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Notes for GOVERNOR THOMAS PRENCE:
OCC: `Saints and Strangers' by George F Willison p455: "carriage make r, of London...Purchaser, 1626; Undertaker 1627-41; member of Genera l Court, 1633-73; governor, 1634, 1638, 1657-73"
RES: ibid.: "removed to Eastham, 1644...induced to move back to Plymo uth by gift of large farm at `Plain Dealing'"
EMIG: ibid. p443: "Fortune-of London (55 tons); Thomas Barton, master ; out of
London, early July, 1621, arriving Plymouth, November 11th, with `3 5 persons to remaine & live in ye plantation.'"
EMIG: `Ancient Landmarks Of Plymouth' p209-Ken Kerby (Prence 001)
EMIG: `Lists of Emigrants to America 1600-1700' by John Camden Hotte n (1962)
p xxviii: "List of Passengers that Arrived, After One Year, In The Se cond Small Ship `Fortune'; Being parts of families, with others, lef t in England or Holland the year before. They arrived at New Plymouth , on the 11th of Nov., 1621.-Thomas Prince/Prence; married the Elder' s daughter, Patience; was afterwards Governor."
NOTE: Willison 1945 p445: "`a terrour to evill-doers'...opposes relig ious
toleration, 1646; leader in Quaker and Baptist persecutions, 1657"
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ancestry.com database [Robert Charles Anderson. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633 [database online] Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 2000. Original data: Robert Charles Anderson. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633, vols. 1-3. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995.] states:
THOMAS PRENCE
FREEMAN: In the "1633" Plymouth list of freemen Thomas Prence was just after the councillors,
and ahead of those admitted on 1 January 1632/3 [PCR 1:3]. "Thomas Prence, gen.," is in the 7
March 1636/7 list of Plymouth freemen [MBCR 1:52]. In the list of assistants at the head of the
"1639" list of Plymouth Colony freemen, but as this list was revised and annotated his name was
included in the "Nawsett" portion of the list [PCR 8:173, 177]. In Eastham section of 1658 list of
Plymouth freemen, and in Plymouth section of list of 29 May 1670 [PCR 5:274, 8:201]
EDUCATION: His inventory included a long list of books valued at £14 2d., including two great
Bibles and "100 of psalm books."
OFFICES: Plymouth Governor, 1634, 1638, 1657-72 [MA Civil List 35]. Assistant, Plymouth
Colony, 1632-33, 1635-37, 1639-56 [PCR 1:32, 36, 48, 116, 140, 2:8, 15, 33, 40, 52, 56, 71, 83, 115;
MA Civil List 37-38]. Treasurer, 1637 [PCR 1:48; MA Civil List 36]. Council of War, 1637 [PCR
1:60, PTR 1:16]. Commissioner for the United Colonies, 1645, 1650, 1653-58, 1661-63, 1670-72
[MA Civil List 28-29].
In Plymouth section of 1643 Plymouth Colony list of men able to bear arms [PCR 8:188].
ESTATE: In the 1623 Plymouth division of land Thomas Prence received one acre as a passenger on
the Fortune [PCR 12:5]. In the 1627 Plymouth division of cattle Thomas Prince, Patience Prince
and Rebecca Prince are the tenth, eleventh and twelfth persons in the fifth company [PCR 12:10].
In the Plymouth tax list of 25 March 1633 Thomas Prence was assessed £1 7s. [PCR 1:9]. He was
omitted from the list of 27 March 1634. His cattle mark was three marks on the outer side of the ear
[PTR 1:2].
Thomas Prence received grants of land, 1 July 1633, 14 March 1635/6, 20 March 1636/7 meadow
at Jones River; 6 March 1636/7 land between two cedar swamps at Island Creeke Pond; 5 February
1637/8 all the land between Greenes Harbor and South River; 2 April 1638 a garden place; 5
November 1638 ten acres of land "in some convenient place about the town"; 3 December 1638 an
acre and a half at Smilt River; 2 December 1639 a parcel between John Barnes's garden and George
Watson's field; 16 September 1641 an enlargement at the head of his Joanes River lot; 17 October
1642 an additional six acres at Joanes River; 2 October 1650 granted rights to bass fishing at Cape
Cod [PCR 1:14, 40, 51, 56, 77, 83, 102, 103, 136, 142, 145, 163, 2:26, 49, 161]. He exchanged land
with John Combe, Phinehas Pratt and John Barnes [PCR 1:25, 30, 12:197].
