GEORGE DAKE 1699-1746

[Ancestral Link: Lura Minnie Parker (Stagge), daughter of Minnie May Elmer (Parker), daughter of Mark Alfred Elmer, son of Hannah Polina Child (Elmer), daughter of Polly Barber (Child), daughter of Anna Dake (Barber), daughter of Charles Dake, son of George Dake.]

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A. GEORGE DEAKE(While it may never be possible to 100% prove the origin of George Deake and his brother Richard Deake, birth records have been found of two brothers born to the same family in Minehead, Somerset, England. Their birth dates coincide exactly with the estimated birth dates determined by when they became Freeman in the Rhode Island Colony. Many early records also spell the surname name Deak).

George Deake was born in September 14, 1691 to parents Charles and Mary Deake at Minehead, Somersetshire, England. It is believed he and his older brother Richard came to the American Colonies, prior to April 1716, as Pressed Sailors. A legend told and recorded in 1925 by a town historian in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, indicates that two brothers, who were "pressed" sailors, jumped ship in Providence, Rhode Island harbor and escaped into the wilderness of Rhode Island Colony. This historian was in her 90's at the time this was recorded and she and her family had lived in Hopkinton all their lives. From the 1500's to the War of 1812 the British and other countries, at a loss for voluntary sailors, would capture young men off the streets of coastal towns, offer criminals the chance to join the Navy for a few years and work off their crime, or capture merchant ships of the enemy or even friendlies and 'impress,' or remove from the ships, sailors that were able-bodied, and force them into service for Britain. Impressed sailors were there completely against their will, and many would run at the first opportunity or attempt to stir up mutiny aboard the vessel. We know that George did settle in the same area as his brother, the Town of Westerly, Kings County Rhode Island. (The Town of Westerly later split to become Westerly in the south and Hopkinton in the north. They lived in the Hopkinton area). The first record of George was June 15, 1721, when he married Susannah (last name unknown), by Justice Christopher Champlain in Westerly, Rhode island. (The last name appears to start with the letter "P" but it not legible in the original Town Records.) There has been speculation that Susannah's surname was Prossor. In 1718, George's brother, Richard, purchased land from a John Prossor. This marriage was recorded in the Town records and entered in the journal on June 5, 1739. Family legend indicates she was born in Westerly, Rhode island. On April 4, 1723, George was listed in the Inventory of William Wilkinson as having one bond from George Deake, payable in March 1729 (19lb. 10s.). By October 4, 1727, George owned livestock because on that day his earmark (identification mark) was recorded in the Town Records. "Ear Mark fork in the top of the left ear and a hole high the middle the right ear and a half penny under the same eare. His horse brand - thus GD: Registered by John Babcock Clerk." In 1730 George was paid 6s. from the estate of Jabez Tucker. On August 31, 1741, George was listed in the estate of David Babcock "to receive of George Deaks upon bond 39=9=9". December 26, 1741, Susannah was accepted as a member of the First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Hopkinton. On March 18, 1744 George purchased 64 1/3 acres from Joseph Maxson, Jr. of the Town of Stonington, New London County, Connecticut, which was just across the Colony Line from Rhode Island. This section purchased by George later became what is today Hopkinton, Rhode Island. Unlike his brother, George appears to have been a quiet, home loving type of person who preferred to farm, raise a family and generally tend to his own business. The Deake farm located about a mile or mile and half from the Connecticut Colony Line appears to have been originally rented or homesteaded. On April 7, 1745 he was admitted as a Freeman which gave him the rights of a citizen. It was necessary in those days to take the Freeman's oath before one could vote. The fact that George did not own land until 1744 is, no doubt, the reason he waited so late in life to become a Freeman as most Freeman had to be landowners. He continued to live in Westerly, Rhode Island until his death some time between March 29 and April 28, 1746. (His will was written March 29, 1746 and was proven April 28, 1746). He died at an age of about 56, leaving an estate valued at 729 pounds, 16 shillings and 4 pence. His burial location is unknown; however, in recent times a grave of an unknown person was found in a field behind the Deake/Utter home in Hopkinton, Rhode Island.

