Genealogy Report: Ancestors of Gertrude Matilda Hitchings
Ancestors of Gertrude Matilda Hitchings
1894.Thomas Butler
Child of Thomas Butler is:
| 947 | i. | Prudence Butler, married Robert Harper 22 June 1666 in Sandwich, Massachusetts. |
1928.Robert Soule, born Abt. 1564 in Pinchbeck, Lincolnshire, England.He was the son of 3856. Robert Soule.He married 1929. Elizabeth Tylson 22 June 1589 in Pinchbeck, Lincolnshire, England.
1929.Elizabeth Tylson
More About Robert Soule and Elizabeth Tylson:
Marriage: 22 June 1589, Pinchbeck, Lincolnshire, England
Child of Robert Soule and Elizabeth Tylson is:
| 964 | i. | George Soule, born Abt. 1593 in Eckington, Worcestershire, England; died 22 January 1679/80 in Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts; married Mary Beckett Abt. 1623 in Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. |
1930.Sylvester Beckett, born Abt. 1560 in Juddonham, Sussex, England.He was the son of 3860. William Beckett and 3861. Ann Leigh.He married 1931. Elizabeth Hill.
1931.Elizabeth Hill, born Abt. 1560 in England.
Child of Sylvester Beckett and Elizabeth Hill is:
| 965 | i. | Mary Beckett, born Abt. 1602 in England; died 16 December 1676 in Duxbury, Plymouth County, Massachusetts; married George Soule Abt. 1623 in Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. |
1932.Moses Simmons, born 1570 in Leiden, South Holland, Netherlands.He married 1933. Lydia Holland.
1933.Lydia Holland, born 1574 in Devonshire, England.She was the daughter of 3866. John Holland and 3867. Agnes Rallyson.
Notes for Moses Simmons:
Arrived on the "Fortune" in 1621
Children of Moses Simmons and Lydia Holland are:
| 966 | i. | Moses Simonson, born 01 January 1603/04 in England; died 10 September 1691 in Duxbury, Plymouth County, Massachusetts; married (2) Sarah Chandler 1632 in Leiden, Holland. | ||
| ii. | Thomas Simmons, born Abt. 1602; died 1682 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts; married Elizabeth Nash 1628; born 12 August 1609 in England; died 20 September 1680 in Massachusetts. |
| More About Thomas Simmons and Elizabeth Nash: Marriage: 1628 |
1935.Isabella Chilton, born Bef. 15 January 1586/87 in Canterbury, England.She was the daughter of 3870. James Chilton and 3871. Susannah Unknown.
| Notes for Isabella Chilton: Isabella Chilton, death date unknown, married in Leiden, Holland, July 21, 1615, Roger Chandler, "batchelor from Colchester, England."He died probably Duxbury, bet 1658 and Oct 3, 1665.Bradford remains the only reference for Isabella's arrival at Plymouth, when he names another daughter that was married and came afterward. Samuel b. Leyden, Holland bef. 15 Oct, 1622, prob. died young. Sarah b. Leyden bef 15 Oct. 1622,d. Bridgewater bef. Oct 27, 1675, married Duxbury abt. 1640 Solomon Leonard (Lenner or Leonardson), b. prob. Monmouthshire, Eng. ca. 1610, d. Bridgewater bef. May 1, 1671. Mary b. prob. Leiden after 1622, "with virtual certainty" the Mary who was wife of Edmund (Burfe) Bruff(Bruff, Braugh, Brough, Burfe, etc) who died in Boston Aug 15, 1658.He died prob. soon after his wife Martha b. prob. Leiden after 1622, died Taunton May 1, 1674, married John Bundy, b. Eng. abt 1617, died Taunton after April, but before Oct 29, 1681, age 64. |
More About Isabella Chilton:
Baptism: 15 January 1586/87, St. Paul's Parish, Canterbury, England
More About Roger Chandler and Isabella Chilton:
Marriage: 21 July 1615, Canterbury, England
Child of Roger Chandler and Isabella Chilton is:
| 967 | i. | Sarah Chandler, born 15 October 1622 in Leiden, Holland; died 27 October 1675 in West Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Massachusetts; married Moses Simonson 1632 in Leiden, Holland. |
1968.Jeffrey Staples, born 1598 in Chard Parish, Somerset, England.He married 1969. Johanne Atkins.
