Genealogy Report - Frances Louise Hagen
904. ROBERT10 PACKER (Thomas, #1808); b. 1593 at England;
Robert Packer was born in 1593 at Alston, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. He was the son of Thomas Packer III and Thomazine Westwood. Nothing else is really known about him other than he married Anne Moscall in 1618 at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.
905. ANNE10 MOSCALL; b. circa 1595 at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England;
452 i. JOHN9 PACKER
Robert Packer died 1643 at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. I have no information on the death of his wife.
All of the information on this set of Grandparents came from Mark Wooten. I had corresponded with Mark while he was living in England in 1997/1998. We exchanged genealogical data on the Darrows. Later I downloaded a ahnentafel file on Elizabeth Packer from GenServ that was from a file he had submitted to that site. GenServ is a genealogical data search site of which we were both members. Mark returned to the United States in late 1998 but at the present is back in England teaching school. He has a web page at http://www.btinternet.com/~mark.wooten/Mark1.htm
906. JOHN10 FRIEND II (John, #1812);
John Friend II was born about 1601 at Bristol, England. He was the son of John Friend I and Elizabeth Kitchen. In Oct 1639 he married Mary Dexter at Barnstable, Barnstable, MA.
Mary Dexter was born about 1619, the daughter of Thomas Dexter and Elizabeth/Mary (--?--).
453 i. ELIZABETH9 FRIEND
John Friend II died 1656 at Salem, Essex, MA. No information has been found on the death of Mary Dexter.
All of the information on this set of Grandparents came from Mark Wooten. I had corresponded with Mark while he was living in England in 1997/1998. We exchanged genealogical data on the Darrows. Later I downloaded a ahnentafel file on Elizabeth Packer from GenServ that was from a file he had submitted to that site. GenServ is a genealogical data search site of which we were both members. Mark returned to the United States in late 1998 but at the present is back in England teaching school. He has a web page at http://www.btinternet.com/~mark.wooten/Mark1.htm
Nicholas Latham was born about 1575 at Aldenham, Hertfordshire, England, the son of Lee Arthur Latham and Betty Susanne Hogue.
909. ELIZABETH10 NEWMAN (William, #1818);
Elizabeth Newman was born 15 Apr 1579 at Aldenham, Hertfordshire, England. She was the daughter of William Newman and Alice Wrench.
Nicholas Latham married Elizabeth Newman (see #909), 3 Apr 1604 at Aldenham, Hertfordshire, England.
All of the children were born in Aldenham, Hertfordshire, England and the dates of birth as shown may be the date of baptism.
Elizabeth Latham was born in the year 1610 and married Thomas Kent on 19 Sep 1662. She died 16 Sep 1679.
Pagett Latham was born 17 May 1612 and died 13 days later on 30 May 1612 at Aldenham, Hertfordshire, England.
Katherine Latham was born 1 Apr 1615. Other researchers state she was also known as Catherine.
Paget Latham was born in 1617 and married an unknown person about 1648 in England. They had one son, John who was born in England.
The only known information on Jane and John Latham are their dates of birth in England.
There is conjecture as to just who Robert Latham is and where he belongs. Some researchers say that he is the son of Nicholas and Elizabeth and others claim he is not. One researcher gives him a date of birth of 1623 and another says he was born in 1604. Neither have any source to prove their point. On the Latham Webpage at http://hometown.aol.com/Jonnialogy/Homepage.html their is a section on "The Descendants of Cary Latham", (also see Generation 9 on this webpage), a section on "The Descendants of Robert Latham " and a time line for Cary, Robert and William. Reading those reports will give you an idea of the difficulty that researchers are having in trying to solve this puzzle. Since there is no official document indicating that Robert Latham is or is not a member of this family, I will place him here until proven otherwise.
Robert Latham was born in 1623. In about 1649 he married Susanna Winslow in Plymouth, Plymouth, MA.
