21 Facts About Thomas Willett

Thomas Willett is thought to be the "honest young man" recently arrived with the second and last major group from John Robinson's Leyden congregation who was given the task of monitoring the activities of Edward Ashley, the man placed in charge of the trading post by Allerton.

Thomas Willett was in charge of the trading post when the French again robbed it in 1635 and evicted the English; a subsequent effort to recapture it using a ship commanded by a Captain Girling was futile, and the colony gave up the Penobscot post permanently.

Thomas Willett remained active in the colony's remaining fur trading efforts, including being appointed to a committee in 1637 to advise the governor concerning the decline in the trade, and in 1649 and again in 1656, with others, taking over the remaining trading post on the Kennebunk River.

Thomas Willett probably spent little time at the Kennebunk River trading post given his other activities, but Winthrop recorded one incident where a potential theft or worse by some Native Americans was thwarted by Willett in 1639.

Thomas Willett had moved to this western area of the colony and became involved in the affairs of Rehoboth by the early 1650s, serving in numerous capacities, particularly after the death of Browne in 1662.

Thomas Willett was authorized to purchase further land from the Native Americans in 1662 and again in 1668 and 1669; these purchases led enlargement of Rehoboth and Swansey.

An example of a deed between the Native Americans and a group of purchasers involving Browne and Thomas Willett can be found in a history of the town of Swansea.

An extensive history of the early land purchases in Pokanoket area, including those involving Thomas Willett, has been compiled by Bicknell including a map showing historical names.

Thomas Willett became a part owner with other prominent men, including his father-in-law and a son-in-law, John Saffin, of a large development consortium, the Atherton Company, leading to interests in properties in a number of the early New England towns.

Thomas Willett's letter stated that "Mr Willett was more acquainted with the manners and customs of the Dutch than any English man in the country, and that his conversation was very acceptable to them".

Thomas Willett was a member of the New York governor's executive council at times from 1665 to 1672 under Francis Lovelace.

One of the greatest services Thomas Willett provided to the colony for many years, along with his father-in-law John Browne, was maintenance of good relations with the Pokanokets whose main village was near Rehoboth, close to Mt.

Such limited religious tolerance evidently was not extended to Quakers; Thomas Willett reportedly was among a group of magistrates condoning a severe whipping of two Quakers in 1658.

Thomas Willett left a large estate as evidenced by the inventory compiled for probate.

Thomas Willett's will left the bulk of his estate to be divided among his sons, along with more minor bequests to his unmarried daughters, grandchildren, an old servant, schools, churches, and the pastor, John Myles.

The origins of Thomas Willett are not known for certain and are subject to some debate.

The germ of this description may have come from the pedigree of Willett's descendants published in 1848, which offered the theory that this Thomas may have descended from Andrew Willet because the Willett name is rare.

Thomas Willett moved with the Brown family from Plymouth westward, originally to the Taunton area by the 1650s, and later to the eastern shores of Narragansett Bay to Wannamoisett, near present-day Barrington, Rhode Island.

Thomas Willett's grave is next to that of Thomas Willett.

Andrew Thomas Willett spent most of his adult life near what is Kingston, Rhode Island.

Thomas Willett married Ann Coddington, daughter of William Coddington, a governor of Rhode Island.