USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > The truth about the Pilgrims > Part 8
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Richard Warren was a merchant of London. He is spoken of as "a man of some means and of superior char- acter; such a man as would be a valuable acquisition to any company about to found a new commonwealth." The author of "New Light on the Pilgrim Story" believes him to have been connected with Sir Ralph Warren of the Mercer's company and a close relative of Oliver Cromwell,
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but no proof of this is furnished. Dr. John Collins Warren, M.D., in "Genealogy of Warrens with Historical Sketches," published in Boston in 1854, mistakenly identifies him with Richard Warren, son of Christopher and Alice (Webb) Warren of Headborough, England. The 1620 Herald's "Visitation of Devonshire" states that Richard, son of Christopher, was then a merchant of Greenwich, Kent. This line shows a descent from William, Earl of Warenne and Surrey, who accompanied and married the daughter of William the Conqueror. The Harleian Society Publication of "Visitation of Devonshire" in 1620, page 354, shows that Dr. Warren's line does not refer to Richard Warren of the "Mayflower" but to another Richard Warren who was a merchant in Greenwich, Kent, and who married the widow Elizabeth (Jouatt or Ivatt) March or Marsh. This. last Richard had two sons, Richard Warren and John Warren. This demolishes the Royal line prepared by Dr. Warren because the children of Pilgrim Richard Warren were Mary, Anna, Sarah, Elizabeth, Abigail, Nathaniel and Joseph. This other Richard Warren was baptized in England at Sydenham Damrell on August 15, 1619, and was five years younger than his wife, Mrs. Elizabeth March or Marsh, who was not licensed to marry her first husband until August 20, 1629. This first marriage of Elizabeth was one year after Pilgrim Richard Warren had died at Plymouth. So he could not have been the Richard who married her at a time when he was dead. The matter is clearly explained in Roebling's "Richard Warren of the Mayflower" on pages 4 and 5 also by other authorities including Charles Browning in his errata to "Americans of Royal Descent." A suggestion has been made that Richard Warren of the "Mayflower" was the person who was Sheriff of Coventry in 1610. (HX II 21). It has been impossible to identify the ancestors of Richard Warren of the. "Mayflower." (BK 92). The fact remains that the Norman de Warren or Warren family is one of the oldest and best in England. We know
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that Bradford and others refer to Richard Warren con- stantly as "Mr." (B 408, 412). Nathaniel Morton in his "New England's Memorial" likewise mentions him as such. These contemporary references show that he was considered as belonging to the gentry. He is an ancestor of former President Ulysses S. Grant while the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt is descended from him in five lines.
Richard More was not a waif picked up in the streets of London as has been erroneously alleged in "The May- flower and Her Log." His family pedigree has been traced at length and is published in Volume 36 of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, page 213, et seq. This account shows that he was descended from the dis- tinguished English County family of More in Shipton, County Salop, England, which family was entitled "to bear coat armor," which means to have a coat of arms. The first of the family is believed to have been Richard de la More, who accompanied William the Conqueror in the Norman invasion. The Pilgrim Richard More was the son of an outstanding man, Samuel More of Shipton, who was born in 1594, and was called the "Parliamentarian." The father is described as "Generosus," that is to say he was well born. His father married his third cousin Katherine More of Larden on February 4, 1610-1611. The latter was a daughter of Jasper More of Larden, who can be traced back eight generations to William More of Shipton. The family is described in Burke's "Landed Gentry," Edition 1898, Vol. I, page 1059. The Pilgrim Richard More was baptized at Shipton, on November 13, 1614. One brother and his sisters are also mentioned in the Shipton parish register. (MD V, 256) (BK 72).
The most active Merchant Adventurer connected with the sailing of the "Mayflower" was Mr. Thomas Weston, a merchant of London. Bradford in his history mentions him at length. He had been baptized in 1583 in Hughby, Shrop- shire, which is three miles from the Shipton Church section
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and Larden Hall, where the Mores lived, and he un- doubtedly was an old friend of the More family. It was, therefore, natural that Richard More was living with Thomas Weston in London before embarking on the "May- flower." In Plymouth, Richard More became a member of the family of William Brewster. He did not change his name to Mann or Man (MD III, 192-201), as has been erroneously alleged. Richard Man of Scituate was an en- tirely different person who was drowned in early 1650. Richard More died a respected resident of Salem on March 19, 1693/4 (OS) or March 29, 1694 (NS), and his resting place has the only original gravestone (of a Pilgrim) in existence.