Susanna Winslow was born in 1628 at Plymouth, Plymouth, MA, the daughter of John Winslow and Mary Chilton. Her mother, Mary Chilton, was the daughter of James Chilton and Susanna Furner. Mary Chilton with her family sailed to America on the Mayflower. Her father James Chilton died 8 Dec 1620 on board the Mayflower.
In " A Bibliography: Genealogical Dictionary of New England, - Vol. I-IV (4). Boston, 1860-1862" the author writes in a section where he is discussing Cary Latham --
"Robert, Cambridge, perhaps br. of Cary, liv. two yrs. or more with Rev. Thomas Shepard, rem. to Marshfield, where he was constable 1643, thence to Plymouth, where he m. Susanna, d. of John Winslow, in 1649, and had Mercy, b. 2 June 1650; bef. 1667 rem.to Bridgewater, had s. James, Chilton, Joseph, Eliz. Hannah, and Sarah."
In 1998 I received a report which contained the following information: "Robert Latham was convicted of cruelty leading to his servant boy's death, and all his property (did not have land) was confiscated, but acquired property later."
In researching this report I found many articles that had been written on this incident. One of the most interesting appears below:
Plymouth Colony: Its History and People 1620-1691
Part Two: Topical Narratives
Chapter 11: Man and Master
"By far the most extreme case on record of a master
mistreating a servant involved Robert Latham, whose wife Susanna was the
daughter of John Winslow and his wife, Mayflower passenger Mary Chilton. On 31
January 1654/55 a coroner's jury was called to view the body of Latham's servant
boy, John Walker. The jury found:
that the body of John Walker was blackish and blew, and the skine broken in
divers places from the middle to the haire of his head, viz, all his backe with
stripes given him by his master, Robert Latham, as Robert himselfe did testify;
and also wee found a bruise of his left arme, and one of his left hipp, and one
great bruise of his brest; and there was the knuckles of one hand and one of his
fingers frozen, and alsoe both his heeles frozen, and one of the heeles the
flesh was much [p.186] broken, and alsoe one of his little toes frozen and very
much perished, and one of his great toes frozen, and alsoe the side of his foot
frozen; and alsoe, upon the reviewing the body, wee found three gaules like
holes in the hames, which wee formerly, the body being frozen, thought they had
been holes; and alsoe wee find that the said John was forced to carry a logg
which was beyond his strength, which hee indeavoring to doe, the logg fell upon
him, and hee, being downe, had a stripe or two, as Joseph Beedle doth testify;
and wee find that it was some few daies before his death; and wee find, by the
testimony of John Howland and John Adams, that heard Robert Latham say that hee
gave John Walker som stripes that morning before his death; and alsoe wee find
the flesh much broken of the knees of John Walker, and that he did want
sufficient food and clothing and lodging, and that the said John did constantly
wett his bedd and his cloathes, lying in them, and so suffered by it, his
clothes being frozen about him; and that the said John was put forth in the
extremity of cold, though thuse unabled by lamenes and sorenes to performe what
was required; and therefore in respect of crewelty and hard usage he died."
Another report written in a different chapter contained the following:
Plymouth Colony: Its History and People 1620-1691
Part Two: Topical Narratives
Chapter 9: Law and Order
"The focus of Plymouth law seemed to be deterrence, not vengeance. This is shown by the number of killings in which the jury found "misadventure," and the defendant was freed. The object was also to right the wrong, to make one who had lost something whole again. Though the law made a distinction between crimes against the state, called "criminal facts," and trespasses and debts "between man and man," the distinction was not always apparent, for when the individual was injured, so was the state. However, sometimes in criminal matters it seemed to be the individual who did the prosecuting, and both types of cases were determined by the verdict of a twelve-men jury. A case in point was when, following the conviction of Robert Latham for cruelty leading to his servant boy's death, his wife Susanna Latham, on 8 June 1655, was presented by the grand jury for complicity in the crime with her husband; five years later the Court observed that she would be tried on this charge "if any will come in…to procequte against her," and she was released when none appeared."
