Article about William L. Lathrop opening quote: He looked and saw that beauty is everywhere - in the newly-turned earth, in stones, even in banks of mud; and he longed to paint the wonders of his eyes revealed to him -- He dreamed, he worked, he suffered disappointment; and then, at last, won fame by his pictures of simple scenes.
Quote: I learned that comfort and ease - and cost - have nothing to do with real beauty. The costliest house is often an atrocity; the humble cottage may be a jewel of beauty. To me, an old freighter, rust-streaked and battered by the storms, is more beautiful than a newly painted ship. Its scars are the wound chevrons of its service. The seas, and not men, have painted its colors; and the seas are master artists.
You may see beauty in the newly painted ship. The old freighter, you may say, is ugly. The view you take is the consequence of your training. You have been taught, perhaps, that the thing which suggests comfort, ease and luxury is beautiful, and that which suggests discomfort and toil is unbeautiful. William Lathrop.
Lothrop Foundation. Lothrop Lathrop Family News Vol. 4, Jan. 1991, Barnstable, MA
Lo/Lathrop Namesakes
- Lathrop Wells, Nevada
- Lathrop, California
Taber, Helen. Rev. John Lothropp's Gravesite A Mystery
Imagine my surprise when a friend told me recently that he had visited and seen the marker at Rev. John Lothropp's grave in Lothrop Hill Cemetery in Barnstable, Massachusetts. Many of you have visited the cemetery which has such meaning to his descendants and will be just as surprised as I was.
I visited the cemetery. Indeed, there on the ground before a nearly obliterated stone was a metal plate marking the so-called grave of Rev. John.
There are several theories as to the location of his grave, but none is definitive. One theory is that, in an effort to protect him from the Indians, he was buried in Calves Pasture where his followeres were interred. Another theory is that he was buried in the Lothrop Hill Cemetery. This might be substantiated by the following excerpt from Rev. John's own diary:
1648 Patience wife of Henry Cobb buryed May 4, 1648 the first that was buryed in our new burying place by our meeting house.
The logical location for his final resting place would be in the Lothrop Hill Cemetery as it was well established before his death in 1653. However, there is no documented proof of the exact location of his grave.
After my visit to the cemetery, my first response was to call Lexa Crane, genealogy librarian at Sturgis Library and herself a descendant of Rev. John. She assured me that no new information has been found locating his gravesite.
I then called the funeral director whose name is on the marker. He said that a man came to his parlors a few months ago stating that, as a descendant of Rev. John, he wanted to mark the grave of his ancestor. The gentleman waited while the plate was imprinted and given to him gratis.
Someone has adhered plastic tape around the perimeter of the metal plate giving more information, albeit largely incorrect. I will address some of the major discrepancies.
The stone in front of which this marker was placed is very weathered. Upon close inspection, however, you can see engraved the following: "Jabez H Departed Feb." Rev. John died November 8, 1653. Obviously this is not Rev. John's headstone.
Rev. John was born in 1584.
The Lothrop Hill Cemetery itself is in the National Register of Historic Places. The cemetery is marked by a large plaque near the road at the front of the cemetery. The plaque was dedicated in 1939 by our own chaplain , Rev. Donald Lothrop. The inscription on the plaque reads as follows:
"Erected to the memory of Rev. John Lothrop 1584-1653 and such first settlers who fill unmarked graves in this cemetery and at the 'Calves Pasture.' Mr. Lothrop was Pastor of the Church of England at Egerton 1611-1623; the Congregational Society at Southwark, London 1632-1634; Confined in Newgate Prison 1632-1634; Scituate 1634-1639; Barnstable 1639-1653. He was a gentle, kindly man and loved by all who knew him. Barnstable Tercentenary 1939."
It is true that Rev. John Lothropp was a pioneer in the Congregational Church, as it was he who brought that church to America. It is among his descendants, however, that we find such diverse doctrines as Mormon, Unitarian, Catholic, Jewish, Episcopal, Presbyterian, etc. etc.
"Lothropp was a firm believer in free will. He tolerated differences of opinion, an attitude not common in his time. He admitted . . . anyone who confessed faith in God and who promised to do his best in keeping the Ten Commandments." [Price, Richard. John Lothropp (1584-1653): A Puritan Biography & Genealogy, Salt Lake City, UT]
I consulted Mary Crane, a descendant, our historian and the author of respected published works on the history of Barnstable. She and the Barnstable Historical Preservation Commission agreed with me that the marker should be removed.
I contacted the Town Manager of Barnstable and he is taking proper care of it for us. I have requested that it be given to me that I may dispose of it properly. I would hate to have some archaeologist 200 years from now unearth this distortion of facts about our family. It would be unfair to our children.
"Let us bear in mind, however, at this time of remembering . . . that Rev. John would take no great pleasure in knowing that we honor him today. Rather he would take pride in knowing that his grandchildren's grandchildren . . . have worked and fought and sacrificed to make this country a beacon to the world. Let us resolve together today . . . to take no satisfaction in the deeds of our ancestors, but to redouble our own efforts to make the world a better place, and to rise to whatever challenges our own lives present to us." [Taber, William Jr. Keynote Address Lo/Lathrop Reunion 1989, Larkspur, CA]
Who would think that a cemetery could provide so much excitement for us Cape Cod descendants in the dead of winter!
Lothrop Foundation. Lothrop Lathrop Family News Vol. 6, Nov. 1991, Barnstable, MA
Discussion of reunion and plans for 1993 reunion.
Lothrop Foundation. Lothrop Lathrop Family News Vol. 7, Feb. 1992, Barnstable, MA
Why Alaska, You Ask? - For those of you who might have wondered why Alaska was one of the possible sites of a future Lothropp Reunion, you will be interested to know that we have several Alaskan cousins who have alerted us to the name of Cap Lathrop, one of the early settlers and investors in the newly acquired territory of Alaska.
