Thomas Blossom Sr. (1580 - bef. 1633)

Born 1580 in Little Shelford, Cambridgeshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Ann (Elsdon) Rowley — married 10 Nov 1605 in St Clements, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England

Descendants

Died before 25 Mar 1633 before age 53 in Plymouth, Plymouth Colony

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree [send private message], Shirley Becker [send private message], and David Mark Cordell [send private message]

Thomas Blossom Sr. migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See Great Migration Begins, by R. C. Anderson, Vol. 1, p. 182) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

NOTE: There are no children by the names of William, Ann or Frances. They have been detached from this family.

New Biography

Thomas Blossom was born by 1580, based on the date of his marriage. The place of his birth may have been Little Shelford, co. Cambridge, where neither registers nor transcripts for records before 1600 survive.^[1] Robert Charles Anderson, citing TAG 63:65-63, says he was "probably son of Peter and Annabel (_____) Blossom of Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire. (See Mayflower Descendant 39:181-82 for a less likely proposed parentage).^[2]

Thomas must have gone to school in the famous university town of Cambridge, but no records have been found that he attended the university. Several of his letters have survived which indicate they were written by an educated man. It was probably at Cambridge where he absorbed the principles of Puritan Separatism and where he met and was influenced by Mr. John Robinson, who would later become the pastor of the Pilgrims at Leyden.^[2]

Thomas married Anne Elsdon (or Helsdon^[1]), on November 10, 1605 at St. Clement's, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England.^[2][3] Her surname is spelled "Heilsdon" in the English marriage records.^[4][5] His wife may have been the "An" who was the daughter of Cuthbert and Margaret Elsden who was baptized at Soham, co. Cambridge on June 23, 1583. The Helsdons lived in Cambridge for many years and Anne may have been related to Christopher Helsdon, alderman of Cambridge, whose will was dated December 31, 1597.^[1]

As a Pilgrim, Thomas Blossom was a member of a section of the Puritan religion that sought to purify and separate themselves from the Anglican church. They wanted the Anglican church to return to earlier practices of Christianity where the Bible was the only true source of religious teaching and church traditions had no regard.^[6]

In 1607 when the Bishop of York raided homes and placed several members of the sect known as Pilgrims in prison. This led to several people leaving England and migrating to the Netherlands, first to Amsterdam and then to Leiden in 1609. (It is not known if Thomas and Anne were in Amsterdam, but they were in Leiden by October 27, 1609 when a young man named George Rogers, a student at the University of Leiden stated that he lived with Thomas Blossom.) On March 12, 1610, Thomas Blossom of Leiden gave power of attorney to his wife Anne, authorizing her to sell land in Cambridge, especially two parcels in St. Giles' parish, which she inherited by the will of her maternal grandfather. One of their children was buried in the churchyard of the Pieterskerk at Leiden on April 12, 1617.^[1] In Leiden the Pilgrims were free to worship as they chose, however when their children began acquiring Dutch customs and English authorities came to Leiden to arrest William Brewster in 1618, it was time for the people to move even further away from England.^[6] They had been in Holland for twelve years.^[1]

Thomas, Anne and their young son sailed on the 60 ton Speedwell in 1620 to Southampton where they joined a larger ship, the famous Mayflower. ^[1] But the Speedwell wasn't seaworthy so they had to return to Leiden, where their son died sometime before December 1625. Three more children were born in Leiden - Elizabeth, Thomas and Peter. ^[3] When well-loved pastor, Mr. John Robinson, died at Leiden on March 1, 1624/5 those still in Holland wrote several letters to their "brethren in the Lord" at Plymouth in New England. One of the letters dated Leiden November 30, 1625, was signed by "Your assured loving friends And Brethren in the Lord, Francis Jessopp, Thomas Nash, Thomas Blossom, Roger White, and Richard Masterson."^[1]

"In his letter to Bradford from Leiden, dated 15 Dec 1625 [NS], Blossom closes by stating that "God hath taken away my son, that was with me in the ship, when I went back again; I have only two children which were born since I left you" [MD 5:166-67]. This statement assists greatly in arranging the list of Blossom's children. It also seems to be the only source for the claim that Blossom was one of the passengers on the Speedwell in 1620, and that he and his son had to be left behind; while this is not the only possible conclusion to be drawn from this passage, it is reasonable..."^[7]

The family (consisting of Thomas and Anne, children Elizabeth, Thomas, Peter) finally successfully migrated to Plymouth, Plymouth Colony in winter 1628/9 or very early in March 1629^[1][3] from Leiden, South Holland, Netherlands.^[2] They sailed from Holland to England and then boarded the second Pilgrim ship of the name of Mayflower which sailed from Gravesend, William Peirce, Captain. The ship had 35 passengers, many from Leiden, including Blossom's friend Richard Masterson and his family. The Mayflower landed at Salem on May 15, 1629, and the passengers were brought to Plymouth by boat. ^[1] He was a witness to the will of widow Mary Ring on October 28, 1633.^[8]

