Joanna Boyse

1615-1681

Puritan Immigrant,

Republican Wife,

Republican Mother…

Family Genealogy of Joanna Boyse Prudden

Peter Prudden

Parents:  Robert Prudden  &  Mildred

Birth: DEC 1601

Kings Walden, Hertfordshire, England

Death: 06 Jul 1656 Milford, New Haven Co., CT  

 

   

Joanna Boyse

Parents:  John Boyse  &  Joane Stowe

Birth: 1615

Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA

Death: 8 Nov 1681 Stamford, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA

 Children

Mary Pruden F 4 Dec 1641 in Milford, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

Samuel Prudden M 18 Feb 1643 in Milford, New Haven, Connecticut, USA Abigail Pruden  F 13 Feb 1646 in Milford, New Haven, Connecticut, USA Peter Jr Pruden  Born: 26 May 1652 in Milford, New Haven, Connecticut, USA Died 1652

Marriage — 1639 in Milford, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

Last Will of Joanna Boyse

The last will and testament of Mrs. Joana Bishop, sometime Prudden, late of Milford, now of Stamford, Colony of Connecticut, being of sound understanding and perfect memory, not knowing how soon my great change may be, doo make this my last will in manner and form, as followeth. All just debts being first payd by my executors. I doo give to my eldest son Samuell Prudden and his heirs, all my right title and interest in my dwelling house, barns, yards, garden, orchard

with ye remainder of my houselot, all but two acres of it, that is to lye across the whole lott in the reare of it, which is two acres. I doo give and bequeath to my

second son John Prudden and his heirs forever. I doo give and bequeath unto my two loving sons, vid. Samuel and John

Prudden aforesaid, the remainder of my parcell of upland lying in the barenocks, not yet disposed of to my eldest son, I pay the remainder thereof with my parcell

of meadow there alsoe, to be equally divided between my two sons. In like manner my will is, that the remainder of my upland and meadow lying in

the point not formerly disposed of shall be equally divided between my two sons. My will is, in like manner, my sd. two sons shall equally divide my parcel of meadow lying in the fresh meadow, and the remainder of my upland lott lying

on ye Indyan side shall in like manner be so divided between them…

Puritans

Definition of a Puritan

A puritan of the 16th and 17th century was an associate of any number of disparate religious groups advocating for

more “purity” of worship and doctrine, as well as personal and group piety.

~Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia

Background• The Puritan movement can be traced back to the reign of Edward VI, but the term was not used until the 1560s.

• The term was a form of abuse to describe those people who wanted more reform than was adopted during the Elizabethan Religious Settlement of 1559.

•This movement involved two fronts: political and social.

•Politically: attempted to have parliament pass legislation to reform the Christian religion.

•Replace episcopacy with Presbyterianism•Alter the 1559 Book of Common Prayer to remove elements undesirable to the Puritans.

•Socially: •Called for a greater commitment to Jesus Christ•Called for greater levels of holiness

•Regarded themselves as “The Godly” who held little hope for their neighbors who remained “attached to the popish superstitions.”

The Puritans seek out Religious Freedom:

Puritans came to America seeking religious freedom

from the wildness of London Society. Reverend

Peter Prudden lead a group of people seeking out this freedom along

with Reverend John Davenport. In the end, he

founded a new town called, Milford, CT with his followers. He arrived in the Colonies in 1620.

Basic Beliefs

• God has supreme authority over human affairs

• Pursuit of moral and purity to the smallest detail

• Bible is the origin of many Puritan beliefs

• For full membership the prospective congregant had to exhibit a clear understanding of the main beliefs of their Christian faith, as well as demonstrate that they had experienced God’s grace in their souls.

• Emphasis on private bible study

• Education and enlightenment, especially so they could read the Bible for themselves

• Simplicity in worship

• Celebration of traditional holidays that they believed to be in violation of the regulative principle of worship

• Sabbath was obligatory for every Christian, but they believed the Sabbath had been moved to Sunday.

• Some Puritans approved of Church Hierarchy, but others sought to reform the Episcopal churches

– Some separatist Puritans were Presbyterian, but most were Congregationalists.

