Thomas Ford - The Great Migration Begins

Thomas FORD

ORIGIN: Dorchester, Dorsetshire
MIGRATION: 1630 in Mary & John
FIRST RESIDENCE: Dorchester
REMOVES: Windsor 1637, Northampton 1672
FREEMAN: Requested 19 October 1630 and admitted 18 May 1631. In list of Windsor freemen, 11 October 1669.
OFFICES: Chosen Dorchester selectman, 8 October 1633, 27 June 1636; Dorchester fenceviewer, 24 May 1635, 10 February 1634/5; committee to collect rate for fort, 6 January 1633/4; committee to lay out land, 2 November 1635.
Deputy to Connecticut General Court from Windsor, 8 March 1637/8, 5 April 1638, 11 April 1639, 9 April 1640, 9 April 1641 (marked absent), April 1644, 18 May 1654.
Connecticut committee on livestock, 8 February 1640/1. Grand jury, 15 May 1662.
ESTATE: Ordered to build forty feet of fence (as his proportion for two cows), 3 April 1633; granted two acres of land, 17 April 1635; granted six acres fresh marsh, 17 December 1635; granted two acres marsh, 27 June 1636.
Granted "50 acres at Massacoe, whereof four & forty hath been improved by him by plowing & mowing," 8 September 1653. On 14 May 1663 the "Court in answer to the request of Thomas Forde, which was to have some allowance in respect of his land sold to Mr. Fitch, which the said Forde forfeited to the country by mortgage, they granted him the sum of thirty pounds", and on 16 October 1663 the "Court having considered the request of Tho[mas] Forde, by their vote d[eclare] that they see no cause to give Goodman Forde the six pounds odd, that he d[esires] in reference to his land at Podunck, now in Mr. Jos[eph] Fitche's hand".
The inventory of the estate of Thomas Ford was taken 4 January 1676/7 and totalled £195 17s. 9d., with no real estate included.
BIRTH: By about 1591 based on date of first marriage.
DEATH: Northampton 28 November 1676.
MARRIAGE: [Original marriage see NOTE.] (1) Bridport, Dorsetshire, 19 June 1616 Elizabeth Cooke; she was Elizabeth Chard, widow of Aaron Cooke, and mother of AARON COOKE; she d. Windsor 18 April 1643; (2) Hartford 7 November 1644 "Ann Scott widow", widow of Thomas Scott; she died Northampton 5 May 1675.

[NOTE: original marriage in England Thomas FOOD and Joanna WAY 13 Dec 1610. Their child was Mary FORD. Mary FORD married Aaron COOK the son of Elizabeth Chard and her first husband Aaron COOKE.]

CHILDREN: With first wife
i JOANNA, bp. Bridport 8 June 1617; m. Dorchester 6 November 1633 ROGER CLAP .
ii ABIGAIL, bp. Bridport 8 October 1619; m. by about 1637 as his second wife John Strong.
iii THOMAS, bp. Holy Trinity, Dorchester, Dorsetshire, 21 September 1623; bur. there 6 October 1623. iv HEPZIBAH, bp. Holy Trinity, Dorchester, 15 May 1625; m. (1) Richard Lyman, son of RICHARD LYMAN ; m. (2) Northampton 7 October 1664 John Marsh.
v HANNAH, bp. Holy Trinity, Dorchester, 1 February 1628/9; bur. there 28 March 1629.

With second wife
vi ANN, b. say 1657; m. Windsor 12 March 1676[/7] Thomas Newberry of Windsor.


ASSOCIATIONS: Through his first marriage Thomas Ford became stepfather of AARON COOKE.
COMMENTS: Thomas Scott's daughters all married in the early 1640s, so their mother must have been born very early in the century (if not before 1600), and all these daughters were probably born in the 1620s. But the widow of Thomas Scott, after her marriage with Thomas Ford, is supposed to have had a daughter who married in 1676/7, and so may have been born about 1657. For all this to happen, the widow of Thomas Scott must have been a second wife, and not the mother of his daughters.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTE: As with other families which quickly daughtered out, the best treatments of Thomas Ford appear in various "all-my-ancestor" books. One excellent account by DeForest is replete with biographical data and other information which places Ford in historical context; unfortunately, however, DeForest pads his account with an overlong extract from Roger Clap's memoirs, which is perhaps justifed because a daughter of Thomas Ford married Roger Clap, but which does not really have much to say about Ford. A more concise, but more genealogically informative version is that prepared by Mary Holman.

The basic research on the English records for Thomas Ford was published by Jacobus and Torrey in 1939. In this article are some records for a Thomas Ford of Powerstock, Dorsetshire, which may or may not be relevant to our Thomas Ford. Torrey had earlier presented evidence on AARON COOKE which showed that he was stepson rather than son-in-law of Thomas Ford.

Ancestry Chain: Thomas FORD Immigrant b.1589, Mary FORD Immigrant b.1612, Capt. Aaron COOKE [III] b.1640, Sarah COOK b.1662, Abigail Rebecca HOVEY b.1678, Abigail LANE b.1716, Elijah REMINGTON b.1743, Esther REMINGTON1 b.1772, Mary BRONSON b.1806, Martin Luther ENSIGN b.1831, Harriett Camilla ENSIGN b.1859, George Ensign SMITH b.1898, Camilla SMITH b.1926, Lark, JR.

