Thomas Davenport Sr (abt. 1616 - 1685)

Born about 1616 in England

Husband of Mary (Unknown) Davenport — married about 1642 in Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died 9 Nov 1685 at about age 69 in Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Thomas Davenport Sr migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 88) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Disputed Origins/Spouse

• There is no clear evidence connecting this Thomas Davenport to a particular Davenport family from England. William Davenport and Dorothy Warren are a good possibility but a clear connection is needed, because there are multiple Davenport families who emigrated to the colonies at this time.
• Mary Forth is often named as Thomas' wife. According to Boyd he married Mary Forth in 1626 at the church of St. Katherine Coleman, London, England. ^[1] If Mary Forth married at the age of 16 (very young for the time) and waited to have children until 1643 when Sarah is born she would be 33 and then 54 when John is born, extremely old for births in colonial America so Mary Forth is not the wife of Thomas Davenport.

Biography

See Thomas Davenport Sr (abt. 1616 - 1685) Expanded Biography for more information.

Emigration

Thomas Davenport may have emigrated to Dorchester Massachusetts as early as 1636.^[2] Thomas Davenport was admitted to the the church at Dorchester Massachusetts 20 November 1640.^[3]

Marriage

Thomas Davenport married Mary, but what is Mary's Maiden Name and when were they married?

• According to Torrey he married Mary ?Newman by 1643 at Dorchester or Cambridge Massachusetts.^[4] Surveying all the sources cited by Torrey, only Coltman suggests the maiden name of Newman without giving a source.^[5] Newman is not likely to be Mary's Maiden name.
• The "Davenport Ancestry in America" does not give a maiden name for Mary.^[6] This is what we find in Dorchester records as well.
• It is certain that Mary's Children are born from 1643-1684 which suggests that Mary was in her early twenties at the latest when she began having children, supporting Torrey's assertion that Thomas and Mary were likely married at Massachusetts Bay Colony just before their first child was born. If we accept Torrey's time of marriage, we should accept that her maiden name is unknown as stated by all but one of Torrey's sources which included the NEGHS and the Davenport Ancestry in America.

Children

The "Davenport Ancestry in America" states that Thomas had Nine children^[6] leaving out Anna, but Dorchester baptismal records show ten. The Great Migration Newsletter also says that Thomas and Mary had Ten children, and suggests that Anna was the wife of Samuel Jones and not Sarah.^[3]

1. Sarah Davenport b. 17 July 1643
2. Thomas Davenport Jr bap. 2 March 1644/5
3. Mary Davenport bap. 21 January 1648/9
4. Anna Davenport bap. 29 December 1650
5. Charles Davenport bap. 7 November 1652
6. Abigail Davenport bap. 8 July 1655
7. Mehitable Davenport b. 14 February 1656/7
8. Jonathan Davenport b. 6 March 1658/9
9. Ebenezer Davenport b. 26 April 1661
10. John Davenport bap. 20 November 1664

Death

Thomas Davenport died either on 9 November^[7] or 19 November 1685 in Dorchester, Massachusetts Bay Colony.^[8] He left a will dated July 24, 1683 that mentions Mary "well beloved wife", Son John, Son [in law] Samuel Jones and his only child, sons Charles Davenport, Jonathan Davenport, Ebenezer Davenport and daughter Mary wife of Samuel Maxfield.^[3][6] His other daughters are not mentioned and are believed to have died before marrying.

Research Notes

1. The Birth/Christening verifies the father but not the mother, need another source to prove the mother, Dorothy Warren. Possible birth year of 1610 in England found for Thomas Davenport Sr in Roberts-1:119 (There is no verification here. No parentage is proved. This "source" is too vague and needs more details)
2. Did Thomas marry another Mary? A wider discussion of Thomas's life and marriage(s) can be found at: werelate.org ^{[9] [10]}
3. Note on the Find a Grave memorial "I do not believe Thomas is buried at Mt Auburn, only that his name has been memorialized on this stone." (The Cenotaph is very hard to read- but many names and dates on it)^[11]
4. Related to several presidents (Boyd - Vol1, p119)
5. Citation from the NEGHS confirms the following, including Thomas' Death date (it gives two dates, only one of which is correct). This is all from the Old Dorchester Massachusetts town record (not correct - the information comes from multiple sources), I have expanded abbreviations for legibility but have other wise preserved the punctuation of the original transcription:^[12]

Made a freeman 18 May 1642;

Wife Mary died 4 October 1691;

He died either 9 or 19 November 1685;

Daughter Sarah born 28 October 1643;

Sons Thomas, John, Charles, Jonathan born 6 January 1658-9, Jonathan married Hannah Maner 1 December 1680;

Ebenezer born 26 February 1661;

son-in-law Samuel Jones [husband of Sarah], and daughter Mary, wife of Samuel Maxfiled;

will 24 July 1683, inventory 4 February 1685-6, 332 pounds 16s 8d son Charles Executer.

--A Preserved Davenport, died 4 February 1659; [Death of Anna?]

a Mehitable, daughter of Thomas, born 14 December 1656

Sources

1. ↑ England, Boyd's marriage indexes, 1538-1850 Transcription, Findmypast [1]
2. ↑ Ferris, Mary. Dawes-Gates Ancestral Lines (Privately Printed, 1943) https://hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89066183567?urlappend=%3Bseq=317
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Great Migration Newsletter Vol 18 2009 page 18, 24 viewed 10/2020 https://www.americanancestors.org/databases/great-migration-newsletter-v1-25/image?pageName=18&volumeId=21162
4. ↑ Torrey, Clarence Almon. Torrey’s New England Marriages Prior to 1700 (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore, 1985 Davenport, Thomas (-1685)(?Cousin of Christophe Gibson) and Mary ?Newman(-1691); by 1643; Dorchester/Cambridge? {McCormick-Hamilton 747; TAG 22:206; Blake-Glidden 84; Coltman Anc. 59; Blakeney-Sabin 77; Woodstock 4:449; Reg. 5:398, 33:26. 87:67; Dawes-Gates 1:271}
5. ↑ Coltman Anc.: Sumner, Edith Bartlett, Ancestry and Descendants of James Hensman Coltman and Betsey Tobey (Los Angeles, 1957) 59 viewed at https://archive.org/details/ancestrydescenda00sumn_1/page/58/mode/2up October 2020
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} Hall, Dorothy D., Davenport Ancestry in America and Descendants of John Pope Davenport and Edward Wilcox Davenport, (Edward Wilcox Davenport Family Organization, 1962), p.3.
7. ↑ According to various transcriptions of the town records (which should be cross-checked with the original records). See FHL film 740996 [2], Dorchester births, marriages, and deaths to the end of 1825 (Boston, MA: 1891), 120 [3].
8. ↑ Suffolk Co., MA, probate file 1447. His inventory gives this death date. FHL film 102889990 [4].
9. ↑ https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Thomas_Davenport_%286%29
10. ↑ https://www.werelate.org/wiki/MySource:Samples_59/Thomas_Davenport_and_Mary_Newman_%28Discrepancy%29
11. ↑ FIndAGrave database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 14 October 2020), memorial page for Thomas Davenport (1615–9 Nov 1685), Find a Grave Memorial no. 110134813, citing Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by Elana Kahn (contributor 47780346) .
12. ↑ Old Dorchester, Recovery of some materials for history, general and particular, The New England Historical & Genealogical Register (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 1851) Vol 5, Page 398.; Viewed 10/2020 https://www.americanancestors.org/databases/vital-records-from-the-nehgs-register/image?volumeId=21069&pageName=398&rId=1426571481