Edmund FREEMAN born in England 1590 died in Sandwich 1682 A Founder of the town of Sandwich, Massachusetts in 1637. Assistant to Governor Bradford 1640 - 1647. This pillion shaped stone is flat on the ground. The only other gravestone in this small cemetery is saddle shaped stone for Edmond's wife Elizabeth [BEAUCHAMP] FREEMAN who died in 1675-6.
The surname Freeman is of FREEMAN ancient English origin. The coat-of-arms: Three lozenges, or. Crest: A demi-lion rampant gules, holding between his paws a like lozenge. Motto: Liber et Audax.
(I) Edmund Freeman, immigrant ancestor, was born in England in 1590, and came in the ship "Abigail" in July, 1635, with wife Elizabeth and children Alice, Edmund, Elizabeth, John. He settled first in Lynn, Massachusetts, early in 1636. Lewis says in his history of Lynn: "This year (1636) many new inhabitants appear in Lynn and among them worthy of note Mr. Edmund Freeman, who presented to the colony twenty corslets or pieces of plate armor." He was subsequently of the Plymouth Colony and with nine associates was soon recognized by the government as a suitable person to originate a new settlement. He was admitted a freeman, January 2, 1637, at Plymouth, and after being a short time a resident of Duxbury, settled in what was incorporated later as the town of Sandwich. Most of the grantees of that town were formerly of Lynn. Freeman had the largest grant and was evidently the foremost man in the enterprise. He was elected an assistant to the governor and commissioner to hear and determine causes within the several contiguous townships. He was one of the first judges of the select court of Plymouth county. During the persecution of the Quakers, he opposed the course of the government and was once fined ten shillings for refusing to aid in the baiting of Friends under pretence of the law. "Preeminently respected, always fixed in principle, and decisive in action, nevertheless quiet and unobtrusive, a counsellor and leader without ambitious ends in view of uncompromising integrity and of sound judgment, the symmetry of his entire character furnished an example that is a rich legacy to his descendants." He died in 1682 at the advanced age of ninety-two. His will is dated June 21, 1682, and was offered for probate, November 2, 1682. He was buried on his own land on the hill in the rear of his dwelling house at Sandwich. It is the oldest burial place in the town. His grave and that of his wife are marked by two boulders which he himself placed in position after his wife died, and they are called from a fancied resemblance "the saddle and pillion." His home was a mile and a quarter west of the town hall and near the junction of the old and new county roads" to the Cape. He married Elizabeth Beauchamp born 1600 and died February 14, 1675-6
Children: Alice, married Deacon William Paddy; Edmund, married Rebecca Prence; Elizabeth, born 1625; John married Mercy Prence, Mary, married Edward Perry. Sarah married John Butterfield [Sarah was born in MA].
NOTES: On the roster of the ship Abigail which sailed from Plymouth, England to Boston arriving c.Oct. 8, 1635 with smallpox aboard. Richard Hackwell, Master:
Edmund Freeman, 34, gentleman, Pulborough, Lynn Co., Sussex; Mrs. Elizabeth Freeman; Alice Freeman; Edward Freeman 15; Elizabeth Freeman 12; John Freeman 8.
MARRAGES [Ancestry.com]: First wife- Hodsoll Bennett Death 12 Apr 1630 in Pulborough, Sussex, England. Second wife- Elizabeth Beauchamp Birth 1600 in Pulborough, Sussex, England, Death 1676-02-14 in Sandwich, Barnstable, Massachusetts.
Edmund Freeman, 34, gentleman, Pulborough, Lynn Co., Sussex; Mrs. Elizabeth Freeman; Alice Freeman; Edward Freeman 15; Elizabeth Freeman 12; John Freeman 8.
MARRAGES [Ancestry.com]: First wife- Hodsoll Bennett Death 12 Apr 1630 in Pulborough, Sussex, England. Second wife- Elizabeth Beauchamp Birth 1600 in Pulborough, Sussex, England, Death 1676-02-14 in Sandwich, Barnstable, Massachusetts.
