Thomas Cranston

Notes:

Thomas sailed from Swansea in command of a vessel and was lost at sea.

Thomas married Patience Gardiner Swansea, Bristol Co., MA. Patience (daughter of Samuel Gardiner and Elizabeth Carr) was born 31 Oct 1687, Swansea, Bristol Co., MA. [Group Sheet]

1. Peleg Cranston was born 16 Mar 1717/18, Swansea, MA; died 29 Mar 1805, Foster, RI.

Notes:

Like his father, Samuel was Governor of the Colony of RI.

As his second wife, Samuel married the widow of his brother Caleb.

Information on Samuel's life and his gravesite can be found at findagrave.com.

Samuel married Mary Hart 1680. Mary (daughter of Thomas Hart and Freeborn Williams) was born Abt 1663, Newport, RI; died 17 Sep 1710, Newport, RI; was buried , Golden Hill Cemetery, Golden Hill St., Newport, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Mary was a granddaughter of Roger Williams. (source: The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 1925, vol 79 p 57)

Notes:

The following notes are excerpted from "Descendants of Gov. John Cranston of Rhode Island" by Charles Albert Dubosq and William Jones; printed in Genealogies of Rhode Island Families, Vol. I, p. 277ff:

John Cranston came to America about 1637, as stated in a letter written by his Gov. Samuel Cranston. He became an inhabitant of Aquidneck Island in 1638. In 1644, at the General Court of Elections at Newport, he was chosen to be drummer of the Portsmouth Militia. At the very same Court, his guardian and future father-in-law, Jeremy/Jeremiah Clarke, was chosen Treasurer of Newport. Not long after this time, John moved to Newport, where he lived for the rest of his life.

On 1 Mar 1663/64 John Cranston was "licensed to administer physic and practice chirugery throughout the whole colony." This was roughly equivalent to granting an MD. He was known as a "doctor of physik" and a "physition." Thoughout his life he played a prominent role in the affairs of the colony, including Attorney General, Commissioner, Deputy, Assistant, and Deputy Governor, and Governor. During King Philip's War he was appointed "Major and chief Captain of all the Colony forces . . . for the safety and defense of the Colony."

John Cranston was elected Governor of the Colony on 8 Nov 1678.

Gov. John Cranston died in Newport at age 55 while serving as Governor of the Colony of RI.

Information on John's life and his gravesite can be found at findagrave.com.

John married Mary CLARKE 3 Jun 1658, Newport, RI. Mary (daughter of Jeremy CLARKE and Frances LATHAM) was born 1641, Newport, RI; died 7 Apr 1711, Newport, RI; was buried , Common Burial Ground, Newport, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

When Mary (Clarke) Cranston married John Stanton, she was the widow of Gov. John Cranston (b. 1626).

Her will identifies her as "Mary Stanton, of Newport, now wife of Capt. John Stanton of Newport, Physician." It mentions her brothers Walter and J. Clarke; and sons (surname Cranston) Caleb (dec'd.), Samuel, John, Benjamin and Henry; daughter Elizabeth (Cranston) Brown; and son Henry Stanton. Based on Henry's date of birth (1688), Mary would have been about 47 years of age when he was born. The will also mentions son-in-law John Brown, grandsons John & Robert Brown; grandson John Cranston, son of Samuel; and granddaughter Mary Cranston.

Her epitaph reads as follows: "Here lyeth interred the body of Mary Stanton alias Cranston who departed this life ye 7th day of April 1711 in ye 70th year of her age late wife of Capt John Stanton & was ye only wife of Major John Cranston & ye virtuous & worthy mother of ye family here."

Thomas — Freeborn Williams. Freeborn (daughter of Roger WILLIAMS and Mary BARNARD) was born 4 Oct 1635, Salem, MA; died 10 Jan 1709/10. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Rev. James Cranstoun was a chaplain to King Charles I.

Notes:

His name is often spelled Jeremy. Jeremiah and Frances came to America about 1638 and settled at Newport, RI.

He signed the Portsmouth Compact in 1639.

