Fifty Ancestors
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FIFTY ANCESTORS OF ~rury 1£iurnln Qllupp. FIFTY A.NCESTORS OF WHO CAME TO NEW ENGLAND FROM 1620 TO 16i,o. Clapp Coat of Arm,. BOSTON: PRESS OF DAVID CLAPP & SON. 1 HO 2. INTRODUCTION. NL'>:S-Y people think a genealogist is "queer," or in a temporarily queer condition when he is ancestry hunting. One says, "Skip genealogy" ; another, "Dried dates don't interest me, bnt I like the Jn,tes of the Phreni;c clactyltfern ( date palm)"; another, "Better not go back too far,-you may find a persona non gnita." Bnt these little jocosities produce no permanent effect on tbe genea logist who is hunting like ",hphet in search of a father." '' Looking backward" a little way, srLy as far as the Pilgrims, is on the whole rather interesting. Along the course two hundred and seventy or eighty years in length one finds many admirable charac cers; he sees that he has considerable more to do in order to live such a life as the forefathers lived; and the view stiffens up his own 3btndard of living. Nothing queer about that. If there is, why, let ns have a little more of it. To sonic it seems queer to work long and hard on a subject that is not expected to yield any returns whatever in dollars and cents ; to perform a costly "labor of love" seems queer ; to toil from motives of pure sentiment seems queer; to give away genealogical publications that cost a dollar or more apiece, as one gives away tracts, seems queer. "\Vhat are you <loing it for?" they ask. But the explanations fail to explain it, because motives of sentiment and labors of love are not to be explained. Again, it is interesting to find that well-known names, perhaps one's own, were recorded more than six hundred years ago: "Henry Clappe, Co. Oxford, 1273." "Alexander de Clopham, Co. Kent, 127:3." "Thomas de Clopton (of Clap town), Co. Norfolk, 1358." Or, take another familiar family name: "Bourne, Bourn, Bmns, l'.urne, Burn, 'at the burn,' i. e. streatn." "Burne, a brook; a rorthern pronunciation of Bourne, whence Burns, Aburne, l~c." I 1 Suffolk Probate Records. Bvrne is written for Bourne. ",John (l,:; la Burn, Co. Oxford, 127,L'~ "Bourne-local-from the town ,Jt' Bourne, in Lincolnshire, England, which is so named from the IV INTRODUCTION. old English Bourne, a small river or well-spring." The significance of names and the changes which they have undergone are also in teresting to one who has a taste for history. After all, there is, at least, the usual quantity of sanity in the real genealogist. He has the spirit and skill of the investigator, the habit of ,teighing evidence, and, most likely, the pride of ancestry which is pretty sure to tone him up a bit, possibly too much, so that he will lie back on the exploits of his ancestors and do very little for himself. To be sure, he relies on "dried dates" in growing his genealogical tree,-" date tree," if you please,-as one relies on the braces to the frame work of his house. A breath of criticism must not be per mitted to demolish his ance;;tral line for lack of bracing dates. These dates keep well; and in genealogy they outweigh ~peculations, of which there are too many. Nevertheless, there is one speculation that I like to indulge in. It is certain that some of the families who bore the simple name of Clap or Clapa in the 13th century, changed their names to Clap ham (home of Clapp) or Clopton ( town or city Clop) in the 14th and 15th centuries; and those names persist in England today, while the original name, Clap, seems to have died out. If hrrn1 :md ton could be and were added to tlie simple name, Clap, for sufficient reasons, they could be dropped as readily for sufficient reasons; and those reasons seem to be found in the unhappy frame of mind in which the early Claps found themsehes on account of the many religious troubles in which they had become involved in England. So they determined to become "Separatists" not only in deed, but even in name, and to preclude the suggestion of ho1ue by leiwing off the nawe for it. They cut loose from their home (ham), and th ere was to be no more town ( to11) fur them. Higginson says, ",,ye cannot understand the bitter feeling that the emig:ranti; carried with thcu1, not mcrl'ly against bishops, but against kings, without remembering how Laud and Charles were nssociated in their minds." "Laud wished also to encourage danc ing, the theatre, and Sunday sports. He eyen persuaded Charles to re-issue a certain 'Declaration of Sports' which