William Sabin, His Roots in England and Establishment in America

  The immigrant ancestor of the Sabin family in the United States and Canada is William Sabin. The miller William married twice and fathered 20 children and is considered the patriarch of the family. Research on
the family must center on him and this first family in the United States. We know that William was born in Titchfield, Hampshire, England. The following line is recorded in in St.Peter's Parish, Titchfield, England on the occasion of his baptism. "Oct 1609 bapt William Sabin, the XI daye". The custom of the day was to record the names of the child's parents but sadly their names are not recorded.

  There are two theories as to who William's parents are. The predominant theory is that his parents are Richard Sabin and Mary (Bushe) Sabin. The other theory says that Samuel and Elizabeth Sabin are his parents. Perhaps someday a researcher will find a record that will settle this question.

  Richard Sabin and Mary Bushe were married 29 October 1608 in Titchfield. Richard was born in 1589 and Mary Elizabeth Bushe in 1591. The Parish Register in St. Peter, Tichfield lists the burial of Richard as 1 June 1641 and that of Mary as 14 October 1644. Associated with Richard and Mary according to some researchers list possible siblings for William born 1609 as
Thomas, born 1614
Richard, 1616
Peter, 1619
Frances, 1619
Henry, 1624
Robert, 1629
Richard, 1629
all born in Titchfield, England. It was not unusual and quite common to name a later child with the same name as a previous child that died young. That would account for the two Richards as William's siblings. Without an actual record of these relationships that connect one to another it is difficult to establish definitively this family as such. The one evidence that gives pause to this association is in the William's family. William did
not name his first born son Richard as was the custom of the day. One more pause for doubt is that the first born daughter was not named Mary but was named Elizabeth which was Richard's wife's middle name. William did not name any of his sons Richard.

  Other researchers have listed William's parents as Samuel and Elizabeth Sabin, both of Titchfield, England. William's first two children were named Samuel and Elizabeth which would seem that this pair could be the correct answer to the question of who William's parents are. We may never know for sure.

Titchfield in southern England

  William Sabin arrived in the America sometime before 1642. His name appears in connection with the formation of the villiage of Rehoboth, Massachusetts. How William actually arrived in America still has not been discovered. In May 1618 a group from Titchfield, England sailed from Southampton in May of 1638 on a ship called the Brevis. Someday a passenger register may be found and we would know

the names of those that sailed that voyage to the new world.

  William Sabin and his wife Mary Wright appear to have been married prior to coming to America. The IGI claims a Mary Wright was born about 1620 in Kirk, Deighton, North Riding Yorkshire, England to Richard Wright whose wife is unknown. William and Mary were married about 1639. It is also speculated
that their first two children Samuel and Elizabeth were born in England and traveled to America with their parents. Samuel is William's son that my family is decended from.

  Rehoboth (The Roomy Place) is located near Swansea, Massachusetts. Rehoboth has the distinction of establishing the first free public school in America. It wasn't until four years later that Massachusetts Bay Colony followed. William was present during the founding of Rehoboth and took up land for himself in the area, now known as Seekonk, which is now located in Rhode Island. Rhode Island became a haven for Roger Williams, baptist, when he fell out with the leaders of Plymouth Colony.

  William Sabin was a leading citizen of Rehoboth and was very much involved with local matters dealing with schools, church, and affairs of the Plymouth Colony. Looking at the accounts of his estate and gifts for relief to those who were victims of indian attacks would indicate that William was a man of considerable wealth and culture. William was a miller and in the area of Rehoboth there is a sign that indicates the location of his mill at the body of water that bears his name.

  John Dickinson Sabine wrote a book The Family and Decendants of Rev. James Sabine, Washington, DC, 1904. James Sabine was a later immigrant to America in the early 1700s was not a decendant of William Sabin. Some of William's decendants, however, would adopt the spelling of Sabine for their surname. In this book John Dickinson Sabine would write "The Sabine family can be trace back as far as 1600 AD. The first we find of them is in the County of Hampshire (Hants) England, at Titchfield and towns near thereto. They were Puritans and Nonconformists of early date and glorious memory."

  This then is the beginning of the Sabin family in the Americas. Early settlers in New England as part of the Plymouth Colony. Next up will be Samuel Sabin, SR. and Mary Billington, daughter and granddaughter of two passengers on the Mayflower. Mary's grandfather has a distinction beyond coming to America on the America's most famous and celebrated voyage even though it was not the first.