Thomas Ford

Abt 1591 - 1676  (~ 85 years)

 Set As Default Person

• Name	Thomas Ford  [1, 2]
  Born	Abt 1591	Dorchester, Dorset, England   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Reference Number	2401
  Died	28 Nov 1676	Northampton, New London, Connecticut, USA   [1]
  Person ID	I2401	FelsingFam
  Last Modified	16 Feb 2024

  
  

  Family 1	Elizabeth Charde,   b. Abt 1593, England ,   d. 18 Apr 1643, Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, USA  (Age ~ 50 years)
  Married	19 Jun 1616	Bridport, Dorset, England   [1]
  	TAG 1934 V11 P180
  Children	1. Joanna Ford,   b. 8 Jun 1617, Bridport, Dorset, England  [natural] + 2. Abigail Ford,   b. 8 Oct 1619, Bridport, Dorset, England  [natural]   3. Thomas Ford,   b. 21 Sep 1623, Dorchester, Dorset, England ,   d. 6 Oct 1623, Dorchester, Dorset, England  (Age 0 years)  [natural] + 4. Hepzibah Ford,   b. 15 May 1625, Dorchester, Dorset, England ,   d. 11 Apr 1683, Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts, USA  (Age 57 years)  [natural]   5. Hannah Ford,   b. 1 Feb 1628/29, Dorchester, Dorset, England ,   d. 28 Mar 1629, Dorchester, Dorset, England  (Age 0 years)  [natural]
  Last Modified	16 Feb 2024
  Family ID	F578	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 2	Ann Unknown,   b. Aft 1591
  Married	7 Nov 1644  [1]
  Last Modified	16 Feb 2024
  Family ID	F579	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - Abt 1591 - Dorchester, Dorset, England Married - 19 Jun 1616 - Bridport, Dorset, England  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Photos » Slide Show		lyman
  		richlymansarahosborn
  		immigrant icon Date:5/13/2019 7:47:58 PM

  
  

