Adam Blakeman (abt. 1598 - 1665)

Born about Jun 1598 in Staffordshire, England

Husband of Jane (Unknown) Blakeman — married 1625 in England

Descendants

Died 7 Sep 1665 at about age 67 in Stratford, Fairfield County, Colony of Connecticut

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Adam Blakeman migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 32) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Spelling of the Name

Spelled variously as Blakeman and Blackman. Anderson uses the spelling "Blakeman," and as a Puritan Great Migration Project profile, we defer to Anderson.^[1]

Birth, Education, Immigration

In the summer of 1991 I hired a researcher named Gwen Kingsley, Lyndon, Queen St. KIngswinford, West Midlands England to research the Blakeman family. She searched the Gosnall Parish registers from 1572 to 1700, as well as the records of adjacent Church Eaton, which were older than those of Gosnall. She reported that the first Gosnall Blakeman entries were for the baptism of an Ellin Blakeman, a daughter of John and Johane Blakman on 15 Jun 1574. As to our line however, she reported the parish registers showed:

17 Aug. 1593 Penelope d. John and Thomasine Blakeman, bap^[2]

10 June 1596 Addame s. John and Thomasine Blakeman, bap.^[3]

20 Jan 1599 Penelope Blackeman bur.

17 Dec 1605 Still born s. John and Thomasin Blackman bur^[4].

30 Mar 1608 John s. John and Thomasin Blackman bap^[5].

7 Jul 1626 Mr. John Blackman schoolmaster bur.

The registers show various other Blakeman/ Blackman entries spanning from 1574 through 1654, but the above entries appear to be the only ones we can trace a connection to. The records from Church Eaton showed the earliest entry for Blakeman as a marriage record showing: 15 Jan 1564/5 John Blakeman, parish of Snowsall & ______ Starkeye of Eyton Those records did not however show the marriage of John and Thomasine Blakeman.

Adam Blakeman's entry to Oxford (see below) sets his birth about 1598, a resident of Staffordshire, England. A 2003 article by Leslie Mahler, suggests: "He appears to be the Adam Blakeman, bp. Gnosall, Staffordshire, 10 June 1596, son of John and Thomasine Blakeman."^[6]

Adam Blakeman, of co. Staffordshire, plebian, matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, 23 May 1617, age 19. He received a B.A. 12 Feb 1617/18.^[7]

Cotton Mather tells us that Adam Blackman was "highly esteemed," "a useful preacher", who "studied plain preaching." He was in Leicestershire, then Derbyshire, before coming to New England, where he settled at Guilford and afterwards Stratford. He was "attended with a desirable company of the faithful," who wished to follow him.^[8] If Adam Blakeman settled at Guilford, it was for a very short time, as Guilford and Stratford were being initially settled at the same time and the Guilford plantation had a minister of it's own.^[9]

There are some writers who claim that he preached first at Scituate, Massachusetts, as stated in Deane's History of Scituate. However the author acknowledged having made an error reading the name of Mr. Blackwell.^[10][9]

Marriage

Adam married to Jane Unknown, who is called widow Jane Blakeman in the Connecticut Colonial Records.^[11] They had six known children: five sons and 1 daughter. The family emigrated with early colonists to Stratford, Connecticut in 1638, where he was the first minister.

Stratford

15 June 1640 Particular Court at Hartford: "It is Ordered, that Mr. Ludlowe, Mr. Hopkins & Mr. Blakman shall survey & divyde and sett out the bownds betwixt the Plantations of Cuphege & Vncoway, prvided if they cannot accord, Mr. Welles at his next coming to those prts shall issue yt.^[12][13]

11 Dec 1644, "Bedle stole fro Mr. Blakman, of gunpowder, ij pownd;" and also from others for which Robert Bedle was whipped and branded on the hand (p 115).^[12]

Mr. Blakeman is considered to have been the first minister in Stratford, but there are no existing town records before 1650 to prove this but on 17 May 1649 At a meeting of Freemen: "Concerning Mr. Blackmans meintenance, Mr. Ludlowe is desired (both for what is behinde, as allso for the future,) to take care that it bee leuied, according to the seuerall seasons, as is provided by the order of the Country (p 187).^[12]

In 1651, the Stratford Land records, mention that he was to pay part of his own rate (tax) and how much he was being paid, but the page is torn.^[14] Orcutt's History of Stratford says it was £63 (p 97).^[9]

He had 11 rods 14 feet of fence that he was responsible for in the old field about 1651. Mr. Blakeman bought land from Jeremiah Judson and later sold it to Thomas Sanford, 11 May 1660. Jan 1660/1 he sold John Pickett 14 acres in the Great Neck.^[14]

