JOURNEY TO THE NEW WORLD:
THEY THAT GO DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS
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“Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea.”
("The Navy Hymn"; words by
William Whiting, melody by Rev. John Bacchus Dykes)
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My
family has a boat. We use it for
weekend pleasure trips, exploring the waters surrounding Virginia and Maryland
– the Chesapeake Bay, mostly, and the various rivers that feed into it
(although every once in awhile we tentatively venture past the Cape Henry
lights and cruise along the shoreline of the ocean as well, always keeping
civilization firmly in view, however).
Our boat is not a particularly big boat, nor is it a particularly fancy
boat. However, it is indeed light years
beyond any vessel in which any of our ancestors first came to these
shores. Our boat has GPS. Our boat has modern plumbing and air
conditioning. Our boat is
seaworthy.
Even
so, the weather and the Chesapeake Bay can be quickly changeable, and so my
family and I have shared several boating experiences that are enough to make me
think twice before ever pulling away from the pier again, even though these
“white knuckle trips” have all fallen relatively low on the scale of things
dangerous. In fact, they are barely
worth mentioning in comparison to the “adventures” on the high seas our
ancestors experienced. Yet, experience
them they did. The lure of the sea and
what might lie beyond was apparently a potent force for our ancestors, and I
must admire them for acting on it.
After all, it was not that long before the earliest known vessels in
which my ancestors came to these shores set out on their voyages that people
believed the world was flat, and that they would fall off the edge of it if
they went beyond the horizon. Either
our ancestors had courage beyond measure, or the horrors they experienced in
their native lands were so great that putting themselves at the mercy of
whatever might be waiting for them on the journey to whatever lay beyond seemed
the lesser of two evils (most likely, it was a combination of both factors that
motivated them...).
Sometimes
these journeys ended in tragedy. The
sea claimed the lives of some of my seafaring ancestors, in particular those
Maine sea captains and mariners found on the Noonan and Parker “twig” of my
Family Tree. Even when the journey was
completed with all lives intact, however, there still was often required a
particular brand of courage. There was
no Holiday Inn waiting with the bed sheets turned down (even for those later
arrivals, who came in through Ellis Island). These people had to immediately
find a way to make a new life for themselves.
Often the conditions in which these new arrivals found themselves were
"adverse" beyond imagination.
The perils of wilderness and weather, disease and ignorance, and the
general (and perhaps greatest) challenge of the unknown were each reason enough
to prohibit survival. Yet somehow,
against all odds, some remnant of these hardy (perhaps foolhardy...)
folks did survive. Not only did they
survive, but they ultimately flourished in their new land.
The
biggest step towards their collective success, however, was made when first
they set foot on the deck of whatever vessel it was that would transport them
to these shores. As I cruise the waters
of coastal Virginia with my family in our little boat, I think a lot about the
words of the Navy Hymn (a favorite in my family, as well as in the city where I
live, both with their high concentration of military personnel). I also think about the choice our ancestors
made to take that first step. Their
willingness to put their faith in some higher power and take a chance like they
did is part of what first made this country great, and I salute and admire them
for it. I can only hope that those of
us who came after these pioneers are equal to the standards their actions have
set for us.
Kathy Fenton
Virginia Beach, VA
2000
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THE MAYFLOWER ANCESTORS, 1620
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Of
course, we must begin any discussion of our shared "immigrant
ancestors" with those who came on the MAYFLOWER. On 16 September 1620, the MAYFLOWER set sail from Plymouth,
England, with Captain Christopher Jones in command. Also on board the tiny wooden ship were more than one hundred
men, women and children. Several would
die during the trip, never seeing land again.
The rest would endure two months at sea, barely surviving to tell the
tale of their voyage to the New World.
The
trip was a horror by any standard.
Historians have wondered where all the passengers found sleeping space
(indeed, where they found space just to be onboard at all!). There were no sanitary facilities, and fresh
water was such a precious commodity that it could not be wasted on
washing. Seasickness plagued the
passengers, adding to the overall stench.
Food (for those still with an appetite) consisted of cold, hard
biscuits, cheese, and salted beef or fish.
Occasionally a hot dish could be prepared over an open charcoal fire in
a box of sand on deck, but this was a wooden vessel, after all, so that didn't
happen often as they journeyed through the windy, storm-tossed waters of the
Atlantic Ocean. Many of the passengers
contracted scurvy, and many also suffered from exposure to the bitter winds and
icy waters. Even inside the hull of the
ship, it was wet and cold. During the
course of the rough voyage, the ship's caulking worked loose, allowing the icy
spray to come inside between the now-unprotected seams.
Finally,
on 19 November 1620, land was sighted.
However, it was not Virginia, their originally intended destination, but
the harsh, rocky coast of Massachusetts.
The ship anchored off Cape Cod and the passengers prepared to go
ashore. One of their first tasks after
anchoring seems to have been to row the women ashore so that they could wash
two months of accumulated dirty clothes!
The men spent about a month exploring the area, trying to find the best
place for settlement. Finally, on 21
December 1620, the process of off-loading all the passengers began and a colony
was established at Plymouth.
Once
land had been sighted and it was determined that land was not Virginia (where
their patent called for settlement and they would have been under the
jurisdiction of the London Company), it was determined that some form of
government would be needed before landing.
Some of the passengers were already talking about “taking their own
libertie” and this could not be allowed.
Thus, the Mayflower Compact, a type of church covenant adapted for civil
purposes, was drawn up, reading:
“In ye name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwriten, the loyall
subjects of our dread soveraigne Lord, King James, by ye grace of God, of Great
Britaine, Franc & Ireland, king, Defender of faith, etc. Haveing undertaken for the glory of God, and
advancement of the Christian faith and honor of our king and country, a voyage
to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these
presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God, and of one another,
covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our
better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by
virtue hereof to enacte, constitute, frame such just & equal laws,
ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be
thought most meet and convenient for the generall good of the colony, unto
which we promise all due submission and obedience.”
All
men known to be of age signed it, thereby agreeing that they and their families
would abide by it in the new land.
The
new land was divided up and doled out to the various passengers on the
MAYFLOWER, and two ships arriving later, the FORTUNE (1621) and the ANNE
(1623), according to the “1623 Division of Land.” Several years later, the “1627 Division of Cattle” not only
divided up the animals that had heretofore been considered common property
among all the colonists, distributing their ownership and responsibility for
care to specific people, but it also provided what amounts to a complete census
of Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1627.
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Of
the 102 passengers who survived the voyage on the MAYFLOWER, twenty have so far
been found to be direct ancestors of mine:
Alden and Mullins Family
John
Alden was a cooper who signed on to the MAYFLOWER when it was being stocked
with supplies at Southampton, England (before its September departure from
Plymouth), and who accepted an offer to stay as part of the company. There is some debate about the ancestry of
John Alden, but it is most widely thought that he was part of a sea-faring
Alden family from Harwich, Essex, England, who were related by marriage to the
MAYFLOWER's captain, Christopher Jones.
