Mr. Austin wrote to me that Joseph Warren Gardiner was mistaken. You see the old man wanted to dodge Herodias and so he contended that Benoni was born in England. Well, Asa bird Gardiner, Sr., up and died and the son Asa Bird Gardiner, Jr., when he came to look over his father’s genealogical records, he ran onto the letter that I had written to his father. He read it and said to himself, ‘Here is a man who knows what he is talking about. I believe I will visit him.’ And this is exactly what he did. He drove out here to get his line correct and of his own good-will he gave me his check for $100.00 and he went home satisfied. He did some excellent work on his line and had the same recorded in the Congressional Library at Washington, and he also had some published in a genealogical book, published in Chicago. Asa Bird Gardiner [Sr.] would state anything whether true or not, just to prove his point, he being a lawyer. He published the date of sailing and the name of the ship in which George Gardiner came to America, but I have never been able to verify his statement. You investigated the matter and I got a list of the various sailings but failed to find anything regarding this matter. If there never was any such records, Asa Bird Gardiner, Sr., must have been an accomplished liar… I admit that your letter upset me. Evidently you were simply bluffing when you made the statements about a George Gardner’s children, and with me bluffing gets nowhere fast. I sincerely hope that you … will never go into print about the various George Gardiners (Gardners) until you have something definite to say, statements founded [on] facts or reasonable reasonings. Circumstantial evidence ought to be given with the distinct understanding that the evidence is circumstantial, but such evidence ought not to be given as facts…. Sincerely yours, S. E. Gardiner From G. Andrews Moriarty in reply: Ogunquit Maine, Feb. 27, 1943 Dear Dr. Gardiner: … Now as to the identity of George Gardiner in England, you say I err in thinking he was a younger man than he was. I do not know what his age was, nor I think, do you. I know of no record which states his age, so you are guessing at his age as well as myself. All we know is that he was of age in Newport in 1639 and was living with Herodias by 1643. Benoni was born about 1643-44. Now after 1665 he married Lydia Ballou and had several children. One cannot judge his age by this. My old great Aunt used to say ‘Man can get a baby as easy as he can blow a feather’ but I should say he was having children as late as 1670 or later and he could not have been much over 65. My guess, and remember, nobody is doing anything but guessing, would be that he was born about 1615 more or less. Now your man in England was married and having children in the sixteen thirties. None of these children turned up over here and you have not disposed of them in England or proved what became of them. Now George may have left his brood of youngsters over there and come over here but it seems hardly likely. Anyhow the burden of proof is on you who are seeking to establish the identity to do this. As the case stands you find a George Gardiner in England with a wife and family in 1630’s and without any proof beyond the identity of names, and let me point out to you that neither the name George or the name Gardiner was an uncommon one, you jump over and bring him 3000 miles and identify him as our man, with nothing to go by more than the fact that they are both named George Gardiner. Let me point out that in doing this, you are doing some pretty tall guessing, of which you accuse me. I can assure that no Anglo American genealogist would accept the identity without more proof than the similarity of names, but don’t take my word, ask any of them about it. Mr. Colket is a good man in this field, I do not think he has ever done much work in original English records, but he is a very able and careful genealogist. He demolished the G---- descent [George Gardner of Newport descended from Michael Gardiner of St. James Clerkenwell]. I did not examine it as I wanted to satisfy myself first as to the identity of the two GGs. But if you will read his article, you will note in the beginning that he says the identity of the two men based solely on the similarity of names is not sufficient to prove the same. He further points out that there was a George Gardiner living in England near the home of the English G. G. after our G. G. was over here. The presumption is that this was the man whom you claim was the emigrant and again you have the burden of proving he is not the same man. The whole point is more additional facts are needed before the identity of our Newport man with the Middlesex G. G. can be asserted as proved. You have stirred me up to write my criticisms on this point which I have been intending to do. Now I will do it and you can answer it and it will give us some fun and keep us both busy…” Yours always G. Andrew Moriarty Note: Some of these statements may be questioned, especially whether the George Gardiner who married Sarah Slaughter is the same George, who with wife