Cap Lathrop amassed a large personal fortune which he "invested in making Alaska a place in which other people could live comfortably." This quote from a book by Elizabeth Tower sent to your current editor by Wesley Lathrop of Tok, Alaska states that Cap Lathrop "captained a steam schooner; drilled for oil; hauled freight; built apartments and theaters; started banks and radio stations; published a newspaper; served as a city mayor, a state legislator, a university regent, Republican national committeeman; established a model salmon cannery; developed Alaska's most successful coal mine; and produced a motion picture." This he died between 1896 and 1950. There are several memorials to him which would be of interest to us. He leaves no offspring. [Seriously, when would he have had time? He has a wikipedia page Dedpepl]Lathrop. Deborah. Lothrop Time Line, 10/15/1991
1204 - Fourth Crusade
1215 - Magna Carta
1216 - Walter de Lowthrope
1225 - Thomas Aquinas born
1240 - London homes had thatched roofs, no chimneys, windows of paper
1254 - Marco Polo born
1257 - first gold coins minted in England
1275 - Marco Polo arrives in China
ca. 1280 - spectacles, glass mirrors and magnifying glass invented by Roger Bacon
1292 - Walter de Lowthrope - summoned to answer to King Edward I for attempting to regulate the
distribution of beer to his tenants without a license 1292
1298 - May 6 - Robert & Richard Lowthorp of Whepsted, Suffolk were licensed by the crown, Edward I, to give 87 acres of wood for support of the Chapel of St. John
1300 - chimneys and glass windows appear in London homes
1302 - Marco Polo brings mariners' compass to Europe
1317 - Robert de Louthorp presented to rectorship of Horningsheath
1320 - gun powder invented in the west
1325 - Aztec empire in Mexico
1327 - Edward III takes throne
ca. 1333 - St. Martin Church built in Lowthorpe
1348 - plague sweeps through Europe
1377-1399 - Robert de Louthorp chaplain at St. Martin sometime during the reign of Richard II
1431 - Joan of Arc burned at the stake
1445 - Gutenberg prints book with movable type
1452 - Leonardo da Vinci born
1473 - Copernicus born
1474 - Aug. 3 - Robert Lowthorp of Bridlington makes a will. It was proved on November 3, 1474. It is the earliest will of anyone of the name Lowthorp now preserved in the York Registry.
1492 - Columbus sails the ocean blue
1500 - John Lowthroppe of Lowthorpe early in the 16th century he was living in Cherry Burton a parish about four miles from Lowthorpe.
1508-1512 - Michaelangelo paints Sistine Chapel
ca. 1513 - Robert Lowthroppe born in Cherry Burton.
1517 - Martin Luther's publishes 95 Theses beginning the Reformation
1525 - potatoes introduced in Europe
1530 - Copernicus discovers revolution of planets; spinning wheel invented
1534 - Church of England splits from Roman Catholic Church
1536 - Thomas Lowthroppe, born in Cherry Burton, had 22 children by three wives.
1542 - Inquisition begins
1545 - John Lowthroppe appears on the Yorkshire Subsidy Roll, assessed twice as much as any other inhabitant in the parish.
1558 - Queen Elizabeth I born
1558 - July 16 Robert Lowthroppe made his will and it was proved Oct. 20th.
1559 - tobacco plant introduced to Europe
1561 - Sir Francis Bacon born
1564 - William Shakespeare born; Galileo born
1572 - John Donne born
ca. 1572 - Ellen Lowthroppe, wife of Robert died
1574 - Elizabeth (--?--) (Clark) Lowthroppe wife of Thomas buried in Etton. Mother of 8 children
ca. 1576 - Thomas Lowthroppe moved to Etton, Harthill Wapentake, East Riding, Yorkshire
1584 - Dec. 20 - Rev. John Lothropp baptized, fourth of five children of Thomas & Mary (Howell) Lowthroppe
1588 - Mary (Howell) Lowthroppe, wife of Thomas buried in Etton; Spanish Armada defeated by English
1590 - Hannah House born; microscope invented
1603 - James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England
1605 - Rev. John graduated Queen's College with BA degree
1606 - Oct. 5 Thomas Lothroppe's will, probated January 1607.
1607 - Rev. John ordained deacon by bishop of Lincoln, assigned curate of Bennington, Hertfordshire; Jamestown settled in Virginia
1609 - Rev. John graduated Queen's College with MA degree
1610 - Oct. 10 - Rev. John marries Hannah House in Eastwell, Kent
1611 - Rev. John assigned curate of Egerton parish church in Kent; King James Bible published
1615 - Don Quixote published in Spain
1618 - William Harvey discovers circulation of blood and heart functions
1620 - Pilgrims settle in Plymouth, MA
1623 - Rev. John leaves Egerton and conscientiously renounces his orders & "espouses with a courageous heart the cause of the Independents" age 39 with five children
1624 - Rev. John called to succeed Rev. Henry Jacob as pastor of First Independent Church in Southwark, London when Jacob moved to Virginia
1625 - Charles I takes the throne in England
1631 - first newspaper published in France
1632 - April 22 - Bishop Laud's warrant officer Tomlinson seizes between 42 and 60 people in Mr. Barnet's home as they were holding worship service. Rev. John taken to Newgate prison in London.
1633 - Feb. 16 - Hannah (House) Lothropp dies age 43
1634 - Spring - Independent church members released from prison
1634 - April 24 - Rev. John petitioned for liberty to go into foreign exile
1634 - Sept. 18 - Gov. John Winthrop wrote "The Griffin and another ship now arriving with about 200 passengers. Mr. Lothrop & Mr. Sims, two godly ministers coming in the same ship" in his journal.
1634 - Sept. 27 - Rev. John went with London flock to Scituate, MA. A house of "meane proportions" was built for him. "The walls were made of poles filled between with stones & clay, roof thatched, chimney of rough stone, windows of oiled paper, floors of hand-sawed planks."
1635 - Jan. 19 - Rev. John wrote "att my house, uppon wch day I was chosen Pastour and invested into office."
1635 - June 14 - Rev. John married Anna Hammond, John age 51, Anna age 19
1636 - Harvard College founded, first university in America
1639 - Oct. 11 - Rev. John and large company arrived in Barnstable bringing with the crops which they had raised in Scituate.
1644 - Rev. John's second home in Barnstable completed, now Sturgis Library
1649 - Charles I beheaded; Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of England
1653 - June 15 - Rev. John makes last entry in Barnstable church records
1653 - Nov. 8 - Rev. John dies in Barnstable
Lothrop Foundation. Lothrop Lathrop Family News Issue 8, August 1992, Barnstable, MA
Lathrop, Art. Excerpts from President's Letter
Dear Cousins, My wife, Ann and i have just returned from an exhilarating vacation in England's "green and pleasant land," and are readjusting to Corpus Christi's 90° heat and 90% humidity. A highlight of our trip was a visit to Etton, Yorkshire, birthplace of John Lothropp, our emigrating ancestor, to join in the annual Village Fete. On Saturday evening we attended a 'preview' at St. Mary's Church to admire the cascade of flower arrangements and partake of champagne and cheese. Sunday was Fete Day. and scores of visitors as well as Etton people themselves made the rounds of exhibits and attractions. Etton is essentially a one-road, linear village where most visitors made their way up one side of Main Street and down the other, stopping for refreshments as needed.
A number of outstanding private gardens were open for viewing, as well as an antique car exhibit and stalls for selling books, baked goods and 'white elephants.' Some children raised money for charity by lining up coins along a path leading to the church, while others operated games of chance. One of the most interesting exhibits was that of a local folk artist who made 'corn dollies' from straw. A fine time was had by all.
If you'd like to know more about Etton, the Lo/Lathrops' ancestral village, a book is to be published this fall titled Etton: A Village of the East Riding by Gail White. Gail is a resident of the village and has done a fine job of putting together old and current photographs, historical records (including a photo of the Church Registry showing John Lothropp's baptism), and her own interesting text. . . .
