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Descendants of John LATHROP

Generation No. 1

1. JOHN⁹ LATHROP (THOMAS⁸, ROBERT B.⁷, JOHN C.⁶, ROBERTI D.⁵, ROBERT⁴, ROBERT³, WALTER², WALTER¹) was born December 20, 1584 in England, and died November 8, 1653 in Barnstable, Massachusetts. He married (1) HANNAH HOUSE October 10, 1610 in Eastwell, Kent, England, daughter of JOHN HOUSE and ALICE LLOYD. She was born 1590 in England, and died February 16, 1632/33 in London, England. He married (2) ANN HAMMOND June 14, 1635 in Massachusetts. She was born 1616, and died February 25, 1687/88 in Barnstable, Massachusetts.

Notes for JOHN LATHROP:
The Lathrop family founded an English town called LOWTHORPE, 180 miles north of London. John Lathrop (great-grandfather to Rev. John) was a man of wealth whose son Robert inherited the land and money. Robert's family included a son Thomas who was married three times and who fathered 22 children. One of which was John.

Those generations of Lathrops lived from the rule of Edward the Confessor through the reign of Charles I, through twenty-five kings and queens; and John Lathrop lived in England during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth, James I and Charles I, a period of Transition in government. It as also a time of educational emphasis when many of the world's writers and poets were his contemporaries, among them Francis Bacon the philosopher and scientist; Edmund Spencer the poet and graduate of Cambridge; and the prolific and profound William Shakespeare.

An early Lathrop was elected Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1216, one year after the Magna Carta was signed by King John at Runnymede.

Education was an important factor in Rev. John Lathrop's early training. John first entered college in 1601 or 1602 at Oxford's Christ Church College. He was a student at Queen's College, Cambridge, from which he received his B.A. degrees in 1606, and his M.A. in 1609.

While at Queen's College, John was influenced by the teachings of the great Erasmus who had taught there a century earlier, and who had emphasized the importance of studying and thinking independently, challenging all ideas before accepting or rejecting them. Erasmus possessed a deep reverence for the virtues of and in the new Testament. Following this century-old advice or Erasmus the young Lathrop "read for himself the Gospels and the Epistles and became an outspoken Biblical witness."

Possibly his independence of thought at Queen's College caused him to be known there as a skeptic, or as written in the college records: "an unusually dissenting spirit." His studies included rhetoric, Latin, grammar and logic as an undergraduate student; and arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music while earning a Master's degree.

At Litten, Yorkshire, Lathrop entered the ministry of the Church of England in 1607, being assigned as Vicar in 1611 of St. James, Egerton, County Kent, 48 miles southeast of London where he served nine years.

Rev. John Lathrop was unhappy with the church of England, and according to "History of Barnstable Families," he "rejected creeds and confessions of Faith. The Bible was his creed. All others (he believed) were traps or snares to catch men, bind their consciences, make them minimal, not true members of the Church of Christ. Justification by faith was the foundation of his religious convictions." Like others then and now he longed for a personal and group freedom to improve himself, a freedom to be an individual in his own right.

However, the British Government and the church of England in matters of organized religion spoke almost as one voice. Because John Lathrop rebelled, being out of harmony with the church's emphasis upon ritual, its form of polity, and the restrictions placed upon the clergy and upon himself personally, he resigned as Vicar and withdrew from the Church of England, becoming an independent, nonconformist maverick.

He was not alone. There were dissenters called "Puritans" who tried to "purify" the Church from within while others known as "Pilgrims" could no longer tolerate the state-controlled church. So while one group stayed in, other groups rebelled and broke away. Those who left the Anglicans were identified as "Separatists" or "Independents" or simply nonconformists. many "insiders" and "outsiders" went to America because they found life in England so difficult.

