Mary (Cogswell) Armitage (bef. 1618 - aft. 1675)

Born before 24 Jul 1618 in Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, England

Ancestors

Wife of Godfrey Armitage — married 1649 in Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts

Died after 1675 after age 56 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts [uncertain]

Biography

Birth and Early Life

Mary (Cogswell) Armitage immigrated to New England as a child during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640).

Mary Cogswell was born before her baptism date of 24 July 1618 in Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, England to John Cogswell (1592-1669) and Elizabeth Thompson (about 1594-1676). Mary was the second of eleven children, all of whom were born and baptized in Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, England except the last one, Sarah.

Siblings

1. Elizabeth Cogswell was baptized on 15 September 1616. She married Nathaniel Masterson on 31 July 1657.
2. William Cogswell was baptized March 1620.^[1] He married Susanna Hawkes (1633-before 1696) in 1650. William died on 15 December 1700. 10 children.
3. John Cogswell, Jr. was baptized on 25 July 1622. He married by about 1647 to name unknown. He died on 27 September 1653 on the sea traveling between America and England.
4. Phyllis Cogswell was baptized 2 July 1624. She is the mysterious unnamed daughter who stayed behind in England. She married John Broadhurst on 23 January 1645 in Chirton, Whitshire, England.
5. Hannah Cogswell was baptized on 6 April 1626. Hannah died on 25 December 1704. She married before 2 January 1652 to Deacon Cornelius Waldo.
6. Edward Cogswell was baptized on 16 April 1630. No other information at this time except that he was not mentioned in his father's will.
7. Alice Cogswell was baptized on 24 September 1631. (not included with Jameson) Alice and Ruth probably died young. Only 8 children went and the others are accounted for.
8. Ruth Cogswell was baptized on 28 November 1633. (not included with Jameson) See explanation above in Alice.
9. Abigail Cogswell was born before 1635. Abigail married Thomas Clark by 1666.
10. Sarah Cogswell was born about 1645 in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts. She married Simon Tuttle in 1663.

Immigration

Mary was 18 years old when on 23 May 1635 she boarded the ship the "Angel Gabriel" in Bristol with her parents and seven siblings. The ship was becalmed and they didn't actually set sail until 4 June 1635. The entire family went with the exception of one sister, the until recently mysterious child Phyllis Cogswell, who was to marry John Broadhurst at Chirton, Whitshire on 23 January 1645 and who stayed behind in England.

The voyage had its share of problems including at least two cases of smallpox which was reported upon in the journal kept by the Rev. Richard Mather ^[2] who sailed on the "James" which accompanied the "Angel Gabriel" for part of the journey. The journey culminated with a fierce storm which hit almost at the end of their journey. The ship was broken into pieces and some people died. The Cogswell family were washed ashore, but they lost a great deal of property and valuables. It was estimated that her father's losses amounted to about £5000, but the family was all safe. The storm threw them ashore at Pemaquid, Maine. Mr. Cogswell had purchased a large tent and it came ashore with them. It was pitched and served as their shelter. Her father left the family there and went to Boston to secure passage for them. He hired a Capt. Gallup and his small barque to sail them to Ipswich, Massachusetts.

Her family were amongst the first to settle there and her father was given a 300 acre parcel of land plus assorted smaller acreages to begin life anew.

Marriage and Family

It is thought that she married Godfrey Armitage in 1649 probably in Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts. It is speculative that her married name was Armitage. However, there are other connections with Godfrey that lead genealogists to that conclusion. Mary's brother John Cogswell, Jr. mentions him in a letter to his parents while he was visiting in London in March 1653. Godfrey Armitage was also one of the executors named in John, Jr.'s will.

She is said to have been part of the household of the family of Governor Bellingham and joined the Boston Church on 29 August 1647, if she is that Mary Cogswell who married Godfrey Armitage in 1649. They lived in Boston, Massachusetts where he was first a tailor and later a merchant. He was quite prosperous. She was his second wife.

Child of the Armitage-Cogswell Marriage

1. Samuel Armitage was born in April 1651.

Death and Burial

Her death date would be some time after April 1677 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts. The date of her death and place of her burial are unknown at this time. Mrs. Armitage made a deposition on 5 April 1677 in the case of Cogswell vs Cogswell.

Sources

1. ↑ Jameson, EO: p. xi, parish records of Westbury for baptisms.
2. ↑ He was father to Rev. Increase Mather, D.D. who was President of Harvard College and grandfather to Rev. Dr. Cotton Mather, the famous minister of Boston.

See also:

• Cogswell, Donald J. Descendants of John Cogswell. Unknown, Unknown, 1998.
• Jameson, Ephraim Orcutt. Cogswells in America. Boston: A. Mudge & son, printers, 1884.
• Cogswell Family Association web site [1]
• Anderson, Robert Charles. New England, The Great Migration and The Great Migration Begins, 1620-1635. Vol. 2, C-F, record for John Cogswell, page 137.
• The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Volume 162, January 2008.

Acknowledgements

1. Darlene Scott Kerr created Cogswell-236 on 16 March 2014, added bio and sources.