Family of Robert Parke

(This person can be viewed within the Melton/Sharp Ancestry Chart by clicking here)

1. ROBERT² PARKE (ROBERT¹) was born June 03, 1580 in Preston,, England, and died February 04, 1664/65 in Mystic, New London Co., Connecticut. He married (1) MARTHA CHAPLIN February 09, 1601/02 in Semer, Suffolk, England, daughter of WILLIAM CHAPLIN and AGNES UNKNOWN. She died 1643 in Mystic, New London Co., Connecticut. He married (2) ALICE FREEMAN¹ May 30, 1644 in Roxbury, Essex Co., Massachusetts, daughter of HENRY FREEMAN and MARGARET EDWARDS. She was born Abt. 1595 in Cranford, Northamptonshire, England, and died February 11, 1664/65 in Mystic, New London Co., Connecticut.

Notes for ROBERT PARKE:

PARKE FAMILY GENEALOGY, by FS Parks, page 25.

born in Preston EN in 1580. He was a personal friend of John Winthrop. He was a man of means. He did not come to the new world through dire necessity or to better his condition, but rather through a desire to have more religious liberty.

He and his family sailed from Cowes, Isle of Wight, for America, on board the "Arabella", with seventy-six passengers, March 29, 1630, and landed in Boston MA, June 17, 1630, making the voyage in seventy-eight days. He lived for a time at Roxbury MA.

In 1639 he, with his son Thomas, went through the wilderness to Wethersfield CT, with the first settlers there. He resided at Wethersfield CT with the first settlers there.

He was a resident of the town plot of New London for about six years, and then moved to lands which he owned on the Mystic River.

He died in Mystic aged 84 years. His grave is in the White Hall graveyard, at White Hall, Mystic CT. His house was east of the present road and southeast of the burial ground, and stood just south of a small knoll, somewhat rocky.

SWAMP YANKEE, by James Allyn, page 10.

Came from Little Preston in Northamptonshire. His wife was Martha Chapen (Chapin), daughter of Capt. Robert Chapen of Edmundsbury. With their son Thomas Parke they sailed from Cowes in 1630 aboard the Arbella to Salem with John Winthrop. Soon after they moved to Roxbury to join the friends from home. In 1640 the Parke family moved to Wethersfield, and in 1649 to New London to rejoin the Denisons at the new settlement. Robert Park was one of the first to settle the Groton side of Mystic in 1654, and later the town of Preston east of Norwich.

ANCESTORS OF ALDEN SMITH SWAN AND HIS WIFE MARY ALTHEA FARWELL, by Josephine C.

Frost, The Hills Press, New York, MCMXXIII, page 157.

Robert Park, the first of the name who appeared in this country, came from Preston, Lancashire, England. He sailed from Cowes, Isle of Wright, in the ship "Arabella", March 29, 1630, anad landed at Salem, Mass., June 12, and at Boston, June 17.

He with his son Thomas settled in Wethersfield, CT, in 1640, and he was made Deputy to the General Court from that place in 1641 and 1642. In 1649 he removed to New London, where he resided for six years, and his new barn, which stood on what is now the corner of Hempstead and Granite Streets, was used as the first house of worship in the new town and the call to service was by the beat of drum. He finally settled at Mystic in Stonington and was one of the men appointed by the General Court of MA to an official position, in the organization of the town of Southertown (Stonington) in 1658.

His will was probated in March, 1665. He married Martha, daughter of Capt. Robert Chaplin, in Edmundsbury, England and she died before 1660, and he married second, Mrs Alice Thompson, the mother of the wife of his son Thomas.

Sources: Park Society; History of the Town of Stonington by Wheeler; The New England Ancestry of HRH the Princess of Wales" by Gary Boyd Roberts and William A. Reitwiesner; NEHGR, April 1972; The Ancestors and Descendants of Horace Thaddeus Perkins 1812-1951 on Film 1,036,644; A. Roots 29A; Boston Evening Transcript; History of New London, Conn., by Frances Manwaring Caulkins; The First Church of Christ in New London, 974.65/N2, K2l; American Ancestors and Cousins of the Princess of Wales (Diana) by Gary Boyd Roberts and William Addams Reitwiesner; The Winthrop Fleet of 1630 by Charles Edward Banks; Topographical Dictionary of 2885 English Emigrants to New England; TAG 16/16; Saturday's Children--A History of the Babcock Family in America by C. Merton Babcock; Potter-Richardson Memorial; Saturday's Children, A History of the Babcock Family in America; Founders of Early American Families; The Great Migration Begins, v3, pages 1389 and 1390; Magna Charta Sureties 163-10.

