“Elder” Richard Masterson, Sr.

RICHARD MASTERSON

MATERSON, RICHARD- A Separatist, Richard Masterson was recorded at Leidenas a woolcarder from Sandwich, England. He had been a surety for RobertCushman in buying a house in Leiden. He married 23 November 1619 MaryGoodale. There was also a John Masterson living in Leiden, who married in1633 Catherine Lisle, but it is not known if they were related (Dexter,p. 624-25). He came to Plymouth in 1629 or 1630, and he died in the 1633sickness, being noted by Bradford as one of their ancient friends fromHolland (Bradfmd [Ford], 2:171). His widow Mary married Rev. Ralph Smith,and in 1649 as Mary Srrtith, sometime wife of Richard Masterson, she madeover to her son Nathaniel Masterson and her daughter Sarah, wife of JohnWood, her interest in a house in Leiden that had belonged to her deceasedhusband (PCR 12;176-77). Along with Francis Jessopp, Thomas Nash, ThomasBlossom, and Roger White, Masterson had been one of the signers of aletter dated 30 November 1625 from Leiden to Bradford and Brewster inwhich they said sadly that if they were to rejoin their brethren inPlymouth, it would have to be accomplished by the means of the Plymouthgroup (Bradford Letter Book, p. 21). Nathaniel Morton called Mastersonone of the deacons of the Leiden Church who had given part of his estatefor the good of the Separatists (Ply. Ch. Rees. 1:83).

Source: Plymouth Colony Its History & People 1620-1691 by Eugene AubreyStratton

ORIGIN: Leiden, Holland
MIGRATION: 1629 FIRST RESIDENCE: Plymouth OCCUPATION: Wool-comber [Leiden 186].

CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: Member of Robinson's church in Leiden. Deacon atPlymouth. Plymouth church records call him "a holy man and an experiencedsaint, having been officious with part of his estate for public good, anda man of ability, as a second Stephen, to defend the truth by soundargument, grounded on the Scriptures of truth" [Young's Pilgrim Fathers73].

ESTATE: On 22 July 1634 "Mary the late wife of the said Richard andWilliam Brewster (both of Plymouth) ... being the guardians of Nathaniell& Sarah the children of the said Richard deceased" made a power ofattorney to three Leiden residents to sell a house owned by "RichardMasterson late of the City of Leiden deceased" [MD 29:19-20]. On 22 October 1650 "Mr. Raph Smith of Ipswich in N[ew] Eng[land]," for"Mary his wife (sometime formerly wife of Rich[ard] Masterson ofLeidon)," made "Mr. Hugh Goodyeare of Leidon in Holland" his attorney tocollect "all rents [and] arrearages due unto the aforesaid Mary for acertain house or tenement situate upon the uppermost graft near thequackle brigg in Leiden aforesaid" [Aspinwall 331-32].

BIRTH: By about 1594 based on date of marriage. DEATH: Plymouth 1633 [Bradford 260].

MARRIAGE: Leiden, Holland, 23 November 1619 [NS] Mary Goodall [Leiden186], born about 1590 (aged sixty in 1650 [NEHGR 144:24]); she married(2) before 1 July 1633 Rev. RALPH SMITH. She died in 1659 [NEHGR 144:24,citing D. Plooij, The Pilgrim Fathers from the Dutch Point of View (NewYork 1932), 116].

CHILDREN:

i NATHANIEL, b. about 1620 (deposed aged about 43 in February1671/2 [GDMNH 467, citing SJC #1073]; this age must be a year or two highif Nathaniel's birth occurred after the marriage to Mary Goodall); m.Ipswich 31 July 1657 Elizabeth Cogswell.

ii SARAH, b. say 1625; m. by 1645 John Wood (or Atwood) [NEHGR144:25-26].

https://www.plimoth.org/sites/default/files/media/pdf/masterson_ric...

Children of Richard and Mary Masterson: • Nathaniel was born about 1620. He married Elizabeth Cogswell on July 31, 1657, in Ipswich and had three children. She died in 1691–2. He died before July 1, 1708. • Sarah was born about 1625. She married John Wood/Atwood by 1645 and had nine children. He died between November 22, 1675, and March 7, 1675/6. She died probably early in 1701.

Source: The Bromwell genealogy … page 102. < document attached).

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References

1. Robert C. Anderson. The Great Migration Begins . Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995.
2. Robert C. Anderson. The Pilgrim Migration . Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004.
3. Sybil Noyes, Charles Thornton Libby, and Walter Goodwin Davis. Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire
4. “John Wood Alias Atwood of Plymouth, Massachusetts,” by Alicia Crane Williams. Mayflower Descendant: A Journal of Pilgrim Genealogy and History. Boston, MA: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1899- . (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010) volume 44, Page 137-140.< AmericanAncestors >; (document attached)
5. https://greenerpasture.com/Ancestors/ShowPics/14638 No son named Richard found in any valid source documents
6. http://www.tillmangenealogy.org/getperson.php?personID=I79&tree=tre...
7. Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Jul 24 2018, 5:58:26 UTC
8. Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Jul 24 2018, 6:20:44 UTC
9. https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=bonnar&id=I37968
10. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/175243304/richard-masterson
11. https://richisonfamily.com/getperson.php?personID=I4059&tree=richison Locusts certainly are not a new problem. In her book, The Mayflower, Kate Caffrey wrote, "In May 1633, Plymouth had a plague of locusts." Described as flies as large as wasps, the locusts "came out of holes in the ground and swarmed through the woods, where they ate the green things and made such a constant yelling noise as made all the woods ring of them, and ready to deaf the hearers. The Indians said sickness would follow. It did. All through June, July and August the smallpox raged. More than twenty died, including Thomas Blossom and Richard Masterson."