Gov Thomas Dudley, 10th Great Grandfather

February 27, 2013 — Colonists, Massechusetts Bay, Thomas Dudley

Gov Thomas Dudley

Birth:  Oct. 12, 1576, England,Death:  Jul. 31, 1653BostonSuffolk CountyMassachusetts, USAColonist, Colonial Governor. He was the second Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony and member of the first Board of Overseers for Harvard “College.” Born in Northahmpton, England he married Dorothy Yorke and came to the colonies in 1626 as many did to follow the teachings of Reverend John Cotton. He and his wife came to the New World on the “Arabella” and after feeling that Plymouth was too vulnerable for attack by sea he and other members, most notably John Winthrop and Simon Bradstreet traveled up the river to higher ground. They traveled up the river and climbed a hill on the North shore. Local legend states that Dudley then thrust his came into the ground and declared “This is the place.” The location is now the corner of John F. Kennedy and Mount Auburn Streets. It is through this story that Thomas Dudley is considered the founder of Cambridge. Thomas’s wife Dorothy died in 1643 and the next year he married Katherine (Dighton) Hackburne, a widow. They moved from Cambridge and settled in nearby Roxbury. Thomas had eight children in all, five by Dorothy Yorke and three by Katherine Dighton. The most notable of his offspring was Joseph Dudley (born 1647) who became the future royal governor of Massachusetts. Joseph was born when Thomas was 70 years of age. In 1650 as one of his first acts as governor, he signed the charter to Harvard College, establishing the guidelines in which the University still uses for operation today. Harvard’s famed Dudley House is named for him as is Dudley Station in Roxbury on the commuter train line. He also established the Roxbury Latin School during the years he lived in that section of the city, the school is still open today and is considered one of the first public schools in America. He was a founder of the First Church at Boston, where a tablet honoring him was place. (bio by:  R. Digati)
Gov. Thomas Dudley (1576 – 1653)
is my 10th great grandfather
Anne Dudley (1612 – 1672)
daughter of Gov Thomas Dudley
John Bradstreet (1652 – 1718)
son of Anne Dudley
Mercy Bradstreet (1689 – 1725)
daughter of John Bradstreet
Caleb Hazen (1720 – 1777)
son of Mercy Bradstreet
Mercy Hazen (1747 – 1819)
daughter of Caleb Hazen
Martha Mead (1784 – 1860)
daughter of Mercy Hazen
Abner Morse (1808 – 1838)
son of Martha Mead
Daniel Rowland Morse (1838 – 1910)
son of Abner Morse
Jason A Morse (1862 – 1932)
son of Daniel Rowland Morse
Ernest Abner Morse (1890 – 1965)
son of Jason A Morse
Richard Arden Morse (1920 – 2004)
son of Ernest Abner Morse
Pamela Morse
I am the daughter of Richard Arden Morse

Thomas was taken in as an orphan by by his great uncle, Richard Purefoy, brother of his mother’s mother. He lived with them at the Manor Faxton, about 20 miles from Yardley Hastings. At the age of 21 he was commissioned by Queen Elizabeth as a Captain to go to the aid of Henry IV of France at the seige of Amiens by the Spanish. He raised a company of 80 men, but by the time he reached France, the fighting had ended. He worked as steward (business manager) for the Earl of Lincoln, eventually leaving in 1627 (his soon to be son-in-law Simon Bradstreet took the position). He moved to Boston, Lincolnshire, England, and came under the influence of the Rev. John Cotton. He became a Nonconformist, a zealous Puritan and interested in settling in New England with the Mass. Bay Company. In 1629, he was one of the few who established the Mass. Bay Colony.He returned to manage the Earl of Lincoln’s estate until the Earl was imprisoned. Because of the continued persecution of non-conformists, he joined Winthrop’s expedition and sailed to New England aboard the flagship Arbella as Deputy Governor.The fleet arrived at Salem on 12 June 1630 where Governor Endicott and a group of settlers who had emigrated in 1628 had set up a colony but had few supplies.  He moved to Charlestown and was one of the signers of the covenant of the First Church of Charlestown. In 1631 he moved to Newtowne (now Cambridge) and eventually moved to Ipswich. By 1639 he had moved to Roxbury to be nearer to Boston, the capital of the colony.The first general election by Freemen in the colony was held in May 1634 and Thomas Dudley was elected governor (John Winthrop had been governor since the founding of the colony – the people turned against him when it was discovered that he was holding the legislative powers amongst his court of assistants in contradiction to the charter). Dudley was reelected in 1640, 1645 and 1650 and was Deputy Governor for 13 years as well. All offices were for one year terms.

ref:above  information copied from Owings Stone Family genealogy site.

Harvard Charter