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Descendants of Abraham Mussey

Generation No. 1

1. ABRAHAM¹ MUSSEY was born Abt. 1575 in England.

Notes for ABRAHAM MUSSEY:
The family originated in France, bearing the name Mussett. Some unknown members of the family removed to England where the spelling of the name was changed from time to time; such as Musset, Mussey, Muzzie,Muzzy, Muzzey and several others but from information obtained from the "College of Heraldry" in London the various spellings were all derived from the original Mussett.

This family is one of the oldest in New England, having settled in this country only thirteen years after the pilgrims landed from the Mayflower in 1620.

In March of 1633, Abraham Mussey took the oath of Allegiance for passage to New England, and sailed on the "Mary and John", arriving in Massachusetts September 4, 1633. Also listed among the passengers were John and Robert who were brothers and most likely the sons of Abraham.

There are no further records of Abraham. John removed to Salisbury in 1640 and died in 1690. It was from these two, Robert and John, his brother, that the families throughout the United States are descended as near as can be determined.

It might be mentioned here that in 1631, the "Mary and John" came from England to Boston and some of her passengers settled in New Towne, now Cambridge, Massachusetts, among those were probably Hester Mussey as the town records of New Towne, under the date of March 29, 1632, in a division of the "Common pales of land" contain the name of Hester Mussey who was assigned nine acres "bordering southerly on the Great Marsh". She was then, it is thought, a widow. She later married William Roscoe and there may possibly be descendents as a result of that marriage, but obviously now bearing the family name.

There are several landmarks in Lexington, Mass., as well as a Muzzey Street and Muzzey High School. These landmarks bear the names of Amos and Isaac Muzzey and there is a famous tavern which was built by Benjamin Mussey. The "Buckman Tavern" was built in 1692 by Benjamin. His son John ran it for years, then John's granddaughter and her husband, John Buckman were running it at the time of the battle (the war of the Revolution). It was to this tavern that Paul Revere came to give the alarm that the British were coming. The tavern was a rendezvous of the Minute Men. It faces on the green where the battle was fought.

On Lexington Green there is a monument erected in 1799 by the inhabitants of Lexington in the memory of the eight Minute Men who were killed in the battle. Among the eight names listed appears the name of Isaac Muzzey. Following is the inscription on the Monument: "Sacred to Liberty and the Right of Mankind, the Freedom and Independence of America, sealed and defended with the blood of her sons"

"This monument is erected by the inhabitants of Lexington under the Patronage and at the expense of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to the memory of their fellow citizens, Ensigne Robert Munroe and Messrs. Jonas Parker, Samuel Hadley, Jonathan Harrington Jr, Issac Muzzey, Caleb Harrington and John Brown of Lexington and Asakel Porter of Woburn, who fell on this field, the first victims of the sword of British Tyrany and oppression on the morning of the ever memorable Nineteenth of April, Anno Doninae 1775".

"The die was cast".

"The blood of these Martyrs in the cause of God and their country was the cementing of the Union of these, United States, these Colonies and gave the spring the Spirit, Firmness and Resolution to their fellow citizens. They rose as one man to revenge Thier brother's blood, and at the point of the sword to assert and defend their Native Rights. They notably dared to be free. The contest was long, bloody and appealing. Righteous Heaven approved the sober appeal. Victory Crowned their arms and the Peace, Liberty and Independence for the United States of America was their glorious reward:. Built in 1799.

There is also a boulder from Amos Muzzey's farm on the Battle Green. On it is carved the following:

"Line of the Minute Men April 19, 1775. "Don't fire unless fired upon. But if they mean to have a war, let it begin here. Captain Parker".

Another memorial on the Green reads as follows:

                  Amos Muzzey
            Member of Captain Parkers Company
                  April 19, 1775
            Born May 24, 1741 Died December 10, 1822
                  Age 82 years
      Presented to the town of Lexington
                  April 9, 1883
            by his grandson
            Artemas Bowers Muzzey

The above copied from information collected and compiled by Joanne Muzzy Belsey of Anchorage, Alaska.

The following was found on the internet 12-6-98, and is in the form of a letter written in May of 1855

Ship list of Passengers

S. G. Deeks, Esq. Boston, May 31 st, 1855
Dear Sir: - I communicate to you the following highly
interesting documents
for the Register, received through Mr. Cleveland of
Salem. They will
supply a gap, long bewailed, in the early history of
Newbury, by giving us
the name of the vessel in which her first settlers came
to this country, in
1634. The list of passengers by the "Mary and John,"
comprises many
well-known names of residents of Newbury and its
vicinity, and which also
are well known to have been borne by the original
planters of that ancient
settlement. It will be seen by the Order in Council that
the emigrants
were at first "made staye of, until further order from
their Lordshipps;"
who eventually let them go, upon certain conditions,
some of which seemed
harder to them, perhaps than they would be now
considered. I understand
the certificate of Mr. Whitehouse, at the end, to
include the whole, - the
Order in Council, the interesting abstract of the
charter of Charles I, and
the list of passengers.
The name of the master of the "Mary and John," is not
very clear in
my copy. It might be Smyers or Savyres, -and this latter
might be a
corrupt way of spelling the French name Savory or
Savary. This is rendered
less likely, however, by the fact, that this name is
found in the list of
passengers, spelled in a manner not departing very far
from the modern
mode. Although a matter of no consequence, the great
point being the name
of the vessel and her passenger-list, it has seemed to
me most likely that
Sayres was right, and misunderstood by some copyist,
employed upon the
documents. Especially, I am inclined to this opinion,
since there occur
evident mistakes in one or two other names; amongst
these, Hibbens is
converted into Fribbens, the first being the name of one
of our
"Assistants," and whose widow, as I regret to learn, by
a note from one of
our most eminent and excellent citizens and
antiquarians, "was hanged for
having more wit than benignity."
Respectfully, your obedient servant, G. L.

