First of the English to die at Yarmouth.
[WILLAM TWINING ET AL. TO PETER WARDEN]
[3: 334] On 5 April, 1669, "Willam Twinning of Eastham ....husbandman", for £8 lawfull money, sold to "Peter Warden of the Towne of Yarmouth .... husbandman". "the said Willam
Twinning . . . for himselfe and Merriam Dean his sister and for Sussanna Snow sister to his wife; which three are the proper and Joynt heires of theire father Steven Deane his land" "all the lands that belonges unto and Were the purchase lands of Stephen Dean Deceased; and now lawfully heired by Elizabeth the wife of the said Willam Twinning, Merriam Dean and Sussanna the wife of Stephen Snow; all these the Daughters of Stephen Deane Deceased, of the Towne of Plymouth in New England ... both uplands and meddowing Containing the Eleventh prte of the whole tract of lands between the two brookes ... Comonly Called and knowne by the Names of bound brook and stony brook; and Now within the the liberties of the Township of yarmouth aforsaid"
The deed was signed by William Twining, Elizabeth Twining, Stephen Snow, Susanna Snow and Meriam Dean, the last by a mark; was acknowledged 5 April, 1669, by the five grantors, before John Freeman, Assistant; and was witnessed by Josias Cooke and Nicholas Snow.
On 5 April, 1669, Peter Warden transferred the property to "his sonne Kanelme Winslow" The deed was acknowledged the same day, and the witnesses were the same as in the preceding deed.
[foL 33] The last will and Testament of Peter Worden of Yarmouth the elder Deceased proved at the genrall Court held at Plymouth the fift day of March in the xiiijth yeare of the Raigne of our Souraigne Lord Charles King of England &c 1638 by the oathes of mr Nicholas Sympkins Heugh Tillie & Giles Hopkins. as followeth vizt
Be it knowne unto all men to whom this doth or may conceme That I Peter Worden of Yarmouth in New England in Plymouth Patten being very sick in this yeare of our Lord 1638 and on the ninth day of ffebruary do make my last will to testyty unto all that I Peter Worden doe give and bequeath unto Peter Worden my onely sonne & sonn & heire and in the presence of Nicholas Sympkins Hugh Tillie & Giles Hopkins I do make him my whole Executr to whom I doe give all my lands Leases Tennements wth goods moveable and unmoveable in the Towne of Clayton in the County of Lankester likewise I doe give unto Peter my sonne all my goods wch I have at this prsent in New England My will is my sonne is to give John Lewis one Nate Goate also my will is my sonn is to give my Grandchild such money as is due for the keepeing of Goates and Calves untill this day and that my sonn is wth the money to buy John a Kid or dispose it otherwaies for his use also one bed or boulster three blanketts also my sonn is to have the tuition of my grandchild untill he be at the age of one and twenty yeares of age also my will is he shall fynd him with meate drinke and cloathes and at the three last yeares of the xxjftie years also to have fourty shillings the year after & above for to add to his stock wth a sowe pigg when the sowe piggs
In witnesse we present set our hands
Peter (his seale) Worden
Nicholas Simpkins
Hugh Tilly H
marke Giles
Hopkins G
mr Nicholas Sympkins Heugh Tilly and Giles Hopkins weer all deposed (in open Court) to this will the fift day of march 1638 xiiijto Caroli Rs See Court ordrs P 194
Plymouth Colony Wills and Inventories pages 75-76
Peter was listed as "Gentleman" in several documents and he was a member of the Town Council of Preston, Lancashire, England, which is located about 5 miles from Clayton. He leased a shop in the Guild Hall, located next to the Preston Market Place, on 1 Oct 1617. He was last recorded in Preston on 21 Jan 1629, when, according to the early archives of Preston Borough, he loaned 8 shillings to the Borough for a project concerned with common lands. In 1630 the Plague, which had already ravaged London, struck Preston, and 1,069 people out of a population of 3000 died within the year. Peter and his son, Peter, and their families probably left Preston because of the plague, as did many of the other survivors, because he next appears in the American Colonies in the mid 1630s. It is believed that he first settled in Lynn, MA before moving to Yarmouth in 1639. In "The History of Old Yarmouth", by Charles F. Swift, the following: "At the extreme easterly part of the Town, Peter Worden the elder and younger have established themselves, in spite of the opposition of some of their associates, and here the former died the first year of settlement." His will was probated on 5 Mar 1639. It is the first will printed in the Plymouth Court Records. In his will he left most of his real and personal property in both England and America to his son, Peter Worden. Both he and his son are buried in the Worden Cemetery, overlooking Cape Cod Bay, south side of Route 6A in the town of Dennis near the border of the town of Brewster.
Peter's will was made on 9 Feb 1639 and proved 9 Mar 1639. It is believed that he was about 70 at the time of his death.