George Partridge was born circa 1617. The identity of his parents is not established. Winsor's History of Duxbury says that he came from the County of Kent in England possibly on the ship "James" and that he was "one of the most respectable yeomanry of the colony."2 In November 1638, in Plymouth, Massachusetts, he married Sarah Tracy (daughter of Stephen and Tryphosa Lee Tracy) born Jan. 1622/23 probably in England, and died before 6 October 1708 in Duxbury, Massachusetts.
George Partridge had immigrated to Duxborough (now Duxbury), Plymouth, Mass. by 1635, as he was serving on a coroner’s jury there on 2 March 1635/6. [PCR 1:39] We do not know anything about him previous to this time, except that in his will, George said, "In case that any estate belonging unto me beyond sea should be brought over hither before my wife's decease, my will is that she should dispose thereof amongst my children according to her discretion…" The implication is that there was an estate in England which he could expect to inherit.
The first record of land granted to George Partridge was on 6 October 1636 when he received five acres on "Bachelor’s Row" on Powder Point. He sold that property to the other men who had received grants on Bachelor’s row, and asked for a parcel of 30 acres "at the head of Mr. Hick’s Land."3 Which put him within "courting distance" of Sarah Tracy. One author says, "He wasted no time or shoe leather, and in six months the Plymouth Vital Records, vol 1 p 653, shows the marriage of 'George Partrich to Sarah Tracy' in November of 1638, although the day was not recorded." Sarah would have been almost 16 when the marriage took place. George and Sarah had six daughters and two sons.
George was, in various documents, listed as a tailor (possibly merchant-taylor, see discussion under John Whitney, yeoman, planter, and husbandman. The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635 article on George Partridge (pp 372-381) has a three-page list of George Partridge’s land transactions. Over the following years, George purchased or received grants of an additional 320 acres of land, of which he sold about 148 acres. His remaining 200 acres was significantly more property than the average colonist held. He was one of the original proprietors of Middleborough.
George is named in the 1643 list of those able to bear arms. He served in the militia of the colony under Captain Miles Standish, and his will was witnessed by Standish’s sons, Alexander and Josiah. On 2 June 1646, he was admitted a freeman, and, like his father-in-law, elected the constable of Duxbury. He served in various other civic responsibilities, including Surveyor of Highways and on the grand jury. The inventory of his estate included "books", which suggests that he was an educated man, although he signed his deeds and will by mark. (per GM p 373)
George seems to have trusted Sarah’s competence and judgment, for in his will, written on 26 June 1682, he left all his Duxbury land, cattle, houses, and household goods to his "beloved wife" "for her own proper use….and made her sole executrix and administratrix of the will, stipulating only that Sarah provide for their daughter, Mercy (our ancestor), in the same way they had provided for their other daughters who were already married, and provide for their granddaughter, Bethya Allen, as she thought prudent. Any of his movables remaining at the time of her death should be divided among their children as she saw fit.
He divided his land in Middlebury between his "oldest son John," and his son James. He gives John six pounds sterling after the death of his mother, and there is an interesting clause: "Item--I give to my son James all my houses and all my lands both uplands and meadow lands in Duxborough and also ye Island at ye Glade with all ye priviledges and appurtenances belonging to ye aforesd lands at his mother's decease to him and his heirs forever if my son James will live in the house with his mother quietly during her life." James did not marry until 24 Apr 1712, four years after his mother’s death, when he married Mary Stetson, who was 34 years old at the time of their marriage. They had no children of record.
The inventory of George Partridge’s estate was taken on 10 October 1695, so he died between the time he wrote his will in 1682 and this date. Sarah’s own will, dated 28 Nov. 1702, also shows her competence. It is a genealogist’s delight. She mentions each of her children by name, giving her daughters’ married names. (This is the most complete record we have of the children of George and Sarah.)
