Came to america abouard the INCREASE left England 4/18/1635. arrived Boston late July 1635. with wife and 2 small sons. Daniel, and Samuel. @ earlier sons died in England from the plague. THOMAS THE IMMIGRANT
Our information about the Blodgett family line comes primarily from the
Blodget-Blodgett Genealogy, a seven volume history on the descendents
of
Thomas Blodgett of Cambridge. The work was compiled by Rev.
Franklin C.
Thompson, a retired Congregational minister. (11)Thomas, the immigrant, and his ancestors, at least those of the preceding
three or more generations, lived in Suffolk County, England, in the area
of Haughly and then Stowmarket, towns about two miles apart, and about
ten
to twelve miles northwest of Ipswich on the west coast of England.
Thompson reported that Thomas was baptized at Stowmarket 18
November 1604.Thomas emigrated to New England in 1635, setting sail from England
aboard
the "Increase" on the 18th of April with his wife, Susan, and two small
sons, and arriving at Boston the end of July. His permit to emigrate read
as follows:xviij Aprillis 1635. Theis underwritten names are to be transported to
New
England imbarqued in the Increase de Lo (i.e. the Increase of London)
Robert Lea Mr. Thep'te pred having brought certificates from the minister
and justices of ye peace of his conformities to the Church of England.Thomas Bloggett Glover 30 yeres Susan Bloggett xvor (Latin for wife) 37
yeres Daniell Blogett 4 Samvell Blogett 1 and 1/2 (Thompson added this
was
taken from Hotten: Original Lists, 1875, NY. He also added that Susan's
age was probably 27, not 37.)One always speculates as to the reasons an immigrant had to gamble on a
life in the New World. Thompson suggested that perhaps one strong
motivating influence was the hope of escaping the scourge of the Black
Plague that struck London, Suffolk and other areas with devastating
regularity. The years 1593, 1599, 1603 and 1608 were all plague years.
In1625, so many died that it was known as the year of the Great Plague. In
1631 Thomas' Uncle John died. About the same time Thomas himself lost
two
small sons to this killer.Religious differences, as well as plague, agitated Stowmarket, as they did
all England. Dr. Thomas Young became vicar in 1623. He was a man of
strong
Presbyterian leanings, best known as a tutor of John Milton, the Puritan
poet. Contrary to the policies of King Charles I and of Archbishop Laud,
who sought to enforce strict conformity to high Anglicanism, Dr. Young
brought to Stowmarket, in 1634, lecturers who expounded
Presbyterianism.
At the same time there was an active Catholic party headed by the
powerful
Tyrell family, which helped to keep the people aroused. (11)Newtown (Newetowne), where Thomas Blodgett settled, was one of
several
small towns established in the Bay Colony following the arrival of
Winthrop's Company of settlers in June 1630 and Newtown was on its
way to
becoming settled by the spring of 1631.As the different areas were being settled it became evident that groups of
English families moved from some English town along with their minister
and settled down together in the New World. Thomas Hooker was one
such
minister who arrived in 1633 to join some of his followers who were
already in the Boston area. On 11 October 1633, Mr. Hooker was
chosen as
pastor at Newtown and he and his followers joined the settlers there. His
liberal beliefs, however, clashed with the conservatism of the
Massachusetts authorities and he asked permission to remove to
Connecticut
with his flock. Permission was finally granted in 1635 providing they
agreed to remain under the jurisdiction of the Bay. (3)The Rev. Thomas Shepard and his friends happened to arrive at the
moment
Hooker and the church at Newtown were preparing their migration to
Connecticut. Rev. Hooker's group were eager to sell their houses and
lands, and the newcomers were glad to purchase a settlement already
made.
After having made these arrangements, Rev. Shepard formed a church
and
those who came over on the ship, the "Defense", which arrived 3 October
1635, formed the nucleus. Thomas Shepard, in contrast to Hooker, took
a
very decided and emphatic stand against religious toleration. He felt it
was essential to settle and secure religion according to the way the
Puritan believed was of God. (5)It was into this scene that Thomas Blodgett made his entrance -- into
Newtown and into the congregation of Thomas Shepard. The church,
known as
the First Church at Cambridge, was established 1 February 1636. About
a
month later on 3 March 1636 (7,9) Thomas Blodgett was allotted land in
Newtown and on the same day was made a freeman. To have become a
freeman
he would have had to belong to the church, and to the right church.Newtown in 1638 "was but a little village, scarcely 300 yards from north
to south and 400 yards from east to west, on the northerly bank of the
Charles River, three miles west of Boston. Its area was divided by four
short streets parallel to the river, crossed from north to south by four
others .... Within this area were forty or fifty unpainted wooden houses
with shingled roofs. A little church, of hand-hewn logs, stood near the
center of the village. Extending eastward from Harvard Square in what is
now Massachusetts Avenue was a row of houses, which formed the
northerly
limit of the town .... These houses fronted south. Each was provided with
a lot, which extended back of the houses, some 500 feet into the present
College Yard. Other lots occupied the remaining area of the Yard; to the
north of these was the Charlestown Path (now Kirkland Street) extending
eastward three miles to Charlestown. From Charlestown one took the
ferry
for the few hundred yards across the mouth of the Charles River to
Boston." (3, pgs. 345-346)Thomas Blodgett evidently prospered in his new environment for in 1638
he
conveyed a house and land in Garden Street and the following year an
estate in Dunstain Street. (4) He did not, however, live long to enjoy the
success of his labors, for he died at the early age of thirty-seven. His
will, dated 10 August 1641, was probated in 1643.Thomas Blodgget. Cambridge in America. (24 (5) 1643 in Margin.)
I Thomas Bloggett being at this time in my right mind, give to wife Susan
my whole estate after my decease, as well within doors as without. She to
bring vp my children in such learning & other things as is meete for them,
& pay oldest son Daniel 15 pounds when one & twenty or in one month
after
her decease. To my 2d son Samuel 15 pounds, as above. To daughter
Susanna
15 pounds. Should they have a father-in-law who does not treat them wellmy will is that the Deacons & our brother ffessington & our brother
Edward
Winchship, they or either of them should have power to see unto it &
reforme it by one meanes or other. Written this 10th day of the 6th month
1641.In presence of us Hereunto I set my hand
Thos: Harris Thomas Blogget
John Mena
Deposed by Tho: Harris & John Mena the 8 (5) 1642 before
Increase Nowell Sec. (7a)
After Thomas' widow, Susan, married James Thompson on the 15th
February
1643/4, the family lived at Woburn, the domicile of her second husband.
James Thompson was born about 1593 in England. He was admitted as a
freeman in December 1633, being then of Charlestown. He settled in
Woburn
in 1642 where he died in 1682, age 89. His first wife, Elizabeth, had died
in Woburn 13 November 1642.1 2
have also seen birth of 1612 Norfolk England