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CHAPTER VI.

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD, WITH THE NAMES OF HIS CHILDREN, &c.; PRECEDED BY A BRIEF MENTION OF HIS IMMEDIATE ANCESTORS.

THE Willards, as we have seen, had been in England for many generations, and, at an early period, were found scattered from Ifield on the north, and Petworth on the west, throughout the breadth of Sussex. They were also found in Kent, a numerous people, - particularly in the west and south-west, adjoining Surrey and Sussex, extending east to Canterbury, south to Cranbrook, and north to the vicinity of the Thames.

The immediate ancestors of Simon Willard resided in the south-westerly part of Kent, in the hundred of Brenchley and Horsmonden. The late Colonel John H. Willard, of Eastbourne, as we have seen, was of the opinion that the family of Simon Willard was of his house; that is to say, descended either from William or John Willard, who resided at Hailsham in Sussex in the reign of Edward III. (1341). We have seen that Richard Willard was a "Baron of Cinque Ports," probably in the reign of Richard II.; and that the name is of frequent occurrence in subsequent times, as a favorite Christian name, both in Sussex and Kent.*

Casting aside for the present all speculation concerning preceding generations, we arrive at a determinate point in the latter part of the sixteenth century, when we find

The widow of Richard Willard, sen., who died at Horsmonden in June, 1577. was Elizabeth, who died September, 1592. Simon had a sister of that name, and a brother Richard.

Richard Willard solidly established in the pleasant and secluded village of Horsmonden; married, and giving hostages to fortune; and there residing until the time of his death in February, 1616 (old style). His will was proved March 14 following. He was buried Feb. 20.*

While at Horsmonden, he had gathered around him a considerable family, at least ten children, seven of whom survived him. He was thrice married. His last wife, as we have seen, survived her husband only a few days, and was buried at Horsmonden on the 25th of the same February. Of his children who came to New England, Margery and Simon were of the second, and George was of the third marriage. Of the other four children who survived him, Mary, Richard, Elizabeth, and Catharine,-I know nothing beyond their names with any degree of certainty. They were all baptized at the parish church where Richard worshipped, and may have remained in the fold. Simon, Margery, and probably George, sealed their faith in dissent in their removal to the New World. Was Richard of the Episcopal faith, or was he a Puritan within the bosom of the church? The baptism of the children by the rector of the establishment does not prove the former; while the known religious tendencies of several of the children at a subsequent period would lead to the latter conclusion. The Massachusetts people were Puritans within the bosom of the Episcopal church until they came to America. The separatists, who arose, naturally enough, out of Puritanism, — a humble, isolated band, had left Scrooby in Nottinghamshire, and settled in Holland, eleven years before Richard's death, only to re-appear, at a subsequent day, in the settlement of Plymouth Colony. But, although Puritanism had for a long time abounded in the church, there was not a single nonconformist congregation in England in 1617.† We are thus left without any means of

* This corresponds to 1617, March 2, new style.

The erratic Robert Brown, after separating from the Established church, and

defining the position of Richard Willard in the great controversy of opinion that was raging in the church throughout

his life.

With regard to his character as a man, it is to be judged, as a tree is judged, by its fruits. The fruits of his life, in this regard, appear in the character of those children of whom we have knowledge, and who seem to have been trained with reference to their true interests as members of society and as Christian disciples. In his will he shows the same disposition, and makes special provision for the "virtuous bringing-up of his children." In the retirement of their native village, they were in process of education and discipline which would impart self-reliance, and embolden the spirit to adventure in mature life, even to the forsaking of all the comforts of a civilized and Christian home for the wilderness of the New World.

In the following table, I have arranged the family of Richard Willard. It is as exact as can be made with the materials in my possession, and sufficiently so to answer the purpose for which it is framed.

forming a congregation in Holland in the preceding century, which soon fell asunder, returned to England in 1589, and, recanting his principles of separation, became reconciled to his first love. The Plymouth people were unjustly called Brownists by their enemies; but Cotton remarked, with equal sharpness and truth, that, "if any be justly to be called Brownists, it is only such as revolt from separation to formality, and from thence to profaneness." - Young's Chronicles of the Pilgrims, 444.

Willard=

Catherine
Willard

bap. Aug.
30, 1607.

this marriage are very numerous on Cape Cod and elsewhere.

They had ten children, born between 1659 and 1675. The descendants of

Simon Willard, the subject of the following sketch, was born at Horsmonden, probably in the early part of the year 1605; and was baptized in the church at that place, April 7, 1605.* The record of his baptismal consecration, as recorded in the parish register and in a preceding page, runs thus; viz.:

Ano. Dni. 1605.

-

Anno 3 R. Jacobi.

The vijth day of Aprill SIMON WILLARDE Sonne of
RICHARDE WILLARD was christenede.
EDWARD ALCHINE, Rector.

His early years, I presume, were passed in his native parish in Christian training, under the affectionate guidance of his father, aided by the counsels and catechetical teachings of the worthy rector. His mother died before he reached the of four years,age - before he could measure the value of her sympathetic and fostering care, or comprehend the extent of his loss; while the death of his father and of his step-mother left him without a natural protector at the age of twelve, left him to the peril of temptations which beset youth in the quiet of a rural village, as well as in places of larger resort. How he passed the critical period between that time and his majority can be judged by reference to his subsequent future life and conversation. As the boy is father to the man, we may rest in the belief, that, while preparing himself for the duties of active life according to the provision made by his father, he also devoted himself with praiseworthy attention to the cultivation of his mind, and the education of his religious nature. Puritanism, as I have already stated, prevailed to a marked extent in the church of England. Many persons submitted tacitly to the forms and ceremonies of the Established religion-though still smacking, as they thought, of Romish corruptions — from a natural reluctance to leave their ancestral places of worship; or from a timid temperament, which caused them

* As baptism in the Episcopal church follows pretty closely upon birth, we may reasonably infer that Simon's birth took place early in the year 1605.