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| Birth: | 26 Aug 1681 in Boston, Suffolk County, MA 3 |
| Death: | 1 Aug 1747 in Sydenham, Middlesex, England |
| Sex: | M |
| Father: | Wait-Still Winthrop b. 27 Feb 1641/42 in Ten Hills, Boston, Suffolk County, MA |
| Mother: | Mary Browne b. 16 Jan 1655/56 in Essex County, MA |
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| Burial: 1747 Beckenham Churchyard, England |
| Education: 1700 Harvard College |
| Fact 1: Active Fellow Of the Royal Society |
| Reference: 1478 |
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| Ann Dudley (Wife) b. 27 Aug 1684 in Roxbury, Essex, MA
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| Marriage: | 6 NOV 1707 in Boston, Suffolk, MA |
| Children: | |
 Mary Winthrop b. 18 Sep 1708 in Boston, Suffolk County, MA
- Katherine Winthrop b. 9 Mar 1709/10 in Boston, Suffolk County, MA
- Rebekah Winthrop b. 9 Jan 1712/13 in Boston, Suffolk County, MA
- John Still Winthrop b. 15 Jan 1719/20 in New London, New London, CT, USA
 Basil Winthrop b. 21 Aug 1722 in Boston, Suffolk County, MA
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Individual:
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1727, 11 Jan - 11 Dec 1728 Appeal of John Winthrop of New London, Conn, only son and heir of Major-General Wait Winthrop of Boston, and nephew and heir of Hon. FitzJohn Winthrop, and grandson and heir of Hon. John Winthrop, against a judgement of a provincial court in favour of Thomas and Ann Lechmere. (reference Lechmere line.)
Continued from Ann Dudley Page----However, such hearsay was not enough to prevent Thomas Lechmere from filing a warrant for John's arrest in 1723, on the technicality of improper filing of the estate's inventory. This was the first time that the Lechmeres had complained of not receiving their inheritance, for they had trusted John to administer the estate in 1718. While waiting for a settlement, Lechmere's investments failed, and he lost most of his fortune to an unscrupulous business partner. He then tried to recoup his losses by reclaiming a portion of the estates. This incident was one of several quarrels between the two men; meanwhile, Ann tried to maintain normal relations with her sister-in-law.
John became increasingly upset by what he saw as the indifference, or outright hostility, on the part of New Londoners to his family's property rights. John felt that his tenants should pay rent, rather than carving out homelots on distant reaches of the estate. His old tenants resented John's pressure for payment. John encountered an especially belligerent tenant: "Wm Walsworth... has Liv'd on my Farme some time, and pay'd no Rent, and lately calling for his Rent, he brought a stange sort of an acc't. wherein he pretended to Ballance the Rent" by various small chores he had performed. When John objected, Walsworth returned with his brother, and "one of them held me, and the other struck me in the Face and Snatcht away all the papers and away they Run. . ." Defiantly, Walsworth "pul'd up and carryed away all the head Fence of my Farme and Lay'd it common. . ." a symbolic act of turning the vast Winthrop estates over to the use of all New Londoners. When John went to turn him off his land, Walsworth "had a kettle of Scalding Water to fling upon me If I came near the house. And [he] still keeps me out by force haveing 4. men wth. Loaded Guns, & some Syths constantly watching. . ." The saga continued as Walsworth went to a New London Town Meeting and declared that John's "Ancestors had nothing to doe. wth. the Land [,] it belonged to the Towne ... " The conflict between settlers' desire for expansion onto unfarmed lands and John's insistence on almost feudal relations, created popular resentment towards the Winthrops.