• Notes

  Prior to emigrating to the New World on the ship "Mary and John" Thomas Ford lived in Dorchester, Dorset, England. The Holy Trinity Church of Dorchester contains the following Baptism Records for children of Thomas Ford: Thomas, baptized 21 Sep 1623; buried 6 Oct 1623 Hepzibah, baptized 15 May 1625 Hannah, baptized 1 Feb 1628/29; buried 28 Mar 1629 At Bridport, 15 ½ miles west of Dorchester we find earlier baptism records for children of Thomas Ford: Joan, 8 june 1617 Abigail, 8 Oct 1619 We also find that Elizabeth Charde Cook, the widow of Aaron Cook, married Thomas Ford 19 Jun 1616 in Bridport. As Thomas Ford, Elizabeth Charde and the three living children, plus Aaron Cooke, son of the deceased Aaron Cooke, all arrived in the New World in 1630 we can safely conclude that all of these records pertain to the same family. We can also conclude that between 1619 and 1623 Thomas and Elizabeth moved from Bridport to Dorchester. It is possible that Thomas Ford was a widower with a child when he married Elizabeth Charde. In Powerstock, which is 6 miles northeast of Bridport, we find two men named Thomas Ford. One married 29 Jan 1607-08 to Julian Dun and the other married 13 Dec 1610 to Joane Way. We find three baptism records for Florence (1608), Thomas (1610) and Julian (1615) which likely belong to the Thomas Ford married first. And we find two baptisms in 1612 of which one would likely belong to the first Thomas (married 1607/08) and the other likely to the second Thomas (married 1610). Mary, baptized 18 Aug 1612 and Sarah, baptized 6 Jan 1612/13. After 1613 only one Thomas was having children baptized in Powerstock. Joane Ford was buried in Powerstock on 10 May 1615. It is possible that Joan Ford, first child of Thomas Ford and Elizabeth Charde was named Joan in 1617 in honor of the deceased first wife, which was not uncommon to do in those days. It is also possible that Henry Way, of Bridport, who also emigrated on the "Mary and John" at the same time as Thomas Ford, was related to Joane Way. Based on this reasoning, some have concluded that Thomas Ford probably first married Joane Way. I think "probably" may be too strong a word. I will go with Thomas Ford "may" have first married Joane Way and they may have had a daughter named Sarah or Mary. In regards to which child, Mary or Sarah may have been born to Thomas and Joane, some have, perhaps erroneously concluded that it was Mary. Aaron Cook has appeared in the record as Thomas Fords "son-in-law". Aaron Cook is married to Mary Cook. Thus some have concluded that this wording is proof that Thomas Ford had a daughter Mary and is additional proof of the Joane Way marriage. However, this is faulty reasoning. In the terminology of the day "son-in-law" could also mean what we today call "step-son". And we know that Aaron was the step-son of Thomas, due to Thomas marrying his mother. And that would have nothing to do with whomever Aaron married. The Great Migrations series gives a maiden name for Aaron's wife, and it is not Ford. Therefore, if Thomas was the person who married Joane Way, we still do not have any idea if their child was Mary or Sarah. Neither child emigrated with Thomas. They both would have been 17 or 18 at the time and perhaps already married, if still alive. It is unknown who the parents of Thomas Ford were. Burt Spears who has intensively researched the "Mary and John" passengers, has come up with 11 wills of people surnamed Ford in the area and timeframe we are looking at. It is impossible to put these wills together in a genealogical meaningful way. However, one will offers some possible clues. It is the will of Thomas Ford of Dorchester , proved 8 May 1611. In the will the executor is Thomas Forde, "son of my brother John Forde". If this is the same Thomas it would make his father John Forde. The clue here being that perhaps as executor he gained control of property in Dorchester, which would explain his move from Bridport to Dorchester some years later. Consider that we had two Thomas Fords in Powerstock that we know of and that the existence of eleven Ford wills could imply that the common name of Thomas appears even more than twice. I would say that this is a real stretch and that we can only conclude that we do not know anything about the ancestry of Thomas Ford. Many on-line genealogies freely use the first wife as Joane, the first child as Mary and the father as John Ford as facts. The first wife and first child have not been proven and the father is pure speculation. Thomas Ford, Elizabeth (Charde)Ford, Joanna Ford, Abigail Ford, Hepzibah Ford and Aaron Cooke arrived in Dorchester, Massachusetts in 1630. In 1637 Thomas Ford moved to Windsor and in1672 to Northhampton where he died 28 Nov 1676. After Elizabeth Charde died in Windsor 18 Apr 1643 he remarried at an unknown date to the widow of Thomas Scott. There was a child named Ann, but it is uncertain if Thomas Ford or Thomas Scott was the father. Some have said that Thomas Ford has more descendants than any other male New England immigrant. I do now know if that is true or not, but he certainly has lots of descendants. He had three confirmed daughters who lived to procreation age. Joanne married Roger Clapp and they had 45 grandchildren. Abigail married John Strong, they had 16 children and 143 grandchildren. Hepzibah married Richard Lyman and had 8 children and 43 grandchildren. That is a total of 231 great grandchildren for Thomas Ford and Elizabeth Charde from only 3 daughters. Plus Elizabeth Charde has additional descendants through her son Aaron Cook. As each generation multiplies itself, with the kind of start their descendants had, it would be virtually impossible for a later generation to catch up to them in numbers. Some notable descendants of Thomas Ford and Elizabeth Charde include Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Princess Diana, Spencer Tracy, the Wright brothers, Samuel Colt, Rutherford B Hayes, Mike Huckabee, D.H. Lawrence, Sarah Palin, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Gary Boyd Roberts' books mentions these and many other prominent descendants. Bibliography: Thomas Ford of Dorchester, England, and Dorchester, Mass prepared by Donald Lines Jacobus from material obtained by Clarence Almon Torrey published 1939, The American Genealogist Vol 16 P41-43. The Mary & John Series by Burton Spears-various volumes and pages The Great Migrations Series by Robert Charles Anderson published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society.

  
  

• Sources

  [S13] Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-33, Robert Charles Anderson, (Name: New England Historic Genealogical Society; Date: 1995;), Ford, Thomas biography. [S57] Northampton, Massachusetts Vital Records, Corbin Collection Vol 1 Records of Hampshire County, Mass. lyman richlymansarahosborn