Mathew Beckwith (abt. 1612 - 1681)

Born about 1612 in England

Husband of Mary (Unknown) Beckwith — married 1637 in Hartford County, Connecticut Colony

Descendants

Died 21 Oct 1681 at about age 69 in New London, New London County, Connecticut Colony

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Matthew Beckwith migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Disputed Information

This man's family has been the subject of multiple genealogical publications that contained serious errors. The Beckwiths (1891) by Paul Beckwith, and History of New London (1895) by Frances Caulkins are not reliable genealogies. Gen. Simeon M. Fox shows in detail the errors, with corrections, where books such as these and The Beckwith Genealogy and Beckwith Notes ascribe unfounded connections to noble lineages in England, and muddle the vital facts of New England families. There are many points of data conflict between these three publications and subsequent work by Fox, Dean Crawford Smith, and others.

The parents Thomas Beckwith and Anne Dynley previously attached to this profile were removed because the evidence is lacking that they are related to this person.

The Beckwiths, by Paul Edmond Beckwith, identified Lyme, Connecticut, settler Mathew Beckwith as the son of Marmaduke Beckwith, a member of the English landed gentry, and his first wife, Anne Dynly. According to Paul Beckwith's account, Mathew was born in Pontefract, Yorkshire England, on September 22, 1610, and emigrated to New England in 1635. ^[1] There is no known basis for this account of his origins. No records or other sources were cited as a basis for this identification, and analysis has found that Paul Beckwith's work was filled with fabrications.

The text in The Beckwiths from 1891 on page 27 conflicts with the text in The Baronetage of England from 1771 on pages 449-450 because this older source is elucidating that Matthew Beckwith is not among the children of Marmaduke Beckwith and Anne Dyneley.^[2]

According to The Great Migration Directory: Immigrants to New England, 1620–1640, the parents and origins of this person are not known.^[3] Anderson cites Angell Ancestry 222-30 which discusses clues to his origin in detail.

Biography

Dean Crawford Smith estimated that Matthew was born in England in 1612.^[4] This estimate is based on the indication that he was "about 70" at the time of his death. ^[5][6] His family name may have been Becket.^[7]

He was in New England by 1 August 1639, when he was fined by the Particular Court for unseasonable and immoderate drinking "at the pinnace."^[8][9][10]

Matthew spent a lot of time in the Connecticut court suing people and being sued.

• 2 Mar 1642/3. "In the ac of Math: Beckwytt pl. agt Math: Allen deft, the Jury find for the pl. damages viijs [9s] & Chardges of Court. Executio graunted."^[11]
• Sep 1644. “Math: Beckwith & Tho: Hungerford pl agt Will Edwards deft in an act of Slaunder.” The Jury found for the plaintiff damages 20s & Cost of Court.^[12]
• 24 Apr 1649. “Mathew Marven plt Contra Mathew Beckwith defendt in an action of defamation damages £50” In the action ... the defendt making his public penitent confession of his evill in Slaundering the said plt was remitted by the Court and Plt.^[13]
• 1st Thursday in Jun 1651. "Mathew Beckwith plt Contra William Williams defendt in an Action of the Case to the damage of 50s. .. the Jury finds for the defendt damages 2s." ^[14]
• 1st Thursday in Jun 1651. "Mathew Beckwith plt Contra Thomas Hubberd defendt in an Action of Debt with the damages to the value of 15s; the Courte Adiudges the defendt to pay vnto the plt 12s & Costs of Curte wch is 16s.^[15]
• 13 Jun 1655. ” Matthew Beckwith plt Contra Tho Rowell defendt in an Actio of the Case uppon Accots to the dammage of £16; In the Action of accts betweene Mathew Beckwith plt and Thomas Rowell defent the Jury findes for the plt damages fourteene pounds and 9s and Costs of Courte whith the Courte allows to bee ten Shillings.^[16]
• 13 Jun 1655. Joined with other townsmen petitioning the court.^[17]
• 4 Sep 1651; Hartford, Hartford Co., CT 8. The Creditors of Mathew Beckwith had publique notice to bring in their Debts to the next Quarter Courte or to the Secretary before the Courte and then appeare there and theire Causes shall bee heard.^[18]
• 15 May 1660. "Richrd Hartley plt contr Math: Beckwith Dft in an actioon of ye case to ye damadge of £24; The Jury finds for ye Plt the debt according to Bill and the forfeiture of ye sd payment on ye Bond and costs of ye Court.^[19]
• 15 May 1660. "Mathew Beckwith Plat contr Thomas Brooks in an action of Debt by Bill to bye damadge of £50; Thomas Brooks not appeareing to answer according to Summons The Court Grants to ye Plaintief a spetial warrant for Brooks his appearance at ye Court in June vnless there happen a Court at N: London about that time."^[20]
• 4 Sep 1662. "John Richards Pt contr Georg Halsey Math Beckwith Peeter Blachfield & Tho: Stafford in an action of ye case respecting an assult & Battery; Matthew Beckwith not mentioned in the final judgement of the Court."^[21]

