Matching family tree profiles for Thomas Mumford
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About Thomas Mumford
Evidence needed to support as son of Thomas Mumford & Anna Mumford
Siblings: Danial Mumford, James Mumford, Sarah E Mumford, Richard Mumford, William Mumford, Mary Mumford, Rebecca Mumford, Marcke Mumford
Children: Anna Kenyon (born Mumford), Thomas Mumford, Abigail Mumford, Peleg Mumford, James Munford, George Mumford, Sarah Mumford
Thomas Mumford
- born Abt. 1625 in Oldham, Lancaster, England,
- died February 12, 1691/92 in Portsmouth, Newport, Rhode Island.
- marriage: Abt. 1655 in South Kingston, Washington, Rhode Island
- wife: Sarah Sherman, b. Oct 1636, Roxbury, Boston, MA; died 1690 in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. She was daughter of Philip Sherman and Sarah Odding.
Disputed origins
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Mumford-24
There is no credible proof that he was the son of Thomas Mumford and Ann Remington. All family trees have sources from several different areas in England. It seems to be a fabricated lineage with several mismatched people. For this reason he is being detached. Please do not reattach his parents without credible sources such as wills, etc.
Biography
Thomas Mumford was the progenitor of the Mumford family that left England and settled in Rhode Island. He was one of the earliest settlers in Rhode Island. In 1664 Mumford was appointed High Sheriff of the region, in 1665 the Inspector General. During King Philip's War the Great Swamp Fight occurred on Mumford's land.
Children of Thomas Mumford and Sarah Sherman:
- Thomas Mumford, b. Nov 25, 1656 in Portsmouth, RI; died April 11, 1726 in South Kingston, RI. Married 1) Abigail Kenyon 2) Esther Tefft.
- Peleg Mumford, b. 1659; d. July, 1745. Married 1) Sarah Hull 2) Elizabeth Lawton.
- Anna Mumford, b. Abt. 1660 in Narragansett, Rhode Island; d. Bef. 1712 in Westerly, Rhode Island. Did NOT marry Thomas Kenyon.
- Abigail Mumford, b. 1662 in Narragansett, Rhode Island; d. Sept 16, 1723 in Portsmouth, RI. Married Daniel Fish.
- Sarah Mumford, b. 1668; d. Oct ,1746. She married Benedict Arnold; born 1642; died 1727. Married Benedict Arnold.
Notes for Thomas Mumford:
In 1655 Mumford married Sarah Sherman, daughter of Philip Sherman, a prominent leader in early Rhode Island. The daughter of Philip Sherman and Sarah Odding, Sarah Sherman was born on 26 April 1636 in Roxbury, Suffolk County, Massachusetts.
Mumford and several other men participated in "the Pettaquamscutt purchase" from certain Indian sachems in 1658, which secured a large tract of land along Narragansett Bay for the English colonists. This area now includes the towns of North and South Kingstown, RI. In 1664 Mumford was appointed High Sheriff of the region, in 1665 the Inspector General. In 1668 he and his wife, Sarah Sherman Mumford, sold to Peleg Sanford of Newport 1,000 acres of the land for L25.
In December of 1675 during King Philip's War the Great Swamp Fight occurred on Mumford's land. The battle dealt a severe blow to the Narragansett Indian tribe from which they never fully recovered. From 1683 to 1686 he served as the High Constable of the colony.
His son, Thomas, born 1656, married Abigail, who was murdered by a slave belonging to him. The murderer, a negro, drowned himself to prevent being taken alive. The assembly ordered his body to be disposed of in the following manner, as a terror to others perpetrating like barbarities; his head, legs and arms to be cut from his body and hung in some public place near Newport, and his body to be burned to ashes. In 1708 Mr. Mumford deeded 180 acres of land in Point Judith to his son George. He and his wife were buried in the Mumford burying ground.
Origin: English Coat of Arms: Gold with a blue lion. Crest: A cat rampant.