Puritan Death Rituals

Before the 1660s

• No special ceremony

• No special clothing

• No special sermon preached

• No embalming

• No grave markers

• Most graves were reused

After the 1660:• Began to have funerals• Began giving Eulogy• The funeral became extravagant

and sumptuous• Special mourning clothing• Dead displayed before funeral• Gravestones used

Commemorative Death Rings

Rings given to family members to commemorate a family member’s death.

Women’s Role in Puritan Society

• Women’s role was specifically to be a wife and mother, anything else was considered unnatural.

• Anne Hutchinson was one woman whose views offended the male hierarchy and eventually led to her exile from the colony in which she lived.

Great Migration

Many Puritans migrated to the North American continent in an effort to

leave behind the corruptness of the

Church of England.

Reverend Peter Prudden

To the Wop" his much honoured friend John Winthrop, Esquier at Pekoit, dd.

WORTHY SIR, — This bearer. George Alsop, being necessitated to take this winter journey into ye Bay, that he may passe for England in the ship y' is now prparing for \* voyage, & being altogether a stranger to ye way, I am bold to intreat you to show him what favour you can, & helpe him w*1* a guide to conduct him in the best & safest way, whom he will satisfie for his paynes, & I shall acknowledg my selfe obliged vnto you for any kindnesse you shew to him, he being a friend of myne, whom I should have dissuaded from such a vncomfortable journey, but y* I conceive yc weightinesse of his occasions in England call him to vndertake it. Thus, not doubting of yr best furtherance of him herein, wth remembrance of my best respects & service, I coiiiend you to y8 Lord & rest Yours to be coffiauded to his power,

PETER PRUDDEN.

Timeline for Peter Prudden

• Born: December 1601

• Immigration: 20 May 1637

• Marriage: 1639 Milford, CT to Joanna Boyse

• Ordination: 18 April 1640

• Death: 06 Jul 1656 Milford, New Haven Co., CT

– Was found dead in a small stream between Milford and Derby, CT. It was supposed that he fell from his horse.

Timeline for Joanna Boyse

Parents:

Reverend John Boyse

Born: 1569 Halifax, Yorkshire, England

Died: 30 APR 1620 Halifax, Yorkshire, England

Joane Stowe

Born: 7 Aug 1575 Halifax, Yorkshire, England

Died: 9 Jul 1630 Halifax, North Carolina, USA

Married: 1605 Kent, England

Joanna was born in 1615 in Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA

Marriages:

1. Reverend Peter Prudden 1639 in Milford, New Haven, CT

2. Thomas Willet 20 Sep 1671 in Milford, New Haven, CT

3. Reverend John Bishop, date unknown, but after the first two husbands died.

Death:8 Nov 1681 Stamford, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA

Roots web information on Peter Prudden

• Little is known about Peter's childhood. His father Robert died when he was 17. His mother Mildred remarried to Hugh Ingram. They moved to London, where Hugh was a member of the Merchant Taylors Guild, once being the Grand Master.

• Peter was tutored at the Merchant Taylors School for entrance to Cambridge University. No doubt his step father helped greatly with financial aid. After Emanuel College, Cambridge, Peter entered the ministry, as did most Oxford and Cambridge graduates. From Peter's graduation about 1623 until 1633, we have little knowledge.

• Sometime before 1632 Peter and Jane Thomas were married, for in 1633, a Peter Prudden, clerk (Clergy) and his wife, and other relatives, contested the probate of William Thomas, Esq. Jane Thomas therefore died about 1634 we must presume, since in 1635 the application of Peter Prudden, Cleric, was received officially as a candidate to leave England and take a minstrel post at Providence Island in the Bahamas. He mentions two servants, no wife and no children.

Rootsweb Cont.

• The Eatons, Davenport, and Prudden each had their own special followers. All were persecuted under Charles I, who was crowned at age 25 and ruled England until his demise in 1649.

• May 20, 1637, two ships set sail for the New World. One was the 'Hector' the other the 'Martin". Rev. Eaton's followers and Rev. Davenport's were aboard the Hector. Rev. Prudden's followers were aboard the Martin. They arrived in Boston, MA., June 26, 1637.

