Old Planters, Beverly

Note: See this post: In summary. We have new information about the baptisms of the children and are in the process of researching to establish a proper narrative. For now, see comments at the WikiTree profile for Thomas Gardner. We will start with Rev. Hubbard who was there (1680 manuscript). 

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As mentioned in this Wiki article, there are many types of 'old planters' that are worthy of attention. In New England, an early Maine group was particularly effective: came very early (into Popham), established a colony, and built a boat (Virginia) that was seaworthy sufficiently to cross the Atlantic several times. There are more examples. Time lines (Wiki article) show several settlements in the Massachusetts area prior to 1630.

In particular, we might ask about the Dorchester group that came in under Thomas Gardner and John Tilly, in 1623/24. For this, we can collect, and comment on, reports related to the topic. As a reminder, let's use The Winthrop Society's list of names (1623-27, where is Tylly?).

• Allen, Balch, Conant, Cushman, Gardner, Gray, Jeffrey, Knight, Lyford, Norman, Oldham, Palfrey, Patch, Pickryn, Winslow, Woodbury

We can find some reports that do not reference Thomas Gardner, such as this one -- Woodbury family's book (in the context of old planters, four are named): Hubbard is precise that Mr. White solicited Conant, Woodbury, Balch and Palfrey because of their character, to undertake a new settlement at Nahumkeag, promising them men, goods and supplies, a commendation sustained by his associates. Neither did Mr. White reference Thomas in his Plea.

Now, we do find later references to Thomas, such as that of Rev. Hubbard who had talked, it is believed, to all of the principals and such as this 1869 Bulletin (George D. Phippen) of the Essex Institute. Felt's look at Salem has many references.

There was an Old Planters Society concurrent with the attention brought by the 300th celebration. The group seemed to have met regularly (meeting notice June 28, 1905 -- Dr Frank A. in attendance). Lucie M. Gardner (Dr Frank A's sister) wrote this report (notice the mention of pre-1630 for membership) for the Massachusetts Magazine.

Aside: A Balch family reunion (see Sarah) was recently hosted by Beverly Historical Society.

Remarks:

03/13/2023 -- See "New not old planter" post with regard to research findings. Thomas and Margaret have children registered in England until 1633. 

03/19/2022 -- Nice to see research on the family of John Tilly. NEHGR, Winter, 2022 has an article on John and his family by Clifford L. Stott. The title is "Rev. William Tilley of Broadwindsor, Dorset, and His Sons in New England: John, Nathaniel, and William." Identifies his child and more. 

01/12/2019 -- Dr. Frank (and Ann) are descendants of  Roger, to boot, through Lucy F. (Wilson) Gardner who had lots of Salem madness connections.

10/13/2014 -- Tabula raza, and more, will be of concern.

06/15/2013 -- John Farmer wrote that Thomas was from Scotland. Origins are, and will be, a focus. ... As of today, Historical genealogy is the all-time, most-read post. Coming in second is Old Planters, Beverly.

12/22/2012-- We need to differentiate between Old Planters of Beverly (see The Old Planters of Beverly in Massachusetts, 1930, Alice Gertrude Lapham, The Riverside Press) and the Old Planters of Massachusetts. One could even talk, Old Planters of New England.

05/01/2012 -- We'll need to talk singularity in the context of Alan. The computer has as many holes as do we; however, we can cut out of the fog. Genealogy (historic, biologic, and more) will be a basis for looking at this concept and its importance. That is a forward look. Going backward, we'll find a way to adopt memes, as a necessity. We are, one might say, meme readers. Too, we express what they convey. That is supposed to suggest something that we need to understand: parallel to we being expressions of our genes. Now, within that framework, our look back at Thomas is apropos.

05/01/2012 -- Will pull together sketches for those on the list. John Tylly has been mentioned, in brief. We'll try to find more about John (no offspring?). There is a lot of material about Woodbury, Conant, and Balch. I have seen some things about Norman and Allen, who both had offspring. It'll be interesting to read about the rest. Of course, verifying this list (or, at least, justifying it) is one necessary task.

05/01/2012 -- Backbone, in particular, this overview. Two things to be thankful for: Rev Hubbard's look back (his brief mention is sufficient) and the fact that the manuscript was not lost (otherwise, would Thomas had been even more unknown?).

04/30/2012 -- Major update to the post. Is the topic of interest in the context of the HSC?

04/26/2012 -- The sketches from the Great Migration data will be an interesting collection.

11/30/2011 -- Good description of the early voyages, including Popham's.

08/22/2011 -- John Tylly.

08/15/2011 -- Balch News link at the Beverly Historical Society has been removed. Added link to published minutes at Internet Archive.

05/24/2011-- capecodtoday (in The 'other' cape)  mentions Thomas Gardner.

05/15/2011 -- We will collect a representative example that will support future discussions.

Modified: 06/20/2023

The Old Planters Society

Thomas Wentworth Higginson was the first President of The Old Planters Society (TOPS) that instituted in 1899. Frank A. Gardner, M.D. was Vice-President. The members list consists of illustrious descendants of the early colonists (see below).

The following documents are found at archive.org.

• Constitution, pg 14
• By-laws, pg 17
• Officers and Early Members, pg 19

In the pamphlet, published June 19, 1900, there is an overview of the society (page 11) and its motivations. We have seen this mentioned elsewhere, but one purpose was educational. And, one focus was to get those here before 1630 included in historical looks, excluding the "Mayflower people." 

The Thomas Gardner Society, Inc. agrees with this view and will carry this forward using The Gardner Annals. The issue for Vol. IV, No. 1 is in preparation.  

In that same section, we find the reading list of the Society. These are on our bibliography, but we will be looking at them again. 

Finally, the pamphlet starts out with a talk by Col. Higginson. It was titled "The Alliance between Pilgrim and Puritan in Massachusetts." The TOPS published many talks which we will document. 

Of note, briefly, though, is that in 1900, Col. Higginson was 77 years of age. Many other members were elderly.

Dr. Frank and his sister were much younger. Too, later, Lucie M. Gardner was Secretary of the TOPS. TOPS published via The Massachusetts Magazine (started printing in 1908) while it was published. Lucie edited a section that was titled "Pilgrims and Planters" that reported on meetings of the TOPS, offered commentary, and gave notice of the activity of other organizations, such as the Balch Family Association and The Gardner Family Association. The TMM ceased publishing in 1918. 

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Earlier, we wrote of this group in a post (December 2012): Old Planters, Massachusetts. A corresponding post covered another group (May 2011): Old Planters, Beverly.  

Remarks: Modified: 11/20/2019 

06/14/2017 -- Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Bleeding Kansas. The Massachusetts Magazine (Vol. II, No. 2, pg 117)  reported that it was an official arm of the Old Planters Society.