Of Isaac Allerton it is said, "He was admittedly the first merchant of New England, and the founder of the coasting trade and the fishing industry." In the parish of Saint Andrew Undershaft, an Allerton family lived to whom Isaac may have been related. (BK 14). All efforts to trace his exact ancestry in England have been unavailing, but there can be no question about his being considered as one of the gentry. In 1614, he had the honor of being admitted as a burgess of Leyden in Holland. He represented the Pilgrims in England in negotiating with the Merchant Adventurers. Bradford says that he was selected as the agent of the colonists as "being well qualified by education and experience, and having the confidence of the Merchants of London." Bradford and others constantly refer to him as "Mr." (B 407, 410). He brought a "servant," John Hooke, with him on the "Mayflower." He was elected the first Assistant to the Governor in 1621 and served in that capacity for many years. He represented the Colonists in England and at the English Court where it is said "he obtained the love and favor of great men in repute and place; he got granted from the Earl of Warwick and Sir Ferdinando Gorges, all that Mr. Winslow desired." (MD VII 7) (B 249). His selection as one to associate with nobility does not
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indicate mean birth. In New Amsterdam he is termed "Mr." in the records where he was a member of the Council of Eight to assist the Governor. He was obviously a man of the greatest ability and distinction. He is an ancestor of former Presidents Zachary Taylor and of Franklin D. Roosevelt. His autograph is in existence (MD XXV 97) (R 43).
Their Elder William Brewster was of gentle birth (MD IV 102). Brewsters lived from earliest times in the Scrooby region and in the neighboring parishes of Yorkshire. In 2 Richard II (1379) there was a Robert Brewster in Bawtry which adjoins Scrooby. A William Brewster was taxed in Bentley-cum-Arksey in 1524 who could be the grandfather of 'Elder' William. (BK 35). His father's official position as steward and bailiff of the Manor of Scrooby gave the son a recognized social standing when he attended Peter- house, Cambridge University (BK 36). Later he was for sometime assistant to Queen Elizabeth's Secretary of State, Sir William Davison. Bradford in his history described William Brewster at length as follows: "After he had attained some learning, viz. the knowledge of the Latine tongue, and some insight in the Greeke and spent some small time at Cambridge, and then being first seasoned with the seeds of grace and vertue, he went to the courts, and served that religious and Godly gentleman, Mr. Davi- son, diverce years, when he was Secretary of State; who found him so discreete and faithful as he trusted him above all other that were aboute him, and only employed in all matters of the greatest trust and secrecy" (B 376) (Y 463). Bradford goes on to say that Davison esteemed Brewster rather as a son than as one working for him; because of Brewster's wisdom and godliness, Davison, in private, would converse with him more like a friend and companion than an employee. Bradford tells how Brewster attended Davi- son when the latter was sent by Queen Elizabeth as an Ambassador to the Low Countries in the Earl of Leicester's
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time. When the keys of Flushing were delivered to Davison in her Majesty's name, he kept them sometime, after which he handed them to Brewster who kept them under the pillow on which he slept the first night. Before Davison's return to England, the Dutch authorities honored him with a gold chain which he handed to Brewster and commanded him to wear it when they arrived in England and rode through the country, until they reached the court. Brewster . remained with Davison until the latter lost his position because of the death of Mary Queen of Scots. (B 377). Hun- ter in "The Founders of New Plymouth" says that Brewster must have been a man of some position by birth to have obtained appointment in Davison's service. Brewster re- turned home on leaving Davison's service and, on the death of his father a year later, became Postmaster of Scrooby. This was a very responsible position in those days because the letters sent by post usually, if not always, were govern- ment missives. Personal correspondence went by private hand. Of this period of his life Bradford said, "Afterwards he wente and lived in the country, in good esteeme, amongst his freinds and the gentlemen of those parts." (B 377). It was in his home in the old Manor at Scrooby that the Pil- grim Separatists met in secret communion.
Hunter in his "The Founders of New Plymouth" de- scribed Brewster's home as a great manor place, standing within a moat, and belonging to the Archbishop of York. He further said that it had belonged to the see of York in the time of Domesday Book and that the Archbishop not unfrequently resided there. On June 12, 1503, Margaret, queen of Scotland, daughter of King Henry VII, slept there on her way home. When Wolsey was dismissed by King Henry VIII and sent to his northern diocese, he passed some weeks at Scrooby. It is interesting to note that King Henry VIII slept there for one night during his northern progress in 1541. Arbishop Sandys, who was elevated to the see of York in 1576, leased the Manor to his eldest son Samuel,
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and it must have been under him that the Brewsters held the Manor.
