Aroostook County Genealogical Society

August is reminding us that the summer is coming to an end. Meaning that for me it is time to look over all my different lines and see what is missing. I was looking for information for one family out of York, Maine. I reviewed the early families in the York, Maine. I had little on Henry Milbury.

I had two main questions first who were Henry’s parents. Henry Milbury and his brother Richard were born in Stoke-in Teignhead, Devonshire, England. Henry was born in 1625 and Richard in 1628.

The problem is their Christening records only list their father’s first name. William. This is a problem. There are two William Milbury living in Stoke-in-Teignhead.

One is married to Thomasine/Tamisime Lecy on July 24, 1615. The other William is married to Jane/Joan Andrew on Nov. 25, 1619. These are two separate couples because there were three times, that both the Williams, had children christened in the same year.

These two couples had a total of 13 children between them, I am not sure which couple is Henry’s parents. I tried to see if that were any wills or probates concerning either of these couples. I have not found anything online.

The second question what was Henry’s wife’s first name? He married the daughter of William Dixon and his wife Joan Pierson [my 10th great-grandparents]. The problem is what Miss Dixon first name was. Many people have given her the name Joan. But others call just Miss Dixon. I wondered why. There was a reference to his wife‘s name as Joan according to a deed in 1667. Joan is dead before her husband Henry’s death in June 1695. I accepted that Miss Dixon was the wife called Joan. After all that it was also her mother Joan Pierson Dixon first name.

But at the time William Dixon died in May of 1666 in York, Maine, he named his children by name in his will. The only exception was the daughter married to Henry Milbury. William’s will for this particular daughter’s family are listed as the children of Henry Milbury. This normally means that his/her child was dead and that child’s share of the estate would go to that child’s own surviving children.

Henry Millbury’s children were mentioned in general without being named individually. I had not seen a transcript of William’s will back in pre-internet age or even in early online trees on this family. It is now available online.

This also opens up the question which of Henry Millbury’s seven children, 5 daughters and 2 sons, belongs to which wife which children belong to Miss Dixon and which if any belong to the woman named Joan in 1667 deed. I have been trying to find more on the Milbury children but only a few surviving records from the mid to late 1600s concerning York, Maine are still around to the present date.

But based on the order of the children as mentioned in his will I would think that at least 5 of the 7 children belonged to Miss Dixon.

The children listed in William Dixon’s will: Mary b. 1651, Joanna b. 1652, Elizabeth b. 1653 –d Jan 1692, her two children Samuel & Bethia Paine; were listed in Henry’s will.

Lydia b. 1655 and William b. 1658-1660 d. 1691, his only child William Jr. is listed in the will. Since Miss Dixon died before 1666 it would appear that she was the mother of most of Henry’s children.

Then Dorothy and Richard, I am not sure of the order for these two, if born before 1666 time frame they could belong to the first wife.

Please note that three of people listed in Henry’s will were captured by the Indians on Jan 24, 1692. They were Samuel Paine and his sister Bethia Paine and Dorothy the youngest daughter of Henry Milbury.

Bethia and her Aunt Dorothy were returned to York in 1699. Bethia was still single in 1711. Dorothy married John Grant in 1702 in York.

The early history of York, Maine was a great help with the Milbury Family. The History of York, Maine is a three-volume set. Online there are Volumes I and II. The third volume could shed more light on this family because it contains the genealogies for early York Families. Does anyone know where a copy is available? These books are different than the Vital Records of York book.