Besides his houselot, in the middle of town across from the meeting house, Adam owned other properties, which were listed in the Stratford Land records after his death. A homelot purchased of James Harwood, south of the Blakeman lot, thirty-three and three-quarters acres on Clapboard Hill, 17 acres in the New Division, 29 acres in the New Field, called Exchange, 33 3/4 acres at White Plains, 16 3/4 acres in great Meadow and 8 1/2 acres in Great Meadow near Wood End.^[14]

The Stratford records 1 April 1665, the town voted to call Mr. Chancie to help Mr Blackman in the ministry for a year.^[14]

Death, Burial, Will

Rev. Adam Blakeman died 1665 and his fellow minister Rev. Samuel Danforth of Roxbury, Massachusetts, noted his death in his church records "7.7.65" (September 7, 1665) "mr Adam Blakeman Pastor of ye church at Stratford rested from his labors" ^[15] Orcutt (History of Stratford) says the date was on his tombstone, which was removed to the second grave yard.

Adam Blakeman was not buried at the Old Congregational Burying Ground in Stratford. A new monument, erected 1965, is located there.^[16]This cemetery was not laid out until after Adam's death. "The first meeting House stood on the east side of Front, now Elm street at Sandy Hollow on the south east corner... The first burial ground was adjoining the meeting House and burials were probably made there until the new ground, which was laid by the town in 1677, was opened where it now is in 1678, west of Main St. The grave stones standing at the old Place were removed to the new..." (pp 165-66).^[9] The old gravestone which Orcutt mentions, is evidently long gone or obliterated by time. It was not there in the 1930s when a WPA Project read the gravestones in Connecticut.^[17]

The will of Adam Blakeman, dated 16 Mar 1665, is unusually long, but the preamble, included here, is philosophical and gives us some insight into Adam the man. The will is also full of "if this then do this" clauses but he mentions the following persons: sons John, James, Samuell and daughter Mary Atwater, given their portions at marriage; beloved wife, unnamed; son Benjamin and son (son-in-law) Atwater and his son Joshua Atwater; son John's children (unnamed); his two daughters, that is the wives of his sons James and Samuel; son Deliverance; two servants (each a heifer or cowe at the end of their [ ____ ].) who were probably indentured servants; Joseph Blakman (no relationship stated, but probably grandson, son of John); his daughter Blakeman, if she continues a widow, must be the wife of son John who died in 1662. His full will is on pages 78-80 of "Various Ancestral Lines of James Goodwin and Lucy (Morgan) Goodman"^[14]

Children

Children of Adam and Jane:

1. John bpt at Great Bowden 10 April 1624^[6] married Dorothy Smith, daughter of Henry and Dorothy.^[18] He lived in Stratford and Fairfield^[19] His will was proved 19 Jan 1661/2^[20]
2. Joseph, bpt at Great Bowden 18 August 1627, no further record.^[6]
3. James, bpt. 14 Dec 1628, at Great Bowden^[6] b 12-12-1624 ^{[citation needed]}; will dated 18 July 1689, proved 7 Nov 1689;^[20] m. (1) _____ Stiles; m. (2) Miriam Wheeler.^[20][19]
4. Samuel bpt. 9th of September [1630], at Heage, Duffield, co. Derby;^[21] d. 11-27-1668;^[20] m. Elizabeth Wheeler, d/o Moses November latter end, 1660^[22]
5. Mary b. about 1636; She died in Salem, Massachusetts 9 Mar 1708/9 ae 72;^[20] m. (1) Joshua Atwater; m. (2) Reb. John Higginson of Salem.^[20][19]
6. Benjamin: b. c. 1626/36; Graduated from Harvard 1663; d. 1715; m. Rebecca Scottow, 1675^[20]
7. Deliverance: married Hannah, settled in Stratford and then Stonington, Connecticut.^[20][19][23]

Research Notes

-No Featured name in Anderson GM
-Stratford Church Record Index- does not exist at Ancestry. Conn Libr says they've been digitized. I have to assume Stratford has no index, maybe no records.

- Three Pioneers Named Blackman came to Massachusetts Bay Colony from England before 1640. Rev. Adam Blackman was minister of Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts, and afterward of Stratford, Fairfield, Connecticut, where he died March 16,1665, leaving John, Benjamin, Joseph, James, Samuel, and Deliverance and several daughters. Rev. Benjamin Blackman settled at Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts, graduated from Harvard College in 1663, and married Sarah Scottow April 1, 1675. The third was John, mentioned below. According to tradition they were brothers. The same names occur in each family. According to a tradition mentioned by Elisha Blackman of Hanover, Pennsylvania, the family was wealthy in England, but property descended to the elder branch after the law of the land, and the younger sons came to America. The Blackman family of London and the East Indies bears arms. Ermine three lions rampart within a bordure on a crest. A griffin ermine. Another Blackman Armorial: a demi-Moor in fetters crowned with an eastern coronet. Another probably very ancient: a demi-griffin vert.^{[citation needed]}

