Jane Pope

Jane, parents unknown, died 1662 as the widow of John Pope. 3 known children. She was not the same person as Jane Alderman

Family

John Pope was born about 1608, based on his date of marriage. His origins are unknown. He departed Weymouth, Dorset for New England on the ship Recovery March 31, 1634. His first residence was Dorchester, Massachusetts.

John and his wife Jane's known children were:[1]

1. Patience Pope, born say 1633; m by 1658 Edward Blake
2. John Pope, born Dorchester June 30, 1635 (ref NEHGR 5:333); no further record
3. Nathan Pope, died Dorchester July 1641 (ref NEHGR 5:333)

In 1636 John Pope and his wife Jane were among the signers to the First Church Covenant at Dorchester, Massachusetts. The Pope houselot was in the area of that of Roger Clapp. "He died in Dorchester on the 2nd day of the 12th month, 1646. His will was proved the 4th day of the 5th month, 1646. In his will, he gives his wife, Jane Pope, as follows: 'All my land and my house in the Great Lots. Thirty-five acres in the Great Lots. Two acres of meadow on the Calves Pasture. Nine acres by the mill. Nine acres by the Twenty-acre Lot. Also, twelve acres of land I bought of Mr. Bourne. My right in the all the Common Meadow. Also, all I own at Mr. Stoughton's Great Lots, at the end of the meadow. Unto my daughter, my dwelling-house and ground belonging to it.' He mentions a brother, Thomas Pope, and a brother-in-law, Joshua.

Neither John Pope Sr.'s will (he died in 1646, will proved in 1649), or his widow Jane Pope's will, dated April 18, 1662, mention any children except a daughter, Patience. They had a son, John, born June 30, 1635, who undoubtedly died before his father, and a son Nathan who was born and died in 1641

Disputed Origins

Anderson writes in The Great Migration Project AncestryImage that Pope claimed, without citing evidence, that Jane, wife of John Pope, of Dorchester, was the daughter of Nicholas Clapp, Sr.. He did have a daughter of the right age, but she married John Alderman, of Salem

Mary Lovering Holman (and Winifred Lovering Holman), Ancestry of Colonel John Harrington Stevens and his wife Frances Helen Miller, 2 volumes (n.p. 1948, 1951) Vol 1 p 278 says she *probably* married Hercules Searle. But Robert Charles Anderson Great Migration Series 2 Vol 1 p 21 says she may have been wife of John Alderman. Quite possibly Jane Clapp daughter of Nicholas Clapp of Sidbury Devon; See the will of John Alderman - he left much of his estate to the Clapp family.

References

• FamilySearch AFN: 8VRC-60
• http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hwbradley/aqwg1128.htm#18130
• Jane Pope Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 Name Jane Pope Event Type Death Death Date 12/11/1662 Death Place Dorchester Massachusetts AncestryImage