Jonathan Bumpus died 1847 and Martha Chubbuck died 1845, Wareham, Mass.

Jonathan Bumpus was born about 1769, likely in Wareham, Mass. He is my 5^th great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis’ side of the family. Bumpus is also seen spelled as Bumpas, Bump and Bompasse. For years I believed Jonathan was the son of Thomas Bumpus and Mercy Stewart, but that now appears incorrect. Paul Bumpus, Historian General of the Mayflower Society, is working on updating the Bumpus Genealogy and believes Jonathan's parents were incorrectly transcribed on his death record  and were Jos & Mercy, not Thos & Mercy. This means that Joseph and Mercy (Haskins) Bumpus are the more likely parents. Exactly how Joseph descends from Edward 1 Bumpus/Bompasse isn’t known with certainty. Don’t you just hate when there is one iffy generation in an ancestral line?

What I do know is Jonathan was born about 1769 and married Martha Chubbuck on 7 January 1790 in Wareham. I haven’t been able to find Martha’s parentage. There were early Chubbucks in Hingham, some later in Wareham and also a slight variation on the name, Churbucks, in Wareham.

Wareham Congregational Church, Images of America

I have seen information online that has Martha, daughter of Benjamin Chubbuck and Ruth Besse, born Wareham 1741, married Nathan Muxhom and Jonathan Bumpus. This is impossible as the dates are way off for a woman born 1741 to marry Jonathan as her second husband. She is also called Martha Chubbuck, not Martha Muxhom, at her marriage to Jonathan.If anyone has information on Martha’s parents, I would love to hear from you!

Based on her age at death, Martha was born 29 February 1764.

Jonathan and Martha had eight known children, likely all born Wareham:

Olive P. born 16 July 1790, married Shem Bumpus, died Wareham 28 September 1864

Etsil born 12 April 1794, married Lucy Smith, served War of 1812, died Wareham 1 December 1851

Jonathan born 2 March 1795, married Ruth Pierce, died Wareham 19 September 1874

Hosea born 20 May 1797, married Delia Bennett, died Wareham 20 January 1863

Ruth born 2 February 1802, married Jonathan Bumpus, died Wareham 10 May 1866

Rowland Sturtevant born 20 January 1804, m. Lucy Nye Pierce, died Wareham 29 April 1853

James born 11 March 1810, married Ruth Bumpus, died Wareham 27 July 1866

Martha born 3 June 1811, married Charles Bumpus, died Wareham 6 March 1865

I descend from Rowland Sturtevant Bumpus, whom I wrote about here. It’s certainly a confusing family to research with all the Bumpuses (Bumpi?) married Bumpuses and multiple women named Ruth Bumpus!

Lucy and Rowland (thanks to Laurie Howland)

Lynne Albert Bumpus wrote that Jonathan was a miller.

Martha died 5 April 1845 in Wareham. According to her death certificate (which does not list parents)  she was age 52 years, 2 months, 25 days, died of  Influenza, was born and died Wareham, wife of Jonathan Bumpus. Her age at death didn’t make sense, but it appears the clerk made an error and that she was age 81y 1m 6d. The 52 years of age comes from the next entry in the vital records.

 Jonathan died in Wareham on 5 February 1847.

Gravestones for Martha and Jonathan do not survive.I would guess they are buried at Agawam Cemetery in Wareham, which is the final resting spot of many of their family. 

Sources Not Listed Above:

Col. Leonard H. and Norma H. Smith, Records of the First Church of Wareham, MA, 1739-1891, Col. Leonard H. Smith Jr. and Norma H. Smith, 1974

Daisy Washburn Lovell, Glimpses of Early Wareham, 1970

Lynn Albert Bumpus, A Genealogy of the Descendants of Edouad Bompasse of the Ship Fortune, 1986, which Paul and Stephen Bumpus have made available online at http://www.bumpusgenealogy.org/LAB/dexlex2.

Mrs John Barclay, The Bumpus Family of New England, The American Genealogist 43 (1967).

Joshua Wixon b. 1695 Eastham, MA and Hannah Baker

I don’t have a tremendous amount of information on Joshua Wixon, who is my 7^th great grandfather on my grandmother Milly (Booth) Rollins’ side of the family, but thought I would share what I have thus far.

