George Morton ca 1587-1624 and Juliana Carpenter of England, Leiden, and Plymouth

George Morton was born about 1587, possibly in Yorkshire, England. His birth year is based on his estimated age at marriage.  I have not discovered his parents, although there’s plenty of conjecture, mostly in older resources, some stating he was from Austerfield, Yorkshire. His marriage record states he was from York. He is my 11th great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Davis’ side of the family. He was one of the leaders of the Pilgrim contingent at Leiden, Holland, who settled there to practice their Separatist beliefs in peace. He helped conduct business on behalf of the Pilgrims in Leiden and London. 

George is thought but not proven to be the “G Mourt” who brought Mourt’s Relation to London to be published. Mourt’s Relation is a pamphlet about the beginning of Plymouth Colony from November 1620 and to November 1621. It was primarily written by Edward Winslow and William Bradford contributed. 

On 23 July 1612 George Morton, described as an unmarried merchant from York, married at Leiden Juliana Carpenter, a spinster from Bath. Juliana was accompanied by her father Alexander Carpenter, sister Alice Carpenter, and acquaintance Ann Robinson. George was accompanied by his brother Thomas Morton and acquaintance Roger Wilson (MD 11:193). Note that Bath is not far from Wrington where the Carpenter family was from. Juliana was born 1584 in Wrington, Somersetshire (year of birth based on age at death).

Leiden City Hall where some Pilgrims were married

George and Juliana were early settlers in Plymouth Colony, arriving in July 1623 on the ship Anne, according to their son Nathaniel’s writings. They were likely in their late 30s. George’s brother Thomas is likely the man of that name who arrived at Plymouth on the Fortune in 1621. 

James Freer Faunce wrote that the Morton family had several hair-raising adventures at sea. They set sail twice to Plymouth from England on board the ship Paragon in 1622. Twice they had to turn back after storms damaged the boat, the first time taking on water. The second time they were half way to Plymouth when they turned back. And yet they still had the courage to board a boat for a third time! I have wondered if they were also on the Speedwell which left with the Mayflower but turned back when it was taking on water.

Juliana and George had five children:

1. Nathaniel born about 1613 in Leiden, m. 1) Lydia Cooper and 2) Anne Pritchard

2. Patience born about 1614 in Leiden, m. 1) John Faunce who also came on the Anne and possibly 2) Thomas Whitney

3. John born 1616, m. Lettice —— 

4. Sarah born about 1620 in Leiden, m. George Bonham 

5. Ephraim born about 1623 possibly in Plymouth or on the voyage, m. 1) Ann Cooper 2) Mary Shelley

Incredibly I descend from four out of five of George and Juliana’s children: Nathaniel, Patience, Sarah, and Ephraim. I wrote about Nathaniel here; Patience's and her husband here; Ephraim here.

In the 1623 Plymouth land division, George Morton was paired with Experience Mitchell as passengers on the Anne sharing in a grant of eight acres (PCR 12:6). George Morton received one share in the Dartmouth lands (MD 4:187); as he was long dead when this division was made, the grant was presumably to his heirs.

Unfortunately George Morton did not have much time in Plymouth Colony where he died in June 1624. He would have been very proud of the accomplishments of his sons. His brother-in-law Gov. William Bradford raised Nathaniel and possibly Ephraim as well. Nathaniel became the secretary to the colony and was a historian and scholar who wrote New England Memorial. Ephraim was a church Deacon who served the colony in a number of ways including Representative to the Court and Magistrate. 

In New England Memorial, a history of early Plymouth Colony, Nathaniel Morton wrote that his father George was “a pious, gracious, servant of God and very faithful in whatsoever public employment he was betrusted withal, and an unfeigned well willer, and according to his sphere and condition, a suitable promoter of the common good and growth of the plantation of New Plimouth; laboring to still the discontents that sometimes would arise amongst some spirits by reason of the difficulties of these new beginnings but it pleased God to put a period to his days soon after his arrival in New England, not surviving a full year after his coming ashore. With much comfort and peace he fell asleep in the Lord, in the month of June, anno 1624.”

Joseph Barlow Felt wrote in his Ecclesiastical History of New England: “In June the colonists met with a great loss in the death of Geo. Morton, an exemplary Christian and a pillar of church and society…Through his tarry here is short his memorial on high is everlasting.”

Juliana was about 39 years old when she was widowed in a new, uncertain world, the mother of five children. By 1627 she married, second, Manasseh Kempton at Plymouth. Juliana’s sister Alice Carpenter married Governor William Bradford in August 1623 after the death of his first wife Dorothy who fell or jumped from the Mayflower and drowned. In the 1627 cattle division Manasseh and Juliana are in William Bradford's company, along with four of her children by George—Nathaniel, John, Ephraim, and Patience (PCR 12:13). Her daughter, Sarah Morton, was in Francis Eaton's company (PCR 12:12). 

Juliana (Carpenter) (Morton) Kempton died at Plymouth 19 February 1664 "aged fourscore and one year" (PCR 8:25). What an incredibly strong woman he must have been.

