1826. Deacon John DUNHAM
(81) was born about 1588 in Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, England. He
died on 2 Mar 1668/69. IMMIGRANT - John was from the same area of England as
"where William Brewster lived and organized the Pilgrim congregation before
they fled to Holland. John was about the same age as William Bradford (who later
took Thomas Cushman into his household in Plymouth) and it seems likely that
they were acquainted. It is not known when John went to Holland, but records
show that he married Abigail Wood (?) in Leyden 17 Oct 1619 and that their first
child was born there the following year. Our Abigail was apparently their second
child, born 1623, probably in Leyden also. Like many of the English in Holland
he was in the cloth trade, a weaver. By 1632 John and his family were in Plymouth.
In 1633 William Brewster, then Ruling Elder of the church, made John a Deacon.
He served as Deputy to the General Court many times, even when he was in his
seventies, and was one of the first purchasers of Dartmouth, though he apparently
never lived there. ... His son-in-law, Stephen [At]Wood, was among those mentioned
in his will. The entry in the Plymouth Colony Records reads: 'John Dunham,
Senr., of Plymouth, aged about fourscore yeares, died the 2cond of March, 1668.
Hee was an approued seruant of God, and a vseful man in his place, being a deacon
of the church of Christ att Plymouth.'" (Bonnie Hubbard)
An update by Bonnie Hubbard based on the material in the 1986 book, "Plymouth
Colony - Its History & People 1620 - 1691" by Stratton is as follows:
"Abigail Dunham did marry Stephen Atwood 6 Nov 1644 at Plymouth and her
father was Deacon John Dunham. Her mother, however, was not Abigail Wood as
Hills stated ..., but Abigail Barlow, daughter of Thomas Barlow, whom John had
married in Leiden 22 Oct 1622. Their betrothal had been recorded 7 Oct 1622
with her father and sister Thomas and Anna Barlow as witnesses. John and Abigail
lived in Zevenhuysen with the three children by John's first wife, Susanna Kenny.
This information is from Mrs. Barclay's article and cited briefly in Stratton.
Daughter Abigail was born about 1626; no record of her death has been found
(Barclay). Stratton, p. 285, says John Dunham was born about 1589, since the
age at his death 1688/89 was given as 80. 'He was a Leiden Separatist who came
to Plymouth between 1628 and 1632, probably with those who arrived from Holland
in 1629 and 1630.' Isaac Watson Dunham claims that John Dunham was born in Scrooby,
where there were undoubtedly Dunhams. Hills made this claim also and may have
been relying on I.W. Dunham's account, but no proof has been found that our John
Dunham came from this branch of the family. No one knows when he went to Holland.
The wedding date of 17 Oct 1619 is perhaps that of John and Susanna, since their
first child, John, was born in 1620. No one knows when he left Holland. The
first record pertaining to him in Plymouth is the 2 Jan 1633 tax list, showing
he owed nine shillings (Barclay). All accounts show that he was chosen Deacon
in 1633 under Elder Brewster, a position he held the rest of his life - all accounts,
that is, except Willison's 'Saints and Strangers.' Willison does not have John
Dunham in his list of Deacons at all. John was a Deputy to the General Court
in 1639 and many times afterward, even when he was in his seventies. The following
quote from 1638 Records shows the high regard in which he was held: 'He was
a man of strict honesty and sterling character, quite prominent in the growth
and prosperity of the Colony.' (Dunham, p. 6) He was one of the first purchasers
of Dartmouth (present-day New Bedford). He sold this land about six years before
his death and apparently had never lived there. Like many of the English in
Holland he was in the cloth trade, a weaver, but in Plymouth he also raised cattle
and as his stock increased he got additional land."
He was married to Abigail BARLOW on 22 Oct 1622 in Leyden, Holland.
(913) "Their betrothal had been recorded 7 Oct 1622 with her
father and sister Thomas and Anna Barlow as witnesses."
1827. Abigail BARLOW
(81). Children were:
913 i.
Abigail DUNHAM.