Hedges, William

last name (variants): Hedge
honorific(s): Mr.
Birth: March 31, 1706 in Easthampton, NY
Death: May 4, 1773 in Easthampton, NY
Nationality

Anglo-American

Residence(s)
  • Easthampton, NY (from 1706-03-31 to 1773-05-04)
Events

Occom's Ordination, Occom's First Mission to the Oneidas, Occom's Second Mission to the Oneidas.

Marital status

Married Temperance Osborne (b. November 26, 1716, d. October 28, 1753) around 1734. They had nine children: Thomas, William, Jeremiah, Temperance, Hannah, Dr. Jeremiah, Elizabeth, David, Phebe.

Biography

William Hedges was a resident of Easthampton, Long Island, and a supporter of Occom during his mission at Montauk. He was the second son of William Hedges (b. 1679, d. November 4, 1768) and and Abiah Mulford (b. August 20, 1685, d. October 27, 1763). Both were descendants of the original settlers of Easthampton; Hedges' father was the grandson of the original William Hedges, a devout Puritan who fled with his wife from Kent in England to Lynn, Massachusetts in 1644, and finally moved to the new settlement of Easthampton on Long Island in 1650. There is little in the records about Hedges and his activities. He was close enough with Occom and his family on Long Island to be entrusted with the funds collected from local Long Island congregations to support the Occom family during Occom's first and second missions to the Oneidas, when the New York Board of the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge grew lukewarm about the missions. Hedges was also a close friend of Samuel Buell, the Presbyterian minister who sponsored Occom's ordination. Buell entrusted Jacob, one of the young Indian boys from Wheelock's school visting on Long Island, to Hedges' care.

Sources

Long Island Surnames. http://longislandsurnames.com/getperson.php?personID=I1072&tree=Hedges; Blodgett, Harold. Samson Occom. Hanover: Dartmouth College, 1935; Rattray, Jeannette Edwards. East Hampton History, Including Genealogies of Early Families. Easthampton, NY: 1897.