Dictionary: Robert Parke of Preston Parish, Lancashire, England; went to

Wethersfield, Conn.

Migrations: William Parke, son of Robert and Martha Chaplin Parke, was baptized in Semer, Suffolk, 21 April 1607, so the Parkes apparently resided there at that time. Page 1390 says only that Robert followed William to New England, arriving by 1639. Evidence that Robert Parke was in New England as early as 1630 seems quite slight. [Founders of Early American Families says he came to New England in 1630 and returned to England.]

C.M. Babcock: Robert Parke was a personal friend of Gov. John Winthrop. He located in Wethersfield, CT, and, after 1647, at New London, where his barn served as the first meetinghouse.

Wheeler: "Robert Park(e), the first of the name who appeared in this country, came from Preston, Lancashire, England; sailed from Cowes, Isle of Wight, in the ship Arbella, March 29, 1630, and landed in Salem, Mass., June 12, and at Boston June 17, 1630, with 76 passengers all told. He settled with his son, Thomas, in Wethersfield, Conn., in 1640, and was Deputy to the General Court in 1641-42. He removed to Pequot, now New London, in 1649, where he resided six years, and his new barn, which stood on the corner of Hempstead and Granite streets, was used as the first house of worship in the new town, and the call to service was by the beat of a drum. He finally settled at Mystic in Stonington, as he was one of the men appointed by the General Court of Massachusetts to an official position, in the organization of the town of Southertown in 1658." He also served in the Colonial wars. His will was probated in March 1665.

Founders: Robert Parke. Came on the "Arbella" 1630. Salem, MA. Returned to England. Wethersfield 1639. New London 1649. Mystic 1658. Died there 4 Feb. 1664/5. Deputy. Gentleman.

Roberts/Reitwiesner: Among Robert Parke's descendants are Bess Wallace, wife of Harry S Truman, presidential candidate Thomas E. Dewey, jurist John Marshall Harlan II.

BET: Sir Robert Parke, born 1580, died 11 Feb. 1644. Married 9 Feb. 1601.

Roberts/Reitwiesner: Immigrant in the Winthrop Fleet, soon thereafter in Roxbury, MA; in Wethersfield, Conn., 1639; in New London 1649; in Stonington 1658. Baptized 3 June 1580 Postingford, Suffolk, (with St. Marys [Parish?] added info from Prodigy researcher). Died Mystic (Stonington), Conn., 14 March 1664/1665 (actually the day his will was proved. See above and below). Married Martha Chaplin, 9 Feb. 1601/2, Semer, Suffolk, England.

Record of General Court of MA, dated 30 May 1644, says, "That he may proceed in marriage with Alice Thompson without further delay." He was almost 64 at the time.

Winthrop: Probably from Bures, co. Suffolk, or vicinity. Born about 1585. Came on Arbella. May have been related to Edward Parke, who called Winthrop "cousin." Married (1) Martha Chaplin. She and son Thomas Parke accompanied him.

Caulkins: His will is on the town book, dated 14 May 1660. Proved in March 1664/5. It names William, Samuel and Thomas. He was in Wethersfield in 1640 and made a freeman of CT Colony in April 1640 and deputy to the General Court in September 1641 and September 1642. Moved to Pequot in 1649; resided in the town plot about six years and then "established himself on the banks of the Mystic."

First Church: Worship in Rev. Richard Blinman's First Church of Christ in New London was first held in Robert Parke's barn 1651-1655. The barn was located on the southwest corner of Hempstead and Granite streets.

