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Various spellings of Lothrop:
Lathrop, Laythrop, Lothroppe, Lothropp, Lowthrop, Lowthropp.
Europeans who made the voyage to America faced a difficult journey of several months.
Connecticut's first European settlers were Dutch.
Samuel Lothrop was born in England between 1620 and 1624 in England. His parents were John Lothrop and Hannah Howse.
He came to America on the ship Griffin with his family in 1634.
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.
He married Elizabeth Scudder on November 28, 1644. She has sometimes been erroneously identified as daughter of Thomas Scudder of Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts. The Salem family was from Darenth, Kent, England. She was the sister of John Scudder of Barnstable. She was dismissed from the church in Boston, on November 10, 1644, to the church in Barnstable, where she was married later in the month by the bridegroom's father, Reverend John Lothrop.
They had nine children including: John Lothrop (1645, married Ruth Royce),
Mary Lothrop Moss,
Elizabeth Lothrop Royce (married Isaac Royce),
Samuel Lothrop (1652),
Israel Lothrop (1659),
Joseph Lothrop (1661), and
Ann Lothrop Hough (married William Hough).
In 1648 the family moved to New London, Connecticut, then called Pequot or Nameag. He held various positions of honor and responsibility, including judge. He farmed and was a carpenter. He built the second church in New London.
His second wife was Abigail Doane who was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts on January 29, 1631/32. Her father was John Doane.
In 1668 they moved to Norwich, where Samuel was a Constable and Townsman.
Samuel died in February 9, 1700 in Norwich, Connecticut. Abigail died in 1734. when she was 102. She was buried in the old Town Burial Ground near the Congregational church in Norwich.
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.
A constable was an elected official who was responsible for keeping the peace. His duties were more limited than the sheriff's. He apprehended and punished offenders, helped settle estates, and collected taxes.
The New Haven Colony was an English colony in what is now the state of Connecticut. The colony was from 1637 to 1664.
from Genealogical and Personal Memoirs, Volume 4 edited by William Richard Cutter, William and Frederick Adam
Samuel Lothrop, son of Rev. John and Hannah (Howse) Lothroppe, born at Barnstable, Massachusetts, 1622. Member of Barnstable company, 1643: in 1654 was a member of Major Simon Willard's expedition against Ninigret.
Died in Norwich, Connecticut, February 29, 1700.
He married Elizabeth (widow of Thomas Scudder (sic), came from London in ship James to Charlestown, 1635), sister of John Scudder, of Boston, November 28, 1644. Their daughter Martha (5) Lothrop, born January, 1657, married John (2) Moss, December 12, 1676. He died September 21, 1791. (See Moss; also History of Norwich, Connecticut,by F. M. Caulkins, p. 217).
New London County, Connecticut was one of four original Connecticut counties and was established on May 10, 1666, by an act of the Connecticut General Court.
from Genealogical Dictionary by James Savage, John Farmer, Orrando Perry Dexter
Samuel [Lothrop], New London, s. of Rev. John, b. in Eng. one of the first sett. 1648, had m. at Barnstable, 28 Nov. 1644, as his f. tells, Eliz. Scudder (sis. I suppose, of John), had
John, bapt. at Boston, in right of his mo. 7 Dec. 1645. This discov. of the meaning of our ch. rec. wh. is strange. confused, aft. being by me some three or four yrs. given over, may encourage other explorers not to despair.
He was of high esteem, rem. to Norwich 1668, had by w. Abigail, m. 1692 (wh. long outliv. him, and was 100 yrs. old 13 Jan. 1733, when in her room, at the ho. of her s. a sermon was preach.) no ch. of course, as she was sixty yrs. old when m.
By the first w. were nine ch. five ds. and the other s. were
Samuel, 1650;
Israel, 1659; and
Joseph, 1661; as ment. by Miss Caulkins in her Hist. of N.
Of the five ds. 1 kn. only
Eliz. wh. m. 15 Dec. 1669, Isaac Royce of New London; and
Ann, wh. m. William Hough, sec. of N. and d. 19 Nov. 1745.
He d. 19 Feb. 1701.
First printed in Boston 1745
Estate inventories give us a glance into the home life of Colonial Americans.
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.
from The Doane Family by Alfred Alder Doane, Doane Family Association of America
Samuel Lothrop was married, first, by his father, at Barnstable Nov. 28, 1644, to Miss Elizabeth Scudder, of whose death there is no record. He was a house carpenter by trade, combining with it extensive farming operations. In 1648 he went to New London, then called Pequot, where he built the "Second Church" and held positions of responsibility and honor. In 1649 the General Court organized a local court at Pequot and Samuel Lothrop was one of the judges. In 1668 he removed to Norwich, where he is recorded as "Constable" and "Townsman," and where he died Feb. 29,1700, leaving the widow Abigail who survived him many years.