Joshua was born at Eastham, Mass. on 14 March 1694/95, the son of Barnabas and Sarah (Remick) Wixon. His last name is spelled in multiple ways including Wickson, Wixson, Wixam and Wixom.

Joshua married, first, Hannah Baker on 9 March 1714/15 in Yarmouth. They were married by Peter Thacher, Justice of the Peace. Hannah was born 1696 in Yarmouth, the daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth (Chase) Baker. Only the year of her birth is given in the Yarmouth Vital Records. Hannah was about 19 years old at marriage and Joshua was almost 20.

Joshua and Hannah had a son, Reuben, born in 1717. I descend from Reuben who married Dorcas Chase. I wrote about that couple here.

I have seen other researchers attribute additional children to the couple: Hannah, Daniel, David, Robert and James, but I do not know the source for these children and would appreciate hearing from someone who knows more.

Hannah Wixon, the wife of Joshua Wixon, died 27 November 1730 in Yarmouth (Yarmouth VR).

In December 1731, probably at Yarmouth, Joshua married Elizabeth Chase. Their marriage intentions were published at Yarmouth on 4 Dec 1731. The intention of marriage between “Joshua Wixson of yarmouth and Elezebeth Chase of Harwich” was recorded at Harwich on 18 December 1731.

Elizabeth was born 13 December 1718, Yarmouth, the daughter of William and Dorcas (Baker) Chase. Her birth is from Yarmouth VR but the William Chase article noted below has her birth as 6 October 1718.

Joshua and Elizabeth had seven children, whose births were recorded in Yarmouth Vital Records: Isabel, Zilpha, Barnabas, Sarah, Dorcas, Joshua, and Solomon.

Joshua Wixon of Harwich petitioned for relief from the ministerial tax as a Newlight or Separatist with 30 others. It was presented to the General Court in June 1749. Joshua Wixon, Elizabeth Wixon and Isabele Wixon were listed as members of Rev. Joshua Nickerson's Newlight Church in Harwich in February 1749. The Newlighters, generally called Baptists,  embraced the revivals that spread through the colonies during the First Great Awakening in the mid 1700s. Rev. Jonathan Edwards was concerned with New Englanders preoccupation with wordly wealth.

Beginning in 1749, in what is now Dennis, Mass., Joshua Wixam was a Representative to the Court for two years and a Selectman for five years.

Joshua witnessed Silas Baker’s 26 May 1751 will, written in Yarmouth.

I have read that Joshua, Elizabeth and their children became Quakers and removed to the Oblong, now a part of Putnam Co., New York, but I don’t have a source for this. If they did move there, it would explain the lack of information on their deaths as it's referred to as a "black hole" for records.

Map showing the location of the Oblong

Elizabeth was mentioned in her father William Chase’s September 1771 will as Elizabeth Wixom.

 

Sources Not Listed Above:

George Walter Chamberlain, complier for John Carroll Chase, NEHGR January 1933, Some of the Descendants of William Chase of Roxbury and Yarmouth, Mass.

CW Swift, Publisher, Library of Cape Cod History and Genealogy, The Baker Family of Yarmouth, Descendants of Francis, No. 73, 1912

Josiah Paine, A History of Harwich, 1937

Robert Cushman 1577/78-1625 and Sarah Reader/Reder (ca 1580-1616) of England, Holland and Plymouth, MA

Edit, February 2018: A recent discovery by Michael Paulick and Robert Cushman shows Robert Cushman died in Benenden, Kent, in May 1625. I discuss their recent NEHG Register article here. 
 

I’ve barely scratched the surface in learning about Robert Cushman, due in part to there not being enough free hours in the day to do research, but thought I would share what I have learned so far. We are snowed in today, so what better time for genealogy?!

Robert Cushman (his last name is spelled in quite a variety of ways including Coachman and Couchman) is my 12th great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Davis’ side of the family. He did not come to Plymouth on the Mayflower but was one of the group’s leaders at Leiden, Holland. Robert was chosen Governor of the Speedwell, the ship that was making the journey to Virginia with the Mayflower, but it was not sea worthy and had to turn back. When it could not be satisfactorily repaired, some of the passengers were crowded onto the Mayflower, but Robert stayed behind. It is believed that his declining health was the main reason. In a letter to Edward Southworth in August 1620 he wrote that he thought he was close to death.