King ,James had withdrawn for fear of offending the Puritans and their friends." "\Villinm Prynne wrote a book against stage-plays, ~or which the in famous Star Chamber -sentenced him to the pillory where every hody might insult him, to lose his ears, to pay a fine, and to Le im prisonrll during the King's pleasure. Besides, he was branded on l1oth eheeks "S. S.," for Sower of Seditio'l. Burton, Bastwick an<-, others lost their ears. Ship-money was extorted from the pcoph in 1 ti35 and again in Hi31i. "\\'illiam Prynnc, ,John Hawpllcn an<, Sir ,John Eliot courngeously expre,,-ed what the Puritans felt. INTRODUCTION. V In this account, as in all similar ones, the greatest uifficulties have been to find. authentic uates and the names and ancestry of the wo men involved.. The Bible with its interminable "begat" in the Chronicles began the practice of neglecting women's names. In pedigrees of old.en times, except in royal families, women seem to have been as unim portant as women in China. The fact that they changed their names at marriage will account for a large loss of their names. Besides, women in ancient times were less obtrusive and cut a smaller figure in the world than many women of the present day. This is a strenuous age, the age of the bared arm, the hatless head, and. the penguin stride ; and there is little doubt that women's names will be found on every kind of document that is to be handed down to posterity, especially in regard to property affairs, in which women are becoming adept. An item in the Post runs thus: " A perusal of the tax lists is also interesting in that it gives one a good line on those whose property is in their wives' names." So wives' names, now used to ensure a balance on the credit side in case of failure in busine~s, will be of great service to the genealogist of the future, and the "missing links" will not be so numerous as those recorded here. It is hoped that these "missing links" may be dis covered in the future by some persistent hunter of pedigrees. Mis~ing links: vVives of the men named as follows: Thomas' Bailey, John2 Bailey, Thomas' Clapp, .Toseph 3 Clapp,* Rev. Rich ard Bourne, ,James Skiff, Rev. ,John' Cotton, James Cudworth, Gershom Ewell, vVilliam' Hersey, vVilliam2 Hersey, John 1 Stud ley, Rev. ,John Lothrop, Henry' ::\Ierritt, Edmund Morey, Nathan iel1 Tilden, );athnniel3 Tilden, Xathaniel4 Tilden (1678), Thomas 1 ,v eyborne, ,Tohn 2 ,v eyborne ( 1st wife), ,John' vVhitcomb, ,1ohn1 vVilliams, ,John Booth, Sen., ,Tohn Booth, Jr., Benjamin' Bailey ( 3d wife), Benjamin• Clapp ( Duxbury wife), ,John Twisden, Thom as' Bourne. _,-\ncestry of ,lerusha Adams, Susanna Dunham, Eliza beth \Yhiton, Philip \\Tilcutt, :\lary Sharp, Edmund :\1orey; hus band of l\'lary, !laughter of Gov. Thomas Hinckley. * ::l[r. ,J.B. PeYear, Cincinnati, Ohio, claims that Joseph3 Clapp (Seep. 22) of Black Pond Hill, Seitnate, marrie,l Abigail Allen before 1696-7. The fact that Joseph3 had a daughter name,! Abigail, born ::\fay 16, 169~, died Oct. 13, 1740, is evidence in favor of the claim. ·Si11ce his oldest son, Samuel, was born Xov. 18, 1695, he must haYe heen married as em·ls as 1694-5. XeYertheless, the ancestry of Abigail Allen remains unknown. ANCESTORS IN LINE OF FATHER, FRANKLIN BAILEY CLAPP. PAGE 1. Jom, HOWLAND (Mayflower), Plymouth, 1620, 47 2. ,TOIIN TILLEY (Mayflower), Plymouth, 1620, 47 3. Tno)rAs BAILEY, Boston, 1625, 1-! 4. HENRY MERRITT, Scituate, 1 G:26, 53 5. ELDER NATHANrnL TILDEN, Scituate, 1628, 60 6. REV. EBENEZER RossrrER, Dorchester, l 6:30, 4:3 7. SIR RICHARD SALTONSTALL, ,Yatertown, 16::JU, 5U 8. }:LDER JoHx CnIP~Ltx, Plyn1outh, 1G31, 47 9. ,JOHN VVILLLUIS, Seituate, 1682, 1,:; 10. REv. ,Toux CoT'rON, Boston, 1 G:l3, 4:2 1 I. JOHN l\L~Rsu, Charlestown, ]{j83, 1 U 1 :2. THO)L~S CLAPP, Dorchester, 1G:'l4, 20 18. REY. NATHANIEL \YARD, Ipswich, 16:H, 8 14. 'IVII,LIA)I BROOKS, Scituate, lG:}6, 19 1,::;. Lrnt:T. ISAAC BucK, Scituate, l 6,3;i, 1 !) Hi. Tuo1us GILL, Hingham, 16:1,i, D7 17, ,Ton:x OTis, Hingham, 1635, Di" 18. ELIZABETH ,V.-urn, Plymouth, lGJii, 14 / 19. REV. Rrcru.Rn Bou mm, Sandwich, 1G37, 18 ::W. J ..urns SKIFF, Sandwich, IG:37, 18 21. AKDRE,,r HALLETT, Sandwich, 1G88, 18 22. JonN Tw1sDEN, Scituate, 1689, 60 2:-l. Gowrn 'IVHITE, Scituate, l G-!G, 14 2-!. .Tonx IIALLl<:TT, Scituate, lG-!li, 1 !I 2ii. J,urns N:csII, ,Yeyrnouth,. before 1 G48, ;j(i 26. R1c11A1m Ccwn~, Scituate, l(i48, 1 !J 27. Tno3us 1Y1cYBORXE, Boston, before 1650, 61 28. AxTuo:-;y DonsoN, Scituate, 1C50, G5 2!).