James Chapman of New London

In 1860, a New London, Connecticut newspaper, The Repository, published a biographical sketch of James Chapman as part of a series of historical profiles.  James Chapman (1709 – 1784) and his wife, Mary Wyatt Chapman (1712 – 1748) were my 6^th great grandparents. 

It’s a bit long and not very exciting, but I thought that you might enjoy reading it, so I am going to share the story with you in its entirety.

 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

Number Fifteen
JAMES CHAPMAN, Sen

By F.M.C.

In a secluded part of the old Township of New London, on a farm which has since been called Rockdale, there lived, a hundred years ago, a quiet honest, religious, hard working man, named James Chapman.  The country around him was almost wilderness.  The few half cleared farms of that region, of which his own was one of the most rugged and hard to cultivate, were intermingles with rocky pastures, cedar thickets and swamps of elder and sumac.  His house of one story stood upon a rock, and was well shaded with orchard trees.  Here, from year to year, he planted, mowed and harvested, made cider, milked his cows, turned the cheese in the press for his wife, shelled the corn and carried it to mill, read his Bible morning and evening, and duly as the Sabbath came, went into town with his family, and ascending the hill to the old meeting house, reverently imbibed the dew as it was distilled from the lips of the venerated minister.

Those were the chief transitions of his life.  In a quiet way he loved to go up among the rocky ridges of his farm, and look off upon the water, tracking the white sails along the coast, or watching the hawks as they flew inland with their fishy prey.  The birds that haunted his orchard seemed to know him, and never fled at his presence.  Robins, wrens, and sparrows he fed at his window seat and around his doorsteps.  With every opening spring some of the guests of the former year were sure to return, announcing their arrival by a gentle peck on the window pane, or a plaintive chirp from the rose bush near. 

Mr. Chapman’s wife was Mary Wyatt, a discreet, industrious, home-keeping woman, who knew how to spin and weave, to transform milk into butter and cheese, to make and mend the garments of the family, to dip candles, bake johnny-cakes, boil  suet puddings and make poultry pies.  She knew, moreover, that her Bible was true.  It is probably that she had been taught to write and had once worked a sampler; this was the sum of female education in her day.

They were married Feb. 25^th, 1731, and between that date and the close of the year 1748, they had ten children, five sons and five daughters, all of whom, it is supposed, were born and passed their childhood at Rockdale.  The daughters were Hannah, Mercy, Rebecca, Mary and Lydia, who in due time married respectively Pain Kenyon, Jonathan Brooks, Sperry Douglass, Thomas Hempstead, and a Mr. Udell.

With respect to the sons, it may be said that their history gives no countenance or confirmation to the truth of the proverb, “Like father, like son.”  In disposition they were totally unlike their father – They seemed born for action, enterprise and adventure.  Before they had hardened into manhood, they sought the busy scenes of social life, and rushed with eagerness into the great struggle of their times for honor and liberty.  Society and their country, diversities of place and occupation, peace and war, land and sea, were all included in their aspirations and pursuits.  The old farm-house therefore was early deserted of its children.  The mother died, and Mr. Chapman married for his second wife Mrs. Hannah Accourt, daughter of Richard Manwaring, and widow of Dr Carles Accourt, an English physician, who had lived a few years in New London.

With this wife, twenty years of advancing age glided away in peace.  Life at Rockdale retained its ancient simplicity, but the scene was often varied by visits from children and grand children, and other relatives of the family.  At such times the good old farmer, tall, gray headed, with a countenance full of benignity, sat comfortably in the corner of the large fireplace, joining with a quiet smile in the decorous mirth of the young people, and cracking walnuts or popping corn for their entertainment.

He died Sept 25^th, 1784, aged 76.  The New London Gazette, after announcing his death, added this record:

“He never went out of the town but once in his life, and then he was summoned to Norwich as an evidence in Court.”

His widow died in August, 1806, very aged.  Her life covered almost the whole of the eighteenth century.  The old man and his first wife were buried in the ancient burial ground; the venerable relict in the second; neither of the three has any memorial head-stone.

