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LineageChase: Genealogy Research & Tutoring A Brief Analysis of the Origins of Thomas Call & Bennett Harryson 17th Century Immigrants to New England Robert M. Call 15 June 2014 www.lineagechase.com A Brief Analysis of the Origins of Thomas Call & Bennett Harryson: 17th Century Immigrants to New England © 2014, Robert M. Call The following report represents original research and creativity by the author, and the presentation of such is protected by copyright. However, the use of facts (e.g., baptism, marriage, and burial dates) cannot be restricted. The author gives permission for distribution of this work for noncommercial purposes with the stipulation that attribution is given. Robert M. Call is a in his senior year as a family history-genealogy major at Brigham Young University. While his emphasis is in Midwestern United States research, he has considerable experience in researching Colonial New England families, as well as research experience in other areas of the United States, Britain, and Scandinavia. He is founder of LineageChase (www.lineagechase.com), a genealogy research and tutoring firm. The never-failing encouragement and confidence of my parents, Michael and Shannon Call, has been remarkable. To them I owe much. A thank you also goes to my father for proofreading and editing this report. I would also like to thank my aunt and fellow genealogist, Patti Call, for her assistance in reading those difficult secretary hand documents and for her support in my endeavors. Robert M. Call 10 June 2014 LineageChase Provo, Utah 2014 C o n t e n t s Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1 Connecting New England and Old England ....................................................................... 2 The Family in Hernhill ................................................................................................................ 4 A Note on the Harrysons ............................................................................................................ 5 Others of the Call Name .............................................................................................................. 6 Some Much Needed Analysis ................................................................................................... 9 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 11 Documented Family Groups .................................................................................................. 12 The Family of Thomas Call and his wife Bennett Harryson ................................. 13 The Family of Arnold Harryson and His Wife Alis ................................................... 15 The Family of Paule Call and His Wife Jone Blye ...................................................... 16 The Family of Markes Call and His Wife Elizabeth .................................................. 17 The Family of John Call and His Wife Elizabeth Mount ......................................... 18 I NTRODUCTION During the seventeenth century, thousands of immigrants flooded into New England. Those who arrived between 1620 and 1640 were participants in what historians would later term the “Great Migration.” Most immigrants to New England during this period could not expect an increase in riches; in fact, most were economically stable and were not seeking a dramatic improvement in economic status. These venturesome souls were bound together by Puritan beliefs to settle a God-fearing community. However, an over-zealous religious attitude was not the prevailing mentality. Day-to-day life still brought its ups and downs, and daily concerns were not overshadowed by religious fervor. Puritan immigrants simply believed that God would notice obedience to his will, and in return bless them in temporal needs through their own labor.1 Counted among those Puritan colonists was the family of Thomas Call and Bennett Harryson. This immigrant family is remembered by tens of thousands of living descendants as their earliest known ancestors. Supposed facts about Thomas Call float through various mediums of preserving family history—tradition, pedigree charts, family group sheets, online family trees, etc.—with virtually no original sources or primary information to act as anchors for the data provided. A typical version of these “facts” is summarized as follows: Thomas Call was born 15 June 1597 in Fanersham (sic), Hernhill, Kent, England. He was married to Bennett or Geanett Harrison 7 June 1619 in Hernhill, and then to Joanna Shepardson prior to 28 October 1651 in Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts, before his death in Malden on 17 May 1676.2 The supposed parents of Thomas were natives of Hernhill—John Call3 and Ann, maiden name unknown.4 Another common temptation, found in a number of online family trees, is to connect Thomas to other Call families whose pedigrees stretch into distant times. While a portion of this information is true, much of it is incorrect (or confused at the very least). Considering the significant legacy that Thomas Call and Bennett Harryson left, thus far, to more than three centuries of descendants, it is only fitting that their lives are remembered and their stories preserved for generations to come. Remembering and preserving is best accomplished by thorough, accurate, and proven genealogical methods. These methods are founded upon research in original and derivative sources; from these sources, information is obtained which is judged to be either primary or secondary. An 1 Virginia DeJohn Anderson, “Migrants and Motives: Religion and the Settlement of New England, 1630-1640,” The New England Quarterly, vol. 58 no. 3 (September 1985): 372-381. 2 “Ancestral File,” database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org: accessed 7 June 2014), entry for Thomas CALL, AFN: 2SQN-G5. 3 “Ancestral File,” database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org: accessed 7 June 2014), entry for John CALL (CAULE), AFN: 100D-ZCX. 4 “Ancestral File,” database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org: accessed 7 June 2014), entry for Ann (Ana), AFN: 8PP8-GD. LineageChase | A Brief Analysis of the Origins of Thomas Call & Bennett Harryson 1 evaluation of sources and information will produce direct or indirect evidence for a claim. After the sources, information, and evidence undergo a thorough analysis, a defendable conclusion can be made about genealogical data and relationships. What follows is not meant to be a complete biography of the Call family, nor is it intended to be a full report of the research completed thus far. Rather, it is intended to be a brief summary of research laying a solid foundation for future exploration into the origins of Thomas Call and his first wife Bennett Harryson. The most logical methodology for basic genealogical research is to work backwards and horizontally. Or, begin with the most recent known information about an individual and completely (or, as much as possible) construct his or her immediate family before researching older generations. British research—at least for the time period concerned—is founded upon parish records of baptisms, marriages, and burials. Other record types are useful as well—parish chest records, militia records, wills, etc. The research reported here (with parish records as its backbone), covered four primary areas: 1) the known children of Thomas Call and Bennett Harryson, 2) evidence for linking the family in Massachusetts with their origins in England, 3) a discussion of possible family members, and 4) an outline of how to conduct future research. Again, this is a truncated report dealing with only the most vital pieces of evidence used to construct the family of Thomas Call and Bennett Harryson. Note needs to be made of the approach used to record dates and names in this report. Prior to 1752, when the English adopted the Gregorian calendar, the first day of the year was 25 March. Thus, to convert to the current calendar, all dates between 1 January and 25 March must be shifted forward one year. However, all dates in this report are recorded in Old Style unless otherwise noted. During the late 16th and early 17th centuries, there was no “correct” way to spell a name. A name was written however the writer believed it to be spelled. Thus, in the original records the name “Call” is spelled a number of ways—Call, Calle, Caule, Caale, Cawle, etc. For consistency’s sake, this report standardizes the various spellings to conform to “Call”—the most frequent spelling found among Thomas Call’s descendants. Although the spelling “Harrison” has been immortalized in compiled sources, in the half-dozen or so original records found for this family, the double “r” and use of the “y” prove to be most frequent among the variations. Consequently, this report uses the spelling “Harryson.” C O N N E C T I N G N E W E NGLAND AND O L D E NGLAND In the spring of 1676, the aged patriarch Thomas Call was laid to rest in the Bell Rock Cemetery, in what is now Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts. Fortunately, his grave marker—more than three centuries later—still fulfills its purpose in honoring that man. It LineageChase | A Brief Analysis of the Origins of Thomas Call & Bennett Harryson 2 reads, “HERE LIES YE BODY OF/THOMAS CALL/AGED 79 YRS/DECD IN MAY 1676.”5 Thomas left a will (in which he referred to himself as Thomas Call Senior of Malden), dated 1670, that named children John, Thomas, Mary, Elizabeth, and Mercy.

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