Edward "The Pilgrim" Bumpas (Irwin side)

Not a lot is known of the life Edward lived before stepping aboard the ship Fortune heading for the new world. He was a single young man who must have been searching for adventure. Edward was likely born in either Holland or England about 1605. That made him just 16 when he boarded the ship. I question why such a young man would leave his family and home,but for now that remains a mystery. I hope maybe one day someone will figure it out, but for now all we can really know is what happened after he got to Plymouth. 

Edward arrived in Plymouth  November 19, 1921 a year after the Mayflower and just weeks after the first Thanksgiving. The settlers were glad to have the helping hands of the strong, young men that arrived, but they didn't have enough food as it was and had to only get half rations to make sure everyone was fed. 

Despite everything the settlement thrived as did Edward Bumpas. He found a wife in 1630, her name was Hannah and sadly nothing is known of her. There is no record of her parents or life before marrying Edward. Together they went on to settle parts of Massachusetts that are still there today such as Marshfeild and  Middleboro. 

Edward was a guard during the Pequot war. It must have been such a horrible thing to have witnessed so much death and just atrocities that happened during that war. I'm sure that must have effected him the rest of his life. 

Together he and Hannah had 12 children who are as follows: 

 • Sarah was born on March 9, 1631/2. She married Thomas Durram in Marshfield on March 31, 1659.There is no further information. 

• Elizabeth was born on March 9, 1633/4. She married Joseph Rose in Marshfield on June 6, 1653, and had at least seven children.They both died sometime after January 29, 1710/1. 

• John was born on June 2, 1636. He married Sarah _____ by 1671, and had nine children. He died in Rochester shortly before March 7, 1715/6. 

• Edward was born on April 15,1638.He died in Marshfield on April 3, 1693, unmarried. In July 1679, he was whipped for “striking and abusing his parents,” but his punishment was reduced “in regard hee was crasey brained.”

 • Joseph was born on February 15, 1639/40. He married Wybra Glass by 1669 and had eight children. He died in Middleboro on February 10, 1704/5. She died in Middleboro on December 27, 1711. 

• Isaac was born on March 31, 1642.There is no further record. 

• Jacob was born on March 25, 1644, in Marshfield. He married Elizabeth (Banks) Blackmer/Blackmore on January 24, 1676/7, in Scituate and had three children. He died in Rochester before September 5, 1720. 

• Hannah was born on April 3, 1646, in Marshfield. She died sometime after March 4, 1672/3, when she was described as “a distracted person.” 

• Philip was born in Marshfield about 1648. He married Sarah Eaton by 1686 and had eight children. He died in Plainfield, Connecticut on January 24, 1724/5. She died after Februry 24, 1725/6. 

• Thomas was born in Marshfield about 1650. He married Phebe Lovel in November 1679 in Barnstable and had ten children. He died before 1724. 

• Mary was born in Marshfield about 1652. She married Daniel Crocker on January 2, 1682, in Marshfield and had four children. She died after his death on February 5, 1692. 

• Samuel was born about 1654. He died, unmarried, at Pawtucket on March 26, 1676, fighting in King Philip’s War.

Ummmm he found a sea.... sort of

Frances Billington was a mischievous child. There is no doubt about that. He had a way of finding trouble. As a small boy he traveled on the Mayflower to the New World. He was what the Puritan's called a stranger since his family did not belong to their church. While the Mayflower was anchored and his father was away young Frances shot off his fathers gun. There were many flammable things about the cabin, including gun powder. It could have been a catastrophe, however the people aboard were able to put it out with no injuries.

A few years later young Frances climbed a tree and from the top saw what he thought was a sea. I can only imagine his excitement at the find! Seems like he was quite the adventurer. I can picture him running back to their colony crying out about this "great sea".

Frances led a crew member of the Mayflower to his sea. They were scared because they saw an Indian encampment even though it hadn't been occupied in a long time. It was soon discovered however this sea was just a large, shallow pond. Because of Frances error the pond to this day is called Billington's sea. It can be found in Plymouth, Mass.

In the end it was decided this area would be great for a settlement later due to the fresh water and fish. So maybe Frances discovery wasn't such a huge error after all.

A real life murder mystery centuries old.

John Billington 

Born 1580

Died Sept 30, 1630 by public execution. 

