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Biography
- Myles Standish, Born Where? The State of the Question: Part 1
- Myles Standish, Born Where? The State of the Question: Part 2
- Myles Standish, Born Where? The State of the Question: Part 3
- Myles Standish, Born Where? The State of the Question: Part 4
- The Carpenter Sisters of Leiden
- Isaac Allerton in Marblehead, New Amsterdam and New Haven
- John And Elizabeth Howland
- Here Lyeth Richard More
- Reflections on Isaac Allerton
- Robert Cushman: The Man Who Would Have Signed the Mayflower Compact But Couldn't
The Carpenter Sisters of Leiden
by Robert Jennings Heinsohn, Ph.D., SMDPANo, the Carpenter sisters (Mary, Alice, Juliana, and Priscilla, Agnes) were not a Pilgrim vocal group; rather, they were five sisters in John Robinson's congregation in Leiden who (or their children) became important members of Plymouth during its formative years. After 1620 four of them traveled to Plymouth where three married former Leiden men. A great deal has been written about the prominent men in Plymouth, but far less has been written about their wives. The women raised the children, maintained hearth and home, and sustained family life under the harsh physical conditions of the early years. The presence of families in Plymouth was one of the reasons the colony was more successful than other English settlements containing only men.
There are thousands of Carpenters in the America that can trace their ancestry to 17th century Carpenters of Philadelphia, Rehoboth and Providence. The Philadelphia Carpenters arrived in the 1680's while the Providence and Rehoboth Carpenters arrived in the 1630's and have the common ancestor William Carpenter (ca 1540-1590). William Carpenter(1.0) descended from Carpenters dating back to John Carpenter (b 1303) who was a member of Parliament in 1323. William(1.0) had three sons: Alexander(2.2) Richard(2.3) and William(2.4). All were Separatists. Alexander(2.2) died before 1620 but left five daughters, four of which, married prominent men in Plymouth. Richard(2.3) never left England but his son was one of the original settlers of Providence, RI. William(2.4) was obliged to leave England for a short time in 1638 and his son was one of the original settlers of Rehoboth, MA.
The purpose of this article is to describe the relationship between the Carpenter sisters of Leiden and their cousins Richard(2.3) and William Carpenter(2.4) who are the ancestors to the Providence and Rehoboth Carpenters in America. The genealogy shown below is of (1.0) William Carpenter (ca 1540-1590). Since families used the same first names over and over again, it is necessary to number family members and distinguish one from another in the text by superscripts.
1.0 William CarpenterALEXANDER CARPENTER(2.2) — "LEYDEN CARPENTERS"
born – ca 1540, Delwyne, England
died – 1590 England
married –Abigail __ (1532 - 1590), Delwyne, England
Children
2.1 James – inherited his father's estate and remained in England
2.2 Alexander Carpenter – "Leiden Carpenters"
born – ca 1560, Wrington, Somerset, England
died – 1612 Leiden
married – Priscilla Dillen
Children
2.2.1 Juliana (1583 - 1664/5)
2.2.2 Agnes (1585 - 1615)
2.2.3 Alice (1590 - 1670)
2.2.4 Mary (1596 - 1687/8)
2.2 5 Priscilla (1597 -1689)
2.2.6 William (b 1599, died early)
2.3 Richard Carpenter – "Providence Carpenters"
born – 1575, Amesbury, England
died – 1625, England
married –
Children
2.3 1 Fridswith (d 1671)
2.3.2 Joseph
2.3.3 Ephrain
2.3.4 Lydia
2.3.5 Timothy
2.3.6 William (one of the original settlers of Providence RI)
born – Amesbury, England
died – 1685, Providence
married – Elizabeth Arnold (1611 - 1688)
Children
2.3.6.1 Joseph (1635 Amesbury England - 1683)
2.3.6.2 Lydia (ca 1638 Providence, RI -1711)
2.3.6.3 Ephrain (b 1640, Pautuxet, RI)
2.3.6.4 Timothy (ca 1643 Pautuxet, RI - 1726)
2.3.6.5 William (ca 1645 Pautuxet, RI - 1676)
2.3.6.6 Priscilla (1648 Pautuxet, RI - 1690)
2.3.6.7 Silas (ca 1650 Pautuxet, RI - 1695)
2.3.6.8 Benjamin (ca 1650 Pautuxet, RI - 1711)
2.4 William Carpenter – "Rehoboth Carpenters"
born – 1576 England
died – after 1640
married – Abigail _
Children
2.4.1 William Carpenter (settled in Rehoboth in 1640 with his wife and four children)
born – 1605 England
died – 1658/9 Rehoboth, MA
married – Abigail Searles (1606-1686/7)
Children
2.4.1.1 John (b ca 1628 England -1695)
2.4.1.2 William (1631/2 England - 1703)
2.4.1.3 Joseph (1633 England - 1675)
2.4.1.4 Hannah (1640 Weymouth, MA - 1673)
2.4.1.5 Abigail (1643 Weymouth, MA 1643 - 1709/10)
2.4.1.6 Abiah (b Weymouth, MA 1643)
2.4.1.7 Samuel (1644 - 1681/2)
The Carpenter sisters were the daughters of Alexander Carpenter(2.2). Alexander(2.2) and his family were members of John Robinsons congregation who moved to Leiden. Three of Alexander's daughters married in Leiden. One of these married daughters died without children but the remaining four immigrated to Plymouth after 1620 and occupied important positions in the civic life in Plymouth.
