Priscilla GREY ¹

   Ancestral File Number: 8JQR-0S. User ID: 4627.

   General Notes:

BOOKS
Builders of the Bay Colony, Samuel Eliot Morison, 1930, Houghton Miflin, Boston, p46:
"...The first contingent of the Great Emigration is assembling. One of the first to sail is the `Mary and John' from Plymouth, with one hundred and forty passengers from various parts of theWest Country, recruited in part by John White. One of these, Roger Clap, wrote in his old age an account of this company, which founded the town of Dorchester, Massachusetts:
"`These godly people resolved to live together; and therefore,as they had made choice of those two reverend servants of God, Master John Warham and Master John Maverick, to be their ministers, so they kept a solemn day of fasting in the New Hospital in Plymouth, in England, spending it in preaching and praying; where that worthy man of God, Master John White of Dorchester in Dorset, was present, and preached unto us the word of God in the fore part of the day; and in the latter part of the day, as the people did solemnly make choice of and callthose godly ministers to be their officers, so also the reverend Master Warham and Master Maverick did accept thereof, and expressed the same. So we came, by the good hand of the Lord, through the deeps comfortably, having preaching or expounding of the word of God every day for ten weeks together by our ministers.'"
p78: "...On June 14 the `Arbella' was warped up Beverly Harbor to a final anchorage in the North River, then Salem's front door.
"The `Lion' was already there, the `Mary and John' hand dumped her passengers at Nantasket; and one by one the rest of the fleet straggled in - the `Talbot' taking three months, and losing fourteen passengers. By the end of the summer almost a thousand people and two hundred head of cattle had been landed. The Bay Colony was already thrice as populous as New Plymouth, founded ten years earlier..."
p340: "William Pynchon first settled in Dorchester with the West-Countrymen who came over in the `Mary and John', but shortly after moved to the adjoining settlement at Roxbury..."

