WILLIAM BREWSTER JR.. was born at Lebanon sometime between 1693 and 1695, the first-born son of WILLIAM and PATIENCE, and he had five siblings. Unfortunately, his birth was not recorded in the Lebanon town records.

WILLIAM JR. married MEHITABLE ABEL on December 13, 1716, in Lebanon, and the births of their first four children were recorded in the town records there. Their fifth child was recorded in the town records of Mansfield, Connecticut.

There is very little information presented in "The Brewster Genealogy" about WILLIAM and MEHITABLE other than scant information about their six children together. Following are three references that help to pinpoint their movements from town to town:

From Terry, Milton E. and Harding, Anne Borden, "A Notebook on the Descendants of Elder William Brewster of Plymouth Colony" Union Co. Printing, Westfield NJ, p. 65: "An entry in the Mansfield Town Records: children of William Brewster family of Lebanon now living in Mansfield. William F. Say b. 13 March 1729/30. His first four children were baptized in Lebanon 21 Aug. 1726." "MEHITABLE BREWSTER, wife of WILLIAM BREWSTER JR., made confession and owned the covenant at Lebanon Congregation Church in 1726."

From Dimock, Susan W., "Births, Baptisms, Marriages and Deaths, Mansfield, CT, 1703-1850", p. 33, Town Records-Births "Child of WILLIAM BREWSTER, formerly of Lebanon, now living in Mansfield, and Mehitable his wife. WILLIAM F. SAY, b. March 13, 1729-30."

From First Church Records [Mansfield] - Baptisms , page 360: "1730, May 24. WILLIAM, son of WILLIAM BRUSTER"

Although we know nothing more of the personal events of WILLIAM and MEHITABLE's life together, we did discover that theirs was not a happy union, when on the third Tuesday of March 1748/49, MEHITABLE filed a petition for divorce from WILLIAM. From this petition, we learn that WILLIAM BRUSTER deserted his family in March of 1733. In 1733, their youngest son, WILLIAM, was nearing (or had reached) his third birthday. In her petition, MEHITABLE does not indicate why he left his family, but she says that she "had lived in the due discharge of all the duties of a wife to him..." which leads us to believe that she took no blame for him leaving. Why she waited sixteen years to file for divorce, we have no clue other than the fact that divorces were expensive. It probably took her sixteen years to accumulate enough money to file for divorce. At the same time that I discovered MEHITABLE's petition for divorce, I discovered a similar divorce petition filed by MEHITABLE's sister-in-law, ELIZABETH (DeWolfe) BREWSTER, who had married WILLIAM's younger brother, EBENEZER. ELIZABETH filed her petition for divorce the 23rd of March 1739, and she indicated that EBENEZER had broken his marriage covenant and had been "gone a full ten years last past..." indicating that he had deserted them in 1729. Their last child, ELIZABETH, was born March 7, 1728/29, so he may have left just after her birth or perhaps even before she was born. Seeing as ELIZABETH (DeWOLFE) BREWSTER waited ten years to file divorce, perhaps it was necessary to wait at least 10 years before one was eligible to file, or it took her that long to save up the money. At any rate, we do know that ELIZABETH's divorce was granted sometime before June 1740 because it was in that month and year that she married CALEB OWEN in Lebanon. She then gave birth to another son, CALEB OWEN JR., May 20, 1741, at Lebanon.

Both of the above-mentioned Petitions for Divorce can be found in their entirety at the end of this chapter.

With the information presented in these two petitions for divorce, we can then begin to build a time line of WILLIAM and EBENEZER's whereabouts after deserting their families. Although this chapter is about WILLIAM's life and times, it is necessary to add information about EBENEZER since it appears that WILLIAM followed him in his wanderings.

Let us analyze what we know so far. This WILLIAM BREWSTER JR. was born perhaps as early as 1693, and he is a cousin of JABEZ FITCH, JR. WILLIAM married MEHITABEL ABEL in 1716 in Lebanon, New London County, CT. WILLIAM and MEHITABEL lived in Lebanon and then removed to Mansfield, Tolland County, CT, where the birth of their son WILLIAM is recorded in 1730. WILLIAM reported to JABEZ FITCH JR. that he had married a second time in New Haven, New Haven County, CT, (after having deserted Mehitable and their children in 1733). Because MEHITABLE did not file for divorce until 1748/49, it is doubtful that his second marriage was legal, although he did tell JABEZ FITCH JR. that he "married a Second Wife at N. Haven." Since no marriage record has been discovered for WILLIAM in the town or church records of New Haven, it is unlikely that a second marriage actually took place; he simply "took a second wife" without actually having been married. If he actually went through a marriage ceremony with a second wife, he had committed bigamy. Either way, the children of this second union would be "born out of wedlock" and would be considered "bastards."

When we look at a map of Connecticut, we can see that Mansfield is North of Lebanon. WILLIAM would have traveled quite a distance away from Mansfield and Lebanon to be married at New Haven. From New Haven, he would have crossed over the State line into New York and the area then known as "The Oblong," a strip of land two and one-half miles wide along the Connecticut border.

