William Ham came from England and settled in Exeter, New Hampshire. In 1652, he moved to Portsmouth (Strawberry Bank) and had a grant of 50 acres of land in the area called Freeman's Point. When he died in 1672, he had already lost his son Matthew so his property went to his daughter, Elizabeth, and her sons, William, Thomas, and John Cotton. It is likely that he had more than two children but no other children have been identified.
On June 28, 1636 a letter was written by John Winthrop to Robert Trelawny and it tells of a group of men who were upset with the way Winthrop was handling the finances of the colony. It goes on to say "some of them fell into such mutiny, & they are gone away from the plantation, & do purpose to fish for themselves. They went westward by land, & where they are going I know not... The parties which are gone is Lander, which I doubt is the leader of them all, & William Ham, Oliver Clarke, John Bellin, William Freythey, & John Simmons, 6 in all, & whether they will come again or no I know not."
In 1656, William Ham was one of three men accused by Elizabeth Row of being a witch. Nothing seems to have come of this accusation. I've looked a few places but haven't come up with any more information.
William Ham
Elizabeth Ham
John Cotton
Solomon Cotton
Benjamin Cotton - Brother of Elizabeth Cotton
William Cotton
William Cotton
William Cotton
John Henry Cotton
Francis Llewellyn Cotton
Ray Everett Cotton
Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother
Elizabeth Cotton
Margaret Cate
William Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Richard Hayes
Sydney Hayes
George Hayes
Eva Delphinia Hayes
Linona Alice Yates - my grandmother
The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database:AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2013.)
Another cousin connection! I outlined my Ham lineage in a 2011 Surname Saturday post, but we may or may not be cousins because my John Ham may not really be a grandson to William. It's one of those lines people are still arguing about, and I'm not expert enough to prove it one way or the other.
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