Source is: Sandwich A Cape Cod Town by R.A. Lovell, Jr, Town of Sandwich Massachusetts Archives and Historical Center, 1984, Second Printing, 1987
p 3 "The Ten Men of Saugus: The first information of the settling of Sandwich is in an item in Plymouth Colony Records dated April 3, 1637 reading as follows:
"It is also agreed by the Court that those ten men of Saugust, viz Edmond Freeman, Henry Feake, Thomas Dexter, Edward Dillingham, William Wood, John Carman, Richard Chadwell, William Almey, Thomas Tupper & George Knott shall have liberty to view a place to sit down & have sufficient lands for three score famylies, upon the conditions propounded to them by the Governor and Mr. Winslow." p 4 The Lynn historian Alonzo Lewis wrote of the migration down to Cape Cod:
"This year (1637) a large number of people removed from Lynn and commenced a new settlement at Sandwich. The grant of the town was made on the third of April by the Colony of Plymouth...Thomas-Dexter did not remove, but the rest of the above named went with forty six other men from Lynn." p 4 Those Who Went to Sandwich "The impetus for founding a new town on Cape Cod originated from a dedicated and persuasive leader, Edmund' Freeman of Pulborough, Sussex (England). He arrived in October 1635 on the ship Abigail with his wife Elizabeth and children Edmund, John, Alice, and Elizabeth. Freeman was a person of some prestige as a brother-in-law of Mr. John Beauchamp of London, an investor in Colonial ventures with a stake in Plymouth Colony." j p 5 "The English origins of Edmund Freeman are better known than those of many early settlers in New England. He owned property in Pulborough, Sussex, where he married his first wife Bennett Hodsoll, and had six children. Two died young, and Bennett herself died in 1628 or 29. Edmund then married a wife named Elizabeth whose identity has long been sought by his descendants and by genealogists. She has been called Gurney, Gravely, Perry and Bennett, Raymond and Raymer, but we believe now that her name was Elizabeth Beauchamp, as shown in her marriage to Edmund Freeman in 1630 at Shipley, Sussex. There is mention of Edmunds brother-in-law a Sir John Beauchamp. As we saw above, Edmund, Elizabeth, and four youngsters, Alice 17, Edmund Jr. 15, Elizabeth 12, and John 8 embarked on the Abigail in 1635. Another unrelated Freeman group was on the same ship, which has caused confusion as to their possible relationship to the Edmund Freeman’s. Later, in Sandwich, a fifth child Mary Freeman was in the family, but her birth is not recorded. She may have been born in Massachusetts to Edmund and Elizabeth, or may have been adopted here. p 7 Settlers from Plymouth. Later found there are records of two daughters of Edmund & Elizabeth, Mary and Sarah born in America. "Mr. Freeman must have decided on founding his town in Plymouth Colony but there has been no record so far found as to his reasons or procedures. He and Mr. Leveridge established a brief residence in Plymouth
EDMUND FREEMAN, THE IMMIGRANT
There are two phases in this description of the background of Edmund Freeman. This one involves his life in the Pulborough/Billingshurst/Cowfold/Shipley area (Currently West Sussex County, England). The other phase is in the section following which is excerpted from "Sandwich, A Cape Cod Town" by R.A. Lovell, Jr.
Edmund Freeman, the Immigrant was born in Pulborough, Sussex County, England in 1594, and baptized in St. Mary's Parish Church there in the baptismal font shown in a prior section. The current Parish Church was built in 1220 on the site of the former Anglo-Saxon Church which had been built there about 1120. The date of the baptism, according the St Mary's Parish Church records was July 25, 1596.
As a result of his sailing to the New World in 1635 on the ship ABIGAIL, his burial occurred between June 21st and November 2, 1682 in the burial plot on the Freeman Family Farm in northwestern Sandwich, Massachusetts. Pictures are shown following.
He married, first, the mother of some of his children: Bennett Hodsoll in the Parish Church in Cowfold (St Peter's) on June 16, 1617.
Edmond's first wife, Bennett, according to St Mary's Parish Church records, was buried in Pulborough in 1628. While she was living, the Edmund Freeman family lived in Pulborough and Billingshurst, Sussex County: in Pulborough, from 1617 to about 1620; in Billingshurst from about 1620 to 1627; and in Pulborough again from 1627 until her death.
Ancestry Chain:
is your 11th great grandfather
Sarah Freeman (1630 - 1708)
Daughter of Edmund
John Butterworth (1651 - 1731)
Son of Sarah
Elizabeth Butterworth (1682 - 1708)
Daughter of John
Eleazer Carpenter (1704 - 1781)
Son of Elizabeth
Elihu Carpenter (1752 - 1827)
Son of Eleazer
Betsy Carpenter (1790 - 1862)
Daughter of Elihu
Adaline RAWSON (1811 - 1841)
Daughter of Betsy
Mary DUNN (1833 - 1920)
Daughter of Adaline
Harriet Camilla Ensign (1859 - 1930)
Daughter of Mary
George Ensign Smith (1898 - 1967)
Son of Harriet Camilla
Camilla SMITH (1926 - 1999)
Daughter of George Ensign
Lark
Child of Camilla
JR
Child of Lark
Lark
Child of Camilla
JR
Child of Lark
4 comments:
I am related to Edmund through his son John. My great-great-great grandmother was Elizabeth Freeman of Liverpool, Nova Scotia. Is it possible to view the photos you have posted another way? They are not showing up on my screen. Also, is there a book that has this info that can be purchased? Thank you, Michelle Scott, New Hampshire
Thanks for the comment. I found I could not see the photos so I uploaded them again. Also if you google Edmund Freeman images you will find more of the stones in the Saddle and Pillion cemetery.
Looking into this history, I was excited to see that maybe now the mystery of the surname of Elizabeth Freeman was solved, being the fact that John Beauchamp is listed as being the brother in law of Edmond Freeman. Looking into the history, I found out that his sister Alice, was the wife of John Beauchamp, and that is why they are brothers in law.
My name is Gail and I am trying to find Freeman ancestry for my son Michael Carpenter Pratt. His great grandmother is Mrs. Everard Pratt I believe she is related to Capt. John S. Carpenter and has an ancestor of John Freeman. We visit the Saddle and Pillion of our ancestors but do not know the family tree. Can you help us?
Please see the following information.
Edmund and Elizabeth both rode on horseback over the area. They are buried on their own land in the rear of their dwelling -- the oldest burying place in Sandwich. A stone on the property resembled a pillion; shortly after Elizabeth's death, it was hauled by oxen to mark her grave. Another stone resembled a saddle, and Edmond had this placed over the precise spot "where ere long another grave must be digged". The monuments are known as the "Saddle and Pillion"; the burial ground is given to the town of Sandwich shortly before 1971. "A well-worn path leads from the street through a field and then one sees the graves under the trees. From the street the Freeman farm is visible, banked on the side with yellow forsythia bushes." That original homestead burned and a new house was built about 1695, by either son John or grandson John. When Beverly Freeman wrote in 1971, the house is still standing, and the property is occupied by a descendant of John Freeman, Mrs. Everard Pratt.
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