Received in an email from Rebecca Walch on 03/06/2007 Christopher Hawxhurst settled in Oyster Bay in 1665.  His wife was Mary, the daughter of Henry Ruddock (various spellings of that last name) of Matinecock.  Their son Samson married Hannah Townsend, daughter of Mill John Townsend of Oyster Bay.   I am only interested in the Hawxhurst family because I am researching the Dodge family.  Miller listed Sarah Hawxhurst Dodge as the daughter of William, son of Christopher and Mary, but I do not believe that is accurate; the article includes my reasoning.  Beyond that connection, I am not researching the Hawxhurst family.   Rebecca Walch     In 1901, Robert B. Miller’s article “Hawxhurst Family” was published in the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record.  Miller’s four-page article is a primary source of information for Christopher Hawxhurst who settled in Oyster Bay, New York in 1665.  Researchers need to be aware, however, that there are mistakes in Miller’s information according to the 1916 and 1924 volumes of the Oyster Bay Town Records.  Specifically:      1.  Christopher Hawxhust had a son named Christopher.  According to Miller, Christopher and his wife Mary Ruddock were married about 1655 and had five children:  William, Mary, Jane, Sarah and Samson.  However, in Volume I on pages 555 and 556, there is a 20 May 1693 document in which Samson states he is selling land which his deceased brother Christopher had purchased from the Indians on 1 June 1682.  Their brother William confirmed the sale: “I Samson Hawxhurst of Oysterbay in Queens County on Long Island now Called Nassau in ye Collony of New Yorke for & in ye Consideration of ye Sume of fifteen pounds of Currant Silver money of this Collony in hand paid and by me ye Sd Samson receivd of John Pratt Junr of ye Same place….Sell & Confirme unto John pratt aforesd all that of a Certaine Tract of Woodland wch was fformerly purchased of ye the Indean Proprietors of Matenacock Lands By Christopher Hawxhurst Late of Matenacock deceased Brother to ye Sd Samson…ffourty Acres of Land, as ye Indeans Deed for Sd Christopher for Sd Land Bearing Date ye first Day of June 1682 doth planly demonstrate, wch Deed Stands Recorded in Oysterbay in ye Booke A: page 137….IN WITNES whereof I have hereunto: Sett my hand & Seal the Twentyth Day of May in ye year of our Lord one Thousand Six Hundred Ninety three….I William Hawxhurst Brother to ye abovenamed Samson do hereby Confirme….”       2.  Christopher Sr.’s son Samson was the son-in-law of Mill John Townsend by 1694.  Although Miller’s article states that Samson married Hannah Townsend on January 18, 1698, Samson was Mill John’s son-in-law four years earlier according to an 11 October 1694 document in Volume I on pages 601 and 602: “I John Townsend ye son of Henry Townsend Senr Oysterbay…for & in ye Considracon yt David Underhill of Oysterbay aforeds hat Granted & Confirm’s unto Samson Hawxhurst of Cedarswamp in ye Bounds of Oysterbay aforesd my Son in Law….ye Eleventh Day of October in ye year of our Lord one thousand Six hundred Ninety ffour…”     3.  Christopher Sr.’s son William probably did not have a wife or children.  Miller listed William as having a wife, name unknown, and two children.  However, in a 20 October 1702 Oyster Bay town record William deeded all of his property to his brother Samson without making provisions for a wife or any children.  William did include the provision that he would continue to live on the property until his death.  The document is in Volume II on pages 541 and 542: TO ALL CHRISTIAN PEOPLE to whome this present Deed of Gift Shall Come or In any wise appertaine Be itt Known that I William Hauxhurst of Matenacock In ye Bounds of Oysterbay In Queens County on Nassaw IsLand In the province of Newyork and In Consideration of my Naturall Affections and Brotherly Love which I have towards my Younger Brother Samson Hauxhurst of the Township of Oysterbay aforesaid and for many other good Causes and Considerations me ye Said William Hauxhurst Especially Moveing Have Given Granted alienated Enfeoffed assigned released madeover and Confirmed and by these presents Do ffreely Cleerly and absolutely Give Grant alienate Encoffe assigne release makeover and Confirme un[to] my abovesaid Brother Samson Hauxhurst and his Lineal Heires that a[re] Lawfully