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Subject: [GM-L] Rodolphus was the son of Rev. Thomas THATCHER! Source: Savage
Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 20:48:39 EST

THACHER, or THATCHER, *ANTHONY, Marblehead, came from Salisbury in Co.
Wilts, where he had serv. occasion. as curate for Peter Thacher 1631 and 4,
the rector of St. Edmunds in that city, wh. prob. was his br. He had been a
non-conformist, liv. in Holland more than 20 yrs. bef. and emb. on 6 Apr.
1635 at Southampton in the James (tho. we might by Hubbard, 200, be misled to
think he came in the Angel Gabriel, cast away, 15 Aug.) and arr. at Boston 3
June, in the ship's clearance call. a tayler for decept. not of the inferiors
at the custom ho. wh. certif. that the total num. of men, youths, and boys,
was 53, when we are sure there were many more perhaps, a hundred and fifty
percent. He brot. a sec. w. and four ch. William, b. of the first w. as may
have been some of the rest, Mary, Edith, and Peter, a babe, and prob. was
accomp. by the cous. Rev. Joseph Avery, with w. and six ch. and his neph.
Thomas, afterwards first min. of the third or O. S. ch. in Boston, beside a
serv. Peter Higden; but of all these, only the names of Higden and of Anthony
P. appear in that list of 53. Such was the mode of evasion of the petty
tyranny of the Lords of the Council. The ship was of 300 tons, and might
well have brot. 150 passeng. when so many were eager to come, yet the names
of 53 alone are giv. Most of these went to Ipswich, and a large part of them
sett. the same and foll. yr. at Newbury; but Thacher with his friend Avery,
wh. was invit. to

[[vol. 4, p. 271]]

preach at Marblehead, with all their respect. ch. and fam. exc. his neph.
Thomas, then 15 yrs. old, wh. prefer. ld. travel, emb. in a pinnace of Isaac
Allerton to return from I. to M. on 15 Aug. 1635, and next day were wreck. on
a rock, or rather ledge off Cape Ann. Of 23 persons in that little bark, all
but Thacher and his w. were drown. He and she were cast on the barren islet,
ever since call Thacher's woe, as the outer rock, gain. the name of Avery's
fall. Slight acco. of this sad occur. is in Magn. II. cap. 2, but fuller in
Winthrop I. 165, and the personal relat. of the whole by the suffer. is in
Young's Chron. of Mass. 483, and I can recommend no more strik. narrative in
our early hist. He was by the Ct. made admor. of Joseph Avery, as Col. Rec.
I. 154, shows. Our Gen. Ct. bestow a good sum in money on the surv. suffer.
as in Rec. I. 1557 appears, and afterwards, Ib. 191, made a gr. of that
diastrous isl. for an inherit. wh. was not, I imagine, worth tak. into
possess. He preach. perhaps, short time at Marblehead, where he had prob.
Judah; John, b. 17 Mar. 1639; but went for perman. settlem. bef. 1643, to
Yarmouth, and had Bethia, wh. m. Jabez Howland; and Rodolphus in my conject.

For a season he was of Marshfield, rep. for Y. 1643-7. He had at Salisbury
in O. E. Benjamin, b. 13, bapt. 27 Apr. 1634, but this ch. perhaps d. soon;
as did his mo. Mary if a fam. mem. be correct, wh. says that his sec. w. tak.
a few wks. bef. sail. was Elizabeth Jones; and he d. at Y. where his inv. is
dat. 22 Aug. 1667, if Alden's Epit. I. 120 may be correct. aged 80. *John,
Yarmouth, youngest s. of the preced. m. 6 Nov. 1664, Rebecca, d. of the first
Josiah Winslow, and niece of the first Gov. w. had Peter, b. 26 Apr. as one
report is, or by ano. 20 May 1665; Josiah, 26 Apr. 1667, both bapt. 26 Apr.
1668; Rebecca, 1, bapt. 6 June 1669; Bethia, 10, bapt. 16 July 1671; John, 28
Jan. bapt. 14 Feb. 1675; Elizabeth 19 June, bapt. 22 July 1677; Hannah, 19,
bapt. 24 Aug. 1679, d. at ten yrs.; and Mary, 3 Aug. bapt. 24 Sept. 1682, d.
young. His w. d. 15 July foll. and many lamentable verses he wrote on her.
By sec. w. m. 11 Jan. 1684, Lydia, d. of John Corham, he had Lydia, 11, bapt.
22 Feb. 1685; Mary, again, 5 Feb. bapt. 6 Mar. 1687; Desire, 24 Dec. 1688,
bapt. 27 Jan. foll.; Hannah, 9, bapt. 12 Oct. 1690; Mercy, 23 July 1692, d.
next mo.; Judah, 20, bapt. 27 Aug. 1693; Mercy, again, 28 Dec. 1695, bapt;.
next day, d. at 8 mos.; Ann, 7 May, bapt. 27 June 1697; Joseph, 11, bapt. 16
July 1699; Benjamin, 25 June, bapt. 3 Aug. 1701; Mercy, again, 7 Feb. bapt.
same day 1703; and Thomas, 2 Apr. bapt. 20 May 1705, as the town rec. has it,
tho. I have seen a fam. MS. that makes the yr. 1711, wh. is prob. erron.
Forty-one yrs. would seem a suffic. period for hav. ch. He was rep. 1668 and
twelve yrs. foll. Assist. many yrs. aft. and a counsel. under new chart, d.
8 May 1713. Fourteen of his twenty ch. m. for the

