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Frances Latham
January 31, 2013
Latham Coat of Arms
One of the graves I will look for in Newport, Rhode Island is that of Frances Latham. She sailed from England to Boston with her third husband, Jeremiah Clarke, and her four children from a previous marriage. After religious disagreements arose between the Pilgrims, many of my ancestors moved to Rhode Island for more religious tolerance.
Frances Latham (1608 – 1677)
is my 10th great grandmother
Daughter of Frances
Daughter of Sarah
Son of Sarah
Daughter of John
Son of MARGARET
Son of Benjamin
Son of Paul
Daughter of Valentine
Son of Sarah LaVina
Son of Jason A
Son of Ernest Abner
I am the daughter of Richard Arden
Birth: Feb. 15, 1609KempstonBedfordshire, England
Death: Sep. 2, 1677NewportNewport CountyRhode Island, USA
Frances Latham (Dungan Clarke Vaughn) is known as the “Mother of Governors”. Her third husband was the Reverent William Vaughn. She had four children by her first husband; from the descendants of these children are many distinquished statesmen. There are seven children born of her second marriage, and these too have given many governors to the country. Each one of Frances Latham Clarke’s sons served his country, or church, with public service, and each daughter married men who did the same. “She was undoubtedly a very attractive woman, her three marriages would indicate. One can only imagine the gathering of distinquished men and women in the “Common Burial Ground” of Newport when Frances Vaughn, recently widowed for the third time was laid in her grave.There was her eldest Clarke son, then governor, her daughter Mary, with her husband, then Deputy-Governor John Cranston and later governor; and their son Samuel, who before the century closed would also be governor; her daughter Sarah, sometime the wife of Governor Caleb Carr; Barbara with her husband, James Baker, to be chosen the next year as deputy governor; Frances and her husband, Major Randall Holden, ancestors of several of Rhode Island’s governors and one of Washington: Weston Clarke, then attorney-general; James, Latham, and Jeremiah Clarke, with their sons and daughters, and Rev. Thomas Dungan, who perhaps was the one to say the last sacred words over his mother’s grave “Mother of Governors”Her father was Sargeant Falconer Lewis Latham to King Charles I.Children not listed below: John Dungan (died young), William Dungan, Frances Dungan Holden, Elizabeth Dungan (died young), Walter Clarke, Latham Clarke and Jeremiah Clarke Spouses: Married four times1st Lord Weston2nd William Dungan3rd Capt. Jerimah Clark4th Rev. William Vaughn Family links: Spouses: William Dungan (1606 – 1636) Jeremy Clarke (1605 – 1652) Children: Barbara Dungan Barker (1628 – 1677)* Thomas Dungan (1635 – 1688)* Mary Clarke Stanton (1640 – 1711)* Weston Clarke (1648 – 1730)* James Clarke (1649 – 1736)* Sarah Clarke Pinner Carr (1651 – 1706)* Inscription:Here Lyeth ye Body of Mrs. Frances Vaughn, Alias Clarke, ye mother of ye only children of Capt’n Jeremiah Clarke. She died ye 1 Week in Sept. 1677 in ye 67th year of her age.” Burial:Common Burying Ground NewportNewport CountyRhode Island, USA.
Rhubarb in Rhode Island
January 30, 2013
— 3 Comments
It is thrilling to plan travel on various levels. I adore museums and classy architecture. Gardens, formal and botanical, please me greatly. The culinary delights of a new terroir and culture top my list. I am such a fan of farmer’s markets, known in most of the world as simply the market, that I literally plan to eat everything in season and local wherever I go. One of my favorite festivals in Europe is Spargelfest, the over the top celebration of asparagus harvest. I love the stuff, both white and green, although I can’t really see why they bother with the white. Do not express that feeling about white asparagus in a German speaking country unless you are ready to be lectured. After all, these are the Spargelfest people, and they know a thing or two about spargel. Restaurants feature special menus that highlight the seasonal star in all possible ways. I have not seen spargel desserts or beer, but I would not be surprised to find that they exist. Roadside and city corner stands are set up for the purpose of streaming spargel farm to table. These temporary businesses are swamped with asparagus fans getting festive with both green and white.
I am really excited to learn that when I visit Rhode Island there will be fresh asparagus!!! They promise kale all year. The wintertime farmers’ market in Providence will hook me up with what I need. There is also a slight chance of rhubarb in the harvest forecast for early May. Now that would just put the icing on the cake. I love alliteration as well as asparagus and rhubarb. I can really relish a Rhode Island Rhubarb extravaganza. Fiddlehead ferns, which I have never knowingly eaten, will be ready as well as alliterative all by themselves. Perhaps most intriguing is the fact that Anthony Bordain will perform live at the Providence Center for the Performing Arts, talking with Eric Rippert, another chef, about food. The name of this show is Good vs Evil. I believe I must see that performance. I have very few heroes in show biz, and Mr. Bordain is one of them. I just now became acquainted with Mr. Rippert, and think there is major potential. The theater itself just hit the national news for allowing producers to decide if tweeting is permitted during each show, and then strictly mandating that those in the tweet seats ( at the back) lower the lights of their phones. The folks in Providence have a long history of tolerance, but draw the line at performance tweeting. How very civilized!!
