| Notes |
- Humphrey Bradstreet, sometimes also seen as Broadstreet, in 1634 sailed on the ship Elizabeth from Ipswich, Essex, England to the Massachusetts Bay. Listed with him were his wife Briget (Elizabeth Harris), and children Hannah, John, Martha and Mary. Certain genealogies states Humphrey and Briget were married in 1622 in Capel Saint Mary, Suffolk Co, England. Others state Humphrey was born in Ipswich, had family in Bentley, Essex Co, and worked in Capel St. Mary, Suffolk. The Topographical Disctionary of 2885 English Emigrants to new England, states Humphrey wsa from Creeting All Saints. Further UK research will be understaken to further develop the Bradstreet family history.
While may not know much of Humphrey's past prior to 1636, much is known of his life after his arrival in New England. Perhaps the best summary is found in The Great Migration, A-B:
* Humphrey became a Freeman on May 6, 1635, was thereafter referred to as Mister (vs. Goodman).
* Was appointed theh deputy for Ipswich to Massachusetts Bay General Court on September 2, 1635.
* Included on committee to consider Mr. Endicott's defacing of the colors, May 6, 1635.
* Served on Essex County jury on December 28, 1641 and September 26, 1648
Humphrey, like many of his contemporaries, used the court to address personal squabbles and disagreements. He was commonly at odds with John Cross, whom he likely knew prior to his immigration, as Mr. Cross and his wife Anne were also passengers on the Elizabeth. "Humphrey sued John Cross at court 27 March, 1649, but the case was nonsuited...John Cross returned the favor and sued Humphrey Broadstreet, Richard Jacob and John Gage for trespass on 25 September 1649...Cross also sued John Bradstreet that day. The family was again entangled with Cross in November 1649 when Cross was fined for slanderous speeches against Mr. Rogers of Rowley, and John Bradstreet was fined, evidently for the same thing, and Humphrey served as his surety.
"A later court case, 26 December 1649, showed that the trespass in question dealt with a gray colt. Bradstreet claimed that the colt was not his, 'he never had a colt in his life'. At September Term 1650, Humphrey Bradstreet and John Bradstreet had their bond of good behavior discharged.
"On 29 March 1653, Humphrey took Stephen Kent to court 'for taking away, using and abusing and not returning a boar, and for suspicion of taking away other swine.' The case was withdrawn."
In addition to Humphrey's law suits, we are also privileged with details from his will, which may be found in the Essex county, Massachusetts Probate Record, 1635-1681 (Ancestry.com). The family farm, a 130-acre parcel granted to Humphrey by King Charles I in 1635, was left to his son Moses. This farm remained in the family, passed down from generation to generation, until it was sold in 2007 to the Town of Rowley for 2.75 million dollars.
Many pictures were found online of this farm, and interestingly, the farm was the subject of interest throughout the country, with notations in such papers as the El Paso Herald-Post, which reported on June 27, 1934, "John D. Bradstreet still lives in the house built in 1634 by Humphrey Bradstreet."
On January 22, 1937, the New York Herald Tribune published the following:
Rowley, Mass, Jan 21 - Chuckling philosophically at the evil days on which he has fallen, John Dowling Bradstreet this morning helped kill the last pig on his farm, which has been ___ by nine generations of the same family ever since 1635, when Humphrey Bradstreet received it as a grant. As the sow expired and was hung up in the barn to be dressed, it left three cats and twenty barred Plymouth Rocks as the only remaining livestock on the farm, which Mark Sullivan, after some research, now thinks must be "the authentic oldest American farm in continuous ownership of the same family."
Cobwebs stretched between the stanchions in the barn, built before 1776, for when milk dropped to three cents a quart a few years ago Mr. Bradstreet sold his cows. Dust had gathered in the grooves worn in the stable floor by many teams of Bradstreet horses. Mr. Bradstreet's only crop now is hay, which he sells to neighbors who in turn, rent horses to him when mowing time comes around.
The Florence Morning News, Florence, S.C., published on December 16, 1951, a comic from Ripley's Believe It Or Not, which stated:
The Bradstreet Farm
Rowley, Mass
Established in 1635
by Humphrey Bradstreet
and owned by
The Same Family
CONTINUOUSLY
for 316 Years!
|
The Stanwood Family
1594 - 1655 (61 years)