Begotten of his own Body forEver all that of my Certaine Right of Lands & meadow which I have within the patten and Town[ship] of Oysterbay Both Divided and undivided Together withal ye pro[fits] Comodities Housen ffence timber trees grass or what Else of Right [is] Belonging or appertaining unto ye Same to Have & to Hold unto [him] ye Said Samson Hauxhurst and his Lineal Heires all and Singular ye S[aid] granted Land and premises with the appurtenances thereof to [ye] only proper use Benifitt and behoofe of him ye Said Samson H[aux]hurst and his Lineal Heires ffor Ever and I the Said William Ha[ux]hurst have putt my Said Brother into a Lawfull and peaceable possession of all and Singular ye Said granted Land meadow and premises [by] the Dilivery of turff and twigg and by these presents and I ye Said William Hauxhurst Do for my Self my Heires Executors administrators and assignes further Covenant and agree to and with my Said Brother Samson Hauxhurst that it Shall and may be Lawfull ffor him ye Said Samson and his Lineal Heires Heires (sic) Quietly and peaceably to Have hold occupy possess and Enjoy ye Same forever Without the Lawfull Lett or Mollestation of me ye Said William Hauxhurst my Heires Executors administrators or assignes or any other person or persons whatsoever lawfully Claiming ye Same or any part thereof ffrom by or under me or any or Eighter of them Butt I the Said William Hauxhurst Do Except and reserve to my Self ye whole use and benifitt of all ye a bovesaid granted Land and premises During my Naturall Life But after my Decease all to Return to my Said Brother Samson Hauxhurst and His Lineal Heires as abovesaid according to ye tenure of ye abovesaid Deed forever In Witness whereof I have hereunto Sett my hand and fixed to my Seale this twentieth Day of October in ye first year of her majesties Reigne Annoq Domini one thousand Seven hundred & two.  Signed Sealed and Dilivered In presence of Thomas Jones John Townsend Nathaniel Coles   William his X Mark    Memorandum yt on ye Day and Date within written the within Named William Hauxhurst personally appeared before me Edward White Esqr one of her majesties Justices of ye peace for Queens County and acknoleged ye within written Deed of Gift to be his reall act and Deed  Edward White x.     William had the deed recorded the day it was written.  Although it is possible that William had children after 1702, it seems unlikely.  This is the last document in the Oyster Bay Town Records involving William Hawxhurst.          Regarding William’s daughter Sarah, Miller listed a daughter Sarah for both William and Samson:  Miller identified Samson’s daughter Sarah as having been born on March 28, 1702 and having died on April 11, 1728; no other information is given.  Miller identified William’s daughter Sarah as having married Tristram Dodge in 1726; no other information is given.  (The marriage index of St George’s church in Hempstead lists the date as 13 January 1727).      Since Miller did refer to Tristram Dodge’s 1779 will, it is possible that Miller assumed the death date of 1728 didn’t apply to Sarah Hawxhurst Dodge because Tristram referred to his wife Sarah in his will.  However, there is a 1758 Oyster Bay town record in which Tristram Dodge of Oyster Bay identified his wife as Sarah Weekes, the daughter of Joseph Weekes of Matinecock.  It seems most likely that Sarah Hawxhurst, the daughter of Samson, was born in 1702, married Tristram Dodge in 1727 and died in 1728.  Then, after the death Sarah Hawxhurst Dodge, Sarah Weekes became Tristram’s second wife.          Regarding William Jr., the son Miller listed for William Hawxhurst, Miller simply stated that he married Mary Chapman on August 24, 1758.  The marriage year is questionable.  William Sr. would have been about 100 years old in 1758; if he had a son named William, the son would have been maybe 60 or 70 years old in 1758.  It seems more likely that the William Hawxhurst who married Mary Chapman connects to the Hawxhurst family in some other way.     In conclusion, Robert B. Miller’s article “Hawxhurst Family” is a very important genealogical document.  However, the first two volumes of the Oyster Bay Town Records should be used to correct Miller’s information.  These corrections will help researchers more accurately understand the Hawxhurst family of Oyster Bay.