Esther Soule

brief biography and family

Esther was born 5 March 1639/1640 in Duxbury, Plymouth, Massachusetts and died on 12 September 1735 in Duxbury, Plymouth, Massachusetts. She is buried in Myles Standish Burying Ground, Duxbury, Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Parents: PHILLIPPE DE LANNOY and his 1st wife, Hester Dewsbury.
The Pilgrim Henry Sampson Society currently shows her as the wife of Samuel Sampson.

Married:

1. in 1669 in Duxbury, Plymouth, Massachusetts to Samuel Sampson (abt 1648-1675). He was the son of Abraham Sampson and was killed in King Philip's War.
2. in 1678 ‎in Duxbury, Plymouth, Massachusetts to John Soule (abt 1632-1707) as his second wife; John was married to Rebecca Simmons first. John Soule was the son of Mayflower Passenger George Soule (1600-1679) and Mary Becket (1605-?).

Children of Esther and Samuel Sampson:

1. Ichabod Sampson
2. Samuel Sampson, Jr. b. 1670

Children of Esther and John Soule:

1. Joseph Soule twin (1679-1763) m. Mary Peterson.
2. Josiah Soule twin (1679-1764) m. Lydia Delano.
3. Joshua Soule (1681-1767) m. Joanna Studley.
4. Miss Soule (abt 1688 -
5. Hannah Soule

notes

• Will of Lt. Sam'l Nash lately recovered 1898 shows "Esther" (wife of Sampson & Soule) as his dau. & not a Delano. The Am. quoted left above to show why errors was made. (Source: The Genealogy, History and Alliances of The American House of Delano, 1621-1899 p. 151). This is a misinterpretation.
• Sampson Genealogy gives: "Samuel, eldest son of Abraham 1st Sampson, b Duxbury 1646 m Esther Delano or De-la-Noye, infer he was the eldest born then from age of his son Samuel." His inventory was taken July 1 1678, exhibited at court held Plymouth July 28 1678, on oath of Esther Sampson, Widow, Amount (pounds) 27-15-6. Court gave order 1678, concerning estate. "The children are but small, and the estate but little, and the court assigns the whole to the Widow excep one acre of meadow which is all the land the saith, Samuel Sampson died possessed of, which acre of meadow is to be reserved for the sons of the said Samuel -- Esther Sampson relict of the said Sampsn is towards marriage with John Soule, and the said Soule and the now Widow are willing that the estate be reserved for the future good of the children." Old Colony records Wills 3-108-120 1678 further perhaps Josiah Soule also, may be a son of Esther if dates reliable.
• John Soule died intestate and Esther Soule, widow, was appointed to administer his estate 14 November 1707. His three daughters or their heirs proposed division of the residuary real estate amongst them since their father "in his lifetime settled all his sons portions in land by deed", and they, the daughters, received but one cow. The settlement was signed by John and Rachel Cobb, Edmund and Rebecca Weston and Adam Wright on behalf of his children born to his wife, Sarah deceased. G.E. Bowman (MD 8:184ff) identifies all of the sons of John and abstracts the deeds of gift to these sons. (Ref: Families of the Pilgrims Shaw, Hubert F.Boston, MA 1956)
• Buried close to the stone wall near Jonathan Alden's family but no other stones immediately about her. (Mrs Charles L. Alden as quoted in http://ghaahd.net/slides/GHAAHD_Page_151.cfm)

