“Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists."
― Franklin D. Roosevelt
A Puritan was a member of the religious group in the 16th and 17th centuries that advocated "purity" of worship and doctrine who believed in personal and group piety. Puritans were persecuted in England and came to America so they would be free to practice their religion.
He came to America in 1634 on the ship Griffin with his family.
Thomas married Sarah, the widow of Thomas Ewer, on December 11, 1639 in Boston. Her maiden name is uncertain. Genealogist, William Cutter has her father as both William Learned and Robert Linnell. Savage says William Larned.
They settled in Barnstable and their children were born there.
Thomas and Sarah's children included:
Mary Lothrop Stearns French Mixer (1640, married, John Stearns, William French and Isaac Mixer, Jr.),
Hannah Lothrop (1642),
Thomas Lothrop (1644),
Melatiah Lothrop (1646), and
Bethia Lothrop Hinckley (1649, married John Hinckley).
Old Style Calendar
Before 1752 the year began on Lady Day, March 25th,. Dates between January 1st and March 24th were at the end of the year. Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) are used to indicate whether the year has been adjusted. Often both dates are used.
The Griffin left England August 1, 1634 and arrived in Boston on September 18, 1634 with about one hundred passengers and cattle for the plantations. The passengers included the Bartholomew, Cotton, Hammond, Haines, Heaton, Hutchinson (including dissident Anne), Lothrop, Lynde, Magatt, and Symmes families.
Boston was founded in 1630 by Puritan settlers from England.
Europeans who made the voyage to America faced a difficult journey of several months.
from Genealogical Dictionary by James Savage, John Farmer, Orrando Perry Dexter
Thomas [Lothrop], Barnstable, eldest s. of Rev. John, b. in Eng. join. his f.'s ch. 14 May 1637, m. 11 Dec. 1639, Sarah, wid. of Thomas Ewer of Charlestown, d. of William Larned, had
Mary, bapt. 4 Oct. 1640;
Hannah, b. 18 Oct. 1642;
Thomas, bapt. 7 July 1644;
Meletiah, 22 Nov. 1646; and
Bethia, 22 July 1649, wh. m. July 1668, John Hinckley;
Mary m. Dec. 1656, the first John Stearns, as his sec . w. and next, 6 May 1669, capt. William French, both of Billerica, and 3d in 1684, Isaac Mixer of Watertown, as his 3d w.
He sw. in a depon. of 4 Apr. 1701, that he was "a. 80 yrs. of age."
John Winthrop (1587/8 – 1649) was a leading figure in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He led the first migrants from England in 1630 and served as governor for twelve years. His vision of the colony as a Puritan "city upon a hill" dominated New England's development.
Estate inventories give us a glance into the home life of Colonial Americans.
from The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 69 by Henry Fitz-Gilbert Waters, New England Historic Genealogical Society
Thomas Ewer baptized at Strood, co. Kent, 10 Mar. 1592/3, was probably a brother of Ursula, Elizabeth, and Rebecca Ewer, whose baptisms are recorded in the registers of Strood, and was perhaps a nephew of Philemon Ewer, the testator of 1617/18, whose will is the only will of the Ewers of co. Kent that has been found.
He married first, at Strood, 13 Sept. 1614, Bridget Hipsley, who died probably about 1623; and secondly, at Bermondsey, co. Surrey, 13 Jan. 1623/4, Sara Learned, born about 1606, daughter of William (who was of Charlestown, Mass., in 1632), who survived her husband and married secondly, in New England, 11 Dec. 1639, Thomas Lothrop, son of Rev. John.
Thomas Ewer, tailor, aged 40, with wife Sara, aged 28, and children Elizabeth, aged 4, and Thomas, aged 1½, embarked for New England in the ship James in June 1635.
On their arrival they settled at Charlestown, where Sara Ewer was admitted to the church 12 Dec. 1635 and her husband 8 Jan. 1635/6. Thomas Ewer was admitted freeman 3 Mar. 1635/6, and died in 1638, administration on his estate being granted 4 Dec. 1638 to his widow, Sara. On 31 Oct. 1638 Anthony Dyaper, citizen and draper, of London, and Andrew Blake of "Strowde in the County of Kent, gent.,
were empowered to gather up goods and debts in the "Realme of England
due to Thomas Ewer, "late of Charles Towne .... Deceased." This Thomas Ewer was probably the "one Ewre" who according to [John] Winthrop (History of New England, vol. 1, p. 280) was charged in 1637 with having said about twelve months before
that, if the King [Charles I] did send any authority hither against our patent, he would be the first should resist him.
Ewer was acquitted of the charge.
Children by first wife, baptized at Strood:
i. William, bapt. 8 Dec. 1616.
ii. Elizabeth, bapt. 13 Sept. 1618; bur. at Strood 23 Sept. 1618.
iii. Robert, bapt. 6 Oct. 1622; bur. at Strood 14 July 1623.
Children by second wife, baptized at Strood:
iv. John, bapt. 14 Jan. 1627/8; emigrated to New England and settled at Barnstable, where he d. in 1652, his inventory being exhibited before the court 29 June 1652; m. Mary, who survived him and is probably the Mary Ewer who m. at Barnstable, 2 Feb. 1652/3, John Jenkins. Child (probablv): 1. Thomas, of Barnstable, m. (1) m. (2) in Oct. 1684 Elizabeth Lovell, who d. 20 May 1717; one child by first wife and several children by second wife.
v. Sara, bapt. 10 May 1629 emigrated to New England, where she m.18 June 1645 Thomas Blossom (Thomas1) of Plymouth, who was drowned 22 Apr. 1650. Child: 1. Sara. vi. Elizabeth, bapt. 2 Oct. 1631; brought by her parents to New England in 1635; bur. at Barnstable 9 Apr. 1641.
vii. Thomas, bapt. 6 Feb. 1633/4; perhaps the Thomas of Sandwich whose inventory was presented 31 May 1667 by his widow, Hannah.
