Puritans

My Puritan Ancestors

This page is devoted to my Puritan ancestors, in England and New England. Many of them immigrated in the Great Migration (1620 - 1640). Following my ancestors back into England has been an interesting challenge.

In 17th Century England, Puritans believed that the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church had become corrupt, and needed reform. Puritans, and other religious groups, were persecuted by the monarchy, and this persecution, along with the Puritan imperative to live under Biblical law, inspired their migration to North America, especially New England, and also inspired further westward migration within North America. They were not afraid to take their families into primitive and dangerous conditions, since they submitted to God's will, so they accepted any hardships God put before them, and trusted God to protect them.

Several branches of my tree are populated by Puritans. My distant cousins may share some of these ancestors. Also see my Essex County, MA page. Some of my Puritan Ancestors we involved in the Witchcraft hysteria, either as the accused or as accusers. See my Witchcraft page, which overlaps with this one.

Sections below:

The Rowley Branches and Rev. Ezekiel ROGERS

The Dunstable Branch and William FRENCH

The Springfield/Westfield Branch and William PYNCHON

Puritans in England

The Rowley Branches and Rev. Ezekiel ROGERS

Rowley, Essex County, MA was the home of my BOYNTON, SWAN, SPOFFORD, JEWETT, WOOD and HUNT ancestors for several generations. They were ancestors of my 6g-grandmother, Joanna BOYNTON, born 1712 in Rowley (a 3g-grandmother of Adelbert HUNTLEY).

Many of Joanna BOYNTON's immigrant ancestors came to Rowley from Yorkshire, but a few came from Norfolk, Warwickshire and Lincolnshire in England. Most stayed in Rowley, and some went to other parts of MA.

My 9g-grandfather John BOYNTON (1614 - 1670) and his older brother William BOYNTON (1606 - 1665) came from Knapton, Wintringham, Yorkshire, England to America in 1638. John was single, and William brought his wife, Elizabeth JACKSON. They traveled with the party of Rev. Ezekiel ROGERS, and were among the first settlers in Rowley.

Sir Matthew BOYNTON, one of the financial backers of the expedition led by Rev. Ezekiel ROGERS, was probably related to John and William, although the exact relationship is unclear. John and William were citizens in good standing, but they did not seem to have been among the wealthier men in Rowley, MA.

Also arriving with the ROGERS party in 1638 was my 9g-grandfather Joseph JEWETT (1609 - 1661) from Bradford, West Riding, Yorkshire, England. He came with his wife, Mary MALLINSON and 1 or 2 children. Joseph and his brother, Maximillian, stayed briefly in Dorchester, MA, but went to Rowley, where they were among the first settlers. Joseph was made a Freeman on 22 May 1639, and became a large landowner and leading citizen of Rowley. He was representative to the General Court in 1651, 52, 53, 54 and 60. He was called a clothier in 1656, and later a merchant. Joseph and Mary had 4 or 5 more children, but Mary died in 1652. Presumably, Ann brought her 5 to 7 children with her to Rowley. Along with Joseph's 5 children from his previous marriage, they must have had quite a household. Joseph and Ann had 3 more children in Rowley, including my 8g-grandfather, Joseph JEWETT Jr.

Joseph remarried in 1653, to Ann, widow of Bozoan ALLEN (1617 - 1653), of Hingham and Boston, MA.

Rev. Ezekiel ROGERS (1590 - 1660) was the son of Richard ROGERS and younger brother of Daniel ROGERS, all theologians in Essex County, Yorkshire, England. Ezekiel graduated M.A. from Christ's College, Cambridge in 1604, and became chaplain in the family of Sir Francis BARRINGTON in Essex. He was preferred by his patron to the living of Rowley, Essex, Yorkshire. The town of Rowley, Essex, MA is named after the one in England.

ROGERS left England to avoid being forced to read from The Book of Sports. This was a statement by the English crown, detailing the sports and activities that were to be permitted on the Sabbath. Rev. ROGERS led 20 families of followers, from his church in Rowley, Yorkshire, England, on the ship "John of London", to America in 1638. They spent the winter in Salem, and founded the settlement of Rowley in the Spring of 1639. Along with the 20 families and their belongings came the first printing press in the English colonies, which was set up in Cambridge, and operated by the printer Stephen DAYE. A grist-mill and a saw-mill were constructed in 1640 by Thomas NELSON, and later purchased by John PEARSON, who founded a bakery that his descendants greatly expanded.

"Capt. Ezekiel Rogers founded the Town of Rowley in 1639 when he came with a company of about twenty families from Hull, England, on the ship, “John.” Before lots in Rowley could be assigned and recorded, sixteen additional families arrived. John PEARSON and his family were among these sixteen families. He lived in that part of Rowley that is now Georgetown." [NCP, p. vii]

Richard and Ann SWAN, my 9g-grandparents, also immigrated in 1638, but not with the ROGERS party. They first appeared in Boston by 6 Jan 1638/39, when Richard was admitted to the First Church in Boston. They soon removed to the newly formed village of Rowley, as Richard was dismissed by by the Boston church to the Rowley church on 9 Nov 1639, and made a freeman there on 13 May 1640. [GBB, p. 371]

Richard became a leading citizen, and represented Rowley in the Massachusetts General Assembly in 1666. He served in King Philip's War, 1675-6, and in an expedition to Canada, although he must have been quite old for a soldier.

The Dunstable Branch and William FRENCH

The Springfield/Westfield Branch and William PYNCHON

William Pynchon

Puritans in England