[[vol. 4, p. 272]]

blessing of the cape. JUDAH, Yarmouth, s. prob. eldest, of Anthony, on our
side of the water, m. Mary, d. of Rev. Thomas Thornton, and of descend. this
report is giv. Elizabeth b. Oct. 1667, wh. was sec. w. of first Joshua Gee;
Thomas, 18 May 1669; Mary, 17 Mar. 1671, wh. was sec. w. of Moses Draper, and
next of Joseph Grant; Judah, d. soon; Ann, 31 Oct. 1674; and Judah, again, 7
Dec. 1676. PETER, Yarmouth 1678, may have been s. of that John, b. aft. his
f.'s shipwreck, and so call. in mem. of that babe lost in the disaster of
1635. Yet I marvel, that some earlier writer was not enabled to foll. up the
geneal. PETER, Milton, youngest s. of Rev. Thomas, freem. 1678, at the same
time with his friend, the first Ch. just. Sewal, accomp. ano. classmate,
Samuel Danforth, to Europe, and on his d. near the end of 1676, came back
soon; m. 21 Nov. 1677, Theodora, d. of Rev. John Oxenbridge of the first ch.
wh. had eight yrs. bef. been in fierce enmity with the third ch. founded for
his f. and so. I hope, some help was giv. to the quiet that began, soon aft.
the d. of Gov. Bellingham, to reign thro. the colony so long disturb. He was
ord. first min. of M. 1681, had Theodora; Bathsheba; Oxenbridge, b. 17 May
1681, H. C. 1698; Elizabeth; Mary; Peter, 6 Oct. 1688, H. C. 1706, min. of
Middleborough; John, d. young; Thomas, 1693, d. at 28 yrs. and John, again.
His ord. at M. was, if we obey the auth. of Farmer, in Sept. 1681. There his
w. d. 18 Nov. 1697, and he m. next Susanna, wid of Rev. John Bailey, wh. d. 4
Sept. 1724 in her 59th yr. and he m. Elizabeth wid. of the first Joshua Gee,
and d. Eliot says 17, but Farmer incorrect. 27 Dec. 1727. Strange. does
Farmer give him the wid. of Rev. Joshua Gee at 3d w. when Gee was the surv.
by many yrs. and his mo.-in-law Elizabeth d. of Judah Thacher bec. third w.
of Peter T. His preach. a Serm. that Eliot calls beautif. on the d. of G.'s
w. but that was only a single yr. bef. his own.

RODOLPHUS, or RALPH, Duxbury, s. of Thomas, m. 1 Jan. 1670, Ruth, d. of
George Partridge of the same, had Thomas, b. 9 Oct. foll. Elizabeth 1 Mar.
1672; Ann, 26 Nov. 1673, d. young; Ruth, 1 Nov. 1675; Rodolophus, 9 Jan.
1678; Lydia, 24 Jan. 1680; Mary 8 Mar. 1682; Ann, again, 30 Mar. 1684; and
Peter, 17 Aug. 1686; was constable 1678, and sev. yrs. from 1685, clk. of the
town. But his benevo. carr. him to Chilmark on Martha's vineyard, where he
preach. many yrs. and in June 1711 gave to his s. "Rodolphus, alias Ralph"
est. of 60 acres. See Mather's Hecatompolis, in Mag. I. 27,and Geneal. Reg.
XI. 242. Winsor, 235, misleads

. *SAMUEL, Watertown, freem. 18 May 1642, was deac. oft. selectman, rep.
1665-9, on 30 Nov. of wh. last he d. by w. Hannah adm. of the ch. at
Cambridge, 31 May 1667, had Hannah, b. 9 Oct. 1645; and Samuel, 20 Oct. 1648.
The wid. Hannah, in her will of 16 Apr. 1682, with codic. of 20 Dec. foll.
pro. 3 Apr. next, ment. gr.-ch.

