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 turned 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.
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
Friday, January 15th, 2010
The most prominent of my “post-Pilgrim” ancestors is Anthony Colby.
Anthony Colby
He came from England in 1630 on a ship of the “Winthrop fleet.” House of Names mentions Anthony Colby and wife Susanna (Haddon?) settling in Salem, Mass. in that year.
Anthony Colby’s house in Amesbury, Mass.
Colby_House_Sign
These are the eight ancestors of Helen Colby Myers born in New England during the first 35 years of European settlement:
John Colby (Helen’s 5th great-grandfather) b. 8 Sept. 1633, Boston. Son of Anthony Colby and Susanna.
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.
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:
Reference source
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
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
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. Unfortunately, the Perkins pedigree, via John II deDreux (1238-1305) is highly controversial and may be spurious. Even so, I still feel connected to those stories in a personal way.
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!
Allen Currier
Aug 19, 2012
should be noted that John Colby was babtized 8 sep 1633, which means
that he was probably born in 1633, but no proof as to his birth date. It is doubtful that he was born and babtized on the same day.
I am looking for the parents of Frances Jewell, who married Sergeant John Hoyt, the Parents of Frances Hoyt, wife of John Colby. They are
both in my direct line.
Allen Currier
Aug 19, 2012
Also, of some note: Richard Currier my gr……….grandfather, married Joanna Pindor as his 2nd wife 26 oct 1676, he, being her third husband, after Valentine Rowell m: 14 sep 1643, and William Sargent m: 18 sep 1670.
George
Aug 19, 2012
OMG, that makes us somethingth-coousins. Maybe twice-over. Looking into this soon.
George
Aug 21, 2012
Fascinating! So your ancestor married Joanna at the tender age of 55, if my birth date for her is correct. No pedigree info on Francis Jewell, sorry. I will email you some contact info for Colby family assn.
George
Aug 21, 2012
My FTM data correctly shows John Colby *baptized* 08 Sept. born merely 1633 by deduction. I think the html software I used may have changed it.
Bruce White
Feb 22, 2013
Hi George,
Thanks for the interesting presentation on Tuesday. It was very informative and may serve as inspiration for me to start doing something similar.
I have dipped my toe onto your website and into your blogs and come up with some interesting discoveries. It appears we (and my wife Cathy, also) have numerous ancestors in common, including Anthony Colby (both Cathy and me), John Perkins (me), William Eldridge and his wife Ann (me), John Folsom and his wife (Cathy) and Abraham Perkins and his wife (Cathy). There may be more, but that was what I was able to discern so far from various entries in your blogs about early Americans.
Cathy and I visited the Macy-Colby house in Amesbury three years ago. At the time we thought we only had a connection through our shared ancestor Anthony Colby. Further research indicates that Cathy’s mother is descended from Thomas Macy, so she is related on her mother’s side to Macy and to Colby on her father’s side and is therefore represented on both sides of that early property transaction between Macy and Colby.
I look forward to reading more of your blogs as I get the chance.
George
Feb 22, 2013
Cool, cousin! There are other Colby descendants in BGS, including Hugh Pickering, that I know of. Perkins is one of my lines that is traced (probably spuriously) back to Medieval royalty. Eldridge is of special interest to me, because of a remotely possible connection with my “mystery” 2nd-great-grandmother, Susan M Eldridge (1820-1893). She was purportedly born in New York state, but I have found nothing further on her background. Susan is featured on my “Most Wanted” page.
J. Colby
Feb 16, 2019
The portrait you are using as Anthony Colby is NOT Anthony Colby it is a portrait of Captain Abraham Colby 1785-1865.
George
Feb 17, 2019
Yes, I believe you are right. Do you have a source citation for the image? I see other genealogy sites identifying it as Anthony, still others as Abraham. But after a closer look at the attire, it certainly would seem to be that of the early 1800s, not the 1600s.
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