"John Crandall, immigrant ancestor of the family in America, came early to New England from the British Isles," [probably from the border of England and Wales in Monmouthshire c. 1634. The name of his first wife was perhaps Mary Opp, by whom he had seven children. The date of her burial in Westerly, Rhode Island, was 1670. He married, second, Hannah Gaylord and by her had two more sons. Below is the list of the children of John and Mary, all born in Rhode Island:
1649 John
1651 James
1653 Jane
1654 Sarah
1655 Peter
1661 Joseph
1663 Samuel, our ancestor
The children of John and Hannah, both born in Rhode Island:
1673 Jeremiah
1676 Eber, Marj Shepard's additional information.]
"John is first on record in this country in 1651, when he was named as one of three men appointed by the Church at Newport, Rhode Island, to visit an elderly brother in the church. In 1655 he was listed among the freemen of the colony, at the town of Newport.
From 1658 to 1663, when he left Newport for Westerly, John Crandall was a Commissioner from Newport to the General Court --- later termed Assembly -- of the 'Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations,' and he was given important assignments at each session. On November 2nd, 1658, the Court ordered that the four towns raise money 'to make restitution for powder and shotte sent from England by Mr. John Clarke. John Crandall was one of four men appointed to draw up a letter to be sent to Mr. Clarke 'to be presented to his Highness and Councell.'
At the session on the 17th of May, 1659, John was a Commissioner when the Court ordered that Mr. Roger Williams bring the colony's charter to be 'openly read in the court.' Roger Williams, banished from Boston for his religious beliefs, had fled to the area that became Rhode Island, and established there, on land he bought from Narragansett Indians, the first white settlement in Rhode Island, which he called Providence Plantations. Later he went to England to get a charter, and returned in the fall of 1644 with a patent authorizing the union of Providence, Portsmouth and Newport under the Incorporation of Providence Plantations. The patent gave the new colony freedom of religious beliefs. This freedom was resented by the neighboring colonies who had very different systems, and they immediately expressed their enmity by causing trouble at Rhode Island's borders. As a consequence, soon after the charter was 'openly read', the Court in 1659 ordered that four men be appointed to 'marke out the westward bownds of our collony as our charter bowndeth it.' The four men -- John Crandall was one -- were also instructed to report any intruders to the President, the work to be accomplished in about a year.
The President was authorized to 'signify to Mr. John Winthrop our intentions to run our westward lyne.' Rhode Island's west boundary was its border with Connecticut, and Mr. John Winthrop Jr. was Connecticut's Governor. In August 1661 a petition was presented to the Court, asking, first, for its approval of the previous purchase from the Indian owner by 'adventurers' of the colony, of a tract of land in a remote area on which to establish a plantation. Intruders were now confronting the colonists, so they were asking the Court for help against the 'adversaries of the colony.' The petition was signed by nine of the 'adventurers' -- one was John Crandall -- acting on behalf of the rest of the company. The petition was granted 'by approbation of the Court.'
The last time John Crandall served as Commissioner from Newport was May 12th, 1663, for before 1665 he removed his family from Newport to the new settlement of Westerly, which he helped to establish. It was located on the remote tract of land which was the subject of the petition presented to the Court in 1661. In the record of the purchase of that tract all its boundaries were specified: '... bounded on the West by Pawcatuck river ...' That is, the tract lay east of Pawcatuck River, which was its boundary on the west. Difficulties arose immediately following the settlement of Westerly, for Stonington, a Connecticut settlement on the opposite side of the river, laid claim to the land on the east side, as well, and Connecticut officers were sent into Westerly to enforce that claim.
In 1670 the Rhode Island General Assembly tried to settle the boundary question with a letter dated 14 June sent to the Connecticut Assembly, 'Per John Crandall.' The court also ordered warrants issued 'for horses, boats or any other things conducing to the comfortable accommodation and speedy dispatch of Mr. John Crandall and Joseph Torrey, Jr. in the voyage to Connecticut.' Their destination was Hartford, Connecticut.
In May of the next year the men of Westerly were told to ignore orders from officers of Connecticut, and 'fathfully adhere to the officers ...: Mr. John Crandall and Mr. Tobias Sanders, Conservators of the Peace.' A letter from the Governor of Connecticut to Governor Benedict Arnold of Rhode Island, dated at Hartford 12 Oct. 1671, was read to the Assembly. The answer to Rhode Island's letter was clear: they simply disregarded Rhode Island's claim to land 'east of Pawcatuck River.' And at a session in Hartford on the same date as the letter, the Connecticut Assembly took action. They said, 'In answer to the petition of Mr. John Crandall ... in behalf of the people on the east side of Pawcatuck River within the bounds of Stonington ...'Within the bounds of Stonington' -- this was Connecticut's final answer to Rhode Island's claim to Westerly, and it meant the difficult, contentious life Westerly's colonists had endured since its establishment would continue. Altercations, fights, clubbings, arrests with fines, kidnappings continued, as the settlers continued their claim that Westerly was a part of Rhode Island Colony.
The boundary question was not finally settled until more than fifty years later, when in 1728 Westerly was confirmed as a part of Rhode Island. (It is interesting now to see records which show that by this time there were many marriages of prominent colonists from Stonington with men and women from Westerly -- including Crandalls.) During the bitter King Philip's War, John Crandall moved his family back to Newport, and he died there, in 1676. [A discrepancy in John's death information...see Marj's report below and list of sources].
Another Genealogical book about John Crandall is 'Elder John Crandall of Rhode Island and His Descendants' by John C. Crandall (New Woodstock, NY 1949) Crandall is referred to in 'Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in New England', Vol. I 1636 to 1663, on the following pages: 303, 394, 395, 408, 409, 417, 449, 450, & 501 And he's also mentioned in 'Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in New England,' Vol. II on pages 354 & 418-419."
ELDER JOHN CRANDALL
BORN: 1612 in Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Engand
BAPTIZED: 15 Feb 1617 in Westerleigh, Gloucester, England
MARRIED: 1648 in Grand Island, RI
MARRIED 2ND: 1672 in Rhode Island to Hannah Gaylord
DIED: 8 Aug 1678 Westerly, Kings, RI
MARY OPP
BORN: abt 1625 in England
DIED: 1 Aug 1670 in Westerly, Kings, RI
SOURCES: Elder John Crandall, Find-A-Grave Memorial #5757231 Data copied into Notes for this Source and into Story (Memories); American Marriages Before 1699 [/PFT]; John Crandall, "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975";"Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVV4-8P52 : 13 December 2015), John Crandall, 1676; Burial, Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States of America, Old Crandall Cemetery; citing record ID 5757231, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com;Citation: John Crandall, Record of christening (baptism) on 15 Feb 1617 in Westerleigh, Gloucester, England, "England Births and Chris.;"Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK15-ZZRT : 15 December 2015), John Crandle, 1676; Burial, Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States of America, River Bend Cemetery; citing record ID 149110118, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