Robert Latham died 28 Feb 1688/89 at E. Bridgewater, Plymouth, MA. Susanna Winslow Latham also died in E. Bridgewater, Plymouth, MA in 1688.
Nicholas and Elizabeth had one child (Cary) that distinguished himself in service to his community. In doing such he left a history that allowed us to know more about the entire family. They may have had another child, still unproven, (Robert), who with his wife, also distinguished themselves in another way. As we read the above report it is not to difficult to surmise that Robert and Susanna were not the best employers a person could have. However, it allows us to get as close to the Mayflower families as our family tree will allow since Susanna's mother was a passenger on that ship that sailed from England to America and landed on Plymouth Rock.
910. JOHN10 MASTERS (John, #1820);
John Masters was born about 1584 at Finglesham, Kent, England. One researcher gives his date of birth as 8 Mar 1580/81. About 1606, John Masters married Jane Cox (see #911) at Tiverton, Devonshire, England.
Jane Cox was born about 1586 in England.
In 1630, The Winthrop Fleet, sailed from England to settle the new world. The information below was found at the following URL: http://members.aol.com/dcurtin1/gene/winthrop.htm
1630, THE WINTHROP FLEET:
Eleven vessels brought ' the Great Emigration' of this year, viz:
|
ARBELLA the flagship |
|
|
AMBROSE |
WILLIAM AND FRANCIS |
|
TALBOT |
HOPEWELL |
|
JEWEL |
WHALE |
|
CHARLES |
SUCCESS |
|
MAYFLOWER |
TRIAL |
The first five ships sailed April 8 from Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, and arrived at Salem June 13 and following days. The other half of the fleet sailed in May and arrived in July at various dates. Altogether they brought about seven hundred passengers of whom the following are presumed to have been on these ships.
Note by author: Curtin who developed the webpage quoted above, lists all of the passengers that are known to be on the 11 ships. The following is what is listed for the Masters Family.
JOHN MASTERS Watertown
Mrs. Jane Masters
Sarah Masters
Lydia Masters
Elizabeth Masters
Nathaniel Masters
Abraham Masters
The above webpage linked me to another which is: http://www.winthropsociety.org/newtowne.htm This page is run by the Wintrhop Society. A Society that was formed to research and gather data on The Winthrop Fleet, the settlements that they started, and the ancestors of the persons that started them. There is a tremendous amount of history and information on this web site. I recommend that you visit it and see for yourselves. Below is a part of their creed.
Whereas, Governor John Winthrop and the Puritan colonists who came with him to plant the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630 were the most important and influential single group of Europeans ever to arrive in North America, The Winthrop Society is dedicated to preserving their memory, philosophy and tradition and transmitting their example of courage, faith, civic duty and integrity.
The item below was acquired from the above webpage. It shows a list of residents of New Towne (Cambridge). I have only listed the data that pertained to John Masters.
The Residents of New Towne, 1632 - 1635
This list gives all persons mentioned in the town Court records for New Towne (later known as Cambridge) from the first town meeting for three years thereafter, as originally autographed or inscribed by William Spencer, the town clerk. By each name is the date of the town Court record where each name is mentioned. We have made no alterations of the original spellings here, so please note that names appear in many variants for the same persons, for instance Colby=Couldbye and Myat=Mygate, etc. This list is alphabetized by surname spelling, not date. An asterisk appears where the ancient record is illegible, but the name can be certainly assumed.
John Masters --- 1 Sep 1634
John Masters --- 7 Jan 1632/33
John Masters --- 5 Aug 1633
John Masters --- 2 Mar 1633/34
John Masters --- 4 Aug 1634
John Masters --- 20 Aug 1635
There are two accounts in the New England Historical Genealogical Register that concerned John Masters. The first one appears below and the second item is posted under the paragraph dealing with the death of John. Both of the items can be found in Volume III, page 180-181 of the above publication.