John Lathrop joined the Independent Society of London, led by the Reverend Henry Jacob. When Jacob left from London to some unidentified place in America, Lathrop became the new leader with responsibilities for about 60 families who continued to be persecuted, sometimes jailed as nonconformists, and often shunned by their neighbors. For eight years this group under the guidance of Lathrop met in public halls and private homes until they were raided by Government and Church officials on April 29, 1632. Lathrop and forty-two followers were arrested. All were tried upon charge brought by Archbishop Laud who was trying to stamp out independent organizations which he called "heresy" while at the same time seeking personal advancement from King Charles the First.

The trial was held at Star Chamber where Lathrop and the followers were convicted and each sentenced to serve two years at New Gate Prison, know as "The Clink." Later the followers were released on bail but John Lathrop served two years, ten and one-half months. During imprisonment his wife, Hannah House Lathrop, daughter of the Reverend John House of Eastwell, Kent, was taken seriously ill. Only once was Lathrop permitted to visit her, but not when she died leaving their family without care or funds.

Petitions were sent to the Government requesting Lathrop's release due to family hardship but the petition was rejected because he was considered to be dangerous as a dissenter, actually too socially and religiously dangerous to be set free, unless he would agree to leave England. When he consented he was banished forever from the British Isles.

So conscience and independent through drove this man from a comfortable living as a Vicar in the Church of England, to a growing parish in London, to a prison at Newgate, to banishment from his native country, and towards a land of new opportunity with others who shared his beliefs.

Of the sixty original members of the Independent Society, forty-two had been imprisoned and paroled. Some went to Holland, a few stayed in London, but thirty-six members with their families joined Lathrop and sailed on the ship GRIFFIN, arriving in Boston on September 18, 1634.

Among his personal belongings John Lathrop had included a copy of the Geneva Bible, printed by Robert Barker. The Geneva version was the first English Bible to be printed in Roman type instead of black letters; the first in which the chapters were divided into verses; and the first in which italics were used for explanatory and connective words and phrases. It was immensely popular. From 1560 to 1616 no year passed without a new edition.

John Lathrop had been given one of these Geneva Bibles with the Biblical text and spelling of the old English style. While en route to America on the Griffin one evening in his own quarters, Lathrop was studying the Bible by candlelight. Apparently he was tired and sleepy and was unaware when a spark from the candle had fallen upon open pages. Before discovering the damage many pages had burned through or scorched, leaving holes of varying size. Before the ship had docked in Boston, Lathrop had repaired the pages with new paper and restored the missing words from memory, using the same old English text and style and language.

That same Bible is now under glass in the Lathrop Room of the Sturgis Library in Barnstable, Massachusetts.

When the Griffin docked at Boston many passengers stayed for a while in that vicinity, but Lathrop and his band of religious followers went to Scituate, MA where they were welcomed by former dissenters from London. When the group selected him as their leader the records show that Lathrop organized a "new Society" and was ordained as their minister on January 19, 1634. While at Scituate he married Anna Hammond, daughter of William Hammond of Watertown, MA. Recurring problems among his flock demonstrated the need for more land to supply food for themselves and their live stock. Lathrop appealed to the General Court at Plymouth requesting a grant or gift of more land in a different location. The first grant was unacceptable to his group, but shortly after the members were awarded a large acreage on Cape Cod just east of the present town of Sandwich known as "Mattaakeese", the Indian name for "plowed fields."

It was choice land with rich soil mixed with clay, suitable for raising crops. They named the town Barnstable.

If has been a difficult journey from Scituate to Barnstable. Lathrop left Scituate with twenty-two church members, their families, and other nonmembers, many of them indentured, arriving at the new land on October 11, 1639, a distance of sixty land miles over hills, around swamps, through heavily wooded areas, on sparse trails, traveling by oxcart or on foot for two days and nights. Other family groups chose to arrive by water, a distance of forty miles.