MARRIAGE: (1) By 1638 Mary Cooke, daughter of William and Martha (White) Cooke (and first cousin of STEPHEN TERRY) [DSGRM 25:54-55]; she died by 1650.

Sailing of the Mary and John 1630-1634

Sailing of the Mary and John 1630

On 20 March 1630, the ship Mary & John sailed from Plymouth, England with 140 passengers aboard. The Rev. John White of Dorchester, Dorset, recruited all the families. Nearly all of them came from the West Country of England, which included the counties of Somerset, Dorset and Devon. The ship landed in New England on 30 May 1630, two weeks before the Winthrop Fleet arrived. These people founded one of the first towns in Massachusetts, Dorchester, in 1630, and one of the earliest in Connecticut, Windsor, five years later.
(From the Mary and John Clearing House)

Thomas FORD came from Dorset England. He brought with him his wife, his 4 daughters and his step-son Aaron Cook. He was a freeman in 1631, Deputy to the General Court, grand juror, & juror. He with 3 other men dealt with the Sachem Tehano for the purchase of land which was part of Windsor, Ct. In 1654 he was named a constable in Windsor. He later moved to Northampton, Mass. in 1659. In 1668 he gave a conditional bond for deeding the homestead, after the death of him & his wife, to Zerubabel Filer (son of Walter Fyler of the Mary & John), if he would marry Thomas’ granddaughter, Experience Strong. They married May 27, 1669 & Experience received the deed Aug. 23, 1672.

Jonathan GILLETT born ca. 1600 (28 Dec. 1601?) in Chaffcombe, Somerset, England, married MARY DOLBIAR/DOLBERE 29 Mar. 1634 in St. Andrew's Church, Colyton, Devonshire (Fig. 2), died 23 Aug. 1677 in Windsor, CT, probably buried in Old Burying Ground. Mary was baptized 17 June 1607 in Colyton, died 5 Jan. 1685/6 in Windsor, buried 14 May 1686 in Windsor. She was a daughter of Rawkey & Mary (Michell) Dolbere. The register of St. Andrew?s Church at Colyton, Devonshire, reads ?29 March 1634 Jonathan Gillet, sonne of Rev. William Gillet.

Jonathan passenger "Mary & John" sailed Mar 20, 1630 from Plymouth, England Arrived America May 30 1630. Made trip to England in 1633 and returned with wife Mary DOLBERE 0n Recovery.

Son - Joseph GILLETT died at Deerfield, MA. Bloody Brook Indian Massacre.
son Samuel died at Turners Fall, MA- battle with Indians.

Elder John STRONG was born in Chard, Somerset, England. It is believed he came on the Mary and John in 1630, returned to England, married & then returned in 1635 on the “Hopewell” to New England. He brought his wife, 2 children & his sister Eleanor with him. His wife died shortly after arriving in New England. He was in Hingham, Mass in 1635 & Taunton in 1638 sering as a Representative of Taunton at the General Court. In 1654 he was chosen a constable in Windsor. He moved to Northampton, Mass. In 1659 where he became the first ruling elder of the Northampton Church. He had 18 children by 2 wives. When he died he was survived by 160 living descendants, including 15 children. Some of his descendants are very famous people like Princess Di.

Lt. Walter FYLER came from England in 1630 on the “Mary and John”. He brought with him His sister Anne FYLER, brother Samuel, & nephew George Fyler though there is a question about the last 2 names. It is said his father was Roman Fyler of Cornwall, England. He was first in Dorchester, Mass., & was among the first settlers of Windsor, Ct. He was a Deputy to the Connecticut General Court for Windsor, bailiff & juror in Windsor. He was appointed recorder of ships clearing Windsor for Saybrook. In 1654 he charged Rev. Stone of Hartford with breach of fundamental law and the elders with general sin & wickedness. In 1662 he helped to acquit Elizabeth Seager, wife of richard, on the charge of witchcraft. He was a Lt. In the Pequot War & in 1675 he recommended to the government, the use of dogs, in fighting Indians. When he died in 1683 he bequeathed to his wife his entire estate for life to dispose of as she pleased. He also gave her 100 pounds to bestow upon another husband or to use for herself as she pleased. She did not remarry but saved her money & gave it to her children & grandchildren.

Robert DIBBLE & his wife came from England in 1634 on the “Recovery of London & settled in Dorchester, Mass. He was followed the next year by his son Thomas Dibble [or 1630 John and Mary], & daughter Frances, who came with Rev. Joseph Hull’s group to Weymouth. Robert was appointed bayliff (tax collector) for Dorchester & was among the early settlers. His son, Thomas, went to Windsor & became one of the early settlers there.

Ship Mary and John Passenger List for 1634 Certificate of March 24, 1633/4, London Robert Sayres (or Sayers), Master

John BARTLETT Was one of the first of Poquonnock, in Windsor with Holcomb, Francis, and Griswold. He was among the first settlers of Windsor.