"In June, 1631 the court ordered that "Mr. John Maisters having undertaken to make a Passage from Charles River to the new Town, 12 feet broad, and 7 deep, the court promises him Satisfaction."
I believe what this is saying is that John Masters made a road from his residence on the Charles River to New Towne (Cambridge). It can be understood that the road would be 12 feet broad but I have no idea the meaning of 7 deep.
All of the first five children were born in England, specific location unknown at this time.
Lydia Masters was born about 1605 at Cambridge, Middlesex, MA, although one researcher gives her date of birth as abt 1609, Cambridge, Middlesex, MA. She married Phillip Taber, 21 Dec 1639 at Middlesex, MA. Another researcher gives the marriage date and place as 21 Mar 1639, in Watertown, MA. Lydia and Phillip had one known daughter, Lydia Masters Taber, born 1640 in Barnstable, MA.
Lydia Masters died before 1651.
Sarah Masters was born in 1607. She married a Mr. Dobson or Roybson.
Nathaniel Masters was born in 1613 and married Elizabeth Cogswell, date and place unknown. They had one known son, Abram Masters.
The only information found on Abraham was his birth date.
Note by Author: Some of the information on John Masters and Jane Cox and their family was derived through the reports of four other researchers. These are fellow researchers that belong to GenServ, a Web Site, devoted to family trees. You have to pay a fee to belong to this site.
There historical data is essentially the same for the family except for dates. These difference in dates, however, are not grievous. I have no idea as to the correctness of their data and therefore their data must be considered as assumptions until further research can be conducted.
As stated above the New England Historical Genealogical Register posted a second item in its publication. It is a paragraph dealing with the death of John and can be found in Volume III, page 180-181.
John Masters wrote a will on 19 Oct 1639 at Suffolk County, MA. It is presented just as it was written in the source.
"John Masters 19: 10mo 1639
This is the minde & will of me John Masters.
Item I give to my wife all my estate for the terme of her life & after
hir decease I will & bequeathe vnto my Daughter Sarah Dobyson ten pownds.
Item to my daughter Lidya Tabor ten pownds,
Item to my Grand child John Lockwood ten pownds,
to Nathaniell Masters ten pownds to Abraham Masters ten shillings, Also my
minde & will is that the ten pownds I give to John Lockwood, & the ten
pownds I give to Nathaniell Masters shal be layde out vpon somethings that may
turne to the encrease of theire portions ffurthermore my will is that these
leagacyes shal be well & truly discharged within six monthes after my wives
decease, these & all other my debt beinge discharged I give all the
remainder of my estate vnto my daughter Elizabeth Latham."
John Masters died 21 Dec 1639 at Cambridge, Middlesex, MA.
Jane Cox died 28 Dec 1639 at Cambridge, Middlesex, MA. The New England Genealogical Historical Register states that the wife of John Masters died five days after his death. This would make her date of death as 26 Dec 1639.
The following two paragraphs are from a fellow researcher. His name is Raymond Allen Downing. This material was downloaded from GenServ of which we both are members. Mr Downing's e-mail address is RDown3657@aol.com.
"William Redfield, AKA Redfyn or Redfin, was probably one of the early emigrants from England to the Colony of Massachusetts. He was a man of moderate means, perhaps master of some mechanical handicraft, and we may reasonably suppose him to have been of that large body of England’s Yeomanry, who, actuated by the combined motives of dread of the increasing encroachments of kingly and ecclesiastical power, doubt the issue of the fearful struggle then approaching, and the hope of bettering their worldly condition, left the Old England for the New, during the decade of years which followed 1630. The year of his arrival is unknown, but as early as 1639, and perhaps earlier, he occupied a house and four acres of land on the south side of Charles River, about six miles from Boston. He was one of the first settlers on that side of the river. The location can be readily identified, and is not far from the foot of Nonantum Hill. His house and land were confirmed to him on the 'Records of the Proprietors of Cambridge' in 1642, and the same records show that in Sep 1646 he sold his place to Edward Jackson. Henceforth his name disappears from Massachusetts. He settled in New London, Connecticut in 1653 or sooner."