William Brewster was an educated gentleman, who at first taught English to students in the University in Leyden and afterwards engaged in publishing books proscribed in England. Among these were "Commentarii in Proverbia Salomonis" (1617) by Thomas Cartwright with a preface by Polyander; an abridgment of a reply by William Ames to "Grevinchovius on the Arminian controversy" (1617); "A Confutation of the Rhemist's Translation of the New Testa- ment" (1618) by Thomas Cartwright; a treatise in Latin "De Vera et Genuina Jesu Christi Religione" (1618) and other works. His signature is shown in R 43. He preached in Plymouth from 1620 to 1629 in the absence of the Rev. John Robinson. While living in his house in Plymouth, which was built by his own hands, he yearly received sup- plies of newly published books in Latin and English, and his library was inventoried at his death at 400 volumes. (MD IV 102; III 19-27). In the Proceedings of the Massa- chusetts Historical Society, 2nd Series, Volume V, pages 37- 85, may be found a paper prepared by Rev. Henry M. Dexter concerning these books. He studied Hebrew when quite an old man as a help to his understanding of the Bible. "But what especially distinguished him as a religious leader in those days was his breadth, toleration and charity. When that sturdy and heroic heretic, Roger William, in Ply- mouth denounced the Mother Church in England as Anti- Christ, pronouncing it sinful to attend its worship or to fellowship with it, the more charitable Leader of the Pil- grims refused to go with him or to hold to any such non- sense." "The claim that the Elder was in the slightest de- gree blameworthy in advising the Plymouth Church to accept Roger Williams' petition for a dismissal from that church to the church in Salem will hardly pass muster with any student of history thoroughly conversant with the 'chip on the shoulder' characteristics of the great Founder of
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Rhode Island, or who has thoughtfully read Bradford's words of tender regret at the parting - words which un- doubtedly echoed the sentiments of the Elder." (MD IV, 106, 107).
The officials of the High Court of Commission, who sum- moned him for religious contumacy in 1607, addressed him as "William Bruster of Scrowbie gent" (BK 36). In the list of freemen entered in 1636 at Plymouth, "Gn" appears after his name. He is constantly termed "gentleman" (BR 98) (MD III 27), also "Mr." (B 407, 410) (MD I, 9), and obvi- ously belonged to the English gentry. He is an ancestor of President Zachary Taylor.
There has been no record found which can be surely identified as the marriage of William Brewster, but some historians believe that the evidence supports the fact that he married in 1591 at Scrooby, Mary Wentworth, daughter of Thomas Wentworth, who was the predecessor of William Brewster's father at Scrooby Manor. The Wentworth Gene- alogy, Edition 1878, which has been approved for its ac- curacy, lists Mary Wentworth and shows that her father was Thomas Wentworth, son of Sir Thomas Wentworth, who was knighted for bravery at the Battle of Spurs in 1513. The latter was called "Golden Thomas." He paid a fine in order to be excused from accepting the Order of the Bath. In 1528, he obtained a license from Henry VIII to remain cov- ered in the royal presence because of his health. This Wentworth family is traced in the Wentworth Genealogy back to Rynold, Lord de Wynterwade, (the old way of spelling Wenthworth) of Yorkshire, who was living at the time of William the Conqueror. A Wentworth first cousin of this Mary Wentworth had a grandson, Sir Thomas Went- worth, Baronet, who became Baron and Viscount Went- worth, Baron of Raby and Earl of Strafford. He was be- headed May 12, 1641, during the troubles between Charles I and Parliament.
Degory Priest, like Bradford and Allerton, had the honor
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of having citizenship of Leyden conferred on him. His an- cestry is unknown, though his name was common in Devon and Cornwall (BK 75). He married a sister of Isaac Allerton.
Christopher Martin was an outstanding Pilgrim. His an- cestry is unknown. He is referred to by Bradford as "Mr. Martin from Billirike in Essexe" (B 76), but the records there do not give us the answer. He seems to have been an able business man who helped in the preparations for the voyage of the "Mayflower." Bradford and others refer to him constantly as "Mr." (B 76, 408, 411). Bradford states that he was Governor of the ship during the voyage. He brought two servants, Solomon Prower, who was a son of his wife by a previous marriage (BK 70, 76), and John Langemore (MD I, 9). He obviously belonged to the gentry.