Our next number will be devoted to the sons of James Chapman, men of action and enterprise, whose varied fortunes stand in bold relief against the quiet character, simple pursuits and retired life of the father.

 

Though the newspaper cites the author as F.M.C., this biographical sketch was written by Frances Manwaring Caulkins when she was 70 years old. Frances was born about 10 years after James Chapman’s death, so her information for the story was likely gleaned from talking to family and locals.  Frances, a prolific writer of historical and genealogical manuscripts during her life, was probably related to James Chapman’s second wife, Hannah Manwaring.

*  *  *  *  *

 

Key Individuals:

    

James Chapman (1709 – 1784)

Mary Wyatt (1712 – probably 1748); James’ 2^nd wife was Hannah Manwaring

            Mercy Chapman (1738 – 1806)

            Samuel Bill (1739 – 1766); 1^st husband, married in 1759

Elisabeth Bill (abt 1760 – 1819)

David Bill (abt 1862 – 1780)

            Jonathan Brooks (1735 – 1807); 2^nd husband, married in 1766

  

Notes: 

1)  And just to let you know, our family line does NOT descend from any of James Chapman’s wonderful sons that were such noble men of action, full of enterprise and wondrous adventure.  No, we descend from James & Mary’s second daughter, Mercy Chapman (1738 – 1806).  In 1759, Mercy Chapman first married Samuel Bill (1739 – abt 1765).  Samuel Bill died young, however, leaving Mercy a widow with two young children, David and Elisabeth.  After Samuel died, Mercy married Jonathan Brooks in 1766 and had five more children, four of which lived to adulthood.  Our line comes down through Mercy Chapman & Samuel Bill’s daughter, Elisabeth Bill, who married Nathaniel Dickinson in 1778. 

2)  And for anyone who wants to see the article, here you go!

- Jane Scribner McCrary

The Salmon family of Long Island

William Salmon, my 9^th great grandfather, was born in Southwold, England in 1610.  On May 21, 1635 by warrant from the Earle of Carlisle he boarded the ship, Matahew of London, and departed London for St Christopher’s Island in the West Indies.  At the time William was 25 years old.  He was listed in “the original lists of Persons of Quality who went from Great Britain to the American Plantations.”

In 1636, William is recorded as a member of a group from Bermuda (referred to as the Summer Isles) that traveled to the Chowan Indian country of North Carolina.  During that expedition, Salmon met Matthew Sinderland, a mariner from Boston.  William Salmon joined Sinderland’s group and they all headed to Long Island.  

Both Matthew Sinderland and William Salmon decided to settle on Long Island. William Salmon acquired a lot in Southold where he built his first home and also a shop where he began operating a blacksmith business.  In 1642, Matthew Sinderland died intestate and childless, and soon thereafter in 1643 William Salmon married Matthew’s widow, Katherine Curtice Sinderland.  William moved to her homestead nearby at Hashamomuck, also on Long Island.

The Sinderland homestead was a valuable tract of land, however Matthew Sinderland did not leave any documentation such as an Indian deed, land grant or any other record of title to the land.   Consequently, William Salmon purchased the land from Chief Paukhamp on February 24, 1645.   In 1649, William sold some of that property to neighbors and retained about 400 acres near his home in the area of Hashamomuck Neck, Long Island.

William and Katherine had 4 children - 3 daughters and 1 son - during their short marriage before Katherine died about 1650.  Our ancestry line is through John Salmon, the son of William Salmon & Katherine Curtice Sinderland Salmon.

Soon after the death of Katherine, and with 4 young children, William Salmon married again.  This time he married Sarah Horton of Southold, and the couple had 2 more children.  William died by 1657 leaving Sarah as a widow with 6 minor children, only 2 of whom were her own.  Shortly thereafter Sarah married again to John Conklin Jr of Southold. 

