William BILLINGS

                   Historical information included in notes.




Frank E. Ward, III:The estate called Deanes, at Taunton, passed to William after being held successively by his father, William & his grandfather Richard, known as the Elder. When he immigrated to New England he sold it to his brother Ebenezer. This Ebenezer, in his will dated 23 Jan. 1649, made his brother William a legatee, " if he comes back to England within two years after my decease." The will then provides: "Whereas my brother William Billing by the virtue of an obligation unto me made before his departure for New England whereby he relinquished & made over to me for certain considerations therein contained his part & interest in the house & lands called Deanes situated in Taunton in said county of Somerset formerly belonging to our late father William Billing deceased, I do hereby give & bequeath the whole undivided aforesaid estate called Deanes together with the apptenncs unto my nephew & godson Ebenezer Billing, son of my late brother Joseph, deceased, to enter upon when he shall arrive at the age of one & twenty years."The date of William's arrival in New England is not known; but from his brother Ebenezer's will, quoted above, it must have been not later than 1649. In 1658, he was in Dorchester, MA. The same year, according to Somerby, but certainly by 1667, he removed to Stonington, & acquired a large estate there. His house was on Cosatue Hill. He was a soldier in King Philip's War, in 1675. He was admitted into the Stonington Church 29 Apr. 1677.In his will, dated 3 Oct. 1712 & proved 14 Apr. 1713, he mentions his wife Mary, his son William, his daughters Margaret, Mary, Lydia, & Mercy, his daughter Abigail's 4 daughters, his daughters Dorothy & Patience, his grandson Beriah Grant, His granddaughter Mary Keeays (the last name is doubtful), & his son Ebenezer, who is made residuary legatee & executor. The noncupative will of his widow Mary, declared in the fall of 1713 & recorded 8 July 1718, mentions her daughters Margaret, Mary, Lydia, Mercy, Dorothy, & Patience, & her granddaughters Mary Ceay (the last name is doubtful; it represents the same name as "Keeays" in her husband's will), Elizabeth Randall & Mary Randall. The Widow Mary Billing was buried in the North Stonington cemetery. Her gravestone is illegible, but the footstone reads " M.B." Her husband was buried in the same cemetery, his gravestone reading: "1713 Here lies the body of William Billing who died in the 85th years of his age."






    From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 January 1996.

    From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 January 1996.

    Line 1249 from GEDCOM File not recognizable or too long:
    BIRT PLAC Taunton, , (Deanes Estate), Somersetshire, , England

    Line 1255 from GEDCOM File not recognizable or too long:
    BURI PLAC Old Plain Cemetery, Stonington, New London, Connecticut