Welcome! I really enjoy exchanging information with people and love that this blog helps with that. I consider much of my research as a work in progress, so please let me know if you have conflicting information. Some of the surnames I'm researching:

Many old Cape families including Kelley, Eldredge/idge, Howes, Baker, Mayo, Bangs, Snow, Chase, Ryder/Rider, Freeman, Cole, Sears, Wixon, Nickerson.
Many old Plymouth County families including Washburn, Bumpus, Lucas, Cobb, Benson.
Johnson (England to MA)
Corey (Correia?) (Azores to MA)
Booth, Jones, Taylor, Heatherington (N. Ireland to Quebec)
O'Connor (Ireland to MA)
My male Mayflower ancestors (only first two have been submitted/approved by the Mayflower Society):
Francis Cooke, William Brewster, George Soule, Isaac Allerton, John Billington, Richard Warren, Peter Browne, Francis Eaton, Samuel Fuller, James Chilton, John Tilley, Stephen Hopkins, and John Howland.
Female Mayflower ancestors: Mary Norris Allerton, Eleanor Billington, Mary Brewster, Mrs. James Chilton, Sarah Eaton, and Joan Hurst Tilley.
Child Mayflower ancestors: Giles Hopkins, (possibly) Constance Hopkins, Mary Allerton, Francis Billington, Love Brewster, Mary Chilton, Samuel Eaton, and Elizabeth Tilley.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

John Faunce ca 1608-1653, Plymouth, Mass.


John Faunce is another ancestor through my grandfather Arthur Washburn Davis. His last name is sometimes seen as Fance or Phance in records. He was born in England circa 1608 (based on estimated age at marriage). His origins in England are unknown, but there has been some speculation he was from Purleigh, Essex. He married Patience Morton in Plymouth about 1633. Patience was born in Leiden, Holland, about 1614, the daughter of George Morton and Juliana Carpenter.

Patience came to Plymouth with her family on board the Anne in 1623. They were members of the Separatists in Leiden. John Faunce was on board the same vessel.

John and Patience had eight children: Priscilla, Mary, Patience, Sarah, Thomas, Elizabeth, Mercy, and Joseph.

I have two direct lines from John, one through his daughter Priscilla who married Joseph Warren (son of Mayflower passenger Richard Warren) and the other through Mercy who married Nathaniel Holmes.

One of John's sons, Thomas Faunce, lived to almost 100 years of age, dying in 1746, and served as the Town Clerk and the ruling elder of the church. A well-known story originated in a talk given in the 19th century at Plymouth's Old Colony Club that at age 95 Elder Faunce was driven to town in an open wagon from Eel River and taken to Plymouth Rock. He told the people gathered there how he had talked to John Howland and his wife, John Alden, Giles Hopkins, George Soule, Francis Cooke and his son John, and Mrs. Cushman, born Mary Allerton, who "died but yesterday." All of these, he said, told him that upon that rock they had stepped ashore, and John Winslow's wife, Mary (Chilton) had come there on her 75th birthday and laughed as she stepped on the rock and said she was the first woman to have stepped on it. This story, relayed to posterity verbally by one who claimed to hear it from a person who had been in Elder Faunce's audience that day, is as far back as we can go to authenticate that what we call today Plymouth Rock was in fact the first land at Plymouth touched by the Mayflower passengers. Of course, many people today refute the claim, so perhaps Thomas was just a great teller of yarns.
Old postcard of portico over Plymouth Rock

John was literate as his estate inventory includes a Bible, but did not serve on many committees or offices. He is listed as being on a petit jury in Plymouth. James Freer Faunce wrote that that John was “stranger,” coming to Plymouth for business, recruited by the merchant adventurers who financed the colony, rather than religious reasons. This doesn’t make sense given his young age. He was said to have been close with the Francis Cooke family.

He received a land grant as a passenger of the Anne and purchased additional land during his lifetime. John Faunce died in Plymouth on 29 November 1653. An inventory of his estate was taken 16 December 1653 by Lt. Thomas Southworth and Nathaniel Morton. His estate totaled over 27 pounds, but did not include property, so perhaps he had already gifted it to his sons. The inventory did list two cows, five swine and a weaver’s loom. Patience was named to administer the estate.

Patience married, second, Thomas Whitney. She died on 16 August 1691, “being entered into the 77 year of her age."  

The burial locations of John and Patience are not known, but their son Thomas told Deacon Ephraim Spooner that his parents’ graves were leveled and sown over to conceal them from the Indians.