06/04/2019 -- Sidney on the Old Planters Society via The Massachusetts Magazine. 

11/20/2019 -- Sidney on the Old Planters in his History of Salem (page 60).  Starting at page 68, Sidney publishes Dr. Frank's look at the early times of the Gardners.

Old Planters, Massachusetts

As suggested in the Wikipedia article, Old Planters (Massachusetts), there are many types of old planters. In the case of New England, this Wikipedia article needs to be expanded to include many other places, such as Boston.

Earlier, we mentioned Old Planters with the context of a reunion at Beverly. Too, we broached the subject while asking about the history of the area, essentially Essex county. Research, to date, seems to indicate that a recap of mentions of Thomas from early times on might be an appropriate undertaking.

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For this post, we'll make use of what might be the first publication of the Old Planters Society that was active during the early part of the 20th century. The book is on-line (archive.org, Google Docs): The Alliance between Pilgrim and Puritan in Massachusetts, 1900, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Salem, MA.

The book contains an address by Thomas, the President, to the Society in which he looks at cooperative efforts, and the influence thereof, between parties who ventured over. These parties would not have been so inclined to such behavior across the pond. In essence, the coming over brought forth means to establish a new society, albeit troubled in many ways. The topic will arise again, in regard to Thomas' and Margaret's lives, so we'll leave it at those few words.

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The real interest, at this point, is the summary of the Society which was instituted in 1899 (our task will be to pull together a more full history). Evidently written by Dr. Frank, the summary explicitly mentions Thomas. One thing in vogue then (many references which will be collected) was to cure the oversight of many people who were in the parties. That is, the historically covered people shadow the reality of the others (always has been the case - but, changes, such as we see with technology, indicate that this will not be so much so in the future).

See page 13; it says that "injustice" was done to some planters. It also uses sympathy which is not the intent here; rather, the focus is to establish a more full interpretation that removes the oversights, or, at least, explains their longevity.

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The book has the Constitution of the Society. Article III, Sect. 1. defines an old planter as follows: lineally descended from, in the male or female line, a proprietor, a planter, or other settler in New England prior to the transfer of the Charter of the Massachusetts Bay Company from England to New England, in 1630.

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The book lists the Officers and Members of the Society. Higginson was President. The VP was Dr. Frank. The following list is taken from the members' list and includes those who have Thomas on their application.

• Francis Ellingwood Abbot
• William Crowninshield Endicott, Jr   **
• Arthur H. Gardner
• Augustus Peabody Gardner
• Frank A. Gardner
• Maria T.A. Gardner
• Lucy Hall Greenlaw
• Henry Cabot Lodge   **
• Eben Putnam
• Frederick Ward Putnam

Some of the others may also be descendants (marked as **, we'll scrutinize the list, at some point) as they may only be listing a primary ancestor and not considering supplemental applications via other ancestors.

Remarks:

01/18/2025 --  Pageant of Salem is an exmple of the events from 1924. It provides a good view of the thinking at that time. Now, 100 years later, we know more since we have digitized copies of old documents coming on line. See this post: 250th and more. 

03/13/2023 -- See "New not old planter" post with regard to research findings. Thomas and Margaret have children registered in England until 1633. 

01/12/2019 -- Col. Higginson supported Kansas as a free state.

01/06/2019 -- At the 300th, there was a Pageant of Salem represented. In Volumes III and IV of The Gardner Annals, we printed the Table of Contents for all issues of The Massachusetts Magazine which last printed in January of 1918.

11/26/2016 -- In the next issue of The Gardner Annals, we will look at the editors, such as Lucie. M. Gardner. She was the sister of Dr. Frank.

04/02/2016 -- Last summer, we went through The Massachusetts Magazine (Vols I thru XI) versions that are available on-line. "Old Planters" was a regular section.

01/08/2013 -- Added a forum to facilitate discussion, etc.

01/01/2013 -- David Goss' talk at the 1999 Essex Society of Genealogists gives a perspective that also motivates. See the TGS bibliography.

12/25/2012 -- John Endicott knew Thomas to be exemplary (though, not military).

12/24/2012 -- Thomas, unlike Conant, was not overshadowed in the world of being. We'll spend some time characterizing this fact and what it means to reasonable folks. 

Modified: 01/18/2025

Great Migration sketches

We already have been using the six-pages about Thomas in the Great Migration books (NEHGS copy). There has been additional material published by the project.

Yesterday, I ran across this web site that is using Wiki technology to provide information about early entrants. Below is a link to the page dealing with Thomas. One of our goals will be to contribute to this site, especially on the Old Planters of Cape Ann. Notice the people who haven't been written up yet (Great Migration Study Project Sketches). This type of work represents how to apply technology to support genealogy via the web (On blogs and other modern means).

       http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Thomas_Gardner_%2818%29

We know that some old-world-based research will be required. For starters, we ought to look at work that has already been done (including mentioning that Frank left some notes -- where are those?). So, expect those findings to show up here.

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Not exactly an aside: Thomas' son, Richard, was said to have been considerably educated, and Thomas did do work that required literacy, etc. Richard must have gotten his learning from association with his parents. In fact, Thomas' son, Joseph, worked as a lawyer. There was no 'law' school here. No doubt, Thomas received some type of schooling. Where? But, the thing that looms largest is that Thomas was in an authority position in an endeavor that involved many families (about the investors). That type of responsibility being conveyed would not have happened with an unknown. Of course, Thomas was effective; there is more evidence for that than his descendants.

Remarks:

11/21/2019 -- We have used Dr. Frank as the focal for Gardner Research. There have been lots of updates on Dr. Frank: 1907 chart, WikiTree, Frank signed his father's copy of the 1907 book, and Dr. Frank's remains.

10/03/2014 -- Dr. Frank A. will feature in the future. Was he right about Thomas and Margaret (their marriage record found, recently)? Why did the Great Migration Project ignore him?

12/22/2012-- We need to differentiate between Old Planters of Beverly (see The Old Planters of Beverly in Massachusetts, 1930, Alice Gertrude Lapham, The Riverside Press) and the Old Planters of Massachusetts. One could even talk, Old Planters of New England.

11/28/2012 -- The above 'werelate' page has more information than that of Dr. Frank and the Great Migration Study which we'll have to scrutinize. The Wikipedia page, of course, is being edited by TGS, for the most part.

11/27/2012 -- Let's itemize what we know, re-iterate some basics, and the proceed constructively.

