• William was a merchant - tailor.  Given his occupation, he was most likely not of the landed English gentry, and thus his ancestry has proven difficult to trace.

•  Rebecca's parents were Nicholas Simpkins and Isabel _________.  Nicholas came to America from Burcoat, Northamptonshire, England.

• Apparently, William left his wife Rebecca in Boston and went to Albemarle Co., Carolina presumably in search of work.  While he was gone, Rebecca and one of their children was put in debtors prison in October 1671 over a debt they owed.  She remained there until at least 5 March 1672, when her debtor, William Salter, petitioned the court for her release after realizing that she could not pay the debt.  On 7 Sep 1672, Rebecca petitioned the court for relief from a court order that required her to go to Carolina.  She didn't have any financial resources to purchase the passage and so the court ordered the Treasurer, Rich Russell to discharge her passage to Carolina.

• We don't know when Rebecca died, but their children eventually moved back to Massachusetts and New Hampshire.  William later married other ladies from Virginia and died in Little River, Perquimans Precinct, Carolina in 1682. 

• William's will left two plantations.  The larger of the two was 277 Acres and was left to his oldest son, "William Terrill of Weymouth in New England".  "The smaller plantation was left to another son, Gideon of aforesaid". *

• The town of Little River, where William lived and died was the first town settled in Perquimans Precinct of Albemarle County.  It was also the site of the earliest Quaker meeting in Perquimans Precinct, although William is not known if he was a member of that sect.  His sons were members of the Congregational Churches of Weymouth and Abington, Massachusetts.

• Over 6,000 of the descendants of William and Rebecca can be found in the ten generations listed on this web site. 

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