Robert came to Plymouth with his 14 year old son Thomas on board the Fortune in 1621 and was a Deacon of the church. In 1623 Robert Cochman is included in the division of land at Plymouth, receiving one acre as a passenger on the Mayflower. He was not a passenger on the ship but since he stayed behind because of the issues with the Speedwell, the leaders must have felt him deserving of the land. It seems his primary reason for the brief trip to Plymouth was to obtain signatures on articles of agreement that the Pilgrims had refused to sign the year before, which showed his excellent leadership skills. He also was to accompany goods on the return trip to give to the Merchant Adventurers as part of the agreement to finance the settlement. Perhaps he also went to make sure Thomas was amongst the Pilgrims given his father’s poor health. He also gave a sermon on the first anniversary of the Pilgrim’s landing. There is more about that below.

He was baptized at Rolvenden, Kent, England on 9 February 1577/78, the son of Thomas and Elinor (Hubbard) Couchman.

St. Mary's Rolvenden Church, Kent

Robert married, first, at St. Alphege Church, Canterbury, Kent on 31 July 1606, Sarah Reader/Reder, daughter of Thomas.  

Robert and Sarah had three children:

Thomas b. St. Andrew, Canterbury, Kent, 8 February 1607/8.

Child, buried St. Peter's, Leiden, 11 March 1616

Child, buried St. Peter's, Leiden, 24 October 1616

Sarah was buried St. Peter's, Leiden, on 11 October 1616. Perhaps she died in childbirth as she had a child buried 13 days later.

I descend from Robert’s son Thomas, whom I wrote about here. My direct line from Robert and Sarah is:

               

1      Robert Cushman       1577/78 - 1625

+Sara Reder      - 1616

2      Thomas Cushman    1607/08 - 1691

+Mary Allerton        1616 - 1699

3      Thomas Cushman    1637 - 1726

+Ruth Howland        1646 - 1672

4      Robert Cushman       1664 - 1757

+Persis Lewis   1670/71 - 1743/44

5      Ruth Cushman  1700 -

+Luke Perkins  1695 -

6      Ignatious Perkins     1720 -

+Keziah Davis  1724/25 -

7      Ruth Perkins    1752 - 1799

+Jesse Pierce    1747 - 1824

8      David Pierce    1773 - 1820

+Desire Nye     1771 - 1858

9      Lucy Nye Pierce      1809 - 1896

+Rowland Sturtevant Bumpus   1804 - 1853

10    Mary Briggs Bumpus        1840 - 1916

+Seth Washburn       1828 - 1921

11    Charles Francis Washburn        1857 - 1941

+Hattie Maria Benson      1861 - 1914

12    Carrie Clyfton Washburn 1896 - 1974

+George Brewster Smith   1895 - 1913

13    Arthur Elmer Washburn Davis 1913 - 1976

+Mildred Louise Booth     1917 - 1999

14    Robert Davis Rollins        1934 - 2005

+Marie Frances Johnson  

15    Me

Robert married, second, at Leiden 5 June 1617, Mary (Clarke) Shingelton from Sandwich England, widow of Thomas Shingelton. She apparently died before 1621 as there is no evidence she came to Plymouth or any mention of children. 

Robert was a grocer in Canterbury and a woolcomber at Leiden. He was clearly a well-educated man, as seen by his literate and businesslike letters to John Carver, Edward Southworth, William Bradford and the Leiden congregation, as well as in his role with the Separatists. 

