www.catboat.com/shermangeneology.html                                         Revised 1/11/07 by Marcus Morton Sherman.

SOME FAMILY HISTORY OF FRANK MORTON SHERMAN III

My Father FRANK MORTON SHERMAN III (FMSIII), is directly descended from:

fourteen of the 102 English settlers who arrived aboard the Mayflower at Plymouth in 1620.

a a a

1. Master RICHARD WARREN, Pilgrim, merchant. 2. Master STEPHEN HOPKINS, Stranger, leather maker 3. his wife: ELIZABETH HOPKINS 4. EDWARD DOTY, Pilgrim, his servant 5. FRANCIS COOKE, Pilgrim, wool comber 6. His son: JOHN COOKE, Deacon 7. WILLIAM MULLENS, Pilgrim, shoe and boot merchant 8. his wife: ALICE MULLENS 9. His daughter: PRICILLA MULLENS 10. JOHN ALDEN, Stranger, ships cooper 11. JAMES CHILTON, Pilgrim, tailor 12. His wife: SUSANNA CHILTON 13. His daughter: MARY CHILTON II 14. GEORGE SOULE Pilgrim, teacher

And several of the First English Settlers of Dartmouth, Massachusetts.
Twenty-four lines from fifteen MAYFLOWER PASSENGERS and GEORGE MORTON are traced to:

FRANK MORTON SHERMAN MD and ANNIE ELMA SISSON, the fraternal grandparents of (FMSIII).

 FRANK MORTON SHERMAN MD \
 FRANK MORTON SHERMAN Jr\ / MARCUS MORTON SHERMAN
 ANNIE ELMA SISSON / FRANK MORTON SHERMAN III/ SARAH SHERMAN
 VIOLA HEISE/ BONNIE JEAN BANDY/  \PETER BARROWS SHERMAN                                                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                        \ PAUL GIFFORD SHERMAN

    

Notes: Indicates a person served in the Colonial Militia or U.S. Military.
Mayflower passengers are in BOLD.
(FMSIII) direct ANCESTOR NAMES are ALL CAPITALS.
Persons named in brown were born and or lived in Dartmouth.
A person’s occupation is shown in bold green. Linked words are underlined.
     Place names refer to towns in Massachusetts unless obvious or otherwise noted.
Lines of decent are numbered in bold italics. Superscript numbers ³³ link to original sources
Olde English spellings, except names and places, were updated and text slightly reformatted to be easily read.
Compiled by Marcus Morton Sherman with information taken directly from:

Martha S. Winters , Caleb Johnson , The Plymouth Colony Archive Project, Pilgrim Hall Museum , Mayflower Database, Mayflower Families, A Genealogical Dictionary of The First Settlers of New England Before 1692, worldconnect.rootsweb, and GOOGLE.

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1. Master RICHARD WARREN Pilgrim Came over on the Mayflower and left his wife and five daughters behind. He planned to have them sent over after things were more settled in the Colony. His wife and daughters arrived in America in 1623 on the ship Anne. An Article “Richard Warren and his descendants” appeared in MD 3:45-51 covers all known records of Richard Warren and his wife Elizabeth. Also, a booklet published by the Mayflower Society covers him and his descendants to four generations. He is on a list of “Some Plymouth Families with connections to Scituate”. March 1999. He was the 12^th signer of The Mayflower Compact. See painting: "The Signing of the Mayflower Compact" by E. Moran on display in Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth, MA.

The only sure things we know about Richard Warren’s ancestry are that he was a merchant of London—whether he was born there or not is an entirely different question. He was spoken of as “a man of some means and of superior character, such a man would be a valuable acquisition to any company about to found a new commonwealth”. He was always referred to as “Mister”, which indicated that he belonged to the gentry. He married ELIZABETH WALKER, born before 1580, on April 14, 1610 in Great Amwell, Hertfordshire. He had five daughters baptized somewhere in England and perhaps the true records will, some day, be found.

