John Atwood, Asst. Gov.

Not the same as John "the Leather Seller" Wood

Merge caution: There were two men named John Atwood in early Plymouth.

This profile represents the more prominent of the two who served as an Assistant to the Plymouth Colony Governors and is found in various governmental posts. He died in 1644 without issue.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Atwood_(colonial_administrator)

John Atwood (1576–1644) was an assistant governor of the Plymouth Colony, in the future US state of Massachusetts, in 1638. He married Anne Lee, but they did not have any children; Anne died in Plymouth in about 1654. While he appears to have been a merchant in England before coming to Plymouth, Atwood's reasons for emigrating have never been explained. He was in America at least by 1637, and possibly as early as 1635.

Will of John Atwood d. before Feb 1644
Names “my brother and sister Lee and their two children Ann & Mary”

Source: England Historical and Genealogical Register Vol 4. p. 173 < GoogleBooks >

Biography

From https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Atwood-10

John Atwood was born about 1580 in England. He was "of London" prior to coming to Plymouth.[1] John's sister is Mary (Atwood) Lee.

Disputed origins: The birth date, origins, and parents of John Atwood are unknown. Elijah Francis Atwood in his book Ye Atte Wode Annals made him to be a son of Nicholas Wood and his wife Olive Buck.[2] However, no evidence of this identification was given. A more recent treatment of this family came to the conclusion that there is no evidence whatsoever that John was the son of Nicholas Atwood. [3]

Life in New England

John Atwood migrated to Plymouth Colony about 1636.[4]

He was one of the seven Assistants to the Governor (magistrates) in 1638. He was involved with the financial affairs of the colony from 1641 until his death in 1644. It was costly for the Pilgrims to make the journey from England and Holland and to establish themselves in the wilderness. They had incurred a massive amount of debt to a group of English, who were called "the Merchant Adventurers". John Atwood was described as a "godly man, singularly endowed with the grace of patience". [5] [6]

He died in Plymouth Colony in 1644.[7] His will was probated 27 Feb 1644.

John mentioned his "Brother and sister Lee", and their two children, Ann and Mary, in his will. Mary (Atwood) Lee, his sister, had married Robert Lee.

Family

It has been claimed without any known evidence that John Atwood's wife was Joan Atwood

However, the wills of both John Atwood[8] and his wife Ann[9] show that John's wife was Ann Lee.

John Atwood mentioned his "many" nieces and nephews in his will, but he did not name any children, and his widow Ann didn't mention any children in her will. As far as is known, John Atwood did not have any children. Please do not attach children to this profile without (1) providing firm evidence and (2) discussing it with the profile managers. Mary Atwood Lee and Phillip Atwood have been detached as children.

Despite being baptized as John Woode, he apparently went by the name Atwood, for this is the name he uses in his will prepared in 1643 and is also the name that Governor William Bradford uses when referring to him in his book Of Plymouth Plantation. '

• He married Anne Lee, but they did not have any children; Anne died in Plymouth in about 1654. While he appears to have been a merchant in England before coming to Plymouth, Atwood's reasons for emigrating have never been explained. He was in America at least by 1637, and possibly as early as 1635.
• Atwood apparently had contact with colonists in Plymouth before he left England, because in 1633 Walter Harris signed a contract with him in London to become an indentured servant. In the contract Walter was expected to go from England to the Plymouth Colony and then work for a colonist named John Doane. John Doane became an Assistant Governor in Plymouth in 1633. Thomas Roberts is mentioned as being a servant to John Atwood in 1637 as are John Long and Richard Clark on 24 Oct 1638.
• It appears that Atwood was in Plymouth at least by 1637 as there is a reference to him in Davis' Ancient Landmarks of Plymouth:
• "As nearly as can be ascertained, the remainder of the land fronting on the north side of North Street, below the westerly boundary of the garden lot east of the Winslow house, was occupied by Thomas Prence as a place of residence while he was Governor of the colony, for the first time in 1634, and sold by him in 1637 to John Atwood. After the death of Mr. Atwood, which occurred in 1644, his widow, Ann Atwood, sold it in 1649 to Benjamin Vermayes." (Benjamin Vermayes was the husband of Mercy Bradford, Governor Bradford's daughter.)
• John Atwood became an Assistant Governor in Plymouth in 1638. This position to which he was elected by other colonists who had taken the Oath of a Freeman indicates that he was viewed as a person of stature within the colony.

Plymouth Adventurers

• Atwood became a mediator in the ongoing dispute between Governor Bradford and his Plymouth Colony partners with the London owners of the Plymouth Company (the Plymouth Adventurers) over the amount owed to each party as a result of trade goods (mainly beaver pelts and other furs) that had been shipped to London. In his history Bradford states:

"Mr. Shereley being weary of this conrtoversie, and desirous of an end, (as well as them selves) write to Mr. John Atwode and Mr. William Collier, two of the inhabitants of this place, and of his speatiall acquaintance, and desired them to be a means to bring this business to an end, by advising and counselling the partners here..

• James Sherley was the Treasurer of the Plymouth Adventurers in London. This was a consortium of investors who financed the Plymouth Colony. The colonists had been shipping goods and products back to London to repay their loans, but the Plymouth Colony partners in America felt that they had not been getting adequate accounting for the sale of their goods in England; in short, they felt they were being cheated by their London partners. After "diverse days" spent on this matter, John Atwood was finally able to get the partners in London and Plymouth to agree to a compromise. It took two years, however, before the situation was finally resolved in 1642.
• Atwood did not live long in his new home in Plymouth, for he died less than ten years after coming to America. It is not known precisely when he died—it was sometime between the date of his will, 20 Oct 1643, and the date that his will was probated on 5 June 1644. E. F. Atwood provides a transcript of his will in Ye Atte Wode Annals, and his wife Ann is named his sole executrix to whom I will and bequeath all the rest of my estate." His will was witnessed "by William Bradford and Robert Hicks. His wife, Ann (Lee) died in 1654.

References

• Atwood, Charles, History of the Atwood Family in England and the United States, to which is Appended a History of the Tenney Family, 1888
• Atwood, Elijah Francis, Ye Atte Wode Annals, Sisseton, SD: Atwood Publishing Co., June 1928 Bradford, William, Bradford’s History of Plymouth Plantation, 1606-1646, edited by William T. Davis, New York: Scribner’s, 1920
• Davis, William T., Ancient Landmarks of Plymouth, Part I, Historical Sketch of Titles and Estates, Part II, Genealogical Register of Plymouth Families, Boston, A. Williams & Co., 1883
• Shurtleff, Nathaniel B. and Pulsifer, David (eds.), Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England, New York: AMS, 1968, reprint edition

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• An Atwood history, traced to 1220: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=41&ve...
• LDS researcher: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=27&ve...
• Immediate family group and genealogy at: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=11&ve...
• Corroborating research, genealogy, family group sheet, source citations and complete sources, at: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved...
• Ancestry.com research, at: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&cad...
• https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=13&ve...
• The following biographical narrative taken from: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&ve...

References

1. “Genealogical Guide to the Early Settlers of America: With a Brief History of ...” By Henry Whittemore. Page 320. GoogleBooks
2. Mistress Ann Atwood's Will. The Mayflower Descendant. Boston, MA: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1909. Volume XI, p. 200. Available on < GoogleBooks > John Atwood’s widow, will exhibited 3 December 1654 at New Plymouth. Names brother and sister Robert and Mary Lee “and their children.” Estate to nephew William Crow.