Mary, had children in born St. James Clerkenwell after 1630. However, both men are right. Evidence beyond the questionable Fellowship’s passenger list (which has never been relocated) is needed to prove that George Gardiner of St. James Clerkenwell is the same man as George Gardiner of Newport. J. B. HERODIAS (LONG) HICKS-GARDINER-PORTER A TALE OF OLD NEWPORT by G. ANDREWS MORIARTY, A.M., LL.B., F.S.A., F.A.S.G. From The American Genealogist Magazine Vol. VII 1952 This is some account of that redoubtable and, undoubtedly glamorous lady, Herodias Long, who played such havoc with the domestic peace of several 17th century Rhode Island households. Herodias Long was born in England about 1623/4, but where or who her parents were is, as yet, unknown. She married John Hicks by license dated 14 March 1636-7 in St. Faith's, the underchapel of St. Paul's, London (1), and soon after left for New England. They first settled in Weymouth, Massachusetts, where Hicks was granted land in 1637 (2). Thence they removed to Newport, Rhode Island, where Hicks was one of those admitted an inhabitant since 1:3 mo 1638, and on 14 September 1640 he was made a Freeman. He was on a jury, probably in March 1641-2, and again on 3 December 1643. On 7: 1 mo.: 1643-4 he was before the Court and bound for £10 "to keep the peace for beating his wife Harwood Hicks and to continue bound until his wife should come and give evidence concerning the matter. This is his last appearance in the Rhode Island records (3). He removed to Flushing, Long Island, then in the Government of New Netherland, where on 19 October 1645 he was designated as one of the Patentees to settle Flushing in a Patent granted by Governor William Kieft. In 1647 he was an adjuster of Indian claims and he was Delegate from Newtown to a meeting called by the Governor in New Amsterdam 26 November 1653. On 2 July 1658, he was an Assistant at Hempstead. In 1666 he was a Justice of the Peace at Hempstead and held office until his death. His will, dated 29 April 1 1672, was proved at Jamaica, New York June 14, 1672 (4). When Hicks went to New Netherland, Herodias remained in Rhode Island. On 12 December 1645 John Hicks wrote from Flushing; to John Coggeshall at Newport the following: Now for parting what way there is seeing she have carried the matter so subtilly as she have I know not, but if there be any way to bee used to untie that Knott, I wch was at first by man tyed that so the world may be satisfied I am willing thereunto, for the Knot of affection on her part have been untied long since, and her whoredome have freed my conscience on the other part, so I leave myself to yor advice being free to condissend to yor advice if ther may be such a way used for the final parting for us. (5) Seversmith states that she obtained a divorce from Hicks in Rhode Island on 2 December 1643 [this is actually the date that she asked the governor for a divorce]. On 1 June 1655 John Hicks was granted a divorce from Herodias in the Court at New Amsterdam by Governor Peter Stuyvesant (6). The original of the decree in the state archives at Albany and a translation follows: 1 Junio... Wij de Heeren Raaden van N. Nederlant gesien en geleesen sijnde t request van John Hicks Schout tot Flissingen opt Lange Eijlant waer bij hij remonsreert en te kennen geeft dat sijn huijsvrouw Hardwood Longh van hem week geloopen en met een ander omtrent ,9 jaeren getrout is geweest en daer bij 5 a 6 kinderen heeft geprocurrert; versocht derhahlven dewijlen sijn huijsvrouw den bant vant houwelijcx hadden gebroocken (sonder dat hij haer eenige reden daertoe hadde gegeven) dat hij mocht gequalificeert en hem teegelaten worden omme met eenich cerbare Dochter ofte Wedue te moogen in den houwelijken staat (volgens politique en Ecclsiastique ordannantien) treeden. Soo ist dat de welgemelde heeren Raaden gelet hebbende opt versoeck vande gemelde John Hicks mitsgaders op de attestatien en getuijgenissen van verscheijde waerlycke inwoonderen deser provincie aende voors, requeste geannexeert, bevinden dat John Hicks volgens goddeI. & wereltl, rechten sijn versoeck niet can gewijgert worden hebben hem dierhalven mits deesen verleent brieven van divortie en vrij en vranck vande . . . wedue ind H Staet . . . te moogen begeven volgens politique en ecclesiastique ordonnatie. Alsus gedaen . . . engegeven in onse vergaderinge Advy ut supra N. Nederlant en met onse cachet in Rooden wassche hier opgedruct bevestigt. Was geteeckent, Nirasius De Sille, La mantagne, Corn. van Tienhove. We the councillors of New Netherland having seen and read the request of John Hicks sheriff on Long Island, in which he remonstrates and presents that his wife Hardwood Longh has ran away from him about 9 years ago with someone else with whom she has been married and had by him 5 or 6 children. His wife having therefore broken the bond of marriage (without him having given any reason thereto) he asks to be qualified and given permission to marry again an honorable young girl or a widow (in accordance with political and ecclesiastical ordinances). The above mentioned councilors having taken notice of the