05/01/2012 -- We'll need to talk singularity in the context of Alan. The computer has as many holes as do we; however, we can cut out of the fog. Genealogy (historic, biologic, and more) will be a basis for looking at this concept and its importance. That is a forward look. Going backward, we'll find a way to adopt memes, as a necessity. We are, one might say, meme readers. Too, we express what they convey. That is supposed to suggest something that we need to understand: parallel to we being expressions of our genes. Now, within that framework, our look back at Thomas is apropos.

04/30/2012 -- Old Planters (seems to be one of the more popular posts) updated to use the list from the Winthrop Society.

Modified: 11/21/2019

John Tylly

John deserves recognition for several reasons, not the least of which is that no account of Thomas' and Margaret's arrival and subsequent time at Cape Ann can be complete without mentioning John. We'll look at his background which seems to be as unknown as Thomas' might be. We also know that John was killed in 1636 at the time of the Pequot War.

John was in charge of the fishing effort. There has been much written about Cape Ann, including White's little Plea. Some, including White, cast aspersions on those who were there. Others have offered a more reasoned view, as we see depicted in this chapter on the Fisher Plantation and this report to the US Treasury, 1853.

Rev. Hubbard on
Tylly and Gardner

By the way, William Hubbard (1621-1704), in his retrospective, was the first to mention John and Thomas. One can envision those in that later 17th century time asking what happened; that is, what were the real people doing during the time; that is, those who did not spawn off countless words during their time here.

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John and Thomas were part of the movement from Cape Ann to the Naumkeag area. Then, John seems to disappear. The Great Migration look (pg 1823) tries to make some sense. John was in the Dorchester area in the mid-1630s. He had a wife but no offspring.

John was active in coastal trade, seemed to go as far as Bermuda, and was killed in Connecticut as he tried to venture, despite warnings by Lion Gardiner, up the river to Hartford.

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All sorts of questions remain to be answered, and old Rev White isn't here to say. How did these two men become leads in an effort that had such importance? And, then be pushed aside so easily? Ah, many, many more questions.

As said before, 'speculation' requires magical gains. In less than a decade, Massachusetts was shipping tons of fish to Europe. How could this happen in a year's time? Even with the Plymouth help (as they were there in Cape Ann, to boot, hence the conflict that Conant is supposed to have avoided), how could one expect for gains to accrue so quickly?

So much to deconstruct here. Thankfully, some have already started. Winthrop, and perhaps Rev White, wanted theocracy as a way of life. Though they were ahead of their time, John and Thomas were seen as 'irreligious' according to some. Actually, events 100 years in the future showed these two to be on the right path.

Hopefully, time and resources will get some of these types of things better answered.

Remarks: Modified: 03/21/2022

05/01/2012 -- Interest in the Old Planters is being assessed. Also, we'll do a sketch of John at this site. 

12/22/2012-- We need to differentiate between Old Planters of Beverly (see The Old Planters of Beverly in Massachusetts, 1930, Alice Gertrude Lapham, The Riverside Press) and the Old Planters of Massachusetts. One could even talk, Old Planters of New England.

10/11/2018 -- Some argument over who was first, in New Hampshire. Rev Hubbard was mentioned. As mentioned, he was the first one to mention Thomas Gardner. Too, his manuscript, though written in the 1600s, was not published until about one hundred and thirty years later. And, we almost lost it due to the mob rioting and doing damage to Hutchinson's dwelling, which, btw, was the Governor's mansion. So,  the good Reverend the Rodney Dangerfield of his time?

01/07/2019 -- Add snip from Rev. Hubbard's history that mentioned Tylly and Gardner.

03/21/2022 -- Our first post on John Tylly was on 22 Aug 2011 when we were newbies. We just did another post today under the name of John Tilley which is how the NEHGR identified him in an article in their Winter 2022 issue. In that post we link to research on the other Cape Ann families. 

Cape Ann, Retrospective

Note (03/15/2023 -- See Old, and new, planter. 

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Cape Ann ought to get special consideration, in our view. The following is a brief summary that is meant to summarize some of the work done to date and to suggest further research and discussion.

Introduction

Europeans were early in the visitation of New England, including Cape Ann. John Cabot reported in 1497 about his journey along the North American coast. By 1517, dozens of ships were fishing along the Newfoundland banks. Later, England, Spain, Portugal and France accounted for over three hundred boats that were fishing in the area.

During the 1580s, Sir Walter Raleigh made his attempt to establish a colony at Roanoke in the area now known as North Carolina. John White, the governor, went to England for supplies. On his return in October of 1590, he found his colony deserted. The fate of those early colonists remains a mystery.

By 1600, thousands of English boats were fishing the bays and coves of New England. Captain Bartholomew Gosnold had the honor of naming Cape Code and Martha’s Vineyard. Gosnold found that the area was pleasant enough during the summer of 1602, with an abundance of fish, to attempt a colony that did not take hold due to several problems such as conflict with the American Indian population. 

Captain John Smith explored Maine in 1614 and suggested that the excellent fishing could be exploited by having stations. Also, he mapped out the area of Cape Ann (named by Prince Charles). 

The Plymouth experience was at a location not far from Cape Ann. Fishing crews from Plymouth did use the area for processing fish.

Cape Ann experience

In 1623/24, the Dorchester Company made an attempt to found a commercial venture in New England at Cape Ann. Thomas Gardner was in charge of the planting, according to Hubbard. A year later, Roger Conant came to the area as supervisor on the direction of the merchants in England. At that time, there had been growing conflict with the Cape Ann crew and those of Plymouth due to differences in opinion concerning who had authority in the area. Conant is noted as arriving in time to play peacemaker. Too, the venture never found commercial success.

The Cape Ann crew did succeed in establishing themselves, by the time of Conant’s arrival, by overwintering twice. A group had spent the summer of 1623 fishing in the area. Part of this group remained and awaited the coming of the party the next year. In 1624, a house was erected using, in part, material brought from England. Too, they planted crops which were sufficient to support the group given that we have no record of the deaths that occurred later when the influx swamped the local capacity to support the population.

This house, later, was seen by Higginson in Salem and termed the great house. Conant got access to the house upon his arrival. Prior to that, the occupants may have been Gardner and family. With Conant coming in to take charge, there was the first of several transitions in power that were to come.

Salem move (where was Thomas and his family?)

By 1626, Conant had determined that Cape Ann was not suitable for supporting the commercial expectations of the company. Hence, he asked for and got permission to move the Cape Ann crew to the area that became Salem. He and those who went with him were later to be called “old planters” to distinguish them from those newcomers who came after the arrival of John Endicott in 1628.  

Many have asked questions pertaining to the short list of “old planters” since many of the Cape Ann crew are not on the list. The Paine sisters, for instance, suggested that Thomas Gardner may have returned to the old country.  Other stories abound.

When John Winthrop showed up on 1630, his party stopped on Salem. They were welcomed with a feast, in the Great House. Too, the party went over to Cape Ann for strawberries.