The Oblong: From "The Nickerson Family", Published by the Nickerson Family Association, 1973, LDS Film 0928159, Item 2, pp 34-35: "The Oblong was a strip of land two and one-half miles wide along the Connecticut border, which had been ceded by that state to New York in 1731 in exchange for lands along Long Island Sound. A guarantee of title and low prices for the land attracted young Cape Codders who had become dissatisfied with their prospects. A religious awakening and social upheaval extended over the Cape at the time. Settlers from Yarmouth, Harwich and other places occupied land in the Oblong as early as 1740, but there is no evidence that people from Chatham went until the "second emigration" in 1747. The Oblong adjoined the town of Ridgefield, Conn., and at the time was in Dutchess County, N.Y., (later Putnam County). Some of the villages of the Oblong were called Nine Partners, Pawling, Crumebow, Phillips Patent -- in New York, and New Milford, Sherman, New Fairfield -- in Connecticut."

WILLIAM BREWSTER JR's account to JABEZ FITCH JR. of his travels is one of the most important puzzle pieces collected regarding his whereabouts after leaving his first family behind in Connecticut in March of 1733. WILLIAM says he lived in the Oblong until 1754 when he removed to Virginia, and it is highly likely that he and EBENEZER and their families traveled there together. We know that WILLIAM returned from Virginia in 1757, and was still in Dutchess County, NY, in 1764. EBENEZER remained in Virginia and died there in 1774, leaving many descendants.

WILLIAM BREWSTER JR's paper trail ends in Dutchess County, NY. We know that he died after January 8, 1764, and we can assume that he died in Dutchess County. The very best "proof" that we could find as to the names of WILLIAM's second family would be a Will for WILLIAM. However, Wills were not recorded in Dutchess County at such an early time, nor do we find any church or town records. In my research of Dutchess County, NY, I found circumstantial evidence of three men who "probably" are sons of WILLIAM, but to date I have found no "proof" that they are his sons, and prior to October 2006, I had absolutely NO clue as to the identity of WILLIAM's second wife. However, after sharing information about our lineage with a far-distant cousin in Orange County, NY, in October 2006, he shared information with me from some resources that he had in his possession. Barbara Lambert Merrick compiled a series of booklets of "Mayflower Families in Progress." In one of these booklets, "William Brewster, Jonathan2 , fifth generation descendants", information is presented about WILLIAM's first marriage to MEHITABLE ABEL, and then says "WILLIAM probably married second in New Haven, Conn., RACHEL RUSSELL, who was probably the one born in New Haven, Conn. [now East Haven, established 1785], Wednesday, 15 December 1703, the daughter of JOHN and HANNAH (THOMPSON) [sic] (MOULTHROP) RUSSELL. RACHEL died probably in New York after 1764." (Merrick, 1999, pp. 173-174). This same article about WILLIAM BREWSTER JR. gives the full diary entry of JABEZ FITCH JR. made regarding WILLIAM's January 8, 1764 visit, and the article confirms their "cousin" relationship mentioned in the Diary entry.

So who were WILLIAM and RACHEL's children? In Dutchess County, NY, we find records of SAMUEL, PELATIAH and JOHN BREWSTER/BRUSTER. Are these men their sons? In the next chapter, I will give what I have been able to learn about these three "probable" sons of WILLIAM and RACHEL.

Petition for Divorce, Windham County, Connecticut:

"Mehitebel Brewster Petition 15 vs. William Brewster 1749

Petition for Divorce

To the Honorable Superior Court, Now Setting at Windham Within and for the County on the 3rd Tuesday of March 1748/9. The Petition of Mehitable Bruster of Windham in Sd County Who Humbly Shew to this Court [that] on the 13th of December 1716 She Your Petitioner Was Joyned In Mareage to one William Bruster of Labenan In Sd County With Whome Your Petitioner Lived In the Due Discharge of al the Duties of a Wife to him ye Sd William til Sum time In the Munth of March In the Year 1733: at Which Time he the Said William Without any Just Caus from Your Petitioner Given Willfuly Deserted and Left Your Petitioner With the Total Neglect of al Duties of a Husband Toward Your Petitioner Ever Since the Year 1733 Whereupon Your Petitioner pray that Your Honors Would Declare Sd Marriage of Sd William with Your Petitioner Void and that Your Petitioner be Single & unMarried as by Law You are Innabled to Do and Your Petitioner as Is Duty bound Shall Ever pray.

Dated in Windham March 20th 1748/9.

Mehitable Bruster"

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Proof of Marriage submitted with Petition for Divorce:

"Lebanon June 13 1749

This may certify whomsoever it may concern that in the Church Book of the First Church in Lebanon in a page written by Mr. Samuel Welles under the Title in the top of the Page /Persons Married by me/ I find as follows. 1716 Decem 13th William Bruster Jun & Meh: Abel ------

Solomon Williams, Pastor of the First Church in Lebn."

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Per Index to Divorce Records of Windham County (1726-1907), Part 1:

"William Brewster, Jr. & Mehitabel (Abel); 278."

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Petition and Proof of Marriage microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1990.

Title: Divorce papers, 1726-1907.

Authors: Connecticut. Superior Court (Windham County)

Microfilm of original records in the Connecticut State Library, Hartford.

Subject: Connecticut, Windham - Divorce records.

Film: Divorce papers Boulay-Burdick 1726-1907 - FHL US/CAN Film [1638586]