John Tinkham and Anne Gray of Plymouth and Kingston, Mass.

My apologies for my long absence.  Our daughter was married last weekend, so life has been busy but so incredibly joyful! Happy Mother's Day!

 

John Tinkham was born Plymouth 27 March 1689, the son of Helkiah Tinkham and his wife Ruth whose maiden name is unknown (some have given it as Cooke but that seems to be incorrect). Tinkham is spelled in a variety of ways including Tinkam and Tinckum. John was a direct descendant of Peter Brown of the Mayflower.

On 30 December 1714, John married Anne (sometimes seen as Anna) Gray. Anne was born at Plymouth on 5 August 1691, the daughter of John and Joanna (Morton) Gray.  Anne was a direct descendant of Mayflower passengers Mary Chilton and her father James.

John and Ann had six children born in Plymouth:

Mary born 25 June 1718

Edward born 2 February 1719/20

John born 17 November 1721

Ephraim born 25 March 1724

Ann born 6 August 1726

Joseph born 14 May 1728

I descend from their daughter Ann who married Samuel Fuller, a direct descendant of Mayflower passengers Samuel Fuller, Francis Eaton and John Billington.  

John and Anne removed to Kingston, Mass. They are buried there, at the Old Burying Ground which is behind the First Parish Church on Main Street. 

First Parish Church (current building), Kingston

John died on 12 May 1730 at age 41. Ann died later that year, on 6 September at just 39 years of age. I have yet to visit the cemetery to photograph their gravestones, but I hope they are still intact and legible. They left their five children, ages two to ten, as orphans. Their daughter, Mary, died in July 1730, at age 12. It seems likely a terrible illness had befallen the young family. I know smallpox was an epidemic at the time, but do not know if it struck the small town of Kingston. On my list of things to do is to search court records to see if they shed any light on who became guardians to the children. My Tinkham research is relatively new and a definite work in progress! I’d love to hear from other descendants with an resource suggestions. Most of my limited information is from Plymouth and Kingston Vital Records and the Mayflower Quarterly.