Samuel Skelton (bef. 1593 - 1634)

Born before 26 Feb 1593 in Coningsby, Lincolnshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Susanna (Travis) Skelton — married 27 Apr 1619 in , Sempringham, Lincolnshire, England

Descendants

Died 2 Aug 1634 after age 41 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts

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Samuel Skelton migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See Great Migration Begins, by R. C. Anderson, Vol. 3, p. 1684) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Baptized Coningsby, Lincolnshire, 26 February 1592/3, son of William Skelton. Matriculated at Cambridge from Clare College, 7 July 1608; B.A. 1611-2, M.A. 1615. Married in Sempringham, Lincolnshire, 27 April 1619 Susanna Travis, baptized Horbling, Lincolnshire, 11 September 1597, daughter of William Travis, who died Salem 15 March 1630/1. Came from Tattershall, Lincolnshire to Massachusetts Bay in 1629 on the "George Bonaventure," and settled in Salem. Died in Salem MA, 2 August 1634.^[1] When the Salem church was organized on 20 July 1629, Samuel Skelton was chosen as pastor [ Perley 1:151-70]. As the first church founded in Massachusetts Bay, its organization and practices were of great interest to other Puritan ministers still resident in England, and John Cotton especially wrote to Skelton with some of his opinions. Rev. Hutchinson was his 1st "teacher" in the Salem Church. He selected Rev. Roger Williams to assume this position after Hutchinson died, & the congregation selected Williams as their pastor when Skelton died. "Upon the eighteenth day of March came one from Salem and told us that upon the fifteenth thereof there died Mrs. Skelton, the wife of the other minister there, who, about eighteen or twenty days before, handling cold things in a sharp morning, put herself into a most violent fit of the wind colic and vomiting, which continuing, she at length fell into a fever and so died as before. She was a godly and an helpful woman, and indeed the main pillar of her family, having left behind her an husband and four children, weak and helpless, who can scarce tell how to live without her. She lived desired and died lamented, and well deserves to be honorably remembered" ALICE BEGGARLY {1630, Salem}, also known as Alice Daniel, was in some manner related to Samuel Skelton, as she had control of his estate for some time after his death. Source: Anderson's Winthrop Fleet.

Christening

26 Feb 1592/3 Coningsby, Lincolnshire, England

Children

The first four children were born in England, the last in Salem Massachusetts.

1. Sarah bp. 12 August 1621
2. Samuel bp. 8 January 1622/3
3. Susanna bp. 3 April 1625
4. Mary bp. 28 June 1627
5. Elizabeth b. about 1630

Sources

1. ↑ Essex Institute, Vital records of Salem, Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849 (Salem, MA: Essex Institute, 1916-1925), Vol 6:227

• Anderson, Robert Charles, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, vol. 3: P - W, (Boston: NEHGS, 1995): pages 1684-1687. Featured Sketch: Samuel Skelton.subscription site$
• Felton, E. C., Samuel Skelton, M.A., First Minister of The First Church at Salem, Mass., NEHGR (NEHGS, Boston) 1898 Vol. 52, Page 347-57. 1899 Vol. 53, Page 64-71.

• Find A Grave: Memorial #35321676
• Sprague, William Buell. Annals of the American Pulpit (Robert Carter & Brothers, New York, 1857) Vol. 1, Page 8: See footnote.
• Jacobus, Donald Lines. The Granberry Family and Allied Families (E.F. Waterman, Hartford, Conn., 1945) Page 313
• Parker, Herbert. 1943. The Reverend Samuel Skelton, A. M. Society of the Descendants of the Colonial Clergy, Lancaster, MA. FamilySearch Book: 679780

• Ship List, George Bonaventure, 1629, www.packrat-pro.com/ships/
• England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975, https://familysearch.org
• England Marriages, 1538-1973, https://familysearch.org