Caleb Johnson states regarding erroneous information published about Richard Warren: “Richard Warren is not a proven descendant of any royalty, whether it is Sir John de Warrene or Charlemagne. Richard Warren’s parents have not even been identified, despite extensive searches in the records of England (see Mayflower Quarterly, 51:109-112 for a summary of one such search)”.

He became associated with the Pilgrims and the Mayflower through the Merchant Adventurers. Richard Warren participated in early explorations made along Cape Cod by the Pilgrims in 1620, while looking for a place to settle, including the third trip on Dec. 16, 1620. On Dec. 20, they decided on the site in Plymouth. He appears by land records to have been fairly well to do. The Division of Land in 1623 he received 5 acres on the North side of the Eel River, and his family shared in the 1627 Division of Cattle.  In 1624, he was elected to be Assistant Governor to William Bradford, performing all duties of governor together with Bradford until 1628, having what was called “double voice in all matters. He was among the “Purchasers” of 1627 who bought from the London Adventurers all their rights in the Colony.

He died a year later in 1628. The only record of his death was found in Nathaniel Morton’s 1669 book New England’s Memorial, in which he writes: “This year [1628] died Mr. Richard Warren, who was an useful instrument and during his life bore a deep share in the difficulties and troubles of the first settlement of the Plantation of New Plymouth.”

Richard Warren is an ancestor to many famous Americans. Among these are Presidents Ulysses S. Grant, and Franklin D. Roosevelt; and Alan B. Shepard, Jr., the first American in space, fifth man to walk on the moon and a graduate of Proctor Academy, the same high school from which FMS III graduated.

FRANK MORTON SHERMAN MD and his wife ANNIE ELMA SISSON each descended a different Warren child: Anna and Sarah.

ANNA WARREN, The second child born about 1612 probably in England, emigrated aboard the Anne in 1623 and married THOMAS LITTLE born about 1605, on April 19, 1633 in Plymouth. FRANK MORTON SHERMAN MD is an eighth generation descendant of this marriage.

1st. RICHARD WARREN Pilgrim=> ANNA WARREN, MERCY LITTLE, MERCY SAWYER, MARY EAMES, JOHN SHERMAN, JOHN SHERMAN Captain,\

EBENEZER DOTEN SHERMAN, MARCUS MORTON SHERMAN, FRANK MORTON SHERMAN MD

SARAH WARREN the third child, born about 1614, probably in England, was a separatist who came on the Anne. She married Mayflower passenger

JOHN COOKE on March 28, 1634 in Plymouth and died after July 15, 1696 probably in Dartmouth, at least 82 years old. It was noted when she posted bond as “being a very ancient woman”. ANNIE ELMA SISSON is an eighth generation descendant of this marriage.

2nd. RICHARD WARREN Pilgrim => SARAH WARREN 1, SARAH COOKE, LYDIA HATHAWAY, JONATHAN SISSON, JONATHAN SISSON II,

DAVID SISSON, ISAAC SISSON, CHRISTOPHER GIFFORD SISSON, ANNIE ELMA SISSON

See: Porringer (Warren Family).

2. Master STEPHEN HOPKINS, Stranger. Born about 1578, probably in Hampshire, England. Another source said about 1585. The home in England of Stephen Hopkins was just outside of London Wall on the high road entering the city at Aldgate near Heneage House. In this neighborhood lived John Carver and William Bradford of the Mayflower Company; Robert Cushman, the London agent for the Pilgrims; and Edward Southworth, who later came to New England. His son Oceanus was the only child born while on the Mayflower voyage. Stephen Hopkins sailed to Plymouth in the Mayflower in 1620, one of the “Londoners” or “strangers” recruited for the voyage. He was called “Master” and only two others of the 17 free men on the voyage were so styled (another was Richard Warren). Stephen was a tanner or leather maker at the time of the Mayflower voyage. He was the 14^th signer of the Mayflower Compact.

