Richard Sears (pilgrim)
| Richard Sears | |
|---|---|
|
Richard Sears | |
| Born | about 1595 |
| Died |
September 26, 1676 Yarmouth, Plymouth Colony |
| Nationality | English |
| Other names | Richard Sares |
| Citizenship | Yes |
Richard Sears (about 1595 - 5 September 1676) was an early settler of New England who lived in both the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Plymouth Colony.
Life
Based on his reported age at death, Richard Sears was born about 1595. The earliest record of Richard Sears is the 1633 Plymouth tax list. His parentage and origins are unknown.[lower-alpha 1]
By 1637, by which time he had removed from Plymouth to Marblehead, he had married Dorothy Jones, daughter of George and Agnes Jones of Dinder, Somerset, England. She was the sister of Richard Jones of Dorchester and of Elizabeth (Jones) Thatcher of Yarmouth.[2] Dorothy survived Richard, and was buried 19 March 1679 at Yarmouth.[2]
Their children were Paul, Deborah, and Silas Sears.[2]
Richard died at Yarmouth 5 September 1676 at the age of 81 years and 4 months.[2]
Legacy
Today, over 20,000 people, can trace their lineage to Richard Sears. These people have had an impact on not only the British Colonies but the United States and the world. Today, many thousands of those descendants live in the United States alone.
Notes
- ↑ Several mid-19th century publications give a claimed English pedigree for Richard Sears, and claimed he had a son Knyvett Sears. These assertions, contending a connection to the Bourchiers and Egmonds, were promulgated in a genealogy commissioned by David Sears of Boston, a wealthy descendant of Richard Sears, and were widely copied in genealogical writings of the time. These claims were examined by Samuel Pearce May and found to be baseless. May published his genealogy of the family (The Descendants of Richard Sares (Sears) of Yarmouth, Mass., 1638-1888) in 1890. It traces much of the genealogical forgery back to Horatio Gates Somerby.[1][2]
References
- ↑ May, Samuel Pearce (1886), "Some Doubts concerning the Sears Pedigree", The New England Historical and Genealogical Register 40: 261–8
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Anderson, Robert Charles (1995). The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633. Boston, Massachusetts: Great Migration Study Project, New England Historic Genealogical Society. pp. 1642–4. ISBN 0-88082-044-6.