Robert Titus
Encyclopedia
Robert Titus was the first Titus immigrant from England to America and is the progenitor of many of the Tituses in America today.
, Massachusetts Bay Colony
aboard the ship “Hopewell" from St. Katherine's, London, England.
The family arrived in Boston and Robert was granted land in Muddy River, the present town of Brookline, Massachusetts
. They lived in Brookline for two or three years and then moved to the town of Weymouth. Robert's land in Weymouth is described in the town records and is printed on page 274 of The History of Weymouth:
was pastor from 1639 to 1643. In 1643 Rev. Newman and most of his parishioners, including the Titus family, moved out of Weymouth and settled to the southwest and ultimately founded Rehoboth, Massachusetts
.
Despite Robert's importance in Rehoboth community, he began to have problems with his fellow townsmen and on June 6, 1654, when he was told to move his family out of the Plymouth Colony
for allowing Abner Ordway and family, "persons of evil fame", to live in his home.
The practice of banishing a family from the colony was known as a "Warning Out Notice
" and the actual Warning Out of the Titus family was the first recorded in the Plymouth Colony Record (22. p. 52):
Robert took his family to Long Island in the summer of 1654 where his son Edmond had moved four years prior to later became a Quaker. They settled near Oyster Bay
in Huntington, Long Island.
Robert's oldest son John was a land holder in Rehoboth in 1654 and remained there when his father moved to Long Island.
Emigration
He immigrated with his wife, Hannah, and two sons on April 3, 1635 to WeymouthWeymouth, Massachusetts
The Town of Weymouth is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, Weymouth had a total population of 53,743. Despite its city status, it is formally known as the Town of Weymouth...
, Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
aboard the ship “Hopewell" from St. Katherine's, London, England.
The family arrived in Boston and Robert was granted land in Muddy River, the present town of Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 58,732.-Etymology:...
. They lived in Brookline for two or three years and then moved to the town of Weymouth. Robert's land in Weymouth is described in the town records and is printed on page 274 of The History of Weymouth:
- Robert Titus
- "Six acres in the plaine 3 of them first giuen to George Allin 3 to Arthure Warren bounded on the East with a highwaie on the west and north with high waies on the south with the land of John Ozborne
- ffower acres on the other side first giuen to James Ludden the greate swampe being on the west and south of it
- One acre of ffresh marsh at his dore beinge at the north end of the greate swampe."
Banishment
Robert and his family belonged to the Church of Weymouth where Rev. Samuel NewmanSamuel Newman
Samuel Newman was a clergyman in colonial Massachusetts whose concordance of the Bible, published first in London in 1643, far surpassed any previous work of its kind....
was pastor from 1639 to 1643. In 1643 Rev. Newman and most of his parishioners, including the Titus family, moved out of Weymouth and settled to the southwest and ultimately founded Rehoboth, Massachusetts
Rehoboth, Massachusetts
Rehoboth is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,172 at the 2000 census.-History:It was incorporated in 1643 making it one of the earliest Massachusetts towns to be incorporated. The Rehoboth Carpenter Family is among the founding families...
.
Despite Robert's importance in Rehoboth community, he began to have problems with his fellow townsmen and on June 6, 1654, when he was told to move his family out of the Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town...
for allowing Abner Ordway and family, "persons of evil fame", to live in his home.
The practice of banishing a family from the colony was known as a "Warning Out Notice
Warning out of town
Warning out of town was a widespread method in the United States for established New England communities to pressure or coerce "outsiders" to settle elsewhere . It consisted of a notice ordered by the Board of Selectmen of a town, and served by the constable upon any newcomer who might become a...
" and the actual Warning Out of the Titus family was the first recorded in the Plymouth Colony Record (22. p. 52):
- 6 June
- Robert Titus enformed this Court, that hee, haueing sold his house and land att Rehoboth, and being ere long to remoue out of this goument, and that Mr Browne had layed an attachment vpon some pte of his estate to the vallue of aboue fifty pounds, requiring him to cecure the towne of Rehoboth of Abner Ordway; and vpon hearing and debateing the matter, it did euidently appeer that the said Robert Titus had, contrary to the mind of the towne, receiued into and harbored in his house as inmates Abner Ordway and a woman, psons of euill fame, with children. It is therefore ordered by the Court, that the said Titus, when hee remoueth himselfe and famyly, shall carry the said Abner, and all that appertaineth vnto him, or else giue such cecuritie as Mr Browne shall see meet for the saueing the inhabitants of the towne harmles from any determent that may befall them by Abner Ordway, or any such as belong vnto him; and in the interim of his remoueall to repaire such dammage as any shall sustaine therby.
Robert took his family to Long Island in the summer of 1654 where his son Edmond had moved four years prior to later became a Quaker. They settled near Oyster Bay
Oyster Bay (inlet), New York
Oyster Bay, also known as Oyster Bay Harbor, is an inlet of Long Island Sound on the north shore of Long Island in New York in the United States.The bay lies in Nassau County...
in Huntington, Long Island.
Robert's oldest son John was a land holder in Rehoboth in 1654 and remained there when his father moved to Long Island.
Death
Robert probably died before 1679 when his wife Hannah's will was read. The following is the will of Hannah Titus made at Huntington, L.I. in 1672. The original is on file in the office of the Clerk of the Court of Appeals, in Albany, N.Y.:- "May 14th 1672. The last Will and testament of Hanna Titus, being in prefit memory, I bequeth my sowl to God that gave it, and my body to the earth, and for my Estate I depose of it as followeth:- Imprimis I give to my sonn Content my house and all my land; and out of the forsaid house and Lands I give to my sonn Johnn tenn poundes, which my son Content is to pay him. And also I give to my son John my mare, and to my son Edmond I give a horse, and to my son Samuel a browne cow, and a yearlen stear, and I give to my son Samuel's wife my warming pan, and to my son Abialle's wife my smothing yron and to my son Contente's wife my Skimar, and for what remnantes of sarg and cloth I have, my will is, that it be equally divided among all my children, and to my dafter Susana I give my sarg hoode, and for all the rest of my estate within the house and without it, I give to my sun Abiall and Content to be equally divided between them two, and to this my will I set my hand in the presence of
- Richard Williames the H marke of
- Thomas Skidmore Hana Titus
- Richard Williames being one of the witnesses to this will have given his oath to the truth of it before me
- Jonas Wood this 28 of May '79
- Thomas Skidmore being a witness to ye wth in written will doth declare in ye presence of God to ye truth of it before me
- Issac Platt, Constable
- In the absence of ye Justice. Huntington, December ye 17th 1679."