Priscilla
Mullins made the voyage on the MAYFLOWER accompanied by her parents, William
and Alice, and her brother, Joseph (two other, married, siblings remained in
England). Only Priscilla would survive
that first winter in Plymouth Colony.
John
Alden and Priscilla Mullins married, ca. 1623, in Plymouth Colony. Their marriage was the subject of Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow's famous (but fictional) poem, “The Courtship of Miles
Standish.” John and Priscilla
eventually had ten children, all of whom survived to adulthood. The descendants of this union are among the
most numerous of any MAYFLOWER passengers.
Plymouth
Colony; Its History and People, 1620-1691 has this to say about John Alden and Priscilla Mullins:
“Nothing is known for certain of
[Alden's] English background other than Bradford's words that Alden was "hired
for a cooper, at South-Hampton, wher the ship victuled; and being a hopefull
yong man, was much-desired, but left to his owne liking to go or stay when he
came here; but he stayed, and maryed here."...
John Alden married Priscilla Mullins;
became one of the Purchasers and the Undertakers; was for many years an
Assistant; and presided as deputy governor on at least two occasions. His progeny are among the most numerous of
all MAYFLOWER descendants. His house in
Duxbury may still be visited today....John Alden died at Duxbury 12 September
1687 and left no will, having disposed of most of his estate during his
lifetime. His children were Elizabeth,
John, Joseph, Rebecca, Ruth, Sarah, Jonathan, David, Mary, Priscilla, and an
unnamed child who probably died young.
Daughters Mary and Priscilla were unmarried as of 13 June 1688.”
Several
branches of our family descend from the Alden and Mullins families. Rebecca Alden (a daughter of John Alden and
Priscilla Mullins who married Thomas Delano) and Sarah Alden (another daughter
of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins; she married Alexander Standish) are both
ancestors of my maternal grandmother, Hazel Delano Downes Ackley. Joseph Alden (brother to Rebecca and Sarah,
and son of Priscilla Mullins and John Alden) is an ancestor of George Breed
Davis, husband of Mary Eugenia Ackley, the sister of my maternal grandfather,
Frederick Roberts Ackley. Through John
Alden and Priscilla Mullins, our family also shares ancestry with President
John Adams, his son, President John Quincy Adams, and Vice-President Dan
Quayle.
William Brewster and his wife, Mary
Plymouth Colony; Its History and People describes William Brewster's early
occupation in Scrooby, England, as master of the post station. Once the relocation to Leiden took place,
William Brewster became a publisher of books.
He also was quite influential in the church, eventually becoming its Ruling Elder. A learned man, the inventory of his estate when he died included
63 Latin books and 300 to 400 books in English.
Elder
William Brewster traveled to the New World aboard the MAYFLOWER with his wife,
Mary (who has yet to be definitely identified; Mary died in the first years
after their arrival in Plymouth Colony).
The Leiden minister of the Pilgrims' church, Mr. John Robinson, died
before he could come to the New World, so Elder William Brewster assumed that
position for the Colony, to all intents and purposes, although he could not
administer sacraments. William Brewster
held that position in the Plymouth Colony church however until a new minister
could be chosen, a decision the Pilgrims did not make quickly! In fact, it took them until 1636 to make a
definite choice, after several false starts.
In
a contemporary account, Governor William Bradford offers a brief biography of
Elder William Brewster, excerpted here (original spelling, etc., preserved):
“Anno Dom: 1643. I am to begine this year with that which was
a mater of great saddnes and mourning unto them all. Aboute ye 18. of Aprill dyed their Reve[ren]d Elder, and my dear
& loving friend, Mr. William Brewster: a man that had done and suffered
much for ye Lord Jesus and ye gospells sake, and had bore his parte in well and
wor with this poore persectued church about 36. years in England, Holland and
in this wildernes, and done ye Lord & them faithfull service in his place
& calling. And not withstanding ye
many troubles and sorrows he passed throw, the Lord upheld him to a geat age. He was nere fourskore years of age (if not
all out) when he dyed. He had this
blesing added by ye Lord to all ye rest, to dye in his bed, in peace, amongst
ye mids of his friends, who mourned & wepte over him, and ministered what
help & comforte they could unto him, and he againe recomforted them whilst
he could. His sicknes was not long, and
till ye last day thereof he did not wholy keepe his bed. His speech continued till somewhat more than
halfe a day, & then failed him; and about 9. or 10. a clock that ev[en]ing
he dyed, without any pangs at all. A
few howers beore, he drew his breath shorte, and some few minuts before his
last, he drew his breath long, as a man falen into a sound slepe, without any
pangs or gaspings, and so sweetly departed this life unto a better...
I should say something of his life, if to
say a litle were not worse than to be silent.
But I cannot wholy forbear, though hapily more may be done
thereafter. After he had attained some
learning, viz. ye knowledg of Latine tongue, & some insight in ye Greeke,
and spent some small time at Cambridge, and then being first seasoned with ye
seeds of grace and vertue, he went to ye Courte, and served that religious and
godly gentleman, Mr. Davison, diverce years, when he was Secretary of State;
who found him so discreete and faithfull as he trusted him above all others
that were aboute him, and only imployed him in all matters of greatest trust
and secrecie. He esteemed him rather as
a sonne than a servante, and for his wisdom & godliness (in private) he would
converse with him more like a freind & familier than a maister....”[In
appreciation for his services to him, Davison gave William Brewster a gold
chain.]
“Affter he came into Holland he sufferred
much hardship, after he had spente ye most of his means, haveing a great
charge, and many children; and, in regard of his former breeding & course
of life, not so fitt for many imployments as others were, espetially such as
were toylesume & laborious. But yet
he ever bore his condition with much cherfullnes and contention. Towards ye later parte of those 12. years
spente in Holland, his outward condition was mended, and he lived well &
plentifully; for he fell into a way (by reason he had ye Latine tongue) to
teach many students, who had a disire to lerne ye English tongue, to teach them
English; and by this method they quickly attained it with great facilitie; for
he drew rules to lerne it by, after ye Latine maner...He also had means to set
up printing, (by ye help of some freinds,) and so had imploymente inoughg, and
by reason of many books which would not be alowed to be printed in England,
they might have had more then they could doe.