On November 28, 1748 Susannah moved to Stonington, Connecticut with her daughter Anna and probably daughter Sarah. Her married daughters Elizabeth (Clarke) and Susannah (Clarke) lived in Stonington, Connecticut. Prior to 1750, Susannah and several members of the family joined the Sabbatarian (Seventh Day Baptist) Church. Church records show that she withdrew from that church in 1754. Quote in church records: "At a church meeting held at the church in Westerly on the 29th day of December 1754, present Elder Thos. Clark and approximately 22 members. Elder Clark, Geo. Stillman, Joshua Clarke and Zaheus Reynolds made report that they, agreeable to their instructions from the church had visited the following members viz: Samuel Burdick, Jr., Hubbard Burdick, son of Robert, and his wife Tracy, Samuel Maxson and his wife Ruth, Ann Lewis wife of John, Jane West, Richmond Reynolds, Joseph Reynolds, Jr., Susannah Deake and Hubbard Burdick's wife, and they all declared that they had and did withdraw themselves from this church. Where afore this church doth esteem them to have broken covenant with this church and gone off from us. December 29, 1754." These people all lived in the northwest corner of the town and may have broken off to form their own church. (At least three of the daughters married Baptist Clergyman) Susannah continued to live in the same area until her death some time before 1774. On May 30, 1757, eleven years after his death, a division of the land was recorded in the Hopkinton Town records. The farm was willed to the three younger boys; Edward, George Jr. and Charles. According to his estate inventory, it would appear that George was a modest farmer.

A. GEORGE DEAKE SR. (1689-1746)
AA. MARY DEAKE (1722- )
AB. JOHN DEAKE (1724-1761)
AC. ELIZABETH DEAKE (1727-1785)
AD. SUSANNAH DEAKE (1729- )
AE. THANKFUL DEAKE (1731- )
AF. EDWARD DEAKE (1733-1794)
AG. GEORGE DEAKE JR. (1735-1821)
AH. CHARLES DEAKE SR. (1737-1803)
AI. SARAH DEAKE (1739- )
AJ. ANNA DEAKE (1745- )

AJ. ANNA DEAKE
Anna was born in Westerly, Colony of Rhode Island, on October 22, 1745 to parents George and Susannah Deake. She was married to Rev. Amos Rogers on December 29, 1764 in Hopkinton, Rhode Island. John Maxson Jr., Justice of Peace married them. He was born on June 16, 1743 at Waterford, Connecticut and died August 28, 1822 at Greenfield, New York. He was known as Elder Amos of Hopkinton. Hopkinton records show he brought 20 acres from Benjamin Randell on March 7, 1769 and on November 7, 1797 they sold their land to Aaron Kingon of Charles, Rhode Island. He later served in the Revolutionary War. They moved to New York state between 1797 and 1800. They had children: Amos Jr., John, Gleason, Elisha Milton, Anna Nancy, Charles Dake and Larah. She died in Greenfield, Saratoga County, and New York, but the date is unknown.
found on ancestry.com

Descendants of George Deake
Dake (Deake) ancestry
The immigrant ancestor of this Dake line is George Deake, who was born about 1690 in England.  About 1718, he came to New London in the Colony of Connecticut.  15 June 1721 he married Susannah ___________, in the Town of Westerly, in the Colony of Rhode Island.  He was admitted as a Freeman on 7 April 1745.  His death occurred between 29 March and 28 April 1746 in Westerly.  Susannah __________ Deake was born about 1700.  She died before 1774.
Page 79
Descendants of George Deake
Family History Library
35 North West Temple
Salt Lake City, Utah 84150
Fam Hist 929.273
D341d

George Deake
George Deake of the Town of Westerly, Kings County, Rhode Island, was the progenitor of the Dake family of New England.  A brother of Richard Deake, he was born in England about 1690.  Legend says that he came to America several years after his brother Richard and the Westerly Town records tend to bear this out.  From the little evidence available it appears that he came to America to live about 1718 or 19.  On the 15th day of June, 1721 George Deake and Susannah __________  were married in the Town of Westerly, by Christopher Champlain, Justice.  This marriage recorded in the Town records was entered in the journal on June 5, 1739.  The records of this period, written by Town Clerk William P. Babcock, are for the most part, quite legible, however, the maiden name of Susannah was written in such a scrawl and has become so faded after two hundred and thirty years as to make it impossible to read.  George and Susannah made a home for themselves and settled down to the life of a farmer on about 65 acres in the northwest corner of the Town, a section that later became the Town of Hopkinton.  Unlike his brother, George appears to have been a quiet, home loving type a person who preferred to farm, raise a family and generally tend to his own business.  The Deake farm located about a mile or mile and a half from the Connecticut colony line appears to have been rented and was purchased a year or two before George's death.  The deed shows that on March 18, 1744, George Deake purchased 64 1/3 acres from Joseph Maxson, Jr. of the Town of Stonington, New London county, Connecticut which was just across the Colony line.  There is some speculation that Susannah Deake may have been a sister of Joseph Maxson, Jr. but no proof of that.  One can stand today in the Town hall of Hopkinton and look out at the land that was George Deake's farm some two hundred and fifty years ago.  This farm was willed to the three younger boys, Edward, George Jr., and Charles.  On May 30, 1757, eleven years after their father's death, a division of the land to the three boys was recorded in the Hopkinton town records.