TAG: Will of Robert Park of Mistick (sic) "neere New London." Dated 14 May 1660, proved 14 March 1664/5. Names William, eldest son, executor, "all houses and lands at Mistick on boath Sides of the Riuer (170 acres);" Son Samuel, 50 pounds "in case he shall first Come and Demand the Same in Roxburyh, Mass., within 7 years next;" "Thomas Parke or any of his children at choice of my Executor, one-third of my estate in lands or good pay."

Memorial: Robert Parke, born about 1580 in Bures, Suffolk, England, married (1) at Semer, Suffolk, 9 Feb. 1601/02 Martha Chapin, (2) 30 May 1644 at Roxbury, MA, Alice (Freeman) Thompson, widow of John Thompson of Preston, Northamptonshire. In 1649 They were living in New London and removed to Stonington, CT, where Robert bought 2,000 acres from Winthrop and was the 13th signer of the Covenant. He died 4 Feb. 1664/5 in Stonington and is said to be buried in Whitehall Cemetery, Mystic.

Saturday's Children: Robert Parke sailed on the Arbella in 1630 for New England. His destination was Wethersfield, Conn. His point of origin was Lincolnshire. [This corrupted from Lancashire along the way?]

Ship Passengers, National and New England (973, W3s): Robert Parke, secretary to Gov. Winthrop, sailed 1630 on the Arbella, with wife Martha and three children. Page 139.

Sureties: Robert Parke, married Alice Freeman before 30 May 1644 at Roxbury, Mass.

More About ROBERT PARKE:

Burial: Old Whitehall Cemetery, Stonington, New London Co., Connecticut

Christening: June 03, 1580, St. Mary's, Postingford, Suffolk, England

Notes for MARTHA CHAPLIN:

Parke Family Genealogy, by SF Parks, page 27.

It is probable that she died in EN before the family came to this country, as no mention has been found of her here.

Note: Martha Chaplin was her husband's first cousin, daughter of William Chaplin of Semer, co Suffolk.

William Chaplin whose daughter married Robert Parke of Gestingthorpe was of Tarnes Farm, Long Melford, and not the same person. (NEHG "Register" v 136.)

Sources: Parke Assn. Newsletter, Vol XV, #3, p. 35 (Fall 1978); History of the Town of Stonington by Wheeler; Horace Perkins book; F.S. Parks book; Boston Evening Transcript; Roberts/Reitwiesner; The Winthrop Fleet of 1630 by Charles Edward Banks; Topographical Dictionary; Potter-Richardson Memorial; American Ancestors and Counsins of the Princess of Wales by Gary Boyd Roberts and William Addams Reitwiesner.

Winthrop: Martha Chaplin Parke, wife of Robert. Came with Winthrop fleet on the Arbella with husband and son Thomas.

Dictionary: A Clement Chaplin of Bury St. Edmonds, Suffolk, settled in Cambridge, Mass. (NEHGR 38/343). Relative?

Wheeler, Memorial and BT erroneously have her the daughter of Robert Chapin/Chapen, not the great-granddaughter of Robert Chaplin.

AF records list her surname as Chapen and Chaplin. The Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography says various spellings in England and

America are: Chapen, Chapan, Capinne, Calpin and Chapin. This book goes with Chapin, which comes from 10th century France.

A Samuel Chapin admitted freeman in Massachusetts 2 June 1641. He among founders of Springfield, MA. Relative? Martha had a son named Samuel Parke.

She was married in Edmundsbury (sic), according to an AF record, but was christened in Edmundsberg (sic), the same record says. *P* record says christened 1584, Long Melford, Suffolk, and died before 1630, Hitcham, Suffolk.

Perkins book says died before 1630, Hitcham, Bildeston, England.

Parke Society official says 1643 death date is "per Jacobus, Grankeary

Family, 1643." Was this date assumed because he married Alice Freeman Thompson in 1644????

Memorial: Martha Chapin (sic), married Robert Parke in 1601. With her husband and children she sailed from Cowes for New England 29 March 1630 on the Arbella. The couple was living in Wethersfield, CT, by 1640. She died there in 1643.

Roberts/Reitwiesner: Martha Chaplin, baptized Semer, Suffolk, England, 4 Feb. 1583/4. Died probably by 1643 (whether she came to New England is unknown). She and Robert Parke were first cousins. More details, page 31.