But now removeing into this countrie, all these things were laid aside
againe, and a new course of living must be framed unto; in which he was no way
unwilling to take his parte, and to bear his burthen with ye rest, living many
times without bread, or corne, many months together, having many times nothing
but fish, and often wanting that also; and drunke nothing but water for many
years together, yea, till within 5. or 6. years of his death. And yet he lived (by the blessing of God) in
health till very old age. And besides
yt, he would labour with his hands in ye fields as long as he was able; yet
when the church had no other minister, he taught twise every Saboth, and yt
both powerfully and profitably, to ye great contentment of ye hearers, and
their comfortable edification; yea many were bought to God by his
ministrie. He did more in this behalfe
in a year, then many have their hundreds a year doe in all their lives. For his personall abilities, he was
qualified above many; he was wise and discreete and well spoken, having a grave
& deliberate utterance, of a very cherfull spirite, very sociable &
pleasnte amongst his freinds, of an humble and modest mind, of a peaceable
disposition, under vallewing him selfe & his owne abilities, and some time
over walewing others; inoffencive and inocente in his life & conversation,
wh[ic]h gained him ye love of those without, as well as those within; yet he
would tell them plainly of their faults & evills, both publickly &
privatly, but in such a maner as usually was well taken from him. He was tender harted, and compassionate of
such as were in miserie...In teaching, he was very moving & stirring of
affections, also very plaine & distincte in what he taughte; by which means
he became yet more profitable to ye hearers.
He had a singular good gift in prayer, both publick & private...He
always thought it were better for ministers to pray oftener, and devide their
prayers, then be longe & tedious in ye same...For ye government of ye
church...he was carefull to preserve good order in ye same, and to preserve
puritie, both in ye doctrine & communion...and to supres any errour or
contention that might begine to rise up amongst them; and accordingly God gave
good success to his indeavors herein all his days, and he saw ye fruite of his
labours in that behalfe.”
Patience,
the daughter of William and Mary Brewster who is my direct ancestor, married
Thomas Prence, who came to the New World with Philip Delano on the
FORTUNE. From Mayflower Families In
Progress: William Brewster of the MAYFLOWER and His Descendants for Four
Generations:
"The ninth marriage recorded in Plymouth
Colony was that of Patience Brewster and Thomas Prence of All Saints, Barking,
London, who came in the FORTUNE which arrived at Cape Cod 9 November 1621....
In July 1627, Thomas Prence became one of
the eight partners called undertakers, who guaranteed the purchase of Plymouth
Colony from the merchant adventurers.
He, with his father-in-law, William Brewster, and brother-in-law,
Jonathan Brewster, signed "Articles of Agreement" to have the "whole
trade consigned to us for some years" to pay the "debts [of the
colony] and set them free" and to "transport as many of our brethren
of Leyden over" to Plymouth.
Thomas Prence served Plymouth Colony as
Governors Assistant in 1632, 1635-37, and 1639 through 1656. He was the treasurer of Plymouth Colony from
1637 to 1640 and he served as Commissioner of the United Colonies, 1645, 1650
and 1653-1656.
On 1 January 1633/34, when he was only 34
years old, Thomas Prence was elected as the fourth governor of Plymouth
Colony. He served his second term in
1638, during which time he presided over the trial of four men who had robbed
and murdered an Indian near Providence.
The evidence presented to the court resulted in them being found guilty
and they were hanged, one having escaped....On 3 June 1657, Thomas Prence was
again elected Governor of the jurisdiction of New Plymouth and served until his
death in 1673."
Elder
William Brewster is actually ancestor to both my parents, and it is through him
that my family shares ancestry with President Zachary Taylor.
Edward Doty/Doten
Little
is known about the pre-MAYFLOWER history of Edward Doty/Doten. He made the journey as an apprentice
(servant) to another passenger, Stephen Hopkins (also my ancestor). His marriage to Faith Clarke (with whom he
had numerous children) is referred to as his second, but nothing is known about
his first wife, even her name. The
first marriage must also have been relatively short-lived, since apprentices
were not allowed to marry, and Edward was not released from servitude to Stephen
Hopkins until sometime between 1623 and 1627.
His marriage to Faith Clarke took place on 6 January 1634/5. (Faith and her family arrived in Plymouth
some time after the MAYFLOWER, by the way.)
Edward
was undoubtedly a contentious sort, often getting himself in trouble with the
law. His crimes included dueling,
breach of contract, slander, disorderly conduct, assault, theft, and
destruction of property (his cows ate a neighbor's cornfield). Usually he was fined as punishment, although
the dueling (with Edward Leister) caused both parties to be tied, neck to
heels. That sentence was commuted after
only an hour, though, due to the apparent discomfort of both Doty and Leister.
Plymouth
Colony; Its History and People, 1620-1691 has this to say about Edward Doty:
“Edward Doty arrived at Plymouth on the
1620 MAYFLOWER as a servant to Stephen Hopkins, but he probably completed his
term of service by the 1627 cattle division, in which he shared...He had
earlier fought a duel with swords with another Hopkins servant, Edward Leister,
for which both were sentenced to be tied neck to heels; Hopkins successfully
pleaded to have the punishment end after one hour....He was on the original
1633 freeman list....On 6 January 1634/35 Doty married Faith Clarke, daughter
of Thurston (or Tristram) Clarke....Doty was involved in (several) law suits
concerning private individuals, but seemed seldom to get in trouble on official
matters. He also engaged in various
land transactions...According to known records, Doty did not serve in public
positions, which was unusual for one who was a Purchaser and early
freeman. Doty died 23 August 1655. His will, dated 20 May 1655, inventory 21
November 1655, mentioned his wife, his son Edward, and his other unnamed
sons. Bradford stated that Doty
"by a second wife hath seven children, and both he and they are
living." His first wife is
unknown. The seven children noted by
Bradford would have been Edward, John, Thomas, Samuel, Desire, Elizabeth, and
Isaac. Two other children were Joseph,
born 30 April 1651, and Mary.”
Edward and Ann Fuller, and their son,
Samuel
Edward
Fuller made the voyage on the MAYFLOWER, accompanied by his wife, whose name
was probably Ann (maiden name unknown) and their son, Samuel. Edward and Ann Fuller died during that first
harsh winter in Plymouth, and not much is known about them. Their son Samuel was brought up by Edward's
brother, also named Samuel, who had made the voyage on the MAYFLOWER as well. Matthew Fuller, an older son of Edward's,
did not accompany his family on the MAYFLOWER, perhaps staying in England to
finish his education. He arrived in
Plymouth ca. 1640 and later settled in Barnstable. My mother's family shares several lines of descent with both
Edward Fuller's sons, Samuel and Matthew.
A brother of Edward's father is also an ancestor of my father's family,
thus making one of the ways in which it turns out my parents are distantly
related by blood.
Stephen Hopkins and his daughter,
Constance
Originally
onboard the MAYFLOWER were Stephen Hopkins, his second wife, Elizabeth, and
their three surviving children (the two oldest, Constance and Giles, from his
first marriage). However, Elizabeth was
pregnant, and the Hopkins family increased by one when her baby (named Oceanus)
was born while the MAYFLOWER was anchored off Plymouth, before most of the
passengers were allowed to disembark.
