William Leverich
The Rev. William Leverich (or Liveridge) was born in England. He died in 1677 at Newton, Long Island, NY Province.
On 10 November 1629 at Great Bowden William was married to Ellin Johnson, daughter of John Johnson and Sarah Fyshe [the only known record of William’s wife specifically by name in American records is the Huntington, New York Court Records, where is found recorded an affidavit by Ellin Leverich on 18 April 1660 related to litigation between her husband and one Henry Whitney].
On 29 July 1631 William was appointed Rector of Church of St. Peter, Great Livermere, Suffolk, where a daughter Hannah was baptized on 3 June 1632 [there is no further record of this daughter, and it is assumed she died as a child].
Son: Caleb Leverich (b 1638, Boston, MA - d 1717, Newtown, NY). Also had a son, Eleazer
He emigrated on 10 Oct 1633 from Salem, Essex Co., Massachusetts. He died on 27 Mar 1677 in Newtown, Suffolk Co., New York. He received a degree from Emanuel College, Cambridge, England. He was Church of England. (Newspaper clipping dated 1633.)
The people of Dover early erected a convenient meetinghouse, which was afterwards improved as a fortification. A church was soon organized, of a character similar to the churches in the neighboring colonies; and Mr. William Leverich, a worthy and able divine, came from England in 1633, and became their minister.
He was educated for the ministry in the Church of England, receiving both a BA and an MA, but early allied himself with the nonconformists and sought freedom of worship in the New World, arriving at Salem, Massachusetts aboard the Ship James in 1633. Rev. William settled permanently in Newtown (now Elmhurst), Queens County, Long Island in 1662.
NICHOLAS WRIGHT and MARGARET NELSON:
Named in will of Anthony Wright dated 20 May 1673; (*);+1. Peter born about 1595; died 1663 from drowning while on a trip to Virginia; married 1636 in Massachusetts (*) Alice May; she died as widow of (*) Richard Crabb 1685.
2. Anthony born about 1600; died Oyster Bay NY 8 Sep 1680; unmarried. Left will dated 20 May 1673; proved 8 Dec 1680.
+3. (*) NICHOLAS possibly born Norfolk England about 1609; died Nov 1682 Oyster Bay LI NY; married (*) ANN (unknown) died 1683 or 1685. Left will dated 10 Apr 1674; proved 13 Dec 1682. After staying briefly in Saugus, Massachusetts Bay Colony, they moved to Sandwich Plymouth Colony in 1637, where Nicholas was an associate of Edmund Freeman. In the spring of 1653, he joined the company of the Rev. William Leverich in sailing to Oyster Bay NY on board the sloop DESIRE. In May 1677 he was one of the 14 freeholders in Oyster Bay.
Note discrepancy of ship's name - The 'Desire'? or the 'James'?
. . .to correct misinformation that was published in 1916 and 1924, and cited by many descendents of Rev. William Leverich.
There is and has never been any place called “Drawlington Hall” in Warwickshire.
There is no record of a person called “Saville”, or “John Saville” Leverich, knighted or otherwise, in England.
There is no record of a person called “William Leverich” in Warwickshire.
The coat of arms (which I still display on my web site) were granted to William Leversage of Wheelock in Cheshire by William Flower, Norroy King of Arms, in 1580, but there is no evidence of any link between his family and our William Leverich.
William MAY have come from Northamptonshire, since it is possible that he was Abraham and Eleanor Leverich’s son William, who was baptized in the county at Ecton on 9 November 1606.
In 1628 William was appointed to his first clerical assignment as curate, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Great Bowden, Leichestershire.
On 10 November 1629 at Great Bowden William was married to Ellin Johnson, daughter of John Johnson and Sarah Fyshe [the only known record of William’s wife specifically by name in American records is the Huntington, New York Court Records, where is found recorded an affidavit by Ellin Leverich on 18 April 1660 related to litigation between her husband and one Henry Whitney].
On 29 July 1631 William was appointed Rector of Church of St. Peter, Great Livermere, Suffolk, where a daughter Hannah was baptized on 3 June 1632 [there is no further record of this daughter, and it is assumed she died as a child].
About August 1633 William departed for New England on the Ship James, Mr. Grant, Master, accompanied by Capt. Wiggin. They arrived at Salem, Massachusetts on 10 October 1633.
What is the source of the misinformation?
Some time in the 1850’s John Leveridge (1792-1886), an attorney living in Manhattan, New York County, New York, apparently engaged a researcher in England who provided the misinformation cited above. John Leveridge shared this information with his son Cornelius Leveridge (1829-1906) of Union County, New Jersey. Cornelius shared the information with Susan Leverich (1836-1920) of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Susan was apparently the source of information published in the following two publications:
New York: Encyclopedia of Biography of New York; Fitch, Charles Elliott, editor; New York: The American Historical Society, Inc., 1916.
Alumni Cantabrigienses: A Biographical List of all Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, From the Earliest Times to 1900; Venn, John and Venn, J.A., compilers, Cambridge University Press, 1924.
Tom Leverich has prepared a document which includes a chronology of documented references to Rev. William Leverich, which I will be glad to share with you if you send me your email address. You can email me at tomaug12@aol.com. Tom Leverich, West Windsor, New Jersey: www.leverichgenealogy.org; tomaug12@aol.com
The Leverich Family Homestead - south side of Trains Meadow Road -Newtown, Queens County, Long Island, New York - before 1909. Built by Caleb Leverich about 1670. Caleb's grandson 4-John Leverich built an addition to the homestead in 1732. This eastern view is now 35th Road from 70th Street