Mathew died accidentally at about age 70 on 21 October 1681. The account of his death in Mr. Simon Bradstreet's Journal reported in NEHGR 9[1855]:50, gives the date as 21 October 1680, but Fox reasoned and Smith agreed that since Matthew was recorded in court in September 1681, it is likely that the death occurred in 1681. It was reported that "Matthew Becket Senr, aged about 70, missing his way in a very dark night, fell from a Ledge of rocks about 20 or 30 foot high and beat out his braines against a stone he fell upon. Another man yt was wth him was wthin a yard of ye place but by gods Provide[nce] came not to such an end."^[22] An inventory of his estate (£293) was taken on 13 December 1681, which further supports his 1681 death.^[23]

Paul Beckwith identified Matthew Beckwith's wife as Elizabeth (“at his death he left a wife Elizabeth”^[24]), but Fox and Smith both cited records that show the name of his wife and widow as Mary. Her maiden name is not recorded.^[25][26] Matthew and Mary Beckwith were probably married by about 1643.^[27]

Children

Children of Matthew Beckwith were:^[28][29][30]

1. Mary, born about 1643. Married in Lyme, Connecticut circa 1664 to Benjamin Grant, born Watertown, Massachusetts 6 September 1641, son of Christopher Grant and his wife Mary; married second in Watertown on 10 May 1671 to Samuel Daniels, who died 1695.
2. Mathew born about 1645; died 4 June 1727 at Lyme. Married first to Elizabeth, maiden name unknown; married second to Elizabeth Griswold (divorced wife of John Rogers and widow of Peter Pratt) as her third husband; married third to Sarah (maiden name unknown), widow of John Starkey.
3. Elizabeth, born about 1647; married in 1665 to Robert Gerrard, a sea captain.^[31] She married (2nd) about 1677, John Bates of Haddam.^[31]
4. Sarah, born about 1650. She was married about 1670 to Joshua Grant, son of Christopher Grant.^[30] She probably was dead by 2 June 1674, when her sister Elizabeth accused Joshua Grant (apparently her sister's widower) of fathering her child.^[32]
5. Joseph born 1653 at Lyme. Married Susanna daughter of Peter Tallman about 1676. Joseph died in 1707. Widow Susanna married (2nd) in 1711 Capt. Way^[31]
6. Nathaniel, born say 1656; died between 25 December 1725, when he wrote his will and 10 January 1725/6, when his will was proved; married before 1679 to Martha (maiden name unknown).
7. John born in New London, Connecticut, in about 1665; died in New London 5 December 1757; married Prudence Manwaring.

A possible additional child is an infant who was about 3/4 years old when treated by Dr. John Winthrop on 2 April 1660; Smith suggests that this could have been Nathaniel.^[33]

Paul Beckwith and Frances Caulkins' 1895 book History of New London, Connecticut also described a son named Benjamin, born 8 March 1643, who married Azubah Brewster.^[24] Fox concluded that this man did not exist; he was fabricated by Paul Beckwith. ^[34]

Fox asserted: "There are no Beckwiths in Connecticut that may not be traced to the four actual sons of the first Matthew Beckwith: Matthew, Joseph, Nathaniel, and John."^[35]

Evidence for child Catherine seems to be lacking. She was not included in Angell Ancestry.