"I bequeath to my eight daughters, Sarah Allien [Allen], Triphosa West, Elizabeth Allien [Allen], Ruth Thatcher, Mary Scif [Skiff], Rebeckah Fisher, Lidia Bruister [Brewster], Mercy Coburn [q.v., Colburn], all my linen great & small and woolen wearing clothes to be equally divided between them all, three of my daughters before named being deceased [i.e., Triphosa, Mary & Rebecca] my meaning is that their children should have their mother's part & that equally divided amongst them…" All my money which I die possessed of or which is owing to me should be equally divided amongst my ten children, it understood that the children of those that are deceased should have their mothers' part… Son John to have my great bible as a gift of his father after my decease…"Ye sheep at ye vineyard [i.e., Martha's Vineyard] are my son [in-law] James Allein's by bargain…" My son [in-law] Bruister & my son John Partridge to be Overseers."
Sarah’s will was probated 6 Oct. 1708, so she died sometime between the end of 1702, and Oct of 1708. The Find A Grave Memorial # 37443529 for Sarah Tracy Partridge, maintained by Don Blauvelt, says,
"Some claim she is interred at "Mayflower Cemetery" at Duxbury, Mass., which did not exist until long after her death. Alternately she is said to be interred at the "Myles Standish Burying Ground," formerly known as the South or Chestnut Street Cemetery at Duxbury. Sarah either had no original gravestone or her gravestone has long since decayed away…"
The Honorable George Partridge of the First Continental Congress.
The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635 article on George Partridge (pp 372-381)
History of the town of Duxbury, Massachusetts : with genealogical registers by Justin Winsor, 1831-1897
Duxbury’s Pilgrims and Their Land by Lamont R. Healy
Find A Grave Memorial # 21945422 Created by: Jack W. Davis
Find A Grave Memorial # 37443529 - Sarah Tracy Partridge maintained by: Don Blauvelt
Rootsweb Family Group Sheet - George PARTRIDGE
Plymouth County Probate Records (Vol. I, p. 225)
PARTRIDGE GENEALOGY - Descendants of George Partridge of Duxbury Massachusetts by George Henry Partridge (Privately Printed 1915)
http://www.werelate - George and Sarah Partridge
WikiTree article on Great Migration Ships
Of the Partridge children, Mr. Blauvelt says,
"Sarah Tracy and George Partridge had … ten known children, likely b. at Duxbury, Mass. But there is no specific date of record, as most were born prior to 1653 when the Plymouth Court required vital records be kept by each town in the Plymouth Colony. The children's "about" dates of birth follow that of Anderson in his Great Migration (the GM) sketch of George Partridge (Vol. V, M-P p:372-381)".
The birth order given in Great Migrations follows the order in which Sarah named her children in her will and assumes that the first child was born a year after her parents’ marriage, and the others were born at two year intervals - a standard genealogical estimating practice. However, there are severe problems with GM’s estimated birth-order and dates. If their estimated birthdate for our ancestor, Mercy Partridge, were correct, then she would have been 57 years old at the time her last child was born - a highly improbable situation. With that in mind, we made calculations, based on all the information we have, to come up with a reasonable range of years in which each child could have been born. We assumed that each woman was at least 16 at the time of her marriage, younger than her husband, and not older than 45 at the birth of her youngest child (See the complete article in the BFJ-Family.org website for the information used to calculate that range.)
We can estimate Elizabeth and John’s birth years based on the information on their gravestones, so they are our anchors. While the birth order of the other children will always be debatable, we suggest the following birth order and estimated birth years:
Sarah Partridge, (range 1639 – 1644) b. est. late 1639 or 1640 (based on parents’ marriage date.)
Elizabeth Partridge, (range 1640 – 1646) b. 1644 per her grave stone
Triphosa Partridge, (range 1641 – 1652) b. est. 1648
Ruth Partridge, (range 1641 – 1654) b. est 1650
Lidia Partridge, (range 1653 – 1657) b. est 1654
Mary Partridge, (range1651 – 1662) b. est 1656
John Partridge, b. Nov. 29, 1658 per vital records and his grave stone
Rebecca Partridge, (range 1654 – 1662) b. est 1660
Mercy Partridge (our ancestor), (range 1665 – 1667) b. est 1666
James Partridge, (range ? – 1668) b. est. 1668 [Sarah Tracy, James’ mother, would have been 45 in 1668. James could have been born before Mercy, or even before Rebecca, but that would mean he was much older than his wife.]
The italicized names are in a different order than that suggested by The Great Migration.
The large gaps between the estimated births of several of the children could indicate that there were other children who died young, and we have no record of them.