The Loom of Aquidneck: The Shared Destiny of the Tylers and Havens

 

John Tyler (1633-1700, our 10th great-grandfather) of Portsmouth, belongs to a distinct New England maritime and farming family. He was exceptionally historic in his own right, locking directly into the Havens cousin marriages that were highly common on Aquidneck Island.

1. The Intertwined Havens-Tyler Connection

Our lineage features a classic colonial genealogical phenomenon: an ancestral line looping back into the same family.

• Gen 1: John Tyler married Sarah Havens (daughter of the immigrant William Havens).
• Gen 3 & 4: Two generations later, John Tyler’s granddaughter, Rebecca Tyler, married Robert Havens I.

This means our Havens and Tyler branches were constantly intermarrying within the tight-knit, isolated community of Portsmouth and Kingstown, pooling their land and wealth.

2. The Truth About Lazarus Tyler (1662–1722)

Our tree correctly flags Lazarus Tyler as "Unproven." In early Portsmouth records, John Tyler's sons are difficult to track because several branches migrated into Connecticut and upstate New York. However, local land deeds and probate records show that Rebecca Tyler’s father was indeed part of this early Narragansett Tyler cluster. Whether his name was definitively Lazarus or John II, her placement as a granddaughter of the immigrant John Tyler is highly supported by the way the Havens family distributed their land to her husband, Robert.

The Loom of Aquidneck: The Shared Destiny of the Tylers and Havens

When we look at early colonial history, we often imagine pioneers constantly moving outward, pushing relentlessly into new territories. But for the families who settled the rocky shores of Rhode Island, survival and success often meant doing the exact opposite: digging in, holding fast, and weaving their bloodlines so tightly together that two families became virtually indistinguishable. Our Tyler-Havens branch is the ultimate testament to this deep, localized resilience.

The story began in mid-seventeenth-century Portsmouth, where John Tyler established his farm. He didn't build his life in isolation; he married Sarah Havens, embedding himself into one of the most active land-holding families on Aquidneck Island. For the Tylers, the boundary lines of their farms were not barriers—they were invitations to ally with their neighbors against the harsh economic realities of the early colony.

As the decades marched on, this bond did not fade; it duplicated. When John Tyler’s granddaughter, Rebecca Tyler, reached marriageable age, she didn't look to the distant frontiers or neighboring colonies for a partner. She married right back into her grandmother's family, giving her hand to Robert Havens. This wasn't just a matter of romance; it was a masterful strategy of colonial survival. By looping these bloodlines together, the Tylers and the Havens kept their hard-won acreage unified, ensuring that their properties along the bay remained in family hands.

Though internet folklore erroneously tried to graft this rugged New England line onto the slave-holding planter dynasty of a future Virginia president, the reality of our Tyler ancestors is far more compelling. They were not southern aristocrats; they were the pure, undiluted grit of the Rhode Island coast. They were independent farmers and mariners who knew that the ultimate shield against a volatile new world was the unyielding strength of family. Through Rebecca Tyler and the generations of mothers that followed—down through Merabah Havens, Waity Gardner, and ultimately our great-grandmother Lillian Amanda Pierce—we carry the blood of a family that chose community over empire, building a foundational legacy that outlasted colonies and crowns alike.

Thank you to Gemini AI for your amazing research and narrative enhancement. -- Drifting Cowboy