Ship: ANNE, William Pierce, Master,
She arrived at Plymouth July 10 1623
with 60 passengers.
The passenger list includes
Elizabeth Warren and her children.
(Richard Warren's family) and
Robert Bartlett
Plymouth records:
Elizabeth Warren died
"aged above ninety" [actually 90 years and one month]
The will of Augustine, dated April 1613, mentions daughter, Elizabeth Warren, wife of Richard Warren and her three children, Mary, Ann, and Sarah. As customary in a family with no sons, Augustine named the widower of his eldest daughter as overseer/executor. Augustine gave 100% of his "goods and chattells" to his youngest daughter Elizabeth Warren. Chattells include contracts, so it appears Elizabeth was caring for her father and step-mother in their final years and took over her father's business---apparently transport of beer from Elizabeth's place of baptism, Baldock [a center of beer making for centuries] to London. Great Amwell was a midpoint in any such traffic. Augustine moved to Great Amwell ca 1609.
Richard Warren of the Mayflower, married Saturday 14 April 1610 in Great Amwell, Hertfordshire, England to Elizabeth Walker, daughter of Augustine Walker. This marriage date was apparently delayed by the Church of England's schedule for marriages which made about one third of the year unavailable for marriage ceremonies [one of the reasons the Separatists had against the Church of England]. Elizabeth seems to have copied her eldest sister, whose first child arrived three months after the parent's wedding.
It appears the Warren couple with five daughters under 11 years of age paid for their passage with "produce," and apparently with barrels of beer worth about 100 pounds. When Elizabeth and her daughters were "left behind" in Plymouth harbor, they returned to London on the Speedwell, to await passages on the unfortunate Paragon and the successful Anne.
Elizabeth was a remarkable woman. She was known in her widowhood of 45 years as 'Mistress,' a title for landed gentry. She also had servants, and horses---both indicating she was landed gentry. Her husband was listed as "Mr." in Bradford's listing of Mayflower passengers---an indication he was descended from landed gentry.
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A WOMAN OF VALOR: ELIZABETH WARREN OF PLYMOUTH COLONY
by Peggy M. Baker, Pilgrim Hall Museum
The "Pilgrim Mothers" are mysteries. These intrepid women of 17th century Plymouth Colony are known by their husbands and known by their children. Their own lives, however, are seen only in glimpses, pale images reflected off the activities of the families which revolved around them. The women themselves are almost invisible. While the court records of Plymouth Colony reveal much about the daily activities of the law-abiding men of the Colony, they tell us little about the women (except for those few women who broke the law).
There was, in fact, no officially recognized role for the law-abiding married woman. The activities and contributions of those women, although vital to the survival and success of the Colony, are nowhere registered or officially acknowledged. According to the accepted legal convention of the times, all married women, even those conducting business independently, were regarded as representatives of their husbands. Only widows could be legally recognized as agents in their own right. Very few widows availed themselves of the privileges and the responsibilities that such independent status would entail.
One Pilgrim woman, however, breaks through the patriarchal conventions of 17th century society. By the longevity of her widowhood and by the independence of her actions, Elizabeth Warren emerges from the collective category of "Pilgrim Mother" as a highly individual woman. Elizabeth Warren appears full-grown on the shores of American history. Little is known of her English background, apart from her marriage to Richard Warren. Richard was one of the 102 passengers on the Mayflower that sailed into Plymouth Harbor in December 1620. Many of the Mayflower passengers traveled as families. Some families, however, separated. The men sailed in 1620 and the women and children delayed their sailing, planning on joining their menfolk after the Colony was established. Richard Warren was among the men who sailed alone in 1620
The Warren family was separated for three years. In 1623, one of the next ships brought his wife Elizabeth and the five Warren daughters, Mary, Anna, Sarah, Elizabeth and Abigail. The Warrens joined in the life of the small but growing agricultural community. Richard would have played a role in public affairs and worked the fields. Elizabeth would have run the large household that included not only the immediate family but also their farm workers and hired help. On occasion, she would have joined Richard in the fields. The Warren home would have been small and modestly furnished.
Richard Warren died in 1628. Elizabeth, left a widow with 7 children (five young women, ranging from early teens to probably early twenties, and two small boys under the age of 5), never remarried. Elizabeth outlived her husband Richard by 45 years.
Unlike the majority of Plymouth Colony women, Elizabeth Warren s name appears regularly in the records of Plymouth Colony during the long period of her widowhood. She appears first as paying the taxes owed by all heads of household. She appears next as executor of her husband's estate. Elizabeth then appears as one of the Plymouth Colony "Purchasers."
