Early, Early Americans
The Pilgrim Connection
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
Apropos to the holiday season, I busted open a whole new package of my ancestors, related through my maternal grandfather, Dan Myers. Exploring for the first time the pedigree of Helen Colby Myers, Dan’s mother, it turns out that the Colby line (along with lines of several of their spouses) goes straight back to Massachusetts in the early 1600’s; that is, the first decades after the Mayflower. The Mayflower itself landed in 1620; I did not find any of these ancestors on that famous passenger list (numerous other ships soon followed), but at least eight of them were born in Massachusetts colony during the next 30 years. Several branches can be traced back to England, at least one of them to Medieval European royalty.
Mayflower 1620
I checked with cousin Gail Myers; this connection was news even to him. I continued working on this thread after a Christmas break.
Pilgrim Connection Update
Ancestors of Helen Colby Myers in early Massachusetts :
John Colby (Helen’s 5th great-grandfather) b. 8 Sept. 1633, Boston. Parents Anthony Colby and Susanna Haddon both came from England in 1630 on a ship of the “Winthrop fleet.” House of Names mentions Anthony Colby and Susanna settling in Salem, Mass. In 1630.
Anthony Colby's house in Amesbury, Mass.
Frances Hoyt (5th great-grandmother) b. 1636 in Salisbury, Mass. Parents John Hoyt and Frances Jewell both came from England. Married John Colby.
William Eldridge, alt. Eldred (5th g. grandfather) b. 4 Sept. 1627, Yarmouth, Mass. Parents Thomas Eldred and Anne Watson both came from England.
Anne Lumpkin (5th g. grandmother) b. 1631, Yarmouth, Mass. Parents William Lumpkin and Thomasin (Constable?) both came from England. Parents apparently returned to England eventually. Married William Eldridge.
Mary Rowell (4th g. grandmother) b. 3 Jan 1649 in Salisbury, Mass. Parents Valentine Rowell and Joanna Pinder came from England and were married in Mass. Colony. After a “morals offense,” Mary Rowell married Thomas Frame, who had earlier come from England as an indentured servant.
John Folsom (4th g. grandfather) b. 3 Oct. 1641 in Hingham, Plymouth, Mass. Parents John Folsom and Mary Gilman both came from England.
Abigail Perkins (4th g. grandmother) b. 12 Apr. 1655 in Hampton, New Hampshire. Parents Abraham Perkins and Mary Wyeth both came from England. Married John Folsom. Perkins ancestry is traced back to medieval royalty, which means there are hundreds of them, including William the Conqueror, Henry I of France, Charlemagne, even Judith Martel. And a huge cast of kings, princes, dukes, and counts of England, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, with tendrils even back into Scandinavia via Russia. Mind you, these are all direct ancestors, 20-30 somethingth great grandfather/mother of Dan Myers. I’m still working on this. So far, Dan Myers’ pedigree has grown from 36 individuals to over 1,000. Some of the new ones, maybe a third, were already in my data, the rest I added in the course of this project.
Francis Lyford (4th g. grandfather) b. 1647 in Exeter, New Hampshire. Francis was a mariner. His father John Lyford came from England as a child. Francis’ grandfather (also John Lyford) came to Plymouth in 1624, only four years after the Mayflower. The elder John got in some trouble over his preaching, moved to New Hampshire, and soon thereafter to Virginia, where he died a few years later. When he moved to Virginia, he is said to have left his wife and family in New Hampshire, eventual birthplace of Francis Lyford. Origin of Francis’ mother Ann unknown.
All of these ancestors have been verified in additional sources, besides “One World Tree.” They are listed, for example, in the following 4-Volume set:
A new internet cousin, Nancy Hallberg (approx. 8th cousin) has sent me excerpts from “Fifty Great Migration Colonists …” by John Brooks Threlfall, 1990, which gave us the “morals offense” of Thomas and Mary, among other details.
Pilgrims Galore – with scandal
Those Pilgrims just keep on giving! I first found the connection, and those first 70 ancestors, on my last shift at the LDS center before holiday break. Later, I found another 20-30 direct ancestors via the same Colby – New England connection (ancestors of Dan Myers). There is one line that goes back to the 1300’s in France, where it hits royalty. You know what that means – we can followed this one well back into the first milennium C.E. Many of the characters in the Ancient History pages were traced from that early New Englander, Abigail Perkins.
Meanwhile, some verification is trickling in on my earlier finds. Here is a detail to add to our “skeletons in the closet.” These ancestors are already entered in the “full pedigree” online (go to Dan Myers after you click here).
My 7th great-grandparents, Thomas Frame(1649-1708) and Mary Rowell, had an affair that “… precipitated a hasty marriage on 18 Sept. 1673. For this morals offense, he was sentenced to be “whipped 15 stripes, unless he pay a fine of 4 pounds,” and she was to be “whipped 10 stripes, or pay a fine of 40 shillings.”
Ouch! I am guessing the “morals offence” was merely premarital sex resulting in pregnancy, but there may have been more to it. The source, “Fifty Great Migration Colonists …” by John Brooks Threlfall, 1990, gives no further details. Oh, those Puritans!