1969.Johanne Atkins
Children of Jeffrey Staples and Johanne Atkins are:
| 984 | i. | John Staples, born Abt. 1610 in Chard Parish, Somerset, England; died 1683 in Dorchester, Massachusetts; married Rebecca Unknown. | ||
| ii. | Jeffrey Staples |
| Notes for Jeffrey Staples: On the basis of data found in England, we believe Jeffery Staple to have been born in Chard Parish, Somerset County, England a few years prior to 1600. Records concerning his parentage have not yet been identified. He married his first wife, Joan Atkins about 1618 or 1619 and had several children in Chard Parish during the 1620. His wife and most of his children died before the end of 1630. We speculate that after these personal setbacks, Jeffery Staple decided to start a new life in the new world. He convinced his younger brother, John Staple to accompany him, and together with their wives and his surviving son Samuel, they emigrated to New England sometime between Jan.1636 and spring of 1637, settling in Weymouth,Mass. by the summer of 1638. They alined themselves with Puritan movement, associating with Puritan groups in Dorchester, Mass. and Weymouth,Mass. GEOFFREY STAPLES, an early settler of Weymouth, died at Weymouth,1646-47. His wife Margery -sold his estate to James Priest of Weymouth, 10 Jan. 1658-59. She was then living in Weymouth a widow. (Suffolk Deeds, 3: 356.) The land was bounded by the land of Samuel Staples. Their child Martha was buried there 17 Feb. 1639. |
1975.Elizabeth Tailor, born 24 October 1602 in Nettleton, Lincoln, England.
Notes for John Scammons:
The Scammonbranch of the family dates back to the original immigrant to this country, Richard Scammon, who arrived in Boston, Massachusetts about 1630. It is believed that he first came to Barbados in the West Indies and later continued on to Boston. He ultimately settled in the area of Portsmouth, New Hampshire about 1640.
The fact that Richard left England when he did may indicate Puritan leanings and an attempt to escape the oppression of King Charles I of England. Some of Richard’s grandchildren were known to be Quakers.Richard’s origins in England are unknown, but there is an area in Yorkshire known as “Scammonden” from which the name might derive. Additionally, there is a record of a family named Scammon/ Sammon in the Norfolk, England area. It is also possible that the name derives from an Irish corruption of the name “Salmon” or “Sammon”. That family comes from the area of County Cork.
The story was told by a grandson of Richard the Immigrant that one of Richard’s sons was approached by a man who was well known for his ability to tell anyone’s origins from his speech. The man told Richard’s son that he was from Wales, and Richard’s son told the man he was right, possibly because he had been so informed by his father. The rather rare and curious character of the name betrays a possible Welsh origin, as many names from there are virtually unpronounceable by outsiders.
Recent research by G. Frank Scammon, the principal genealogist of the Scammon family says the following:
“records that show a Richard Scammon of Nettleton ,Lincolnshire,
England was born there 19 Aug 1577 and he had married a Prudence
Waldron, who was born 1n 1578. Their oldest child was John Scammon. He
was born in Nettleton, 29 June 1598.”
“John had sisters, Anne and Elizabeth and a brother Richard Jr.. This
John Scammon was the father of my direct ancestor, Humphrey Scammon, who
was born in Kittery, Maine in 1639. He settled in Saco, Maine and died
there, Jan 1 1727. John Scammons wife was named Elizabeth Talere
[Tailor] and she was born in Nettleton 24 Oct 1602.”
Nettleton is a village in Central Lincolnshire, near Tattershall, where other Scammons are reputed to have lived.
The Scammon family was one of considerable stature in the New World, and may have enjoyed that status in England as well. History notes that Captain Edmund Scammon was placed in command of a ship during a Royal Navy expedition to the Barbary Coast in February 1636 under the command of Admiral Rainsborough. The successful campaign was for the purpose of rescuing imprisoned English seamen.
Richard himself seems to have been of some means.While his profession is unknown, his sons seem to have started their careers with considerable property for young men of the period and his daughters married men of the highest standing.