This
was probably the second voyage across the ocean for Stephen Hopkins. It is believed that he was the Stephen
Hopkins who set sail for Virginia in 1609 onboard the SEAVENTURE, which was
shipwrecked in Bermuda during a hurricane.
Stephen spent a number of months on the island, during which he was
almost hanged for mutiny, before he finally made it to Virginia. He spent several years there, learning
skills that would be quite useful to the Plymouth colonists, before returning
to England again.
Stephen
Hopkins and his daughter Constance (who married Nicholas Snow) are ancestors of
my father, Cassius Bartlett Barnes, Jr.
Howland and Tilley Family
John
Howland came to the New World on the MAYFLOWER in 1620, probably traveling as a
steward with the John Carver party.
John Howland purchased his freedom, using his inheritance from the
estate of Gov. and Mrs. Carver (who died early in 1621).
John
Howland is our ancestor who only just barely made it to these shores alive,
thanks to a rather harrowing experience he had during the voyage. In Bradford of Plymouth, by Bradford
Smith, the details of this incident are related:
[During the trip across the Atlantic on
the MAYFLOWER] “in the midst of the storm while the ship tossed and rolled at
the mercy of the wind, young John Howland made his way up on deck from the
intolerably crowded, stinking cabin for a breath of air and was immediately
swept overboard and into mountainous seas.
He had the presence of mind to grab at the topsail halyards which were
hanging over the sides. They let him
fall astern and under several fathoms of water. Half-drowned, he was hauled up to the surface and caught with a
boat hook, and lived to the ripe old age of eighty – doubtless to repeat the
tale to many an admiring audience.
The storms continued, and with them the
misery of the passengers who by now were unable to keep dry or warm. John Howland's experience had taught them to
stay below decks, yet here it was so crowded that a man could scarcely move
without disturbing a neighbor or irritating his flesh by contact with sodden
clothing.”
Some
historians have tried to prove that John Howland married a daughter of the
Carvers, but the Carvers did not have a daughter. It is more likely that he married Elizabeth Tilley, daughter of
John and Joan (Hurst) Tilley, whose family also came over on the MAYFLOWER. The discrepancy in information regarding
John Howland's wife probably comes from the fact that Elizabeth Tilley was the
only member of her family who survived that first winter in Plymouth, MA, and
the Carvers probably took her into their family after her parents died (she was
only 13 when she was orphaned).
Several
years after landing at Plymouth, John Howland took a party northward to
establish a trading post on the Kennebec where Augusta now stands, and where
Winslow had earlier traded in 1625. The
party brought "corn, coats and shirts, rugs and blankets, biscuits, peas,
prunes, and the usual knives and beads" to trade with the Abenaki
Indians. The prosperous Kennebec trade
became a vital necessity to the Plymouth Colony.
John
Howland was the longest Pilgrim survivor of those who came on the
MAYFLOWER. During the course of his
lifetime, he was elected Assistant Governor, Deputy for Plymouth on the General
Court, served on numerous special committees and was also a lay leader of the
church. He remained faithful to his
Puritan beliefs throughout his life, even though those beliefs caused family
tensions (he had several uncles who had adopted the Quaker way of life). John Howland was buried on 29 June 1672, in
Burial Hill, Plymouth, MA.
Through
Jabez Howland, son of John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley, the Down(e)s/Delano
branch of my family (that of my maternal grandmother, Hazel Delano Downes)
shares ancestry with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President George
Herbert Walker Bush, his son, President George W. Bush, and also with First
Lady Edith Carow Roosevelt, wife of President Teddy Roosevelt. The Ackley/Roberts branch of my family (that
of my maternal grandfather, Frederick Roberts Ackley, Sr.) also shares a
lineage with John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley, through their daughter,
Temperance. This shared ancestry of
both my maternal grandparents with John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley means that
they were actually 9th cousins to each other, a fact of which they were
undoubtedly unaware!
Thomas Rogers and his son, Joseph
Thomas
Rogers came to the New World aboard the MAYFLOWER, traveling with his oldest
son, Joseph. He left his wife, Elsgen
(or Elizabeth) and his other children in Leiden, Holland. His wife's Dutch name, and those also of
their daughters (Lysbeth/Elizabeth and Grietgen/Margaret) suggest the wife was
Dutch, although it is assumed that Thomas was born in England (dates and
parentage currently unknown). His other
son, John, later (ca. 1630) joined Joseph in Plymouth Colony, but Thomas was
long dead by then, being one of those who didn't survive that first harsh
winter. A statement by Bradford that
"the rest of Thomas Rogers' <children> came over and are married and
have many children" suggests that some future researcher will someday
"discover" these other children, and thus open up new MAYFLOWER
lines.
In
our family, the Rogers line intersects with the Delano line, eventually making
its way down to the present day family of my maternal grandmother, Hazel Delano
Downes Ackley.
Henry Samson
MAYFLOWER
passengers Henry Samson and the Tilley family were related to each other
through Ann Cooper, the wife of Edward Tilley.
The maiden name of Henry Samson's mother was also "Cooper" and
it is surmised that she and Ann Cooper Tilley were sisters.
Henry
waited until 1635 to marry, choosing Ann Plummer for his wife. Ann's parentage and immigration details are
unknown to us, although it is surmised that she was probably a sister or cousin
of Mary Plummer, wife of John Barnes, another Plymouth Colony resident.
It
is through Henry Samson that our family shares ancestry with First Lady Barbara
Pierce Bush.
Myles Standish
Captain
Myles Standish made the journey to the New World on the MAYFLOWER accompanied
by his first wife, Rose, who died during that first harsh winter in
Plymouth. It was with his second wife,
Barbara (origins unknown), that he had all his children.
Myles
Standish was probably born in England on the Isle of Man. His will mentions lands left in
England. The will of Alexander Standish
(son of Myles, and our ancestor as well) also mentions these lands, in the
context of some searches that were done in England to try to recover them. In Myles' will, he requested that he be
buried near his daughter, Lora(h), who predeceased him. In 1890 the burial site of Myles Standish
was exhumed and was found to contain the remains of five bodies – an older man,
two young women and two boys. It is
thought that the identities of the bodies could be assumed to be Myles himself;
his daughter, Lorah (as requested); his daughter-in-law, Mary; and his two sons
who died young, Charles and John. This
exhumation also revealed that at the time of his death, Captain Myles Standish
was an older well-built man with red and gray hair.
It
is through Myles Standish that our family shares ancestry with former Vice
President Dan Quayle.
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PHILIP DELANO OF PLYMOUTH COLONY, 1621
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Philip
Delano (born Philippe de Lannoy) arrived in the New World aboard the FORTUNE,
along with Thomas Prence, landing at Plymouth Colony in 1621. Philip was a member of the Separatist Church
at Leiden, born of French-speaking parents from Flanders (now Belgium) who had
been members of the French (Walloon) Church.
