no image
Privacy Level: Open (White)

Marah (Priest) Pratt (abt. 1612 - 1689)

Marah "Mary, Marra" Pratt formerly Priest
Born about in Leiden, Holland, Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlandenmap
Ancestors ancestors
Daughter of and
Sister of and [half]
Wife of — married before 1633 in Plymouth, Plymouth Colonymap
Descendants descendants
Mother of , , , , , , and
Died at about age 77 in Charlestown, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colonymap
Problems/Questions Profile managers: Sandy Culver private message [send private message] and Mayflower Project WikiTree private message [send private message]
Profile last modified | Created 22 Apr 2011
This page has been accessed 7,842 times.
The Mayflower.
Marah (Priest) Pratt was related to a passenger on the Mayflower.
Join: Mayflower Project
Discuss: mayflower

Contents

Biography

Marah (aka Mary, Marrah) Priest, daughter of Degory Priest and Sarah (Allerton) (Vincent) Priest, was born about 1612,[1][2] probably at Leiden, Holland. Her name is often given as "Mary", but it was Marah, meaning "bitterness" in Hebrew, taken from Ruth 1:20.[2]

Migration

Marah's father, Degory Priest, had come to New England aboard the Mayflower but died shortly thereafter.[1]
Marah was a passenger on the Anne that arrived at Plymouth Colony in New England in 1623. She and her younger sister Sarah Priest emigrated from Leiden with their mother Sarah (Allerton) (Vincent) (Priest) Godbertson, step-father Godbert Godbertson, and their son Samuel.[3][4]

Marriage

Marah married to Phineas Pratt by about 1630[1]-1633.[5] Phineas arrived on the ship Sparrow in 1622, first residing at Weymouth, then removing to Plymouth in 1623.[5]
Phineas is mentioned in William Bradford"s journal Of Plimoth Plantation He made the journey to Plymouth from Weymouth to warn the residents of a possible attack by the Indians. Miles Standish and a group of Plymouth men returned to Weymouth and dealt with the Indian treachery.[5] Phineas wrote a personal account of his ordeal in his own vernacular.
Phineas' will was written on January 8, 1677/8 and proved on June 15, 1680. His inventory, including land, was valued at ‎£40 16s 6d. In his will he names: his beloved wife Mary, son Joseph Pratt, and his wife's share to be divided among the other children after her decease.[5][6]
Apparently, the inventory did not include Phineas' land holdings at Dunstable and Nottingham, amounting to 300 plus acres, which was later assessed by the courts and divided among his heirs in 1738.[6]

Children

  1. Mary, born about 1633; died at Cambridge on February 11, 1702/3; married John Swan of Cambridge March 1, 1655/6.[5]
  2. John, born about 1635; married Anne Barker by 1664, when their eldest child was born at Kingstown, Rhode Island;[5] removed to Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York.[7]
  3. Samuel, born about 1637; married Mary Barker by 1668.[5]
  4. Daniel, born about 1641; married Anna ___ by about 1680.[5]
  5. Peter, born about 1643; married widow Elizabeth (Griswold) Rogers at Lyme, Connecticut on August 5, 1679.[5]
  6. Mercy, born about 1645; married Jeremiah Holman about 1665.[5]
  7. Joseph, born about 1647; married Dorcas Folger at Charlestown on January 12, 1674/5.[5]
  8. Aaron, born about 1654; died at Cohasset on February 23, 1735/6; married first, Sarah Pratt about 1684; married second at Reading, widow Sarah (Wright) Cummings on September 4, 1707.[5]

Death

Mary is likely the "Widow Pratt" who is noted in the Charlestown Town Orders as having died at Charlestown in July 1689.[5]

