Anidowne (Amadowne, Amidon), Roger^{[1, 2]}

1607 - Abt 1673  (~ 66 years)

• Name	Anidowne (Amadowne, Amidon), Roger
  	Records contain very many versions of the surname Amidon, including Amidown, Amydowne, Ammidowne, Anidowne, Annidowne, Hannadowne etc. [3]
  Baptism	21 Feb 1607	Ringwood, Hampshire, England   [5]
  	Some sources say that Roger was a French Huguenot who was forced to flee from France to England and then came to New England. Some say that he was born in 1614 in La Rochelle, Basse-Normandie, France. Despite its prevalence, this French connection is almost certainly family lore and not based on demonstrable fact. Best said that he had found no information about the date and place of Roger's birth nor his parentage. Watson wrote "there is no evidence that Roger Amidown was a native of France or a Huguenot." Watson cited Christopher Amaden who had found Roger's baptismal record and the marriage of his parents in the records of Ringwood, Hampshire, England and concluded that "this origin is very probable" because his birth date is consistent with his age at first marriage, he had children named Phillip and Johanna which echoed his parents' names, and his surname was rare, the ports Poole and Southhampton were nearby where he could have trained as a ship builder, and Hampshire is in an area where the "down" ending is most commmon. [4] Ringwood is a market town in southwest Hampshire close to the border with Dorset. It is on the river Avon and dates to the middle ages.
  Gender	Male
  Residence	1637	Salem, Essex, Massachusetts   [2]
  	Roger received 1/2 acre of marsh and meadow land resulting from an apportioning among the households. More detail in Best's book.
  Residence	1640	Weymouth, Massachusetts   [6]
  	Birth of daughter Sara.
  Residence	1643	Boston, Massachusetts   [7]
  	Birth of daughter Lydia. Record says Sarah was still a member of the Church of Weymouth.
  Residence	1648 - 1673	Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts   [8, 9, 10]
  	18 Jul 1648 "the towne gave to Roger Ammidowne a house-lot between Walter Palmer's house-lot and the mill" besides a piece of salt marsh and other lands. 22 Jun 1658, Roger Ammidowne was 43rd on a list of men to receive a piece of the meadows that lie on the north side of the town. Tilton and Bliss thought this meadow was in the North Purchase which eventually became Attleborough, Massachusetts. 3 Jun 1662 Roger Annadowne in a list of "servants and ancient freemen" who, in case they cannot procure Saconett Necke, were permitted to look out some other place, undisposed of, for their accommodation. 7 Jun 1665 Roger Annadowne was granted 50 acres of land at Ten Mile River, being part of that land Captain Willett bought lying on the bounds of Rehoboth. This land was also in the North Purchase. Roger served on the coroner's jury on several occasions and was himself the subject of a coroner's inquest when he died.
  	Rehoboth was first settled in 1643, and the center of the first Rehoboth settlement where Roger initially lived (known as the Ring of the Green) is not in present day Rehoboth, but is now in the Rumford neighborhood of the city of East Providence, Rhode Island. The shift occurred in two steps: (1) In 1812 the Town of Seekonk Massachusetts was created from the western half of the Town of Rehoboth, and the Ring of the Green was then in Seekonk. (2) In 1862 the western half of Seekonk was given to Rhode Island and named East Providence as part of a solution to a boundary dispute between Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The Ring of the Green was then in East Providence (see the map under documents below and the East Providence Historical Society page http://ephist.org/ring-of-the-green/ ). Although Best published his genealogy of the Amidon family in 1904, it appears that he was unaware of the 1862 boundary decision. [2, 8]
  Death	Abt 11 Nov 1673	Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts   [2]
  	The date of death, which is unknown, is based on the date of burial and allows time for a coroner's inquest which was held due to "some late strife between his wife and him". After hearing all the evidence and viewing the corpse, the jury found "noe wound nor bruise that might hasten his death. " [11]
  Burial	13 Nov 1673	Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts   [14]
  	Roger's death and burial were investigated and recorded by Rehoboth officials. Roger's exact burial place is unknown, but it is probably not in present day Rehoboth. The entries on findagrave.com for Roger Amidon and his wives Sarah and Joanna Harwood say they were buried in the Village Cemetery in Rehoboth, Massachusetts. This is the wrong place because the Village Cemetery was established in 1773 and the earliest known burial was in 1774. The present day location of Roger's death is either near the "Ring of the Green" in East Providence, Rhode Island or his property in the Rehoboth North Purchase (now Attleborough). He almost certainly would have been buried locally (see note above). [12, 13]
  Will	4 Mar 1673/4	Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts   [15, 16]
  	Roger died intestate, but there was an agreement for the distribution of his estate approved by the Court at Plymouth. Benefiting from the distribution were his wife Joanna, his eldest son Ebenezer, Hannah Wheaton, (Roger's daughter and wife of Jeremiah Wheaton), and John Johnson. Philip and Henry, the minor sons of Joanna and Roger, were to share equally in Joanna's portion of the estate when Joanna died. Roger's other children were not mentioned. The inventory of Roger's estate was done 20 Nov 1673 by Phillip Walker and Anthony Perrey of Rehoboth. Real estate: housing and home lot, £45 [No acreage given. This was probably the 50 acres at North River, since that land is not mentioned otherwise.]; 13 acres of upland and a piece of salt marsh, £14; 3 acres lying near shapstree, £1 10s; 100 pound[sic] commonage, £8. Not included was 9.5 acres upland and 1 acre meadow £8, as Roger had previously given it to his son Ebenezer.
  Person ID	I2316	Martin-Bloom
  Last Modified	20 Mar 2024