Kind Regards from Deep in the Hea(r)t of Texas, Art Lathrop
Taber, Helen. Etton: A Personal View
In a quiet pastoral setting in Yorkshire is the small hamlet of Etton. On a knoll overlooking the village stands the ancient church of St. Mary's. It was here, on December 20, 1584, where the baptism of John Lothropp took place. We know this to be a fact because his name is entered in the church records which are extant to this day.
It was to this church that my aunt, Maude Lathrop Collins and I paid a visit twenty-six years ago with the hope of viewing this document. We were not disappointed.
We met the vicar on a cool July morning at the church. He welcomed us and led us to the choir room, an annex to the small stone church wherein was a wall safe. The vicar proceeded to open the safe which was embedded in a wall at least 15 inches thick. He reached in and extracted the records contained in Sheepskin Volume #3. We looked at it and found it was not old enough. He reached for Sheepskin Volume #2. "Not old enough," He then brought out Sheepskin Volume #1. Sure enough, this was what we had come to see. Here was the entry of the baptism of John Lothropp, our ancestor.
The vicar had another appointment and as we wanted to study the book a little more, he left us alone in the choir room, safe still open, with this precious book entrusted to us. I remember it becoming quite cool in that old stone church so we each put on a choir robe. We must have been quite a sight in the choir robes as we continued to study the book.
The book is in remarkably good condition for its age. We still could feel the lanolin in the sheepskin as we held it to take our pictures, without the robes, in front of the altar at St. Mary's with its fresh bouquet of field flowers.
This remains to this day one of the most thrilling experiences I have known.
How fortunate we are to have such priceless treasures directly associated with Reverend John Lothropp still in existence.
Letter from president Charles "Bud" Lathrop discussing biennial Midwest reunion in Geneseo, IL and 1995 reunion in California.
Lothrop Foundation. Lothrop Lathrop Family News Vol. 6, Issue 1, February 1995, Barnstable, MA
1995 reunion details.
Lothrop Foundation. Lothrop Lathrop Family News Vol. 7, Issue 1, Feb. 1996, Barnstable, MA
Letter from president Julie Peck, excerpts:
Before I get int the subject of the 1997 reunion. I want to recommend a wonderful small book, called A New Home in Mattakeese: A Guide to Reverend John Lothropp's Barnstable, written by Helen Lathrop Taber. For any of you who are planning to visit Barnstable, or think you might do so in the future, this guide includes:
- an excellent short discussion of why Lothrop/Lathrop is spelled so many ways
- William Taber Jr.'s eloquent keynote address to our first (1989) reunion, about Reverend John's key role in advancing the cause of religious tolerance.
- A map of Barnstable focused on historical sites, plus short histories of the Sturgis Library, Sacrament Rock, the Trayser Museum and two churches that are direct descendants of the Rev. John Lothropp's original congregation.
The discussion of the Reverend John's diary has inspired me to visit the Bienecke Library right here in New Haven.
Lothrop Foundation. Lothrop Lathrop Family News Vol. 12, Issue 1, March 2001, Barnstable, MA
Discussion of 2001 Reunion in Cohasset, Massachusetts
Lothrop Foundation. Lothrop Lathrop Family News Vol. 12, Issue 2, June 2001, Barnstable, MA
Discussion of 2001 Reunion in Cohasset, Massachusetts and the Caleb Lothrop House.
Lothrop Foundation. Lothrop Lathrop Family News Vol. 12, Issue 2, February 2002, Barnstable, MA
Recap of Cohasset Reunion, information about 2003 reunion in Salt Lake City.
Lothrop Foundation. Lothrop Lathrop Family News Vol. 14, Issue 2, August 2002, Barnstable, MA
Lathrop, Ivan. President's Message, excerpts:
As we are all basking in the warm sunlight of summer, some great things are happening in the Lothropp Foundation. This is what it is all about. We have been able to send a check to help save the Lathrop House in Sylvania, Ohio.
This old historic home was part of the underground railroad and is an important part of our national history as well as of our family history. It is gratifying to learn of these links in our family to the history of our nation. There are many such links that we are aware of, but there are yet many more out there waiting to be discovered.
Exile Reprinted - Many of you have had the opportunity to read the historical novel Exiled by Helene Holt. The book chronicles the life and turbulent times of Reverend John Lothropp and his family as they experience the religious struggles and persecutions of 17th century England and ultimately make their escape to Massachusetts in 1634.
Helen has recently updated the book and the reprint is currently enjoying renewed success in bookstores as readers discover the fascinating account of the courage and personal trials of Reverence John Lothropp. As one of this country's well-known early religious leaders, whose influence brought about the literal formation of the United States, we are pleased to see the account of his life brought to the attention and interest of more individuals.
Helene tells us that progress is being made on adapting the book into a movie. That would certainly be an exciting event for all the Lothropp cousins to enjoy!
Lothrop Foundation. Lothrop Lathrop Family News Vol. 13, Issue 3, December 2002, Barnstable, MA
What's in a Name - As mentioned in the President's Message, the Foundation has recently made two contributions to the Friends of the Lathrop House to help with the preservation of the Lucian Bonapart Lathrop house in Sylvania, Ohio (about 16 miles northwest of Toledo).
The project came to our attention earlier this year through the efforts of near-by resident and devoted historian, Naomi Twinning. She contacted the Foundation with information about the house and the efforts of a dedicated, local citizens group calling themselves the Friends of the Lathrop House. The goal of the organization is to raise $115,000 to purchase the Lucian B. Lathrop house and move it to a new location, thus saving it from destruction.
Progress is going well. . . . The history of the Lathorp House and its owner, Lucian Bonaparte Lathrop, is certainly an interesting one. Lucian is a descendant of Reverend John Lathrop and was born in Royalton, Vermont, on July 18, 1800/01. His parents were John and Azubah Putnam Lathrop.
Lucian was married to Pamelia Clleveland on October 10, 1822, in Royalton. They had four sons and two daughters born to them over the next 16 1/2 years.
In 1834, Lucian, his family and two of his brothers, Araunah and Pliny, traveled south through New York state to Lucas County, Ohio. At the time there were no roads to guide them. Fording the Maumee River at or near the Rapids, they followed an Indian trail to a place that contained an abundance of rich farmland. Along with a few others, they were the earliest white settlers in what later became known as Sylvania and Richfield Townships.
Lucian and another man by the name of Wolfinger cleared the first land for farming. It consisted of about 15 acres and was planted with wheat. The Lathrop family quickly became instrumental in establishing the new community. In fact, Pliny Lathrop was named one of the first Trustees of Sylvania Township when it was formed in 1838.
In the winter of 1834-35, the first public byway called the "Old Territorial Road" was opened between Toledo and Angola, Indiana. Lucian Lathrop was the contractor for this road. Once the road was completed, it became the route that opened northwestern Ohio to settlement. It is now called the Sylvania-Metamora Road or State Rt. 120. But for the most part, in Lathrop's time cmmuting was done on Indian trails and "cow paths."