Once
in Plymouth Colony, he quickly became a key member of the community. He was a Purchaser, made the first recorded
land sale in Plymouth after the institution of private property, and he was on
the 1633 freeman list. In 1637, he
volunteered for the Pequot War. Later
that year, he was given forty acres of land at Duxbury, adjoining the lands of
John Alden and Edward Bumpus. Throughout
his life, he served on various juries and commissions, especially grand
juries.
Philip
had two wives. The first wife was
Hester Dewsbury, who he married 19 December 1634 (she was my ancestor). His second wife was Mary Pontus Glass
(daughter of William Pontus; widow of James Glass), who he married sometime
between 3 September 1652 (the death of James Glass) and 3 December 1659 (when
his name is joined by Mary's on a deed).
It is thought that Hester was mother of all but one of his nine children
(Samuel). Before his death in 1681, at
79 years old, he had moved to Bridgewater, Massachusetts, and was one of the
purchasers of both Dartmouth, Massachusetts (1652) and Middleborough,
Massachusetts (1662).
The
Delanos’ proximity to the land of the Alden family may have been
significant. Thomas Delano (son of
Philip and my ancestor) was fined in October 1667 for "haveing carnall
coppulation" with his wife before marriage. Thomas's wife was Rebecca Alden, daughter of John and Priscilla
Alden. The firstborn child of Thomas
and Rebecca (probably born on the day his father was sentenced for the crime of
fathering an illegitimate child) was named Benoni, an indication that his
parents obviously felt the shame of their situation. "Benoni" is a Hebrew name, meaning "child of
sorrow," but was more often used by New England colonists for a son of a
mother who died in childbirth. It
somehow seems unfair that Benoni (who lived to the respectable age of about 71
years old) should have had to go through life bearing a constant reminder of
the circumstances of his birth! (By the
way, the child of Thomas and Rebecca who was my ancestor was not Benoni, but
his younger brother, Jonathan.)
It
is through the Delano family that I share ancestry with President Ulysses S.
Grant, as well as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (through FDR's mother; we
share lineage with his father through our ancestor, John Howland, another
Plymouth Colony resident).
Much
of my family information regarding the Delano lineage comes from the
unpublished research of my great-uncle, the noted historian Randolph Chandler
Downes, 7th great-grandson of Philip Delano (born Philippe de Lannoy).
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SOME OTHER EARLY ARRIVALS
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The
1600s saw a mass migration by many of those on our Family Tree. Stephen Hopkins had actually first made the
journey across the ocean eleven years before the MAYFLOWER's journey, when he
was shipwrecked in Bermuda during a hurricane in 1609 while on the SEAVENTURE,
bound for Virginia. After eventually
making it to Virginia, Hopkins returned to England, but I guess that 1609 voyage
makes him officially the earliest of all to arrive.
Hopkins,
this time traveling with his daughter Constance (our ancestor) and other
members of his family, made his second trip to the New World on the MAYFLOWER
in 1620, along with the eighteen other direct ancestors of mine who were passengers.
Next
to arrive were Philip Delano and Thomas Prence, both on the FORTUNE in
1623. Also in 1623, the ANNE arrived at
Plymouth Colony. On board were two
daughters of William and Mary Brewster, Patience (born ca. 1600) and Fear (born
ca. 1606). Patience Brewster would
later marry Thomas Prence. Traveling
with the Brewster sisters was Edward Bangs.
Edward's daughter, Apphia (one of twins with his wife, Rebecca; see discussion
below as to the marriages of the Hobart daughters), married Stephen Atwood, Jr.
Beginning
in 1630, quite a few of our ancestors arrived in the New World. Some of these early arrivals are listed
below:
Thomas Sayre, probably on the JOHN AND
MARY, 1630
Thomas
Sayre (1597-1671) came first to Lynn, Massachusetts, probably on the JOHN AND
MARY in 1630 (but before 1638). In
1640, he was one of the eight original undertakers of Southampton, Long Island,
New York. A house he built in
Southampton in 1648 was still standing well into the 20th century. Sayre was a scout against the Indians in
Southampton. His will, dated September
6, 1669, begins: "In the name of
God, Amen. I, Thomas Sayre, of
Southampton upon Long Island, being in perfect strength of memory, blessed bee
ye Lord for it, but weake in body..." and goes on to distribute his land,
his money and all his earthly and valuable possessions to his children.
John and Margaret Warren, on the
ARABELLA, 1630
John
Warren was baptized in 1585 in Nayland, Suffolk, England, and traveled to Salem,
Massachusetts, with the fleet of Sir Richard Saltonstall. From Salem, he removed to Watertown,
Massachusetts. In Watertown, he was
admitted as a freeman, and served as selectman from 1636 to 1640. He and another man were chosen to lay out
and maintain the local highways.
Sympathizing with the Quakers, he was at odds with the Puritan church,
even tho he always kept his membership there (perhaps only to avoid losing
privileges, however).
The
Bartlett branch of our family shares ancestry with President James Garfield via
descendants of John and Margaret Warren.
Lydia Eliott and James Penniman, on the
LYON, 1631
Lydia
Eliott and James Penniman, arriving in Boston on the LYON in 1631 with John
Winthrop, Jr., were some of the first settlers of the Massachusetts Bay
Colony. James was a farmer, and also a
freeman of Boston, 1631-1632. Lydia and
James Penniman moved to Braintree, Massachusetts by 1639.
Thomas Spencer, ca. 1631
Thomas
Spencer (1607-1687) came first to Cambridge, Massachusetts, along with his
brothers, William, Gerard and Michael, where he was made a freeman in
1634. He removed to Hartford,
Connecticut by 1636, where he was one of the original proprietors (his name
also appears on the Founders Monument there).
He married, first, Anne Dorryfall, and second, Sarah Bearding (my
ancestor), daughter of another early Hartford arrival, Nathaniel Bearding.
Via
Isabella Lincoln and Henry Spencer (b. ca. 1420) of Badby, Northamptonshire,
England (5th great-grandparents of Thomas), our family shares
ancestry with President George Washington and President John Calvin Coolidge,
as well as Sir Winston Churchill (former British prime minister), Lady Diana
Spencer, and both her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.
Daniel and Joanna Brewer, on the LYON,
1632
Daniel
Brewer took the oath of allegiance in England before coming to the New World on
the LYON, bringing his family with him.
Arriving in Boston on 16 September 1632, he settled in Roxbury,
Massachusetts, where he soon joined the church there. Daniel was a husbandman by occupation, and was sworn a freeman
(1634), did jury duty (1640), and supported free schools in Roxbury (by making
an annual payment of five shillings).
The
descendants of Daniel and Joanna Brewer include the Downes branch of our family
tree, as well as President Franklin Pierce, President George H.W. Bush, and his
son, President George W. Bush.
