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Pilgrim Village Families Sketch: William Bridges

Robert Charles Anderson

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Birth: William Bridges was born in England probably by 1615. Death: He died before February 6, 1648/9, when his wife was referred to as a widow.

Ship: Anne or Little James, 1623

Life in England: William Bridges’ father died and his mother remarried John Oldham.

Life in New England: William Bridges came to Plymouth Colony with his stepfather and others in the summer of 1623. John Oldham came into conflict with the Plymouth authorities and left the colony in the summer of 1624. It is unclear where the family lived for the next few years, but they eventually settled in Watertown in 1630. By December 1643,William Bridges was living in Charlestown.

Family: William Bridges married Persis Peirce of Charlestown by 1643 and had four children.After his death she married John Harrison of Boston.

Children of William and Persis Bridges:

  • Rebecca was born in Charlestown on February 2, 1643/4. She died there on April 30, 1644.

  • Persis was born about 1645. She married William Brown of Boston by 1664 and had at least one child.

  • Samuel was born in Charlestown on March 27, 1647. he married (1) Hannah _____ by 1672 and had at least one child. He married (2) Christian Stoddard Peirse in Boston on December 3, 1690. [BVR 122; 191; Hale, House, 739]

  • Mary was born about 1649. She married John Knight in Charlestown on June 22, 1668, and had at least three children. [ChVR 1:72, 83]