In 1845 he became an ordained Universalist minister. His first wife, Pamelia, passed away in August of 1844, and Lucian remarried in 1846 to Larissa Titus. It was about one year later that Lucian and Larissa Lathrop purchased a house at 5362 South Main Street in Sylvania from Eliza Briggs.
The white, one and half story, upright and wing structure had been built about 1835. A larger, two-story addition, built in Greek Revival style, was added to the front of the home by the Lucian Lathrop family around 1850.
The 167 year-old Lathrop House is also unique for the role it played in the history of our country. While living in this house, Lucian and Larissa became involved in secretly helping runaway slaves on their flights to freedom. Two ovens were installed in the basement walls of the home. One was used for cooking and the other was an access to a secret room behind the wall where the slaves hid until it was time to move on. In 1939, the then owner was remodeling and the concealsed room was discovered off the basement. When opened, the room still contained the beds where the slaves slept while staying at the Lathrop house on their journey north to Canada.
Lucian Bonaparte Lathrop lived in the house in Sylvania until his death in 1873. During his life he had served in many different positions and was an asset to the communities where he lived. But, he will probably be best remembered for the compassion and courage he demonstrated in resisting slavery in this country.
Lothrop Foundation. Lothrop Lathrop Family News Vol. 14, Issue 1, March 2003, Barnstable, MA
White, Gail. An Etton Escapade
As many of you know, St. Mary's Church in the small, ancient village of Etton, England, is the location of the baptism of the Reverend John Lothropp in 1584. It is a beautiful old stone church of Norman architecture and sits surrounded by a graveyard filled with weathered headstones. On most days it is serenely picturesque in it's lovely rural surroundings. But apparently last Christmas it experienced some modern day excitement!
I have to tell you something to make you laugh. Madeleine and David Cunliffe (church warden) were in the church last week putting up the Christmas tree. The tree, donated by Lord Hotham, was 18 feet tall. David is 6 feet tall and Madeleine is 5 feet nothing!
David was trying to put the trunk of the tree into the base to secure it upright while Madeleine (all 5 feet of her wrestling to hold aloft 18 feet of tree with a girth of 8 feet of prickly fir branches at the base) is protesting so strongly that said husband should have got hold of a couple of strong men to do this job and there is no way she can hold on for a minute longer. Thirty seconds later, Madeleine's grip on the tree trunk fails and the tree crashes to the ground with David nowhere in sight, but is heard to say he is O.K. At this very minute the church doors suddenly swing open.
To keep you abreast of the situation, you have to know that this particular day was when the hunt met and they were in full pursuit of a fox across the fields behind the village and coming in the direction of the church. The fox has just bolted through the churchyard.
As I was saying, the church doors swing open and the hounds mistakenly think the fox has come into the church (for sanctuary?). So, they pour in through the doors and into the nave.
Madeleine, still with husband nowhere to be seen, successfully manages to round up the dogs before they do anything they shouldn't and directs them back out into the churchyard. As she accomplishes this, David shuffles out backwards, on his knees, posterior emerging first form under the branches of the tree, wondering what all the commotion was about. Needless to say, the tree was eventually safely installed and decorated, the fox lived to see Christmas Day and David and Madeleine (and I) had an amusing story to relate about Christmas in Etton.
Kilburn, Paul. John Lothropp: Deacon in the Great Migration, Part I
Much of the impetus for the Great Migration to New England in the 1630's was religious and many deacons led members of their congregations in this emigration movement. One of the leading deacons to come at that time was Reverend John Lotrhopp. A graduate of Cambridge University, John was a deacon in the Church of England for over a decade but gradually became disenchanted with the Church and left to become a Reverend in the Protestant Independent Church in London in 1624. Over the next decade the fortunes of all new and unorthodox religions were put to the test. The Anglican Church hierarchy reinforced old rules and established new ones, eventually making non-orthodoxy a crime punishable by jail. Lothropp was sent to jail for over two years but managed to get out of the country in 1635. He left there with his family and sailed to Boston with several former church members.
John started his first church in Scituate in 1635 but soon left for Barnstable where he preached his first sermon in 1639. He ministered to the Barnstable Church for the next 14 years and helped husband it to religious and economic prosperity. He died in 1653. John had 14 children, eight with his first wife in England, and six with his second wife in MA. For the next two generations many of his descendants remained in Barnstable and the area is rich in Lothropp heritage. It is also the headquarters of the Lothropp Family Foundation.
The family names of Lowthorpe, Lowthropp, Lothropp and Lathrop and other variations around the world come from the parish of Lowthorpe in East Riding, Yorkshire. Various records cite these surnames back to the 13th century. The earliest record is that of Walter de Lowthrope, elected sheriff of Yorkshire in 1216. But no continuous record begins until the record of the residence of Reverend John's great-grandfather, John Lothropp, in nearby Cherry Burton in 1535. At the time great-grandfather John was 33 and probably born about 1480. Starting with this john, documented evidence exists of family descent directly to the emigrant ancestor Reverend John's baptism in 1584. The elder John held extensive estates in Cherry Burton and surrounding parishes. He married Margaret Wade and records indicate four children, including one son, Robert.
Robert Lothrop (b. abt. 1513 in Cherry Burton) inherited his father's estates and expanded them. He married Ellen Aston and had four children, three boys and one girl. Both Robert (d. abt. 1558) and Ellen (d. abt. 1573) left wills.
Robert's eldest son, Thomas Lothropp (b. 19 Jun 1536 in Cherry Burton), was the father of Reverend John. He married (abt. 1560) Elizabeth Clark and had four children, again with no baptismal records. He moved to nearby Etton, Yorkshire, about 1566 when he was 30 and had four more children with Elizabeth before she died in Etton in 1574. He then married (2 Sep 1575) Mary Howell and had five children, the third being Thomas and the fourth being the emigrant John. Mary died in June 1588. Both John and his older brother, Thomas, attended Queens College, Cambridge.
Etton today is a charming village with a rich history. There was formerly a ten-acre site occupied in the 13th and 14th centuries by the Knights Templar. Nothing now remains but excavations have revealed a great oven and inventories reveal the existence of a granary, kitchen, brew house, chapel and extensive acreage in crops. St. Mary's church in the center of the village dates from 1150. It is a very old perpendicular church with a massive Norman tower. The "richly carved tower arch is one of the finest examples of 12th century stonework in the whole of Yorkshire." Remarkable for Lothropp aficionados is the memorial stone on the north wall commemorating the baptism of Reverend John.
John Lothropp (bap. 20 Dec 1584 in Etton), and his older brother, Thomas, were the first to attend university. John received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1605 from Queens College, Cambridge and his Master's Degree in 1509. Cambridge was well known for its encouragement of different religious ideas and many of the divinity students questioned the practices and beliefs of the Anglican Church. Many Separatist, Puritan and other religious groups developed from the ideas these young people learned at University. The non-adherence to the established religious ideas of the royal hierarchy of King Charles, crowned in 1625, his archbishop and the bishops. This foment, as well as the King's political troubles, led directly to the Great Migration of the fourth decade. Thus, between the years 1629 and 1641 at least 13,000 people emigrated to New England. This dissention also led to civil war and finally the execution of King Charles in 1649.