Ozias Goodwin, also on the LYON, 1632
Ozias
Goodwin came to the New World on the LYON, 1632, with Rev. Thomas Hooker. His name appears on the Founders Monument in
Hartford, Connecticut.
John Biglo/Bigelow, ca. 1632
John
Bigelow was born ca. 1617 in Wrentham, Suffolk, England. He made the journey to the New World ca.
1632, probably on one of the ships of the Winthrop fleet (although no ship
manifest with his name on it has yet been found). He settled in Watertown, Massachusetts, where he was a surveyor
of highways (1652 and 1660), a constable (1663), and selectman (1665, 1670, and
1671). He was a blacksmith by trade and
also fought in the Pequot War of 1636.
One
of the ways the Bartlett branch of our family shares ancestry with President
James Garfield is via descendants of John Bigelow.
Henry Cobb, 1632
Henry
Cobb (ca. 1607-1679) came first to Plymouth by 1632. By 1634 he was in Scituate, Massachusetts. In 1639, Henry was one of the founders of
Barnstable, Massachusetts.
John Winter, 1633
John
Winter (ca. 1585-1645) came from Holbeton, Devonshire, England to Richmond
Island, Maine. His correspondence with
merchant Robert Trelawney, acting as his agent in Maine, contributed large
volumes of information on everyday life and the families of that part of Maine.
Ralph Smith/Smyth, 1633
Ralph
Smith/Smyth (ca. 1616-1685) came first to Charlestown, Massachusetts by
1633. He moved to Hingham by 1637, and
Eastham by 1653. His first wife (by
whom everyone agrees he had all his children) may or may not have been a
daughter of Margaret (Dewey) and Edmund Hobart. Some sources list her name simply as "unknown," some as
"Rebecca Unknown," some as "Rebecca Hobart," still others
as "Elizabeth Hobart."
Rebecca Hobart is also listed as the wife of Edward Bangs in some of
these sources (although some sources call the wife of Edward Bangs
"Rebecca Unknown"). So, there
is quite a lot of confusion as to the identity of Ralph's first wife (whoever
she may have been tho, she was my ancestor).
Margaret Dewey and Edmund Hobart, on the
ELIZABETH BONAVENTURE, 1633
There
is some doubt as to whether or not Edmund and Margaret (Dewey) Hobart are
really ancestors of mine, but I believe the tidbits of evidence presented prove
they are, so they are included here.
Two daughters of theirs may or may not have been wives of definite
ancestors of mine. In some sources,
Hobart daughter Rebecca is shown to be the wife of Edward Bangs (in any event,
his wife's first name was Rebecca; it's her surname that's in question). Some sources also say that Ralph
Smith/Smyth's wife was Elizabeth Hobart (as discussed above), although there is
also apparently some question as to whether or not Edmund and Margaret Hobart
even had a daughter named Elizabeth.
When there is a daughter named Elizabeth listed for Margaret and Edmund
Hobart, her birth date is often shown as being the same as their daughter,
Rebecca (whose parentage is certain).
My personal opinion (unproven) is that perhaps Edmund and Margaret Dewey
had twin daughters, Elizabeth and Rebecca, which would explain their birth dates
being the same, when there is a daughter named Elizabeth listed for this
couple. Margaret and Edmund had at
least one and perhaps two other sets of twins amongst their children as well
(Reverend Peter had a twin who died, and some children listings for this couple
show another set, Anthony and Edward, both of whom also died in infancy), and
these things do tend to repeat in families.
I think that it was probably Elizabeth Hobart who married Ralph
Smith/Smyth, and Rebecca Hobart who married Edward Bangs. This assumption is based in part on the fact
that the first daughter of Ralph Smith/Smyth was named "Elizabeth",
whereas the first daughter of Edward Bangs was named "Rebecca" (at
the very least, this indicates a perhaps coincidental fondness for those
particular names on the part of the men!).
George Hubbard, 1633
George
Hubbard (1601-1684) was an original settler of Hartford, Connecticut (his name
is on the Founders Monument there), and then moved to Middletown, Connecticut
by March 1650/1, where he became a freeman in 1654. He is buried in Riverside Cemetery, Middletown, along with his
wife, the former Elizabeth Watts.
John Pratt, 1633
Another
of Hartford's original settlers, John Pratt (ca. 1608-1655) came first to
Cambridge, Massachusetts by 1633, removing to Hartford by 1636.
George and Anna Stocking, on the GRIFFIN,
1633
George
Stocking (ca. 1582-1683), another of the original proprietors of Hartford,
Connecticut (his name also appears on the Founders Monument), came first to Boston
in 1633 aboard the GRIFFIN, along with his wife, Anna. In Hartford, he was a selectman, a surveyor
of highways, and a chimney viewer.
Hannah, daughter of George and Anna Stocking, married Andrew Benton.
Reverend John Lothrop, on the GRIFFIN,
1634
Reverend
John Lothrop (baptized in Yorkshire, England, on 20 December 1584) made the
journey to the New World after the death of his first wife, Hannah Howes,
traveling with at least some of his seven surviving children, a trip not
undertaken entirely by choice. He was
educated at Oxford and Queens College, Cambridge, and was ordained in 1607 as a
deacon of the Church of England by the Bishop of Lincoln. By 1623 however, he had broken with the
Church of England and was soon chosen as the pastor of a Separatist
(Congregational) church in London. He
was persecuted for his religious beliefs and affiliations, landing in Newgate
Prison by 1632. During his
imprisonment, Hannah died, so Lothrop petitioned for liberty to go into foreign
exile (and thus be able to care for his children, now virtual orphans). His petition being granted in April 1634, he
was on his way to Boston on board the GRIFFIN by September. He and a group of his followers first
settled at Scituate, Massachusetts, but removed to Barnstable by 1639, where he
is considered today to be one of that town’s founders. His house there, built in 1644, still stands
and is now the original part of the Sturgis Library.
Frances Hills and John Bronson/Brunson,
probably on the DEFENSE, 1635
Frances
(Hills) and John Bronson/Brunson (1602-1680) came to the New World, probably on
the DEFENSE, in 1635, traveling with their children and John's brother and
sister (Roger and Mary). The family
settled in Farmington, Connecticut.
Elizabeth Symmes and William French, on
the DEFENSE, 1635
William
French (1602/3-1681) came to the New World in 1635 on the DEFENSE, traveling
with his wife, Elizabeth Symmes, and children (one of those children, daughter
Mary, married Jonathan Hyde, another early arrival on our family tree). William French was an officer in King
Philip's War. He and his family
originally settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but moved to Billerica,
Massachusetts, by 1652, where he was one of Billerica's original proprietors.
Thomas and Elizabeth Dean/Dane, on the
ELIZABETH AND ANN, 1635
Thomas
and Elizabeth Dean/Dane married in England in 1625, and came on the ELIZABETH
AND ANN to Concord, Massachusetts in 1635.