A proper retrospective would have Thomas staying in Cape Ann, using the house, and keeping the plantings properly maintained. 

Old planters (Thomas not in the group)

Craddock wrote to Endicott that he ought to soothe the feathers of Conant and friends who had worried that they would lose their privileges of being free men. Each got a grant of a thousand acres. Thomas Gardner was not of that group of worriers.

When Endicott came over, he visited Cape Ann and saw the house which was occupied by Thomas and family. After the house was moved to Salem, Thomas would have moved with his family. In 1629, Endicott mentions Mr. Gardner in a letter to London.

Old Planter Society

In the latter part of the 19^th century, as the 300 anniversary of the arrival loomed, there was much interest in the colonial ancestors around and about the country. Many families got acquainted with their family history and wrote books.

Frank A. Gardner, M.D. authored a book on his genealogy. Too, he, and several illustrious colleagues were instrumental in establishing an Old PlanterSociety. Dr. Gardner also established the second try of the MassachusettsMagazine which published for ten-years. One section dealt with history and genealogy, including meetings of Societies. One discussion brought up during this time was that the Cape Ann crew had been forgotten in history and had not been given the proper credit. Also, Dr. Gardner tried to get Thomas Gardner and others on the old planter list.

The Old Planter Society became associated with the Balch family which has had regular meetings in Beverly over the years.

Retrospective

In review, we can describe how Thomas Gardner, with his family, remained in Cape Ann after Conant left with the “old planters” crew. There were plantings to attend. Too, the house which was the first two-story structure in New England would have been available.

One might consider that this “solitary” time on Cape Ann was the first example of an idyllic life experience. Essentially, there would have been no church and no preacher. There were peaceful relationships with the American Indians. Too, the area was still supporting fishing.

Hence, Cape Ann would have given us the first experience of the American Dream. That is, an effective pair of a man and his spouse in a non-turbulent environment would have been free to pursue those ideals we later see in writing.

The upcoming 400^th anniversaries ought to encourage re-looks such as this which represents the start of a series that will argue the importance of Cape Ann. 

Remarks: Modified: 03/25/2023

08/29/2016 -- More on Cape Ann, 1623.

06/06/2018 -- Need to prepare for 2023/4. Some, of literary inclinations, have looked back 200 years: American Jeremiad. But, we need to go back to the Cape Ann times and before.

01/05/2019 -- Enduring Gloucester. How did I miss this? Commented. I guess, the focus on the western expansion that still has tales needing telling. Wait, I did a post on a story about the beginnings. 

1623 to 2023

TL;DR -- It has been twelve years since we began our effort. The 400th is now showing on the horizon. It's time to stop, reassess, and prepare for the future. Definitely, we can compare what we know and how versus the comparable periods in the past. At the same time, the 500th and its requirements can be considered. As, a 100-years focus for a project has come forth as necessary for us to do technology correctly. That is one focus that we adopted. 

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In Massachusetts, Gloucester is starting their 400th in a mere 22 days. Can you believe it? Here is a link to the stories that they have been collecting at their site (www.gloucesterma400.org). 

When we started this work a decade ago, we had a lot to learn which entailed reading, on-line, in libraries, general books and articles, plus visiting places to get acquainted. Along the line, we have posted here plus put out the Gardner's Beacon and The Gardner Annals. And, we have corresponded with lots of people. We have two websites and several blogs. We wrote on existing topics (Charles Olson, Worcester born and of Gloucester by choice) and ventured into other areas, such as technology. 

Back then, our timeline started with 1624 as that is what Dr. Frank used in his books following work being done in England. Since then, there has been other work done that added more flavor. A crew stayed over for the winter of 1623/24 with an arrival the next spring of another group of ships (one of which was the Zouch Phenix). Thomas Gardner is mentioned as being on a passenger list, however there are arguments that claim no such list existed. Margaret Gardner was noted for not being the mother of the children mentioned by Dr. Frank. That was clarified further. 

We have more tools now, such as WikiTree's support for genealogy. But, we saw lots of other work and must gather these to create a view of the knowns as of this time, the 400th. We can remind ourselves that the 200th was coincident with the start of the new country, U.S. In that regard, we have been setting up means to know how New England's influence has evolved over the whole period since the colony started and from the beginning of the country that we know. That involves knowing more about the interior and its history. 

But, as we came through the years, things stood out so as to allow us to categorize. We will get into that further. But, let's mention some that will have continuing attention with a little commentary. 

• What we know -- We wrote on this, first, in 2012. It precipitated the creation of a FAQ.  We will continue that effort and keep this collection up to date. 
• What's new - This was an early effort and has been through several changes. One aspect that will be continued is the Recent finds overview. 
• Gardner's Beacon - We started with a PDF and a web page and have started to convert over to a database driven by one of the known platforms while keeping control via our own rented virtual server. The Gardner Annals has incorporated issues of Gardner's Beacon in a printed format. But, other approaches are being explored as we look for a good way to go toward the future. In any case, we will balance various media yet keep the printed variety present for several reason, such as support for research and its necessity for handling provenance. 
• Long reach of New England - This entails keeping aware of the many ways that life and changed over the periods since Cape Ann and the later Revolution. Not only must we consider the vast interior and its lure, but the scope is international as well. 
• But, Cape Ann and specifics - From details of Rev. John White to the families and their descendants (John Goff), there will be research to be done. Our interest runs from providing funding to coordinating presentation and analysis of results. 
• The Massachusetts Magazine -- Dr. Frank and friends published this periodical for over a decade which was to be the official voice of the Old Planters Society. Here are a few links to posts related to the Old Planters: Old Planters, Beverly (2011); Old Planters, Massachusetts (2012); "Old" in New England (2021). 

Needless to say, for the 300th, there was a lot of effort put into genealogical research and publication. As said, the 200th was overshadowed by concerns for getting the U.S. going properly. The 400th will be about history and bringing information into a better mode for continued work down the pike, which implies 100 years plus (we will cover this under technology, in contexts such as discussing content versus configuration). 

We are using 1624 as our date while being cognizant of the overwintering party. But, we have other commemorations that will ensue, such as the arrival of Roger Conant (1625) and the movement to Naumkeag/Salem (1626) with parallel efforts applied to the other locations where collateral families were involved early on (say, Ipswich).  

Remarks: Modified: 12/20/2022

12/20/2022 -- Gloucester is preparing for the kickoff of 2023. 

Theirs is the first commemoration in Essex County, MA. Which is our original focus, like this: Cape Ann (Glouceser), Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, New England. 

Aunts, Uncles, Cousins

1675: December 19 - Captain Joseph Gardner, who set out from his home on the present site of the Essex Institute, is killed. (pg 28, Chronicles of Old Salem, F.D. Robotti).