I like to think that every ancestor has made an impact on my life just by living, loving, and even dying. A little bit of their soul, spirit, and DNA moves along into each new generation born. When I read this story the first time I was like WOW! I wasn't sure whether to be ashamed having this as a past or proud of the adventurous feral spirited they passed down. I know one thing when I read about the Billington's I can totally picture my own family doing these things (Maybe that's where the ADHD comes from). They were regarded as the worst of the worst by the community. The more I read though they seemed to be very outspoken and maybe just a tad wild. I'll let you make your own decisions. Over the next few days I'm going to do a few posts on the Billington family. I'm going to start with John Billington the first of the family over and the first murder in the colonies. 

John Billington seemed to have a pretty big voice and wasn't afraid to use it. As I have read his story I can almost see him up on a soapbox (Yes I know they didn't have those then) preaching against what he saw as injustices. In all reality they were likely whispered words between men. He came over on the Mayflower with his family, but was not a puritan. In fact he seemed to dislike the rule of the religious group and probably wasn't happy about signing the mayflower compact*. This was all after he was involved in an attempted mutiny of the Mayflower. Not much is known about his life in England besides he was likely trying to escape creditors and was Catholic. The puritan's weren't very fond of Catholics. 

It was very clear that William Bradford and the puritans hated the Billington family. They thought them wild and untrustworthy. It would be impossible to know for sure how they were as we do not have any sources besides the puritans. There was a man, Thomas Morton who was once quoted in his book as saying that John Billington was beloved by many. After reading up on the man and the things he was involved in such as a conspiracy against the puritan leaders. I think maybe deep down Billington really felt like the Puritan's were wrong.Any way one looks at it Billington seemed to have some problems with authority and was vocal about it. In today's society we call it freedom of speech. Back then it was a crime. 

It was a decade later when John Billington ran into John Newcomin, he was a relatively newly arrive citizen in the area. Billington and Newcomin didn't think to much of each other. They in fact had a long standing quarrel. The two men met in the woods and by the end of their meeting Newcomin was shot in the shoulder and later died. Here is where we get into a tale of two killings:

Story one (William Bradford): That the two men met int he woods and got into an argument over deer hunting. That John Billington then hid out and waited to shoot John Newcomin. He argued that it was a plotted killing and that Billington needed hanged. Many did not want him executed (Another piece of evidence he may have been more liked than Bradford leads us to believe). In the end he was found guilty and hung despite only circumstantial evidence.

Story two (Thomas Morton in his book) John Billington and Newcomin did meet in the woods and there was an argument. The difference in this story is that Billington shot him in self defense. It was also said that Billington felt guilt having done it. This is also a plausible explanation. 

There are other accounts, but these two come from people that were in the area at the time. Whatever the truth is we will never know. The truth died on Sept 30, 1630 when John Billington was hanged. His legacy did live on through his son Frances who went on to have a pretty large family. Which is why we are hear discussing the fact that my great, great, great, great..... grandfather was the first European murder in the New World and also the first man executed in the New world as well.   

    

*The Mayflower compact was a set of rules for the good of the colonies. It basically put the puritans in charge.

Sources:

 https://drlindallabin.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/john-billington/

https://familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/8983962

http://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/america-first-murderer2.htm

http://www.hhhistory.com/2015/04/john-billington-of-mayflower.html

Genealogical Revolution!

As I have been venturing down the path of my genealogical background I have come to learn how pivotal my families roles were in the forming of  not only the Unite States, but Canada as well. I was just recently able to chase down my Canadian ties. I have always been a fan of the beautiful country to the north so seeing how much my family did to help settle the country was awesome.

I just recently discovered on one side of my family I am a great niece (a lot of times removed) from George Washington!!! Pretty cool fact. Even cooler is from my mothers side I am related to the guy who secured the boats for the crossing of the Delaware. It's actually very cool to see how many times lines of my families have crossed throughout history whether as friends or foes. I also had members of my direct lines fight in almost every war since there were less than thirteen colonies!

I think knowing how many of my grandfathers served in these wars it made history so much more real. I can picture the men who made me freezing in torn clothes fighting for their independence to live how they chose. My great grandmothers were once young women waiting for their husbands to return to them. Sometimes they never did. It's crazy to think of the sacrifices these people made to create the country I now live in so many decades later. I only hope they would approve of the way I live and that I don't take those sacrifices for granted.

I think the further I dig into my past the more these people really come to life. It's been an eye opening experience. Happy fourth of July from me and my grandparents who celebrated the very first Independence day. Happy 150th birthday Canada from myself and my family who also helped shaped your beautiful country.

Just for fun

8 Years ago my grandfather was diagnosed with leukemia and that is when my journey started into genealogy. I began as a gift to him. He loved family history and it was cool linking stories to facts found in old papers and pictures. I started this blog to share what information I have with others who share the same relatives. All information is always evolving and I have tried to be as accurate as possible.