Moses Fletcher (abt. 1564 - abt. 1621)

Born about 1564 in Kent, England

Husband of Mary (Evans) Fletcher — married 30 Oct 1589 (to after 1609) in St. Peters Church, Sandwich, Kent, England

Husband of Sarah (Unknown) Fletcher — married 21 Dec 1613 in Leiden, Holland, Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden

Descendants

Died about 1621 at about age 57 in Plymouth

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Biography

Moses Fletcher, lived in Sandwich, Kent, England. His birth is estimated about 1564, from the date of his first marriage. He was the sexton of St. Peter's Church and baptized his children there. But he was excommunicated from the church three times in the years 1609 and 1610. Twice for participating in illegal burials. The last of the two being that of his daughter Judith.^[1][2]

The first wife of "Moyses Fletcher" was Mary Evanes. They were married 30 October 1589 at St. Peters Church, Sandwich, Kent, England.^[3][1] They had ten children in the years between about 1590 and 1609. Mary died between 1609 and 1613 in either England or Holland.^[1]

Moses traveled to Leiden, Holland, with other separatists. There Moyses Fletsjaer, smith from England, widower of Maria Evans, married his second wife, Sarah _____ Dinbay/Denby, widow of Englishman William Denby, on December 21, 1613. They were accompanied by William Leslie, William Bradford, Sara Priest and Margaret Savory.^[4][1] No children were recorded. No more is known of Sarah, the second wife, but three of Moses' children were married and had families themselves in Leiden.^[1]

In 1620, the Mayflower left Leiden to sail to the New World (Virginia). The voyage was arduous, and crowded, lacked proper diet and facilities and missed their expected landfall. Moses traveled without other family members and arrived in November 1620.

Moses signed the Mayflower Compact 11 Nov 1620.^[5][1]

Moses died in the first illness between January and March 1620/1621. William Bradford recorded his death and that of other male passengers traveling alone: "Moyses Fletcher, Thomas Williams, Digerie Preist, John Goodman, Edmond Margeson, Richard Britterige, Richard Clarke. All these dyed sone after their arivall, in the generall sicknes that befell But Digerie Preist had his wife and children sent hither afterwards, she being Mr. (John) Allerton's sister. But the rest left no posteritie here."^[6]

Moses Fletcher was buried in the Cole's Hill Burial Ground in Plymouth probably in an unmarked grave as were many of those Mayflower passengers who died that first winter. His name is memorialized on the Pilgrim Memorial Tomb on Cole's Hill in Plymouth.

Of his children, only John, Priscilla and Elizabeth are known to have married. None of the children are known to have come to the New World.

Children of Moses and Mary Fletcher, all recorded baptisms at St. Peter's Church in Sandwich, Kent:^[1]

1. Mary, baptized January 4, 1589/90. No further record.
2. John, born about 1592. Married Josina Sarcharias, in Leiden December 5, 1618. Had at least four children. He died after February 13, 1656.
3. Catherine, baptized September 1, 1594. No further record.
4. Richard, baptized January 2, 1596/7. No further record.
5. Priscilla was baptized on March 24, 1599/1600. She married: (1) in Leiden on April 4, 1626 Timothy Coit as his second wife. They had four children. Married (2) June 1, 1637 Help or Solomon Terry. They had one daughter. Married (3) on July 29, 1652 Jan Janzoon Vermont.
6. Moses, baptized October 10, 1602. Died as an infant - buried April 21, 1603.
7. Elizabeth was baptized on April 8, 1604 and was still living September 28, 1677. She married (1) Casper Barnaart and (2) in Leiden on May 21, 1636 Michiel Voorchoren. They had four children.
8. Jane, baptized February 8, 1606/7. No further record.
9. Moses, baptized April 2, 1609. No further record.
10. Judith, died as an infant - buried on November 6, 1609 at St. Peters, Sandwich.

Mayflower, First Sickness and Cole's Hill Burial Ground

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6} Anderson, Robert Charles. The Pilgrim Migration: Immigrants to Plymouth Colony 1620-1633. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004). pp 204, 205. Also at online no subscription required
2. ↑ Paulick, Michael R. "The 1609-1610 Excommunications of Mayflower Pilgrims Mrs. Chilton and Moses Fletcher." New England Historical and Genealogical Register 153:407-410 Link at AmericanAncestors ($)
3. ↑ "England Marriages, 1538–1973 ," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NNF8-PLV : 10 February 2018), Moyses Fletcher and Mary Evanes, 30 Oct 1589; citing St. Peter, Sandwich, Kent, England, reference , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,850,186. // and // "England, Kent, Canterbury Parish Registers, 1538-1986," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGNN-V3QC : 19 April 2019), Moyses Fletcher, 30 Oct 1589; from " Kent, Canterbury Archdeaconry Parish Registers Browse, 1538-1913," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d); citing Marriage, Sandwich St Peter, Kent, England, United Kingdom, page , Citing Canterbury Cathedral Archives, England.
4. ↑ "Netherlands, Archival Indexes, Vital Records," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLRB-KTG1 : 13 October 2017), Moyses Fletsjaer and Sara Dinbay, Marriage 21 Dec 1613, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Nederland; from database, openarchives (https://www.openarch.nl : 2016); citing Archiefnaam: Schepenhuwelijken (1592-1795), Deel: 198, Periode: 1611-1633, archive 1004, inventory number 198, record number , folio B - 025; Archiefnaam: Schepenhuwelijken (1592-1795), Deel: 198, Periode: 1611-1633; Erfgoed Leiden. image at openarchives
5. ↑ Morton, Nathaniel. New England's memorial. (Boston: Congregational board of publication, 1855) Originally published 1669.p. 26 Note: The original compact is gone. Morton furnished the earliest known list 1669 facsimile
6. ↑ Bradford, William. History of Plymouth Plantation (Massachusetts Historical Society, 1856) p. 449; p. 454

• Wakefield, Robert S. "The Search for Descendants of Moses Fletcher." New England Historical and Genealogical Register Vol 128. pp 161-169. (1974) Link at AmericanAncestors ($)
• Wikipedia article on Moses Fletcher
• Johnson, Caleb H., The Mayflower and Her Passengers (Indiana: Xlibris Corp., copyright 2006 Caleb Johnson), p. 14, 143.
• Stratton, Eugene Aubrey. Plymouth Colony: Its History and People, 1620-1691, (Salt Lake City: Ancestry Publishing, 1986), pp. 291-292, 406, 409
• Banks, Charles Edward , The English Ancestry and Homes of the Pilgrim Fathers (New York: Grafton Press, 1929), p. 54
• Bowman, George Ernest. The Mayflower Compact and its signers, (Boston: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1920), Photocopies of the 1622, 1646 and 1669 versions of the document pp. 7-19.
• Bradford, William, 1590-1657. Of Plimoth Plantation: manuscript, 1630-1650. State Library of Massachusetts "List of Mayflower Passengers." In Bradford's Hand.

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