  
  

  Father	Amydowne, Phillip,   c. 18 Aug 1576, Ringwood, Hampshire, England
  Mother	Gatt, Joan
  Marriage	20 May 1600	Ringwood, Hampshire, England
  Family ID	F945	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Sarah   d. 20 Jun 1668, Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts
  Marriage	By 1639  [17]
  	No one has found a record of their marriage. The date I have is used to allow for the birth of Ebenezer before that of his sister Sarah. Torrey said "By 1640". [17]
  Children	1. Amidon (Amadowne), Ebenezer,   b. 1639 - 1650   2. Amidon (Amadowne), Sarah,   b. 6 Dec 1640, Weymouth, Massachusetts   3. Amidon (Amadowne), Lydia,   b. 27 Feb 1643, Boston, Massachusetts, USA + 4. Amidon (Amadowne), Hannah,   b. Bef 1652, Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts d. 13 Sep 1719, Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts (Age ~ 67 years)   5. Amidon (Amadowne), Joanna,   b. 20 Sep 1652, Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts
  Family ID	F810	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	21 Nov 2020

  
  

  Family 2	Harwood, Joanna,   b. 10 Dec 1642, Boston, Massachusetts d. 1 Jul 1711, Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts (Age 68 years)
  Marriage	27 Dec 1668	Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts
  Children	+ 1. Amidon, Philip,   b. 26 Jan 1669/70, Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts d. 15 Mar 1747, Oxford, Worcester, Massachusetts (Age 77 years)   2. Amidon (Amadowne), Henry,   b. 24 Jan 1670/1, Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts   3. Amidon (Amadowne), Mehitable,   b. 27 Aug 1672, Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts
  Family ID	F813	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	4 Nov 2020

  
  

• Event Map	Load the map	Baptism - 21 Feb 1607 - Ringwood, Hampshire, England Residence - Roger received 1/2 acre of marsh and meadow land resulting from an apportioning among the households. More detail in Best's book. - 1637 - Salem, Essex, Massachusetts Residence - Birth of daughter Sara. - 1640 - Weymouth, Massachusetts Residence - Birth of daughter Lydia. Record says Sarah was still a member of the Church of Weymouth. - 1643 - Boston, Massachusetts Marriage - 27 Dec 1668 - Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts Residence - 18 Jul 1648 "the towne gave to Roger Ammidowne a house-lot between Walter Palmer's house-lot and the mill" besides a piece of salt marsh and other lands. 22 Jun 1658, Roger Ammidowne was 43rd on a list of men to receive a piece of the meadows that lie on the north side of the town. Tilton and Bliss thought this meadow was in the North Purchase which eventually became Attleborough, Massachusetts. 3 Jun 1662 Roger Annadowne in a list of "servants and ancient freemen" who, in case they cannot procure Saconett Necke, were permitted to look out some other place, undisposed of, for their accommodation. 7 Jun 1665 Roger Annadowne was granted 50 acres of land at Ten Mile River, being part of that land Captain Willett bought lying on the bounds of Rehoboth. This land was also in the North Purchase. Roger served on the coroner's jury on several occasions and was himself the subject of a coroner's inquest when he died. - 1648 - 1673 - Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts Death - Abt 11 Nov 1673 - Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts Burial - 13 Nov 1673 - Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts Will - Roger died intestate, but there was an agreement for the distribution of his estate approved by the Court at Plymouth. Benefiting from the distribution were his wife Joanna, his eldest son Ebenezer, Hannah Wheaton, (Roger's daughter and wife of Jeremiah Wheaton), and John Johnson. Philip and Henry, the minor sons of Joanna and Roger, were to share equally in Joanna's portion of the estate when Joanna died. Roger's other children were not mentioned. The inventory of Roger's estate was done 20 Nov 1673 by Phillip Walker and Anthony Perrey of Rehoboth. Real estate: housing and home lot, £45 [No acreage given. This was probably the 50 acres at North River, since that land is not mentioned otherwise.]; 13 acres of upland and a piece of salt marsh, £14; 3 acres lying near shapstree, £1 10s; 100 pound[sic] commonage, £8. Not included was 9.5 acres upland and 1 acre meadow £8, as Roger had previously given it to his son Ebenezer. - 4 Mar 1673/4 - Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Documents

