William FANSHAW

                   NOTE:
      Further detail on William's first wife, Goodie or Goodwife, and also of his property and life are recorded in PAF Notes.


In Colonial America on Long Island New York, at a place called Setauket, in Brookhaven Town in Suffolk County, a settlement of several families was established around 1660 that included the family of William Fancy and his second wife, Katherine. His first wife was called "Goodie" or "Goodwife" in New Haven, Connecticut records 1643 to 1646, and apparently died before he arrived at Setauket. His children were Samuel, Joseph, Hannah, William, Jr., and Rachel.The first records for William and Goodwife Fancy appear in the New Haven Colony in 1643. On May 5, 1643 the New Haven records indicate that "Will Fancie his wife" was charged with stealing various things. Goodwife Fancy confessed that she had taken about 5,000 pins, diverse parcels of linens, and a jug valued at 17 shillings from Mrs. Lamberton. From Mrs. Gilbert, she had taken two pillow bears and a shift when the family was at prayer. It was ordered that she be severely whipped and make restitution to the people involved.This same New Haven record also mentions that she had been previously whipped twice at "Conectecutt", which would appear to indicate that William and/or his wife had been in the Connecticut Colony prior to the New Haven Colony. The given name and maiden name of Goodwife Fancy is not known, but the extant Connecticut Colony records do not include any references to Fancy. It is possible that Goodwife Fancy was in Connecticut Colony prior to her marriage.There have been no hints found regarding William Fancy's origins prior to the New Haven Colony, other than the fact that the majority of the population of this Colony was Puritans who had come from England.William Fancy took the Oath of Fidelity to New Haven on July 1, 1644. There is evidence that William Fancy and his wife had been living with Lt. Robert Seeley, probably around 1644. Later, they were living with Thomas Clark, and may also have been living with, and/or working for, Thomas Robinson and Stephen Metcalfe.William Fancy left New Haven after 1646 and by 1652 had purchased a house and 2-1/2 acre lot in Southold, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. Robert Smith originally owned the house, and then sold the house to John Budd, who in turn sold it to William Fancy.Whitaker's Southold includes William Fancy in the list of Southold's early settlers. Southold also makes reference to William Fancy leaving Southold for Brookhaven - "Of the full-grown men who lived here and left their record in the annals of this Town not a few removed to other places and became important factors and elements in the settlement and life of other towns. John Tucker... became one of the early settlers of the Town of Brookhaven, Long Island, and so did William Fansey, John Budd, Arthur Smyth, Robert Akerly and John Frost."In December 1657 William Fancy witnessed a deed for William Salmon, which was recorded in Southold. William Fancy does not appear on the Southold List of Inhabitants in 1658, so it is probable that he left Southold by that time.In 1661, William Fancy appears on the list of land proprietors in Setauket and is credited with being one of the first settlers of that place.Records of William Fancy at Setauket begin in 1661 when he drew lot 13, a 6-acre lot in the "Old Field", in the first land draw at Setauket. The settlers had banded together and pooled their money to buy a large tract of land from the Indians. A selected piece of this land was surveyed and laid out in lots. The number of lots created was equal to the number of the town's proprietors. In the later draws, there were 55 lots laid out, which were numbered from 1 to 55. William Fancy is recorded as being entitled to one share. The lottery was to determine which lot a proprietor received, not whether he received a lot. Included in the lottery were those who had provided money in the first land draw in 1661.William Fancy's land draws:1661 - Land in the Old Field, 6-acre lots (#13)1667 - Lots in Newtown (East Setauket) (#6)1667 - Land in the Old Field, Second Division (#11)1667 - West Line (#4)1674 - Old Purchase of Meadow at the South (#4)1675 -
New Purchase at the South (#28)In addition to the lands he received in the drawings, in 1669 the Town voted to give William Fancy ten acres next to Robert Smith.William Fancy's name also appears on the following land lot drawings, although, with the exception of the Meadows at ye Olde Mans Beach by William Fancy's widow, in each case the name of the person who was actually exercising William Fancy's Proprietor's Rights is not recorded.Meadows at ye Olde Mans Beach (Widow Fancy #25)Fireplace Meadows (#23)Meadows on the East Side of "Conetecut" River, ye last division (#12)Wading Rivers Meadows, the last division (#18)Upland on the East Side of the "Conetticutt" River (#4)Meadows laid out by Moses Burnet and William Helms, the last division (#26)Southside, running between Smithtown line and Connecticut Hollow (#25)South, between Winthrop Line and Connecticut River, East Division (Great Division) (#27)South, between Winthrop Line and Connecticut River, West Division (Little Division) (#10)Smithtown Line and Wading River, West Division (#51)Skirst (Skirt) Division (#20)Old Mans Sheep Pasture (#7)West Meadow Neck Division (#10)Pasture Division in Town (#2)Long Swamp, south side of the country road near David Brewster Jr. (#7)East Side of the head of Connecticut River (#53)East Side of south path near Nasakique Swamp (#18)South side of Mr. Phillips 100 acres near Nasakique (#52)Meadow on South Beach, 3 Chain, 74 links wide (32)Wading River Great Lots (31)East Division of Long Lots (39)William Fancy signed papers with a Z mark, or with a ^ mark. From his arrival in Setauket until his death there about 1678 when his Will was proved, William Fancy's name appears in the town records participating in many routine activities, such as agreeing to a Town Arbitration Board to settle land disputes, signing a petition for a corn-grinding mill in 1664, and pledging 7 shillings to encourage a blacksmith to settle there in 1667.It is estimated that William Fancy's marriage to his second wife Katherine probably took place between 1652 and 1658. Town records relating to William Fancy's son Samuel Fanshaw/Fancy, call Samuel Katherine's son-in-law (meant as step-son). Katherine's maiden name is unknown. Because of the interaction between the families, there is speculation that she may have been a Smith, sister to Arthur Smith "The Quaker" and Robert Smith. If that was the case, it seems likely that Katherine met and married William Fancy in Southold. (In 1659 Arthur Smith sold his house in Southold and was admitted as a townsman of Setauket in December 1659. In 1661 Arthur Smith and William Fancy were on the list of 22 men who received 6 acre lots at Old Field.) In 1674 Katherine Fancy made a deposition that said she was "aged about 48", which places her birth sometime around 1626.William Fancy's children are recorded in his June 17, 1675 Will as Samuel, Joseph, Hannah, Rachel, and William, Jr. Based on the evidence in Brookhaven Town records, Samuel and Joseph are believed to be William Fancy's sons by his first (unknown) wife. Samuel Fanshaw/Fancy died unmarried and childless in 1685. Other than the 20 shillings William Fancy bequeathed to his son in 1675, there is no other record of Joseph Fancy in Brookhaven Town records.Hannah, Rachel and William, Jr. are named by William Fancy's second wife Katherine, in her October 17, 1684 Will. Hannah Fancy married (1) Robert Goulsbury, who died 1683, and (2) David Jennings/Jenners about 1684. Rachel married Peter Whiteheare (Whitaker/Wittier) before October 25, 1684.June 17, 1675, Will of William Fancy (Attachment B) - "Very aged and a cripple". Body to be buried in Brookhaven. "Sonne Samuel ffancy" to have half of "my accommodation. That is one halfe of my home lott and Seaven ackers in the ould feild, and one halfe of all the ouot land Devided and undevided, and one half of all my meadow at the ould mans, and all my pt of medow and upland in ye ould purchase at the south". Samuel is not to sell any of it, it is for his heirs forever. "Beloved wife Katherine ffancy" is to have the other half of the 
accommodation and the whole meadow at Conscience except 20 shillings, to my "sonne Joseph ffancy". "My sonne William "ffancy" is to receive his portion after the death of wife Katherine. "Daughter "Hanah ffancy" is to receive two cows, or ten pounds, to be paid when she comes of age or marries. "Daughter Rechell" has already received her portion. William Fancy instructs that his Will be kept by neighbor widow Martha Smith (wife of Arthur Smith) as long as he lives. The Will was witnessed by John Thomas and Martha Smith, widow.William Fancy probably died in early 1677, as his Will was proved in the Court of Sessions in Suffolk County on March 8, 1677. His name continues in Brookhaven records up to the last land draw in 1774 as his right is exercised by whomever it was transferred to by himself or his widow. Otherwise, 1677 is the last entry date for William Fancy in the Brookhaven Town records.William Fancy was married twice. The name of his first wife is unknown, being referred to only as Goodwife, or Goodie, in the New Haven Colony records. She probably died after the April 14, 1646 punishment received at the hands of the New Haven authorities and before William Fancy purchased the house in Southold in 1652. Goodwife had at least one son, Samuel. William must have married his second wife Katherine shortly after the death of his first wife. The British occupation of Long Island during the Revolutionary War destroyed any early church records in this area that might have contained births and marriages for this family. The birth mothers of William's other children are unknown, but it is presumed that Hannah, William, Jr., and Rachel are the children by second wife Katherine, because they are named in her Will.("The Fancher Family Origins", Alison C. Wallner & Paul B. Fancher, privately published, 2003)