content to clean up

controversy

• Aka: Hester / Esther (Delano?/Nash?) She was the widow of Samuel Sampson. John Soule was twice married but did not marry Esther Delano as has been repeatedly published, on the authority that she was the only woman in the colony at that time who could have been his wife. The first wife of John Soule was REBECCA SIMMONS, daughter of Moses and Sarah Simmons. She died and he married second, in 1678, ESTHER NASH, daughter of Lieut. Samuel Nash, born March 6, 1638, the widow of Samuel Sampson, and the following has been found as corroborative evidence: "She is toward marriage with John Soule, and the said Soule and the now widow are willing that the estate be reserved for the future good of the children." These children were her two sons, Samuel and Ichabod Sampson. Probably Elizabeth "Dillino" and Mary Howland were her daughters, as they were mentioned in the will of Samuel Nash as his "granddaughters." Thomas Dillino and John Soule, called his "Good Friends," were the overseers of his will. (My Southern Family)
• Esther's 2nd marriage was to Samuel Samson who begot Samuel Samson who begot Obadiah Samson. Her first marriage was to John Saule, which was John's second marriage after Rebecca Simmons' death. No kids here, or so the line says. (Findagrave)
• Contrary to several sources, this Esther Delano did not marry John Soule. (Werelate)
• This Samuel Sampson was killed in King Philip's war, and a record in the colony shows that in 1678 his widow, Esther Sampson, was married to John Soule, thus proving positively that the wife of John Soule--his second wife--was Esther (Nash) Sampson and not Esther de la Noye. This record of somewhat recent discovery has disproved the long distributed statement concerning the wife of John Soule, the eldest son of the Pilgrim, and shows the danger of "jumping at conclusions" without basing such assumptions upon authentic records." Src: http://www.krittersnkids.com/gen/Soule/RR01/RR01_002.htm {dead link}
• NASH - SAMPSON- SOULE In Winsor's History of Duxbury p 301 is the statement that Abraham Sampson the first Abraham married a daughter of Lieut Samuel Nash Having last spring occasion to look np something connected with the Sampson family I sought verification for the statement in the will of Samuel Nash and what was my surprise to flnd mention of his two grandsons Samuel Sampson's two sons Samuel and Ichabocl his two grand daughters Elizabeth Uillano and Mary Howland and his daughter Martha Clarke His daughter Martha to be executrix and his two friends Thomas Dillino and John Soule to be overseers Old Colony Court Orders Vol 4 part 2 p 112 Samuel Sampson was killed in Philip's War and a reference to the Old Colony Records shows that in 1678 his widow Esther Sampson married John Soule thus proving positively that the wife of John Soule son of George Soule of the Mayflower was Esther Nash daughter of Lieut Samuel Nash and not Esther de a Noyé as has been so long conjectured SUSAN AUGUSTA SMITH North Pembroke Mass Genealogist (NEHGS, Vol 52, p 76)
• The first wife of John Soule was REBECCA SIMMONS, daughter of Moses and Sarah Simmons. She died and he married second, in 1678, ESTHER NASH, daughter of Lieut. Samuel Nash, born March 6, 1638, the widow of Samuel Sampson, and the following has been found as corroborative evidence: "She is toward marriage with John Soule, and the said Soule and the now widow are willing that the estate be reserved for the future good of the children." These children were her two sons, Samuel and Ichabod Sampson. Probably Elizabeth "Dillino" and Mary Howland were her daughters, as they were mentioned in the will of Samuel Nash as his "granddaughters." Thomas Dillino and John Soule, called his "Good Friends," were the overseers of his will. This Samuel Sampson was killed in King Philip's war, and a record in the colony shows that in 1678 his widow, Esther Sampson, was married to John Soule, thus proving positively that the wife of John Soule--his second wife--was Esther (Nash) Sampson and not Esther de la Noye. This record of somewhat recent discovery has disproved the long distributed statement concerning the wife of John Soule, the eldest son of the Pilgrim, and shows the danger of "jumping at conclusions" without basing such assumptions upon authentic records. This John Soule died (???), 1707, aged 75 years. She died Sept. 12, 1733, aged 95 years. Their gravestones are standing in the old Duxbury cemetery, leaning and weather-beaten. (Ridion {see citations} as quoted in the Sprague database {see links})
• Notes for Daughter Nash: Notes and Queries, Nash-Sampson-Soule, 1898, NEHGR Vol 52, pg 76: "NASH-SAMPSON-SOULE.--In Winsor's Hist. of Duxbury, p. 801, is the statement that Abraham Sampson--the first Abraham--m. a dau. of Lieut. Samuel Nash. Having last spring occasion to look up something connected with the Sampson family, I sought verification for the statement in the will of Samuel Nash, and what was my surprise to find mention of his two "Grandson (Samuel Sampson's two sons) Samuel and Ichabod," his two grand-daus. Elizabeth "Dillano" and Mary Howland, and his dau. Martha Clarke. His dau. Martha to be executrix and his two friends Thomas "Dillano" and John Soule to be "overseers." (Old Col. Ct. Orders, Vol 4, pt 2, p. 113).
• Samuel Sampson was killed in Phillip's War and a reference to the Old Col. Records shows that in 1678 his widow Esther Sampson married John Soule, thus proving positively that the wife of John Soule, son of George Soule of the Mayflower, was Esther Nash, dau. of Lieut. Samuel Nash, and not "Esther de la Noye" as has been long conjectured. Susan Augusta Smith, Genealogist. North Pembroke, Mass. "
• "NASH-SAMPSON-SOULE--In the Register, Vol. Lii. (1898), pg 76 [See above], a "Genealogist" writes of the families Nash,Sampson and Soule, and I would like to correct a misstatement there made regarding the will of Samuel Nash, of Duxbury. His will dated 2 June 1681, says: "Item I give & bequeath vnto my deceased Grandsons Samuel Samsons two sons (Viz) Samuel Samson & Ichabod Samson all my housing" etc. (see Mass Archives, Plym. Col. Records, Wills and Inventories, Vol 4, Pt II, pages 227-8.) * All authorities say that Abraham Sampson m. the dau. of Samuel Nash (her name not known), and that their son Samuel Sampson m. Esther_____, and had two sons, Samuel and Ichabod. (see Giles Memorial, page 378.) Esther, the widow of Samuel Sampson, m. in 1678, John Soule. It seems, therefore, that Esther could not have been the dau. of Lt. Samuel Nash, but the wife of his grandson, Samuel Sampson. The conjecture that Esther was the dau. of Philip Delano is probably right, but I should like confirmation of this. A.H.T., Roxbury, Mass." (Kaherl)
• More About Daughter Nash:
• Source 1: 1898, Notes&Queries, NEHGS 52:76
• Source 2: A.Sampson in Amer. by Hutchinson (LDS)
• Source 3: Grt.Mig. (Saml.Nash) NEHGS ONLINE Vol I-III