Sources

1. ↑ Beckwith, Paul. The Beckwiths (Joel Munsell's Sons, Albany, N.Y., 1891). page 27 and page 73.
2. ↑ Johnson, Richard, and Kimber, Edward. The Baronetage of England: Containing a Genealogical and Historical Account of All the English Baronets Now Existing: with Their Descents, Marriages, and Memorable Actions Both in War and Peace. Collected from Authentic Manuscripts, Records, Old Wills, Our Best Historians, and Other Authorities. Illustrated with Their Coats of Arms, Engraven on Copper-plates. Also, a List of All the Baronets, who Have Been Advanced to that Dignity, from the First Institution Thereof. To which is Added, An Account of Such Nova-Scotia Baronets as are of English Families; and a Dictionary of Heraldry, Explaining Such Terms as are Commonly Used in English Armory. United Kingdom, G. Woodfall, J. Fuller, E. Johnson, Hawes, Clarke and Collins, W. Johnston, [and 11 others in London], 1771, pp. 449-450.
3. ↑ Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Directory: Immigrants to New England, 1620–1640 (Boston, Massachusetts. New England Historic and Genealogical Society. 2015)
4. ↑ Smith, page 223.
5. ↑ Fox, page 263.
6. ↑ Smith, page 223.
7. ↑ Smith, page 223
8. ↑ Fox, page 262.
9. ↑ Smith, page 224.
10. ↑ Trumbull, J. Hammond. (transcriber). The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut Prior to the Union with New Haven Colony May 1665. Hartford: Brown and Parsons, 1850. AKA Colonial Records of Connecticut. Volume I. 1636-1665 p. 29
11. ↑ Trumbull CtColRec Vol. 1 p. 81
12. ↑ Trumbull CtColRec Vol. 1 p. 110
13. ↑ Trumbull CtColRec Vol. 1 p. 181
14. ↑ Records of the Particular Court of Connecticut 1639-1663. Collections of the Connecticut Historical Society Vol 22. Hartford: Connecticut Historical Society, 1860. pp. 102, 102, Link at Archive
15. ↑ Records of the Particular Court of Connecticut p. 102
16. ↑ Records of the Particular Court of Connecticut pp146/7.
17. ↑ Records of the Particular Court of Connecticut p. 148.
18. ↑ Smith, Dean Crawford. The Ancestry of Emily Jane Angell 1844-1910. Edited by Melinde Lutz Sanborn (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1992) citing Winthrop papers 6:214.
19. ↑ Records of the Particular Court of Connecticut p. 212, 213.
20. ↑ Records of the Particular Court of Connecticut p. 212, 213
21. ↑ Records of the Particular Court of Connecticut pp 252/3
22. ↑ Fox, page 263.
23. ↑ Connecticut County, District and Probate Courts. Probate Files Collection, Early to 1880; Author: Connecticut State Library (Hartford, Connecticut); Probate Place: Hartford, Connecticut. Notes: Probate Packets, Barber-Beebe, Abner, 1675-1850 Matthew Beckwith. 1682 #371. New London Probate. Accessed: Ancestry.com. Connecticut, Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.
24. ↑ ^{24.0 24.1} Paul Edmond Beckwith. The Beckwiths (Joel Munsell's Sons, Albany, N.Y., 1891). pp. 73-85.
25. ↑ Fox, page 263
26. ↑ Smith, pages 223-227.
27. ↑ Smith, page 223.
28. ↑ Fox, pages 264-265.
29. ↑ Smith, pages 227-231
30. ↑ ^{30.0 30.1} Great Migration 1634-1635, G-H, page 130
31. ↑ ^{31.0 31.1 31.2} Matthew Beckwith and his Family by Gen. Simeon M. Fox, TAG Vol 21 (1945), pages [1]-265
32. ↑ Smith, page 229.
33. ↑ Smith, page 230.
34. ↑ Fox, TAG, v. 21, p. 262.
35. ↑ Fox, The American Genealogist, Vol 22 (1946), page 52.

• Anderson, Robert Charles. Great Migration 1634-1635, G-H. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009.) Originally published as: The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume III, G-H, by Robert Charles Anderson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2003. Profile for Christopher Grant, sons Joshua and Benjamin married Sarah and Mary, respectively, daughters of Matthew Beckwith.
• Fox, Simeon M., Gen. Matthew Beckwith and his Family, by Gen. Simeon M. Fox, The American Genealogist, Vol 21 (1945), pages 259-265, cont. The American Genealogist, Vol 22 (1946), pages 49-52. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .)
• New London Probate A52:-54 and New London County Court 4:15.
• Savage's "Dict. First Settlers of N. E." Excerpt: Beckwith, MATTHEW, New London 1652, Hartford 1658, then a freem., and had first liv. there 1639, rem. to Branford, there in 1668 was one of the founders of ch., thence to Lyme, there d. 21 Oct. 1680, aged a. 70, by fall in a dark night down a ledge of rocks. See Rev. Mr. Bradstreet's journal in Geneal. Reg. IX. 50. He had two ds. beside s. Matthew, John, and Joseph. His wid. m. Samuel Buckland; and of the ds. one m. Benjamin Grant; the other, Robert Gerard; but the name of either is not seen.
• Smith, Dean Crawford. The Ancestry of Emily Jane Angell, 1844-1910 (Boston 1992) 222-230
• John Winthrop Papers - which are now searchable on American Ancestors See Winthrop's Medical Journal 1:379.

For accurate information readers should consult:

1. Dean Crawford Smith, The Ancestry of Emily Jane Angell, 1844-1910 (Boston 1992) pages 222-230
2. Great Migration 1634-1635, G-H. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009.) Originally published as: The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume III, G-H, by Robert Charles Anderson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2003. Profile for Christopher Grant, sons Joshua and Benjamin married Sarah and Mary, respectively, daughters of Matthew Beckwith.
3. Matthew Beckwith and his Family, by Gen. Simeon M. Fox, The American Genealogist, Vol 21 (1945), pages 259-265, cont. The American Genealogist, Vol 22 (1946), pages 49-52. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .) This article was originally published in several installments in the Boston Evening Transcript in 1927 and 1928.
4. New London Probate A52:-54 and New London County Court 4:15
5. Winthrop Papers - which are now searchable on American Ancestors See Winthrop's Medical Journal 1:379