In 1626, 53 (male) citizens of Plymouth Colony agreed to underwrite some of the Colony's debt in a complicated arrangement with its financial backers. Richard Warren was one of the original 1626 Purchasers. The list of the names of the Purchasers did not appear in the Plymouth Colony Records, however, until several years had passed. During that time, Richard Warren had died. In a startling break with tradition, the list of Purchasers does not contain the name of Richard Warren but, instead, "Elizabeth Warren, widow." The Court felt it necessary to explain this unprecedented move, noting that Elizabeth was listed in Richard's stead because Richard, "dying before he had performed the bargain, the said Elizabeth performed the same after his decease."
In 1635, Elizabeth Warren appears in the Records of Plymouth Colony in a totally new role. No longer seen as acting to fulfill the obligations of her long-deceased husband Richard, Elizabeth now enters the recorded life of the Colony as a totally independent agent. We have not only a court case involving Elizabeth, we hear an echo of her actual words.
Elizabeth's activities continue to be documented to an unusual extent in the Records of Plymouth Colony. In the late 1630s, she appears in the Records deeding land from the Warren holdings in Plymouth's Eel River Valley to her sons-in-law. The Warren daughters had matured and married: Mary to Robert Bartlett, Anna to Thomas Little, Sarah to Mayflower passenger John Cooke, Elizabeth to Richard Church and Abigail to Anthony Snow. Relations within the large extended family seemed amicable.
In 1652, however, trouble suddenly loomed! Elizabeth's deeds to her sons-in-law, deeds that had been executed 15 years previously, were challenged by persons unnamed. The Plymouth Colony Records report a petition brought by Elizabeth's son-in-law Robert Bartlett asking for clarification of Elizabeth's right to deed land because "sundry speeches have passed from some who pretend themselves to be the sole and right heirs unto the lands on which the said Robert Bartlett now liveth, at the Eel River, in the township of Plymouth, which he, the said Robert, had bestowed on him by his mother-in-law Mistress Elizabeth Warren."
The Court decided, unequivocally, in Elizabeth's favor, finding that she had the power to give the land, since she had been "by an order of Court bearing date March the 7th, 1637, and other acts of the Court before, invested into the state and condition of a Purchaser." The Court once again ratified and confirmed her status as a Purchaser and specifically ruled that Elizabeth Warren had the right to dispose of her lands, including the gifts of land she had made to her sons-in-law. Even this clear-cut Court ruling was insufficient to settle the quarrel.
And as the dispute continued, the identity of those "who pretend themselves to be the sole and right heirs" was revealed to be Elizabeth's own son Nathaniel Warren and his wife's family. Nathaniel, now married and in his mid-to-late 20s, claimed that he "hath right unto as heir unto the lands of Mr. Richard Warren, deceased." The two sides in the quarrel agreed to submit the argument to arbitration, each choosing 2 members to sit on the 4-man arbitration panel. Elizabeth Warren chose William Bradford and Thomas Willett. Nathaniel Warren chose Thomas Prence and Myles Standish.
The arbitration panel came swiftly to its unanimous conclusion. Nathaniel Warren received an acknowledgment of his right to share in the Warren lands. The panel confirmed what had never seemed to be in doubt, namely that Nathaniel could continue to hold the land he currently possessed.
The major finding of the arbitration panel, however, must have come as a severe shock to young Nathaniel! The expected outcome by law and by custom would certainly have favored Elizabeth's son. But, far from vindicating his patriarchal claims, the panel issued a stunning and resounding confirmation of Elizabeth's status as head of her household and of her authority to act as an independent agent. The panel not only found that she "shall enjoy all the rest of her lands and all of them to whom she hath already at any time heretofore disposed any part thereof by gift, sale or otherwise, or shall hereafter do the same, to them and their heirs for ever without any trouble or molestation" but severely rapped Nathaniel's unfilial knuckles.
The Court concluded by bidding Nathaniel to forever cease all other or further claims, suits, questions, or any molestations or disturbance at any time hereafter concerning the premises, but that his said mother and all her children, or any other to whom she has any way disposed any lands or shall hereafter do the same, but that they may quietly and peaceably possess and enjoy the same.
Elizabeth Warren seems, indeed, to have quietly and peaceably enjoyed the remainder of her days. When she died in 1673, this remarkable woman received the unprecedented but well-earned tribute of a eulogy in the Records of Plymouth Colony
Mistress Elizabeth Warren, an aged widow, aged above 90 years, deceased on the second of October, 1673. Who, having lived a godly life, came to her grave "as a shock of corn fully ripe" (Biblical quotation).
