The Slovak Yankee

The Burnham Brothers: The Final Word

It's been six years since I posted several things about the Burnham Brothers of Ipswich, Massachusetts.  As I pointed out then, none of them were on the ship Angel Gabriel.  I noticed someone looking at that posting this week and I was reminded that the Great Migration Directory came out last year.  Using that work you can show the following:  assuming that Robert Charles Anderson is an expert on this time period, we can see that John Burnham came in 1637 and his brothers Thomas and Robert arrived after 1640 since they are not in the directory.  Clearly, none of them were on the ship Angel Gabriel which landed in 1635.  Therefore, we can put this trope to bed once and for all.  

But genealogy is never that easy.  This trope will outlive me.  It's in print and that's all that matters to people.  There are too many hack genealogists out there and not enough scholars.

My Burnham descents are here.

The Great Migration Directory

The Great Migration Directory: Immigrants to New England 1620-1640 A Concise Compendium by Robert Charles Anderson, FASG (Boston, Mass.: NEHGS, 2015).

I love books.  I am a trained librarian and was a genealogist when all there was was books. It's not often these days that a new genealogical book comes up for sale.  But such a time is now and the Great Migration Directory is well worth your attention.

This work is just what its title explains.  It is a concise compendium of all immigrants to New England from 1620 to 1640 inclusively.  Every entry is about a paragraph long and includes English origins where known, date of immigration, places of residence in New England, initial record, and secondary works on the immigrant.  So, this is literally a directory.  You use this work to find other works on you immigrant ancestor.  The premier work that is cited for immigrants from 1620 to 1635 is the Great Migration Series by the same author.  Those works give detailed biographical information on each immigrant.  Indeed, I already own those works, so why did I buy this one?  Well, for the citations for immigrants from 1636 to 1640 of course.  That's what is completely new and unique to this work.

A few wonderful things in this directory.  First of all, the Burnham brothers are forever proved not be on the Angel Gabriel.  Indeed, Thomas and Robert don't appear in the work at all, only John Burnham who arrived in 1637 appears.  So we can put that trope to rest.

The entry for Richard Pinkham includes my article on the Pinkham family, so forever people will refer to my reconstruction of this family.  That's cool.  So is the fact that matrilineally I am a descendant of a Great Migration immigrant.  I hope I'll live to 2040 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Richard Pinkham signing the Dover Combination.

The book is not cheap.  It cost me $58.00 with my NEHGS membership discount.  But it is hardbound and certainly worth the price (in my eyes).   If you can't afford this, make sure your public librarian buys one for the town collection.  It's your tax dollars, get what you need.

Someday someone other that Robert Charles Anderson will take up the Great Migration Project and start to publish volumes of biographical sketches for the immigrants from 1636 onward.  It should be noted that it took Anderson 20 years to do 1620-1635 which is roughly half of all the immigrants of that time period.  Until then we have this directory to help guide us.

 

The Burnham Descents

                                                        Mr. Burnham born ca. 1590

 

Thomas Burnham m. Mary Lawrence                                   Robert Burnham m. Frances (---)

Thomas Burnham, Jr. m. Lydia Pengry                                 Samuel Burnham m. Mary (---)

Mary Burnham m. Samuel Story, Jr.                                     Mary Burnham m. John Allen

Mary Story m. Joseph Elderkin, Jr.                                       Mary Allen m. Stephen Berry, Jr.

Mary Elderkin m. Benjamin Cleveland, Jr.                           Bridget Berry m. Thomas Pinkham

Nathan Cleveland m. Diademia  Dexter                               Jonathan Pinkham m. Alice Runnels

John Cleveland m. Amy Martin                                             Luther Hale Pinkham m. Mary C. Wallis

Ama Ann Cleveland m. James Smith, Jr.                             George Hale Pinkham m. Olive Ann Hurd

Agnes Jane Smith m. John Quigley                                      Burt Hale Pinkham m. Kate Kinmond

Lila Mae Quigley m. Archibald Thompson Pratt

                                    Agnes Elizabeth Pratt m. Clarence Melvin Pinkham

Those are my maternal grandparents who were thus ninth cousins, once removed.

Thomas Burnham ca. 1618 to 1694 of Ipswich, Massachusetts

I've written already quite a lot on the Burnham brothers, two of whom are my ancestors (Robert and Thomas).  I've discussed how they were not on the ship Angel Gabriel.  It then resulted in a discussion of when they did arrive in New England. So you can review those postings which remain up to date in their content.

1. Thomas Burnham born ca. 1618 (he consistently deposed his age for 1618 or 1619 in five depositions) and died at Ipswich, Massachusetts 19 May 1694.  He married say 1643 at Ipswich, Mary Lawrence, baptized 10 April 1625 at St. Alban's, England and died at Ipswich 27 March 1715, daughter of Thomas and Joan (Antrobus) Lawrence.  Mary arrived in New England in 1635 on the ship Planter with her mother and siblings.  Thomas's will at Essex County Probate 304:436, #4174.  They had twelve children: Thomas, John, James, Mary, Johanna, Abigail, Ruth, Ruth, Joseph, Nathaniel, Sarah and Esther.