These persons were tillers of the soil, fishermen, storekeepers, or homemakers with varied temperaments, little money, no special training, yet united by common objectives and high purposes. Of the 26 Scituate men considered as FIRST SETTLERS there were others who had arrived before 1640. Together they numbered 45 who were proclaimed as TOWNSMEN on January 5, 1643/4. It should be remembered that these early settlements were not democracies as we understand the meaning of the word "democracy" for there were also slaves, indentured servants, and grades of social standing. So the church and society had problems. Most of the differences were of fences and land for pasturage, however, there were many interpretations of the "Word of God" leading to ideas and convictions over immersion and infant baptism causing Lathrop to strive for peace and to practice tolerance. The women had no vote.

The first comers of Barnstable loom up as an admirable body of men. Many of them were first of their name and family in this country and their names continue. Some of them moved westward, although numerous families moved to Maine, New Hampshire and Nova Scotia.

The Reverend John Lathrop was a strong leader. He was patient and nonagressive, precise, yet insistent upon doing what he thought was right. No obstacle could remain in his way as he organized his parishioners, and led them in social and religious responsibilities, and in education and in citizenship. The Plymouth church records report him as "Endowed with a Competent measure of Gifts and eminently Endowed with a Great Measure of brokenness of heart and humilitie of sperritt." This devoted minister was endowed with great wisdom in secular matters, as well as with spiritual gifts of a high order.

It was at Scituate that Lathrop gathered a new church, becoming their ordained minister, and when they came to Barnstable he helped them to settle, to hew out homesteads, and build a town beside the Great Marshes. They became persons with demonstrations of ability. They created a democratic basis for torn government, becoming influential in the Plymouth Colony and later in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and still later in the Commonwealth.

The Barnstable Society remained the center of religious, political, and social activities. It was an answer and a fulfillment of hopes for a people having left jail, hardships and homeland, sailing 3,000 miles over turbulent seas in a quest for new life and opportunity. Characters were tested and faith was shaken at times. At first they held their religious services in private homes or out-of-doors, as in the old country, even in a cabin at Coggin's Pond, but more often where John Lathrop lived. His first house was poorly constructed in haste, much too small and very cold, so when his second house had been completed, religious services were conducted in his living room which remains as the "Lathrop Room," a part of the Sturgis Library building.

The parish continued to grow. Eventually the parish was divided into East and West, with a house of worship in each.

So long as Lathrop was pastor in Scituate and Barnstable, he remained in control of the Society, but not without problems. As his people began to express themselves there were differences of opinion, some of theological interpretation. Where previously Lathrop had been an extreme liberal, he was now required to become a mediator in order to hold the parish together. There was an occasional discipline problem in a worship service and it is recorded that one unruly lady was expelled for laughing during a service.

A tribute to John Lathrop's influence made history in the town of Yarmouth. One entry states: "Their nearest neighbors, from four or five miles away, were fortunate in having for their minister, Rev. John Lathrop, not only a wise and devoted pastor, but also an historian who left on record some account of their temporal as well as their spiritual progress."

During Lathrop's 14 years as minister in Barnstable no civil authority was needed to restrain crime. The church served as both the civil and the ecclesiastical authority. To become a member of Lathrop's church, no applicant was compelled to sign a creed or a confession of faith. The Reverend John Lathrop professed freedom to worship God and promised to live according to the Word of God as he understood it. No pastor was ever more loved by his people, and none ever had a greater influence for good on a flock and on a nation than John Lathrop. He promised that his faith in God should be his constant encouragement, and that it should be his unending endeavor to keep His commandments and live a pure life, and to walk in love with his brethren.

He was a good business man, and so were all his sons. Whenever one of his family pitched his tent that spot soon became a center of business, and land in its vicinity appreciated in value.

If one were to worship at the Unitarian/Universalist Church in Barnstable on a Sunday morning, in each pew rack would be found a printed card. On one side is an explanation of the chancel wall symbols; the opposite side sketches a brief history of the society, a reference to Henry Jacob who established the London Independent Society, and to John Lathrop who succeeded Jacob to become the first full-time minister later at the Scituate and Barnstable parishes.