Timeline

  • 1623: Her stepfather "Cudbart Cudbartstone" (sic), as a passenger on the Anne, received six acres in the Plymouth division. This land grant was given to Godbert, his wife Sarah, their son Samuel, and to Sarah's deceased husband Degory Priest and her two daughters, Sarah and Mary Priest.[8]
  • 1627: "Marra Priest" was named tenth, in the second company, along with her family members in the cattle division at Plymouth.[1][8][9]
  • 1633: October 4: The inventory of the estate of her stepfather and her mother was taken, both having died without preparing wills.[8]
  • 1633: October 28: Phineas Pratt was referred to in a further hearing regarding the goods of Godbert and Sarah Gobertson.[8]
  • 1633: November 11: Phineas Pratt was appointed to take into his possession and preserve all the goods listed in the inventory of Godbert and Sarah.[8]
  • 1633/4: March 10: Phineas Pratt exchanged 30 acres near the high cliff, possessed in the "right of Marah, his wife" for 30 acres near "Winslow's stand."[5]
  • 1640: August 3: The court confirmed that Godbert Gobertson had, prior to his death in 1633, given two acres of upland to his sons-in-law, John Coombs and Phineas Pratt in the marriages to his step-daughters.[5][8]
  • 1640: August 5: John Coombs and Phineas Pratt sold the two acres above mentioned.[5]
  • 1646: August 26: With the approval of his wife Mary, and her brother Samuel "Cudbert", Phineas sold his house, gardens, orchard, 50 acres of upland, two acres of meadow at Joanes River and six acres of upland meadow to John Cooke Jr.[5]
  • 1648: May 20: Phineas purchased a house and garden at Charlestown.[5]
  • 1651: Mary Pratt was one of the many female members of the church who petitioned the court in support of Rev. Mr. Marmaduke Matthews who had been accused of "offensive expressions" in his preachings at Charlestown and Malden.[10]
  • 1662/3: January 21: Phineas Pratt and his wife Mary sold a woodlot at Charlestown to John Smith.[5]
  • 1672/3: January 1: Phineas and Mary Pratt, of Charlestown, and sold some 175 acres of land granted to Phineas in 1664 and 1665.[5]
  • 1680: April 19: Her husband Phineas Pratt died at Charlestown.[5]
  • 1681: In 1681, Widow Pratt and her son Joseph were granted "one common", an acre and a half , to be laid out by the town of Charlestown.[11]
  • 1683/4: February 5: The town ordered a small annual stipend be granted to widow Pratt.[5]
  • 1686/7: March 7: The town widow Pratt's stipend was renewed.[5]
  • 1738: July 31: In examining the estate of Phineas Pratt, the court commissioner's determined that each of the children should receive shares. Although some of these siblings were then deceased, it was not noted for all. Those listed were: the heirs of John, heirs of Peter; Samuel, Daniel, Mary, Joseph, Aaron and Mercy. The original estate inventory did not include all of Phineas' land holdings, including property at both Dunstable and Nottingham (now Nottingham, New Hampshire).[5][6][7]

