Tag Archives: William and Mary (née Manchester)

4th Generation (William,Jr. & Mary)

William (b.4-4-1723–d.October 1777) and Mary (née Manchester, b.12-19-1719–d.9-8-1784) Spencer

 William was the third son of William and Elizabeth (née Rice) SpencerWilliam and Mary Manchester were married on August 2, 1744.  Mary was the daughter of John and Mary Manchester.  William and Mary had five daughters and two sons, and were the first Spencer family on the Spencer homestead on Middle Road (current day location around Partridge Run area) in the northwestern area of East Greenwich.   The Spencers farmed this land for one hundred and seventy-two years.  (The map below is of a later date when a descendant of William, a William A. Spencer, was farming the land.) Audrey Mae, John Edward and Edith Anna were the last Spencer children on the farm. Audrey Mae, born March 19, 1912, was the last Spencer baby born on the Spencer homestead.  Descendants, today, still have the deed and still refer to the land as the Spencer Homestead.

map-w-a-spencer-middle-road-e-g-library

Map located at East Greenwich Library, Land of William A. Spencer, South of Middle Road, East of Carr’s Pond (current day, Partridge Run area)

William (and Mary [née Manchester] Spencer) purchased this land which, at that time, included the Straight family cemetery. Two different quotes from local historian, Violet E. Kettelle are “William Spencer Jr. bought this house and land of Joseph Burlingame in 1750.” and  “On April 16, 1750, William Spencer bought the farm from Burlingame.”  Web site author does not know how the Burlingame name is related to Henry Straight name. The cemetery located within this homestead land at the time of the sale has been called by multiple names, such as the Straight family cemetery, the “over back” cemetery, the East Greenwich historical cemetery No. 10, the East Greenwich historical cemetery No. 510, the Straight/Spencer historical cemetery andthe East Greenwich historical cemetery No. 84.

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