Sources Not Mentioned Above:

Eugene Stratton, Plymouth Colony Its History and People, 1986

Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins

Jeremy Dupertuis Bangs, Strangers and Pilgrims, Travelers and Sojourners, Leiden and the Foundations of Plymouth Plantation, GSMD, 2009.p. 282 (George and Juliana’s marriage record)

James Freer Faunce, NEHGS Register, “The Faunce Family,” April 1960

Frederic Kidder, Communicated by, NEHGR Register, “Letter of Mary Carpenter,”  14:195-196, 1860

Torrey’s New England Marriages to 1700

John K. Allen, George Morton of Plymouth Colony and Some of his Descendants, privately printed, 1908, 62 pages, available on Internet Archive

John Benson born about 1635 in Caversham, Oxford; died Rochester, Massachusetts 1712

John Benson was born in England about 1635. He was less than four years old when he migrated to Plymouth Colony in 1638 on the Confidence, which left Southampton in April, with his parents, John and Mary, and sister Mary. The passenger list spells the name Binson from “Consham” in Oxfordshire. Fred Benson wrote that Consham is an error deciphering old handwriting and should be Caversham. In 1911 the village, which is located on the River Thames, was transferred to Berkshire and became part of the borough of Reading. The family first lived at Hingham and removed to Hull by 1657. John Benson is my 9th great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Davis’ side of the family.

About 1664 John married, likely in Hull, a woman whose name is unknown. They lived at Hull until about 1680 when John sold the land to his brother Joseph and removed to Rochester where he purchased land from original grantee John Dunham. On 16 January 1698/99 he was assigned a lot in the right of the “share he bought of John Dunham.” (Proprietors’ Records 1:33)  

The Rochester grant included present towns of Mattapoisett, Westport, Rochester, Marion, and Wareham and was granted to 33 people in 1679 who were from towns including Sandwich, Scituate, Plymouth, Hull, and Hingham. 

Grace Hildy Croft and Ethel Farrington Smith wrote (see Sources below) that John married Elizabeth Marsh from Salem. I spent time research Elizabeth’s interesting ancestry and found a lack of evidence for that claim. Robert Charles Anderson in The Great Migration Begins states John Benson’s identity as Elizabeth Marsh is unsubstantiated. 

The Benson’s seven children were born at Hull.  Although their births are not recorded, they are identified through various land transfers. My research on the children is a definite work in progress:

John born about 1665 in Hull, Massachusetts; married Elizabeth Briggs

Joseph born about 1667 in Hull; married Charity Clapp, Deborah Smith, and Lydia ——- 

Isaac born about 1669 in Hull; m. Mary Bumpus

Jacob born about 1671 in Hull; m. Experience Bryant 

Hannah born about 1672 in Hull; m. John Hunt

Benjamin born about 1675 in Hull; m. Elizabeth Bryant

William born about 1680 in Hull; m. Elizabeth Stetson

I descend from John. 

John Benson took the oath of allegiance at Hull and was made a freeman in Plymouth County in 1682.

He received a considerable amount of land from his father John Benson, whose will was written 16 April 1678 and proved 1 March 1679. He and his brother Joseph received land, the house lot, orchard and barns. He also was to receive a double portion of the meadows after his mother Mary/Marah’s death. John and Joseph were both to pay five pounds to each of their sisters Combs and Hall and to the children of their sister Shore, deceased. 

An entry in Rochester records reads “Feb 16, 1680, Pd. Goodman Benson for attending Court.”This likely refers to town business he performed at Plymouth Court, and shows he was a resident of Rochester from the very first and that he was a respected citizen.

John Benson Jr is mentioned on page three in the first volume of Rochester records (1680) and frequently thereafter in land transfers. On 7 September 1700 he transferred part of his Rochester lands. In 1708 and on 4 Jan 1709/10 he conveyed lands in Rochester to his son John and is called John Benson Sen of Middleborough. This was probably the residue of his estate and indicates that his homestead lands were in that part of Rochester which was set off to Middleborough in the adjusting of the town boundaries.

John Benson and John Randall were partners in a wood lot which they divided in the winter of 1694/5 (Proprietors’ Records 2:5-7). 

John Benson died 10 March 1711/12 at Rochester (Rochester Vital Records, p 348). He was about 77 years old. Since the area of Rochester where he lived became Middleborough, Perhaps he was buried at Nemasket Hill Cemetery but no stone for him survives. He did not leave a will; he likely divided all his lands before his death but not all of the gifted land deeds were recorded. 

Sources Not Mentioned Above:

William Richard Cutter editor, New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial, 1914

Charles Edward Banks, The Planters of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1620-1640,1930, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Reprint c. 2006

Ethel Farrington Smith, New England Historical and Genealogical Register, “17th Century Hull, Massachusetts and Her People,” July 1988

Grace Hildy Croft, The Benson family; descendants of Isaac Benson and Mary Bumpas, and allied families: Archer, Bumpas, Howard, Knapp, Lewis, Luce, Meech, Milks, Potter, Reynolds, Waite, Whipple, Williams, et al, 1973

Andrew H. Ward, New England Historical and Genealogical Register, ”First Settlers at Hingham." 2:251 (1848)

Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, 2005

Fred A Benson, Benson Family Records, 1920

Samuel Gardner Drake, Founders of New England, p 39 lists passengers of the ship Confidence of London

Samuel Samson / Sampson (ca 1670-1744) of Duxbury and Middleborough, Mass. and His Wife Hazadiah Eddy

Samuel Samson/Sampson was born Duxbury, Plymouth Colony, about 1670, the son of Samuel and Esther (Delano) Sampson.