More About MARTHA CHAPLIN:

Burial: Old Whitehall Cemetery, Stonington, New London Co., Connecticut

Christening: February 04, 1583/84, Semer, Suffolk, England

More About ROBERT PARKE and MARTHA CHAPLIN:

Marriage: February 09, 1601/02, Semer, Suffolk, England

Notes for ALICE FREEMAN:

Came to New England as a widow with 1 daughter and 3 sons.

Sources: History of Stonington by Wheeler; Boston Evening Transcript; A. Roots 29A; Roberts/Reitwiesner; The Blackmans of Knight's Creek; The

Carolingian Ancestry of Edmond Hawes, Alice Freeman and Thomas James; American Genealogist, 13/3; The Visitation of Northamptonshire 1564 and 1618-19 (film 94,956); Potter-Richardson Memorial; Royal Descents of 500 Immigrants; The Great Migration Begins, v1, p523; A Witter Family History by Edwin D. Witter Jr.; Magna Charta Sureties 163-10.

Wheeler: The baptisms of the children of Alice Freeman and John Thompson are recorded at Preston Capes, Northants. It is not known when Alice Thompson brought her son and daughters to New England, but she was living in Roxbury, Mass., before 1640. "The Thomson family in England held a high position, their social status being next to that of the county families. Mistress Alice must have been a lady of character and refinement. Her success in bringing her children through all their troubles and so well preparing them for the duties of life which they assumed, testifies to this." In New England, she married Robert Park(e). He was the father of Thomas Parke Sr., who married Dorothy Thompson, Alice's daughter. This means Robert Parke was both the father-in-law and stepfather of Dorothy. And Alice was both the mother-in-law and stepmother of Thomas Parke.

Roberts/Reitwiesner: Alice Freeman, birth and death dates unknown, immigrant. Married Robert Parke shortly after 30 May 1644.

Blackmans: Alice Freeman, died 1664/5.

Additional info from AF records. One says she was born about 1587

and another in 1595.

[Prodigy post says Parke Society has her lineage back to Charlemagne and

King John, but 7th edition of Ancestral Roots cuts line off at Joan de Harley. Will have to check Parke Society. Roots says: "Other lines available for Alice Freeman" but doesn't list any.] "American Ancestors & Cousins of the Princess of Wales" by Roberts/Reitwiesner, lists a line back to Thomas Giffard and Joan Langston. The Giffard line then goes back to Ethelred II, King of England. The Langston line goes back to Hugh Capet, King of France. Both these lines are traced farther back via other sources.

Am. Genealogist, citing The Visitations of Northamptonshire: Alice Freeman, wife of John Tomson of Preston Capes, Northamptonshire.

Memorial: The baptisms of the children of Alice Freeman and John Thompson are recorded in the parish register of Preston Capes. Alice, widowed in 1627, came with her children to Roxbury, MA, by 1640. She married 30 May 1644, as second wife, Robert Parke, 1580/85-1664/5, of Wethersfield and Stonington, CT. She died in 1660.

Descents: Alice Freeman of Massachusetts and (presumably) Connecticut married (1) John Thompson; (2) Robert Parke. (Dorothy Thompson, her daughter by John Thompson, married Thomas Parke, son of Robert Parke and Martha Chaplin, his first wife) are ancestors of H.R.H. The Princess of Wales and her sons, H.R.H. Prince William and H.R.H. Prince Henry of Wales.

Migration: Alice Freeman Thompson of Preston, Northamptonshire, mother of Bridget Thompson.

Witter Family: Alice Freeman, died 11 Feb. 1664/5, New London, Conn. Had six children by John Thompson. Married (2) Robert Parke of Roxbury, Mass., who married (1) Martha Chaplin, daughter of Robert Chaplin. [My other sources say she was the daughter of William Chaplin.]

Sureties: Alice Freeman, died New London, Conn., 11 Feb. 1664/5. Married (1) about 1615, as his second wife, John Tompson, gentleman, of Little Preston, Preston Capes, son of Thomas Tompson. Married (2) at Roxbury, Mass., before 30 May 1644, Robert Parke.

Carolingians: Alice Freeman.