Sources

1. ↑ Anderson, Robert Charles, (1995) "Francis Stiles." Featured Name. Great Migration 1634-1635, R-S. Boston: NEHGS, AmericanAncestors.org (Vol VI, R-S, Page 517).
2. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5L9-XTV : 19 September 2020), John Blakeman in entry for Penelope Blakeman, 1593.
3. ↑ "England, Staffordshire, Church Records, 1538-1944," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL32-FLHC : 8 July 2020), John Blakeman in entry for Addame Blakeman, 10 Jun 1596; citing Baptism, Gnosall, Staffordshire, England, Staffordshire & Stoke on Trent Archive Service, Stafford; FHL microfilm 7,566,569.
4. ↑ "England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JH1Z-16L : 15 March 2020), Blakman in entry for Johannes Blakman, 1605
5. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5L9-JWG : 19 September 2020), John Blakman in entry for John Blakman, 1608.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3} Mahler, Leslie. (2003) "Rev. Adam Blakeman of Stratford, Connecticut." The American Genealogist. AmericanAncestors.org 78:185 footnote.
7. ↑ Foster, Joseph, arranger, (1891) Alumni Oxonienses: the members of the University of Oxford, 1500-1714: their parentage, birthplace, and year of birth, with a record of their degrees, Volume 1. Oxford and London: Parker and Co., Archive.org (Page 136).
8. ↑ Mather, Cotton, (1853) Magnalia Christi Americana. or The ecclesiastical history of New-England, from its first planting, in the year 1620, unto the year of Our Lord 1698 ... Volume 1 of 2. Hartford: S. Andrus & son, Archive.org (Pages 396-97).
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3} Orcutt, Samuel, (1886) A History of the Old Town of Stratford and the City of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Part I. New Haven, CT: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor, Archive.org (Pages 97-99, 165-66).
10. ↑ Deane, Samuel. History of Scituate, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1831. Boston: J. Loring, 1831[https://archive.org/stream/historyscituate01deangoog#page/n178/mode/2up/search/blackman p. 171/2
11. ↑ Trumbull, J. Hammond, transcriber, (1852) The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut from 1665 to 1676; with the Journal of the Council of War 1675 to 1678 ... Vol 2. Hartford: F A Brown, (AKA Colonial Records of Connecticut. Vol II. 1665-1678) Archive.org (Vol 2, Pages 76, 84, 162, 179, 215).
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1 12.2} Trumbull, J. Hammond, transcriber, (1850) The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut Prior to the Union with New Haven Colony May 1665, Vol 1. Hartford: Brown and Parsons, Archive.org (Vol 1, Pages 53, 115, 187).
13. ↑ Cupheag (Stratford, William Hopkins) Uncoway (Fairfield) (Roger Ludlowe first settled Pequonnock/Bridgeport and then Unquowa/Fairfield)
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4} Starr, Frank Farnsworth, and Goodwin, James Junius, (1915) Various Ancestral Lines of James Goodwin and Lucy (Morgan) Goodwin of Hartford, Connecticut. Hartford, CT: [New Haven: The Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Press], Archive.org (Vol 2, Pages 75-83) Citing Stratford Land Records, Vol I (old p. 15, new p. 10) (old folio 77, new p. 130), (old folio 110, new p. 196), (old p. 16, new p. 11)
15. ↑ Boston Record Commissioners. Boston Records Commissioners Reports "Roxbury Land and Church Records. Second Edition." (Boston: Rockwell and Churchill, 1884) Archive.org (Page 203).
16. ↑ Find a grave 16729907. Adam Blakeman. Old Congregational Burying Ground in Stratford. A memorial stone obviously placed recently. No original stone.
17. ↑ Hale Collection of Connecticut gravestone inscriptions
18. ↑ Brainard, Homer P. "The Reverend Henry Smith of Wethersfield" The American Genealogist 10:7 p. 12.
19. ↑ ^{19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3} Starr, Frank Farnsworth, and Goodwin, James, and Goodwin, Lucy Morgan, Various ancestral lines of James Goodwin and Lucy (Morgan) Goodwin of Hartford, Connecticut Hartford, Conn. [New Haven : The Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Press], 1915 Vol 2. p. 75; mention of John's will p. 76; will of Adam pp 78-80; Jane's will pp 81-82; Children pp 82, 83
20. ↑ ^{20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 20.7} Jacobus, Donald Lines, MA (compiler, editor.) History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield. Fairfield, Conn.: The Eunice Dennie Burr Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution, 1930.
21. ↑ Mahler, Leslie "The Baptism of Samuel, son of Adam Blakeman of Stratford, Connecticut. The American Genealogist 81:104
22. ↑ White, Lorraine Cook, ed. The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records. Vol. 1-55. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1994-2002.
23. ↑ TAG 74:128-30

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