Samuel married Hazadiah Eddy at Duxbury on 29 May 1695 (Mayflower Descendant 26:37). Hazadiah was born Plymouth 10 April 1672, the daughter of Obadiah and Bennett (Ellis) Eddy (Mayflower Descendant 18:70). Her name is spelled in a variety of ways in records, including Assadiah in her marriage record. Samuel and Hazadiah are my 9th great grandparents on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Davis’ side of the family. They are descendants of important early settlers of Plymouth Colony: Philip Delano, Abraham Samson, Samuel Eddy, Edmond Freeman, John Ellis, and Samuel Nash. 

Samuel settled in Middleborough in Plymouth Colony where he was a member of the First Church. In March 1717 he was one of the original 50 purchasers of the First Parish Burying Ground, now called Cemetery at the Green. 

Hazadiah and Samuel’s children, order uncertain, all mentioned in their father’s will:

Mary born about 1700

Esther born about 1706, m. Abraham Borden, removed to Connecticut 

Obadiah, born Middleborough 29 Jan 1709/10, m. Mary Soule 

Gershom m. Bethiah Clark 

Ichabod m. Mercy Savory 

Samuel

I descend from Mary. I wrote about her here. Her husband Benjamin Fuller was a descendant of Mayflower passengers Samuel Fuller, Francis Eaton (and his wife Sarah and son Samuel), John Billington (and his wife Elinor and son Francis). 

Obadiah and his brother Ichabod received all of their great-grandfather Lt. Samuel Nash's housing in his 2 June 1681 will (The American Genealogist, vol 15).

Samuel Samson of Duxburough deeded land for 24 pounds to Joseph Waterman of Marshfield: half part of meadow and marsh ground totaling 16 acres that formerly belonged to Lt Samuel Nash of Duxburough, given to Samuel and his brother Ichabod in equal halves. Samuel signed with his mark. (The Mayflower Descendant, “Plymouth County Record of Deeds,” vol 54, p 77-78, 2005)

A deed from Joseph Waterman of Marshfield acknowledged mortgage of 22 pounds paid by Samuel Samson of Duxborough on 16 March 1701/02.  (Mayflower Descendant 54:78)

Common Pleas Court, December 1718, Robert Gates by atty Josiah Bumpus (Plainfield) v Samuel Samson. Debt, on bond for 25 funds. Default by deft. Bond chanced. Judgment for 13 pounds and 3 pounds 4 shillings 4 s, 6 d costs. (Plymouth Court Records 5: 57)

In March 1736/7, Samuel Samson of Middleborough served on a grand jury; uncertain if it is Samuel Senior or Junior (Plymouth Colony Court records vol 2; 130-31). 

Hazadiah Samson is mentioned in her father Obadiah Eddy's 18 May 1722 will (Plymouth County Probate no. 7086) giving her and her four siblings full part and portion “which I intend them of my estate.” There is an insert mark next to Hazadiah’s name with the word “deceased” added. Obadiah wrote a codicil to his will on the 17th day of December 1726, naming his son Samuel Eddy sole executor of the estate as previously named executor Jacob Tomson had died.  Some researchers use this date to indicate the latest day that Hazadiah died, although her death is not mentioned in the codicil.

Torrey gives Samuel a second wife named Mercy. Vinton and Cutter give his only wife as Mercy, daughter of Obadiah Eddy (see Sources below). It seems probable he married again as Hassadiah died in her early 50s. Samuel does not mention a wife in his 1744 will, although on the same page of the Middleborough vital records where Samuel’s death is written is this entry: Mercy Samson wife to Samuel Samson deceased February the 15th 1742/3 in the 77th year of her age. 

Samuel wrote his will 31 August 1744 and it was proved 20 September1744. He mentions sons Obadiah, Gershom, Samuel, and Ichabod; daughters Esther Burden and Mary Fuller; and Ruth daughter of his son Obadiah (Plymouth Probate 9:338).

Samuel Sampson died Middleborough on 10 September 1744 (Middleborough Vital Records, 1:76). He was 74 years old. He is likely buried at the Cemetery at the Green without a surviving headstone. 

Sources Not Mentioned Above:

Stacy B.C. Wood Jr, “Descendants of Abraham Sampson ca 1614-aft 1685,” unpublished ms 2008

John Adams Vinton, The Sampson Family, 1864, p 11-12

Thomas Weston, History of Middleborough, 1906, p 651

Torrey's New England Marriages

Clarence A. Torrey, The American Genealogist, “A Nash-Sampson-Delano-Howland Problem,” vol 15 (1938)

The American Genealogist, “The Early Sampsons,” section on The Abraham Sampson Family, vol 28 (1952)

William Richard Cutter, Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts, Volume 3