Dorothy (Unknown) Eaton

Wife of Francis Eaton — married about 1622 in Plymouth, Plymouth Colony

Died about 1624 in Plymouth, Plymouth Colony [uncertain]

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Dorothy (Unknown) Eaton was a passenger on the Mayflower. Join: Mayflower Project Discuss: mayflower

Biography

Dorothy was John Carver's maidservant. She married fellow Mayflower passenger Francis Eaton shortly before the 1623 Division of Land at Plymouth. Her last name at birth is unknown.

William Bradford, in his passenger list of the Mayflower, writes that John Carver's household included a "maidservant," but her name was not stated. Bradford later commented that Carver's maidservant "married, and died a year or two after here in this place." Bradford didn't say who she had married.^[1]

Caleb Johnson has pieced together the puzzle:

"The first piece of the puzzle is the 1623 Division of Land, in which Francis Eaton received four acres, when he should have only been entitled to three acres (one for himself, one for his wife Sarah, and one for his son Samuel.) Looking at William Bradford's commentary on Francis Eaton, he states that "Francis Eaton his first wife died in the general sickness; and he married again, and his 2 wife died, and he married the 3 and had by her 3 children." His third wife was Christian Penn, whom he married about 1626. In order for Francis Eaton to have been entitled to four acres of land, his second wife had to have been a Mayflower passenger. And the only known woman on the Mayflower whose marriage cannot be accounted for is John Carver's maidservant. Therefore, Francis Eaton must have married John Carver's maidservant. The final piece of the puzzle comes from a 1626 apprenticeship record from Bristol, England, which mentions Francis Eaton, carpenter in New England, and his wife Dorothy. Since his first wife's name was Sarah, and his third wife's name was Christian, this record provides the name of his second wife, and thus the name of John Carver's maidservant."

Dorothy Eaton died about 1624 when Francis married, as his third wife, and as her first husband, Christian Penn, passenger aboard the Anne.^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ Bradford, William. Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation, 1606-1646 edited by William T Davis. (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1920) [https://books.google.com/books/about/Bradford_s_History_of_Plymouth_Plantatio.html?id=uVIWAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button#v=onepage&q&f=false p. 407, 410
2. ↑ Thompson, Neil D., "The Origin and Parentage of Francis Eaton of the Mayflower. The American Genealogist. (Vol 72, Page 301) New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (Online database accessed 28 January 2016. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .) Subscription required.

• Caleb Johnson's Mayflower History - Dorothy, John Carver's maidservant : accessed 1 Mar 2018.
• Mayflower Families In Progress: Francis Eaton of the Mayflower and His Descendants for Four Generations, Originally Compiled by Lee Douglas van Antwerp, MD, CG, Revised by Robert S. Wakefield, FASG, Published by General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1994.
• Bradford, William, 1590-1657. Of Plimoth Plantation: manuscript, 1630-1650. State Library of Massachusetts "List of Mayflower Passengers." In Bradford's Hand.
• Mayflower Society - Passengers Who Died With No Known Descent

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Acknowledgements

• Entered by Sara V Mosher
• Thank you BK McDonald for creating this profile.