A gentleman had no title, but descended from an aristocratic family, was of the landed gentry, and had a coat of arms.
Barnstable, Massachusetts was settled in 1639 when Parson Joseph Hull came to Cape Cod with and his congregation from Weymouth. A little later in the year, the Reverend John Lothrop brought his Congregationalists. They incorporated as the Town of Barnstable.
King Charles I ruled England from
March 27,
1625 to 1649.
A draper sells cloth and dry goods.
Various spellings of Lothrop:
Lathrop, Laythrop, Lothroppe, Lothropp, Lowthrop, Lowthropp.
from Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families, Volume 2 by Amos Otis
In the preceding genealogy it is stated on the authority of this deposition, dated April 4, 1701, that Thomas Lothrop was born in 1621. In that paper he states that he is "about 80 years of age," and that he is a son of Mr. Lothrop. The latter in his will calls Thomas his "eldest son," and from the general expression in the will I inferred that he was his first born, and that 1621 was the true date of birth. From these I inferred that Mr. Lothrop was married in 1620, and settled in the ministry at Edgerton in Kent, as early as 1610.
That deposition is seemingly good authority, though it involves some conclusions hard to he believed, one of which I have named in this and former papers, namely, that on the 11th of Dec. 1639, Thomas Lothrop, a boy of eighteen summers, married Sarah Ewer,
a widow aged 32, and having at least four children then living, and that his sister Jane married Samuel Fuller at the tender age of 12 or 13 years.
A. careful re-examination of the direct and collateral testimony leads to the following conclusions: That Mr. Lothrop was an older man than I had supposed him to be, born as early as 1590, prohably settled at Edgerton in 1615, and married as early as 1616. This view explains some matters otherwise involved in doubt, and undermine the foundation on which rests the evidence of the early marriages of some of his children.
Cutter's Historic Homes is available on Kindle.
from Historic Homes and Places, Volume 4 edited by William Richard Cutter
p. 1037-1038 William Learned, the immigrant ancestor, was of Bermondsey parish, Surrey. England. He came to Charlestown, Massachusetts, as early as 1630 and was admitted to the church there in 1632. He was admitted a freeman May 14, 1634, and was selectman of Charlestown in 1636. He removed to Woburn in 1641, and is counted among the founders of that historic old town. He held the office of selectman and other places of honor in Woburn, where he lived the remainder of his days on his farm, and where he died April 5, 1646. He was member of the committee to propose to the general court a body of laws in 1638; evidently a man of education and ability, and a leader.
He married Judith who was admitted to the church at the
same time that he was, December 6, 1632. He
married (second), Sarah or Jane who died at Maiden, January 24, 1660-61. Administration granted to Ralph Shepherd, April 2, 1660.
Children:
1. Isaac; mentioned below.
2. Sarah, born 1607, in England, married (first) Thomas Ewer and (second, Thomas Lothrop.
Colonial legislatures granted land to a group of settlers (proprietors) who chose how to divide the land. They had some rights of governance.
Scituate, Plymouth County, Massachusetts was settled in 1627 by Puritan colonists from Plymouth.
Robert Linnell, immigrant ancestor of all of this surname, born in London, England, of an ancient English family, as early as 1584, came to this country in 1638 and settled in Scituate, Massachusetts, removing to Barnstable in 1639.
He joined the church of Rev. John Lothrop, whose record reads:
My brother Robert Linnell and wife having a letter of dismission from the church in London joyned to us September 16, 1638.
He took the oath of allegiance [to King Charles I] February 1, 1638, at Scituate, and was a proprietor of that town as early as January 22, 1638-9; was admitted a freeman of the colony of Plymouth, December 3, 1639; was a grantee of Sippican, January, 1638-9; served on the grand jury, June, 1639. He was a man of high social position, as the title "Mr." given him in the public records bears witness, and when he left England had considerable property, but died comparatively poor.
His will, made January 23, 1662, proved March 12, 1662-3, bequeathed to wife, to son David, to daughters Abigail and Bethia, and to John Davis. His widow Penninah petitioned court, October 29, 1669, to recover the house her husband had left her, from the hands of his son David Linnell. She was the second wife; the name of the first is unknown.
Children, born in England by first wife:
1. Sarah, born 1607; married Thomas Ewer; second, December 11, 1630, Thomas Lothrop.
2. David, mentioned below.
3. Hannah, married March 15, 1648, John Davis.
4. Mary, married October 15, 1649, Richard Childs.
5. Abigail, married May 27, 1651, Joshua Lombard.
6. Shubael (or Samuel). Child of second wife:
7. Bethia, baptized in Barnstable, February 7, 1640-1.
Mister ( Mr.) was derived from master and Mrs. and Miss were derived from mistress. They indicated people of superior social status in colonial America.
American colonists continued to use British monetary units, namely the pound, shilling and pence for which £1 (orli) equalled 20s and 1s equalled 12d. In 1792 the dollar was established as the basic unit of currency.