Thomas (1603-1676) was a carpenter by trade. Their son, Joseph, married Elizabeth Fuller, daughter of
Lieutenant Thomas and Elizabeth (Tidd) Fuller.
William Adams, on the ELIZABETH AND ANN,
1635
Traveling
with Thomas Dean/Dane and his family on the ELIZABETH AND ANN was William
Adams. William (1594-1661) settled
first in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was a freeman. He removed afterwards to Ipswich,
Massachusetts, where he served on the grand jury and also was a selectman.
Thomas Hurlburt, probably on the
BACHILOR, 1635
Thomas
Hurlburt (1610-1671) probably came to Boston on the BACHILOR in 1635 with Lyon
Gardner. By 1637, Thomas fought in the
Pequot War, again serving with Captain Gardner, for which service he was
granted 160 acres in Saybrook, Connecticut.
Thomas was a blacksmith and constable in Saybrook, eventually removing
to Wethersfield, Connecticut, where he died.
Frances Moody and Thomas Kilbourne, on
the INCREASE, 1635
Thomas
Kilbourne was born and lived most of his life in England, baptized in the
parish at Wood Ditton, County Cambridge in 1578. On 5 September 1604, he married Frances Moody at Moulton,
Suffolk, England. Frances grew up on
her father's Suffolk estate, called "Fryettes," and was descended
from Sir Edmund Moody, who had been knighted by King Henry VIII; the ancestry
of Thomas can be traced back to Richard Kylburn (b. 1434) of Trumpington,
Hawkeston, England.
In
1635, when Thomas was about fifty-five years old, he came to the New World on
the ship INCREASE. With him was Frances
(age 50 at the time) and their seven children.
The ship arrived in Boston, and the family eventually settled in what
would become Wethersfield, Connecticut.
Thomas died in Wethersfield sometime before 1639, when the distribution
of lands was made in the name of Frances, his widow. He was possibly one of the men killed in the early morning Indian
massacre that occurred in Wethersfield in April 1637, an event that led to the
Pequot War. Early on the morning of the
23rd of April, 1637, two hundred Indians lay in ambush waiting for inhabitants
to leave their homes for work in the meadow on the river. Indians killed nine people and 20 cows, but
only two victims were identified. It's
uncertain if Thomas was really one of the victims. In any case, the absence of a will or estate papers at the time
of his death suggests that his death came suddenly. Frances (Thomas's wife), perhaps learning from her husband's sad
example, left a will when she died. Her
will, dated 13 November 1650, mentions children and grandchildren by name, and
leaves three shirts to her son, John.
The
Kilbourne/Moody ancestry of the Ackley branch of our family is shared with
President Rutherford B. Hayes.
Elizabeth Gregory and Matthew Marvin, on
the INCREASE, 1635
Also
on the INCREASE with the Kilbourne family was Matthew Marvin (1600-1680), his
wife, Elizabeth Gregory, and children.
Matthew was one of the original proprietors of Hartford, Connecticut
(his name also appears on the Founders Monument there), moving his family to
Norwalk, Connecticut, by 1650. He was a
husbandman and surveyor of highways.
Anthony Morse, on the JAMES, 1635
Anthony
Morse (b. 1606) arrived in Newbury, Massachusetts, on the JAMES in 1635,
traveling with his brother, William.
Anthony was a shoemaker, and the Morse brothers were originally from
Marlborough, Wiltshire, England.
John Gorham, perhaps on the PHILIP, 1635
John
Gorham (1620-1675) was thought to have come to the New World aboard the PHILIP
in 1635. He married Desire Howland,
daughter of MAYFLOWER passengers John and Elizabeth (Tilley) Howland. John Howland sold his son-in-law half the
lands he had purchased from Governor William Bradford in Marshfield,
Massachusetts. While living in
Marshfield, John Gorham was a constable, a freeman, and a member of the Grand
Inquest of Plymouth Colony. He moved
his family to Yarmouth, Massachusetts in 1652 and then to Barnstable, where he
owned a gristmill and tannery. He was
also a surveyor of highways. John
Gorham served as a captain in King Philip's War, and took part in the fight
against the Narragansetts in December 1675.
He was wounded and subsequently died from the resulting fever.
Nathaniel Bearding, by 1636
Nathaniel
was in Hartford by 1636, and his name appears on the Founders Monument
there. His daughter, Sarah (with his
first wife), married Thomas Spencer, 1645, as his second wife.
William and Annis (Bayford) Chandler,
1637
William
Chandler, immigrant ancestor of the Chandler family in America, came from
Bishops-Stortford, Hertfordshire, England to Roxbury, Massachusetts in
1637. Traveling with him were his wife,
Annis, and their four children at the time (a fifth child, Sarah, was born in
Roxbury). William was a “pointer” by
trade (a pointer being one who makes “points,” the lace tags used to fasten
clothing before buttons came into use), and was descended from Thomas, a
“chandler” by occupation as well as surname, who was born ca. 1475 in
Bishops-Stortford, Hertfordshire, England.
The
Chandler ancestry of the Downes branch of our family tree is shared with President
Rutherford B. Hayes and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Thomas Flagg, 1637
Thomas
Flagg came from Norfolk, England, in 1637, setting in Watertown, Massachusetts
by 1641, where he served as that town’s selectman from 1671 to 1676 and again
from 1685 to 1687. He was a lieutenant
in a military company, suffering the loss of his left eye from a gunshot
wound. Like their father, at least four
of the eight sons Thomas had (in addition to four daughters) served in the
military, one of them dying while on guard duty during King Philip’s War
(1675), and a second killed by Indians on the shores of Wheelwright’s Pond
during King William’s War (1690), one of the first battles of the French and
Indian Wars.
It
is via descendants of Thomas Flagg that the Bartlett branch of our family
shares ancestry with President James Garfield.
Reverend Robert Jordan, ca. 1637-1638
Robert
Jordan was baptized in St. Swithuns Church, Worcester, England, in 1611, was
educated at Baliol College, Oxford University, and became an Anglican minister
in the Church of England. He has been
described as one of the "pioneers of Episcopacy in Maine." He married Sarah Winter, daughter of John
Winter, another early arrival. The
family settled on Richmond's Island, an island three miles in circumference in
the Spurwink River just before it feeds into Casco Bay, near Falmouth (Cape
Elizabeth), Maine. After the death of
John Winter, the Robert Jordan family moved to land inherited from him, a
plantation on the mainland of Falmouth which was called "Spurwink."
John Tidd, 1637
John
Tidd (ca. 1589-1657) embarked in Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, England, in 1637,
bound for Charlestown, Massachusetts, where he was one of that town's original
proprietors. A tailor by trade, he
moved to Woburn in 1640, where he was also one of that town's officers. He married Margaret Greenleaf
(1595-1651). Their daughter, Elizabeth,
married Lieutenant Thomas Fuller in 1643.