Previously, Stephen Hopkins served as minister’s clerk on the vessel “Sea Venture” which sailed from London June 2, 1609, bound for Virginia. The ship was severely damaged in a hurricane, and the company was washed ashore on the Bermudan “Ile of Divels” on 28 July. The 150 survivors were marooned on the island for nine months. The passengers and crew survived on turtles, birds, and wild pigs.  They built two vessels the “Patience” and the “Deliverance” that ultimately took them to Virginia and arrived at Jamestown on 24 May 1610.

During the sojourn, Stephen Hopkins encouraged an uprising by his fellows upon grounds that the Virginia Governor’s authority pertained only to the voyage and the regime in Virginia and not to the forced existence in Bermuda. For his remarks, he was placed under guard, brought before the Company in manacles and sentenced to death by court-martial. “But so penitent he was and made so much moan, alleging the ruin of his Wife and Children in this his trespass,” according to William Strachey’s record of the voyage, that friends among his cohorts procured a pardon from the Governor. No evidence has been found of Hopkins’ residence in Virginia and it is presumed he soon returned to his family in England. Strachey noted that while Hopkins was very religious, he was contentious and defiant of authority and possessed enough learning to undertake to wrest leadership from others.

He was one of three men designated to provide counsel and advice to Capt. Myles STANDISH on the first land expedition of the Pilgrims in the New World. During the third day out, the company chanced upon an Indian deer trap, and Stephen was able to explain its function and danger to his fellows. In February of 1621, when Indians appeared on a neighboring hilltop in Plymouth, Captain Standish took Stephen Hopkins with him to negotiate with the savages. Thereafter, Stephen was invariably deputized to meet the Indians and act as an interpreter. In July 1621, he served as envoy to friendly Chief Massasoit, and he made a friend for the colonists of Samoset, another Indian whom Stephen entertained in his home. The ' first visit of white men to the locality (Dartmouth), now Bristol County, probably occurred in June or July, 1621, when Massasoit, at his home in Pokanoket, was sought out and visited by Edward Winslow and Stephen Hopkins, accompanied by the Indian Squanto, who acted as their interpreter.

Despite the high mortality caused by tribulations of the first Pilgrim winter in New England, Stephen Hopkins household of eight persons was one of only four households that escaped loss. Stephen Hopkins was referred to as a merchant and a planter in Plymouth records, also as “Gentleman” and “Master”. He received a six-acre lot in the division of land in 1623. It is stated that throughout his life at Plymouth, he kept for his home a lot that had been assigned to him on arrival on the easterly corner of Main and Leyden streets between the homes of Mr. Isaak Allerton and Edward Winslow.

Though his major occupation is unknown, he did build and own the first wharf in Plymouth Colony of which there is record, selling it for sixty pounds in July of 1637. He had an apprentice, John Harmon, for seven years starting in 1636. Francis Cooke was also on the 1643 Plymouth list of those who were able to bear arms.

His major service to the community, however, seemed to come in the highway realm. In 1637, he was appointed to the committee to lay out highways. He followed this appointment with the job of surveyor of the highways for Plymouth in 1641, 1642 and again in 1645. He served on a committee to find the best route for a new road. He was often appointed by the court to survey properties in dispute. He built a house at Yarmouth on Cape Cod but returned to Plymouth and gave the Yarmouth dwelling to son Giles, who remained there.

Stephen Hopkins was made freeman by 1633. He held the position of Assistant in the colony from at least 1633 to 1636. Probably because of his status in the Colony as a “stranger”, Stephen Hopkins found himself on occasion in official difficulty. In June 1636, while serving as Assistant, he was fined for battery of John Tisdale. In 1637 and 1638, he was charged with various indiscretions involving the sale of intoxicants and other items at his dwelling. Also in 1638, Stephen Hopkins’ maidservant, Dorothy, got pregnant from Arthur Peach, who was subsequently executed for murdering an Indian.  The Plymouth Court ruled he was financially responsible for her and her child for the next two years (the amount remaining on her term of service).  Stephen, in contempt of court, threw her out of his household and refused to provide for her, so the court committed him to custody.  John Holmes stepped in and purchased Dorothy’s remaining two years of service from him: agreeing to support her and child. In December of 1639, he was charged with selling a looking glass at an excessive price. He volunteered to fight in the Pequot War in 1637.