Jeremy, one of the original settlers of Newport, RI, is a direct descendant of King Edward I of England and his wife Eleanor of Castile, through their daughter Joan Plantagenet, who died in 1307.

Jeremy Clarke, son of Mary Weston, was a nephew of Sir Richard Weston, Earl of Portland and Lord Treasurer of England.

Jeremy was a captain (according to his wife's tombstone inscription), in 1648 was President Regent of Aquidneck Island, and held other public offices. His death in 1651 was later recorded in the Quaker records.

His son Walter Clarke later became Governor of RI, and was one of the original proprietors of the Monmouth Patent, NJ.

Jeremy married Frances LATHAM Abt 1637. Frances (daughter of Lewis LATHAM and Elizabeth Unknown) was born 15 Feb 1609/10, Kempston, Bedford, England; died Sep 1677, Newport, RI; was buried , Governor's Lot, Newport, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

When Frances died in 1677, she left 86 grandchildren.

The following note is from a website: "The writer can state definitely that the Dungan family, of whom were the Earls of Limerick, was the only manorial family into which Frances Latham could have married, her father being the King's Sergeant Falconer, and a member of his household. There is no doubt in the writer's mind after an extended search, that William Dungan was a grandson of Sir John Dungan by his wife Margaret Forster, and this conclusion was arrived at by Mr. Howard O. Folker and an Irish genealogist in Dublin, who conducted their investigations without consultation with the writer." (source: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mylines/dungan108_09.htm)

The following information is from another website: http://pages.prodigy.net/reed_wurts/heraldry/latham.htm

Frances Latham now generally called "The Mother of Governors," because no less than fourteen of her direct descendants, and many sons-in-law in succeeding generations, became Governors or Lieut. Governors. Baptized 15 February 1609/10, she was the eldest of nine children of Lewis Latham whose portrait is in the collection of the late George W. Elkins, a descendant of Lewis Latham.

He who was of Elston, co. Bedford, England, was born about, 1584 and buried 15 May 1655, aged about 71 years. He was a member of the King's household, and Falconer to Prince Henry in 1612, and later was Sergeant Falconer to King Charles I.

ARMS-Or, on a chief indented azure, three bezants
CREST-An eagle standing on an empty cradle with wings displayed, reguardant or.

(NEHGR, Roll of Arms, Vol. LXXXII, p. 156; A.R. Justice, ANCESTRY OF JEREMY CLARKE..., p. 72)

We can imagine Frances as a young girl on the moors in companionship with her father as he attended the Royal Princes, Henry and Charlie, in their hunting with falcons, ever a favorite royal sport, the birds being highly trained to search out and pounce upon rabbit, grouse and other small game and bring them to their master.

Frances Latham was married in 1627 at age 17 to William Dungan, Gentleman, who was born about 1606, a London Merchant and Perfumer. His wares were in great demand and quite necessary to offset the obnoxious odors arising from the gutters in a thickly settled district subject to heavy fog and having surface drainage.

They made their home at St. Martins-in-the-Fields where later he died and was buried 20 September 1636, leaving her a widow at age 26 with four little children between the ages of 2 and 8 years. By his Will dated 13 September 1636 he gave all his property to his wife Frances, after bequeathing

Notes:

Did you know: When Roger Williams crossed the Seekonk River to found Providence, the Narragansetts greeted him with "What cheer, netop?" A common greeting in the 17th century, "What cheer?" or "What news of cheer do you bring?" is similar to a 21st century expression, "What's new?" "Netop" is a Narragansett word for friend. (source: RI Historical Society)

The following notes are from "Descendents of Roger Williams" by Dorothy Higson White, Gateway Press, Inc., Baltimore, 1991:

