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.