John Bloomfield (bef. 1590 - bef. 1640)

Born before 1590 in England [uncertain]

Descendants

Died before 31 Mar 1640 at about age 50 in Newbury, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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John Bloomfield migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 34) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Uncertain Name

This man's name was probably John rather than Thomas. Essex County (Mass) records showed Thomas "Blumfeild" appointed administrator to his father, John Blumfeild (deceased) at the Boston Court of Assistants 3rd day 1st month 1639-40, also mentioning a "lame daughter" of the deceased John. This would seem to be the son Thomas born about 1617 as administrator. The probate record cites "Mass. Bay Colony Records, Vol. 1, page 286".^[1] original Mass Bay Colony Records found here ^[2]

Savage in "A Genealogical Dictionary...&c" states that the man who died about 1640 in Massachusetts was "John", and that his son Thomas was made administrator of John's estate. He then goes on to list a Thomas, early settler of Newbury who left a son Thomas and a lame daughter and notes that "he may be the same as the preceding" i.e. "Thomas" with the lame daughter was the same as "John" with the same daughter.^[3]

The "Founders and Patriots" book cited in this biography is notoriously inaccurate and poorly sourced, often only by "family tradition" submissions to the Order so should not be relied upon without additional vetted primary sources.

Uncertain Origin

The origins of this early immigrant are not known. He was originally linked to parents John Bloomfield and Grace Emmett who were apparently married 21 Oct 1600 at Mickfield, Suffolk England but with no sourcing. These parents have been disconnected. Mickfield parish registers are viewable on-site at family history centers (currently closed to due to Covid).

Birth date of "before 1590" is estimated given that his son Thomas, executor and likely oldest son was born by about 1617 and following the usual assumption that John was at least 25 when married.

Immigration

One reference says that Thomas Bloomfield arrived in Newburyport, Massachusetts in 1632. ^[4]

However, The Great Migration Directory (2015 Edition, page 34) agrees with other trusted sources that his name was John Bloomfield, and that the name Thomas was a mistake. It indicates that he arrived in Newbury about 1637.^[5]

Marriage & Children

No source has been found yet for a marriage to Elizabeth Bacon/Becon (or a woman of any other name). He had at least 2 children, Thomas who was his executor and "lame daughter" per Essex County probate.^[1] He is still connected to Elizabeth Becon for research purposes.

According to this source, John's son, Thomas, was a proprieter in 1638, and had a family; Thomas later moved to New Jersey.^[6]

Note that a marriage in Mickfield, Suffolk (same as his originally linked parents) is found between John "Blomefyld" and Ann "Baly" 4 Apr 1615.^[7] However, 5 such marriages to a John "Bloomfield" are found between 1615 and 1629 in freereg.org.uk alone, so the Suffolk marriage may be irrelevant. Baptisms of several children of men named John Bloomfield are found in Mickfield between 1615 and 1632 so this may be a good area to research.

William Nelson in his 1916 work on families of New Jersey claimed 5 children for "Thomas": Ezekiel, John, Thomas, Nathaniel & Mary. No sources were listed and there was no mention of a wife or mother of the children.^[8] Further, as discussed in "Research Notes", there is good reason to think the list of children applied to the son Thomas, the executor described above.

Torrey in "New England Marriages to 1700" says only this and names the man "John":

BLOOMFIELD, John (-1640?) & ____?____; by 1620?; Newbury^[9]

Death & Estate

As described above, his son Thomas was his executor listed at the Boston Court of Assistants probate case in late March 1640 (3rd day first month 1639/40)^[1] so John/Thomas (the father) had died by that date.

Research Notes

William Nelson's 1916 work on New Jersey biographies and genealogies made a variety of unsupported and/or questionable assertions about this man.^[8] The claims seem mainly to be based on an "English Bible, brought from Amsterdam, in 1715, (in which) there is a family record of the Bloomfields, copied from an older record. by Dr. Moses Bloomfield, father of Gov. Joseph Bloomfield, of New Jersey. " with additions from "other sources".

One claim is "A major in Cromwell's army. Upon ye restoration of Charles ye II emigrated from Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, with his five children... "

However, the restoration of Charles II was in 1660, well after Bloomfield's 1632 or 1637 emigration. No independent record has been found confirming a Thomas or John Bloomfield (or similar spelling) in Cromwell's army.

Nelson mentions a 1666 Woodbridge, New Jersey land purchase; this certainly applies to executor and son Thomas as the father John/Thomas died in early 1640. Ezekiel Bloomfield who married Hope FitzRandolph is also a child of son Thomas, although it's certainly possible that this later Ezekiel was named in honor of an uncle Ezekiel. In short, William Nelson's work should be viewed and used carefully.

NB: The statement that he was a major in Cromwell's army is repeated in a 1989 DAR application found here with unknown original source; likely it was the same William Nelson work referenced above: Walter, Kathleen B, Genealogical Data on the Bloomfield Family (Submitted through Haddonfield Chapter, Unpublished, 24 May 1989) , DAR Library, Washington, D.C.)

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} The probate records of Essex County, Massachusetts by Massachusetts. Probate Court (Essex County); Dow, George Francis, 1868-1936; Essex Institute Publication date 1916 pg. 12
2. ↑ Records of the governor and company of the Massachusetts bay in New England. Printed by order of the legislature by Massachusetts (Colony); Shurtleff, Nathaniel Bradstreet, 1810-1874. ed; Massachusetts. General Court Publication date 1853 Publisher Boston, W. White, printer to the commonwealth pg. 286
3. ↑ A genealogical dictionary of the first settlers of New England showing three generations of those who came before May, 1692, on the basis of Farmer's Register by Savage, James, 1784-1873; Making of America Project; Farmer, John, 1789-1838; Dexter, O. P. (Orrando Perry), 1854-1903 Publication date 1860-62 pg. 203
4. ↑ COLKET, MEREDITH B., JR. Founders of Early American Families: Emigrants from Europe, 1607-1657. Cleveland: General Court of the Order of Founders and Patriots of America, 1975. Citing Filby, P. William, ed. Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s. Farmington Hills, MI, USA: Gale Research.
5. ↑ The Great Migration Directory (2015), page 34.
6. ↑ Pope, Charles Henry, The pioneers of Massachusetts, a descriptive list, drawn from records of the colonies, towns and churches and other contemporaneous documents., published 1900. Reference page 56
7. ↑ Suffolk : Mickfield : St Andrew : Parish Register : "Parish Register" database, FreeREG https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_records/5818553ee93790eb7f9aab7c marriage John Blomefyld to Ann Baly 04 Apr 1615
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} New Jersey biographical and genealogical notes from the volumes of the New Jersey archives : with additions and supplements by Nelson, William, 1847-1914; New Jersey Historical Society Publication date 1916 pp. 32-33
9. ↑ New England Marriages to 1700. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. Vol. 1 p. 164

• The Great Migration Directory (2015), page 34: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:The_Great_Migration_Directory

See Also

• William Jones, "Thomas Bloomfield of Woodbridge, N. J. and Some of His Descendants," The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. 68, No. 1 (January 1937), pages 58-59.
• http://dougwilson.com/family/reports/fam250.html for a site with additional information about this family
• COLKET, MEREDITH B., JR. Founders of Early American Families: Emigrants from Europe, 1607-1657. Cleveland: General Court of the Order of Founders and Patriots of America, 1975. 366p. Citing Filby, P. William, ed. Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s. Farmington Hills, MI, USA: Gale Research,