Another son of Richard the immigrant was John Scammon, who lived at Kittery, Maine for a while and then returned to Barbados. Given the bitter winter weather in Maine, he made a good choice. Nothing is known of him thereafter but he is presumed to have relaxed in the sun the remainder of his life.Barbados was a sugar-cane growing area at the time and many immigrants to that area eventually went to New England. Good farm land in Barbados was expensive- one source says that in 1657, 45 acres of land in Barbados cost as much as 5000 acres in New Jersey or Pennsylvania.Another Scammon, Mary, married a John Rodman, MD in Barbados at about the same time. She may have been a brother of John. The Rodmans eventually returned to New England and lived in Rhode Island. Doctor Rodman was a well-known surgeon and landowner in Block Island.
More About John Scammons and Elizabeth Tailor:
Marriage: 06 November 1623, Nettleton, Lincoln, England
Children of John Scammons and Elizabeth Tailor are:
| 987 | i. | Elizabeth Scammons, born Abt. 1625 in Tattershall, Lincoln, England; died Abt. 1680; married Thomas Atkins. | ||
| ii. | Humphrey Scammons |
| Notes for Humphrey Scammons: He lived in Kittery, Maine until 1679 when he moved to Saco, Maine, two and a half miles inland from the coast along the Saco River. (See maps in this volume.)He purchased 200 acres of land from the widow of Henry Waddock located along the Saco River a half mile from its mouth. At this location he operated a ferry and an inn, described at the time as a “publique house of intertaynment”, near Biddeford Pool. The Scammon land holdings are shown on the map.In 1679, while Humphrey and his other son were working on the ferry a short distance from the house, Indians attacked the family residence. Mrs. Elizabeth Scammon was taken captive. At the time of the attack, Humphrey’s young son, Samuel, was taking a mug of beer to his father. When he saw the Indians, he ran back to the house and put the mug on a dresser. The Indians persuaded Mrs. Scammon to take them to her husband, promising that no harm would come to them if she did so. She led them to the ferry and the whole family was immediately marched away into captivity. The family was led through heavily wooded country to the Sokoki Indian capital, Peckwodgett, now known as Fryeburg, New Hampshire. When they arrived, the assembled Indians were of a mind to kill the captives, but the Indians were true to their promise and spared the lives of their prisoners.Nevertheless, the captives were subjected to great cruelty at the hands of the Indians. Later, the family was taken to Quebec, Canada where they were held for a full year. Such periods of captivity were common during the Colonial Indian Wars, which involved the English, the French in Canada, and various tribes of Indians who aligned themselves with both sides.It was also common for the captives to be subject to great cruelty as their French captors coerced the predominately Puritan New Englanders to accept the Roman Catholic faith. (The story of the Scammon’s’ captivity as well as the plight of other captives is told in the book New England Captives Carried to Canadaby Emma Louis Coleman, 1896) When the Scammon family returned from their captivity in Canada following a peace treaty, they found their home exactly as they had left it. The family cat was still there awaiting their arrival, having lived at the home during their absence.The mug Samuel had been carrying to his father was still where he had left it. That mug is still in existence, having been preserved as a tribute to the fortitude of those pioneers. It is a handsome piece of brownware with the likeness of Prince William of Orange who married Mary, the daughter of James II and was called to the throne of England in 1689. Prior to that he had enjoyed great popularity in Holland as a result of his victories over the French. It is believed that the mug was made in celebration of those victories. It may have been manufactured in England or Holland. It is unknown how Humphrey came into possession of the mug. It is now in the collection of the Dyer-York Library and Museum in Saco, Maine and it was featured in the 1982 copy of Smithsonian Magazine. The attack on the Scammon home was also witnessed by a boy named Robinson, who immediately went to the nearby garrison to give warning. He could see that any resistance would be futile. He made his escape by horseback to the Saco River at Grey’s Point and swam from there to Cow Island, and then to the opposite shore. At the garrison, he found only women and a few old men. At his suggestion they all put on men’s clothing and uniforms and showed themselves around the fort, giving the impression that the place was heavily guarded. The Indians dared not attack. Many members of the Indian party attested to the success of this maneuver afterward. Humphrey’s nephew, William, the son of Richard Scammon III was a lifelong resident of the Saco area, and served briefly as an Indian Fighter in Captain Kinsley Hall’s Company in 1696 and as a militiaman in 1689. Humphrey’s son, Humphrey Jr. was later known in the area as Captain Scammon. He engaged in the lumber business and owned a share in a mill with Sir William Pepperell after whom Pepperell Park in Saco is named.Two of Humphrey Jr.’s sons were involved in the Battle of Cape Breton in 1745. One died there and another later died of wounds received there. |