He is on a list of “Some Eastham Families with Scituate connections”. March 1999 The following has been disproved July 1998: He seems to have originated from the family of Hopkins, alias Seborne, located for several generations at Wortley, Wotton, Underedge, Co. Glouchester. The Wortley historian has conjectured, after a thorough study of the family, that Stephen of the Mayflower may well have been son of Stephen Hopkins, a clothier of Wortley who also had son Robert Hopkins of London.

He died before July 1644 in Plympton. The will of Stephen Hopkins, dated 6 June 1644, was proved upon testimony of William Bradford and Captain Myles Standish at a General Court at Plymouth on August 20, 1644. He called himself of Plymouth in New England and “weak yet in good and perfect memory,” he directed that his body be “buried as near as conveniently may be to my wife, Deceased.” He made these bequests: To son Giles Hopkins the great bull now in the hands of Mrs. Warren. To Steven Hopkins “my son Giles his son” 20 shillings in Mrs. Warren’s hands for the hire of said bull. To daughter Constance Snow, wife of Nicholas, and “my mare” To daughter Deborah Hopkins: “the broad horned black cow and her calf and half the Cow called Motley”. To daughter Damaris Hopkins: “the Cow called Damaris heifer and the white faced calf and half the cow called Motley.” To daughter Ruth “ The Cow called Red Cole and her calf and a Bull at Yarmouth which is in the keeping of Giles Hopkins which is an year and advantage old and half the curled Cow.” To daughter Elizabeth “the Cow called Smykins and her calf and the other half of the Curled Cow with Ruth and an yearling heifer without a tail in the keeping of Gyles Hopkins at Yarmouth.” To four daughters Deborah, Damaris, Ruth and Elizabeth Hopkins: “all the moveable goods that belonged to his house, “and in case any of my said daughters should be taken away by death before they be married then ...their division to be equally divided amongst the Survivors.” To son Caleb: “heir apparent,” house and lands at Plymouth, one pair of oxen and the hire of them, then in the hands of Richard Church, and “all my debts which are now owing unto me.” The testator reserved to his daughters. “Free recourse to my house in Plymouth upon any occasion there to abide and remain for such time as any of them shall think meete and convenient & they single persons.” He named son Caleb as executor and Caleb and Captain Standish as joint supervisors of the will. The inventory of his goods, taken by Captain Standish, Thomas Willet and John Doane on July 17, 1644, listed livestock (fifteen neat cattle, a horse and other stock), household goods, clothing, tools and more than seventeen pounds owed to Hopkins by debtors. The estate was given a total value of about 130 pounds. The division of his moveable estate to daughters Deborah, Damaris, Ruth and Elizabeth was made by son Caleb and Captain Standish on November 30, 1644.

3. ELIZABETH (FISHER) HOPKINS, The second wife of Stephen Hopkins, sailed to Plymouth in the Mayflower in 1620. She was born about 1595 in London, England. They were married Feb. 19,1617/18 in St.Mary Matfellon, Whitechapel, Middlesex, England. The identity of his first wife is unknown. Their children were: Damaris HOPKINS I born about 1618/19 in Donyat, Somersetshire, England, died onboard the mayflower in Plymouth Harbor, Oceanus HOPKINS born between Sept.6, 1620 and Nov.11, 1620 on the “MAYFLOWER”, Caleb HOPKINS born about 1623 in Plymouth, Deborah HOPKINS born about 1625 in Plymouth, Ruth HOPKINS b: in Plymouth, Elizabeth HOPKINS II b: in Plymouth. Elizabeth was one of only four women who survived to the “first” Thanksgiving in Nov. 1621. She died sometime between 1638 and 1644 in Plymouth.

DAMARIS HOPKINS II, was their seventh and last child, born shortly after May 22, 1627 in Plymouth. The modern Sherman family of FMSIII has four lines of decent to Master STEPHEN HOPKINS, and ELIZABETH HOPKINS=>DAMARIS HOPKINS II. She married JACOB COOKE, son of FRANCIS COOKE Pilgrim.