Canterbury Cathedral Archives contain records of libels involving Robert Cushman from 1603. Libels were derogatory verses posted on church doors throughout Canterbury, County Kent. A push to identify and arrest the persons responsible resulted in Robert Cushman, who had been apprenticed as a grocer to George Masters since 1596, to be deposed regarding his involvement in the libels. It seems that Robert Cushman wrote several libels and delivered them to Peter Masters, son of George the grocer. Peter then took them to Helkiah Reader, son of Thomas Reader, to post on church doors. Others accused of being involved in the scandal included Thomas Hunt, Nicholas Gibson and Joseph Tilden. Hunt, Reader and Cushman were imprisoned in the Westgate Prison in Canterbury. Tilden was Robert's step-brother, through his father's marriage to Ellen (Cowchman) Evernden. A couple of years after the depositions, on 31 July 1606, Robert Cushman married Sara Reader/Reder, sister of Helkiah Reader, and daughter of Thomas Reader.

Robert was excommunicated for not recognizing the Church of England and spent time in a cell of Canterbury’s West Gate Towers. He later fled to Holland. 

Westgate Towers houses a museum

  

Beginning in 1617 and continuing until his death, Robert spent much time in London and vicinity negotiating on behalf of the Leiden congregation and later on behalf of the settlers in Plymouth. He, John Carver and William Brewster labored constantly in their dealings with a number of London merchants, arranging for the shipping and provisions for the Mayflower and the Speedwell in 1620.

 

About 1619 Robert Cushman, then the Pilgrims' agent in London for the Mayflower voyage, wrote a 63 page book called The Cry of a Stone. It was not printed until 1642, about 17 years after his death, but it was probably read by others in manuscript form during his life. It provides a unique first-hand account of the Leiden years. He viewed his membership in the Pilgrim Church as "the neerest fellowship that the Saints can have in this world, and most resembleth heaven." Cushman probably first joined the Pilgrim Church in Leiden about 1609. His name on the title page is spelled Coachman.

Robert did not stay long in Plymouth. He returned to England on the Fortune on December 13, 1621. On the voyage home, the vessel was captured by the French and plundered. Robert was take to France and after two weeks he was released and returned to England where he acted as a financial agent for the Pilgrims.Fortunately, the signed articles of agreement and the manuscript of Mourt's Relation, which was written to assure the Merchant Adventurers of the success of the colony and attract new settlers, were not lost.

 

In London around 1621, he published a pamphlet on Emigration to America, in which he highlighted the advantages of the new country. In 1622 he printed the first sermon he preached in Plymouth in December 1621 on "Sin and Danger of Self-Love." This sermon was reprinted in Boston in 1724, in 1780 and in 1785. Interestingly the principal intent of the sermon was to convince the Pilgrims to accept the terms offered by the London merchants, and was therefore more of an economic than a theological nature. Also in 1622 he published an eloquent vindication of the colonial enterprise and an appeal for missions to the North American Indians.

  

In 1623 in connection with Edward Winslow, he obtained a grant for the territory of Cape Ann in Massachusetts from Lord Sheffield and there a group made the first permanent settlement in Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Documents in the High Court of Admiralty Case of Stevens and Fell vs. the Little James, 1624 includes testimony from Robert Cushman of Rosemary Lane, London, yeoman, aged 45 or thereabouts.

Robert Cushman's signature, source Mayflower Descendant Spring 2011

Robert Cushman died in London in  the spring of 1625 after contracting the plague. In early 1626 Myles Standish returned from a trip to England and "brought them notice of the death of their ancient friend Mr. Cushman, whom the Lord took away also this year."Robert requested that William Bradford “Have a care of my son as of your son,” which Bradford accomplished as Thomas grew up to become the ruling elder of the church.

Although he is buried half a world away, there is a monument in his honor erected at Burial Hill in Plymouth. 

Cushman family monument at Burial Hill, 2012

The monument to Robert reads:

Fellow exile with the Pilgrims in Holland,
Afterwards their chief agent in England,
Arrived here IX November, MDCXXI,
With Thomas Cushman his son:
Preached IX-. December,
His memorable sermon on “the Danger of self-love
And the sweetness of true friendship:”
Returned to England XIII December,
To vindicate tho enterprise of Christian emigration;
And there remained in the service of the Colony Till MDCXXV,
When, having prepared to make Plymouth His permanent home.
West side: –
He died, lamented by the forefathers
as “their ancient friend, – who was
as their right hand with their friends
the adventurers, and for divers years
had done and agitated all their business
with them to their great advantage.”
“And you, my loving friends, the adventurers
to this plantation, as your care has been first
to settle religion here before either profit
or popularity, so, I play you, go on. –
I rejoice — that you thus honor God
with your riches, and I trust you shall be repaid
again double and treble in this world, yea,
and the memory of this action shall never die.”
Dedication of the Sermon

A book Cushman ancestors would be interested in is Robert Cushman of Kent, by Robert E. Cushman and Franklin E. Cole. I purchased it last year and it is in my pile of books to read!  

