Frances Pynchon

Not a known child of Henry Samuel Sanford & Enid Maud Percy

Frances "Francis"

• Pynchon formerly [surname unknown] aka Smith, Sanford, Samford
• Born about 1588 in England
• Daughter of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
• Wife of Unknown Smith — married before 1605 in England
• Wife of Tobias Sandford — married before 1621 in England
• Wife of William Pynchon — married 1630 in Dorchester, Massachusetts Bay Colony, America
• Mother of Henry Smith
• Died 10 Oct 1657 in Wraysbury, Buckinghamshire, England

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brief biography

Some years after William Pynchon lost his wife Ann Andrews to scurvy, 1630, he married the Widow Frances Sanford Smith. She was described by Eliot as the “grave matron of the church at Dorchester”. She is said to have been a fitting companion for an educated man having the attainments of Mr. Pynchon. Her son by her first marriage, Henry Smith, a “godly, wise young man,” later married William's daughter, Anne, and figured prominently in the settlement that became Springfield.

Though the exact date is unknown, William Pynchon and his wife, returned to England. His daughter, and son-in-law Henry Smith, followed early the next year. None ever returned. It is unknown if the Bay Colony prosecution was dropped or if his departure was in continued defiance of the authorities, but he never made a satisfactory recantation of his “errors”.

William’s wife died on October 10th, 1657 at Wraisbury, on the Thames, near famous Runnymede, in County Buckinghamshire. William died at the same place on October 29, 1662 (aged 72).

Concerns

Date and place of death have also been (erroneously?) reported to be:

• 1657 in Buckinghamshire (now Berkshire?), England
• October 10, 1657 at Staines (now Staines-upon-Thames), Surrey, England

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Family

Perhaps this could shed some light on this person:
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Unknown-35772

Unknown Origin

Nothing is known about the origin of Frances. We do not know her maiden name, where or when she was born, or even her first husband - only that he was a man named _____ Smith and together they had a son, Henry Smith (b c. 1605).[1][2]

Her age is given in 1630 as 42 years on the passenger list of the Mary and John, placing her birth date at about 1587 or 1588.[3] Frances's third husband, William Pynchon, was born about 1590, supporting this date. Second Marriage, Dorchester, England

Our first record of Frances is as the wife of her 2nd husband, Tobias Sandford (aka, Sanford or Samforde), mentioned in his will, written on 19 May 1621.[1]

Tobie Sandford was a physician of Dorchester and died on 21st August 1623. The will refers to her son, Henry Smith, who had not yet reached the age of 21:

whereas there remayneth in my handes the sume of threescore and tenn poundes given by my nowe wife & mee to Henry Smith her sonne to bee received by him at his full age of one and twentie yeares for the securing /\ (thereof) of that to him at that tyme, I give to my welbeloved freinde Mr John White Minster of the Gospell of Christe in Dorchester aforesaide all my goodes Chatells leases and debtes due to me from any person or persons to bee by him the saide Mr John White required,levied, and received ymployed ;to and for the uses hereafter following, and none otherwise; requesting earnestlie that by my saide friende suche order maie bee taken as out of my whole estate the saide Henry Smith maie receive full satisfaction of that full and whole sume of three score and tenn poundes aforesaide at the tyme appointed aforesaide. And yf yt shall please god out to take out of this worlde the above named Henrye Smithe before hee shall accomplishe his full age of one and twentie yeares aforesaide, then I appointe and my will is that fortie poundes of the saide three score and tenn poundes shalbe given and paid to my above mentioned welbeloved nowe wife Frances Sandford[4]

One of the overseers of this will was William Whiteway the elder, father of the diarist. His son mentions both her husband Tobie's death, and three years later her departure from Dorchester, England:

’1630, 10 Aprill The beginning of this moneth, many of this towne went to plante in New England and among the rest, Mrs Sandford.[5]

Tobias's will suggests that he was a member of the inner coterie of friends and prominent supporters of Rev John White, the 'puritan' rector of Holy Trinity, and founder of the Dorchester Company. The Whiteways were both friends and supporters of Rev. John White; William Whiteway, the diarist, was related to him by marriage. The other overseers of the will were Richard Burye, a grocer and apothecary and Robert Bushrod, a haberdasher, both members of prominent Dorchester families.

