Edmund Freeman (1596 - bef. 1682)

Born 25 Jul 1596 in Pulborough, Sussex, England

Ancestors

Husband of Bennett (Hodsoll) Freeman — married 16 Jun 1617 in Cowfold, Sussex, England

Husband of Elizabeth (Unknown) Freeman — married about 1632 in Sussex, England [uncertain]

Descendants

Died before 2 Nov 1682 before age 86 in Sandwich, Plymouth Colony

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Edmund Freeman migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Great Migration (Series 2), by R. C. Anderson, vol. 2, p. 576) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Edmund Freeman is Notable.

Unless otherwise noted, this information comes from Anderson ^[1] and Brainard^[2]

Baptism

Edmund was baptized on 25 July 1596 in Pulborough, Sussex, England.^[3] There are sources that list birth in 1590 probably due to the confusion of Hotten's entries, which reports he took the requisite Oaths at age 45 in 1635, but the boarding entry says he was age 34.^[4] 1596 is consistent with the baptisms of his siblings 1598-1609

Son of Edmund Freeman and Alice Coles.

Marriages and Children

"Edmund ffreeman" and "Bennet Hodsoll" were married in Cowfold, Sussex, England, on 26 June 1617.^[5] About two years after this marriage, the family apparently moved from Pulborough to Billingshurst, as his younger children were baptized there. Bennett was buried on April 12, 1630, at Pulborough, Sussex, England.^[6]

Married: 2nd - Elizabeth Unknown (See Research Notes

The children of Edmund Freeman and Bennett Hodsoll appear to have been published first in The American Genealogist article "Pence Freeman of East Hampton, Connecticut."^[7] The article says that a deposition was made while the Freemans were still in England for which a search was made in the Billingshurst parish register for their children. Alice, Edmund, Bennett, Elizabeth, and John were found there, but the article doesn't say dates were included in the deposition. The article goes on to list these children and another named Nathaniel with full baptism dates in Pulborough and Billingshurst. There is no citation for these records. The original Billingshurst parish register has pages/entries missing from possibly the last several months of 1621/2 to 1629, which may have been lost by the time the register was rebound in 1894. The Bishop's Transcript has the same omissions except 1623. These dates must have been taken from the register before 1894 and can't be confirmed. The article is correct in saying Alice was baptized in Pulborough, not Billingshurst. That record, as welll as Edmund's baptism and Nathaniel's burial, are in the Pulborough register

Children of Edmund and Bennet (Hodsoll) Freeman:

1. Alice Freeman. Baptized 4 April 1619 in Pulborough, Sussex England.^[8]
2. Edmund Freeman. Baptized 26 November 1620 in Billingshurst, Sussex England.^[9]
3. Bennett Freeman. Baptized 20 January 1621/2 in Billingshurst, Sussex England.^[10]
4. Elizabeth Freeman. Baptized 11 April 1624 in Billingshurst, Sussex England.^[10]
5. John Freeman. Baptized 28 January 1626/7 in Billingshurst, Sussex England.^[10]
6. Nathaniel Freeman. Baptized 2 September 1629 in Billingshurst, Sussex. England.^[10] Buried 12 September 1629 in Pulborough, Sussex England.^[11]

Children of Edmund Freeman and Elizabeth Unknown:

1. Mary Freeman. Born say 1636. ^[12] Married by 1653 Edward Perry. ^[1]

There are three more entries in the Pulborough and Billingshurst parish registers for children of Edmund Freeman. They conflict with the evidence for Edmund and Bennet's family, but no other Edmund Freeman was found as an alternative:

1. John Freeman, bp. 25 June 1633, Pulborough,^[13] bur. 2 Oct 1634, Billingshurst ^[14]
2. Alice Freeman, bp. 17 August 1634, Pulborough^[15]

For disputed children Cicelia, Mary, and Sarah, see Research Notes

The identity of second wife Elizabeth is open to debate. Brainard says that Edmund married the widow Elizabeth Perry. Anderson gives no maiden name for Elizabeth.^[16] An "Edmundus Freiman" married Elisabetha Raymer at Shipley, Sussex, England, on August 10, 1632.^[17] (Whether this is the same Edmund, is open to question.) Elizabeth is sometimes identified as Elizabeth Greavley, Elizabeth Beauchamp, Elizabeth Perry, or Elizabeth Rayner. The identification of Elizabeth as a Beauchamp is understandable, given that Edmund's sister Alice married John Beauchamp.

Edmund chose to move to America. It is unknown whether Edmund was a Puritan or why he emigrated. On July 1, 1635, an "Edward" Freeman, 34, was enrolled as a passenger on Captain Hackwell's ship, The Abigail, in 1635., along with Elizabeth Freeman, wife, 35; Edmond Freeman, 15; John Freeman, 8; Elizabeth Freeman, 12; and Alice Freeman 17. These children lined up with those for Edmund, so it is assumed that Edmund's name and age were merely written incorrectly. The ship sailed on near the beginning of August and arrived at Boston on October 8, 1635, after 8 weeks at sea. There was a smallpox outbreak on the ship during their voyage.