On that day, the colonists lost a lot of officers. The Great Swamp Fight was an engagement in the King Philip war. At this particular fight, 220 colonists were killed or wounded. John Goff and Julianne Jennings wrote about King Philip and the conditions that led to the war, earlier this year. As we noted, the Gardners, and others, had peaceful relations with the American Indian population on Nantucket.

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Looking at family history, and genealogy, can by transitivity be seen as obeying the 5th Commandment. In a more full sense, that would include all of the children of a couple. Many folk do not have progeny who are here now that would remember them. So, we'll be sure to start that, perhaps as a meme.

So, given the honoring of those without issue, we would have the aunts and uncles. Perhaps, by extensions, cousins without issue would be remembered, too.

Finally, friends of the family deserve attention, as we show below, with one example.

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Gardner's Beacon featured Joseph and his bride, Ann Downing, in the Valentine's issue. The couple lived in a great house that they received as a gift from her parents, Emanuel and Lucie (Winthrop) Downing. Joseph and Ann did not have issue.

When he died, Joseph left a widow, Ann. As the Beacon issue noted, Ann was very well educated. Yet, she, and her house, are now mostly known as having been associated with Gov. Bradstreet. It's interesting to note that Ann, prior to her second marriage, presented Simon with what was essentially a pre-nup. Was this the first of its kind on this continent?

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We have mentioned many times the fact that Thomas and Margaret have been written out of history (my take, personally -- various motives will, eventually, be conjectured for this). The tone of the current post is remembrance. One friend of the family is John Tylly who came over with Thomas and Margaret to Cape Ann. John was a co-leader. He was killed in 1636, as an early casualty of conflicts with the American Indian population.

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Genes and memes seem to be topics of increasing attention nowadays. Perhaps, the interest might be cyclic, such as the up rise in publications at century markings. Around the 300th anniversary of colonial times (plus or minus, of course), books on family and genealogy came into vogue and appeared in droves. Any large library has several thousand of these. We are coming up on the 400th anniversary. It'll be interesting to see how celebrations of the event unfolds.

Memes (to be discussed further) will be one key thing, IMHO.

Remarks:

12/23/2020 -- One might say, friends, too: Charles Alcott Flagg.  

06/25/2019 -- We have a few more examples of the forgotten. Of late, there was Lt. Benjamin West who was killed at Bunker Hill and forgotten. Prior to that, we were trying to count the number of lost graves in Essex County. Then, we have the travelers out west, such as Jedediah Strong Smith, except he did post some reports back east by courier. There were many lost a sea over the years.

01/18/2019 -- Add to the image index on our new site: TGsoc.org

03/11/2014 -- anceSTORY mentions that what is referred to as the Governor Bradstreet house (Simon's will says that he had a pre-agreement with Ann prior to marriage) has another story than suggested by Perley (and a study of Essex Registry of Deeds). Need to check this out.

12/24/2012 -- Thomas, unlike Conant, was not overshadowed in the world of being. We'll spend some time characterizing this fact and what it means to reasonable folks.

12/22/2012-- We need to differentiate between Old Planters of Beverly (see The Old Planters of Beverly in Massachusetts, 1930, Alice Gertrude Lapham, The Riverside Press) and the Old Planters of Massachusetts. One could even talk, Old Planters of New England.

Modified: 04/23/2021

New not old planter

TL;DR -- When we found the marriage record of Thomas and Margaret back in 2014, we also noted that records were being digitized. Of late, a researcher has gone through these records and found out that most of the children of Thomas and Margaret were registered in the records of the parish in Sherborne, Dorset, UK. There last child born that was in 1633. Seeth was born here in 1636. Shocker that this is, there are lots of open questions. So, we have research pending with regard to these. 

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The title catches the eye. Consider, it might (ought to) read: Old, and new, planter. The below sets the stage for discussing the future work .

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In 2014, researchers found a marriage record of Thomas Gardner and Margaret Fryer, in church records in a parish in Sherborne, Dorset, UK. At the same time, there were birth records found for the first three sons plus. Too, Margaret's family seemed to have been found. 

After letting the information sit in, we finally updated the profiles for Thomas (Gardner-159) and Margaret (Fryer-892) on WikiTree. That was prompted, too, with discussions about removing Margaret as the mother of the children. 

This is a list of what are known as G2G studies where people discuss issues and make determinations about how to update WikiTree. Then, they do the edit. These can be accessed from the WikiTree Profile of Thomas Gardner. 

Now, coming forward, this year a study was finished that went through the parish records. What was noted was that most of the children of Thomas and Margaret are listed in the parish records. How could that been if the family was in New England? The last child in England was 1633. Seeth was born here.

 

After some discussion, the Profile was rewritten in Feb of 2023 to remove associations of Thomas with the Dorchester Company. Too, it is assumed that the family came over around 1635 so that puts them in the Great Migration. 

So, look at Thomas' Profile to see what has been accepted as the genealogical record until we know otherwise. There are questions to answer. A main one is who was the Thomas Gardner who was here, before Roger Conant arrived at Cape Ann? 

We will get back to that. In the meantime, we will update material after we figure out a good approach to handling the change. His Profile is Gardner-924. 

Note: Bob Dunlap did the digging and reported on WikiTree. Joe Cochoit edited the profiles. 

Now, we titled this post "New not old planter" to point to continued work and discussion. We had two types of "old planters" with respect to Essex county. 

• Old Planters, Beverly -- were the group with Roger Conant when he moved from Cape Ann to Naumkeag. Gardner's name was not on that list. They got land. That always raised questions, some of which we will discuss, later. 
• Old Planters Society -- this group was started by Dr. Frank and Col. T.W. Higginson. They had regular meetings and reported via The Massachusetts Magazine. One way to characterize them to differentiate from the other group was by using Old Planters Of Massachusetts. This group was of those who were here prior to Winthrop's arrival in 1630 while not being associated with the Plymouth colony. 

One task will be to reorganize our information in order to ask the right questions for research. Some things will be known. Seeth was born here to Thomas Gardner and Margaret Fryer. Her record in in the Salem VR. 

Recently, we wrote of Margaret as a focus for research. That is still the case. Along with questions about Thomas, we have plenty to ask about Margaret and her family, too. For instance, was her brother in Gloucester? 

We have asked the question: Were there two Thomas Gardners? 

Remarks: Modified: 04/02/2023

03/14/2023 -- Pushed this to FB: TGS, Inc. page and the New England Family Genealogical and Historical group. ... Too, we will be updating, and redoing, the research topics and the rest. Cape Ann families still apply as a theme due to 2nd generation marriage of daughters of Thomas and Margaret to sons of these families. Too, some lineages will have these families. 

