Notes for George Way:
John is identified as father of Agnes who married Samuel Harris in 1679 (Harris was of Cambridge. We find the Pembers in Maldon/Cambridge area early, also). IGA gives father as George, not John.
According to Gov. Winthrop's journal, a Mr. Way with 5 sons were passengers on the ship "Lyon," Captain Pierce, master, which arrived at Boston February, 1631. During the voyage, one son was lost overboard from the rigging during a hurricane. It is possible that one of the surviving sons was George Way. This theory is reinforced in William Richard Cutter, Genealogical & Family History of the State of Connecticut, Vol. IV, (Orig. publ. NY, 1911; repr. by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, 1997), pp. 1902-03. There it is stated that George was son of Henry Way & his wife Elizabeth [who settled at Dorchester] and names other sons Samuel, Henry, Jr, Richard and an unnamed son "lost in the winter passage of the ship 'Lion' chartered by the governor and council to go to Bristol, England for food for the colonies, December or Jan. 1630-1631." According to Cutter, George was born "about 1620;" according to Harry Abel Way II, The Connecticut Way Family, Being the Descendants of Sgt. George Way of Maine & Providence, (Decorah, IA: 1989), pg. 1, he was born in 1614.
A George Way apparently had a grant at one time in Dorchester, mentioned in the records Jan. 1637-1638. Cutter speculates that he was a brother of Henry Way and that his widow was living in Dorchester 23 Feb. 1646, perhaps mother of Aaron and Richard, both also of Dorchester.
This George Way seemed to live in many places, if various sources are accurate. He lived in Boston for a time, allegedly, where he shared in a division of the Neck lands, now South Boston, in 1637 (Cutter pg. 1903). He was a fisherman along the Maine coast; he was at the Isle of Shoals in 1649, at Neddock and Winter Harbor in 1650 and at Pemaquid in 1653 with a Thomas Way. A William Way was also buried at Pemaquid. George later moved to Providence, RI where, on 19 Feb. 1645 he was among 27 men granted 25 acres of land. He may have lived at one time in Lyme, CT as he is described as being of this place when he married Elizabeth Smith, per Savage, and as having been of Saybrook, CT where he removed after Providence was burned in 1676. He is described as being "of Lyme or Saybrook" in Frances Manwaring Caulkins, History of New London, Connecticut, (New London, 1895), pg. 362. According to Cutter, he died in Saybrook in "about 1690;" according to Harry Abel Way II, The Connecticut Way Family, Being the Descendants of Sgt. George Way of Maine & Providence, (Decorah, IA: 1989), pg. 1, he died in Providence between 1684 and 1689.
Along with Thomas Wallen and Richard Seeley, George was arrested in Barnstable 4 April 1650 for helping Katherence Warner and Mary Mills run away from their husbands. After being examined by Gov. Wm. Bradford, they confessed and George was sent, with the 2 women, to the place from which they came, called Winter Harbor, near Richmans Island; the other 2 men were committed to ward (Plymouth Court Orders, 1641-1651, Vol 2., pg 149).
In Feb. 1654 at Providence, George petitioned the town to become an inhabitant, a request which was granted 18 Feb. 1661. Although his house lot was not recorded until 1668, other deeds of abutters refer to George's home share in 1658 and 1662. He lived at the north end of Main St. just north of the present Olney St., close to the junction of the West & Moshosick Rivers. In 1663 he was allowed a small parcel of 1 1/2 acres between the two rivers.
George lived in Providence for about 30 years during which time he was town sergeant for 12 years and he bought, swapped and sold many pieces of land. Providence was attacked during King Philip's War, 29 & 30 March 1676 and 100 buildings were burned, probably including George Way's home. No will or probate of his estate has been found.
George may have been a less than savory character. In Frances Manwaring Caulkins, History of New London, Connecticut, (New London, 1895), pg. 252 is quoted from 1682 New London, CT court records: "Elizabeth Way presented for not living with her husband. The court orders her to go to her husband or to be imprisoned." The text goes on to say "Her husband resided in Saybrook, and she persisted in remaining with her mother, at New London. She was the only daughter of John and Joanna Smith. A remonstrance against her desertion of him is on record at Saybrook. The court order was disregarded."
Further, from The Connecticut Way Family: "In a deposition made by Richard Smith of New London for the probating of John Smith's several wills, he quotes John Smith (added: father-in-law of George Way) as follows: 'his wife had been very earnest with him to make one of her daughters children his heir but ... he wholly declined it because his wife's daughter was a Quaker and he could not abide Quakers: & also her husband (George Way) was a rude & lewd man in his life.'" 172