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Ship: ANNE, William Pierce, Master,
She arrived at Plymouth July 10 1623
with 60 passengers.
The passenger list includes
Elizabeth Warren and her children.
(Richard Warren's family) and
Robert Bartlett
Plymouth records:
Elizabeth Warren died
"aged above ninety" [actually 90 years and one month]
The will of Augustine, dated April 1613, mentions daughter, Elizabeth Warren, wife of Richard Warren and her three children, Mary, Ann, and Sarah. As customary in a family with no sons, Augustine named the widower of his eldest daughter as overseer/executor. Augustine gave 100% of his "goods and chattells" to his youngest daughter Elizabeth Warren. Chattells include contracts, so it appears Elizabeth was caring for her father and step-mother in their final years and took over her father's business---apparently transport of beer from Elizabeth's place of baptism, Baldock [a center of beer making for centuries] to London. Great Amwell was a midpoint in any such traffic. Augustine moved to Great Amwell ca 1609.
Richard Warren of the Mayflower, married Saturday 14 April 1610 in Great Amwell, Hertfordshire, England to Elizabeth Walker, daughter of Augustine Walker. This marriage date was apparently delayed by the Church of England's schedule for marriages which made about one third of the year unavailable for marriage ceremonies [one of the reasons the Separatists had against the Church of England]. Elizabeth seems to have copied her eldest sister, whose first child arrived three months after the parent's wedding.
It appears the Warren couple with five daughters under 11 years of age paid for their passage with "produce," and apparently with barrels of beer worth about 100 pounds. When Elizabeth and her daughters were "left behind" in Plymouth harbor, they returned to London on the Speedwell, to await passages on the unfortunate Paragon and the successful Anne.
Elizabeth was a remarkable woman. She was known in her widowhood of 45 years as 'Mistress,' a title for landed gentry. She also had servants, and horses---both indicating she was landed gentry. Her husband was listed as "Mr." in Bradford's listing of Mayflower passengers---an indication he was descended from landed gentry.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A WOMAN OF VALOR: ELIZABETH WARREN OF PLYMOUTH COLONY
by Peggy M. Baker, Pilgrim Hall Museum
The "Pilgrim Mothers" are mysteries. These intrepid women of 17th century Plymouth Colony are known by their husbands and known by their children. Their own lives, however, are seen only in glimpses, pale images reflected off the activities of the families which revolved around them. The women themselves are almost invisible. While the court records of Plymouth Colony reveal much about the daily activities of the law-abiding men of the Colony, they tell us little about the women (except for those few women who broke the law).
There was, in fact, no officially recognized role for the law-abiding married woman. The activities and contributions of those women, although vital to the survival and success of the Colony, are nowhere registered or officially acknowledged. According to the accepted legal convention of the times, all married women, even those conducting business independently, were regarded as representatives of their husbands. Only widows could be legally recognized as agents in their own right. Very few widows availed themselves of the privileges and the responsibilities that such independent status would entail.
One Pilgrim woman, however, breaks through the patriarchal conventions of 17th century society. By the longevity of her widowhood and by the independence of her actions, Elizabeth Warren emerges from the collective category of "Pilgrim Mother" as a highly individual woman. Elizabeth Warren appears full-grown on the shores of American history. Little is known of her English background, apart from her marriage to Richard Warren. Richard was one of the 102 passengers on the Mayflower that sailed into Plymouth Harbor in December 1620. Many of the Mayflower passengers traveled as families. Some families, however, separated. The men sailed in 1620 and the women and children delayed their sailing, planning on joining their menfolk after the Colony was established. Richard Warren was among the men who sailed alone in 1620
The Warren family was separated for three years. In 1623, one of the next ships brought his wife Elizabeth and the five Warren daughters, Mary, Anna, Sarah, Elizabeth and Abigail. The Warrens joined in the life of the small but growing agricultural community. Richard would have played a role in public affairs and worked the fields. Elizabeth would have run the large household that included not only the immediate family but also their farm workers and hired help. On occasion, she would have joined Richard in the fields. The Warren home would have been small and modestly furnished.
Richard Warren died in 1628. Elizabeth, left a widow with 7 children (five young women, ranging from early teens to probably early twenties, and two small boys under the age of 5), never remarried. Elizabeth outlived her husband Richard by 45 years.
Unlike the majority of Plymouth Colony women, Elizabeth Warren s name appears regularly in the records of Plymouth Colony during the long period of her widowhood. She appears first as paying the taxes owed by all heads of household. She appears next as executor of her husband's estate. Elizabeth then appears as one of the Plymouth Colony "Purchasers."