George and Susannah Deake were the parents of four sons and six daughters, all of whom grew to adulthood, married and raised large families.  Records show that at least three of the girls married Baptist clergymen and also shows that Susannah belonged to the Seventh Day Baptist church of Westerly before 1750.

On April 7, 1745 George Deake was admitted as a Freeman.  It was necessary to take the Freeman's oath before one could vote and the fact that George did not own land until 1744 is, no doubt, the reason he waited so late in life to become a Freeman.  This was only about a year before his death.  His will was written on March 29, 1746 and less than a month later the Will was proven as of April 28, 1746.  So George Deake died within that period, at an age of about 56, leaving an estate valued at 729 pounds 16 shillings 4 pence.

It appears that the Deake farm eventually came into the possession of the youngest son, Charles Deake.  A fine old home in a good state of preservation stands on that land today and is said to have been built originally by Charles for his bride in 1760.  In 1766 the property, then described as being on Noose Neck road, was sold to one Abraham Utter and so passed out of the family.

In the early records of the Town of Westerly the name of Deake is sometimes spelled Dake in the body of the writing and spelled Deake on the signature at the bottom and occasionally may be found spelled both ways in the body of the document.
Pages 11-12
Descendants of George Deake
Family History Library
35 North West Temple
Salt Lake City, Utah 84150
Fam Hist 929.273
D341d

DAKE/DEAKE/DEAK Introduction
The original Deake imports to this country were two brothers, Richard and George Deake, of Minehead, Somerset, England.  Minehead was a seaport town across the Bristol Channel from Wales.  Minehead had nothing to do with mining operations; the original name was Mynedd, meaning mountain in Welsh.  Privateers were based in Minehead in England's wars with Spain and France during the 17th and 18th centuries.  By the beginning of the 18th century there were 40 vessels based in the harbor for trade and herring fishing, plying between Minehead and Ireland, South Wales, Bristol and Bridgewater. Probably Richard and George were sailors.

Based upon the story told by the Hopkinton, Rhode Island, town historian, 2 "Pressed" sailors jumped ship at Providence, Rhode Island and escaped into the wilderness, later to become the area of Hopkinton, Rhode Island.  Impressment was the act of compelling men into the navy by force and without notice (we might call it shanghaiing).  It was used by England's royal Navy beginning in 1664 and continuing through the 18th and 19th centuries.  Those liable to impressments were eligible men of seafaring habits between the ages of 18 and 45 years.  Precisely the ages of the two Deake brothers from Minehead.  If they jumped ship about 1709, as is speculated, Richard would have been about 27, and George 18.  Richard was born 27 November 1682 to Charles and Mary Deake in Minehead, Somerset, George on 14 September 1691.

The brothers made their way through the wilderness to the tiny village of Westerly in Kings County, Rhode island - so named for its westernmost location in the province of Rhode Island, next to the border with Connecticut.  After the American Revolution, Kings County became Washington County....

The first record found for the younger brother, George Deake, is his marriage on 15 June 1721 at age 29 to Susannah ________ (the name is illegible in the original town records, but appears to start with "P", perhaps Prossor, which was the surname of the seller of land to Richard, the older Deake brother).

George was (or became) a farmer, as were most people of that period.  By 1727 he owned livestock, for his earmark or identification mark was registered in the town records.  He probably rented property until 18 March 1744, when he purchased 64 1/2 acres of land later to become what is now Hopkinton, Rhode Island.  As a property owner he was admitted as a Freeman on 7 April 1745, thus giving him the right to take the Freeman's oath, and vote.

Houses at that time were small, beginning with one main room, perhaps 20 foot square, with a loft, adding on rooms when needed and afforded.  The main room would have a fireplace wall built, usually on the north side, for warmth as well as cooking.  Privacy?  No way.  Everyone, perhaps even as many as a dozen shared that main room.  Wind whistled through the walls.  Shutters were a necessity, not a decorative item.

When George died at age 55 in April of 1746, he left the farm and its buildings to the three youngest boys; the executor was his oldest boy John, who being a doctor was probably given his inheritance earlier (perhaps his education).  In November 1748 George's widow, Susannah and daughter Elizabeth, moved across the border to Stonington, Connecticut, probably to be closer to their married daughters Thankful and Susannah.  Son Charles also probably moved with her, as he learned the tailor's trade in Connecticut.  George's brother Richard looked after the family until they became of age, and the girls married.  Eleven years after George's death, on 30 May 1757, the division of the land was recorded in the town records.
Dake/Deake/Deak from 17th C. Somerset, England to 21st C. United States of America Via Rhode Island, New York, Illinois and Iowa
By Elizabeth Wilhelm Dake
Family History Library, 35 North West Temple St, Salt Lake City, UT 84150
FAMHIST 929.273 - D149d