Mayflower Project Checklist

Sources

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., (Boston, MA: NEHGS, 1995). Online with subsc. at American Ancestors and Ancestry.com, Vol. III, page 1526 PRIEST i.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 A genealogical profile of Degory Priest published online by Plymouth Ancestors, A collaboration between Plimoth Plantation and the New England Historic Genealogical Society, at (PDF) Plimoth.org (Link via Wayback Machine at Archive.org, capture date 07 Jun 2017).
  3. ↑ Anne and Little James 1623 passenger list at MayflowerHistory.com.
  4. ↑ Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, Vol. II, "Passengers on the Anne and Little James, 1623" at ImmigrantShips.net: arrived in Plymouth on 10 Jul 1623.
  5. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 5.17 5.18 5.19 5.20 5.21 5.22 5.23 Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., (Boston, MA: NEHGS, 1995). Online with subsc. at American Ancestors, Vol. III, pages 1514-1518: PRATT.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871. (Online database w/subsc. at AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014), Probate Case #17922: pages 1-20.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Thompson , Neil D. John Latting of Oyster Bay and the Pratts in "The American Genealogist," (New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-). Online database - AmericanAncestors.org. (New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - ) w/ subsc. Vol. 74, 1999, pages 122-126.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., (Boston, MA: NEHGS, 1995). Online with subsc. at Ancestry.com: Vol. II, pages 776-778 GODBERTSON.
  9. ↑ "The Division of Cattle in 1627" in The Mayflower Descendant, Vol. 1, 1899, page 149. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010).
  10. ↑ Frothingham, Richard. The History of Charlestown, Massachusetts. (Boston, MA: Charles Little & James Brown, 1845). Online at HathiTrust, pages 126, 152, 156.
  11. ↑ Boston Records Commissioners Reports (Rockwell & Churchill, Boston, 1875) Vol. 3. Charlestown Land Records, 1638-1802 p. 190
See also:
  • Ancestry.com. "Mayflower Births and Deaths, Vol. 1 and 2." [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. from Roser, Susan E. "Mayflower Births and Deaths: From the Files of George Ernest Bowman at the Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants." (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 1992): Mary Pratt.
  • Rapaport, Diane. "Ebenezer Perry, Son of John and Mercy (Swan) Perry of Cambridge, Mass.: Correcting Mayflower Families and Identifying a New Line of Descent from the Fifth Generation of Degory Priest," published in the Mayflower Descendant (Boston, MA: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1899- ). Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, Vol. 59, 2010, pages 21-31 (son John).
  • Wikipedia: The ships Anne and Little James.
  • Macdonough, Rodney. The Macdonough-Hackstaff Ancestry (Press of S. Usher, Boston, 1901) page 461.
  • Wakefield, Robert. Mayflower Families Through Five Generations. (General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1994). Vol. 8, Degory Priest, pages 2-4 (not available online).
  • Find A Grave, database and images (accessed 31 Oct 2019), memorial page for Mary Priest Pratt (1612–Jul 1689), Find A Grave: Memorial #34098395; Maintained by Linda Mac (contributor 47062703): unsourced bio/no headstone photo.
  • History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts (The Town of Hingham, Massachusetts, 1893): Vol. III, page 115-116.




Sponsored Search by Ancestry.com

DNA
No known carriers of Marah's DNA have taken a DNA test.

Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.



Comments: 4

Leave a message for others who see this profile.
There are no comments yet.
Login to post a comment.
Thiessen-117 Traci Thiessen
DONE 10/31/19 - I will cite-check and do a biography review/update for this profile on Mayflower Project's 5-Star list.
posted by Traci Thiessen
B-404 Anne B
Sarah, the alleged daughter, should be changed to Sarah Unknown and parents removed. See G2G
posted by Anne B
Culver-519 Sandy Culver
Priest-116 and Priest-2124 appear to represent the same person because: Priest-116 is the LNAB and these appear to be duplicates.
posted by Sandy Culver
Culver-519 Sandy Culver
Priest-653 and Priest-116 appear to represent the same person because: same spouse and data, Marah is correct name per Anderson's bio of her father linked in the LNAB profile Priest-116
posted by Sandy Culver

Featured Female Poet connections: Marah is 7 degrees from Anne Bradstreet, 18 degrees from Ruth Niland, 22 degrees from Karin Boye, 21 degrees from 照 松平, 14 degrees from Anne Barnard, 32 degrees from Lola Rodríguez de Tió, 23 degrees from Christina Rossetti, 11 degrees from Emily Dickinson, 27 degrees from Nikki Giovanni, 14 degrees from Isabella Crawford, 18 degrees from Mary Gilmore and 12 degrees from Elizabeth MacDonald on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.

P  >  Priest  |  P  >  Pratt  >  Marah (Priest) Pratt

Categories: Mayflower Project Priest Family Work List | Puritan Great Migration | Leiden to Plymouth Pilgrim | Old Burying Ground, Cambridge, Massachusetts | Mayflower Family Member