On the one hundredth anniversary of her birth, an audience of her neighbors and church people assembled in her rooms at Norwich, where a sermon was preached by her pastor, the Rev. Benjamin Lord. At this time, it is claimed, she retained to a remarkable degree the intelligence and vivacity of her earlier years.
She was buried in the old Town Burial Ground near the Congregational church in Norwich, a stone with the following inscription marking her grave :
Here Lyes Interred ye Remains of Mrs. Abigail Lothrop
ye Relict of Mr. Samuel Lothrop Of Norwich
Born At Plymouth Ano 1631 & Lived in Norwich
43 Years And Dyed January 23D AnoD 1734-5 In
ye 104Th Year Of Her Age.
Caulkins' History of New London gives the following notice of her death, copied from the New England Weekly Journal:
Mrs. Abigail Lothrop died at Norwich, Jan. 23, 1735, in her 104th year. Her father John Doane and his wife came to Plymouth in 1630, and there she was born the next year. She lived single till she was sixty years old and then married Mr. John (Samuel) Lothrop of Norwich, who lived ten years and then died.
Plymouth (Plimouth or Plimoth) is in Plymouth County, Massachusetts and was the site of the colony founded in 1620 by the Mayflower passengers.
from Genealogical Dictionary by James Savage, John Farmer, Orrando Perry Dexter
John [Lothrop], Norwich, s. of Samuel the first, m. 15 Dec. 1669, Ruth, d. of Robert Royce.
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 New England Meetinghouse was the only municipal building in a town. Both worship and civil meetings were held there. It was customary for men and women to sit separately and the town chose a committee once a year to assign seats according to what was paid, age, and dignity.
In the New England Weekly Journal for Monday, April 14, 1735
"Norwich (in Connecticut) March 3."
On the 23d of January last, died here old Mrs. Abigail Lothrop, in the 104 [th] Year of her Age, and was decently interred the next day, numbers attending her Funeral, agreeable to what might be expected on so extraordinary an occasion.
Her Father Mr. John Done with his wife in 1630 came from England to Plymouth, where in the following Year this Daughter was Born, who continued in a single state of Life till the both Year of her Age, when Mr. John Lothrop of Norwich Married her, who lived very happily with her about ten Years, and then died, leaving her under the care of his Children; who have always discovered a very filial Respect and Duty to her, till the Day of her Death.
Her natural Accomplishments were rarely equalledd by any of her Sex; She was a person of quick Understanding, great Penetration, solid Judgment, strong Memory, and easy Elocution. And as it is rare to see these all meet in one Person, with such Eminence; so more especially to observe them continue unto, and through' old Age, and such an eminent old Age, as they did in Her; for she retained the most of them in such a degree, that at an 100 she did not discover those Decays, which are common at 60 or 70. The firmness of her Constitution and the vigor of her mind, made her the wonder of all observers, especially as they rendered her capable of very entertaining Conversation, particularly on divine & religious Subjects, almost to the end of her days.
The Family which she Married into, are one of the more considerable in the Town both for Numbers and Weight whose remarkable Prosperity may have been not a little in Answer of her Prayers for them. They are a very numerous Family which sprang from Mr. Lothrop, and the surviving at the day of her Death, taking in his Children's Children unto the fourth Generation, were reckoned 365, and 'tis supposed, that in all, who are scattered abroad, they are many more.
"When she was an 100 Years old, she desired that a Lecture might be attended at her House, and a Sermon preached on that Occasion, and accordingly was gratified with one, from Psalms 71 :18, 19. O God thou has taught me from my youth, and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. Now, also, when I am old, and gray-headed O God forsake me not
And when she had begun a new Century, she still applied herself to her great work, with that vigor and diligence, as if she had a new race to run and all her time couldn't be too much to improve in order to finish well. The nearer she came to it, the stronger did the Attraction appear to be, and the greater her confidence and her pleasure in looking into Eternity; and when she came very nigh, being apprehensive of it, desired she might have an easy passage, which she was gratified in, and gave up the Ghost without a struggle or a groan.
On the Sabbath following, was preache'd her funeral Sermon from Gen. 25 :8 Then Abraham gave up the ghost & died in a good old age; an old man, and full of years, and was gathered to his people."
Women played an essential role in American society as mothers and homemakers.