Wampum
January 27, 2013
— 4 Comments
Wampum, or shell beads has been used for centuries in New England. After colonists arrived in America a currency exchange value was set to convert it European currency. This forever changed the meaning and trade value of what was a Native American tradition and source of historical pride. Once it was adopted by Dutch and English as currency it was manufactured in New York on Long Island as well as by Native tribes that dominated the newly created market for trading currency. Since both Native and Europeans could trade with it, it’s use thrived until the end of the 17th century. Counterfeiting was a problem during colonial times as it was more widely used. It was eventually phased out in favor of metal coins as the official currency of New England.
Before the colonists changed the meaning and tradition wampum was used in ceremonies and agreements.It is important as a covenant record and means of communication. Language was commonly understood in terms of wampum color. Messages and agreements were sealed by way of wampum belts created for the specific meaning. White shells had a brighter meaning and dark purple shells indicated heavier subjects. The tapestry woven into a wampum belt was a story. I am looking forward to seeing the new wampum being made today and perhaps some of the historical pieces. I will be visiting museums as well as living wampum artists. It is a fascinating subject.
Jeremiah Clarke of Rhode Island, 10th Great Grandfather
January 27, 2013
— 15 Comments
Jeremiah Clarke, my 10th great grandfather, nickname Jeremy Clarke, b. 1605 in East Farleigh, Kent, England, d. Jan 1652 in Newport, Newport County, Rhode Island, buried in Newport, Newport County, Rhode Island, resided 1638 in Aquidneck and Portsmouth.
Jeremy Clarke president governor
Newport County, Rhode Island, resided 1640 in Newport, Newport County, Rhode Island, immigrated ABOUT 1637 in (Probably) Rhode Island, event in Member of Lincoln’s Inn ?, military Captain, occupation 1647 – 1649 Treasurer of Rhode Island, occupation 1648 Acting Governor of the colony. From the Plantagenet Ancestry book, it’s not clear whether it was Jeremiah Clarke or Thomas that was a member of Lincoln’s Inn. “Jeremy Clarke, baptised East Farleigh, Kent 1 Dec. 1605, emigrated about 1637, resided Newport, Rhode Island, freeman 16 Mar.1640/1, treasurer of Rhode Island; buried Newport 11 mo., [Jan.] 1651/2;married, in England, about 1637 to Frances (Lathaum) Dungan, baptised at Kepston, Co. Bedford, 15 Feb. 1609/10, died September 1677, buried Newport, widow of Thomas Dungan, Gent., of Lincoln’s Inn, Middlesex, and daughter of Lewis Latham, Gent., Sergeant Falconer to King Charles I, by his wife Elizabeth. She married, third, before 18 Jan. 1656 to Rev. William Vaughan, died on or before 2 Sep 1677.” Arms of Jeremy Clarke: Gold on a bend engrailed azure a cinqfoil of the field. Note: maybe the arms for father William.) East Farleigh has a fine medieval bridge over which General Fairfax marched in 1648 to the Battle of Maidstone. Jeremiah may have died 11 Jan 1651. He married Frances LATHAM, married ABOUT 1637 in England.
Jeremiah Clarke (1605 – 1661)
is my 10th great grandfather
Daughter of Jeremiah
Daughter of Sarah Clarke
Son of Sarah
Daughter of John
Son of MARGARET
Son of Benjamin
Son of Paul
Daughter of Valentine
Son of Sarah LaVina
Son of Jason A
Son of Ernest Abner
I am the daughter of Richard Arden
I will visit his grave in Newport in April, and plan to learn as much about him as I can. There has been some work done on his ancestry, which leads back to those tricky Plantagenets who just about married everyone everywhere. Here are notes on his family tree:
In early preparations for his forthcoming Magna Carta Ancestry, Douglas Richardson has also traced the matrilineal line of my second royally-descended immigrant forebear, Acting Gov. Jeremiah Clarke of Rhode Island, to Sancha Blount, daughter of Sir Thomas Blount and Margaret Gresley, and granddaughter of Sir Walter Blount and the famed Sancha de Ayala, sister of a great-great-grandfather of Ferdinand I (1452-1516), generally considered the first king of United Spain, husband of Isabella of Castile and sponsor of Columbus. For more on Sancha, her Spanish ancestry and her immigrant American and presidential descendants, see National Genealogical Society Quarterly 51 (1963): 235-38, my Ancestors of American Presidents, 1st ed. (1995, hereafter AAP), pp. 365-68, and Register 152 (1998): 36-48, the latter a brilliant piece by Nathaniel L. Taylor and Todd A. Farmerie. Sancha Blount, granddaughter of Sancha de Ayala, married Edward Langford, and had a daughter Alice Langford who married John Stradling of Dauntsey and Richard Pole of Isleworth, later Sir Richard Pole, husband also of Margaret Plantagenet, Countess of Salisbury and niece of Kings Edward IV and Richard III. John and Alice left a daughter, Anne Stradling, who married Sir John Danvers. From the 1895 English Danvers genealogy, plus a recent successor, and the 1878 English Chester of Chicheley genealogy, the line to Clarke is clear. Sir John Danvers and Anne Stradling had a daughter Anne, wife of Thomas Lovett and John Wyke and mother in turn of Elizabeth Lovett, wife of Anthony Cave. Mary Cave, a daughter of these last, married Sir Jerome Weston and was the mother of both Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland, Lord Treasurer under Charles II, and Mary Weston, wife of William Clerke and mother of Acting Gov. Jeremiah Clarke of Rhode Island.
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