He first lived in Lynn, Massachusetts, then moved briefly to Plymouth. He was one of the famous ‘ ten men from Saugus ‘ who founded Sandwich in 1637. Edmund Freeman was assistant Governor to Gov. William Bradford for seven consecutive terms beginning in 1640. He was on the Council of War in 1642; Deputy to the General Court in 1646. ^[18]

The precise date of Edmund's death is not know, however his Will is dated June 21, 1682, and it was probated on November 2, 1682. He is buried in Saddle and Pillion Cemetery, Sagamore, Barnstable County, Massachusetts

He bought and sold property numerous times, and his estate reflects his prosperity. The Inventory shows that his house and the property he lived on was worth £155, property at Weequansitt worth £5, and personal property was worth about £22. His estate included a dictionary and a Bible, and he signed his deeds, so it is assumed that he could read and write.

Death

Died Between 21 June 1682 and 2 November 1682. Dates his will was made and proved.'^[19] 'Buried: Saddle and Pillion Cemetery, Sagamore, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, USA. ^[20]

Will

Dated June 21, 1682

Presented for probate Nov. 2, 1682

Mentioned in Will:

• three sons: "my son Edmond Freeman", "my son John Freeman" and Edward Perry (later called "my son Edward Perry")
• daughter Elizabeth Ellis
• grandsons Matthias Ellis and Thomas Paddy
• witnesses John Fish, Nathan Nye

"The last Will and Testament of Mr. Edmond Freeman, Senior, exhibited to the Court of his Majestie, held at Plymouth the 2d of Nov. 1682, on the oaths of John Fish and Nathan Nye, as followeth : —

"The 21 day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred eighty and two, I Edmond Freeman, the eldest of the name in Sandwich, being in a good measure in health of body, and of capable understanding and memory, do declare this to be my last will and testament ; hereby renouncing and making void all other and former wills and testaments made by me, the said Edmond Freeman, by my knowledge or privity.

"Item. First, I make, constitute, and ordain my three Sons, namely, my son Edmond Freeman, and my son John Freeman, and Edward Perry, to be my executors, and my Daughter Elizabeth Ellis, executrix, of this my last will and testament.

"Item. My will is that all former conveyances of lands by me given shall stand and remain in full force and virtue.

"Item. For the disposing of my estate, my just debts being first paid, I do give unto my two sons, namely, my son Edmond and my son John Freeman, all my lands on the easterly side of the lands given by me to my Grandson Matthias Ellis, on the same range to run as the said Matthias his land doth, from the northeast corner-bound of said land unto the northerly end of all my land, only provided and excepted that land which is called the Rye-field, and the meadow which is called Hedges-meadow, the which said Rye-field and Hedges-meadow, I do give to my Grandson Thomas Paddy.

"Item. My lands which are to the westward and to the northward of my grandson Matthias Ellis his land by me given to him, all my said westward and northward lands to be divided into three parts ; and two of said three parts I do give unto my son Edward Perry, and the other said third part I do give unto my daughter Elizabeth Ellis, all which aforesaid given lands I do freely give unto my aforesaid sons and daughter, to them and their heirs and assigns, to have and to hold forever. Furthermore, the one-half of my lands at Waquanchett, I give unto my grandson Thomas Paddy, to him and his heirs and assigns forever.

"This is my last will and testament.

"By me, {Seal}

"Signed, sealed, and delivered in presence of us,

John Fish, his X mark.

Nathan Nye, his X mark."^[21]

His inventory was taken on 4 October 1682, Mr. Edmond Freeman and Capt John Freeman made oath to the inventory.^[21]

Research Notes

WikiTree pages of interest: Tenn Men of Saugust
Additional Edmund Freeman Biographical Notes.

Possible second wife: "Edmundus Freiman married Elisabetha Raymer on 10 August 1632 in Shipley, Sussex, England"^[22]

Disputed children: The following children are sometimes shown to be the daughters of Edmund Freeman, but were not included in the Great Migration Sketch, and no additional evidence has been found to support them.