You can also download Robert’s sermon on The Sin and Danger of Self-Love through googlebooks.

  

Sources Not Listed Above:

Mary Sherwood, Pilgrim: A Biography of William Brewster, 1982

Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins, 1995

Michael R. Paulick, "Pilgrim Robert Cushman's Book, The Cry of a Stone," and "Canterbury Cathedral Archives, Robert Cushman's Libels of 1603," Mayflower Descendant, Vol 60, Issue 1, Spring 2011

Caleb H. Johnson, “Documents in the High Court of Admiralty Case of Stevens and Fell vs. the Little James, 1624,” Mayflower Descendant, Vol 60, Issue 1, Spring 2011

Paul Sears (ca 1637-1708) and Deborah Willard (ca 1645-1721), Marblehead to Yarmouth, Mass.

Paul Sears was born about 1637 (based on age at death) in Marblehead, Mass., the son of Richard Sears and Dorothy Jones. Sears is spelled in a variety of ways including Seers and Sayers.

Paul married Deborah Willard around 1658, likely in Yarmouth. She was born before 14 September 1645 (date of baptism) in Scituate, the daughter of George Willard and Dorothy Dunster. Paul and Deborah Sears are my 8th great-grandparents on my grandmother Mildred (Booth) Rollins' side.

Deborah and Paul had 10 children, born Yarmouth:

1.      Mercy, born 3 July 1659

2.      Bethia, born 3 January 1661/62, married John Crowell

3.      Samuel, born January 1663/64, married Mercy Mayo, died West Brewster 8 January 1741/42

4.      Lydia, born 24 October 1666, Thomas Snow and Eleazer Hamblen

5.      Paul, born 15 June 1669, married Mercy Freeman, died Yarmouth (now Dennis) 14 February 1739/40

6.      Mary, born 24 October 1672, married John Knowles, died Eastham 7 November 1745

7.      Ann, born 27 March 1675, married John Merrick, died Truro 14 November 1745

8.      John, born 1677, married Priscilla Freeman, died West Brewster 9 April 1738

9.      Richard, born abt. 1680, m. Hope Howes, died Chatham 24 May 1718

10.  Daniel, born abt. 1682, m. Sarah Howes, died Chatham 10 August 1756

I descend from Richard and Hope. I wrote about them here.

He took freeman’s oath in 1657 at Yarmouth, served as a fence viewer, juror, and was an Ensign and Captain in the militia. He was in court litigation for trouble with an Indian called Felix. Paul Sears made claim for a horse lost in the Narragansett War (i.e. King Philip’s War), although there are no records of his service.

In 1679 he was one of five chosen by Yarmouth "to look out, cut up and secure to the town such whales and whale bone as by God's providence" were cast up on land. Payment was five pounds "blubber or oyle" per whale. Shore whaling was a lucrative business.

On the first of March 1676/7, John Wing and John Dillingham, on behalf of themselves and others associated with them (viz., Thomas Clarke, Kenelm Winslow, Paul Sears and Ananias and Joseph Wing) purchased of Robin (Indian), of Mattacheese, of Samson, of Nobscusset, and Panasamust, his wife, and of Ralph, of Nobscusset, and Menetatomust, his wife, other daughters of Nepatian; all that tract of land, both upland and meadow, which they had in common or partnership lying in Saquetucket in the liberties of Yarmouth between the place commonly called Bound Brook on the west, and the middle of Saquetucket river on the east. In this purchase John Wing was to have a third part of four shares. The division was made, and the land was deeded to each April 16, 1677/8. The land lies within the limits of the present township of Brewster.