On 14 September 1638 Mr. Thomas Prence purchased two acres of land on the south side of the
second brook from Ellinor Billington and Francis Billington [PCR 12:37]. On 29 May 1643 he
contributed 6d. to buy drumheads and £14 to buy bread [PTR 1:14-15]. About 1645 Mr. Thomas
Prence acknowledged that he had sold to Mr. Edmond Freeman all his house and garden place and
barn in Plymouth, ten acres of upland in the woods and five acres in the second brook, and eleven
acres by John Barnes's land and one farm at Joanes River [PCR 12:129-30]. On 11 July 1649 Mr.
Thomas Prence of Nawset, gentleman, sold to Jacob Cooke of Plymouth, planter, forty acres of
upland in Rocky Noocke with three acres of marsh [PCR 12:175]. On 13 July 1649 Mr. Thomas
Prence of Nawset, gentleman, sold to Richard Church of Nawset, carpenter, and to Anthony Snow
of Marshfield, feltmaker, upland and marsh at Marshfield and forty acres of upland received by
grant dated 5 February 1647 [PCR 12:176].
On 13 June 1655 Thomas Prence of Eastham sold to "Mr. Edward Buckley" of Marshfield five
acres of marsh in Marshfield [MD 9:234, citing PCLR 2:1:155]. On 12 July 1655 Thomas Prence of
Eastham sold to John Browne of Rehoboth "my half share with other purchasers situate and being
near Rehoboth and Sowamsett" [MD 10:16, citing PCLR 2:1:159]. On 31 August 1658 Thomas
Prence sold to John Cooke of Plymouth two acres of marsh meadow at Jones River [MD 13:44,
citing PCLR 2:2:6].
On 5 February 1665 the town of Plymouth granted Mr. Thomas Prence six acres of upland
meadow on the west side of Jones River meadow and on 16 March 1667[/8] twelve acres more there
[PTR 1:83, 97].
On 8 December 1662 Thomas Prence deeded to "my son [i.e., stepson] Samuell Freeman and
Mercye his wife the house and land Samuel now dwelleth in" [PCLR 3:201]. On 20 September 1664
Thomas Prence deeded to John Freeman of Eastham "all that his upland and meadow lying on the
southeast side of great Namskekett, viz: a parcel of upland containing eight acres ... with five acres
of meadow"; also two acres of meadow with ten acres of upland [PCLR 3:28]. On 14 November 1669
Thomas Prence exchanged one hundred acres "of upland lying upon Pachague Neck on the
southerly side of Teticutt River" with "Mrs. Alice Bradford the executrix of Mr. William Bradford,"
receiving in return "a half share of Purchase Land at Satuckett, be it forty-five acres more or less,
and also the one-half of twenty-five acres of meadow" [PCLR 3:171]. On 2 May 1670 Thomas
Prence of Plymouth, Gent., sold to Thomas Paine of Eastham, cooper, "all my one-half share of
Purchase Land at Paomett," with the consent of "Mrs. Prence" [PCLR 5:480]. On 25 July 1672
Thomas Prence, Esquire, Governor of New Plymouth, deeded to John Freeman Sr. of Eastham "one
parcel of land containing thirty acres"; "another parcel of land containing eight acres ... of swamp
and upland"; "one other parcel of marshland, containing twenty-four acres"; "also forty acres of
upland"; "also [another] forty acres of upland"; "also fifteen acres of upland"; and "also five acres of
upland" [PCLR 3:278].
