At a Town Council Held at Glocester the 20th day of February anno Domini 173, the above written will was proved approved and allowed to be Recorded and the same Recorded on the ninth day of March A. D. 1739 p' ELISHA KNOWLTON, Clerke. february the forth Day 173, this Jnventry was taken of the moveable Estate of William Steere of Glocester in the County of Providence &c who departed this life on the twenty-ninth day of January anno Domini 1739 The above Jnventory was taken the day and year abouesaid by 00 03 00 77 08 04 WILLIAM COMAN and EZRA BARTLETT LEWIS. 9. ANNE STEERE, daughter of John Steere, Sen. (1), married, January 14, 1706, Richard Lewis. They resided in Providence (Glocester), He died October 4, 1717; she died October 28, 1725. Children: I. EDWARD, b. October 22, 1706. II. NEHEMIAH, b. December 12, 1708 III. JANE, b. June 26, 1711. 10. SAMUEL STEERE, son of John, Sen. (1), seems to have been the youngest son of the family. The date of his birth is not given in any public records, but it could not have been far from the year 1673. His father deeded land to him in the year 1694, when probably he arrived at his majority. The rights of land held by the early settlers were laid out from time to time by the surveyors of the town, and often in the newer sections not as fast as the owners desired. The Town Council was importuned for the permission to take up the land which was yet undivided. Hence we find that the following paper, very similar in form to many others from various parties, was handed in by Samuel Steere. It very likely was written, as quite usual, by the town clerk, and the signature may not be Mr. Steere's. To the Towne of Providence met the 3d day of ffebrua" 170, by adjornem': from the 27th of January last; Neighbours my desire & request is that you would be pleased to grant me leave to take up 40 acres of land on the west side of yo 7 mile line in halfe a Right which my father gave to me, for J doe now want a place to settle on & cannot obtain lands other where. yo&noighbS زو a m2. Slow is the 3d of stobraz 140°09 здоровый John Steere, Sen., deeded to his son Samuel, for and in consideration of the settlement and well-being of his son, one half of his own right of land on the west side of the Seven Mile Line, acknowledged by the father, October 19, 1702, and recorded on the Glocester records.* Part of this property was transferred to his brother, Thomas Steere of Providence, April 5, 1707, and recorded on the Glocester records May 27, 1745. There is no evidence that Samuel Steere settled on this property in Glocester, or that he married so early as 1700. November 21, 1705, his father, John Steere, Sen., deeded to him his own homestead (at Winnekheague) in the following language: "good consideration moving me thereto, of the love and natural affection which I have to my son Samuel Steere, and to prevent future controversies after my dayes and the dayes of my wife Hanna Steere, given unto my said son Samuel Steere my mansion house and orchard and meaddow which is adjoyning to my said house with my other land adjoining to the same, all in estimation forty acres and also my piece of meadow called Ridgehill Meadow and also my part of common."‡ It is probable that the father lived with this son or at least in the same house at the old homestead, and that he bestowed upon him the principal part of his estate. April 1, 1707, Samuel Steere bought of his brother Thomas, for £20, forty acres at Vyunkeake (Winnekheague), bordering upon land of John Steere Senior's homestead. June 16, 1713, Samuel Steere was taxed six shillings. September 3, 1720, Samuel Steere sold to Joseph Mowry, for £36, the Ridge Hill Meadow which lay to the south of the homestead farm, and which was bounded on the southeast side by the western branch of the Wanasquatucket River, in the deed of which his father joined. December 11, 1721, Samuel Steere, "by and with the free voluntary consent of his honored father, John Steere, Sen'," mortgaged to his brother, John Steere, Jr., fifteen acres at Winnekheague, being part of the old homestead farm, for £60, which mortgage was paid January 27, 1728. December 6, 1725, Samuel and Hannah Steere sold to Capt. Joseph Mowry eighty acres of land on the east side of the Seven Mile Line, it being the farm on which they then dwelt. Thus the old Smithfield homestead passed into the hands of Capt. Joseph Mowry, and was deeded by him, February, 172, to his son Oliver Mowry, and is still held by his descendants. The Ridge Hill upland and meadow was bequeathed by Captain Mowry to