Thomas Blossom died in Plymouth before March 25, 1633 when his wife "Widdow Blossome was assessed 9 s on the Plymouth tax list.^[9] On July 1, 1633 Rev. Ralph Smith in Plymouth to Rev. Hugh Goodyear in Leiden wrote in a letter, "Tho: Bloso[m] our brother who now sleepeth..." Thomas was one of those who Bradford records as dying in the infectious epidemic of 1633.^[2] The inventory of his estate was dated June 9, 1650; includes a house, gardens, orchards, meadow, 8 acres of upland and several additional items.^[10] His widow married Henry Rowley (as his second wife) at Plymouth on October 17, 1633.^[11][12]

Children of Thomas and Anne^[2]

1. child, buried at Pieterskerke, Leiden on April 12, 1617 [TAG 63:75]
2. Son born by 1620 who was with his father on the Speedwell in 1620. He returned to Leiden and there he died by December 15, 1625. Thomas Blossom writes of his death in a letter to Brewster dated Leyden, December 15, 1625.^[13]
3. Elizabeth was born about 1620. She married Edward FitzRandolph at Scituate on May 10, 1637.^[14] She married (2nd) to Captain John Pike at Piscataway, New Jersey.^[1]
4. Thomas was born about 1623. He married Sarah Ewer at Barnstable on June 18, 1645.^[2][14] He married Feere Robinson on December 3, 1695 at Sandwich.^[15] [TAG 63:238-39]
5. Peter was born after 1627. He married Sarah Bodfish at Barnstable on June 21, 1663.^[16] [TAG 63:239-41]

Research Notes

Reasons for believing he was the son of Peter and Annabel Blossom:^[1]

(a) Peter had minor children at the time of his death.

(b) minor children may have been baptized at Little Shelford, a parish which adjoins Great Shelford and Stapleford.

(c) When Annabel remarried to Richard Bracher, it would have been natural for the younger children to accompany their mother and stepfather to Cambridge.

(d) The first record found of Thomas Blossom is his marriage at Cambridge.

(e) Thomas Blossom's named one of his sons Peter, despite the fact that this name was seldom used by Puritans because it would have referred too much to St. Peter and the Papacy. The name would have been given to honor his own father, not the Papacy.

Alternate theory for Thomas' parents: Although he cannot be identified as an immigrant who came to New England. Mrs. Margaret Bone of Cambridge England documents Thomas Blossham born 26 Feb. 1566/7 was the son of John Blossham and his wife Johane of Wisbech, co. Cambridge. Thomas is mentioned as less than 12 years, and at that age would inherit the house, half the barn and 18 acres of land. He would have been 38 years old at his marriage to Anne Helsdon, making it less likely that this is our migrant, since men married much younger during this time period.

Not a Deacon at Plymouth: Although notes found in the Massachusetts Vital Records call Thomas Blossom "Deacon,"^[17] Robert Charles Anderson in his sketch of Thomas Blossom says Morton's claim that Blossom was briefly a deacon at Plymouth should not be accepted. See bottom of p. 183.^[2]

Correspondence with Bradford: [MHSC 3:41-42, 44; MD 5:165-67, 169-70

Date of Death In the Great Migration Sketch, Anderson discusses some of the confusion that resulted in the interpretation (or misinterpretation) of correspondence related to the pandemic which mentions the death of Thomas Blossom among other men. The deaths from the outbreak, which is believed to have been smallpox occurred in the summer. He concludes that Thomas Blossom had certainly died before Rev. Ralph Smith's letter 1 July 1633 which refers to "Tho: Bloso[m] our brother who now sleepeth..." The tax list which refers to his widow is dated prior to the letter 25 March 1633, but he notes it may have been altered after that date. [Yet, he elects to use before 25 March 1633 for the death of Thomas Blossom]

Needs Biography

This profile is many Biographies that need to be integrated. There is a Great Migration Article for Thomas GMB 182-84 and an article in the Mayflower Quarterly 59:10-15.

Biography

He died at Plymouth before 25 March 1633 when "Widdow Blossome" was assessed 9s [PCR 1:11]. By the date of the 1634 list she had remarried.