William Mullins (Mullines or Molines) is thought by some to have been a Walloon, who had taken his residence in Dorking, County Surrey, England. It is claimed that he was a representative in the eighteenth generation descended from Robert Molyneaux, Comte de Moulin (AM 19/542). This is denied by Ames in "The Mayflower and Her Log." His ancestry has really never been traced. He seems to have been a man of some wealth. He occupied an estate in the Manor of Dorking which he bought in 1612. (BK 73). He is described in Morton's "Memorial" as "a man pious and well deserving, endowed also with a considerable outward estate; and had it been the will of God that he had sur- vived, might have proved a useful instrument in his place" (Y 181). He brought a servant, Robert Carter, on the "May- flower." His will, written by Governor Carver and wit- nessed by him and by Dr. Giles Heale, surgeon of the "Mayflower," and by Captain Christopher Jones, shows that he held nine shares in the Adventurers Company (MD I, 230-232); see also (MD XXXIV, 1-7); N.E. Hist. Gen. Reg., Vol. 42, page 62; Proceedings Mass. Hist Society, 2nd Series, Vol. 5, page 38). He is termed "Mr." by Bradford B 82, 408, 411) and was obviously one of the gentry. Through his
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daughter Priscilla, who married John Alden, he is an ances- tor of Presidents John Adams and of John Quincy Adams.
John Alden, who later became son-in-law of Mr. Mullins, was "hired for a cooper" at Southampton and was not a member of the Pilgrim community before the sailing of the "Mayflower." His ancestry has never been traced. An Alden family resided in Harwich, County Essex, England, at that time and was related by marriage to Captain Chris- topher Jones. One of this family, named John Alden, was possibly the Pilgrim (BK 28). He may have been related to Robert Alden, one of the merchant adventurers. The tradition surrounding his marriage to Priscilla Mullins is described in Longfellow's "The Courtship of Myles Stan- dish." He became an Assistant, served as Deputy Governor and was an outstanding member of the Plymouth com- munity. He wrote an excellent autograph (MD VII 1) (MD XXV 145) (R 43). While Bradford does not term him "Mr." in his list of passengers, he does so term him in his history (B 363). He is also so termed in the Plymouth Colony rec- ords. Governor Thomas Dudley of Massachusetts Bay Col- ony terms him "Mr." in a letter dated May 22, 1634 (B 306, 307). James Sherley, one of the merchant adventurers, terms him. "Mr." in a letter dated 14 June 1642 (B 369), and he is constantly termed "Mr.", "Gent" and finally "Esq." in contemporaneous records. Whatever may have been his family, he was considered a member of the gentry after the arrival of the "Mayflower." He is likewise an ancestor of Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams.
In "New Light on the Pilgrim Story," it is claimed that William White, who married Dr. Samuel Fuller's sister Susanna, was a son of the distinguished John White, D.D., of Oxford, rector of Barham, near Ipswich, Suffolk, Eng- land, and Chaplain to King James the First, but I have found nothing to sustain this claim. It is said that in his will he mentioned his son William who had left his Church
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and his Country. Mrs. Haxtun agrees with this contention. (HX I 26). Banks doubts the descent because he could not locate where the son William had been so mentioned (BK 94-95). If the descent is true, our William was a great nephew of Sir Thomas White, Lord Mayor of London.
Our William White was a first cousin of Governor Carver's wife. He is termed "Mr." by Bradford (B 408-411) and brought two "servants," William Holbeck and Edward Thomson, with him on the "Mayflower" William White obviously belonged to the gentry. His son Peregrine, born on the "Mayflower" was also later termed "Mr." (MD III 119).
It has been frequently alleged that Thomas Rogers was a descendant of the Martyr the Reverend John Rogers, pre- bendary of St. Paul who was burned alive at Smithfield in the presence of his wife and children by order of Queen Mary. This has been asserted in "New Light on the Pilgrim Story" and in other books (HS I 131). Other authorities are not prepared to accept the line and claim that it has not been proved. Until further convincing evidence is found, the line should not be considered as proved. Bradford does not refer to Thomas Rogers as "Mr." (B 408, 412).
"New Light on the Pilgrim Story" alleges that Francis Cooke was a grandson of Sir Anthony Cooke, which state- ment is shown to be quite untrue by Banks. Banks offers evidence that he, as well as his wife Hester Mahieux might have been a Walloon (BK 48) (MD VIII 48). Mr. Bowman says that he is English (MD III 95). Haxtun claims he came from Blyth, a parish adjoining Austerfield from a family which had manorial rights (HX II 3). He seems to have been a person of respectability. Bradford does not refer to him as "Mr." (B 408, 412). He is an ancestor of President William Howard Taft, and President Franklin D. Roose- velt is descended from him twice.