above request and in addition of the affidavits and declarations attached thereto made by trustworthy inhabitants of this Province, they find that this request cannot be refused and that they therefore have given him letters of divorce and free and frank … widow in the bond of marriage … allowed to enter in accordance with political and ecclesiastical ordinances: done and given in our meeting Ad ut supra. New Netherland and have attached our seal in red wax. Was signed Nicasius De Sille. La Montagne. Corn: van Tienhoven. After Hicks went to New Netherland, and possibly before, Herodias went to live with George Gardiner of Newport as his common- law wife and had a numerous family. This George Gardiner was admitted a Freeman at Newport on 17 December 1639 (7), and he resided there the rest of his life. He had been admitted as an inhabitant the preceding year, 1638 (8). On 9 April 1639 he witnessed William Coddington's deed to William Tyng of his Massachusetts lands, and on 1 May 1639 he witnessed Richard Collacot's note to William Coddington. It may be suggested that perhaps George Gardiner may have been a young man in the employ of Coddington at this time. In 1662 he was a Commissioner. He died testate after 22 October 1673 and about 1677, but the record of the probate of his estate was in the lost Newport records. Herodias became an ardent follower of George Fox, and on 11: 3 mo.: 1658 she, the mother of many children, with a babe sucking at her breast, accompanied by a girl, Mary Stanton, who helped to carry the child, walked from Newport to Weymouth to bear witness and was whipped ten stripes by order of Governor Endicott (10). By 1664 she had had enough of George Gardiner and presented a petition to the King's Commissioners, then in Rhode Island, asking for a separation from him. It was referred by the Commissioners to Gov. Benedict Arnold, who placed it before the General Assembly. In this petition she states that upon her father's death she was sent to London by her mother in much sorrow and grief of spiritt, and there taken unknown to any of my friends and by the said Hicks privately married in the under Church of St. Paules, called St. Faith’s Church, and in a little while after, to my great griefe, brought to New England, when I was between thirteen and fourteene years of age, and lived two years and halfe at Weymouth, twelve miles from Boston; and then came to Rhode Island about the year 1640; and there lived ever since, till I came heare to Pettycomscutt. Not long after my coming to Rhode Island, there happened a difference betweene the said John Hicks and myselfe, soe that the authority that then was under grace, saw cause to part us, and ordered that I should have the estate which was sent mee by my mother, delivered to me by said John Hicks: but I never had it, but the said John Hicks went away to the Dutch, and carried away with him the most of my estate; by which meanes I was put to great hardshipe and straight. Then I thought to goe to my friends, but was hindered by the warres, and the death of my friends. My mother and brother loosing their lives and estates in his Majestyes service, and I being not brought up not to labour, and young, knew not what to do to have something to live, having noe friend; in which straight I was drawne by George Gardener to consent to him soe fare as I did, for my mayntainance. Yett with much oppression of spirit, judging him not to be my husband, never being married to him according to the law of the place: alsoe I told him my oppression, and desiered him, seeing that hee had that little that I had, and all my labour, that he would allow mee some maintainance, either to live apart from him, or else not to meddle with mee; but hee alwayes refused.Therefore, my humble petition to your honours is, that of that estate and labour hee has had of mine; and that the house upon my land I may enjoy without molestation, and that hee may allow mee my child to bring up with maintainance for her, and that he may be restrained from ever meddling with me, or troubling mee more. The Commissioners, Sir Robert Carr, George Cartwright, and Samuel Maverick handed this petition to Governor Arnold on 20 March 1664-5 to doe justice to the poore petitioner according to the best of your judgment. The General Assembly took the testimony of George Gardiner and of Robert Stanton, a Newport Quaker, and a close friend of George and Herodias. Gardiner admitted that he cannot say that ever hee went on purpose before any magistrate to declare themselves, or to take each other as man and wife, or to have their approbation as to the premises. Stanton on being asked whether hee knew that ever George Gardener and Hored, his reputed wife were ever married according to the custom of the place, answered that hee knew noe other marridge, but onlye one night being at his house, both of them did say before him and his wife that they did take one the other as man and wife. On 3 May 1665 the Assembly decreed the separation of the parties, but did not find things exactly as stated by Herodias: Whereas Hored Long, heretobefore the wife of John