In his will, dated 13 March 1672/3 and proved 5 June 1673, "Thomas Prence being at present
weak in body" bequeathed to "Mary my beloved wife ... such household goods of any kind as were
hers before we married, returned to her again, after my decease, and if any of them be much
impaired or be wanting, that she shall make it good out of my estate in such goods as she desireth";
to "my said loving wife my best bed and the furniture thereunto appertaining, and the court
cupboard that now stands in the new parlor with the cloth and cushion that is on it, and an horse and
three cows such as she shall make choice of, and four of my best silver spoons, and also during her
natural life, I give her the rents and profits of my part of the mill at Satuckett, and of the lands
adjoining, and my debts and legacies being first paid, I do further give unto my said wife a full third
part of my personal estate that remains"; to "my daughter Jane the wife of Marke Snow my silver
tankard"; to "my daughter Mary Tracye a silver wine cup and a dram cup"; to "my daughter Sarah
Howes my biggest beer bowl"; to "my daughter Elizabeth Howland my silver salt"; to "my
grandchild Theophilus Mayo and to the heirs of his body lawfully begotten, the one half of my lands
and meadows at or near Namassakett in the township of Middleberry"; "I give unto my grandchild
Sussanna Prence the daughter of my deceased son Thomas Prence, the other half of my above
mentioned lands and meadows at Middleberry aforesaid"; in the absence of an heir of these
grandchildren, the abovesaid lands to revert to "my daughters, or such of them as shall be then
surviving, or their heirs if all my daughters should be dead"; "to my said grandchild Theophilus, and
to his heirs forever, my part of the mill and lands adjacent at Satuckett after the decease of my wife,
and this I give for his encouragement to proceed in learning"; residue divided between "my seven
daughters, Hannah, Marcye, Jane, Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah and Judith, and my above mentioned
grandchild Susanna Prence"; Mary "my beloved wife sole executrix"; "my loving friend Major
Josias Winslow to be helpful therein." A codicil to the will bequeathed "to Mr. John Freeman
Speed's Cronicle and Wilson's Dictionary and the abridgement, and Simpson's History of the
Church and Newman's Concordance"; to "my daughter Elizabeth Howland a black heifer"; a little
yellow heifer to Lydia Sturtivant; to "my daughter Jane a bed, and another bed to my daughter
Elizabeth Howland"; to "my grandson Theophilus Mayo all my books fit for him in learning, and if
he carry it well to his grandmother I then give him a bed"; also "I desire my brother Thomas Clarke
to be helpful to my wife as need may require" [MD 3:204-06, citing PCPR 3:1:58-59].
The inventory of "Thomas Prence Esqr. lately deceased" was taken 23 April 1673 and totalled
£422 10s. 7d. [MD 3:206-16, citing PCPR 3:1:60-70]. Real estate was listed at the end of the
inventory, but unvalued: "one hundred acres of land lying in the town of Middleberry at or near
Winnapaukett pond and the brook going from it"; "one share of meadow lying in a certain tract of
meadow called the Major's meadow that lieth upon Namassakett River, betwixt the pond and the
weir"; "one hundred acres of land lying on the northerly side of Teticutt River"; "a considerable
tract of land that lieth on the easterly side of Namassakett River between Winnapauckett pond and
a tract of land called the Major's purchase"; "eight acres of land on the westerly side of Namassakett
River"; "a grant of ten or twelve acres of land and a small parcel of meadow at Jones River meadow
in the township of Plymouth"; "ten acres of land lying on the south side of a cart way that goeth to
Lakenham, called Prence bottom in Plymouth"; "the one half of fifty or sixty acres of land and three
acres of meadow between him and Major Winslow in Middleberry"; "twenty acres of land and three
acres of meadow at Tonsett in the township of Eastham"; "eight acres of land lying on Pochey Island
in the aforesaid Eastham"; and "one fourth part of a mill at Satuckett and lands adjoining to it" [MD
3:215-16].
On 10 June 1673 John Freeman, Jonathan Sparrow, John Tracy, Mark Snow, Jeremiah Howes,
Arthur Howland and Isaac Barker receipted to "our mother-in-law Mrs. Mary Prence late wife and
executrix to our father Thomas Prence Esquire deceased" for their shares of the estate of Thomas
Prence [MD 33:97-100 (with photograph of the unrecorded original)].
