Origins of The Mayflower's John Alden and Priscilla Mullins

 

52 Ancestors:   Origins

Origins of The Mayflower’s John Alden and Priscilla Mullins

John Alden and Priscilla Mullins, my 9^th great grandparents, were two of the people on the historic 1620 voyage of the Mayflower from England to what would be the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  John and Priscilla are well-documented in American history.  They had 10 children and many descendants; in fact, there is an organization called Alden Kindred of America (alden.org) today which, among other things, preserves their house in Duxbury, MA. 

The Mayflower, credit BBC. 

Much of the story of their voyage is already well known.  The Mayflower carried 102 passengers and 30 crew from Southampton, County Hampshire, England bound for the Colony of Virginia but was forced by storms to anchor at Provincetown on Cape Cod, Massachusetts in November 1620.  John was a signer of the “Mayflower Compact,” a pledge to govern themselves by law and order, sometimes viewed as a precursor to the US Constitution. John chose to stay with the Pilgrims and not return to England with the Mayflower.  Half the crew and 49 passengers died the first winter, including Priscilla’s parents and brother, leaving her with no family members.  But what were John and Priscilla’s origins?

First, it is important to know that while Priscilla and her family were Pilgrims (wanting to separate from the Church of England), John Alden was a crew member on the Mayflower.  So, they stepped aboard the historic ship for very different reasons.

Priscilla was born in Dorking, County Surrey England, in 1602, which made her 16 or 17 years old at the Mayflower sailing.  Multiple documents indicate that this family, as well as other Pilgrim families, were recruited for the sailing by Thomas Weston of London Merchant Adventurers. 

Twenty-one at the time of sailing, John Alden was probably born in Harwich, County Essex, England in 1599.  John was hired as a “cooper” or barrel maker for the ship, which was a critically important position as barrels held drinkable water and other provisions, and his carpentry skills were very desirable during voyage and later.  Some genealogists think John was from a group of Aldens in Southampton and some claim he was from the Aldens of Harwich.  To my eye, the preponderance of the evidence favors Harwich.  Mayflower’s Captain Christopher Jones was from Harwich and the Mayflower’s homeport was Harwich, so on balance I attribute John’s origins to Harwich, County Essex.  Diving into the conflicting research on John’s origins could be another good project for another time. 

County Surrey and County Essex are known as "home counties" in the United Kingdom because of their proximity to London. 

Let’s take a closer look at Surrey and Essex Counties where Priscilla and John originated.  Both counties are what is known as “home counties” in the United Kingdon because they are close to London, with Surrey to the southeast and Essex to the northwest of London.  In today’s modern world, Surrey and Essex could be regarded as London suburbs with many people commuting into London.

Surrey is a land locked county, bordering the River Thames.  It has very strong ties to London by proximity and economics.  One historical note of interest is that King John signed the 1215 Magna Carta in Runnymede, which is in the northern part of County Surrey.  With not especially fertile soil, sheep predominated in Surrey and therefore woolen cloth manufacturing was a key industry for centuries in Surrey.  Now, the economy, heavily influenced by nearby London, is driven by financial services and a large number of company headquarters. 

Essex borders the North Sea.  The northern part of the county is agricultural while residents in the southern part of the county typically work in London.  The Port of Harwich is in the northeast tip of the county, right on the North Sea, and has a long history of ship building.  For some time in the 1600’s, Harwich was designated a Royal Naval Dockyard.  Harwich is only about 30 miles from another port city, Ipswich in County Suffolk, which is much larger now and was the launching point for many ships that sailed to the colonies in the Great Migration in the later 1600s. 

Celia Crehan Clarke: A Strong Woman Surviving Adversity

 

What Ancestor Would I Like to Meet?

 

This week’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks prompt is which ancestor I would like to meet and this is an easy question for me.  The choice is a strong woman, my paternal great grandmother and I still have many questions about her. 

Whenever I see that Ancestry television commercial that features a woman saying she wants her children to know that they come from strong ancestors, I always think of Celia Crehan Clarke.

Celia Crehan was born in County Galway, Ireland and came to the US probably sometime in the 1880s.   That’s one question right there:  when and where exactly did she arrive?

She married Lawrence Clarke in Chelsea, a suburb of Boston on January 31, 1883 according to their marriage record.  Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective, suggested the one photo I have of Celia is very probably a wedding photo.   I love this photo and have it in a silver frame, with appropriate documentation inside of course, and keep it on my dresser as a daily reminder about strong women. 

 Celia Crehan Clarke (1859-1898)

Their first child, Thomas Lawrence Clarke, was born in November 1883 in New York City.   Thomas was my grandfather.   What prompted their move from Boston to New York City? 

Celia and Lawrence had 4 children between 1883 and 1887:  Thomas, John, Hugh and Cecilia.  John has been a particular problem for me with close to negligible documentation; was John born in 1884 which is my best calculation so far?  John was somebody who appears to have been unsure of his birth year, with various birth years appearing in the few censuses in which he can be found.  Even his 1942 draft card shows a birth year of 1888, which is impossible given the other children’s births and the father’s death.   I sometimes think that the trauma surrounding John’s childhood made him not want to remember any details in adulthood. 

The two youngest children, Hugh and Cecilia, both died very young and only from cemetery records at Calvary Cemetery in Woodside, Queens County, New York, can I conclude that they were probably born in 1886 and 1887 respectively.  The cemetery records have the year of interment and the age but not the date of birth.  There are no New York City birth or death records for these children and I would want to ask Celia why there are none. 