Hicks, and since the reputed wife of George Gardener of Newport in Rhode Island, by a petition presented unto the Right honourable His Majesteyes Commissioners, did most impudently discover her nakedness by declaring therein unto their honours, that although she had lived for a long space of time in a married estate, and had owned him as her lawfull husband, yet she was never lawfully married to him, neither could owne him in such a relation, and soe consequently that she had lived all this time in that abominable lust of fornication, contrary to the generall apprehension of her neighbors, she having had by the aforesaid Gardener many children … and upon diligent search have found it to be even soe as the aforesaid Hored hath declared, and that by the confession alsoe of the aforesaid Gardener, so that that horrible sin of uncleannes in which they had lived for the space of eighteen or twenty years together, and had under cover of a pretended marridge (owning each other as man and wife), being now and not before, by her own acting and confession brought to light and most shamefully expressed to the publicke view, to the extreme reproach and scandall of this jurisdiction… They were each to pay a fine of £20 before the next sitting of the Court in October and the aforesaid Gardener and Hored are hereby straightly required that from henceforth they presume not to lead soe scandolose a life, lest they feel the extremest penalty that either is or shall be provided in such cases.They then proceeded to reenact the Act of 1647 for such cases, with further additions, and declared that it should be strictly enforced (11). At this same sitting of the General Assembly (3 May 1665) Mrs. Margaret Porter, the elderly wife of John Porter, presented a petition to the Assembly asking that her husband be made to support her. This John Porter had been a Freeman at Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1633. Belonging to the Hutchinson Party, he had removed with Coddington to Portsmouth, Rhode Island, in 1638. He continued to reside in Portsmouth until he removed to Pettaquamscutt (South Kingstown, Rhode Island) after 20 January 1656-7, on which date he and several other persons purchased from the Indians a Iarge tract of land known as the Pettyquamscott Purchase. By his wife Margaret he had a daughter, Hannah, who married, about 1658 Samuel Wilbor, one of the Pettaquamscutt Purchasers. In her petition Mrs. Porter doth most sadly complaine that her said husband is destitute of all congugall love towards her, and sutable care for her; that hee is gone from her and hath Ieft her in such a nessesetous state that unavoydably she is brought to a meere dependence upon her children for her dayley supply, to her very great grieffe of heart; and the rather considering that there is in the hands of her said husband a very competant estate for both their subsistence; whereupon the said Margrett hath most earnestly requested this General Assembly to take of her and to take her deplorable estate into their serious consideration, so as to make some suitable provision for her reliefe, out of the estate of her husband; and that spedily, before hee and it be convayed away. The Assembly having a deepe sense upon their hearts of this sad condition which this poore and ancient matron is, by this meanes, reduced into, directed that all deeds and conveyances made by John Porter since his departure from her shall be void and of no force (12). On 27 June 1665 he was released from this restraint, as he had made such provision for her as satisfied her (13). Soon after John and Margaret Porter were divorced, John married Herodias. On 1 January 1670-1 John Porter and wife Herodias deeded to William Gardiner, son of George of Newport, 200 acres at Narragansett, which bounded westerly on Henry Gardiner. On 27 December 1 1671 they deeded to Nicholas Gardiner one sixteenth interest in 1000 acres of land in the Pettaquamscutt Purchase (14). A map of the land on the west side of the Pettaquamscutt River made on 5 October 1705 shows the contiguous lots of Nicholas, William, Henry, Benoni, and George Gardiner and of John Watson (15). On 19 May 1671 Benoni, Henry, George, and Nicholas Gardiner were inhabitants of Pettaquamscutt, who took the oath of allegiance to King- Charles (16). John Hicks and Herodias had two children, Hannah and Thomas, and possibly a third child. When he went to Flushing, Hicks evidently carried his children with him. Hannah married about 1653-4 William Haviland of Flushing. She is said to have died in 1712 (17). Thomas was also of Flushing. In 1666 he obtained a patent from Governor Nicolls of four thousand acres on Madnan's Neck. He died shortly before 28 January 1741-2 aged nearly 100 years. The New York Post Boy under date of 26 January 1749 states that he Ieft behind him of his offspring above three hundred children, grandchiIdren, great-grandchildren, and great-great- grandchildren. His will dated 15 May 1727, was proved 28 January 1741 (18). He married first between 23 February 1757 and 19 January 1658 Mary, widow of John Washburne and daughter of Richard Butler, who