[[vol. 4, p. 273]]

John, and Hannah, who were ch. of John Holmes and her d. Hannah, m. 13 Sept.
1664, wh. d. 24 May 1670; s. Samuel and his first ch. with sev. other
person, wh. I judge to be not relat. but only friends. SAMUEL, Watertown, s.
of the preced. at Lynn m. 11 Apr. 1676, Mary Farnsworth, prob. d. of Mathias,
had Mary, b. 1 Aug. 1681, d. at 9 mos. Samuel, 8 Apr. 1683; John, 22 Jan.
1686; Hannah, 30 Apr. 1688, d. young; Mary, again, 17 Sept. 1690; Hannah,
again, 10 Dec. 1692; Abigail, 6 June, 1694; Mercy, 2 Jan. 1698; Sarah, 30
Nov. 1699; and Ebenezer, 17 Mar. 1704; freem. 1690, was a lieut. and d. 21
Oct. 1726. Of the Watertown fam. descend. all retain the old spell. as if
deriving their name from the early occupat. of a thatcher, wh. seems very
prob. THOMAS, Weymouth, s. of Rev. Peter, rector of St. Edmunds, Salisbury,
in Co. Wilts, b. 1 May 1620, bef. his f. was induct. (but the fam. orign was
prob. Co. Somerset) came with his uncle Anthony in the James from
Southampton, arr. at Boston 4 June 1635, went to Ipswich with his uncle and
other friends, but avoid the peril of their return in Aug. of the same, yr.
in wh. all but Anthonly and his w. were lost, was put under the direct. of
Rev. Charles Chauncey of Scituate, wh. prepared him for his profess. with
great dilig. He m. 11 May 1643, Elizabeth youngest d. of Rev. Ralph Partridge
of Duxbury, and was ord. min. at W. (as success. of Samuel Newman, wh. rem.
with any of his flock to Rehoboth) 2 Jan.1645, not 1664, as in Gen. Reg.
VIII. 183 the figures read, was freem. 1645, when the prefix of Mr. is
strange. omit. His good sense unit. with a general acquaint. in science of
that day acquir. for him great reput. as a physician, and to complete his
honors, Mather wh. always loves an exaggera. makes him compose a Hebrew
Lexicon, so compress. "that within one sheet of paper, he had every
considerable word of the language." The ch. were Thomas, Ralph; alias
Rodolphus; Peter, b. at Salem, (we kn. not by wh. accid. the mo. was there)
18, bapt. 20 July 1651, H. C. 1671; Patience; and Elizabeth wh. m. Nathaniel
Davenport, the brave capt. k. in the gr. Narraganset battle, 19 Dec. 1675,
and next. m. 1677, Samuel Davis. His w. d. 2 June 1664, soon aft. wh. he m.
Margaret, wid. of Jacob Sheaffe, d. of Henry Webb, and rem. to Boston, join.
the first ch. 4 Aug. 1667, and was desir. to be min. of a new society there,
since call. the O. S. ch. growing out of the dissatisf. at the descept.
artifices for bring. of Davenport from New haven to succeed Wilson. In Oct.
1669, to save the feelings of his fellow-worship. he took dismiss. to the ch.
at Charlestown, and on 16 Feb. foll. was install, over the new ch. of B. and
was held in high esteem. In 1674, he with Increase Mather, was add. to
former licensers of the press; and he d. 15 Oct. 1678, as on p. 152 of the
Magn. III. is told, tho. on the next p. where he gives as a curiosity some
elegiac

[[vol. 4, p. 274]]

strains in Latin and Greek by an Ind. youth nam. Eleazer, then student in the
senior class at Harv. the Eccles. Histor. with his aptitude for error, makes
it 18 Oct. Still his life is one of the best in the vol. tho. Eliot has
judiciously curtail. it by four fifths. His wid. d. 23 or 4 Feb. 1694, as
town rec. and Sewall's Diary tell. Patience m. William Kemp. THOMAS, Boston,
merch. eldest s. of the preced. m. Mary, d. of Thomas Savage, had Elizabeth
b. 26, bapt. 31 Dec. 1671; Thomas 25, bapt. 28 Sept. 1673; John, 22, bapt. 24
Jan. 1675; Peter, bapt. 26 Aug. 1677, H. C. 1696; and Mary, 28 Jan. bapt. 1
Feb. 1680. He d. 2 Apr. 1686, and his wid. d. 22 July 1730, giv. all her
prop. to s. Peter wh. was min. of Weymouth, m. 14 Oct. 1708, Hannah Curwin,
but had no ch. His name is oft. repeat. on acco. of the extraord. circumst.
of his being brot. from the pulpit at W. to the new North ch. in Boston, as
collea. with Rev. John Webb, wh. had been gr. at Harv. 12 yrs. later. How
long aft. 1696 he was ord. at W. or what were the concomitants of his lot
there are unkn. That he must have been highly regard. at W. and not thro. the
partiality of a few hearers, wh. rememb. the powers of his uncle half a
century bef. is a resonab. presumpt. and why many should have desir. him is
easier to conject. than the reason for the bitter and most indecent
repugnance to his installat. that any of the petty squabbles a. the introd.
of a min. in any parish of N. E. have produced. Four, five, or six publicat.
on the two sides, may be preserv. by the curious for this eventful yr. 1720,
on 28 Jan. in wh. an ordain. council was ablig. to go secret. to the house of
worship in Boston; where the disord. vulgarity, as tradit. relates, was too
bad to be entrusted even to printing. He d. 26 Feb. 1739. Of this name 19
had in 1854, ben gr. at Harv. and 4 at Yale.

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