Stephen Hopkins was one of the outstanding persons on the "Mayflower." Lefroy's "Memorials of the Bermudas"
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tells how he had been a lay reader with Governor Sir Thomas Gates of Virginia when the latter sailed in the "Sea Adventure" from England to Virginia in 1609 and was wrecked in Bermuda (BK 61-62) (NE XXXIII, 305). Return- ing to England, after a stay in Virginia, Stephen Hopkins came back to America on the "Mayflower." Some writers claim that he was a great-grandson of Stephen Hopkins, fellow and Professor in Kings College, 1532, and Rector of Norfolk, England, 1551, and that his parents were Nicholas Hopkins and Mary Poole, sister of Sir Giles Poole (HS I, 116). Though one of the more prominent Pilgrim congre- gation, his exact ancestry has not been positively identified. A Stephen Hopkins family lived in Saint Katherine Cole- man Parish, London, and our Stephen married his second wife only a short distance away (BK 14) so that he may be related to this family. Bradford says that he came from London (MD V, 47). He brought two "servants," Edward Doty and Edward Leister, with him on the "Mayflower." Bradford terms him "Mr." (B 408, 411) and he is called "Mr." and "Gn" in the Plymouth records. Obviously, he was considered as belonging to the gentry.
Both Edward Doty and Edward Leister signed the May- flower Compact (MD XXII 59). Haxtun claims that Edward Doty (Dotey) (Doughty) was an English youth belonging to the same family as Sir Charles Montague Doughty or Doty of Therburton Hall, Suffolk County, England, formerly of Lincoln County. She says that this family dated back to the Norman Conquest. Being a minor Edward Doty came over in the employ of Stephen Hopkins (HX II 32). This line needs more substantiation.
Henry Samson came, when a young boy, from Saint Andrew Undershaft, London, from where Isaac Allerton also came. He came with Edward and Ann Tilley, being called their "counsin" by Bradford (B 408). He was a pro- prietor, freeman and volunteer in the Pequot War. He
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seems to have become a person of standing, but absolutely nothing is known concerning his forbears.
It has been alleged that Peter Brown was descended from Sir Thomas Browne (HS 131-133), but this line may not be accepted without further proof.
James Chilton was a citizen and tailor of Canterbury in 1583. His father, Lyonel Chilton, or as the father signed his name, Lyonell Chylton, was referred to as yeoman and was a person of considerable property in the Parish of St. Paul, Canterbury. He was a church warden of St. Paul from 1578 to 1579 as was his son John later. The father's will was made on September 7, 1582, and was proved in the Arch- deaconry Court of Canterbury on February 13, 1582/3. In the will the father left money to charity and lands with buildings to his sons John and James. The estate left to James was called "Wullsack." Lyonel's wife Isabel, men- tioned in the will, was a second wife and was not the mother of his children. She was the widow of Francis Furner and had not been long married when the will was made. The grandfather of James Chilton was Richard Chilton, or as the grandfather signed his name, Rycharde Chilton, who also lived in the Parish of St. Paul, Canterbury. The grand- father's will dated September 21, 1549, was proved in the Archdeaconry Court of Canterbury on November 30, 1549. The grandfather refers to his late wife Isabell. After ar- ranging for certain payments to the poor, he mentions three servants. The grandfather left all his remaining property to his son Lyonel Chilton, father of the Pilgrim, James Chilton.
The church register of St. Paul, Canterbury, records the baptism of two of James Chilton's children. He moved to the parish of St. Martin where two other children were born and two others died. He later lived in the parish of St. Peters, Sandwich, where two more children were born (BK 45). While he is not termed "Mr." by Bradford (B 408, 413), his daughter, Mary, married "Mr." John Winslow
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(MD II 116; III 133) and is termed "Mrs." Her son is also termed "Mr." (MD I, 67, 71).
I have described at length the leaders of the Pilgrims. Many of the other passengers on the "Mayflower" were their wives and children. Certain of the others were their servants and laborers. As already shown, many of the Pil- grims undoubtedly came of "gentle blood." While we do not know whether the ones we cannot trace came of "gentle blood," yet this fact we know, an extraordinary number of the Pilgrim men, including many whom we cannot trace, obviously belonged to the gentry and in the gentry were included those of "gentle blood." If one compares the list of the Pilgrims with the lists of any other migration to the Colonies, one will be impressed by the larger proportion of Pilgrim men who obviously belonged to the gentry.
It has been stated that "The Swiss republic was an aris- tocracy of birth, and the Dutch republic an aristocracy of wealth. Our English yeomen and artisans could not have founded the one or the other; but the twelve leaders who were distinguished among their fellows by the then signi- ficant title of 'master' would have been commended by the best English and Continental sentiment of their day if they claimed official and social superiority. Their nobility showed itself in anticipating the day when 'just and equal laws', adopted and administered by the people, should govern great nations." (G 63).
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