Sources not listed above:
Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins, 3:1715-8, 1995
James Freer Faunce, “The Faunce Family,” NEHGR, Volume 114, April 1960

13 comments:

  1. John was my 10 times great grandfather.I have recently followed my line. My last name is Hayden.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Chris - I recently lost my maternal grandmother who we found was married briefly to a Faunce and fathered my mother. In tracing his lineage - I can track it back to John Faunce of the Anne, Plymouth. I can claim Thomas as well! I also can track back my paternal grandmother's lineage back to The Kelley's. I am listed in an attachment to the American Ancestors and Descendants of Seth Kelly. We share several ancestors. I have an overwhelming desire to visit Cape Cod and visit all the sites you blog about. I was curious of there was any type of meeting or festivals - a good time to meet other geneaology seekers.
    I am curious if you are on Ancestry and if you have taken the DNA tests.
    Pam

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Pam, Congrats on your discovery! I'm not sure about meetings in the area. Plymouth has a Mayflower Society meeting each fall and although Faunces didn't come on the MF, they are such an old family. The Cape Cod genealogical society has monthly meetings with speakers. I'm not on ancestry and haven't had my DNA done, although I should! Chris

      Delete
  3. Enjoyed your blog. I am trying to look for James Freeman, Bourne, MA and Winifred Cole, also Bourne, Ma,They had 2 children, that I know of, Richard, and Everett Newcomb Freeman

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, I'm sorry but I don't know of the couple you are looking for. Chris

      Delete
  4. Same here and my second generation granddad was Joseph. My last name is Faunce.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I was wondering if anyone knows of an historical connection between the Faunces and the Hornblowers. (Not sure I spelled that correctly.) As a small child (early to mid 1950's) I summered with my great aunt Ann and uncle Walter Faunce at a cottage on the beach in Plymouth. I think they were the nanny and chauffeur to the Hornblowers as I frequently played with the Hornblower children at their grand house on a hill. After seeing Saints and Strangers on Tv recently, I looked up Plymouth Colony and saw the account of the elder John Faunce and also that the Hornblower family had historical and archeological interests and played a role in the development and financial support of the present day Plymouth Colony.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Greetings Chris,

    My name is John and I have been researching my genealogy for a few years now. About two years ago I discovered my ancestry back to New England through one of my mother's family lines. I share John and Mercy with you as well as Thomas so two lines from John and also quite a few others on your list such as William Brewster, George Soule, Isaac Allerton, Richard Warren, Peter Browne, Samuel Fuller & John Tilley. I look forward to reading your other posts.
    I also have a blog where I have been writing about my ancestral relations from both my mothers side and my fathers side. Not nearly as many posts as yours though. It seems we are related many times over. Though I have only recently discovered all of these ancestral connections, I feel in my heart that I have known about all of them forever. About a year ago I traveled to New England for the first time to research numerous ancestral relatives and in Plymouth and Marblehead and Cape Cod, I was drawn to places I didn't know existed and that were intimately connected to these families. The entire experience was so surreal. I would love to connect and converse further to see what other family names we may share. Warm regards....
    My blog is at: https://repinskifamily.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. John, Thanks for your note. Sounds like we are related in many ways. I grew up going to many of the towns my ancestors lived in, although I didn't realize that until many years later, but I always felt such a strong connection. The pull to these places is just amazing. Sorry for my very late response; I haven't consistently been getting notifications of comments so I'm trying to catch up now. My email is at the top left of the screen if you'd like to talk further. Chris

      Delete
  7. Thank you for continuing to publish this wonderful blog! I’ll be citing it and giving credit in my family genealogy documents.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Mary for your comment. I appreciate your crediting my work.

      Delete
  8. Hello Chris, I was delighted to find your blog. Just last night, my husband and I (who is a Faunce directly descending from John Faunce, 1623) were asking where was John buried? You have this little note at the end that his son Thomas said the graves were plowed and sown over for protection. Fascinating. I would love to know specifically what source you got that information from, and possibly how I might access it. I know this is long, but may I ask one more question? You wrote that it was unusual that he would be termed a "stranger" considering how young he was, and that he had also received a land grant "as a passenger on the Anne", and yet we have documentation that seems to indicate that he was indentured. It is curious to me that he could be both indentured and receive a land grant. Anyway, I guess I just need to start with James Freer Faunce's book. Thanks for "listening". And thanks for your blog. Jennifer

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jennifer, That comment about his grave is from the James Freer Faunce article in the "Register" that is noted under "sources." The Register is available at americanancestors,org, a subscription website, but maybe you could find it somewhere else. My comment about his being too young was referring to the claim that he came on behalf of the merchant adventurer but I could be wrong about that. I wrote this a long time ago, and now it seems unlikely to me he was indentured since he received a 1623 land grant. What have you found that indicates he was indentured? It would be interesting to find out one way or the other! If you haven't read it, there's a nice sketch on him in Robert Charles Anderson's "The Great Migration Begins." Chris

      Delete

I'm now moderating comments on this blog. My apologies for any ensuing delays, but the large number of "spam" comments have made this necessary. ~Chris