Following the deaths of both William Salmon and Katherine Curtice Salmon, their children were considered orphans and were sent to live with the Curtice family.  And for several years there were many lawsuits between John Conklin Jr (their stepmother’s new husband) and the Curtice family, primarily about ownership of the desirable Salmon property at Hashamomuck Neck.  It appears that Thomas Curtice of Weathersfield, secured title to the children’s property for them.  However in 1663, the Salmon children’s guardianship was changed to their stepfather, John Conklin Jr.  This document was signed by John Salmon and his sisters, Mary & Sarah Salmon; possibly the third sister died young.

“Whereas our father William Sallman in his life tyme did declare that his brother in law Thomas Curtis of Weathersfield should not have the educacion of any of his children – his long forbearance of looking after us manifested little love to us.  These may signifie to whom it may consern, that we whose names are here under subscribed have made choyce of John Conckline Junr to be our Gardian, haveing experience of his fatherly love to us and hereby declare all other Guardianship by authority of any court to be null.  

Witness the subscripcon of our names, the two and twentyeth day of  february 1663.” 

Signed by John Salmon, Mary (her mark) Salmon & Sara (her mark) Salmon. And witnessed by John Conkelyn Sener, Richard Curtis (his mark), Thomas Osman, and Jacob Conklyne

It is notable that one of William Salmon’s grandsons, also named William Salmon (my 7^th great grandfather), kept a private register of the marriages and deaths of residents of the Town of Southold, and also included a few persons that were also associated with the life and business of the area.  At his death, the register was continued by members of the Salmon family.  This register book of vital statistics covers the period of 1696 through 1811 and has been published, thus creating an extensive accounting of the Salmon line and the Southold area as well.  You can find the Salmon Records at this link  https://newyorkgenealogy.org/suffolk/the-salmon-records.htm if you have an interest.

Our Salmon line moves from Southold, Long Island, with Hannah Salmon, a daughter of William Salmon (the grandson).  Hannah Salmon married John Hempstead of New London in Southold in 1731.  John had evidently met Hannah when he spent a stretch of time on Long Island, possibly learning his trade of blacksmithing.  John & Hannah were first cousins, as their mothers were sisters.  John’s mother was Abigail Bayley, and Hannah’s mother was Hannah Bayley.  After their marriage, John & Hannah made their home in New London; though they often returned to visit family in Long Island. 

*  *  *  *  *

 

Key individuals:

 

William Salmon  (1610 – 1657)

Catherine Curtice Salmon  (1614 -- ~1650)

John Salmon  (~1646 – 1698)

Sarah Barnes Salmon  (1662 – 1738)

William Salmon  (1684 – 1759)

Hannah Bayley Salmon  (1683 – 1751)

Hannah Salmon Hempstead  (1710 – 1765)

John Hempstead  (1709 – 1779)

 

Notes: 

The Hempstead family has a long history in the New London area of Connecticut.  You can refer to my March 2021 blogpost titled, New London & Joshua Hempstead’s Diary, for more information on several of John Hempstead’s early ancestors.   

 – Jane Scribner McCrary

The Scribner Family in Japan

While stationed at his last assignment with the U.S. Marines in Yuma, Arizona in 1960, my father, Robert Gordon Scribner, received his final remote tour duty assignment which was a 9-month tour to a base in Iwakuni, Japan.

Mom & Dad decided to make it a family adventure, and towards the end of Dad’s tour in Iwakuni, we were all headed to Japan to join him.  At that time there were four of us children, and we all got passports and a 90-day tourist visa for Japan.  We left to join Dad in July of 1961, and we got permission from our local school district to miss the beginning of the next school year for the trip which I suppose was regarded as an alternative educational opportunity – not something easy to get approved in today’s time I would think.

Family was not included on remote military tours of duty, so we waited until near the end of Dad’s tour, and flew over on a commercial airplane.  The plan was for us to live “near” the base, we would have weekend trips, and Dad would use some of his vacation at times for us to explore Japan. 