Paul was one of the original proprietors of land in Harwich between Bound and Stony Brooks, known as Wing's Purchase. The deed from John Wing et al to Paul Sears et al was dated 16 April 1677, recorded at Plymouth.

On the 15th of March 1680, it appears from the town records that an agreement was made with our neighbors, the purchasers or proprietors of the land between Stony Brook and Bound Brook, subsequently signed Ananias Wing, Paul Sears, Kenelm Winslow and John Dillingham, Jun., on the one part, and by John Thacher and others on behalf of the town.

There is a 10 June 1679 deed from Major William Bradford to Paul Sears acknowledging the earlier agreement between their parents for 40 acres of land at Harwich (now Brewster) that Alice Bradford sold to Richard Sears. Alice was the wife of Plymouth Colony and Mayflower passenger Gov. William Bradford. The land was easterly of Quivet Creek his son Samuel Sears spent his adult life on this land.

           

He was named in his father’s 10 May 1667 will, sharing land with brother Silas and brother-in-law Zachary Paddock. He and his mother presented inventory to the court on 15 Nov 1676, called eldest son of Richard in court document and will.

Paul's 1708 will is recorded Barnstable Co. probate records, Records, Vol. 3, Page 334-7. He left property valued at over 467 pounds to loving wife Deborah and sons Samuel, Paul and John. Mentions land in Harwich left to Samuel where Samuel's house now stands adjacent to Kenelm Winslow’s land and a remarkable rock. He also gave Samuel a pot and kettle and charged him with payment to brothers Richard and Daniel towards their purchase of land at Monamoy, "forty and two pounds." Paul received meadow adjacent to Joseph Sears and Zacchariah Paddock. The rest of the homestead, except 16 acres given given to Samuel, given to John. Moveable estate all given to Deborah to divide among daughters at her death.  Bequests to daughters (no names listed) were only noted as  "such parts or portions as I was able or thought fitt." Son Samuel and wife Deborah named Exec. Bears his mark. Witnessed by John Thacher, Zachariah Paddock, Samuel Howes.

Inventory by Peter Thacher and Kenelm Winslow, total over 445 pounds. Items included apparel, money, four beds, bedstead, curtains and valance with bolsters, pillows, coverlets and sheets, table and chairs, andirons, trammels, iron pots, pot hooks, tongs, fire flue, iron kettles, skillets, frying pans, brass kettle, warming pan, stillyards, chests and boxes, spinning weels, pewter platter, plates cuts and pots, kookers, pails, trays, trenchers and spoons, table linen and towels, saddle, bridle, pilyon, cloth, flax and linen yarn, candlestick lamp, draving knife, axes, sickle and hoes, sifting trough, 5 washing tubs, knife, scissors, looking glass, stal and feathers, iron wedge, iron to cart, plow, spade, and staple, 4 bushels rye, 24 of Indian corn, 3 of wheat, powder horn, bullets and sword, grindstone and tin ware, 2 oxen, 5 cows, 2 steers, 2 yearlings, a bull and one horse, 3 swine, 25 sheep, housing, lands and meadows at value of 350 pounds, 3 acres of English corn upon the ground not appraised. Dated 8 April 1708.

Paul Sears died 20 February 1707/08 in his 70^th year, Yarmouth, Mass. He is buried at the Ancient Cemetery in South Yarmouth. His original gravestone survives and there is a large Sears family monument erected by descendants.

Paul Sears' stone at Ancient Cemetery, Yarmouth

His original granite stone is decorated with a skull and wings and other engravings. It reads: "Here lyes the Body of Paul Sears who Departed this life February ye 20th 1707/8 in ye 70th year of his age." Directly behind his stone is the large Sears monument placed there by a descendant. It reads: "Sacred to the memory of Paul Sears, second son of Richard Sears, Born in 1637 married Deborah Willard and died in Yarmouth 1707.” I took photos of both stones in 1999.

Sears monument with Paul's original stone in front

Deborah died Yarmouth 13 May 1721. She is likely buried next to her husband, but there is no surviving stone.

Sources Not Listed Above:

Josiah Paine, A History of Harwich, 1937

Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins, 1995

Simeon Deyo, History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1890

L. Ray Sears, Sears Genealogical Catalogue, 1992