Thomas Mumford: Jailed around 1664 for speaking words of a dishonorable nature about the King.
Those who purchased the Pettaquamscutt lands (later South Kingstown) from the Indian sachems, 1657
Pettaquamscutt Purchase in 1658
Original purchasers:
- John Porter
- Samuel Wilbore
- Thomas Mumford
- Samuel Wilson
- John Hull (Boston goldsmith and minter)
Later purchasers:
- William Brenton
- Benedict Arnold
Thomas Mumford was born about 1625. Some researchers say he was born in Oldham, Lancashire County, England, the son of Thomas Sr. and his wife Ann Remington. Some researchers believe he is the son of the Thomas Montfort, who came to Virginia with Captain John Smith in 1607. Documentation can’t be found to support either of these. It is widely believed that Thomas was born in England and arrived in America about 1650, settling in Portsmouth, north part of the Island of Aquidneck (some called it Rhodes Island). This was a place where religious tolerance had been established, and inexpensive, good land could be purchased.
In about 1655, Thomas married Sarah Shearman and they had at least four children. (She her bio for more on the children.) On December 10, 1657, he received a grant of 8 acres of land, but life in the area was complicated. James Gregory Mumford, in his book Mumford Memoirs, says “There was then much civil turmoil going on owing to Governor Coddington's ‘usurpation,’ as it is called. Roger Williams and John Clarke, indeed, were then in England petitioning Cromwell's Parliament to free them from the Coddington claims, and in that they were successful. Against these claims and all autocratic power in the Colony, Thomas himself naturally protested. Rhode Island was the one New England Colony where liberty of conscience was allowed, and as a Church of England man he had settled there for freedom from religious strife. The settlements on Aquidneck and at Providence, however, were made up largely of Baptists and other sectaries; and Thomas soon felt that it would be more comfortable in every way for him to plant a virgin soil. He seems to have had little sympathy with the searching out of the spirit which occupied his neighbours. He was content with the faith of his fathers, and, as a pioneer in the New World, sought merely to establish his penates.”
[State map from The Rhode Island Historical Society. Close-up from Thomas Hazard Son of Robt called 'College Tom,' in 1893.] On January 20, 1657/8, Thomas and several other men, including Samuel Wilbore and John Porter participated in the Pettaquamscutt Purchase, buying land from Quassuchquansh, Kachanaquant, and Quequaquenuet, chief sachems of Narragansett, for £16 and other considerations mentioned in the deed. (It should be noted here that Samuel Wilbore was married to Thomas‘ wife’s mother’s half-sister Hannah Porter, and John Porter was Thomas’ wife’s step-grandfather.) The deed included “all the land and the whole hill called Pettaquamscut bounded on the south and southwest side of the rock with Ninigret's land, on the east with a river northerly bounded two miles beyond the great rock in Pettaquamscut westerly bounded by a running brook or river beyond the meadow, together with all manner of mines, etc., they to have free ingress and egress on the sachems lands.” This secured a large tract of land along Narragansett Bay for the English colonists, that became the towns of North and South Kingstown. It should be noted that there were many other purchases like this one being done. The History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations states that “These frequent purchases caused so much trouble that the Assembly soon afterwards prohibited any further purchases of land or islands from the Indians within the colony without express permission from that body, on pain of forfeiture of the land, and a fine of twenty pounds besides.” In the book “History of Washington and Kent Counties,” J.R. Cole writes about a place called Usquepaug, “This place is situated on both sides of Queen's river, and is partly in the town of South Kingstown. The place was formerly called Mumford, from the fact of the Mumford family having been among the first settlers and owners of a large estate here.” Near the end of The Early History of Narragansett, in volume 3 of the 1835 Collections of the Rhode Island Historical Society, Elisha R Potter Jr, tells us about a place called Training lot. He describes it as “A lot on the west side of Narrow river, south east from Tower hill, originally laid out, as appears by the plat, to Thomas Mumford, now in possession of the town. It has occasionally been used as a place of execution for criminals.”