Their first child SARAH COOKE born about 1635 in Plymouth, (Based on the marriage of her parents on March 28, 1634 and her own marriage of Nov. 20, 1652 at which time, if born about 1635, she would have been about seventeen.) She married ARTHUR HATHAWAY II born about 25, 1620 probably in England.

ANNIE ELMA SISSON is a seventh generation descendant of this marriage through their daughter LYDIA HATHAWAY:

^3rd. STEPHEN HOPKINS Master\

DAMARIS HOPKINS II, SARAH COOKE, LYDIA HATHAWAY, JONATHAN SISSON, JONATHAN SISSON II\

ELIZABETH HOPKINS/ DAVID SISSON, ISAAC SISSON\

CHRISTOPHER GIFFORD SISSON, ANNIE ELMA SISSON

ELIZABETH COOKE born Jan. 18 1647/48 in Plymouth, first child of JACOB COOKE and DAMARIS HOPKINS II, married JOHN DOTY, born by 1640, son of EDWARD DOTY, Pilgrim before 1668 in Plymouth. Their first child JOHN DOTEN, was born Aug.24, 1668 in Plymouth. John Doten Jr., as he was known until after his father died, was a wealthy farmer with extensive lands. He succeeded to a large part of his father’s estate, which was increased by lands received by his wife from her father’s estate, as well as by subsequent grants from the towns of Plymouth and Plympton and by purchases. He made his residence at Plympton, early on, where his father had made considerable purchases, and his name appears in the list of persons first entitled to vote for Selectmen at Plympton, 1708-9. At the March 1719/20 court, John Doty, Sr. of Plimpton moved that the child of Lydia Jackson, of whom he was the reputed father, be boarded out or the weekly payments abated. No further record of the child, which was probably an infant at the time, has been found. In 1731, he and his sons, John, Jr. and Jacob, petitioned with others to be set off as a separate precinct. They lived in the southern part of the town of Plympton, which was erected about 1800 into a town and called Carver. It was probably there that Doty’s Plain and Doty’s Meadow named in his father’s will were situated. In 1706, John Doten and Mehitable, his wife, sold to her brother, Samuel Nelson, lands which they received from her father, John Nelson, deceased. He died July 14,1747 in Plympton. FRANK MORTON SHERMAN MD is thus a seventh generation descendant of ELIZABETH COOKE:

^4th. STEPHEN HOPKINS Master\

DAMARIS HOPKINS II, ELIZABETH COOKE, JOHN DOTEN, JOHN DOTEN, EBENEZER DOTEN, LYDIA DOTEN,

ELIZABETH HOPKINS / EBENEZER DOTEN SHERMAN, MARCUS MORTON SHERMAN, FRANK MORTON SHERMAN MD.

MARY COOKE born about 1652 in Plymouth, the fourth child of JACOB COOKE and DAMARIS HOPKINS II, married JOHN RICKARD Deacon, born: Nov. 24, 1657, in Plymouth, in about 1678 in Plymouth. FRANK MORTON SHERMAN MD is a seventh generation descendent of this MARY COOKE, through her fourth child JOHN RICKARD IIII.

^5th. STEPHEN HOPKINS Master\

DAMARIS HOPKINS II, JOHN RICKARD IIII, MARGARET RICKARD, NOAH PRATT,

ELIZABETH HOPKINS / EPHRAIM PRATT, DAVID PRATT, SARAH BARROWS PRATT, FRANK MORTON SHERMAN MD

MARY RICKARD born before 1688 in Plymouth, the fifth child of JOHN RICKARD Deacon and MARY COOKE, married TIMOTHY MORTON born March 12, 1682 in Plymouth, Jan. 1, 1713/14. This is a convergence with the Morton family line mentioned elsewhere.

FRANK MORTON SHERMAN MD is a fifth generation descendant of MARY RICKARD through her first child CHARLES MORTON, born Oct.17, 1714 in Plymouth.

 
6th.  STEPHEN HOPKINS Master\ 

DAMARIS HOPKINS II,