Other New London residents turned against John, demanding a chance to purchase the Winthrop lands, or else to live on them rent-free. They felt that the old charter was a guarantee of public, not merely Winthrop, rights to farm the land. Col. Henry Smith, John's attorney in Long Island, wrote the following year to wam John: yoe. concerns here are reduced to [a] very Languishing Condition, by reason you neglect personally coming... yoe. ungracious Tenants [are] selling great Quantityes of Hay... they only pursue their Own, wthout having any regard to yoe Interest. - . William Works, a loyal tenant, wrote of disruptions near Fisher's Island, as about seventy men... with a small hous readdy framed. . sat up the hous and enclosed it... not with standing they remain. and would stay, he supposed, unless thay are Removed of by force of arms. . Connecticut settlers were not merely questioning the authority of the Winthrops to demand rents for land deeded long ago; they actively rebelled.
John was an unsystematic landlord; he clearly did not regulate settlement on his holdings, and sporadically pressed for rents when his family needed cash. John saw himself as a "Silent, humble, and Retired Philosopher" and relished corresponding with the Royal Society more than keeping account books." As early as 1725, he confided to Samuel Sewall that he might leave New London, though Sewall urged him to settle his debts, "lest you leave that heavy burden oppressing your dear Wife and Children. . ." He reminded John that simply leaving would not necessarily improve his fortunes for "twill be extream hard for you to find so good a Country." However despite Sewall's forecast of an up turn in fortunes, John chose to escape his mounting debts and the anger of his tenants by fleeing to London, while hoping to prove his ownership of the Winthrop estates before a Royal court. On 19 July 1726, shortly before setting sail, he made out his will, hoping for "protection and guidance in everything in this long Voyage. . ." He placed his estate in order lest the journey should prove his last, for he left "my faithful kind and most dear Wife one hundred pounds per Annum. . ." He asked that: she will see all my dear children brought up in the fear of God and all others to be educated and live with her till they shall be disposed of in marriage out of the profits of my Estate ... both my Sons to be educated at the Colledge without fail . . . After appearing before the King in Council, John duly won his case. He shared his victory with Ann: "Notwithstanding the many intollerable abuses, lyes, & slanders that have been every way contriv'd to hurt me ... I am at length honourably and publickly acquitted before the highest Court of the kingdom !" John seemed aware of Ann's social isolation in New London, as he assured her, "tho you were disregarded & obliged to dine alone on the Connecticut Thanksgiving Day, . . now rejoyce openly. "
However, to Ann in New London, this costly triumph was a hollow victory. Missing John, she wrote in 1728, "I am much distresst for you, not having heard from you for six months..." and then related the trials she underwent in securing care of his estates. She could not pay John's debts nor borrow money from the Lieutenant Governor, and confessed "I dare not resent it because I am forst to be obliged to him in many things ." As Ann took on the day-to-day management of the household, she acted as a "deputy husband," passing on financial information to John, and engaging managers to check that tenants were paying rent." She came to rely on Joshua Hempstead, a New London resident, for legal advice and sent him on numerous business errands. However, in time, their dealings developed into friendship, as Ann invited him to her home for religious meetings and dinners, as well as for business consultation.
Meanwhile John seemed to adapt well to life in London, taking up lodgings with his wealthy young kinswoman, Henrietta Hyde, who nursed him through his frequent illnesses. He applied for membership in the Royal Society and Hans Sloan and other members vouched for his application, "to become a constant correspondent, when he returns to America. . . "" John frequented the society's meetings, presenting "severall Curiosities from New England. . ." to the membership." Needing funds, he wrote for his son John Still to join him, ostensibly to meet "a young Lady of Fortune & fine accomplishments, and so Nearly Related to so many of the first Rank & Quality her[e]. . ."" However, John Still's visit also had a more covert purpose, as in a confidential letter, he asked his son to "go to Lanthome Hill Unobserved, as privately as you can, [and] about the Hill you will find many White Stones ..." - John Still was to bring the stones, hidden in a bag, over to his father in England. They may have contained the "Two Hundred ounces of Gold Dust ... which is not Insured" that John-Still brought with him on his voyage in the spring of 1742 ."
