Re: Cearley, Kerley, Curley, etc..
OK, Guys -- here's how it goes - By 1642 there was a family named Kerly in Sudbury, MA. William,Sr, b 1602, m. Ann White in Dorset, England, and they are said to have been in America by 1637, but weren't known to be at Sudbury for a few years more, along with a nephew of the senior William who came to America in 1638 aboard the "Confidence" with an older brother Edmund, who subsequently died or returned to England. This younger William, according to Court records filed in Middlesex County in 1666&7, was born in 1621, probably also in Dorset, England. William, Sr and Ann Kerly had 3 children, born in England - 1. Mary, b. 1627 who married in Sudbury, a Richard Smith. She died March 27, 1654 after bearing 3 children, 2 of whom survived to adulthood; - 2. Henry, b. 1632 who married twice, first to Elizabeth White on November 02, 1654 at Sudbury. They had 8 children, the two eldest were sons Henry, Jr b. February 11, 1657, and William, b. February 22, 1658, both at Sudbury. This younger William and his mother and another son Joseph, were killed during the Massacre at Lancaster in 1676 and Henry, Sr was remarried to Elizabeth Ward, widow of John Howe, II, and they are known to have had 2 daughters and at least one, perhaps 2 sons, one of which was another William, b. abt 1683. This last William was a mariner and he was married at Boston on May 3, 1703 by the Rev. Cotton Mather to Mary Bowden, daughter of John and Grace Bully Bowden of Saco, ME. There were at least 2 sons born to this William and Mary in Boston, Joseph and John, and after Mary's mother died at Boston in 1710, Mary and the children moved to Marlborough where a cousin Bartholomew, son of the William, b. 1621, and his wife Hannah lived, and it was there that Mary and William's later children were born, William being at sea on and off for the rest of his life - he died before May 7, 1739 - that's when Mary filed for Probate in Boston. The last son, William, Jr, b. abt Sept. 18, 1717 m Martha Patty Carter abt. 1737 at Marlborough, MA and various records show that a William and his brother James were granted land holdings in VA in 1751 by the Crown for services rendered to the Crown by the family. William sold his land in VA and moved on with wife Martha Patty Carter Carley into Wilkes Co., NC and the name changed from Carley to the Cearley spelling now used in the southern states where they subsequently lived and died, he bef. March 1796 and she a few years later. - 3. William, b. 1633, m in 1666 at Sudbury, Jane Unknown. They are known to have had 7 daughters and both they and daughter Elizabeth are buried in the Robbins Cemetery, East Village of Lexington, Ma. William and Elizabeth having died at Lexington in 1719 and Jane in 1721. Capt. Henry's son Henry, who survived the Massacre at Lancaster is known to have had a son John who had a son Henry and both this John and Henry are also known to have migrated south into VA -- The William, b. 1621 (and who was probably a nephew of the William, Sr, b 1602) m. at Sudbury October 06, 1646, Anna King and they are known to have had a son Bartholomew b abt. 1650, who married in 1686 a Hannah Unknown. Since my own line descends from John, son of William the Mariner, 1683, and wife Mary Bowden, 1684, I have not kept as much information about the other sons of Capt. Henry and first wife Elizabeth White, but I know that many of William and Martha Patty's descendants have kept good track of these folks and I'm sure you will hear more from them - Good Luck, All!
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