  Map of Rehoboth and Seekonk, Massachusetts showing the changes in their boundaries in 1812 and 1862. The red line shows the original boundaries of Rehoboth. (the western boundary was the river). Seekonk did not exist. The cyan line shows the boundary between Rehoboth and Seekonk established in 1812. At that time Seekonk extended all the way to the river on the west. Pawtucket did not exist until 1828. The green line is the western boundary of Seekonk established in 1862. West of that line are East Providence and Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The map was modified from the original in The History of Rehoboth Massachusetts by Tilton and Bliss.

  
  

• Sources

  [S368] Ian Watson, The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England 1636-1638, (New England Historic Genealogic Society), Roger Amidown, pp. 121-128. [S334] Frank E. Best, The Amidon Family, (Self published, Chicago, Illinois,1904), pp. 3-5. [S334] Frank E. Best, The Amidon Family, (Self published, Chicago, Illinois,1904), p. 2. [S368] Ian Watson, The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England 1636-1638, (New England Historic Genealogic Society). [S369] England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. [S315] Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850, Weymouth, Vol. 1, Births, p. 13. Sara, d. Roger, Aug. 10,1640. [S318] Vital Records from The NEHGS Register. Online database., (Compiled from articles originally published in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register.), Vol. 2, p. 76 https://www.americanancestors.org/DB522/rd/21066/76/1425800476. Lydia of Roger & Sarah Hannadowne member of Ch. of Waymouth. aged about 6 days [S345] John Daggett, A Sketch of the History of Attleborough, (Press of Samuel Usher, Boston, 1894), pp. 49, 56, 90. [S336] George H Tilton and Leonard Bliss, Jr., History of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, 1643 - 1918, (Pub. by author, Boston, 1918), pp. 35, 43. [S337] Nathaniel B. Shurtleff (ed.), New Plymouth Colony Records, (Commonwealth of Massachusetts, William White Printer, Boston, 1856), Vol. 4, pp. 18, 96. [S337] Nathaniel B. Shurtleff (ed.), New Plymouth Colony Records, (Commonwealth of Massachusetts, William White Printer, Boston, 1856), Vol. 5, Court Orders, 1668 -1678, p. 141. [S202] findagrave.com, Memorial # 175450135. [S336] George H Tilton and Leonard Bliss, Jr., History of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, 1643 - 1918, (Pub. by author, Boston, 1918), p.275. [S315] Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850, Rehoboth, Vol. 1, Burials, p. 791 . [S337] Nathaniel B. Shurtleff (ed.), New Plymouth Colony Records, (Commonwealth of Massachusetts, William White Printer, Boston, 1856), Vol. 5, Court Orders, 1668 -1678, pp. 138-9. [S347] Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records, 1633-1967, images, Wills 1633-1686 vol 1-4, imgs 356 and 357 of 616, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L97D-VQQV?cc=2018320&wc=M6BX-F29%3A338083801. Probate inventory [S217] Clarence A. Torrey, New England Marriages Prior to 1700, (Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, MD, USA, 2004), Vol. 1, p. 34, 929.374 T694 85-27460. Inferred marriage and date based on birth of first daughter Sara.