Visitation: Alice Freeman, ux. John Tomson of Preston Capes, Northamptonshire.

More About ALICE FREEMAN:

Burial: Old Whitehall Cemetery, Stonington, New London Co., Connecticut

More About ROBERT PARKE and ALICE FREEMAN:

Marriage: May 30, 1644, Roxbury, Essex Co., Massachusetts

Children of ROBERT PARKE and MARTHA CHAPLIN are:

i. SAMUEL³ PARKE.

Notes for SAMUEL PARKE:

Sources: History of Stonington; Perkins book. Both: Married Hannah _________.

More About SAMUEL PARKE:

Christening: June 20, 1621, Bildestone, England

ii. MARTHA PARKE.

More About MARTHA PARKE:

Christening: October 06, 1603, Semer, Suffolk, England

iii. ROBERT PARKE.

More About ROBERT PARKE:

Christening: June 04, 1605, Semer, Suffolk, England

iv. WILLIAM PARKE, b. April 21, 1607, Semer, Suffolk, England; d. May 11, 1685, Roxbury, Essex Co., Massachusetts; m. MARTHA HOLGRAVE, Abt. 1637, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts; b. Abt. 1617, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts.

Notes for WILLIAM PARKE:

Parke Family Genealogy, by SF Parks, page 29.

He came to America in 1630 and settled in Roxbury, where he became one of the prominent men of the Colony. He was a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artilery Co., 1638; represented Roxbury MA in the General Court from 1635 to 1667, the longest known term of service under the old charter. He was one of the endowers of the Roxbury free school, the first in the United States and the oldest in continued existence in America. He was undoubtedly a man of influence and a power in the Colony.

He died 1685 and is buried in the Roxbury graveyard, the stone still being in good condition. he left no descendants of the Parke name.

Source: History of Stonington by Wheeler; Parke Society, 1992, Vol 19, #1;

The Great Migration Begins, v3, pages 1386-91.

Wheeler: Married Martha Holgrave.

Parke Society: He came to America in 1630, probably on the Arbella with his

parents. But not listed among passengers as reported in "The Winthrop Fleet of 1630."

Migration: William Parke, baptized 21 April 1607 at Semer, Suffolk.

Married Martha Holgrove by 1637. They had 12 children. [Good article on William, v3, pages 1386-1391. But it says Robert Parke, his father, came to New England several years after William.]

Prodigy researcher: He lived in Roxbury. He came to America on the ship Lion (or Lyon) with Roger Williams. (When did Williams arrive?).

Source: "History of Montville, Connecticut, Formerly the North Parish of New

London."

More About WILLIAM PARKE:

Burial: Roxbury Graveyard, Roxbury, Essex Co., Massachusetts

Christening: April 21, 1607, Semer, Suffolk, England

More About WILLIAM PARKE and MARTHA HOLGRAVE:

Marriage: Abt. 1637, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts

v. ANNE PARKE, d. September 10, 1641, Roxbury, Essex Co., Massachusetts.

Notes for ANNE PARKE:

Source: History of Stonington. Married Edward Payson Aug. 10, 1640. He married

(2) Mary Elliot, daughter of Bennet Elliot of Nazing, England, and sister of

the Apostle Elliot.

More About ANNE PARKE:

Christening: December 03, 1618, Hitcham, England

vi. RICHARD PARKE.

More About RICHARD PARKE:

Christening: August 08, 1609, Whatfield, England

vii. JOHN PARKE.

More About JOHN PARKE:

Christening: March 03, 1610/11, Ringshall, England

viii. JANE PARKE.

More About JANE PARKE:

Christening: August 10, 1613, Ringshall, England

ix. SR. THOMAS PARKE, b. February 13, 1615/16, Hitcham, Suffolk, England; d. July 30, 1709, Preston, New London Co., Connecticut; m. DOROTHY THOMPSON, 1642, Roxbury, Norfolk Co., Massachusetts; b. Aft. 1621, Preston Capes, Northamptonshire, England; d. 1709, Preston, New London Co., Connecticut.

Endnotes

1. Weis, Frederick Lewis, Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists, (Baltimore, Md. : Genealogical Pub. Co., c1992.).