scandal

• on 1 October 1661 Abraham Pierce Jr. confessed that he had falsely accused "Rebeckah Alden and Hester Delanoy" of being pregnant [PCR 4:7]; probably m. (1) by about 1670 Samuel Samson, son of Abraham and _____ (Nash) Samson, and if so m. (2) by 1679 John Soule [Muriel Curtis Cushing, Philip Delano of the "Fortune" 1621 ... (Plymouth 1999), pp. 4-5 and arguments presented there].

Citations

1. Vital Records of Duxbury, Massachusetts.
2. Genealogical Register of Plymouth Families By William T. Davis. (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore 1975).
3. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633 [database online] Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 2000. Original data: Robert Charles Anderson. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633, vols. 1-3. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995.
4. The New England historical and genealogical register, Volume 52 By Henry Fitz-Gilbert Waters, New England Historic Genealogical Society
5. [S123] Mayflower Families: Soule, George-4 gen., Wakefield, Robert S., editor, (Plymouth, Mass.: General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1995), page 3..
6. G.T. Ridlon Sr, "History, Biography and Genealogy of the Families Named Soule, Sowle and Soulis, Volume I", (Journal Press. Maine. 1926), pages 197-199.
7. "Ancient Landmarks of Plymth" by William T. Davis pp.224-9. The American Genealogist Vol 15 p 166-167. History of Duxbury, Plymth, Mass pp 300-1."
8. The Genealogy, History and Alliances of The American House of Delano, 1621-1899 p. 151