In 1626, 53 (male) citizens of Plymouth Colony agreed to underwrite some of the Colony's debt in a complicated arrangement with its financial backers. Richard Warren was one of the original 1626 Purchasers. The list of the names of the Purchasers did not appear in the Plymouth Colony Records, however, until several years had passed. During that time, Richard Warren had died. In a startling break with tradition, the list of Purchasers does not contain the name of Richard Warren but, instead, "Elizabeth Warren, widow." The Court felt it necessary to explain this unprecedented move, noting that Elizabeth was listed in Richard's stead because Richard, "dying before he had performed the bargain, the said Elizabeth performed the same after his decease."
In 1635, Elizabeth Warren appears in the Records of Plymouth Colony in a totally new role. No longer seen as acting to fulfill the obligations of her long-deceased husband Richard, Elizabeth now enters the recorded life of the Colony as a totally independent agent. We have not only a court case involving Elizabeth, we hear an echo of her actual words.
Elizabeth's activities continue to be documented to an unusual extent in the Records of Plymouth Colony. In the late 1630s, she appears in the Records deeding land from the Warren holdings in Plymouth's Eel River Valley to her sons-in-law. The Warren daughters had matured and married: Mary to Robert Bartlett, Anna to Thomas Little, Sarah to Mayflower passenger John Cooke, Elizabeth to Richard Church and Abigail to Anthony Snow. Relations within the large extended family seemed amicable.
In 1652, however, trouble suddenly loomed! Elizabeth's deeds to her sons-in-law, deeds that had been executed 15 years previously, were challenged by persons unnamed. The Plymouth Colony Records report a petition brought by Elizabeth's son-in-law Robert Bartlett asking for clarification of Elizabeth's right to deed land because "sundry speeches have passed from some who pretend themselves to be the sole and right heirs unto the lands on which the said Robert Bartlett now liveth, at the Eel River, in the township of Plymouth, which he, the said Robert, had bestowed on him by his mother-in-law Mistress Elizabeth Warren."
The Court decided, unequivocally, in Elizabeth's favor, finding that she had the power to give the land, since she had been "by an order of Court bearing date March the 7th, 1637, and other acts of the Court before, invested into the state and condition of a Purchaser." The Court once again ratified and confirmed her status as a Purchaser and specifically ruled that Elizabeth Warren had the right to dispose of her lands, including the gifts of land she had made to her sons-in-law. Even this clear-cut Court ruling was insufficient to settle the quarrel.
And as the dispute continued, the identity of those "who pretend themselves to be the sole and right heirs" was revealed to be Elizabeth's own son Nathaniel Warren and his wife's family. Nathaniel, now married and in his mid-to-late 20s, claimed that he "hath right unto as heir unto the lands of Mr. Richard Warren, deceased." The two sides in the quarrel agreed to submit the argument to arbitration, each choosing 2 members to sit on the 4-man arbitration panel. Elizabeth Warren chose William Bradford and Thomas Willett. Nathaniel Warren chose Thomas Prence and Myles Standish.
The arbitration panel came swiftly to its unanimous conclusion. Nathaniel Warren received an acknowledgment of his right to share in the Warren lands. The panel confirmed what had never seemed to be in doubt, namely that Nathaniel could continue to hold the land he currently possessed.
The major finding of the arbitration panel, however, must have come as a severe shock to young Nathaniel! The expected outcome by law and by custom would certainly have favored Elizabeth's son. But, far from vindicating his patriarchal claims, the panel issued a stunning and resounding confirmation of Elizabeth's status as head of her household and of her authority to act as an independent agent. The panel not only found that she "shall enjoy all the rest of her lands and all of them to whom she hath already at any time heretofore disposed any part thereof by gift, sale or otherwise, or shall hereafter do the same, to them and their heirs for ever without any trouble or molestation" but severely rapped Nathaniel's unfilial knuckles.
The Court concluded by bidding Nathaniel to forever cease all other or further claims, suits, questions, or any molestations or disturbance at any time hereafter concerning the premises, but that his said mother and all her children, or any other to whom she has any way disposed any lands or shall hereafter do the same, but that they may quietly and peaceably possess and enjoy the same.
Elizabeth Warren seems, indeed, to have quietly and peaceably enjoyed the remainder of her days. When she died in 1673, this remarkable woman received the unprecedented but well-earned tribute of a eulogy in the Records of Plymouth Colony
Mistress Elizabeth Warren, an aged widow, aged above 90 years, deceased on the second of October, 1673. Who, having lived a godly life, came to her grave "as a shock of corn fully ripe" (Biblical quotation).
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