In 1664, Thomas was appointed High Sheriff of the region, but had a run-in with Massachusetts commissioner, Timothy Mather. In May of 1664, Thomas and Enoch Place accused Mather of “speaking words of a dishonorable nature against his Majesty.” The King was not in the favor of the Massachusetts colonist, so Mather’s had Thomas and Enoch arrested and imprisoned without a trial. After a few days, on May 5th, they were allowed to withdraw the accusation and were released on a £100 bond to appear when called to speak further to matter. In 1665, Thomas was appointed Inspector General. In 1668, Thomas and his wife Sarah, sold 1,000 acres of their land for £25 to Peleg Sanford of Newport. Between July 15th and 21st of 1670, Thomas became involved in what is now called the Kings Province Dispute. On June 20th, Thomas, as constable, was ordered “to seize any persons found excersing jurisdiction in Narragansett in behalf of the the colony of Connecticut.” Thomas followed his orders and was accused by Commissioners of Connecticut of assaulting and detaining “two of our men who were inoffensively ridng on the King’s highway.” The Council of Connecticut issued warrants to arrest Samuel Wilson and Thomas Mumford, because they were the Rhode Island officers who had torn down the declaration of authority that had been nailed on the door of Capt. Hudson's house by the Commissioners. They also wrote a letter to Rhode Island, complaining of the zeal with which she strove to maintain her rights over the Kings Province. In December of 1675 during King Philip's War the Great Swamp Fight occurred on Mumford's land. The battle dealt a severe blow to the Narragansett Indian tribe from which they never fully recovered. From 1683 to 1686 he served as the High Constable of the colony.
James Gregory Mumford sums up Thomas’ life as follows, “It was not a great life certainly, and I cannot record a brilliant exit; but he served his country well and modestly as gentleman and magistrate, and he kept the faith without ostentation, when others were giving themselves over to theological warfare. He begat wholesome sons and daughters, and left a name long remembered and honoured in the land.” Thomas Mumford died without a will before February 12, 1692, the date his son Thomas, as heir at law, deeded land to his sister ancestor Abigail Fish. We do not know where he is buried, but volume 1 of The Narragansett Historical Register printed the recollections of Joseph P. Hazard, Esq., of South Kingstown in 1882/3 as follows: “The oldest tombs that I know of in Narragansett are on the Mumford farm that now makes up a portion of the ‘Sprague Estate,’ on the south side of Pettesquamscutt Cove. These are on the west side of Mulnunk Brook, and just west of where the Narragansett Pier Railroad passes through the Mumford farm. Some of the stones were evidently imported from England.”
References
- http://elsberry.org/ghtout/gp1780.htm
- http://www.jowest.net/genealogy/jo/Hopkins/Mumford.htm
- "History of Washington and Kent Counties, Rhode Island"
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Mumford
- http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/c/a/t/P-K-Catrell-CO/GEN...
- [http://jtbullock.com/Tree/AbigailWilbur.html]
- Mumford Memoirs: Being the Story of the New England Mumfords from the Year ... By James Gregory Mumford. GoogleBooks
- Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Dec 29 2023, 21:03:23 UTC
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Thomas Mumford's Timeline
| 1625 |
November 11, 1625
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Seen as, Oldham, Lancashire, England (United Kingdom)
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| 1626 |
November 11, 1626
Age 1
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England
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November 11, 1626
Age 1
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England
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| 1638 |
1638
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| 1656 |
November 25, 1656
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Portsmouth, Aquidneck Island, Colony of Rhode Island, Colonial America
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| 1659 |
1659
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Portsmouth, Rhode Island
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| 1660 |
1660
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Narragansett, Washington County, Rhode Island, Colonial America
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| 1662 |
1662
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Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island, Colonial America
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| 1665 |
1665
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Portsmouth, Newport, Rhode Island, United States
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