Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

wampum. The wampum consisted of
strings of carefully selected shells, con-
sidered and used as money by the Indians.
In 1654 he was made a freeman. This
implied a good deal at the time, as the
colonies were very young, and not only
the Indians were in the vicinity, fre-
quently visiting the settlements, but also,
what was more to be dreaded, many per-
sons of uncertain character were continually
coming from England to America
who threatened the peace and quiet of the
settlements. As any person who was
made a freeman was taken into the coun-
cil and government of the colony, such
persons were only admitted by the General
Court, and after having taken an
oath of allegiance to the government here
established ; and it was very important for
the protection of their wives and children
as well as their property that no such persons
should be admitted as freeman. This
custom continued until the second charter
in 1692 made Massachusetts a royal
province. He died at Portsmouth, Rhode
Island, about 1670, when about fifty-two
years old.
Nathaniel Browning married, about
1650, Sarah Freeborn, second daughter of
William and Mary Freeborn, who sailed
from Ipswich, England, in 1634. Two
children were born to Nathaniel and
Sarah Browning: William, of whom
further; Jane, born about 1655.
(II) William Browning, son of Nathaniel
and Sarah (Freeborn) Browning, was
born about 165 1, at Portsmouth, Rhode
Island. He was a farmer, and lived at
North Kingston, Rhode Island. In 1684
he was made a freeman, and the records
show that he exchanged lands in 1685.
The record also shows that on February
26, 1688, he sold to Robert Fisher twenty
acres. He died in 1730, in the eightieth
year of his age. His will, dated January
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
12, 1730, proved February 8, 1730, reads
in part as follows
:
To wife, Sarah, thirty pounds yearly for life; to
eldest son, Samuel, two hundred and fifty acres in
South Kingston, one hundred pounds, and to have
also ten pounds paid by his brother John ; to son
William two hundred and fifty acres in South
Kingston on which he now dwelleth ; to son John a
hundred acres at Point Judith, where he dwelleth ; to
daughter Sarah three hundred pounds ; to deceased
daughter Hannah Knowles children, Rebecca and
Hannah, a hundred pounds at eighteen, equally
divided ; to three sons the rest of the estate equally.
William Browning married (first), in
1687, Rebecca Wilbur, daughter of Samuel
and Hannah (Porter) Wilbur, granddaughter
of Samuel Wilbur and John
Porter, both of whom were original
settlers of Portsmouth. He married
(second) Sarah, surname unknown, who
died in 1730. Issue, all by first marriage:
I. Samuel, born February 9, 1688. 2.
Hannah, born July 16, 1691. 3. William,
born September 29, 1693. 4. Sarah, born
April, 1694. 5. John, of whom further.
(Ill) John Browning, youngest son of
William and Rebecca (Wilbur) Browning,
was born March 4, 1696, at South
Kingston, Rhode Island. He was a
farmer and lived in South Kingston, near
the seacoast. In 1774 he was made a
freeman, and the records show that on
March 8, 1738, he bought of Jeffrey
Hazard a tract of two hundred acres, giv-
ing £2000 for it. He sold, October 20,
1741, to Stephen Hazard, for £3000, a
tract of land of a hundred acres, and April
27, 1741, he deeded to his son Jeremiah
forty acres of the land bought of Jeffrey
Hazard, a relative of his wife. In later
years the Hazard family became very
wealthy by manufacturing woolens, their
principal mill being at Peace Dale, Rhode
Island. In his will, dated August 23,
1770, proved April 14, 1777, he deeded to
his grandsons, Thomas and William, sons