John died in London in 1747, bitterly complaining to the end that: my Owne Children... have even neglected their Duty to me. It is now above four Years Since I had a letter from my Daughter Nanne th6 She writes as fair hand... I think I may very Justly complain for want of the frequent Civillityes of letters from Every Body... Ungrateful Country, but more Cruell people, Adieu ... Upon his estate going to Probate Court, Ann declined to accept the 100 per annum set out for her, choosing her widow's third of property under Connecticut law. However, her refusal to accept John's will was not out of disloyalty, but a desire to secure treasured personal goods to pass on to her daughters.
Ann's later years were spent in settling her children in marriage, as when her daughter Katherine married Samuel Browne of Salem, and Joshua Hempstead attended "a great Entertainment ther in stead of Wedding ... I was yesterday Informed of it & Invited & presented with a pr of [gloves]. In 1750, Ann married the local physician and prominent New London townsman Jeremiah Miller." After Miller's death in 1756, her daughter Ann looked after her, residing in the old Winthrop home together. Ann's last surviving letter is to her sister Mary, assuring her sister that she had "Lived the Date of Mans Life [plus] :14: Years..." Apparently secure of her salvation by daily prayers for grace, Ann died in 1776, the matriarch in an ever-expanding family.
IV.Conclusion
Ann sought to live her life well; to her, that meant following her religion and societal roles. She strove to be at once a good daughter and sister to the Dudleys, a loving wife to an unusual man, and a caring mother to her children. However, Ann faced a difficult job,.at least for most women of her time, as the mistress of vast estates. Ann reacted to this with her characteristic tenacity of purpose. She single-mindedly sought to build up the estates once more, as a means of securing both her and her children's future. When faced with an outdated will, she challenged it, choosing to claim her Widow's third of the lands which she had worked so hard to improve.
Ann sought to lead a life of duty; she probably did not think of herself as forging a new path in any sense. Rather, she dutifully strove to ensure happiness and financial security for her family. Her life reveals that women could meet both traditional expectations and adapt to social changes in the tumultuous world of eighteenth century America. She signed her letters to John, and indeed, lived her life, as "your most faithful Loveing frind, chast[e] and true & Dutifull ... til Deth."
- - - - - Kathryn A. Clippinger
1646 Bibliography
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Author: Wright, Thomas Goddard.
Title: Literary Culture in Early New England, 1620-1730.
Citation: New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press; London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1920.
Subdivision: Chapter XIII
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John Winthrop, son of Wait Winthrop, generally referred to as John Winthrop, F. R. S., to distinguish him from the other John Winthrops, also corresponded with the members of the Royal Society. He wrote to Cotton Mather in April, 1721,
Wt is become of the Doctr at Gresham?17 I am making an other sett of rarieties & curiositys for the Royall Society, wch I am thinking to present wth my owne hands.
In 1726 he did go to England, and there became an active member of the Royal Society, the 40th volume of the Society’s
200
Transactions being dedicated to him.18 Winthrop enjoyed English life so much that he never returned to New England.
Another who came in search of a fortune was Thomas Lechmere, younger son of Edmund Lechmere, Esq., and grandson of Sir Nicholas Lechmere, a distinguished judge. Thomas Lechmere’s older brother, Nicholas, became the Attorney-General of England and was raised to the peerage as Lord Lechmere in 1721. Lechmere brought with him money with which to trade, and soon added to it by marriage with Anne Winthrop, sister of John Winthrop, F. R. S.26
Of wealth and luxury in New England at this time one illustration will perhaps be sufficient. The expenditure at the time of the funeral of Fitz-John Winthrop, in 1707, amounted to over £600, the modern equivalent for which would be somewhat over $10,000.00. The single item of sugar for the burnt wine was £2.09.06, or about $50.00!27
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- Title: Savage's; Lounsbury's "Sir William Phipps"; History of Cambridge, MA, p. 580
Media: Book
- Title: "Evidences of the Winthrops of Groton Co. Suffolk, England," Privately Printed 1894 - 1896, Copy No. 24 of 50"
Media: Book
- Title: Boston Births, Baptisms, and Deaths 1630 - 1699, Boston Vital Records
Media: Book
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