On 10 June 1676 Josiah Winslow, Esquire, "attorney for ... Susanna Prence at Catheren Gate near
the Tower in London ..., singlewoman"; and John Freeman in the right of Mary his wife and as
attorney for "Mary Prence, relict and executrix of the last will and testament of the honored
Thomas Prence, late Governor ... deceased," and of Jonathan Sparrow and Hannah his wife, Marke
Snow and Jane his wife, and Jeremiah Howes and Sarah his wife, daughters of the said Thomas
Prence; and John Tracye and Mary his wife, Arthur Howland and Elizabeth his wife, and Isacke
Barker and Judith his wife, daughters also of the said Thomas Prence, sold to Constant Southworth,
treasurer and agent of Plymouth Colony, "all that our dwelling house, messuage or tenement" in
Plymouth "at a place commonly called Plain Dealing"; signed by Josiah Winslow, John Freeman,
John Trasye, Arthur Howland and Isack Barker [PCLR 4:124].
BIRTH: About 1600 based on age at death, son of Thomas Prence, carriage-maker, of Lechdale,
Gloucestershire. In his will, dated 31 July 1630 and proved 14 August 1630, Thomas Prence,
carriage-maker, of Lechdale, Gloucestershire, left a legacy to his son Thomas Prence "now
remaining in New England in the parts beyond the seas" [EIHC 7:103-04, citing PCC 70 Scroope].
DEATH: Plymouth 29 March 1673, in his 73rd year ("Thomas Prence, Esquire, Governor of the
jurisdiction of New Plymouth, died the 29th of March, 1673, and was interred the 8th of April
following. After he had served God in the office of Governor sixteen years, or near thereunto, he
finished his course in the 73 year of his life. He was a worthy gentleman, very pious, and very able
for his office, and faithful in the discharge thereof, studious of peace, a wellwiller to all that feared
God, and a terror to the wicked. His death was much lamented, and his body honorably buried at
Plymouth the day and year above mentioned" [PCR 8:34; see also MD 3:203-04]).
COMMENTS: For many years it was believed that Prence had married only three times and that his
last wife was "Mary" Freeman, but this was straightened out in 1904 by Ella Florence Elliott, who
divided the erroneous construct into its proper wholes, revealing divorcee Apphia Freeman and
widow Mary Howes as Prence's last two of four wives [MD 6:230-35].
Establishing the probable date of marriage for Apphia and Thomas Prence has significant
implications for the parentage of Prence's last three children. Apphia is last seen as a Freeman 1 July
1644, about a year before the birth of Prence's seventh child, and at the end of a six- year hiatus in
the birthdates of his children. She is called "Mrs. Freeman" as late as 15 October 1646 in a deed
where she appears as an abutter, but this does not necessarily imply that she had not remarried by
this date, since it was not unusual for archaic bounds to be used in this sort of description [SLR
1:78].
In a letter dated at Plymouth 8 June 1647, Thomas Prence wrote to John Winthrop that "since my
parting company [with you] I have almost met with Jacob's trial in his travel between Bethel and
Ephrath: God's having been heavy upon my wife and that for diverse months and is not yet
removed" [WP 5:169]. In Genesis 35:16-19 Jacob's favorite wife Rachel died between Bethel and
Ephrath after giving birth to a son she named Benoni, but he called Benjamin. Prence here is
referring to the birth of his own daughter Elizabeth, apparently a difficult childbirth.
On 6 March 1637/8, having been elected governor, Thomas Prence was excused from the
requirement that the governor live in Plymouth, and was permitted to retain his residence in
Duxbury [PCR 1:79]. When he was again elected governor, in 1657, he was allowed to maintain his
residence in Eastham, but in 1663 the court ordered that the governor's house at Plymouth be
enlarged, and by 1665 Prence again became a resident of Plymouth [Dawes-Gates 2:684].
BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTE: Perhaps due to the fact that Thomas Prence had no grandsons that carried
the Prence surname, little attention has been directed to this family. A very brief account of his
family was prepared in 1852 by David Hamblen and a more substantial treatment was published in
1931 by Mary Walton Ferris [Dawes-Gates 2:682-94].
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