"In his history of Plymouth Bradford included an account of the infectious epidemic of 1633, and mentioned specifically Thomas Blossom, Richard Masterson and Samuel Fuller as dying in that year."^[18]

"A Separatist at Leiden (Holland), Thomas Blossom gave his wife Ann a power of attorney to sell houses in Cambridge, England, which she had inherited from her mother's father [Dexter, p. 603]. He joined in signing a letter of 30 Nov 1625 from Leiden Separatists to (William) Bradford, and he was the sole signer of a letter of 15 December 1625 to Bradford [Bradford, Letter Book, p. 18,21]. In the December letter he deplores the difficulty the Leiden people had in reuniting with the Separatists in Plymouth, and he states that the only way the Leiden group could join the others would be with the means coming from Plymouth. Sometime prior to August 1631 he witnessed the undated will of Mary Ring [MD 1:31]. He died in the sickness of 1633, as Bradford [Ford 2:171] noted, calling him one of "theire anciente friends which had lived in Holand." His widow, Anna, married 17 October 1633 Henry Rowley [PCR 1:16], and lived in Scituate. His son Thomas's marriage at Barnstable 18 June 1645 to Sarah Ewer, with Edmond Freeman performing the ceremony, was noted by Rev. John Lothrop [NEHGR 9:286].^[19]

The Blossoms lived first at Great Shelford, then possibly Little Shelford, and moved to Stapleford, probably about 1582. Thomas’ father described himself as a ”husbandman” [small farmer] in a 1585 deposition, but as a “labourer” in his 1597 will, indicating a lower economic status. After his death, his wife married (2) Richard Bracher at Stapleford on Feb 6, 1597/98, and moved with him to Cambridge. The educated language of Thomas Blossom’s letters to William Bradford have led some to speculate that Blossom attended Cambridge University, but there is no mention of his name in university records.

Thomas Blossom arrived in Leiden before October 27, 1609. His occupation while there was not recorded.

Thomas Blossom, was a prominent member of Rev. John Robinson’s church from the time its members left Scrooby in Nottinghamshire, England.

Thomas Blossom was a Separatist aka Pilgrim. ^[20]

"Thomas Blossom gave his wife Ann a power of attorney to sell houses in Cambridge, [Cambridgeshire], England, which she had inherited from her mother's father." ^[21]

December 15, 1625 -- Thomas Blossom sent a letter to Plymouth Colony Governor William Bradford deploring "the difficulty the Leiden people had in reuniting with the Separatists in Plymouth [Colony], and he state[d] that the only way the Leiden group could join the others would be [if] the means [funds came] from Plymouth" Colony. Blossom also wrote "that the son who was with him" on the "Speedwell" in 1620 "had since died, and he had only two children living, both born since he last saw Bradford" in 1620. ^[22]

1629 -- Thomas Blossom, Sr. ^[23], Ann Blossom, son Thomas Blossom, Jr., and daughter Elizabeth Blossom sailed on probably the second ship named the "Mayflower" from the United Provinces of the Netherlands to Plymouth, Plymouth Colony. ^{[24] [25]}

Thomas Blossom Sr. was a deacon of the Plymouth church. ^{[26] [27]}

Circa August 1631 -- Thomas Blossom witnessed the will of Mary Ring. ^[28]

1632 -- Thomas Blossom died at Plymouth, Plymouth Colony. ^[29]

March 25, 1633 -- "Widdow Blossome" was listed on the tax roll and was required to pay 9 shillings in taxes. ^[30]

1633 -- Plymouth Colony Governor William Bradford wrote that Thomas Blossom died during the sickness of 1633, "calling him one of 'theire anciente friends which had lived in Holand.'" {sic}. ^[31] Bradford also wrote that in 1633 Plymouth Colony was hit by "an infectious fevoure, of which many fell sicke, and upward of 20 persons dyed, men and women, besides children, and sundry of them of their anciente friends which had lived in Holand; as Thomas Blossome...." ^[32]

July 24, 1633 -- Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor John Winthrop, Sr., wrote "that there had been much sickness at Plymouth [Colony], and more than twenty of the colonists had died of pestilent fevers." ^[33]

October 17, 1633 -- Thomas Blossom's widow, Ann, married Henry Rowley and lived in Scituate, Plymouth Colony. ^[34]

Research Notes

• February 26, 1567 -- Thomas Blossom was baptized at Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England.^{[citation needed]}

Note: how do we know that the Thomas born this day is the immigrant? Seems almost 20 years too old for a man marrying in 1608.