03/15/2023 -- We need to let this new information sink in. There are many more questions to replace those that might be answered. The FAQ will be updated. Does the gap (three years) between the birth of John and Samuel allow time for participation in the activity of the Dorchester effort at Cape Ann? Too, could Thomas Gardner not being in the "old planter" list indicate his status of having left after being at Cape Ann? Associated with this would be: what was the status of Margaret and the kids (Thomas, George, Richard, and John) while Thomas was away from Sherborne? Did the bap record for John indicate a delayed report by Thomas after he (or even they) got back? ... There will be more questions.

03/26/2023 -- See not Square one? We will rearrange the knowns and the discussion of the unknowns and what to do. Then, proceed from that place. We' ll put more effort into the 1st generation and the connection to the families of the time. 

Written out of history

Foreword (or forewarn): This is one of the backbone series. The post is motivated by thoughts related to material used for the coming Gardner's Beacon issue, which will be on houses from the early start.

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The effort at learning about Thomas and Margaret is about three years old. The main issue seemed to be that not much was known in the sense of mentions, in the writings, being sketchy, at best. That is, even though Thomas led the group into Cape Ann, not much was recorded. Mention of his effort came later with an early 18th century publication by Rev. Hubbard (saved from a fire, thank God for that!). John White mostly denigrated the crew (ah, we can write a bunch about that). What we hear about is the arrival of Conant (and Lyford), the move to what became Salem, and then post-Endicott times.

This message was apparent in retrospectives by several families, such as Woodbury, Trask, and more. The site for the John Balch house was a reminder. That is, on the write-up of this house, nothing is mentioned of Sarah, Thomas' and Margaret's oldest daughter. John's son came to Cape Ann with the party. As well, Sarah was born at Cape Ann (pre-Endicott Massachusetts). Sarah married Benjamin Balch. John Sr. gave the couple the house. Hence, I'll refer to it as Sarah's house.

Actually, the Beverly oversight (wake up!) is more appalling when you consider that John's wife came with him to Cape Ann. She and Margaret represented the females. And, they went through all of the same crap (perhaps more than) as did the men.

Also, we find this: When the company was recalled to England, the Balches, Roger Conant, John Woodbury, Peter Palfry, and others stayed in Massachusetts and moved south to Naumkeg, now Salem, in 1626.

Four families are mentioned here. Trask was left out. The 'others' would have included the Gardners. That story needs to be told; it's part of our task list. The Paine sisters, Thomas descendants, wondered if the family had gone back to England for some period of time. Had that been so, Woodbury, who did go back and forth, might have mentioned this. However, the Woodbury lookback doesn't mention Gardner, at all.

Too, Thomas' kids would have said something about going back. John, the Magistrate, would have known. So, too, would have his older siblings.

We ought to try to document the fact that, after the group moved, someone would have gone back and forth between Cape Ann and Salem. What is it? 17 miles or so? Look, the house was nice enough for Endicott to want it moved.

Too, and this is a big TOO, the group was NOT unsuccessful. Did Conant report that he found starving people? On the contrary, they were bolsterous enough to want to tangle with Standish and his crew. They had their food sources, dwellings (however meager), and themselves (true independent souls of the American which was to be).

What the group did not achieve was the capitalistic dream (and John White's, to boot) that, essentially, tries to get something for nothing. Yes, folks. The success of the model requires an unending supply of hapless exploitees. So, Cape Ann's little group was not able to ship back produce or seafood. But, they fed themselves.

In fact, that Thomas and Margaret got their nine kids to adulthood is evidence enough. They were very good parents. And, each of their kids was a healthy, and effective, adult.

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Another topic deals with the regime, and regimen, imposed upon the freedom-loving people. We all know the stories. But, Thomas' life, as a focus of study, will allow a re-look.

In 1637, when Thomas deigned (yes, used purposefully) to get himself drummed into the group mindset -- freeman's oath -- he did it for his kids. His boys were adults and needed the social involvement. You see. That is a long time after the 1626 move. Thomas had class, abilities, and showed self-reliance long before Emerson wrote about it.

It's telling that Thomas was made Deputy to the General Court, with Major Hawthorne, in the year when he took the oath. People wanted his involvement since he was an elder by action and more. For some reason, post 1637, his effort was local to Salem and the area. We can, and might, speculate about why this was so.

Again: Not a descendant. Objective third-party. However, married to one who has a whole slew of these folks in the ancestral tree.

Remarks:

06/25/2019 -- We have a few more examples of the forgotten (early on, we had Aunts, Uncles, Cousins). Of late, there was Lt. Benjamin West who was killed at Bunker Hill and forgotten. Prior to that, we were trying to count the number of lost graves in Essex County. Then, we have the travelers out west, such as Jedediah Strong Smith, except he did post some reports back east by courier. There were many lost a sea over the years.

07/12/2015 -- Of course, when Roger brought his people to Salem, Thomas was not there. Why? He and Margaret kept the Cape Ann house. Of course, when John Endicott came over, he saw Mr. Gardner in his nice house. John said, that is mine. Take it over to Salem. So, by splitting his time (Salem is not that far), Thomas had an idyllic time with his wife and kids; too, he had time to get himself and his family settled in the new realm.

07/12/2015 -- Okay, turtle speed. But, we get there. Announcing a new project: Sherborne, Dorset. No doubt, it is about time. When finished with the data collection and analysis, we will present the strongest story (the prerogative of the family) that the facts, and abductive reasoning, will support. As such, we hope to demonstrate some very much needed research viewpoints. ... This is a case of two Quakers being ignored.

10/13/2014 -- Tabula raza, and more, will be of concern.

07/17/2014 -- The book about the Invisibles (the unsung heroes) offers another viewpoint. Of course, it is set in the modern context. But, we all know that history covers only a fraction of reality. What we see now is that technology will allow us suitable ways to go back and fill in the blank slates.

11/13/2013 --  Phippen would be part of the slate fill.

11/06/2013 -- While working on the next Beacon issue, I ran across some books. The one by Staloff was timely; imagine, I was wondering why the backbone series? Has the talented set ever allowed the lessors to have some semblance of a good life? Oh, you say yes? Winthrop, et al, were against this from the beginning. The stalwart of what could be (or could have been)? Thomas Gardner, of course.

09/09/2013 -- Forgot to update this earlier. But, the post related to Gardner's Beacon, Vol. II, No. 6, discusses that Thomas had no shadow over him as was feared by some old planters (would Dr. Frank, today, still want to include Thomas in the group?).

06/15/2013 -- John Farmer wrote that Thomas was from Scotland. Origins are, and will be, a focus.