– “11th of Ye 6th month 1637. It is ordered yt if Mr. Peter Prudden, with fifteen more of his company shall please to come unto us, they shall have entertaynment, and lotts accordingly, to be lay'd out to them, bringing stiffcat from the Magistrates, as is required.“

New Settlement

The church of the new settlement of New Haven was organized in August 22, 1639. Rev. Davenport preached in the mornings, and Rev. Prudden preached in the afternoons. Rev. Peter Prudden preached in Wethersfield, CT in the summer

of 1638. He took a good number of followers from Wethersfield with him to New Haven. But it was not long before Rev. Prudden wanted a church of his

own. Whatever the real reason may have been, no unpleasantness seems to have been created by the decision to remove. Rev. Prudden had come from

Hertfordshire, England with quite a company of followers who were devotedly attached to him. They were inclined to go elsewhere to establish a colony of their own rather than remain with Rev. Davenport. They went so for as to purchase a tract of land in what is now Milford, CT., but delayed moving there until it was certain such a step would be necessary. The Milford church was organized at New Haven some weeks before the change of residence was made. It was not

until April 18, 1640, that Rev. Prudden was ordained Pastor of the Milford, CT., church. Each company chose seven of their numbers as 'Pillars'. Of the seven that

were chosen were Peter Prudden, William Fowler, Edmund Tapp, Zachariah Whitman, John Astwood, Thomas Buckingham, and Thomas Welsh, with Peter Prudden at the head. They were a colony of 45 free planters with families, about

200 people in all.

Cambridge University Alumni, 1261-1900

Peter Prudden

College: EMMANUEL

Died: 1656

More Information: Adm. sizar at EMMANUEL, June 20, 1620. Mentioned in the English State papers of 1635, when he was offered a position as minister in the Bahamas Islands; this post he declined. Sailed for New England with a small band of followers, 1637. Arrived in Boston, June 26, 1637. Left Boston, and, together with Rev. John Davenport and his adherents, founded New Haven, Conn., 1638. Withdrew with his friends from New Haven and established plantations at Milford, Conn., 1639. Pastor of the Milford Church, 1640-56. Died 1656. (J. G. Bartlett.)

English Origins of New England Families, Second Series Vol. III

“Obituary” of Joanna Boyse Prudden Willet Bishop

Although past 60 years of age, Mrs. Joanna

Prudden Willett became the wife of the Rev.

John Bishop, for 50 years the pastor of

Stamford, CT. He was a few years her junior,

a widower with several grown up children, and

with him she lived until her death.

Sources for Peter Prudden and Joanna Boyse

• Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004.

• Ancestry.com (Firm), and MyFamily.com, Inc. Ancestry.Com. Provo, Utah: MyFamily.com, 1996. <http://www.ancestry.com/mainv.htm>.

• Prudden, Lillian Eliza. Peter Prudden; A Story of His Life at New Haven and Milford, Conn. New Haven, Conn: Tuttle, 1901.

• Prudden, Lillian Eliza. Peter Prudden A Story of His Life at New Haven and Milford, Conn. with the Genealogy of Some of His Descendants and an Appendix Containing Copies of Old Wills, Records, Letters, and Papers. New Haven: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor, 1901.

• Ancestry.com. Cambridge University Alumni, 1261-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 1999. Original data: Venn, J. A., comp.. Alumni Cantabrigienses. London, England: Cambridge University Press, 1922-1954.

• Ancestry.com. A catalogue of the names of the first Puritan settlers of the colony of Connecticut [database on-line]. Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004. Original data: Hinman, Royal Ralph,. A catalogue of the names of the first Puritan settlers of the colony of Connecticut : with the time of their arrival in the colony and their standing in society, together with their place of residence, as far as can be discovered by the records /c collected from the state and town records by R. R. Hinman.. Hartford: Printed by E. Gleason, 1988.

Sources Cont.

Title: The American Genealogist, Chapter XVI, No. 1Text: pg. 25 Title: Rev. Peter Prudden, and his descendants in America by Horton R. PruddenText: pg. 12 Title: The American Genealogist, Chapter XVI, No. 1Text: pg. 1 Title: The American Genealogist, Chapter XVI, No. 1Text: pg. 2 Title: The American Genealogist, Chapter XVI, No. 1Text: pg. 7 Title: Peter Prudden- a story of his life by Lillian E. Prudden 1901Text: pg. 25