his son Oliver. On making the sale of the property in Winnekheague, on the east side of the Seven Mile Line, to Captain Mowry, he bought, the same date, of Elisha Knowlton, one hundred and fifty acres, with dwelling-house, etc., on the west side of the Seven Mile Line, "one half mile westward from the now dwelling-house of Mr Peter Place." § This removal *Vol 3, p. 70. † Vol. 3, p. 71. The town of Glocester having been set off from the township of Providence in the year 1730, many of the deeds of property within the new township, which had been registered in Provi- from Smithfield to Glocester in 1725, a little over a year after the decease of his father, brought Samuel Steere into the immediate neighborhood of his sister Sarah, who married Elder Peter Place, and into the settlement near Harmony which has been occupied so largely ever since by the different branches of the Steeres. May 1, 1728, Samuel Steere sold to John Mowry, for £3, "one half a purchase right in Commonage within the seven mile line, and half of the next division which is agreed upon, which is seven acres and a halfe upon that which was the originall Right of John Steere, deceased, being an estate of inheritance." * Samuel Steere bought soon after a small parcel of land from John Mowry, Sen., in the same locality,† and also, November 25, 1730, adjoining his dwelling-place on the one side, and the dwelling-place of Mr. Peter Place on the other side,seven acres from Nathan Place, his nephew. ‡ Samuel Steere married, in the later maturity of his life, Hannah Field, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Everden) Field, who had removed from Providence to Bridgewater, Mass. This John Field was the son of John Field the emigrant settler in this line. He was a member of the Glocester SixPrinciple Church, as his name appears among the signers of the creed of the church in 1741, probably adopted at that date. Samuel Steere seems to have pursued a quiet and steady course of life, and died October 18, 1745, at a little over the age of seventy. The inventory of his personal estate was taken January 11, 1745, and amounted to £723 6s. 5d. His widow, Hannah, declining to take administration on his estate, his son Anthony was appointed administrator. The date of Hannah Steere's death is not known. They were probably buried in the cemetery by the Waterman Reservoir, formerly on the old Steere place, which fell to Nehemiah Steere, but is now (1886) owned by John Wilkinson. The name of Samuel Steere appears on a petition about a highway in 1741 thus: 24 25 Children: Samvell Stevr I. URANIA, m. William Coman, who d. June 8, 1772. She d. April 5, 1785. Her will was made December 6, 1775, and proved May 30, 1785; her brother Jonah was the executor, f. II. A Son who died between July and October, 1723, of the "burning ague," which carried off forty-one of the inhabitants of Providence during that period. 26 III. ANTHONY, b. December 14, 1716; m., May 11, 1746, Rachel Comstock, dau. of Hazadiah and Martha Comstock. She was born September 21, 1711, and died June 13, 1816, a. 94 years, 3 months, and 25 days. He died December 7, 1802, æ. 85 years, 11 months, and 24 days, f. *Prov. Records, vol. 8, p. 167. † Land Evidence, vol. 7, p. 430. Land Evidence, vol. 8, pp. 401, 402. 27 IV. JONAH, b. January, 1720; m., December 10, 1741, Lydia Whipple (b. 1725), dau. of Job and Lydia (Harding) Whipple. He d. April 14, 1798; she d. 1779, f. 28 V. JEREMIAH, b. February 22, 1722; m., 1st, Burlingame; m., 2d, Mary Thornton, widow of Nehemiah Thornton, and dau. of Nathaniel and Ruth (Hawkins) Wade; m., 3d, Mary Wade; m., 4th, Jemima Lee. He d. in 1803, æ. 81, f. 29 VI. JOHN, b. about 1729. His uncle, William Coman, on 10th March, 1745, was appointed his guardian, and also of his brother Samuel, both being under age, but over fourteen years. John died before April 5, 1757, when his uncle, John Field, in his will bequeathed £10 to each of his nephews and nieces, children of his sister Hannah, naming them but not including John. 30 VII. SAMUEL, b. November 12, 1731; m. Martha Colwell; d. August 2, 1814. She d. November 11, 1813, f. SAMUEL STEERE'S INVENTORY.* An Jnventory of all and Singular the Good Chattels, Rights and Credits of Samuel Steere of Glocester in the County of Providence, yeoman (Deceased) who departed this Life the Eighteenth day of October A. D: 1745— Jmprimas Bills of Credit Computed at the rate of old tenor, To his Wearing apparel to twenty one yeards and three quarters of all wool Cloth to one feather bed, furniture & bedstead £19 16 5 |