(2.2.1) Juliana married George Morton, in Leiden in July 1612. Juliana and George and their children arrived in Plymouth in 1623 probably aboard the Anne. Morton was one of the authors Mourt's Relation the first account of life in Plymouth written to entice Englishmen to settle in Plymouth. George Morton died in 1624 and Juliana married Manasseh Kempton but had no children by him. In the 1627 cattle division, Juliana, Manasseh, and her children by Morton (Nathaniel, John, Ephraim and Patience) were listed in Bradford's company. Juliana's oldest son Nathaniel was born in Leiden in 1613. In 1647 Nathaniel became clerk of the Plymouth court, a position he held until his death in 1685. Throughout his life, Nathaniel held strong opinions that influenced civic life in Plymouth. Juliana died in 1664/5 and Nathaniel died in 1685.RICHARD CARPENTER(2.3) — "PROVIDENCE CARPENTERS"
(2.2.4) After the death of her father Alexander, Mary Carpenter cared of her mother in Leiden. After she died, William and Alice (Carpenter) Bradford wrote to Mary in 1645 asking her to come to Plymouth to live with them. Mary immigrated to Plymouth but never married.
(2.2.3) Alice Carpenter married Edward Southworth in Leiden in 1613. Edward died before 1620. After the death of his wife in 1620, William Bradford wrote to Alice inviting her to come to Plymouth. She arrived on the Anne in June 1623 and married Bradford in August 1623. Alice's two sons by Southworth, Constant (b 1614/6) and Thomas (b 1616/20), moved to Plymouth in ca 1628 to live in Bradford's home. Three sons were born to Alice and William Bradford: William, Mercy and Joseph. William later served as assistant to his father.
(2.2.2) Agnes married the widower Dr. Samuel Fuller in Leiden in April 1613. They had no children. She died sometime before 1617 and Samuel Fuller married Bridget Lee in Leiden in 1617. Bridget arrived in America in 1623 aboard the Anne. Fuller was a signer of the Mayflower Compact and served the colony as surgeon, physician and church deacon. Bridget was the colony's midwife and thought to be a deaconess as well. Fuller died in Plymouth before the cattle division in 1627.
(2.2.5) Priscilla arrived in Plymouth after the cattle division of 1627. She married William Wright in Plymouth after 1627 but before 1633. William arrived in Plymouth on the Fortune in 1621 and assumed leading roles in Plymouth affairs but unfortunately died in 1633. Priscilla married John Cooper in 1634. John Coopers sisters, Ann and Lydia Cooper, married Ephraim and Nathaniel Morton. John and Priscilla moved to Scituate where he was constable in 1639. They later moved to Barnstable where he was a deputy in 1642. Johns will is dated in 1676.
Richard(2.3) had six children and died in England in 1625. One his sons William(2.3.6) married Elizabeth Arnold and immigrated to Hingham, MA in 1635 and moved to Providence in 1636. William(2.3.6) and his father in law, William Arnold, were members of Roger Williams congregation and among the twelve men mentioned in the Initial Deed of 1638 between Roger Williams and the Indians and the patent granted by Governor (General) Andros in 1661. Roger Williams and the twelve men established the First Baptist Church in America. In time William(2.3.6) was allotted a large tract of land called Pautuxet, RI, which today is called Cranston, RI. In the affairs of the colony no man enjoyed the confidence of Roger Williams more than William Carpenter(2.3.6).
Elizabeth Arnold was the daughter of William Arnold who arrived in New England in 1637. William Arnold was in Roger William's congregation and a proprietor of Providence mentioned in the Initial Deed of 1638. William Arnold was a descendant of a distinguished family from Wales. Members of the Carpenter and Arnold families were the largest landowners and principal taxpayers of Pautuxet. Their children were born in Pautuxet and occupied prominent positions in the civic life and commerce of Providence.