We rented a small traditional Japanese house not far from the Iwakuni air base that was located between several rice fields.  The house was owned by a Japanese artist that lived next door.  Dad would ride to work on a small motorcycle each day.  The rooms in our Japanese house were divided with sliding doors with traditional rice paper panels, the floors had rush mats, and we always took off our shoes at the door and wore slippers inside the house.  We slept on tatami mats that were rolled up during the day.  And we often found lizards or salamanders in the small bathroom that had a shower. 

In the mornings there was a lady that we called Mamasan that would bring groceries from the local market and help Mom with the cooking, laundry and housekeeping.  We had steamed rice with every meal – and I love rice to this day.  We also discovered some wonderful red Japanese candy with rice paper wrappers that would just melt away when popped in your mouth, wrapper and all. 

There were local children nearby that we played with – mostly baseball – even though they didn’t speak any English and we didn’t speak any Japanese.  I remember that I lost a couple of baby teeth while there, and we must have had a Japanese tooth fairy because I got Japanese coins under my pillow in exchange for my two teeth. 

The house was right next to some railroad tracks, and we thought it was so cool to place coins on the track and then the train would flatten them out when it rolled over them.  Surely our parents never realized that we were doing that!

In his later years, Dad had written down some stories about our time in Japan, and I will share them here: 

“Our house had a bathroom that was two steps down from the bedroom, and it sprung a leak in one of the water pipes.  We told the landlord, so he sent his father over to fix it; only the father hooked up the hot water to the toilet.  I told the landlord that you still got your feet wet when you stepped into the bathroom and the toilet had hot water in it.  So, over came Papasan again to fix it.  He spent most of the day in the bathroom and proudly came out and bowed that he was finished.  He did get cold water again in the toilet, and he fixed the leak by building a wooden platform so we would not get our feet wet.” 

While in Japan, we traveled a lot by train, and I still love the rhythm of riding trains.  However, Dad also purchased a 1949 green Hudson car for $100 and we used it for some of our sightseeing excursions in the next few months.  I remember it well because there was only one inside door handle that we had to “pass around” when we needed to get out of the car, and of course, no seatbelts.  He sold the car, also for $100, when we left.

More of Dad’s narrative tells about our sightseeing adventures:

“After meeting my family in Tokyo and spending a couple of days there, we boarded a train for Nagoya to visit the pearl farms.  The kids got a kick out of seeing the raising, gathering, sorting and selling of the cultured pearl.   We went down on the beach to watch the pearl divers (all women) return from gathering pearls.  We even enjoyed the sea urchins that they roasted on the beach.  From Nagoya, we took the train to Kyoto to visit the city that was never touched by war.  We visited all of the shrines and palaces that the city held, and then on to Iwakuni.  We spent the first couple of nights at a Japanese Inn because our house was not quite ready for us.  Getting used to a Japanese toilet was unique for everyone as it was just a hole in the floor that you had to hit, and it was communal.”   

“We took the family up to Hiroshima to see the Peace Museum and warned them of the reception they might receive from the Japanese there.  It is a tough museum for children to go through, due to some of the exhibits, but they all came through with flying colors.” 

“One time we took a train trip to Beppu to visit the hot springs.   Beppu was on the island of Kyushu so it was a long train ride.  We arrived at the train station and I told Ann to take care of the kids and board the train, as I would get seats for them. The Japanese are very polite people, except when it comes to the trains, and then they push and shove everyone.  The train came into the station and I threw our luggage through a train window and followed it by myself and put luggage on enough seats for our family when about five minutes later along comes Ann and the kids.  I knew that was the only way we would all get seats.  We arrived at our hotel and for the next few days we all dressed in kimonos for the rest of the stay.  The baths at our hotel were not communal so I took the boys and we washed, prior to getting in the big pool, and Jeff could not wait so he dove in and surfaced very red faced because it was so hot.  Needless to say all the Japanese men looked in awe at the young boy, beet red.”