The date and place of birth of William Redfield in England is unknown.
At some point in time he married Rebecca (Unknown). Whether that was in England or America has not been determined by my research. Another report from Raymond Downing shows that the first child was born in 1636, therefore, the date of marriage will be listed as "before 1636" until more information can be obtained. I have no other known data on Rebecca, the wife of William Redfield.
Rebecca was born in 1641 and married Thomas Roach on 12 Dec 1661. She died 16 Aug 1670.
James Redfield was born 1646 probably in Boston, MA. In May of 1669 he married Elizabeth Howe in New Haven, CT. Elizabeth was born 30 Mar 1645 in New Haven. She was the daughter of Jeremy Howe and Elizabeth (Unknown).
James and Elizabeth had three known children, Theophilus b. 1682; Elizabeth b. 31 May 1670; and Sarah b. 1673.
Elizabeth Howe died in 1682 and James Redfield died in Fairfield, CT in the year 1719.
Judith Redfield was born in 1649. She married Alexander Pygan, 17 June 1667. She died 16 Aug 1670.
William Redfield died in New London, CT in April or May of 1662.
It is not known how long Rebecca survived him. In June, 1663, she applied to the town for a grant of a certain piece of land containing six acres, which was made to her in September of that year. This land she sold in December, 1666. The last record of her is 1667.
918. THOMAS10 BLISS (Thomas, #1836);
Thomas Bliss, of Hartford, Saybrook and Norwich, Connecticut, was born in about 1618 in England (the son of Thomas Bliss and Margaret Hulins of Rodborough, Gloucestershire, England and later of Hartford, Conn.). He removed to America with his parents in about 1638 and was granted a house-lot adjacent to that of his father in Hartford in 1640. Sometime thereafter, Thomas, Jr., removed to Saybrook, Connecticut. Though the Bliss Genealogy of 1881 states that this occurred after his father's death, it is more likely that Thomas removed to Saybrook in about 1644, where his marriage to Elizabeth (surname unknown) (authors note: later research found that Elizabeth's surname was Birchard.) is recorded, as are the births of six of their children [Caulkins' Hisrory of Norwich, 1866, p, 167]. At Saybrook his allotment of land was east of the Connecticut River, in what is now Lyme. His home lot lay between John Ompsted's (Olmstead) on the north and John Lay's on the south. He sold this land July 23, 1662 to John Comstock and Richard Smith, having removed with his family to Norwich, Connecticut two or three years previous. [The town of Norwich was purchased from the Indian sachems of the Mohegan tribe in June of 1659 and settled that year by thirty-five men, most of whom were from Saybrook, Connecticut, Thomas Bliss being one of the number. The following year (1660) the Rev. James Fitch, pastor of the church at Saybrook, and the greater part of his church removed to Norwich, where Rev. Fitch officiated as pastor until about 1696, when by reason of age and infirmity he resigned the pastorate and in 1702 removed to the new town of Lebanon, Conn., where he died. The original tract of Norwich was [ "9 miles square," the consideration given the Indians being seventy pounds.] His allotment at Norwich was "next to Sergeant Leffingwell (opposite, according to the ancient map), on the street as it runs south, five acres and a fourth, with a Lane on the south leading to a watering place at the river. " This homestead was still occupied by his descendants in 1880, seven generations of the same name having successively inherited the homestead and dwelt therein. The property had been held under the original deed, and the house itself, in its framework was doubtless the original habitation built by the first grantee. In a country where the tenure is Alodial and there are no rights of primogeniture or entailment, instances of two hundred years of family ownership are not very common.
In 1680(?) Thomas Bliss and Matthew Griswold were appointed agents by the town of Saybrook to "lay out a lot of land to an Indian named The Giant," near Black Point, in what later was to be known as East Lyme, Connecticut. The locality called "The Giant's Neck."