The Mary and John The Story of the Founding of Dorchester Massachusetts 1630, Maude Pinney Kuhns, Charles E Tuttle Co, Rutland VT, 1943, (CT Historical Society) p1:
"Onthe twentieth of March, 1630, a group of men and women, one hundred and forty in number, set sail from Plymouth, England, in the good ship, the 'Mary and John'. The company had been selected and assembled largely through the efforts of the Reverend John White, of Dorchester, England; with whom they spent the day before sailing, 'fasting, preaching, and praying.' These people had come from the western counties of England, mostly from Devonshire, Dorsetshire, and Somerset. They had chosen two ministers to accompany them: 'men who were interested in the idea of bringing the Indians to the knowledge of the gospel.' The Reverend John Maverick was an elderly man from Devon, a minister of the Established church. Reverend John Warham was also an ordained minister of the Church of England, in Exeter, eminent as a preacher. There is some evidence that both of these men were in some difficulties with the church on account of their sympathies with the Puritans.
"Edward Rossiter and Roger Ludlow, two men who were members of the government in England, were also chosen; and several gentlemen, middleaged, with adult families were next joined to the association. Among these were Henry Wolcott, Thomas Ford, George Dyer, William Gaylord, William Rockwell, and William Phelps. But a large portion of the company were young men, eager for adventure, such as Israel Stoughton, Roger Clapp, George Minot, Richard Collicott, and Nathaniel Duncan.
"So we came, writes Roger Clapp in his Memoirs, by the good hand of the Lord, through the deep comfortably; having preaching or expounding of the word of God every day for ten weeks together by our ministers. When we came to Nantasket, Capt. Squeb, who was Captain of that great ship of four hundred tons, put us on shore and our goods on Nantasket Point, and left us to shift for ourselves in a forelorn place in this wilderness.
"It had been their original intent to land in the Charles River, but a dispute with Captain Squeb, the commander of the vessel, caused the whole company, on May 30, 1630, to be put ashore at Nantasket. The 'Mary and John' was the first of the Fleet of 1630 to arrive in the bay. At that time there could not have been pilots, or charts of the channel, and it does not seem unreasonable that the captain refused to undertake the passage, but Roger Clap has sent Captain Squeb down to posterity as a merciless man.
"According to tradition they landed upon the south side of Dorchester Neck, or South Boston, in Old Harbor. Ten of the men, under the command of Captain Southcote, found a small boat, and went up the river to Charlestown Neck, where they found an old planter, probably ThomasWalfourd, who fed them 'a dinner of fish without bread.' Later they continued their journey up the Charles River, as far as what is now Watertown, returning several days later to the company who had found pasture for their cattle at Mattapan. The settlement was later called Dorchester, in honor of the Reverend John White, of Dorchester, England.
"Roger Clap tells of the hardships that followed. They had little food, and were forced to live on clams and fish. The men built smallboats, and the Indians came later with baskets of corn. 'The place was a wilderness,' writes Roger Clap. 'Fish was a good help to me and to others. Bread was so scarce that I thought the very crusts from my father's table would have been sweet;and when I could have meal and salt and water boiled together, I asked, 'who could ask for better?'
"Here they lived for five or six years. Other boats arrived and other towns were settled. But the life at Dorchester was not entirely congenial to the lovers of liberty of the 'Mary and John'. The group of settlements around Massachusetts Bay was dominated by clergymen and officials of aristocratic tendencies. Their Governor, John Winthrop, had little sympathy with the common people. 'The best part (of the people),' he declared, 'is always the least, and of that best part, the wiser is always is always the lesser.' And the Reverend John Cotton put it more bluntly when he said, 'Never did God ordain democracy for the government of the church or the people.'
"These principles were repugnant to the people of the 'Mary and John', who had come to America to escape such restraint. They had no wish to interfere with the methods of worship of others, and they did not wish others to interfere with them. Too, they were land-hungry, after centuries of vassalage to the lords of the manors, leading hopeless lives without chance of independence. Perhaps they were influenced also, by the fact that a great smallpox epidemic had raged among the Indians, killing off so many that they wre not the menace that they had been at first. The settlers turned their attention toward the fertile meadows of the Connecticut Valley.
"A group under Roger Ludlow set out and reached the Plymouth Trading house that had been erected by William Holmes near the junction of the Connecticut and the Farmington Rivers, early in the summer of 1635. A little later sixty men, women and children, with their 'cows, heifers and swine', came overland from Dorchester. The winter was severe and the food scarce, and many returned to Massachusetts, but in the spring they came back to Connecticut with their friends, and by April, 1636, most of the members ofthe Dorchester Church were settled near the Farmington River, along the brow of the hill that overlooks the 'Great Meadow'. This in spite of the fact that the Plymouth people disputed their claim to the land. They built rude shelters, dug out of the rising ground along the edge of the river bank. The rear end and the two sides were simply the earth itself, with a front and a roof of beams. The town was later named Windsor.
"In the following year, 1637, danger from the Pequot Indians forced them to abandon their dugouts and to come together around the area known as the Palisado Green. Their new homes were at once enclosed with a strong palisado.
"In 1639 they began the construction of their first real meeting house. It stood in the center of the palisado, and was topped with a cupola and platform, where the sexton beat a drum to summon the people to attend services or public meetings. About the same time there was built and presented to the pastor, the Reverend John Warham, a corn mill, which is supposed to have been the first grist mill built in Connecticut. For many years it served all the settlements in the river valley, as far south as Middletown.
"All over America today live the descendants of the fathers and mothers of the 'Mary and John.' Their sons and daughters have written their names on the pages of American History. They have filled the pulpits of famous churches; they have sat on judges' benches, and in the seatsof Congress; they have occupied Governors' Mansions, and even the White House. Some fought at Lexington, and wintered with Washington at Valley Forge. They joined in the trek to the West, and one followed Brigham Young into Utah. One marched with Sherman as he burned and pillaged his way through Georgia, and perhaps one fought on the other side with Lee. One is called the 'Hero of Manila Bay,' and one was hanged! They learned strange names like Saint-Mehiel, Chateau-Thierry, the Argonne Forest and Sedan. Perhaps one lies in Flanders Field...
"An effort has been made to show through the ancestry of people living today, or through famous men of history, how this little group lived together, married and intermarried, even beyond the third and fourth generations. The names of descendants of the men and women who came to America on the 'Mary and John' are found in every state of the Union.
p5: "The Passenger List (Compiled from various sources, and not official)
...67. Mathew Grant
68. Priscilla Grant
69. Mathew
70. Priscilla...
...78. Thomas Holcomb
79. Elizabeth Ferguson...
..101. George Phelps
102. Richard Phelps
103. William Phelps 104. Elizabeth Phelps
105. William..."
p37: "...Mathew Grant was born in England 27 Oct 1601 and died in Windsor CT 16 Dec 1681. He was made a freeman at Dorchester MA 18 May 1631.
"He was a carpenter by trade, and was the first, and for many years, the principal surveyor of his section. He held the office of Deacon of the First Church for a number of years; was town clerk from 1652 until 1677; was select- man for several years and held other important offices. In 1654 he compiled a 'Book or Records of Town Ways in Windsor.' He was also the compiler of the 'Old Church Records,' which has furnished the basis for the history of most of the families of ancient Windsor.
"He married first 16 Nov 1625 Priscilla Grey (1602-27 Apr 1644); married second 29 May 1645 Susanna (Capen) Rockwell (5 Apr 1602-14 Nov 1666), widow of William Rockwell, and daughter of Bernard Capen.
"Children: 1. Priscilla, b 14 Sep 1626, m 1647 Michael Humphrey. 2. Mathew, d 1639..."