At the end of our 90-day visa for Japan, we headed to Hong Kong.  Dad took a week of leave and joined us there:

“I flew to Hong Kong and met up with the family at the Mandarin Hotel in Kowloon, Hong Kong.  We hired an Amah through the hotel to do some babysitting, and we all enjoyed a week in Hong Kong.  The Amah would come in every night to feed and babysit the children while Ann and I went out to dinner and took in the nightlife.  One night while Ann and I were having dinner in the hotel and watching an elegant Chinese Opera, we looked up beyond the scenery and there were our kids with the Amah watching the Opera - but they did not have to pay to get in.  Amah knew everyone and introduced the kids to all the performers.  After a week’s stay I had to leave and fly back to the base at Iwakuni and Ann and the children were due to leave a few hours after me on a plane to Hawaii.  I paid Amah and asked her to make sure Ann and the children got to the airport and safely on the plane.  Amah insisted on escorting the family right on to the plane and the gate personnel could not keep her off.  She told them in Chinese that she had promised her employer she would get them on the plane, and that is what she did.”  

I can remember how exciting it was to know that we were illicitly watching that Chinese theater performance.  We all had a great time in Hong Kong.  Mom even got some lovely clothes made for her while we were there. 

Our next stop was Hawaii where we spent a month in temporary base housing at the military base on Oahu.  The base is located in a non-public area of Waikiki Beach and it was a child’s dream.  The teenage daughter of a family friend would come by each morning and we three older kids would get to spend practically all day in our bathing suits with her playing and swimming at the beach.  There was also a lobby area at base housing where there were some lounge chairs equipped with a coin box and a small black & white television mounted on the arm of the chair.  You could “purchase” 15 minutes of television time with a quarter.  We often checked to see if anyone left without watching all of the television time that they had paid for.

We stayed in Hawaii while Dad wrapped up his tour of duty in Japan, and then he joined us for another couple of weeks in Hawaii before we all headed back to Yuma, Arizona.  By then we were well into the fall and had missed a couple of months of school.  What a wonderful time this trip was for all of us! 

*  *  *  *  *

Notes:

1)  In 1973 as a young adult, I was fortunate enough to visit Japan, and I remember recognizing places that I had been to as a child, especially in Kyoto – feeding the deer at Nara Park, a large bronze Buddha in the Tojaiji temple, and a small square hole in one of the pillars on the back side of that temple for children to crawl through where it is believed that they will receive enlightenment and good fortune.  It felt like déjà vu many times for me during that trip.  

 2)  One memory that comes to mind with our trip to Japan, is that it was the first time that I ever saw a color television – not in Japan, but in the airport.  When we were scooting through the airport we noticed that there were a few color televisions in one waiting area.  I think that they were in an area of the lobby that was set aside specifically for television watching.  And remember that the color show that was being broadcast at the time was Bonanza.  Also, I still have the pearl that I found in my oyster at the pearl farm.

3)  For the next several years Dad would show some of the home videos that he took while he was in Japan to our grade school classes when we studied Japan in social studies.  His videos showed many of the temples and shrines, the pearl farms, and other scenes of life around Japan.  

4)  I will be sharing more blog posts about of my parents and our early family life later this year.

 

Key Individuals:

     Robert Gordon Scribner  (1923 – 2006)

     Ann Hart Hughes Scribner  (1921 – 2006)                           

- Jane Scribner McCrary

A Christmas Letter in 1960

In June of 1960, USMC Major Robert G Scribner was away from his family and 4-months into a remote duty tour to Iwakuni, Japan.  Bob and Ann wrote each other letters daily, and their letters were mostly about missing each other and about their children – Bobby (10 yrs), Jane (7 yrs), Jeff (4 yrs) and David (1 yr).  Bob fretted knowing that Ann had her hands full with four young children back home in Yuma, Arizona.

That year, Bob assumed responsibility for buying all of the Christmas gifts needed for not only the children and Ann, but also for Bob’s mother, and Ann’s parents, as well as three in-law families including nieces and nephews.  Ann and the children had recently traveled to Norfolk, Virginia in December to spend the holidays with her parents, Charles & Nina Hughes. 