William Carpenter(2.3.6) was a prominent citizen in Providence and served on several commissions to layout roads, boundary lines, locate buildings and bridges. He was elected to the General Court (1658-72) and as assistant and deputy to the General Assembly in 1679. His counsel was sought at the outbreak of King Phillip's war in 1676. The years of 1675-77 were years of terror. By March 1676 only one house was standing between Providence and Warwick, RI. In January 1676, 300 Indians attacked William's (block) house, set it on fire and killed all his livestock. Two members of his household were killed including his son William(2.3.6.5).
William(2.3.6) died in 1685. He left houses and distributed his substantial land holdings to his descendants and their children. As the last survivor of the thirteen named in the Initial Deed of 1638, he conveyed deeds to heirs of his fellow proprietors that had been owned jointly by the proprietors. William(2.3.6) and Elizabeth had eight children. Their eldest son, Joseph(2.3.6.1) owned a corn mill in Warwick. In 1663 Joseph and three Coles brothers (sons of Robert Coles one of the proprietors of Providence mentioned in the Initial Deed of 1638) bought approximately 3,000 acres in Oyster Bay, NY from the Indians to build a corn and lumber mill in what is now called Glen Cove, NY. Joseph(2.3.6.1) married his cousin Hannah(2.4.1.4), daughter of William(2.4.1) in Rehoboth. After her death, he married Francis Weeks daughter of Francis and Elizabeth Weeks also original members of Roger Williams congregation. Joseph(2.3.6.1) had many children and over the next 100 years his descendants settled throughout Long Island, and in counties east and west of the Hudson River.
WILLIAM CARPENTER(2.4) — "REHOBOTH CARPENTERS"
William(2.4) and Abigail, and his son William(2.4.1) and his wife Abigail Searles and their four children arrived in America in 1638 aboard the Bevis. William(2.4) and Abigail returned to England on the return voyage of the Bevis. William(2.4.1) and his family settled in Weymouth, MA where he was admitted a freeman in 1640. William(2.4.1) was a close friend of, William Bradford in Plymouth whose wife Alice(2.2.3) was his cousin. In 1641/2 William(2.4.1) and others received permission from the General Court to buy a tract of land from the Indians, eight miles square, which became the town of Rehoboth. He moved his family to Rehoboth in 1643 and admitted a freeman in 1645. William(2.4.1) was a leading citizen of Rehoboth and chosen proprietors' clerk in 1643 and clerk in 1649. He conducted much of the town's legal business. He was a member of the committee that laid out the road to Dedham, MA. In 1655 and again in 164(5?)7 he was the director of Rehoboth. He also owed land in Pautucket, RI. William(2.4.1) died in Rehoboth in 1659.
Samuel(2.4.1.7) was the youngest of William's(2.4.1) children, and lived and died in Rehoboth. Samuel(2.4.1.7) was one of the purchasers of the north division of Rehoboth and received land in the division of 1671. A second son William(2.4.1.2) was church deacon and Rehoboth town clerk in 1668. In 1656 and 1668 William(2.4.1.2) was deputy to the General Court. He was a man of some education and showed evidence of superior ability. His home was on the road from Rehoboth to East Providence. He had several children who remained in Rehoboth to occupy prominent positions in the community. Descendants of William(2.4.1) remained in New England for many generations.
CONCLUSION
The genealogy of Carpenters in America is huge, but I suspect that most readers do not know that they are related to five Carpenter sisters from Leiden who married leading men of Plymouth. The history of the Providence and Rehoboth Carpenters in America is well documented but the relationship between the Carpenter sisters of Leiden and the ancestors of the Providence and Rehoboth Carpenters in America is less well known. The accomplishments of all the Carpenter descendants in 17th century New England was great and deserves to be recognized.
Bibliography
Carpenter, A. B., Genealogical History of the Rehoboth Branch of the Carpenter Family in America Brought Down from their English Ancestors, 1898, available from Higginson Book Company, 148 Washington Street, PO Box 778, Salem MA, 01970 (see also www.higginsonbooks.com)
Carpenter D. H., History and Genealogy of the Carpenter Family in America from the Settlement at Providence R.I., The Marion Press, Jamaica, Queensborough, NY (available from Higginson Book Company, 148 Washington Street, PO Box 778, Salem MA, 01970, see also www.higginsonbooks.com)
Stratton E. A., Plymouth Colony, Its History & People 1620-1691, Ancestry Publishing, Salt Lake City, UT, 1986
Churchill, W. S., History of the English-Speaking Peoples, published1955, Barnes & Noble edition, 1995