My Puritanical Roots

William Brewster was the religious leader of the Puritan colony at Plymouth. He was born 24 Jan 1560 in Scrooby Nottinghamshire England, married in 1588 to a woman named Mary, also in Scrooby Nottinghamshire England and died 10 Apr 1644 in Plymouth Plymouth Mass. He was the son of William Brewster and Prudence Peak. William came to America in 1620 aboard the Mayflower with his wife, Mary Brewster, and two of his sons, Love and Wrestling Brewster. A third son Jonathan joined the family in November 1621 on the ship Fortune, and daughters Patience and Fear arrived in July 1623 aboard the Anne. Family lore says that Mary helped prepare the first Thanksgiving dinner.

His daughter Patience was Born 1590 in Scrooby Nottinghamshire England and Died 12 Dec 1634 in Plymouth Plymouth Mass. Patience married Thomas Prence on15 August 1624 in Plymouth Plymouth Mass. Thomas was a political leader of both the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies, governor of Plymouth colony and co-founder of Eastham Mass. The son of Thomas Prence and Elizabeth Tolderby, he was born 1599/1600 in Lechdale Gloucestershire England and died 29 March 1673 in Eastham Barnstable Mass. Thomas emigrated to America in 1621 on the ship Fortune. He arrived in Plymouth on November 9, 1621, just after the first Thanksgiving. They had one son Thomas Jr. and three daughters Rebecca, Mercy, and Hannah.

Thomas was a religious zealot and openly opposed those that he believed to be heretics, such as the Quakers. He was infamous for the banishment of those who would not conform to his specific church law, including Samuel Gorton, the first governor of Rhode Island. He restructured the local government to secure his position and led the persecution of numerous people for offenses such as smiling in church, harboring non-church members, and tending garden during the Sabbath. However, he also procured revenue for the colony's grammar schools so future generations would be better educated, so he wasn't all bad.

Mercy (Born 4 Jan 1631 in Duxbury, Plymouth, Mass; Died 20 Sept 1711 in Eastham, Barnstable, Mass) married John Freeman on 14 Feb 1649 in Eastham, Barnstable, Mass. He was born 28 Jan 1626 in Pulborough Sussex England; Christened 28 Jan 1626 in Billingshurst, Sussex, England and died 28 Oct 1719 in Eastham or Rochester, Barnstable, Mass. John was the son of Edmund Freeman and Bennett Hodsoll.

Their daughter Hannah Freeman (Born about 1656 in Eastham Mass; Died 15 Feb 1743 in Harwich Mass) married John Mayo on 14 Apr 1681 in Hingham Mass. The son of Samuel Mayo and Thamasin Lumpkin, John was born 15 Dec 1652 in Eastham Mass and died 1 Feb 1726 in Harwick Mass.

John Mayo, son of John and Hannah, was born 8 Jan 1682/83 in Eastham Mass. and died 1 Feb 1756 in Eastham Mass. On 22 Oct 1712 in Eastham Mass, he married a woman named Susannah Freeman and had a daughter, Patience Mayo. Susannah was Born 1691 in Eastham Barnstable Mass. and was the daughter of James Freeman and Sarah Merrick.

Patience was born 8 Sept 1734 in Middlebourough Mass. She married a man named Gideon Braley. He was Born 29 Jan 1729 in Middlebourough Mass. and Died 1774 in Middlebourough Mass. They married in 1750 in Middlebourough Mass. Gideon was the son of Ambrose Braley and Mary Reynolds.

Their son, Samuel Braley, was born 1751 in Middleborough Plymouth Co Mass. and Died 1829 in Augusta Maine. In 1775, he married Sarah Axtill. Samuel was a Corporal in Col. Lippett’s Regiment.

Their son, Amos Braley, was born 23 Aug 1776 in Augusta Maine and Died 10 April 1840 in Rutland Ohio. He married 29 April 1800 in Sidney Maine to Alice Savage. Alic was born 6 Nov 1782 in Belgrade Maine and Died 26 Sept 1848 in Rutland Ohio. She was the daughter of Joseph Savage and Alice Carson.

Newell, the son of Amos and Alice, was born 8 January 1810 in Sidney Maine and died 9 Feb 1884 in Rutland Ohio. He married Susannah Palmer (Born about 1812 in Sidney Maine) and they had a son named Rufus.

Rufus Braley was Born about 1834 in Ohio. He married 10 Nov 1858 Euclid Miller McClintock in Jackson Co Ohio. Euclid was Born about September 1836 in Jackson Co Ohio and Died 1910 in Milton Twp Jackson Co Ohio. She was the daughter of James H McClintock and Margaret Miller.

Their son, Ripley McClintock Braley, was Born January 25 1873 in Milton Twp Ohio and Died 15 Jan 1969 in Jackson Co Ohio. He married 18 March 1899 Cora Evangeline Gleason in Jackson Co Ohio. Cora was born on May 11 1877 in Gallia Ohio and died in 1952 in Jackson Ohio. She was the daughter of Levi Gleason and Calfernie (Esther California) Bishop.

Their daughter Calfernie Euclid Braley (named after both of her grandmothers, the poor woman. She went by "Fern" and the sewing machine that I use is hers and named after her accordingly.) was Born 22 Nov 1902 in Wellston Ohio and Died 27 Apr 1986 (while my brother was in the hospital as a baby. I actually remember Granny Fink, barely. She was a tiny woman, old and frail.) Fern married Homer Dupre Fink and had four children - Esther Josephine, Gretchen, Christine and William Ripley, my grandfather.

William (more commonly known as Bill) was born May 27 1928 in Wellston Jackson Co Ohio and died July 26 1982 in Hamilton Ohio. He married Virginia Lee Curtis and they had two children - William Douglas and Helen Marie.

Helen married Clifford Ray Cookman (my father) on July 13, 1979 and I came along two years later. I am the 12th great granddaughter of William Brewster, elder and religious leader of the Puritan colony at Plymouth, Mass.