"Roger's youth was spent in the parish of 'St. Sepulchre's, without Newgate, London.' While a young man, he must have been aware of the numerous burnings at the stake that had taken place at nearby Smithfield of so-called Puritans or heretics. This probably influenced his later strong beliefs in civic and religious liberty. During his teens, Roger Williams came to the attention of Sir Edward Coke, a brilliant lawyer and one-time Chief Justice of England, through whose influence he was enrolled at Sutton's Hospital, a part of Charter House, a school in London. He next entered Pembroke College at Cambridge University from which he graduated in 1627. All of the literature currently available at Pembroke to prospective students mentions Roger Williams, his part in the Reformation, and his founding of the Colony of Rhode Island. At Pembroke, he was one of eight granted scholarships based on excellence in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Pembroke College in Providence, once the women's college of Brown University, was named after Pembroke at Cambridge in honor of Roger Williams.
"In the years after he left Cambridge, Roger Williams was Chaplain to a wealthy family, and on 15 December 1629, he married Mary Barnard at the Church of High Laver, Essex, England. Even at this time, he became a controversial figure because of his ideas on freedom of worship. And so, in 1630, ten years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, Roger thought it expedient to leave England. He arrived, with Mary, on 5 February 1631 at Boston in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Their passage was aboard the ship 'Lyon' (Lion).
"He preached first at Salem, then at Plymouth, then back to Salem, always at odds with the structured Puritans. When he was about to be deported back to England, Roger fled southwest out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was befriended by local Indians and eventually settled at the headwaters of what is now Narragansett Bay, after he learned that his first settlement on the east bank of the Seekonk River was within the boundaries of the Plymouth Colony. Roger purchased land from the Narragansett Chiefs, Canonicus and Miantonomi, and named his settlement Providence in thanks to God."

(Continue reading about his amazing accomplishments which paved the way for future generations. Log on to the following web sites.)
http://www.rogerwilliams.org

We are (at least) triple descendants of Roger & Mary, through two of their children, Mary & Mercy.

The following notes are from a manuscript at the Warwick Historical Society, Pawtuxet, RI (the original source is not clearly identified): "The first English missionary to the Indians of New England was Roger Williams, who preceded John Eliot by at least fourteen years. Williams began to study the languages in 1631 while at Plymouth and by 1633, according to Mr. Wood in the 'New England Prospect,' was the only English missionary and so good a[nd] proficient that he could converse with them (Ernst p. 251) . . . From 1631 to 1683 he was constantly doing missionary work among the New England tribes. While studying the language and telling them of Christ and his love, he built up a large and profitable Indian trading business; much of the profits he used for their peace and welfare (p. 252) . . . Williams was handsome and winning in appearance, generous and enthusiastic in temper, eloquent, religious, and philosophic (Ernst p. 368)."

The following is excerpted from "Materials Toward a History of the Baptists in Rhode Island," Collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society of the 4th Series, Boston, Crosby Nichols & Co., 1854, @ [http://21tnt.com/morganedwards/#edwardsrhodeisland]:
"It is certain that he embraced the sentiments of the Puritans, and suffered on account thereof. (Hist. Of Mass., Vol. 1, page 39. Neal, Vol. 1, p. 140.) This sent him and many more to America. He landed at Salem [Boston] Feb. 5, 1631, and immediately was admitted a preacher in the independent church of Salem as an assistant to Mr. Skelton. Soon after he removed to the church of Plymouth, where he continued about three years, and was much thought of by the governor (Bradford) and the people, of whom the former gives this testimony: "Mr. Roger Williams (a man godly and zealous, having many precious parts) came hither, and his teaching was well approved, for the benefit whereof I still bless God and am thankful to him even for his sharpest admonitions, &c." But Mr. Skelton, of Salem, growing infirm, Roger Williams returned thither and soon succeeded him in the ministry. Here he had not been long a preacher before his favorite sentiment, liberty of conscience, gave offence to a small but the leading part of the congregation. Yet, this would have been borne with had he not further maintained that civil Magistrates as such have no power in the church, and that Christians as Christians are subject to no laws of control, save those of king Jesus. These were intolerable positions among the Massachusetts Magistrates, who, from the beginning discovered an itch for being kings in Christ

Roger married Mary BARNARD 15 Dec 1629, Essex, England. Mary was born Abt 1605; died 1676, Providence, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Roger & Mary were married at the Church of High Laver, Essex, England.