Below is Bob’s letter to Ann written on Christmas Day in 1960.  It is longer than most, but gives a window into that time for the Scribner family…

Below is the photo mentioned above that Ann sent to Bob as his Christmas gift in 1960 while he was away from the family.

Merry Christmas to you all from me in this year of 2022, sixty-two years later!

*  *  *  *  *

Notes:

The military career of Robert G Scribner was the subject of an earlier blog in May 2020.  And his ranching career will be the subject of a blog post that I am planning for later this year.  My next blog post will be about the Scribner family time in Japan when everyone joined Bob in 1961.

Key Individuals:

     Robert Gordon Scribner  (1923 – 2006)

     Ann Hart Hughes Scribner  (1921 – 2006)               

- Jane Scribner McCrary

 

Augustine Bearse – a controversial immigrant story

There has been much controversy about the life of Augustine Bearse, one of our earliest immigrants who arrived in New England in 1638.  Often referred to as Austin Bearse, he was born about 1618 in Longstock, Hampshire, England.  [Note that Bearse, the most common version used in the family line, and Bearce are both used in various genealogy references.  I will use the name both ways at times in this article.]

The name of Augustine Bearce first appears on the shipping manifest of the ship, Confidence of London, sailed from Southhampton, England and arrived in Plymouth on April 24, 1638.  The ship’s manifest lists Augustine Bearce, aged 20, along with 84 passengers on this voyage to the New World.  It is believed that the ship’s passengers were predominately family groups of Puritans leaving political conflict and persecution in England.

We know that Augustine Bearse settled in Barnstable, Massachusetts on Cape Cod and about 30 miles south of Plymouth with a company of settlers led by Rev John Lathrop.  Lathrop was originally ordained with the Church of England.  However in 1623, he renounced his orders and adopted more Independent Congregationalist and Puritan beliefs.  His reformed ideas were considered heretical and after several years of imprisonment for his preachings, Rev Lathrop left for the New World to escape further persecution in England. 

Rev John Lathrop is considered the founder of Barnstable, Massachusetts.  And Augustine was the first person named on record of those who joined Rev Lathrop’s church when it was established in Barnstable in 1643.  The early church records note him as a “freeman” and a “Goodman”.  Augustine’s wife joined the church in 1650 as the church register records her as “the wife of Brother Berce”.  Augustine was a farmer and successfully raised enough to feed his large family of eleven children – the first six of which were girls!  He also served Barnstable as a grand juror in 1653 and again in 1662; and he was a surveyor of highways in 1674.

An early book written in 1888 titled Barnstable Families notes of Augustine Bearse that “He appears to have been very exact in the performance of his religious duties, causing his children to be baptized on the Sabbath next following day of their birth” and that “He was one of the very few against whom no complaint was ever made:  a fact which speaks well for his character as a man and a citizen.”  Thus, Augustine Bearse appears to have been a highly regarded member of both his church and the community of Barnstable.  However, while Augustine appears to have been highly regarded by his fellow settlers, records also show that the Bearse family kept Indian slaves, usurped Indian lands, and fought in the Indian wars – behavior that was not uncommon in those times.

Some genealogies cite the wife of Augustine Bearse as Mary, with her last name unknown.  One possible theory about Mary is that on the original ship manifest Augustine’s name is listed immediately under the names of Martha Wilder of Shiplocke, Oxford, England and Mary who is noted as her daughter, but without an age or her last name recorded.  It is also notable that Austin’s first child was named Mary, and his second child was Martha.

Now, there is an alternative discussion of Augustine Bearse that was first introduced in the 1930’s.  In 1933, a man named Franklin Ele-watum Bearce applied with the State Commissioner of Indian Rights and Claims for benefits as an Indian in the state of Connecticut.  For provenance, Franklin provided a document that he had written called Who Our Forefathers Really Were where Franklin claimed that the wife of Augustine Bearse was Mary “Little Dove” Hyanno, an Indian princess.  While the commission couldn’t either prove or disprove his genealogy as provided in his narrative, they accepted his statement as an authentic and legal declaration of his lineage, and approved his benefit claim. 