died before 1677; and he married second in 1677 Mary Doughty, daughter of Elias Doughty of Flushing, who died in 1713. He had thirteen children (19). After his divorce from Herodias in 1655 John Hicks married Florence, widow of John Carman, who died shortly thereafter and he married third soon after 22 January 1662 (the date of their prenuptial agreement) Rachel, widow of Thomas Starr, who survived him. George Gardiner and Herodias had issue: Benoni, born about 1644; Henry, born about 1646; George, born about 1649; William, born about 1652; Nicholas, born in or about 1654; Dorcas born about 1656 (married John Watson) ; and probably Rebecca, born about 1658 (married John Watson as his second wife)(20). They all lived in Narragansett. After his separation from Herodias, George Gardiner married Lydia, daughter of Robert Ballou of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, and Boston, Massachusetts. By her he had Joseph, born about 1666-7; Robert, born about 1668; Lydia, probably born about 1670; Mary, born about 1672; and Peregrine, born about 1674. These children lived in Newport and Providence. After Gardiner’s death, Lydia married second William Hawkins of Providence on 14 June 1678. The destruction of the Newport records renders it difficult to give an exact account of the children of George and Herodias, and their ages are only approximate. From the order in which they signed the oath of allegiance in 1671, it would seem that the sons were born in this order: Benoni, Henry, George, William, and Nicholas. In 1727 Benoni is said to have testified calling himself about ninety years old. It would seem that, like many old people, he overstated his age considerably and his brother Henry, who in 1738, called himself aged about 93 was considerably nearer the mark (21). In 1711 Nicholas called himself about fifty-seven. There can be no doubt that Benoni, Henry, George, William, and Nicholas were the children of Herodias. They all shared in the Pettaquamscutt lands of John Porter. On 8 April 1692, at a meeting of the Pettaquamscutt proprietors, Benoni, George, William, and Nicholas Gardiner and John Watson made their brother Henry Gardiner their agent to sign on their behalf (22). In the deed of John and Herodias Porter to William Gardiner of 1 January 1670-1 he is called the son of George Gardiner of Newport (23). On 17 November 1705, Benoni, Henry, George, William, and Nicholas Gardiner and John Watson, together with their wives Mary, Joan, Tabitha, Elizabeth, and Hannah Gardiner and Rebecca Watson, all of Kingstown, sold 410 acres on Point Judith Pond to John Potter for £150 to be paid to Thomas Hicks of Flushing, Long Island (24). Dorcas, wife of John Watson, was also a child of George and Herodias. It has been stated that John Watson's second wife, Rebecca, was another daughter, but this appears to be less certain. John Watson and Dorcas were married before 7 November 1673 when they witnessed, apparently as husband and wife, a deed of George Gardiner Jr., to Nicholas (25). Dorcas died before 1702, when John Watson and wife Rebecca deeded land to his son John (26). Rebecca may have been, but not necessarily, another daughter of George and Herodias. With respect to the children of George Gardiner and his second wife Lydia Ballou, Joseph, Robert, and Peregrine were clearly their children. Lydia Gardiner, who married 4 April 1689 Joseph Smith of Providence, was also probably a child of this marriage. She was carried to Providence by her mother after her second marriage to William Hawkins (27). Their daughter Mary, born about 1672, married at Providence 18 July 1690 Archibald Walker, and had five children born between 1691 and 1709 (28). Their son, Nathan, born 26 June 1704, was an Ensign in the force under command of Major Caulfield in the Island of Ratan. His will, dated 25 November 1744 was proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (3 14 Edmunds) on 15 October 1746. In it he left a bequest to his "cousin John Gardiner [Joseph, George], Merchant in Rhode Island" (29). It is worthy of note that the will of John Aylesford [sic], dated 26 January 1638-9, proved 23 February 16 1638- 9, mentioned his lands in Little Ockenbury, his plantation in Barbados and made a bequest of £5 to Odias Long. (30). George and Herodias were the ancestors of the prominent Gardiner family of Narragansett and Maine; and the Gardiners, who were important merchants at Newport in the eighteenth century, descended from George and Lydia. John Gardiner of Newport, son of Joseph and grandson of George and Lydia, was Deputy Governor of Rhode Island, May 1754 to May 1755 and Lieut. Governor September 1756 to January 1764. In 1787 Hon. Sylvester Gardiner of North Kingstown, a descendant of George and Herodias, was a member of the Continental Congress from Rhode Island (31). This writer wishes to acknowledge valuable assistance given him by Herbert F. Seversmith, Esq., F.A.S.G. of Washington, D.C., with respect to the Hicks family of Long Island, and by Prof. William J. Hoffman of Keystone College for translating the New Netherlands divorce case of John Hicks. |