After obtaining his Master's degree, John became a curate in the Egerton Parish Church in 1609, where he met and soon married Hannah Howse on 10 Oct 1610. The Village of Egerton was in Kent County about 48 miles southeast of London. Hannah was the daughter of John Howse, rector of the neighboring Eastwell Parish.
The Lothropps had several children and remained at Egerton for over a decade.
During this period John, as did many other rectors and curates, gradually changed his beliefs and shifted from a strong believer and supporter to a doubtful and questioning one. He eventually rejected these ideas and resigned from the church in 1623. He renounced his orders to "fulfill the ministry to which his conscience and his heart had called him."
Lothrop Foundation. Lothrop Lathrop Family News Vol. 14, Issue 2, July 2003, Barnstable, MA
Kilburn, Paul. John Lothropp: Deacon in the Great Migration, Part 2
John accepted the teachings of the non-conformist denomination of the Independent Church, founded secretly in Southwark, Surrey (London) in 1616 with Henry Jacob as Minister. He succeeded Jacob in 1624 when the latter left for Virginia. John was Minister of the Church for the next decade, although their meetings were illegal. The group met in secret and frequently moved their meeting places to avoid detection.
They (John Lothropp and his followers) were often assailed by the Anglicans for their non-conformist beliefs. There were many reasons for the disputes with the Church of England. One was whether the word of God came to the congregation from the Minister, or from the congregation to the Minister. The latter idea was a common Puritan belief that is present today in the Congregational approach. Others had to do with many of the ceremonies which Puritans rejected as relics of idolatry. He wanted to reform the Sacrament, abandon the use of the surplice, abandon the sign of the cross at baptism, and other outward ceremonies and forms.
But modification of the Church of England in any way was not possible with Charles I as the head of state. He came to the throne in 1625 imbued with the divine right of kings and tried to force all political and religious institutions to conform to his will. He was soon embroiled in deep controversy with Parliament and dissolved it. He raised money without Parliament's approval, a feature which it had jealously retained. King Charles used various methods to obtain money: import and export duties, compulsory knighthood, selling monopolies, titles and church positions. He also mortgaged crown lands, pawned crown jewels and even levied illegal taxes. Small wonder he became England's most unpopular king and was eventually executed.
The man who most antagonized the non-conformists was William Laud, Bishop of London from 1628 to 1633 and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1640 when he was impeached. He was confined to the Tower of London and executed in 1645. He pursued Puritans and other non-conformists with the same single-mindedness as his King. He decreed excommunication to all who opposed him or his doctrines and punished separation from the Anglican church with the threat of heresy. Repeated offences led to charges of high treason, punishable by imprisonment or even death.
Price describes the conflict between Laud and Lothropp as follows (p. 10) when he states that King Charles: "empowered him [Laud] to reform the entire Church of England. Laud, determined to impose a uniform system of worship on all Englishmen, outlawed unadorned buildings and simple services, reviewed and licensed all publications, held public burnings of books and pamphlets which did not pass the censor, denounced landowners who were encroaching on church lands for private profit, and ordered inspection tours of all parishes to determine the parishes to determine the orthodoxy of the clergy and the use of the Book of Common Prayer.
Together, King Charles and Archbishop Laud prosecuted scores of Puritans on charges, real and imagined, before the king's courts. Cruel punishments, long unused, were revived: branding, nose splitting, amputation of ears, enormous fines, and long imprisonments.
Laud sent out a mandate ordering constables and other authorities to seek out groups who might be having religious meetings not under Anglican jurisdiction. When they found such private and illegal church gatherings, they were to seize, apprehend, and attack all persons involved, and to keep them in safe custody until they could be dealt with the established clergy. A special watch was kept on eleven congregations in London, one of which was John Lothropp's group."
Laud discovered where Reverend Lothropp's group worshiped and on 22 April 1632 while he was still Bishop of London and only a year before becoming the Archbishop of Canterbury. Laud sent agents to arrest him as well as the other members of the group. Lothropp's group met as usual in the house of Humphrey Barnet, a brewer's clerk in Black Friars, London. Laud's warrant officer Tomlinson and his 'ruffian band' overpowered the church group and seized 42 men. Only 18 escaped. All were fettered and put in the Clink Prison in Newgate.
The jailed church members were released on bail from prison in the spring of 1634. Lothropp was considered too dangerous to be released and he languished in jail. Shortly after his wife became sick and eventually died. John had obtained permission to visit her when she was near death, but he was then returned to prison. The seven surviving children ranged in age from five to 18 years and had to fend for themselves. It was a time of extraordinary hardship for John and his children. After his wife's death John petitioned for liberty to go into foreign exile and the petition was granted 24 April 1634. By the beginning of sumemr he and his children secured passage on the ship Griffin, packed their meager belongings, boarded and sailed for Boston. They arrived in Boston on the 18th of September 1634 with 200 passengers and were duly recorded in Winthrop's journal.
John and his children soon left Boston for Scituate, MA. Thirty-four followers joined him to establish the new Puritan church there. At the time there were nine "palisado" houses in this very small village. These were small log cabins with upright instead of horizontal logs. On 29 January 1635, at a meeting at Lothropp's house, John was formally chosen to be the Minister of Scituate. Church meetings were held in James Cudworth's home, the largest in the village. Shortly thereafter the church members erected a meeting house at the top of Kent Hill and named the road leading to it Meetinghouse Lane.
By the middle of 1635 John had married his second wife Ann. With her he had a second family of six children, four of whom survived childhood. Also during that summer another influx of people came from County Kent, England, where John had been a preacher for many years. By 1638 Lothropp's journal recorded 62 members in the Scituate Church.
Over the next years contention within the church forced John to leave Scituate. By 1638 the General Court of Plymouth Colony offered land to John on Cape Cod in the town of Mattakeese, meaning 'plowed fields,' now called Barnstable. This was some of the best land in the colony with many cleared fields and large areas in salt marsh so valuable for cattle and horses. Reverend John and many of the members of his church made the 60-mile move to Barnstable. Twenty-two male church members and their families followed the Reverend while some seven families remained behind in Scituate. Many went by boat; others with cattle and household goods traveled by land on the rough paths arriving at the site in October 1639. A service at Sacrament Rock in Barnstable was held by John on 21 October 1639 to commemorate their successful move. John was to be the Minister of the church for the next 14 years until his death in 1653. During that period the church and its members thrived. They had come from persecution in England, and, despite many hardships, realized both religious freedom and economic prosperity in America.