17th Century Colonial Ancestors of Members of the National Society of Colonial Dames XVII Century 1915-1975, Mary Louise Marshall Hutton, Baltimore Genealogi- cal Publishing Co Inc, 1987, p107:
"Matthew Grant (1601-1681) CT, m. Priscilla Grey, Town Clerk, Surveyor."

Genealogies of Connecticut Families, From the New England Historical and Genealogical Register Vol II Geer-Owen, Gary B Roberts, Genealogical Publishing Co, pp 77-81. GGGGGGrdFthr of Gen Ulysses S Grant (see 8JQR-3B Samuel GRANT):
"Matthew Grant was one of the original company who came in the Mary and John to Dorchester in 1630; was a freeman there in 1631; removed to Windsor among the very earliest; was secondtown clerk there, also the first and for many years the pricipal surveyor; was a prominent man in the church; evidently was just and exceedingly conscientious in all his public and private transactions and duties. As recorder, he often added notes, explanatory or in correction, to the records, which have considerable value...compiler of the `Old Church Record', which in the absence of some of the earliest record of the town of Windsor (1635-50) assumes a value that can scarcely be overestimated...In short he was pious, hardworking, conscientious, Christian man, and a model town clerk.
"Born Tuesday, 27 Oct 1601. Mar 16 Nov 1625 to Priscilla Died 27 Apr 1644. Rem 29 May 1645 to Susannah Wid William Rockwell in Windsor. Died 16 Dec 1681, having for four years preceding resided with this son John."

INTERNET
http://members.aol.com/MREgleston/MnJ.html
Mary and John Passenger Lists
The Mary & John left England in March of 1630 and arrived seventy days later, on May 30, 1630, at the mouth of what is now Boston harbor. The ship's captain refused to sail up the Charles river as planned, because he feared running the ship aground in waters that he had no charts for. He instead left the passengers in a desolate locale miles from their intended destination. The settlors were forced to transport 150,000 pounds of livestock, provisions and equipment 20 miles overland to their final destination.
These are two suggested passenger lists for the ship Mary & John that Bygod Eggleston and his sons probably traveled on to reach the New World in 1630. These lists were compiled by the authors from a variety of sources. No actual recorded passenger list from the Mary & John has come to light and there remain many questions as to who actually sailed on this ship and who came on subsequent ships. Some of the people on these lists have later been proven not to have traveled on the Mary & John. For more information see "Search for the Passengers of the Mary & John 1630" Vols. 1 - 26, published by The Mary & John Clearing House and available in many library genealogy collections.
Born Banks Kuhns Other Key
Mathew Grant 1602* NL Yes
Priscilla ______ (w) 1604* NL Yes
Priscilla Grant (d) 1626 NL Yes

ANCESTRAL FILE
8JQR-0S Mar Devonshire England, Ver 4.10 Chr 14 Mar 1609 Burbage Leicestershire England, Mar ?Windsor Hartford Connecticut.

LATTER DAY SAINTS
LDS Submission: Rebecca Stout 3448 So West Temple Salt Lake City Utah. LDS Heir: Nathaniel Worden 4th Great Grandson MH/PG. Priscilla GREY Mar Matthew GRANT Mother of Priscilla GRANT.

   Marriage Information:

Priscilla married Matthew GRANT, Sr, son of John GRANT and Alice TURBERVILLE, on 16 Nov 1625 in , Devonshire, England. (Matthew GRANT, Sr was born on 27 Oct 1601 in , Devonshire, England and died on 16 Dec 1681 in Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, USA.)