At Whitehall on the last day of February 1633. The
following ship
lay in the Thames River ready to make sail for New
England; The
Reformation, The True Love, The Elizabeth Bonaventure,
The Sea Flower, The
Mary and John, The Planter, The Elizabeth and Dorcas,
The Hercules, and The
Neptune.
The Masters of the ships were called before the Board
and issued
several Particulars that had to be completed before
sails could be set.
They had to post several Bonds of One Hundred Pounds to
make sure that the
following articles were executed.
"1. That all & every Person aboard their Ships now bound
for New England
as aforesaid, that shall blaspheme or profane the Holy
name of God be
severely punish't."
"2. That they cause the Prayers contained in the Book of
Common Prayers
establisht in the Church of England to be said daily at
the usual hours for
Morning & Evening Prayers & that they cause all Persons
aboard their said
Ships to be present at the same."
"3. That they do not receive aboard or transport any
Person that hath not
Certificate from the Officers of the Port where he is to
imbarke that he
hath taken both the Oathes of Alleigeance & Supremacy."
"4. That upon their return into this Kingdom they
Certify to the Board the
names of all such Persons as they shall transport
together with their
Proceedings in the Execuc'on of the aforesaid Articles -
Whereunto the said
Master have conformed themselves - It was therefore &
for diverse other
Reasons best known to their Lord thought fitt that for
this time they
should be permitted to proceed on their Voyage, and it
was thereupon
Ordered that Gabriel Marsh Esq., Marshalle of the
Admiralty & all other His
Majestys Officers to whom their said Warrent was
directed should be
required upon Sight hereof to discharge all & every the
said Ships & Suffer
them to depart on their intended Voyage to New England."
The King of England, Scotland, and Ireland started his
reign in
1624 and issued a charter for "incorporating the Company
of the
Massachusetts Bay in New England in America" in 1628.
The Mary and John, under the supervision of Robert
Sayres, Master,
sailed to New England from Southampton on March 24,
1634, but the arrival
was not recorded.
The passenger list consisted of:

bound for Boston
William Hibbens, Mrs. Anne Hibbens

bound for Ipswich
Philip Fowler, Mrs. Mary Fowler, Mary Fowler, Samuel
Fowler, Hester
Fowler, Joseph Fowler, Thomas Fowler
Richard Jacob
Robert Kingman
William Moody, Mrs. Sarah Moody, Joshua Moody departed
Thomas Newman, Mrs. Newman, John Newman
John Spencer
Henry Short
Richard Kent, Mrs. Jane Kent, Mary Kent, Richard Kent
Nicholas Easton, Mrs. Easton
Christopher Osgood, Mrs. Margery Osgood
Rev. John Woodbridge

bound for Newbury
Robert Coker
William Franklin
Richard Littlehale
Henry Lunt
Rev. James Noyes, Mrs. Sarah Noyes, Nicholas Noyes
Rev. Thomas Parker
Henry Travers

bound for Plymouth
Thomas Savery
William Savery

bound for Roxbury
Robert Seaver for Roxbury

bound for Salem
Thomas Avery
William Ballard
Thomas Cole, Mrs. Anna Cole
Matthew Gillett
Joseph Miles
Joseph Pope

bound for Salisbury
Stephen Jordan
Daniel Ladd
John Wheeler, Mrs. Anne Wheeler, David Wheeler, Anne
Wheeler,
Roger Wheeler, Elizabeth Wheeler, Mercy Wheeler

Destination unknown
John Barlett
William Clarke
John Godfrey
John Luff
John Marsh
Abraham Mussey
John Mussey
William Newby
Robert Newman
Richard Reynolds
Thomas Sweet
William Tracey
Henry Trask
Adrian Vincent
Thomas West
William White

As an incentive to go to New England, all of the
passengers, their
heirs, and successors were exempt from tax subsidies and
customs for seven
years and taxes and impositions on all goods and
merchandise for twenty-one
years.

Tepper, Michael, Passengers to America, Genealogical
Publishing Co., Inc.:
Baltimore, MD, 1977.
submitted by:
vogt@k12.wcsu.ctstateu.edu


Children of ABRAHAM MUSSEY are:

	i.		ROBERT² MUSSEY, b. Abt. 1604, England; d. Abt. May 1664, Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts; m. BRIDGET BRADSTREET; b. Abt. 1606, Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts.
2.	ii.		JOHN MUSSEY, b. Abt. 1606, England; d. December 31, 1689, Salisbury, Mass..

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