02/10/2013 -- Having finished a book on the 1692 events and doing a post on the subject, I can add to this look at Thomas. I've mentioned that he didn't queue right up to join the church and that he was recognized by Endicott. As well, he married a Quaker without any repercussions that we know of. Of course, his sons left the area due to the Puritanical (hypocritical) mindset.

01/01/2013 -- David Goss' talk at the 1999 Essex Society of Genealogists gives a perspective that also motivates. See the TGS bibliography.

12/24/2012 -- Thomas, unlike Conant, was not overshadowed in the world of being. We'll spend some time characterizing this fact and what it means to reasonable folks.

12/22/2012-- We need to differentiate between Old Planters of Beverly (see The Old Planters of Beverly in Massachusetts, 1930, Alice Gertrude Lapham, The Riverside Press) and the Old Planters of Massachusetts. One could even talk, Old Planters of New England.

12/19/2012 -- Sarah married Benjamin, son of John.

11/27/2012 -- Let's itemize what we know, re-iterate some basics, and the proceed constructively.

10/28/2012 -- September issue had a theme of houses.

09/13/2012 -- About Margaret. We'll honor her as the ancestor, with Thomas, of the Gardner family.

09/01/2012 -- Vol. II, No. 4 of Gardner's Beacon deals with houses.

Modified: 06/25/2019

Families at Cape Ann

Note (03/14/2023) -- See this post: New not old planter. 

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The post "Families at HSBG" looks at one of the cemeteries in Salem, MA and considers the burials in the perspective of family internments being scattered across several cemeteries. The idea is to bring these folks together into modern-media modes so that we can see the story. After a few of these studies have been done, we can discuss how to continue.

But, something comes to mind? Is there some comprehensive, coherent look at the families that were at Cape Ann? In particular, who was there early on? We have had some general looks so far: Cape Ann, Retrospective, et al. These were brief themes, dealing with specifics such as the living conditions, the house, the first year, and such.

At our portal, we have started little snippets related to this: https://www.tgsoc.org. There was one attempt at listing who was there when Roger Conant led some over to the area that became Salem (Old Planters):

• Allen, Balch, Conant, Cushman, Gardner, Gray, Jeffrey, Knight, Lyford, Norman, Oldham, Palfrey, Patch, Pickryn, Winslow, Woodbury. 

We looked at the Old Planters Society that was started by Col. T.W. Higginson and Frank A. Gardner, MD.

But, our interest here would be families. And, we might use Endicott's arrival as the cut point, for instance.  The Old Planters Society used the time before Winthrop and the area outside of Plymouth. Besides those from Plymouth, how many families were at Cape Ann, early? It looks like Margaret was with Thomas. Frances Rose-Troup also mentioned that there were two Thomas (father and son). The elder one returned to England. How many wives came? We know that Agnes Balch came with her husband.

And the view would be other than this -- The Making of an American Thinking Class: Intellectuals and Intelligentsia. No, we are looking at the doers. Early on, my thought would have been "backbone" which is an important contributing factor to any endeavor.

This look is another iteration however with more of a focus. It seemed like a good time to relook at what's available to see what we might have missed before. We found two books that we not noticed before. Each has a little about the early time before the Naumkeag move.

• History of the town of Gloucester, Cape Anne, including Rockport (1860)
• History of the town and city of Gloucester, Cape Ann and Massachusettts (1892)

Both mention Thomas Fryer (1860 -- pgs 69, 110, 203; 1892 -- pgs 26, 44, 90) who is thought to be the brother of Margaret. Of course, it has only been recently where we established good grounds for matching up Thomas and Margaret. That is, we started in 2010; we resolved the Margaret issues for ourselves in 2018 (actually 2014, but it took a while to settle in).

Besides books, there are many sites with information that needs to be considered. One example is a look at Roger Conant's contribution through street names in Beverly, MA. Then, we ran into a write up about Rev. John White who is not an uncle: John White, Patriarch of Dorchester. This post provided a good overview of the Cape Ann effort.

Again, we will be identify families and what happened. Example: John Tilly. But, too, we will summarize information for families such as that of Sarah (Gardner) Balch (February of 2011).

Remarks: Modified: 03/14/2023

03/01/2020 -- Image for the index added.

03/19/2022 -- Nice to see research on the family of John Tilly. NEHGR, Winter, 2022 has an article on John and his family by Clifford L. Stott. The title is "Rev. William Tilley of Broadwindsor, Dorset, and His Sons in New England: John, Nathaniel, and William." Identifies his child and more. 

03/04/2023 -- Thomas Gardner and Margaret Fryer and kids got here after 1630. So, not at Cape Ann. That is, the early sons. However, we can still do Cape Ann families as two of the daughters married sons of Cape Ann families, Conant and Balch. Plus, Ann as several of these families in her lineage. 

George D. Phippen

We have had the opportunity to reference Phippen's work before: Old Planters, Beverly. We, definitely, need to consider his work more, so this is a start.

Phippen seems to suggest the two Thomas situation in his look at the "old planters" for the NEHGS. Perhaps, he was following Felt. Was Phippen's write up of Thomas the first extensive one? If so, we'll have to thank him somehow.

See Phippen's take on the "old planters" in Volume 1 (1859) of the Historical Collections (go to page 190 for his write up on Thomas Gardner). Notice that he has the second Thomas being the father of most of the kids that we think about (see image).

Aside: Recall that Dr. Frank mentioned that he did not find any support for this claim. However, it will have to be re-addressed with new look at the matter.

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As we get more of these together, we might have to use categories. For now, we'll just gather former posts. Here are two that show the two Thomas Gardners: See the mention of Jamaica Plains, Benjamin Peirce.

Remarks:      Modified: 10/13/2014

11/13/2013 --  Phippen would be part of the slate fill. 

10/13/2014 -- Tabula raza, and more, will be of concern.

Call for articles, membership news

This is a call for articles for the upcoming issue of Gardner's Beacon, Vol. IX, No. 2 which we would like to have out before the 4th of July. One theme will be the Old Planters Society for which we will start a membership drive (snail mail, in the beginning) plus initiate a regular research focus under auspices of the Thomas Gardner Society, Inc. and Gardner Research. Too, we are in the process of planning a meeting.

• Post on the Old Planters Society which included a link to the Constitution, the By-laws, and a listing of Officers and Early Members. 

These are thoughts expressed at the first meeting of the Old Planters Society (see page 11 in the above post) with which we concur. 

At the same time, The Gardner Annals, Vol. V, No. 1, is being put together, and articles would be appreciated. Print copies are available for Volumes I & II and III & IV.

• Our publications. 

With regard to membership, we will publish details at our website: https://TGSoc.org as they are settled.  