• Cicelia Freeman (abt.1631-abt.1632) - daughter Cycelia is only named in Genealogical Notes on Barnstable Families as "probably his daughter."^[23] She remains attached as uncertain.
• Mary (Freeman) Sisson (abt.1610-abt.1692) b Yorkshire, wife of Richard Sisson. No evidence her last name was Freeman, the connection was severed on WikiTree in 2023.
• Sarah (Freeman) Butterworth (abt.1630-abt.1708) who married John Butterworth of Rehoboth. No evidence her last name was Freeman, the connection was severed on WikiTree in 2023.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Robert Charles Anderson, George F. Sanborn and Melinde Lutz Sanborn, The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume II, C-F (2001), 576-582 (Edmund Freeman); digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors
2. ↑ TAG 17:87ff
3. ↑ Parish register of Pulborough, Sussex, England, images online at Familysearch.org (FHL film 4428913) [1].
4. ↑ Hotten, John Camden (editor). The Original Lists of Persons of Quality: Emigrants, Religious Exiles, Political Rebels, Serving Men Sold for a Term of Years, Apprentices, Children Stolen, Maidens Pressed, and Others, who Went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700. (London: John Camden Hotten, 1874.) p. 93 p. 98
5. ↑ Parish register of St. Peter, Cowfold, Sussex, England, images online at Familysearch.org (FHL film 4428115) [2].
6. ↑ TAG 17:87ff, at 89
7. ↑ Homer Worthington Brainard, "Pence Freeman of East Hampton, Connecticut," The American Genealogist, 17:87 (1940).
8. ↑ Parish register of Pulborough, Sussex, England, images online at Familysearch.org (FHL film 4428913 [3]. This conflicts with the TAG article, which says her baptism was found in the Billingshurst register.
9. ↑ Parish register of Billingshurst, Sussex, England, images online at Familysearch.org (FHL film 4428036) [4].
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3} Her baptism isn't in the extant Billingshurst parish register or the Bishop's Transcript. The original parish register has pages missing for 1622-1629, which may have been lost by the time the register was rebound in 1894. The Bishop's Transcript has the same omissions except 1623. See the following for what is available: summary page, parish register (FHL film 4428036)[5], summary page, bishop's transcript (FHL film 4428960) [6].
11. ↑ Parish register of Pulborough, Sussex, England, images online at Familysearch.org (FHL film 4428913) [7].
12. ↑ Date chosen to match Anderson.
13. ↑ [8]
14. ↑ [9]
15. ↑ [10]
16. ↑ Robert Charles Anderson, George F. Sanborn and Melinde Lutz Sanborn, The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume II, C-F (2001), 576-582, at 579 (Edmund Freeman); digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.
17. ↑ Indexing Project (Batch)#: M07104-1; System Origin: England-ODM; GS Film #: 0919101, 0416749, 416755
18. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Freeman
19. ↑ Frederick Freeman, Freeman genealogy in three parts, (Boston: Franklin Press, Rand, Avery, and Co., 1875), 14; digital images, Internet Archive, (https://archive.org/details/freemangenealogy1875free : accessed 14 Jan 2022).
20. ↑ Find A Grave Memorial #6127309
21. ↑ ^{21.0 21.1} "Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records, 1633-1967," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-897D-VS12 : 15 March 2023), Wills 1633-1686 vol 1-4 > image 540 of 616; State Archives, Boston.
22. ↑ Marriage: "West Sussex, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812" West Sussex Record Office; Brighton, England; Sussex Parish Registers; Reference: Par 168/1/1/1 Ancestry Record 62121 #1113420 (accessed 26 May 2023) Edmundus Freiman marriage to Elisabetha Raymer on 10 Aug 1632 in Shipley, Sussex, England.
23. ↑ Otis, Amos. Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families (F.B. & F.P. Goss, Barnstable, Mass., 1888) vol. 1, p 386. Internet Archive

• Bush, Richard L., English Ancestry of Bennett Hodsoll, First Wife of Edmond¹ Freeman of Sandwich, Massachusetts, The New England Historical & Genealogical Register (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 2010) Vol. 164, WN 654, Page 104.

• Robert Charles Anderson, George F. Sanborn and Melinde Lutz Sanborn, The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume II, C-F (2001), 576-582 (Edmund Freeman); digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.

• The American Genealogist. (TAG) New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .)

• George Thomas Little, A. M., Litt. D., Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine (Lewis Historical Publishing Company, New York 1909)

• William Richard Cutter, A. M., Genealogy - Boston and Eastern Massachusetts. (Lewis Historical Publishing Company, New York, 1908).

• History of the Town of Duxbury, Massachusetts

• Genealogies of Mayflower Families, A-F, Lt. John and Elizabeth (Freeman) Ellis of Sandwich, Mass, pg. 581

• The American Genealogist vol. 17 no. 1 (1940):87-95. Prence Freeman of East Hampton, Connecticut, by Homer Worthington Brainard. AmericanAncestors.org (paid) LINK

• The American Genealogist vol. 17 no. 2 (1940):165-173. Prence Freeman of East Hampton, Connecticut, continued, by Homer Worthington Brainard. AmericanAncestors.org (paid) LINK

• The American Genealogist vol. 36 (1960):57-58. An Ellis Family of Mendon and Uxbridge, Mass., by John G. Hunt. AmericanAncestors.org (paid) LINK

• The American Genealogist vol. 37 (1961):10-11. Ellis and Freeman Notes: Addenda, by John G. Hunt. AmericanAncestors.org (paid) LINK

• The American Genealogist vol. 40 (1964):103-110. Mr. Edmond² Freeman of Sandwich, Mass, and his Family, by Maclean W. McLean. AmericanAncestors.org (paid) LINK

• Jacobus, Donald Line. The Ancestry of Lorenzo Ackley & his wife Emma Arabella Bosworth. (1960):24-27, Freeman family. Ancestry.com (paid) LINK

• Ferris, Mary Walton. Dawes-Gates Ancestral Lines : A Memorial Volume Containing the American Ancestry of Rufus R. Dawes, volume 2. (1931):348-364, Freeman family. Ancestry.com (paid) LINK

• Wikipedia: Edmund_Freeman