• 1633 -- Blossom was buried at Plymouth Church, Plymouth Colony.^{[citation needed]}

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10} John Insley Coddington and Maclean W. McLean. "The Blossom Family of Cambridgeshire, England, and New England." The American Genealogist. April 1988. Vol. 63, pp 65-73.AmericanAncestors (subscription)
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7} Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, (1995). vol I, pp 182-84. AmericanAncestors (subscription)
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Early New England Families, 1641-1700. (Original Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2013. (By Alicia Crane Williams, Lead Genealogist.) Sketch of John Pike, p. 1,2. subscription
4. ↑ England: Marriages, 1538-1973. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (Original index: England Marriages, 1538-1973. FamilySearch, 2014.) p. 2126794.subscription
5. ↑ England Marriages, 1538–1973, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NNDV-89V : 9 March 2018), Thomas Blossom and Anna Heilsdon, 10 Nov 1605; citing St. Clements, Cambridge, Cambridge, England, reference item 2 p 6, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,818,379. Source included image of record
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} New World Encyclopedia, Plymouth Colony.link
7. ↑ Robert Charles Anderson, Great Migration Begins, Boston, MA: NEHGS 1995, p 183.
8. ↑ Vital Records from the New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (Compiled from articles originally published in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register.) Vol. 4, p. 34.subscription
9. ↑ Shurtleff, Nathaniel Bradstreet & Pulsifer, David. Records of the colony of New Plymouth, in New England (AMS Press, New York, 1855) p 11. HathiTrust.
10. ↑ Mayflower Descendant: A Journal of Pilgrim Genealogy and History. Boston, MA: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1899- . (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010) Vol. 10, p. 21.subscription
11. ↑ Mayflower Descendant: A Journal of Pilgrim Genealogy and History. Boston, MA: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1899- . (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010) Vol. 13, p. 83.subscribers
12. ↑ Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016). Barnstable - V 1, p. 58.subscription
13. ↑ Mayflower Descendant: A Journal of Pilgrim Genealogy and History. Boston, MA: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1899- . (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010) Vol. 5, p. 166, 167.subscription
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1} The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2018.) Vol. 9, p. 286.subscription
15. ↑ Mayflower Descendant: A Journal of Pilgrim Genealogy and History. Boston, MA: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1899- . (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010) Vol. 30, p. 58.subscription
16. ↑ Mayflower Descendant: A Journal of Pilgrim Genealogy and History. Boston, MA: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1899- . (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010) Vol. 3, p. 53.subscription
17. ↑ Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016). Barnstable - V1, p. 8.subscription
18. ↑ Great Migration Begins
19. ↑ Coddington & McLean, 1988
20. ↑ . Plymouth Colony, page 246.
21. ↑ Plymouth Colony, page 246.
22. ↑ Plymouth Colony, page 246.
23. ↑ History of Cape Cod, page 260.
24. ↑ Plymouth Colony, pages 246 & 433.
25. ↑ Immigrant Ancestors A List: Thomas Blossom, page 13.
26. ↑ History of Cape Cod, page 260.
27. ↑ Immigrant Ancestors A List: Thomas Blossom, page 13.
28. ↑ Plymouth Colony, page 246.
29. ↑ History of Cape Cod, page 360.
30. ↑ Plymouth Colony, pages 427 - 428.
31. ↑ Plymouth Colony, page 246.
32. ↑ Plymouth Colony, page 46.
33. ↑ Plymouth Colony, page 46.
34. ↑ Plymouth Colony, page 246.

See also:

• Dexter, Harry Martyn, and Morton Dexter. "The England and Holland of the Pilgrims" London,1906; reprint, Baltimore 1978. Internet Archive
• Bradford, William. "Governor William Bradford's Letter Book" Boston, 1906, Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants. Internet Archive
• "Mayflower Descendant" Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1899-1937 [on microfiche]
• Ford, Worthington C., Editor. "Of Plymouth Plantation 1620-1647" by William Bradford. Published by Massachusetts Historical Society, 1912. Internet Archive (borrow)
• "Plymouth Church Records" 2 volumes, (New York, 1620-1623; reprint, Baltimore, 1975.
• "New England Historical & Genealogical Register" Subscription journal, 101 Newbury
• Plymouth Colony: Its History & People 1620 - 1691. Eugene Aubrey Stratton. Ancestry Publishing, Provo, Utah. 1986. Pages 46, 246, 427 - 428, 433. WorldCat: Find in a Library
• Genealogy of the Family of Longstreet Completed. Edward Mayes. Circa 1935. Privately published. Clark T. Thornton, editor. Reprinted 2009. Pages 49, 56 - 61. WorldCat: Find in a Library
• The History of Cape Cod. Frederick Freeman. 1858 Vol 2, Page 260. [https://archive.org/details/historyofcapecod02free/page/260/mode/2up Internet Archive]
• Immigrant Ancestors -- A List of 2,500 Immigrants to America before 1750. Extracted from Volume VII Compendium of American Genealogy. Chicago, 1942. Edited by Frederick Adams Virkus. Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, Maryland. 1970. Thomas Blossom, page 13. Edward Randolph (Fitz Randolph), page 56. WorldCat: Find in a Library
• Ancestry Family Tree http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=54402614&pid=475
• Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 29 August 2019), memorial page for Thomas Blossom (1580–1633), Find A Grave: Memorial #34754607, ; Maintained by Don Blauvelt (contributor 46932939) Unknown.