Please write to John M. Switlik, President / Researcher, TGS, Inc. at inquiries@tgsoc.org.

Remarks: Modified: 06/05/2019

06/05/2019 -

No shadow over Thomas

I'm researching for the next Beacon issue which will have a brief timeline of the lives of Thomas and Margaret (it does a grand sweep of their times and after all the way to today). Hopefully, it'll point to areas where we'll focus effort in the future in order to expand upon the theme so as to leave the proper legacy.

I can thank Rev. Felt for phrasing some thought (read today) that I've had for three years in regard to Thomas (see Backbone series). That is, Felt gave me the proper concept to use. You see, how is it that there is such a lack of information? How can all of the written literature be so sparse in regard to his life over all of this time (from the beginning down to recent publications)? Even Anderson, et al, (Great Migrations) seems to write begrudgingly.

The below image is taken from Thornton's (1854) The Landing at Cape which tries to document the experience at Cape Ann (which has a bunch of unknowns). This book references Thomas only once as the plantation overseer, with Tylly, at Cape Ann. And, it is in the beginning, as in, pre-Conant. Other than that, there is nothing (based upon quick scan - so I may have missed something - the issue would remain, even so).

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Aside and disclosure: The wife of the blogger is a direct descendant of Thomas and Margaret, however she is also descendant of Conant and others of the old and new planters. One might say that I'm continuing Dr. Frank A.'s argument about the injustice, in general. We'll get to that in the Beacon issue.

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Felt writing
about Conant

Felt is talking about Roger's continuing displeasure at his treatment. But, the dear guy ought to have considered his treatment of Thomas and Margaret (he got the house!). The image quotes that Roger "retained a conviction of the great injustice done to him, even in his old age, and he could not refrain from reference to the neglect and ingratitude" referring to Endicott's arrival.

Notice that Felt says that "the new charter cast a shade upon Conant" which implies his followers (Balch, Palfray, Woodbury, Trask). A 1999 talk on the old planters of Beverly (we'll use this in the Beacon issue) said just that: Conant and his followers. These people worried that they might have been enslaved with the change in the power structure. It was so troublesome that Craddock had to address their worries, explicitly. Too, they were given the land in Beverly in order to bolster their spirits, so to speak.

And, old Thomas? Cool as a cucumber (as I've said, a guy who was effective, knew himself, and was the chief manifest'er of what was to become the American -- you think that London, et al, liked this?).

Now, none, nor any incident, that I can see, cast a shadow over Thomas. References to him imply dignity, respect, and more. On the other hand, he was ignored in writings, perhaps to put him in his place, as if that could happen.

Too, Thomas' stance was of the true American that we were to see develop over the succeeding centuries. One attribute of that stance was to be distant from the Churches (yes, plural -- ah, we can go on about that ad infinitum, but won't). Thomas was no follower; his blood and pedigree prevented that.

Now, too, his sympathy toward the Quaker thought, and the fact that his last wife was of that faith and that some of his sons were, to boot, talk of a mind that encompasses the shebang (put it this way: the every man view with both breadth and depth -- the latter, of course, meaning all classes -- those higher casting a shadow over the lower - hey, only those that you allow can cast a shadow over you). Yes, the Quakers were forward thinking and exhibited more than any a spirit of inclusiveness and peace (we'll have to get back to John Goff's take on King Philip -- we overlook, too much, our mistreatment of the American Indians - starting with whom? Endicott?).

However, we do not to want steal thunder from Gardner's Beacon. These topics all deserve careful study so that going forward we can have the proper view and respect for this UNKNOWN couple. As it says: honor thy father and thy mother (albeit transitively if necessary).

Remarks:

10/13/2014 -- Tabula raza, and more, will be of concern.

03/28/2014 -- See Vol. IV, No. 1 for a discussion of the movement from Cape Ann to Salem.

11/06/2013 -- While working on the next Beacon issue, I ran across some books. The one by Staloff was timely; imagine, I was wondering why the backbone series? Has the talented set ever allowed the lessors to have some semblance of a good life? Oh, you say yes? Winthrop, et al, were against this from the beginning. The stalwart of what could be (or could have been)? Thomas Gardner, of course.

09/09/2013 -- Forgot to update this earlier. But, the post related to Gardner's Beacon, Vol. II, No. 6, discusses that Thomas had no shadow over him as was feared by some old planters (would Dr. Frank, today, still want to include Thomas in the group?).

06/15/2013 -- John Farmer wrote that Thomas was from Scotland. Origins are, and will be, a focus.

03/02/2013 -- This may have appeared in another post, or Beacon. However, we'll repeat the thing here. When Thomas took the freeman oath, that is, that year, he was voted to the General Court with Hathorne (see above, another great-grandfather) who was a swashbuckler. It is interesting that Thomas, after that, kept a more local focus. There may be many reasons. But, getting up close with the clamorous ones may not have fit his mindset. You see. Throughout history, certain people get written about. Yet, in any situation, there are teeming amounts of more people who are not in the spotlight. Now, do you think that not having attention diminishes your being? If you say yes, let's have a little discussion. Of course, we would have to define, up front, whose attention. Social media comes to mind; frivolous content that invokes brain altering reactions (say what? -- I'm happy that I'm not susceptible, being too many decades old, long-in-tooth, if you would) to those who participate. So, back to Thomas and William. You see. John Endicott knew Thomas. John picked on poor Mary Dyer and others. William probably did similar deeds. Thomas? There are not bad tales. Too, and this is a big too, he deigned to be involved with people who were outcasts, namely the Quakers, as were his sons. Now, the sons left. Thomas was right there in Salem, of major stature in the phenomenal sense. Actually, his recoil (my take which can be explained) from the politicking tells a lot; it has a lot of meaning, not unlike George (the first Prez) stepping down even though he was adulated sufficiently for people to want him to be sovereign (thank you, George - for showing us that term limits ought to be part of the deal - professional politicians? say again?).

02/10/2013 -- Having finished a book on the 1692 events and doing a post on the subject, I can add to this look at Thomas. I've mentioned that he didn't queue right up to join the church and that he was recognized by Endicott. As well, he married a Quaker without any repercussions that we know of. Of course, his sons left the area due to the Puritanical (hypocritical) mindset.

01/01/2013 -- David Goss' talk at the 1999 Essex Society of Genealogists gives a perspective that also motivates. See the TGS bibliography.

12/25/2012 -- John Endicott knew Thomas to be exemplary (though, not military).

12/24/2012 -- We'll also point to academic studies, such as that shown in the image (Essex Institute and Johns Hopkins University). It says, don't look at the character (ah, John White? uncle? who needs enemies with family like that?) but consider the place as not appropriate (no aspersions meant for the lovely Cape and its environs).

Modified: 04/23/2021