John Lathrop was an unusual person, educator, communicator, independent thinker, a liberal maverick, sentenced to the CLINK at Newgate prison, banished forever from his native land, prominent religious leader and honored citizen in London, Scituate and Barnstable, founder of a church which became two churches of different denominational identities both in Barnstable, leader in organizing the town of Barnstable, and first occupant of a Cape Cod home which is the oldest standing building in the country where religious services were held regularly, and which houses the oldest public library - Sturgis - in the United States!

John Lathrop and his followers were PRO-testifiers, searching for faith and freedom; for unity and service - so they pledged to each other, and so endeavored to live. As separatists from tyranny they reached out and found faith, freedom, fellowship, and a wide range of opportunities.

It would take many volumes to cover the lives of citizens who can trace their ancestry back to John Lathrop. Here are a few: Alfred Fuller, Brush Company; Joseph Smith, Founder of Mormonism; David Merriott, Congressman from Utah; Eli Whitney, a memorable inventor; George Bush, diplomat; Benjamin Spock, physician and educator; J. Pierpont Morgan, financier; Henry W. Longfellow, poet; Thomas Dewey, NY Governor; Adlai Stevenson, senator; Lewis Comfort Tiffany, artist; F.D. Roosevelt, 32nd President; John Foster Dulles,, former secretary of state; his brother Allen, ex-director of the CIA; Marjorie M. Post, general foods; Dina Merrill, actress; and Oliver W. Holmes, Ulysses S. Grant, George Romney; to name some of them!

Lathrop, university graduate with two degrees, clergyman, educator, was founder of the family in America. He brought four sons with him on the Griffin; Thomas, who settled in Barnstable; Samuel who went to Norwich; Joseph who stayed in Barnstable; and Benjamin resided in Charleston. Born in America were Barnabas and John, Jr. who remained in Barnstable. Daughter Jane arrived later from England. She married a Mayflower pilgrim Samuel Fuller and Captain Miles Standish performed the ceremony.

Barnabas was the first Judge of Probate in Barnstable and known in the community as "Esquire."

To say more of other descendants of John Lathrop would almost challenge belief, for many of them were pioneers in their chosen occupations and professions.

John Lathrop drew others to him; he influenced lives, he reached out and touched them, he developed a community and a town, and he developed in others his own purposes, and followed them. We are grateful recipients!

Children of JOHN LATHROP and HANNAH HOUSE are:

2.	i.	THOMAS¹⁰ LATHROP, b. February 21, 1611/12, Eastwell, Kent, England; d. 1707, Barnstable, Massachusetts.
3.	ii.	JANE LATHROP, b. September 29, 1614, Eggerton, County Kent, England.
	iii.	ANNE LATHROP, b. May 12, 1616, Eggerton, County Kent, England; d. April 30, 1617, Eggerton, County Kent, England.
	iv.	JOHN LATHROP, b. February 22, 1616/17, Eggerton, County Kent, England; d. 1653, England; m. HANNAH FULLER.
	v.	BARBARA LATHROP, b. October 31, 1619, Eggerton, County Kent, England; d. July 19, 1638; m. JOHN EMERSON, July 19, 1638, Massachusetts.
4.	vi.	SAMUEL LATHROP, b. 1623, England; d. February 1699/00, Norwich, New London, Connecticut.
5.	vii.	JOSEPH LATHROP, b. 1624, Lambeth, Middlesex, England; d. 1702.
6.	viii.	BENJAMIN LATHROP, b. 1626; d. April 3, 1691.
	ix.	SARAH LATHROP, b. 1628.

Children of JOHN LATHROP and ANN HAMMOND are:

7.	x.	BARNABAS¹⁰ LATHROP, b. 1636; d. October 26, 1715.
	xi.	? LATHROP, b. Scituate, Massachusetts.
	xii.	ABIGAIL LATHROP, b. 1639; m. JAMES CLARK, 1657.
	xiii.	BATHSHUA LATHROP, b. 1641; d. 1722; m. BENJAMIN BALE.
8.	xiv.	JOHN LATHROP, b. 1644; d. 1727.

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