2. Thomas Burnham born Ipswich about 1644 (based on five depositions) and died there on 21 February 1728.  Thomas married first at Ipswich on 13 February 1665/6, Lydia Pengry, born about 1645 and died at Ipswich 14 March 1689, daughter of Moses and Lydia (Clements)  Pengry.  Together they had eight children: Thomas, Moses, Lydia, Aaron, Eleazer, Abigail, Daniel and Mary.  Thomas married secondly at Ipswich on 16 December 1689, Hester Cogswell, widow of Samuel Bishop.  She was alive in 1704, but likely dead before 4 October 1711 when her sons Samuel and John Bishop deed land without her.

3. Mary Burnham born Ipswich 18 October 1685, died Norwich, Connecticut after 11 October 1748.  She married at Ipswich 23 December 1710, Samuel Story, born Ipswich 10 January 1683/4, died Norwich, Connecticut before 2 September 1747, son of Samuel and Elizabeth (---) Story.  His will in New London Probate #5193.  Ten children: Samuel, Mary, Joseph, Ezekiel, Jonathan, Lucy, Abigail, Elizabeth, Lois, and Jabez.

Sources: Mary Walton Ferris, Dawes-Gates Ancestral Lines vol. 1 (1943) and vol. 2 (1931).

The Great Migration Immigrants to New England 1634-5 by Robert Charles Anderson, (Boston, MA, NEHGS, 2005) Volume IV:258-259.

“A Doleful Slaughter Near Black Point: The Battle of Moore’s Brook, Scarborough, Maine, June 29, 1677” by Sumner Hunnewell, Maine Genealogist Vol. 25 (2003):51-72, 99-120.

Boston Evening Transcript, 12 Dec 1927 (#6418).

Pratt, Robert L. The Descendants of William Story Who Came to Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1637, The First Eight Generations (Gateway Press, Baltimore, 2000).

 

Robert Burnham ca. 1624-1691 of Oyster River, New Hampshire

I've written already quite a lot on the Burnham brothers, two of whom are my ancestors (Robert and Thomas).  I've discussed how they were not on the ship Angel Gabriel.  It then resulted in a discussion of when they did arrive in New England. So you can review those postings which remain up to date in their content.

1. Robert Burnham, born ca. 1624 (deposed as aged 55 in 1679), died at Ipswich, Massachusetts while visiting on 12 June 1691.  Robert married about 1646 probably in Boston, Frances (---) who survived him.  Robert is in Boston first, then removes to Oyster River (present day Durham) New Hampshire.  He is called kinsman in the will of Robert Andrews of Ipswich, Massachusetts.  He had six children: Robert, Samuel, Elizabeth, Jeremiah, Sarah, and Robert.

2. Samuel Burnham, born ca. 1649 probably in Boston, died 1695-96 in Oyster River, New Hampshire.  Samuel married about 1675 Mary (---) who was alive in 1689.  Samuel had three children: James, Frances, and Mary.

3. Mary Burnham, born abt 1688 at Oyster River (Durham), died before 10 July 1777 at Rochester, New Hampshire.  She married about 1716, John Allen, son of Charles and Susannah (Huggins) Allen.

The best source for this family is the Ancestry of Charles Stinson Pillsbury & John Sargent Pillsbury by Mary Lovering Holman (2 vols., 1938).  However, they also appear in Genealogical Dictionary of ME and NH by Sybil Noyes, Charles Thornton Libby, and Walter Goodwin Davis (Portland, 1939, reprinted Baltimore, 1988), p. 121 and History of the Town of Durham, New Hampshire (Oyster River Plantation) with Genealogical Notes by Everett S. Stackpole & Lucien Thompson (2 vols., Rumford Press, Concord, NH, 1913, reprint, Somersworth, NH 1973), p. II:40.  Just remember to ignore the Angel Gabriel stuff.

Angel Gabriel the Burnhams--Recap

In case you were unaware of this discussion.  It started here.  Progressed to this posting on the ship Angel Gabriel.  Then came this posting, and finally this posting.  You must read all the comments because it was a back and forth discussion.

My final comments are my usual when it comes to genealogy.  It is up to the person to make up her or his mind as to how to interpret the evidence.  No one can prove the Burnham were on the Angel Gabriel and no one can prove they weren't on the ship.  It is solely up to you to decide how you want to proceed.  I've always been a big believer that you can put whatever you want on your genealogical charts.  It's only when you put those charts in the public arena, that you need to prepared to defend your research.

I would put more credence in this story if there were true family lore involved.  However, the family lore seems to be of the 19th century from sources in print.  I truly believe the Burnhams were placed on the ship because people thought Robert Andrews was on the ship, which we now can prove was untrue.  Certainly they were in New England by 1637 at the latest judging by the Pequot War service.  If you didn't see this, it's a picture of the grave of Mary (Lawrence) Burnham, wife of Thomas.