Barnstable has several features preserved from the Lathrop years. First of all is his second and first substantial home, built about 1645. The house is the front part of the Sturgis Library and the front room has been dedicated as the Lothropp room, with its original low ceiling and wide floorboards where the Reverend lived, held church services, prepared his sermons. His bible is on display there. Also available to the visitor is "Sacrament Rock," the cemetery where John and some of his descendants are buried, and plaques commemorating the location of the First and Second Meeting Houses.
Owing to the large number of descendants and genealogical interest in Reverend John Lothropp, a great deal of information has been accumulated. His descendants include the following: four Presidents of the U.S. including Ulysses Grant, Franklin Roosevelt, George Bush and George W. Bush; former New York Governor Thomas Dewey; Senator Adlai Stevenson, genealogist Donald Lines Jacobus, John and Allen Dulles; Founder of the Mormon Church, Joseph Smith, Jr.; financier J.P. Morgan; physician Benjamin Spock. And the list goes on. The loss to England by the emigration of this Reverend became America's gain.
Lothrop Foundation. Lothrop Lathrop Family News Vol. 15, Issue 1, March 2004, Barnstable, MA
Holt, Helene. Thomas Lothropp
There has been a widespread discrepancy concerning the birth date of Reverend John Lothropp's son, Thomas. The confusion was caused, interestingly, by Thomas Lothropp himself. When he was giving a deposition (April 4, 1701) and was asked his age, he responded "about 80." Consequently, early genealogical researchers and historians such as Amos Otis and E.B. Huntington accepted this estimate as a close approximation. They concluded that Thomas's birth must have been about 1620/21. This put Jane as the oldest child and Thomas as Reverend John's fifth child, born after Jane, Anne, John and Barbara and before Samuel. But was he really the fifth child when Reverend John's will cites Thomas as his "eldest son?"
The answer to the question that surrounded Thomas' birth date was discovered by modern researchers. The first clue was that no one could find a parish record to corroborate the 1620/1 date. Researchers familiar with English law knew that as of 1538, all parishes were required to record the dates of christenings, marriages and deaths. At the time of Thomas's birth and christening, Reverend John was active in the Church of England. Moreover, even after he renounced his orders in the Church of England, Reverend John was careful to record all birth/baptism dates of his children in parish records. We can safely conclude that Thomas's christening was recorded someplace, but where?
In recent years, professional genealogists discovered the christening record of Thomas in Eastwell, Kent, where Hannah's father, John Howse, was rector of the local parish. Three of Hannah and John's sons were christened in that parish: their eldest son, Thomas, and their youngest sons, Joseph and Benjamin. Thomas was christened 21 Feb. 1612/3. At least two prominent American genealogical researchers have recorded this correct birth date. Gary Boyd Roberts of the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston and Richard Price of Price & Associates in Salt Lake City.
Conclusion: Thomas was not only Reverend John's oldest son (as Reverend John attests in his will), he was Reverend John's oldest child, born approximately 16 months after his marriage to Hannah which was on October 10, 1610. The early historians and researchers had put Jane (parish records give a christening date of September 29, 1614) as the oldest, which meant that Reverend John and Hannah didn't have children for three years after their marriage date. The birth date for Thomas fits in with what is more probable. It is clear that the early records based on Thomas' deposition were "off" by about 8 years. Moreover, this 1612/3 birth/baptism date puts Thomas at the age of 27 when he married widow, Sarah Larned Ewer, (age 32) in America. Early researchers were also unaware of Sarah's true age and assumed she was about 18. Again, it was more recent genealogical research which uncovered her date of birth and age and the fact that she was the widow of Thomas Ewer and had four children. Thomas Lothropp being 27 years old at the time of marriage rings more true than Thomas Lothropp being 18 and marrying a widow with four children who was fourteen years his senior.
Lothrop Foundation. Lothrop Lathrop Family News Vol. 17, Issue 1, February 2006, Barnstable, MA
Tabor, Helen. The Genesis of the Lothropp Family Foundation excerpted
My earliest recollection of our family heritage came from my aunt, Maude Lathrop Collins. She owned a book, published in 1859 by John J. Stedman, that was written at the time of the Bicentennial celebration of the settlement of Norwich, Connecticut. The book states that at the celebration, a passage was read from the Bible which was "brought to this country in September 1634 . . . by the Reverend John Lathrop . . . It passed into the possession of Charles Lathrop, of the fifth generation removed from the Reverend John, by whom, in the year 1839, it was delivered into the custody of the American Bible Society . . . " With a teaser like that, Aunt Maude and I set out to find Rev. John's Bible. First, we contacted the American Bible Society in New Haven, Connecticut only to have them tell us the Society was unaware of this Bible and never had it in their possession. Thus, our curiosity deepened.
Sometime thereafter, a friend sent Aunt Maude a clipping from a September 1957 Barnstable, Massachusetts newspaper saying the Bible had been presented to Sturgis Library (originally the home of Rev. John Lothropp). It had been in the possession of Mrs. Grace Luling of Roehampton, England. Through the efforts of John Howland Lathrop, Mrs. Luling agreed to return it to its home in Barnstable.
In the summer of 1966 Aunt Maude and I made a trip to England. . . . At the time when Susan Kiline was Head Librarian at Sturgis Library, she realized the potential for interest and fund raising. She brought the Bible out of the basement and placed it in the very room where Rev. John raised his family, wrote his sermons and held services before the first meeting house was built in 1646. At some point she invited members of the Lo/Lathrop family to a luncheon at which Richard Price, author of a book about Rev. John Lothropp, was the speaker. The occasion was well attended - perhaps thirty people. I had never seen so many Lo/Lathrops in one place before. I was impressed. Was this the seed?
When my husband and I retired to Cape Cod in 1981, I was aware of Rev. John's home in Barnstable (Sturgis Library), having visited there to view his Bible some years before. . . . The West Parish Women's Guild sold commemorative cup plates on which the image of the meeting house had been imprinted. After being around for several years, they were anxious to be rid of them. It occurred to me that the Lo/Lathrop family would be a ready market. I proceeded to gather Lo/Lathrop names and addresses from the guest book. Needless to say, we sold all our cups and plates.
Not long after, Tony Lathrop received an announcement of a Medieval Fair to be held at St. Martin's Church in Lowthorpe, England, the source of our family name. They were raising fund for a Sunday School building. Tony had lived in England during his business career and became acquainted with the people there. Tony had the announcement and I had the addresses. Together we sent letters to the Lo/Lathrops. We were amazed when you, members of the Lo/Lathrop family, returned over $1000 to send to St. Martin's Church in Lowthorpe, England. Unfortunately, Tony became ill and died before the idea of a family organization took shape.
Sometime after that, the idea and plans of a reunion took shape. Thus became the start of our foundation. I used the addresses I had gathered once again to invite relatives to the first reunion in October 1989. Word of mouth took over from there. Yankee Magazine proved to be an excellent way to spread the word also. Local Lo/Lathrop cousins and friends helped carry out the reunion plans I made. It was a huge success. Not only did you respond but you came from far and near - from across the United States. All three hundred and four of you - of all ages - and from 17 or 18 states.