The Whiteways and Burye were all members of the Dorchester Company.[6] Robert Bushrod, the third overseer, may have been the brother of Richard Bushrod, a haberdasher and merchant adventurer, and a founding member of the Company . [7] [8]

Sailed to Dorchester, MA in 1630 on Mary and John

With her close connection to the Reverend John White, travel with his group from England, and early settlement in Dorchester, the widowed Frances Sandford and her son Henry Smith were surely passengers on the Mary and John.[3] [9]

’According to Anderson, Reverend John Eliot kept a unique set of records and within those records we find, "William Pynchon, whose first wife died after only a few months in New England, 'after some years married Mrs. Francis Samford, a grave matron of the church at Dorchester.' This had further ramifications, in that Henry Smith, a son of Francis Samford by an earlier husband, married Pynchon's daughter Ann, and thus became one of the leading citizens of his father-in-law's new settlement at Springfield.'[10]

Settlement of Springfield, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Frances' husband William Pynchon scouted and settled Springfield, Massachusetts, as a likely business-and-farming friendly location, at the highest navigable point of the Connecticut River, in the fertile river valley. He brought with him Frances, her son Henry and his wife, William's daughter Ann, and William's son John Pynchon and his family.

Husband's Heresy, Return to England, and Death

While the town, family, and their commerce thrived, William made the error of publishing a little religious book, The Meritorious Price of Our Redemption, which the religious authorities felt struck at the heart of their religious beliefs; they ordered it burned in 1651, questioning William in court, and ordering his return to court for further examination. Rather than fight it out, and quite likely lose, he quietly transferred his New England property to his son John, and returned to England in 1652, taking Frances with him, followed by her son Henry Smith.[11]

Death and Legacy

Frances died October 10, 1657, Wraysbury, Buckinghamshire, England[12] [13] [14] [15]

Research Notes

First Husband Possibilities

One possibility is that the first husband was an Henry Smith, a cleric. Records in Dorchester contain the following two entries.

• The Inrolement of Aprrentices within the Borough of Dorchester
• 30 Nov 1620 Henry SMITH son of Henry SMITH, Clerk deceased, master John COKE, of Dorchester merchant, apprenticed for 9 years[16]
• Admission of Freemen to the Company of Freemen.
• 30th July 1629, Henry Smythe, mercer, app to Mr John Coke, 2s (shillings)[17]

A Henry Smith, was also a member of the Dorchester company. He has been suggested by Michael Russell to be the son of Frances Sanford. [18] This is possible but by no means certain.

No Evidence for Name of Spouse or other Children

Her maiden name is not known. We know she married first a Smith by whom she had a son Henry but we don't know the first name of that Smith husband. Nor do we know of any other Smith children. Therefore, we have detached the following:

• spouse Richard Smith-73326
• spouse Henry Smith-45148
• child John Smith-45147
• child Ann Smith-95453 Bosworth

Birth Date probably Not 1567

Some assume a birth year of 1567 (source is a Pedigree Resource File). If so, that would make her twenty-three years older than William Pynchon. Not impossible, just unlikely. Her death is recorded as 10 Oct 1657, which makes it even less likely, for she would have been 90 years old. In 1623, Frances was the mother of a minor, Henry Smith. With a birth year of 1567 she would have been 56 and Henry would have been a very late born child. It would also make her 63 when she left for the New World, instead of 42 which was the age given her the ship passenger log. All the evidence points to a birth date about 1588.

links

• http://josfamilyhistory.com/htm/nickel/griffin/sheldon/whiting/whit...