Similarly, there is no New York City death record – or it cannot be located - for the biggest trauma to this young family, which was the early death of the father, Lawrence Clarke, in October 1887.  Family Search shows a record in “New York, New York city Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949” database but numerous attempts with NYC Department of Records & Information Services (DORIS) have turned up the dreaded “not found” response.  I sometimes wonder if my DORIS account has a ’frequent customer’ flag on it.   The exact chronology of the series of deaths was deduced from the Calvary Cemetery records and it is hard to believe what Celia had to contend with in such a short period of time. 

First was the death of Baby Hugh in July 1887, which prompted Lawrence to purchase the cemetery plot.  Three months later, Lawrence is laid to rest in the very same plot.  Then Baby Cecilia is buried in 1888 at age 8 months.  

 

The address on 120th Street in Harlem where Celia raised her two boys for eleven years.  Photo from the 1940s obtained from New York City Historical Records Digital Collections https://www.nyc.gov/site/records/historical-records/collections.page

Celia raised the two remaining boys, Thomas and John, as a widow on 120^th Street in Harlem for eleven years until her untimely death from pneumonia at the age of 39 in February 1898.  How did she overcome the obstacles she must have faced?   Did she really work for Consolidated Edison, or “Con Ed” the electrical utility company in New York City, as my family history notes from the 1970s indicate?  These notes are fifty years old but all other information that I have been able to verify has turned out correct.  If she did not work for Con Ed, how did she support the boys? 

If I could talk with Celia, I would want her to know that these boys grew up to be happy and successful men with families of their own.  Thomas had a long career with the U.S. Army and John worked for the City of New York.  And I would tell her that granddaughters of both Thomas and John met in 2022 through a DNA test and talk on the phone every holiday and have zoom calls together!   That would be a fun conversation. 

Lastly, yes, I would have to ask Celia about her parents.   I have the names on her death certificate but there were many men with her father’s name in County Galway and I’m not sure my assumption is correct.   Finding that connection to Ireland would be the question at the top of my list and at the same time, I am grateful for what I have learned about Celia.  

 

 

 

 

Joseph Barney: A Revolutionary Ancestor Who Is "New To Me"

 

 The reason for beginning my genealogy journey twenty years ago was to prove a family story that my mother’s Woodward line was descended from a Revolutionary War solider from New Hampshire.  The family story proved true and the soldier had three brothers that also served, as well as a father who is a recognized patriot for his service on Hanover, New Hampshire's “Committee to Procure Men for Service,” as well as other war-related endeavors.  This Woodward clan provided an abundance of riches as I learned over the years, with loads of military records and meticulously documented New England vital records. My definition of genealogy work, in my mind, rested on the foundation of this enormous find.   I never dreamed that there could be more Revolutionary War ancestors in my future.  

Like many of you, with the extra time available during the pandemic, I took an extra look at my family trees.  Although I thought I had done a good job researching women in my tree, and I wanted to believe that I had done an exemplary job, when I was honest with myself, I spent more time on the surname-consistent men.  So, I used a lot of this pandemic time to explore many of “the wives.”  

One woman I had neglected was Charlotte Barney (1821-1897) who married Edwin C. Woodward, both from Castleton VT, in 1839 in Granville, New York which is just over the NY/VT border.  Charlotte’s line also had lots of Ancestry hints and easy documentation.  Her parents were Joseph Barney V and Olive Fisher who are buried in Castleton’s Old Congregational Cemetery with exceptionally tall headstones.   

The very tall headstone for Charlotte's father, Joseph Barney V ((1780-1827), at the Old Congregational Cemetery in Castleton, Vermont.  

  Charlotte’s paternal grandfather easily came up as Joseph Barney IV, another Revolutionary War soldier.   Born in Rehoboth, Bristol County, Massachusetts in 1755, he was exactly the right age to actively fight in the war.   Joseph was a Minute Man from Rehoboth and then entered and served as a Sergeant in Capt. Nathaniel Carpenter’s Company, Col. Simeon Cary’s Regiment, including service at Harlem Heights and White Plains in New York.   Joseph later moved to Rutland, Vermont after the war.   He died in 1836 at the age of 80 and is buried in Rutland’s West Street Cemetery.  

 

My 'new to me' Revolutionary War ancestor, Joseph Barney IV (1755-1836).  The newly replaced stone is from the Veterans Administration and the remnants of the old stone are preserved behind the new stone.  Work courtesy of Vermont Old Cemetery Association.

Here was a Revolutionary War ancestor that was “new to me” in 2021.   Finding another Revolutionary War ancestor was motivation for our next trip to Vermont and New Hampshire, which we completed in August 2022.  Not only did we visit Joseph’s resting place but we saw the replaced headstone which the fine folks from Vermont Old Cemetery Association (VOCA) applied for, on his behalf, from the US Veterans Administration.  VOCA works to encourage the restoration and preservation of neglected and abandoned cemeteries in Vermont; visit their website at voca58.org for more details of their year-round work. 

 

Monument to veterans of the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican War and the Civil War at West Street Cemetery in Rutland, Vermont. 

 Lastly, we were surprised and pleased to learn about the monument to all veterans buried at the West Street Cemetery.  VOCA had also worked to have a special monument placed for them, at a prominent position close to the entrance.  Through the blessings of alphabetization, Joseph Barney’s name occupies an eye-catching place on this monument. As so often happens in family history work, I found a new ancestor and met many wonderful and helpful people along the way.