Following the arrival of our two Mayflower immigrants, a few other English ancestors came to New England colonies during the 1630's, as shown on the enlarged map below.

This was the "great migration" decade, when approximately 21,000 people landed in the area. Contrary to American mythology, the Pilgrims and Puritans among them were highly influential but a distinct minority. The early coastal colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay (the Boston area) quickly became over-crowded. The English, moreover, were anxious to counter Dutch encroachment on their western frontier. Under these circumstances, governing authorities strongly encouraged new arrivals to migrate westward to the nascent Hartford and New Haven colonies, located down the Connecticut River Valley which was then claimed by the Dutch.

Our ancestors who arrived in this area did not remain in New England beyond the first generation. Several of their descendents moved into neighboring New Netherland, before and after the English took over in 1664 (re-naming it New York) and married into Dutch families there.

THE ALLERTON FAMILY (Acree branch): Isaac Allerton, Sr. was the wealthiest of the Pilgrims and the most travelled - crossing the ocean six more times in behalf of the Plymouth Colony after his arrival. He had brought his pregnant wife and three children with him on the Mayflower, where the newborn died. When his wife died, he married Fear Brewster, by whom he sired another son, our ancestor, Isaac, Jr. He lived in New Amsterdam for ten years before settling finally in New Haven with his third wife in 1646. After the death of his father and first wife, Harvard-graduate Isaac Jr. moved to Virginia.

THE BREWSTER FAMILY (Acree branch): William Brewster, the Pilgrims' Elder, played a prominent role in the establishment of the Plymouth Colony, ministering tirelessly to his flock. Accompanying him on the Mayflower were his wife, Mary, two younger sons, daughter-in-law, and adopted grandson. His married son arrived the following year. His two older daughters, including our ancestor, Fear, came in 1623.

THE BUDD FAMILY (Ogden branch): John and Katherine (Butcher) Budd, having immigrated to Boston with their children in 1637, moved to New Haven in 1638, where they remained two years before moving on to Long Island and from there, twenty years later, to the town of Rye, just across the border in New Netherland. Their daughter, Judith (our ancestor), married John Ogden "of Rye" (below).

THE CONKLING FAMILY (Williamson branch): John Conkling immigrated to Salem, Massachusetts, from Nottinghamshire, England, in 1640 with his wife, Elizabeth Mylner Allseabrook, and their two eldest children, including, our ancestor, Dorothy Conkling. They had other children in Salem and in Long Island, New York, where they moved about 1650, living first in Southold and later in Huntington.

THE DENTON FAMILY (Williamson branch): Richard Denton III, a Presbyterian minister, immigrated also in 1635, with his wife, Helen Windbank, and their children to Watertown, another Boston-area community. They, too, soon moved overland, down the Connecticut River Valley to the new town of Wethersfield. In 1641 a religious dispute caused Reverend Denton and 28 other families to remove to Stamford. Three years later another religious dispute obliged the minister and his followers to go to Dutch-ruled Hempstead, Long Island. Then, in 1658, primarily for financial reasons, Richard and Helen returned to England, where they died. Their children, all grown by then, remained in New Netherland.

THE HIGGINS FAMILY (Williamson branch): Richard Higgins is reputed to have immigrated to Massachusetts in 1623, returned to England, and come again in 1629 or 1632, when he settled in Plymouth and married his first wife, Lydia Chandler. They took their family to Eastham about 1645, where Lydia died and Richard married his second wife, Mary, the widow of John Yates. About 1669, five years before his death, Richard and Mary moved to Piscataway, New Jersey. Their son, Thomas (our ancestor), there married Elizabeth Hull, a daughter of Benjamin Hull (below).

THE HULL FAMILY (Williamson branch): Joseph Hull, an Episcopalian clergyman, immigrated with his wife, Agnes Coffin, and seven children to Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1635. With them came their 21-family religious flock, who settled in Weymouth. Reverend Hull, irrepressibly controversial, soon moved on - to Hingham, then Barnstable, then up the coast to Durham and York, before moving back to England alone in 1652. He preached there for ten years before rejoining his family in New Hampshire, dying there three years later on the Isles of Shoals. His son, Benjamin (our ancestor), moved his family to Piscataway, New Jersey.

THE OGDEN FAMILY (Ogden branch): John and Anne (Richardson) Ogden came to New Haven, Connecticut, in 1635. They were among the first settlers at Stamford. Their son (our ancestor), who became known as John Ogden "of Rye," married Judith Budd, a daughter of John Budd (above).

THE ROSE FAMILY (Williamson branch): Robert Rose, II immigrated to Boston, Massachusetts, from Suffolk, England, in 1634 with his wife, Margery Everard, and eight children, including our ancestor, Robert Rose, III. They later moved to Branford, Connecticut. Robert III married Dorothy Conkling (above), who gave birth to our ancestor, Rachel Rose, before she died in her early twenties.

THE SEALES FAMILY (TenEyck branch): John Seales immigrated with his two daughters to Charlestown, Massachusetts, by 1630. His wife, Philippa, apparently died either on the voyage or on the ship shortly after its arrival. Punished two years later for stealing corn and fish, John was bound for a time as a servant and then moved in 1637/38 with his surviving daughter, Phebe (our ancestor), to New Amsterdam, where he re-married and where Phebe married Teunis Nyssen.

THE SPICER FAMILY (Williamson branch): Thomas and Anne (Michal Grant) Spicer immigrated with their eldest children to Newport, Rhode Island, about 1638, settling in the neighboring town of Portsmouth. But soon, before 1643, they moved to Gravesend, Long Island, in New Netherland, where their daughter, Anne (our ancestor), married John Lake, Sr.

THE WATERS FAMILY (Williamson branch): Andrew Waters immigrated to Plymouth, Massachusetts, sometime before 1643, when his son, Anthony Waters, Sr., was born. Anthony married Rachel Rose (above). They raised their children in Jamaica, New York City, all born in the decade after the English takeover.

THE YORKE FAMILY (Williamson branch): Richard and Elizabeth Yorke immigrated to Dover, New Hampshire, about 1635. One of their daughters Rachel (our ancestor), married Benjamin Hull, a son of Joseph Hull (above), and moved to Piscataway, New Jersey.

Copyright © 2001- by Charles Acree. All rights reserved.