Searching for Ezra - Ezra Lathrop (Huntington #198) [our grandfather] was the great-grandson of Samuel, Rev. John's third son. He was born 4 Dec 1718 in Norwich, CT, son of Samuel and Deborah Crow and grandson of Samuel Lathrop and Hannah Adgate. Ezra married Charity Perkins on 20 Jan 1742 in Newent, Norwich and they had six children. Ezra, sometimes called Lt. Lathrop, was thought to be a sea captain and died on 9 Nov 1760. His will was probated in Norwich on 10 Dec 1760. Samuel had left his eldest son, Ezra, quite well provided for with a house and land when Samuel died on 7 Nov 1754. The estate was valued at 2513 pounds, less debts of 168 pounds. Ezra was declared insolvent at his death in 1760 although he had a farm of 200 acres, oxen, horses, sheep, swine and cattle. In 1765 Charity, age 41, married Isaac Gates, age 64. A year later, her son, Ezra, married Isaac's daughter, Susanna.
Ezra (Huntington #418), the eldest son of Ezra and Charity was born on 24 Jan 1743/4 in Norwich and married Susanna Gates on 6 Jul 1766 in Groton, CT. They had five children - Ezra, Zephaniah, Charlotta, Elisha and William. They lived between Norwich and Southampton, toward Westfield, MA in a rental home owned by a Mr. Miller of Worthington. According to Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, Ezra was on a "list of men raised prior to May 17, 1777 to serve in the Continental Army . . . engaged for the town of Norwich for a term of 3 years or during war." He died seemingly unexpectedly prior to 6 May 1777 in MA on the way back from possibly a battle. He died near his home as his coat and weapons were part of the inventory for his probate, done in Northampton, MA. He was declared insolvent as his debts of 58 pounds to relatives were more than his estate of 16 pounds. He left four young children, with Ezra the eldest being only 9 years of age. Susanna married Ebenezer Whipple in 1778 in Vermont and their first child Lucy was born 6 June 1779. The family moved to PA via Unadilla, NY where they remained until spring 1799 before traveling by canoe down the Susquehanna River to settle on Bolles Flat near Rush, PA. Four more children were born and by 1810 they were living in Bridgewater, PA. Susanna died at age 97 on 2 May 1846.
Ezra and Susanna's son Ezra, born 1 Sep 1767, reportedly moved to the west in 1801. Although many Ezras have been located in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, etc. we have been unable to determine where this particular Ezra went. He had a family of four in an 1800 memo of inhabitants upon the Wyalusing waters in PA, about the Forks, settling in a cabin in what was called the Whipple settlement.
Ezra's brother Zephaniah lived in Franklin, Delaware County, NY; his sister Charlotta died at age 4; his brother Elisha (our relative) lived in Unadilla, NY; and, his brother William, who had an extensive family became well-known Deacon William and is buried in Rush, PA, the only grave we have actually located.
Holt, Helene. Clint Eastwood - born in San Francisco, May 31, 1930, weighed 11 lbs. 6 oz at birth and grew to be a whopping 6'4" tall. He went on to become one of Hollywood's most famous stars. He descends from Samuel & Elizabeth (Scudder) Lathrop and then down through two of their children Martha md. John Moss, Jr. and Sarah md. Nathaniel Royce.
Tabor, Helen. "Rev. John Lothropp's Bible, Lothropp Family Foundation Newsletter, nd
When Rev. John Lothropp and his group of believers emigrated from England to this country in 1634, the possessions brought with them were necessarily very few. That any still remain is a miracle. That they are accessible for us, his descendants, to view is a blessing and a thrilling experience.
In the house where Rev. John Lothropp lived in Barnstable, Massachusetts is the Bible which he brought with him. The Bible is kept in a specially vented case in the Lothrop Room of Sturgis Library, the oldest building housing a public library in the United States. The oldest part of the library was originally the home of Rev. John Lothropp, built in 1644 by his followers and used both as his home and their early place of worship.
This Bible is one of the few still in existence which has survived from the earliest days of the English migration to America. It was printed in 1605 by Robert Barker of London on paper made largely from linen and in a type face called Old English. This version is called the 'Bishop's Bible.' At some point the Bible was extensively repaired, reportedly by the British Musuem.
Rev. John Lothropp, a man persecuted for his religious beliefs, left England for the New World and religious freedom in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. While en route to America aboard the 'Griffin,' a spark or drop of hot tallow from a candle became embedded within the book and burned through several pages destroying the text. History tells us that Rev. John carefully repaired the damage before the voyage ended and had, from memory, filled in the missing words on each page and in the form of the type in which it was printed.
Fifteen years after his death in 1653 the Bible was taken to Norwich, Connecticut by his son Samuel. It was from this book that the scriptures were read in September 1859 at the 200th anniversary of the founding of Norwich. This occasion is noted in the book, The Norwich Jubilee by John W. Stedman.
Its exact whereabouts for the next period of years is not definitely known. According to the account by Stedman, the Bible was put in the custody of the American Bible Society following the celebration. However when your editor inquired of its whereabouts in 1960s, the society had no record of the Bible at all. Apparently it passed through the possession of several owners. At some point the BIble was taken back to England by a descendant of Rev. John's. It fell into the possession of Grace Dunham Luling of Roehampton, England. She was persuaded by Rev. John Howland Lathrop, DD, PhD to give it into the custody of the Sturgis Library in Barnstable, Massachusetts in 1956. There it was kept in the vault for about 20 years until interest in the Bible prompted its being displayed in the Lothrop Room where it is today, fittingly enough, in the room where Rev. John Lothropp would have prepared his sermons, using the Bible as his guide.
Incredible as it may be, this Bible provides a tangible and direct link with our forefather. Visiting Lothorp Room at Sturgis Library is an experience you will not soon forget.
"Milestones - Fifty Years Later," Lothropp Family Foundation, nd
They were know as the Flying Lathrops when they piloted F4U Corsairs over the Pacific Islands during World War II. Brothers John and Edwin Lathrop, Stonington (CT) natives who got their wings on a local airfield, enlisted in the Marine Corps together in 1942 . . . They were assigned to teh VMF-211 squadron - the Wake Island Avengers . . . They flew the new Chance-Vought Corsair, the fastest plane in the U.S. arsenal at the time, in the same four-plane squadron . . . For eight months the brothers flew 100 missions together . . . dropping 1000 pound bombs . . . at 10,000 feet. They last flew together on Dec. 7, 1944 in an assault on a Japanese destroyer when Edwin's plane was hit. After that they flew on alternate days . . . John states, 'After that, we worked over all the islands, softening up the landing for the troops . . . We helped pave the way for McArthur . . . When I went out of the country I couldn't even buy a bottle of beer. I wasn't old enough, yet I had a commission and a pair of gold wings.' In January 1945 they were reassigned as flight instructors and both received medals for their service . . . John is retired from business in Pawcatuck, CT and Edwin pilots a charter plane in Sebastian Florida. Excerpt from the New London Day.