Thomas Fuller, 1638
Early New England People has this to say regarding Thomas Fuller: "In 1638, Thomas Fuller came over from
England to America, upon a tour of observation, intending, after he should have
gratified his curiosity by a survey of the wilderness world, to return." However, while in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
Thomas was apparently strongly influenced by the Puritan preaching of Rev.
Thomas Shepard, so much so that "the land of liturgies and religious
formulas, which he had left behind, became less attractive to him than the
'forest aisles' of America where God might be freely worshipped." Thus, he decided to stay, and became a
proprietor of Woburn, Massachusetts, in 1640.
Thomas was a blacksmith by trade.
Lieutenant Thomas Fuller (as he was known) was also a selectman of
Salem, which he had moved to by 1664.
During his lifetime (ca. 1618-1698), he had three wives, the first of
which was Elizabeth Tidd (b. 1626), daughter of Margaret Greenleaf and John
Tidd. Their daughter, Elizabeth,
married Joseph Dean, the son of Elizabeth and Thomas Dean/Dane, who had arrived
in Massachusetts from England in 1635.
(Thomas Fuller also shares ancestry with MAYFLOWER passengers, Edward
and Samuel Fuller, discussed above.)
Abraham Sampson, by 1638
Abraham
Sampson, probable cousin of MAYFLOWER passenger Henry Samson, was in Duxbury,
Massachusetts, by December 1638, when he was presented at the meeting house.
It
is via descendants of Abraham Sampson that our family shares ancestry with
President Gerald R. Ford.
Andrew Benton, before 1639
Andrew
Benton (ca. 1620-1683) came from England first to Watertown, Massachusetts, and
then was one of the first settlers of Milford, Connecticut, by 1639. He was a fence-viewer, a juror, and a
freeman, and married Hannah Stocking, daughter of George and Anna Stocking.
William Leete, 1639
William
Leete (1616-1683) arrived at New Haven, Connecticut, in 1639. His daughter, Catherine, married Samuel
Roberts, son of Samuel Roberts (another early arrival, here before 1638).
Jonathan Hyde, 1639
Jonathan
Hyde (1626-1711) came to the New World in 1639, settling in Newton,
Massachusetts. He fought in King
Philip's War, and married Mary French, daughter of William and Elizabeth
(Symmes) French.
John Bartlett, perhaps on the JOHN and
MARY, 1640
John
Bartlett (1615-1670), brother of George Bartlett of Guilford, Connecticut, was
in Windsor, Connecticut by 1640, perhaps arriving on the JOHN AND MARY.
Nicholas Ackley, ca. 1655
Nicholas
Ackley was born about 1635, in England or Wales. He came to the New World ca. 1655, landing originally in
Hartford, Connecticut. He may have been
one of several young men brought over to the New World by William
Wadsworth. In 1655, Nicholas Ackley was
one of the shareholders of the Town Mill of Hartford. He married Hannah Ford Mitchell in 1656 and had ten children with
her. Nicholas and Hannah lived in
Hartford for about ten years, where Nicholas was a chimney viewer and served as
fire marshal.
In
1666, Nicholas agreed to relocate his family to Thirty Mile Island, Haddam,
moving there in 1667. He owned a
14-acre home lot in Haddam, as well as the "little island at the lower end
of the cove" and a "6 acre lot towards Saybrook" (the cove is
where the Salmon River enters the Connecticut River).
Nicholas
Ackley married Miriam Moore sometime after the death of Hannah in 1687. He died in Haddam on 29 April 1695, leaving
no will.
William Pitkin, 1659
From
the book, PITKIN FAMILY OF AMERICA, by A.P. Pitkin, concerning William Pitkin
(1635-1694), progenitor of the Pitkin family:
"William Pitkin, the progenitor of
the family in America, who came from England in 1659, was possessed of great
ability and tenacity of purpose.
Endowed with a discerning mind, coupled with an excellent English
education, coming into the Colony after its early settlement, he soon gained
the full confidence of the Connecticut colonists. He was admitted a freeman, October 9, 1662, and was appointed the
same year by the General Assembly, Prosecutor for the Colony. His marked ability gave him, in 1664, the
appointment of Attorney-General, by the King.
From 1675 to 1690, a period of fifteen years, he annually represented
Hartford in the Colonial Assembly. In
1676 he was chosen Treasurer of the Colony.
He was often appointed Commissioner by the Colony to the United
Colonies. In 1676 he was appointed with
Major Talcott to negotiate peace with the Narragansett and other Indian
tribes. In 1690 he was elected a member
of the Colonial Council, and so remained until his death. In 1693 he was sent by the Colony to
Governor Fletcher of New York, to negotiate terms respecting the militia until
Governor Winthrop's return from England, whither he had gone on the same
business. In 1693 "Mr. William
Pitkin, Mr. Samuel Chester, and Captain William Whiting were appointed by the
General Court to run the division line between the Connecticut and
Massachusetts colonies." Aside
from his profession, he was also one of the principal planters of the town,
having purchased a large tract of land on the east side of the river, on which
his sons all settled. It embraced a
portion of East Hartford Center. He
owned one third interest in a saw-mill and a grist mill at "Pitkin
Falls," so called from the number of dams and mills erected there, by the
Pitkin family. He was also appointed
with Mr. John Crow, to lay out the first Main and other streets on the east
side of the river.
Although a member of the Church of
England, he asked for the rights of baptism for his children in the Puritan Church
of the Colony, and they were so baptized.
The church records attest that they all "owned their covenant"
with and became members of the "First Church of Christ in Hartford." He left a large manuscript volume of
religious writings, still extant, which show him to have been a man of piety
and of no mean knowledge in theology also.
His character, as manifested throughout
his life, and as revealed in the volume of his remarkable religious
compositions, show that the part he took in the Church controversy was one in
which he was sincere and moved by honorable convictions. After having filled various and important
offices, distinguished for his virtues and ability, he died in 1694. He lies buried in the burial ground
adjoining the "First Church of Hartford," Main street."
William
Pitkin married Hannah Goodwin, daughter of Ozias Goodwin, one of the early
arrivals and a founder of Hartford.
Robert Olds, before 1667
Robert
Olds was first seen in America in Windsor, Connecticut, in 1667, and moved to
Suffield, Connecticut in 1673, where he was one of the first proprietors. Robert Olds was a prominent man in Suffield,
and was the first there to have the title "Doctor." In 1694, Robert Olds successfully lobbied
for tax relief for Suffield, for the town was unable to pay its colonial
taxes. By his efforts these taxes were
"rebated, remitted and forgiven" by the General Court.
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SOME WHO CAME A LITTLE LATER
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A
few of our ancestors waited just a bit before making the leap across "the
Big Pond." Included in this group
of later arrivals are the following:
James Noonan, before 1768