The above material was taken from "Bliss Genealogy" by A. T. Bliss (Corrected reprint 1982 p. 39 & 40) and "History of Norwich, Connecticut: From its Possession by the Indians, to the Year 1866" by Frances Manwaring Caulkins, page 167.
Elizabeth Birchard was born about 1625 (some researchers state 1621 as the year of birth) in England. She was the daughter of Thomas Birchard and Mary Robinson. She married Thomas Bliss, 30 Oct 1644 in Lyme, New London, CT.
Sarah was born Aug. 26, 1647. She was married in Dec. 1668 to Thomas Shuman of Norwich and had six children. He died 1683 at Norwich. On Apr. 8, 1686 she married Dr. Solomon Tracy of Norwich, by whom she had one son. She died Aug. 29, 1730 and Dr. Tracy died July 9, 1732.
Mary Bliss was born Feb. 7, 1649, and was married about 1672-3 to David Caulkins2 (son of Deacon Hugh and Ann Caulkins of New London, Conn.). He was a Welshman who came to America about 1640, stopped at Marshfield for a short season, then removed to Lynn, Mass., thence to New London about 1652 and finally to Norwich, CT, about 1659. He had the estate of his father in that part of New London now known as Waterford, near Niantic and died Nov. 25, 1717. From this union descended the modest and diligent historian of Norwich and New London, Miss Frances M. Caulkins, who was widely known as one of the leading antiquarian writers of her day.
The above information for Sarah and Mary is from the Bliss Genealogy, page 40.
Thomas Bliss was born 3 Mar 1652 and died 29 Jan 1682 at age 29.
Deliverance Bliss was born 10 Aug 1655 in Saybrook, Middlesex, CT. On 8 June 1682, she married David Perkins. I have no data on a death date.
Samuel Bliss was born 9 Dec 1657 at Saybrook, Middlesex, CT. He married Ann Elderkin on 8 Dec 1681. Samuels occupation was Carpenter and Millwright in Norwich, New London, CT. Samuel died in Norwich, New London, CT on 30 Dec. 1729 at age 72.
Anne Bliss was born 15 Sep 1660 in Norwich, New London, CT and had the distinction of being the second English child to be born in Norwich, CT. She married Joseph Rockwell on 8 Apr. 1688. She died in Norwich on 19 Feb. 1714 at age 54.
Rebeckah Bliss was born 18 Mar 1663 in Norwich, New London, CT. She married Israel Lathrop of Norwich, CT on 8 Apr 1686. He died Mar 28 1733. Rebeckah Bliss died 22 Aug 1737 at Norwich, New London, CT, at age 74.
The Bliss Genealogy, page 40 states: "The energy, sound health and good judgment of Thomas Bliss brought great
prosperity, which was evidenced by his having made a will. Only those who had
considerable property to dispose of did so, as it was a very expensive affair in
those days, for the tyranny and rapacity of Sir Edmund Andros compelled the
colonists to carry every such instrument to Boston to prove and have recorded,
Sir Edmund might then avail himself of all fees of that office towards
supporting the state in which he aspired to live. He never appeared in the
streets without guards or two or three servants following him, and it was quite
as easy to obtain access to the King of England as to his ape, the governor of
those colonies.
His will was dated April 13,
1688, two days before his death. In it provision was made for his wife,
Elizabeth, six daughters and only living son, Samuel, who was at the time 31
years of age. His estate was estimated 182 pounds, 17 shillings, and 7 pence. He
had land, besides his home-lot, ...'over the river, on Little Plain, at
Great Plain, at the Falls, in the Yantick Meadow, in the meadow at Beaver Brook,
in pasture east of town, and on Wastward Hill.'"
Thomas Bliss died 15 Apr 1688 at Norwich, New London, CT.
Elizabeth Birchard died 28 Feb 1699 at Norwich, New London, CT.