Willison, George. The Pilgrim Reader: The Story of the Pilgrims as Told by Themselves & Their Contemporaries Friendly & Unfriendly, Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., Inc. 1953.
Death of Bradford from Morton's Memorial. This year [1657] it pleased God to put a period to the life of his precious servant, Mr. William Bradford, who was the second governour of the jurisdiction of Plimouth and continued in the same place for the most part of his time, with little intermission.
Concerning whom, the following poems made - the one by himself, and the others by such as were well acquainted with his Worth and Excellency - will give a large testimony thereof: Certain verses left by the Honoured William Bradford, Esq., . . . penned by his own hand, declaring the gracious dispensation of God's Providence towards him in the time of his life, and his preparation and fittednes for death.
From my years young in dayes of youth,
God did make known to me his Truth,
And call'd me from my native place
For to enjoy the Means of Grace.
In wilderness he did me guide,
And in strange lands for me provide.
In fears and wants, through weal and woe,
As Pilgrim passed I to and fro,
Oft left of them whom I did trust.
How vain it is to rest on Dust!
A man of sorrows I have been,
And many changes I have seen . . .
Faint not, poor Soul, in God still trust.
Fear not the things thou suffer must . . .
Farewell, dear Children, whom I love,
Your better Father is above . . .
Fear him in Truth, walke in his Wayes,
And he will bless you all your dayes.
My dayes are spent, old age is come,
My strength it fails, my glass near run.
Now, I shall wait when work is done
Untill my happy change shall come,
When from my labours I shall rest
With Christ above for to be blest . . .
A few verses more added by one that was well acquainted with the worth of the said Mr. Bradford:
The ninth of May, about nine of the clock,
A precious one God out of Plimouth took, . . .
A man approv'd in Town, in Church, in Court, . . .
Sweet Brewster, he is gone some time before.
Wise Winslow, whose death we lament so sore.
And faithful Standish, freed from horrid pain,
To be with Christ - in truth, the greatest gain.
Now blessed holy Bradford, a successor
Of blessed holy Bradford, the Confessor,
Is gone to place of rest, with many more
Of precious ones, whom I might name, great store . . .
This worthy gentleman was interred with the greatest solemnities that the jurisdiction to which he belonged was in a capacity to perform - many deep sighs, as well as loud volleys of shot, declaring that the people were no less sensible of their loss who were surviving, than mindful of the worth and honour of him that was deceased.
Striving to the last to keep the ship of state and the ark of the covenant afloat in choppy seas, with perils looming in every quarter, Bradford had been infailing health for some months, but "felt himself not what he counted sick" until he had a resplendent vision in the night. "The next morning he told his friends that the good Spirit of God had given him a pledge of his happiness in another world and the first-fruits of his eternal glory; and on the day following he died . . . the the sixty-ninth year of his age."
In spite of the fact that he had labored continuously in the public service since 1621, at first without payment and later on a niggardly salary, Bradford amassed a relatively large fortune, both from farming and trading, and died one of the richest men in the colony, leaving an estate of £900 ($45,000). The governor's personal effects included "2 hattes, a blacke one & a coulered one, and 4 fine shirts"; a "stuffe" suit and a "lead coullered cloth suit," both with silver buttons; a turkey-red grogram suit and cloak; another cloak, "faced with taffety"; and an "old violet coullered cloake, and an old green gowne."
The estate was left in varying proportions to his wife Alice, "a blessed mother in Israell," and their three children - William, Joseph, and their daughter Mercy. Portions also went to Bradford's two stepsons, Thomas and Constant Southworth; to his former ward, Thomas Cushman, now the Ruling Elder; and to his son John by his first wife, Dorothy May. Left behind at Leyden as a small boy and sent for in 1627, John lived his life in almost complete obscurity, first at Plymouth, later at Duxbury and Marshfield, eventually moving to Connecticut, where he died in 1678.
Of Plimouth Plantation fell to Bradford's elder son by his second marriage, Major William Bradford, and was handed down in the latter's family for several generations, as attested by this rather illiterate notation on a flyleaf of the manuscript:
"This book was rit by goefner William Bradford, and gifen to his son majer William Bradford, and by him to his son majer John Bradford, rit by me [his son] Samuel Bradford, Mach 20, 1705."
Bradford's history, still in manuscript, disappeared during the American Revolution and was long missing, having a curious history of its own. But Bradford laid rather more store by his other writings, for he had not laid down his pen when he abandoned his magnificent chronicle. He most prized his poetry, or "sundrie usefull verses," as he called them. Also, he had penned three dialogues "betweene some yonge-men borne in New-England and some Anciente men which came out of Holand and old England, concerning the Church."
The first dialogue was, in large part, a very disingenuous defense of Francis Johnson and the scandalous Ancient Brethren - lecherous Ruling Elder Studley and all. Evidently stories about them had reached Plymouth to pique the curiosity of the younger Saints. To protect the good name of the Separatists, Bradford held the Amsterdam congregation up to view as very pious folk.
The second dialogue has been lost, while the third was a sharp attack upon the "corrupte" Roman and Anglican churches, a mild criticism of the Presbyterian, and a complete vindication of the "Congregational Way."
In his later years also, thinking to have missed something in the schooling denied him as a youth, Bradford began reading philosophy and studying the ancient languages, Latin and Greek, but especially Hebrew, having a desire, he said, to know the language of God and the angels, and "how the words and phrases lye in the holy texte . . . and what names were given to things from the creation."
Variously gifted, a man of purpose and intelligence, unselfishly devoted to the welfare of New Plimoth, blessed with seemingly inexhaustible energy and strength, Bradford was, beyond question, the greatest of the Pilgrims. More, he was one of the first of the really great Americans.
His passing marked the close of a critical era. More than any other he had opened and secured a new frontier, and he went to his grave, as Cotton Mather declared with none of his usual extravagance, "lamented by all the colonies of New England, as a common blessing and father to them all."
Appendix
Tilden, Thomas ( - ) - of London Left colony before 1627, probably returning to England.
Warren, Mrs. Elizabeth (March) (c. 1583-1673) - wife of Richard Warren (see Mayflower Strangers); married London, ca. 1605; 7 children:
Mary (c. 1608-80) married, c. 1627 to Robert Bartlett (see Strangers above); 8 children.
Ann (c. 1612- ) married 1633 to Thomas Little; 8 children.
Sarah (ca. 1614-ca. 1676) married 1634 to John Cooke (see Mayflower Saints) 5 children
Elizabeth (ca. 1616-70) married, 1636, to Richard Church 12 children, including Benjamin Church, Plymouth's captain-general in King Philip's War.
Abigail (c. 1618- ) married 1639 to Anthony Snow, 6 children.
Mayflower (not the original Pilgrim ship); William Peirce, master; out of London, March 1629; arriving Salem, May 15, with many Puritans for Bay colony and a few passengers for Plymouth.
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