The genealogical book analyzes the myth of a vast unclaimed fortune associated with William Carpenter’s American descendants, revealing it as a fabrication. James Usher details various branches of the Carpenter family, including Samuel Carpenter of Pennsylvania, William Carpenter of Massachusetts, Ephraim, Timothy and Josias Carpenter, of New York, and William Carpenter of Rhode Island.
In his 1672 will, John Hicks of Hempstead, despite his frail health, demonstrated clarity in his intentions. He appointed his son Thomas as executor, mandating him to pay £100 to his wife Rachel in livestock. Rachel was also granted household items and her personal belongings. Hicks bequeathed colts to his daughter Haviland’s children and £100 to his daughter Hannah, divided between horses and cattle. Additional legacies were designated for his son Thomas’s children and son-in-law Josyas Starr. The will was witnessed and later proved in court.
In his will dated September 30, 1669, Thomas Ireland of Hempstead bequeaths his estate primarily to his children. He grants his eldest daughter, Jane, a cow and £10 upon reaching adulthood, while his youngest daughter, Elizabeth, will receive £20 at the same age. His son Thomas inherits all housing and lands. The will names his unnamed wife as executrix and is witnessed by Jonah Fordham and John Smith, Sr. This document provides insight into familial responsibilities and inheritance practices of the time.
Laurence Ellison of Hempstead passed away without a will, leading his sons Richard, Thomas, and John to seek Letters of Administration. Their petition was approved on January 2, 1665/6, allowing them to manage their father’s estate.
Henry Pearsall of Hempstead, in his last will dated July 24, 1667, bequeaths a pair of oxen and land to Joseph Williams, while appointing his wife Anne as the sole executor. He expresses a desire for his housing and land to pass to their son Nathaniel upon Anne’s death. The will is witnessed by Joseph Sutton, Thomas Rushmore, and Timothy Halstead, and was proved in March 1668. Additionally, Pearsall’s heirs release him from past claims related to their deceased father, Michael Williams.
John Carpenter, son of William Carpenter, was born in England around 1628 and died on May 23, 1695. He immigrated with his father and settled in Connecticut at age seventeen, where he worked as a carpenter. He resided in Stratford in 1646 and later purchased land in Hempstead, Long Island, in 1660. He served as townsman in 1663, became a freeman in 1664, and was appointed captain in 1673. He was a patentee of Jamaica under the Dongan Patent of 1680. John married Hannah Hope and had several children.