Franklin asserted that he based his claim of Indian ancestry and his version of his family history almost 300 years prior on his own personal knowledge “handed down from generation to generation by my ancestors and imparted to me by word of mouth by my grand father, Henery Bearce” and also on information included in an original diary of Zerviah Newcomb, the wife of Josiah Bearse, a grandson of Augustine Bearse.  Franklin wrote that the diary was titled A True Chronicle of the Bearse Family.  However, Franklin did not provide either the diary or a copy of it with his claim – and there is no record of the diary’s existence other than as stated in his claim.

According to Franklin Bearce’s manifest, Augustine Bearse was persecuted in England because of his Romany or Gypsy heritage.  And for some minor infraction of English law, he was deported to the colonies.  Franklin claimed that Augustine Bearse was the only prisoner allocated to the Barnstable colony after his arrival.

Franklin maintained that no Puritan daughter would marry a gypsy because of religious and racial prejudices.  Augustine instead married Mary “Little Dove” Hyanno, daughter of John Hyanno, a full-blooded Wampanoag Indian, and son of the Sachem Ihyannough who befriended the Pilgrims on their first arrival.  He claimed that they were married in a traditional Indian ceremony at her village.  Franklin described Mary Hyanno as a “flaming-haired Mattachee princess.”  He also noted that Augustine Bearse was given good land in Barnstable by his wife’s grandfather.

Franklin E Bearce’s manuscript and theories gained widespread attention after a 1935 article was published in a magazine called the Utah Genealogical Magazine which detailed Franklin’s version of the Bearse history.  However later in 1939, Franklin’s genealogy was disputed in a well-respected publication titled The American Genealogist.  

There is no actual evidence that tells us whether Augustine Bearse had a Romany or an English heritage.  And we don’t really know if he made the voyage to escape religious or ethnic persecution, if he was deported as a prisoner or if he chose to make the voyage himself.  And last we don’t really know who Augustine married – the daughter of Martha Wilder, an Indian princess, or someone else entirely.  Because of the lack of original documentation or other sources to back up his claims, many genealogical historians refer to Franklin’s version of the Augustine Bearse genealogy as lacking credibility and most certainly contrived solely to obtain rights and benefits as an American Indian. 

Augustine was prominent in both the church and local governance and his children married into the best families in Barnstable and Yarmouth.  Critics of Franklin’s story maintain that it is absurd to believe that respected Puritan families would hold him in high regard and also allow their children to marry his children if he was a deported criminal Gypsy married to an Indian woman. 

I have mentioned this before, but it is good to remind you that simply because something was printed in a book or even handwritten in a bible, manuscript, journal or on a piece of paper, that doesn’t necessarily make it true and accurate.  A historian or researcher will always want to find verification or supporting documentation whenever possible.

*  *  *  *  * 

Key Individuals:

Augustine/Austin Bearse/Bearce (1618 – 1686)

Wife or wives:  unknown, possibly Mary ?

            James Bearse (1660 – 1728) [Augustine’s youngest son & our ancestor] m. Experience Howland (1669 – 1728)

           

Notes:

1)  If you refer to my earlier post, A Mayflower Connection or not [posted on October 3, 2020] and also the follow-up in the Notes of Overboard on the Mayflower [posted on November 15, 2021], you will see that our line to the Mayflower runs through Experience Howland.  Experience married James Bearse, the youngest son of Augustine/Austin Bearse, the immigrant.

2)  I wonder… if Augustine Bearse’s wife was a full-blooded Wampanoag Indian, then would American Indian ethnicity show up in the results of a DNA test for a descendent 350 years later?  I did an Ancestry DNA test several years ago, and there is no indication that I have any American Indian ethnicity in my results. 

Others have also thought about this, as I found a web page online seeking yDNA samples from direct male descendants of Augustine Bearse to test for Romany heritage, and also seeking mtDNA samples from direct female descendants to test for Native American heritage.  To date, testing results indicate that Augustine was not of Romany descent, and his wife was not Native American.

 Jane Scribner McCrary