Lucretia ‘Lucie’ Pell

Biography

Her first name (spelled Lucie) appeared in a contract made in July, 1628 by her husband Francis Brewster, Chirurgeon [surgeon] to apprentice at Bristol, England John Anthonie for an 8-year term. [1] The Brewster family appeared in a 1641 census of New Haven [2] so the family crossed the Atlantic by 1640. (Said census data wasn’t recorded until 1643 but it was compiled as early as 1640-41.) [3]

Lucy m. (2nd) Dr. Thomas Pell of New Haven ca. 1647 after husband Francis died at sea. [1] They removed to Fairfield (CT) by 1652 or earlier. [1]

Lucy was deceased when Thomas Pell made his will on Sept. 21-1669. [1]

Family

Dr. Francis Brewster, of New Haven, Connecticut, son of Francis Brewster, d. presumably lost on the Lambertons's ship the "Phanton Ship" ca. 1646/47; An inventory of his estate was taken 30 Dec. 1647; m. Lucretia "Lucy" (Unknown). Dr. Francis Brewster was a chirurgeon, the modern day equivalent of a barber-surgeon. Lucretia Brewster m 2nd between 10 Mar 1646/7 and 7 Dec 1647 to Thomas Pell.

Francis was the first Brewster to come to America, He was one of the original settlers of the New Haven Colony and was a barber surgeon who was originally from Bristol, England. His wife was Lucy and in the colony wealth census of 1638, his household numbered 9 members which probably included servants. The family estate of 1,000 pounds sterling was a great deal of money. Mark Simmons has determined 4 children to date, leaving 3 undetermined. Francis was a planter in the New World. In February 1646 a ship constructed during the winter, under the direction of Capt. Lamberton, left New Haven loaded with furs, crops, and other New World materials for England, but was never heard from again. There was a sizable passenger list including Francis Brewster. Lucy subsequently married Dr. Thomas Pell and moved to New Jersey. Two of Francis' daughters testified at the New Haven witch trials."

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Brewster-432

Francis Brewster[4] migrated to New England, settling at New Haven in 1640.[5] He was known as "Mr.," and his wife was "Mrs."[6]

Francis was a chirurgeon, and perhaps in the barber surgeon's guild in England; he had business relations with people in Bristol, England.[6] In a bond [note] made by Brewster on Jan. 30, 1642/1643 to pay 33 Pounds to a draper Thomas Shewell of Bristol, England, Brewster identified himself as Chirurgion late of Tralee … Ireland, now of Quilla Piack [New Haven] in New England. [7]

His wife's name was Lucy.[5] In the 1641 list, he is said to have had a family of 9.[8]

1. Nathaniel Brewster[5][9]
2. Joseph b. 12 Oct 1628, Bristol , England ; chr. 12 Oct 1628, Bristol, England who on August 4, 1646 confessed to drinking sack in his father's cellar.[6] Probably left New England after his father's death, in Cromwell's Navy on June 1, 1653.[10]
3. Elizabeth b. 1630, Bristol , England , m. _____ White. She testified in the 1654 slander suit.[6]
4. Mary b. 1633, Bristol , England , m. ______ French. She also testified in the 1654 slander suit.[6]
5. (disputed) John Brewster (mentioned in castle lease)[9]
6. Gillian Brewster (24 years old at granting of castle lease) [9]
7. Elizabeth Bunce Brewster , b. ca. 1625/1630, Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut; d. 1690, Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut; bur. Riverside Cem, Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut. [citation needed]

In January of 1645/6, Francis Brewster boarded George Lamberton's ship at New Haven; heading for London. The ship went down and all seventy passengers on board perished.[5] It became known as the "Phantom Ship."[6]

The Inventory of his estate was taken December 30, 1647.[11] His estate was probated on February 1, 1647/8, along with the estates of others who were the ill-fated ship.[12] He was one of a few settlers who had an estate of L1000, only slightly less than Theophilus Eaton, the Governor.[6]

His widow married Thomas Pell sometime in 1647.[12] She had a prominent place (third seat) in the church on March 10, 1646/7.[6]

Pell appointed Nathaniel Brewster (then in England) as his attorney to collect a debt that was owed to his father Francis, Pell becoming very influential in Nathaniel's life when later the people of New London, Connecticut requested Pell to persuade Nathaniel to become their minister.[6]

Francis Brewster property in Mr. Newman’s Quarter

Source: Great Migration Newsletter, Vol. 13, p. 20. (2004) “Focus on New Haven Land.”

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Research notes

2019 July 6 t'h p' m' pacific time,

... according to governor William Bradford, and in only one of the three editions published, which gov' Bradford had written, though published at a later date than the manuscript i' e'; "The Virginia Plantation" The Virginia Colony etc', he {Bradford} states therein that Lucretia Brewster; a daughter of William Brewster "The Elder" of Scrooby, whom was born in England, and arrived in Plymouth later than 1620 was wed to Francis Bruster {also spelled Brewster} a merchant of Bristol.

D'r Prof' Stephen E' M' Diamond, L' L' D'.

References

1. “The Family of Rev. Nathaniel Brewster” by D.L. Jacobus. The American Genealogist. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .) < AmericanAncestors > Volume 13 (1936). Page 154-163.
2. Colonial families of Long Island, New York and Connecticut, being the ancestry & kindred of Herbert Furman Seversmith., vol.1. | HathiTrust Digital Library. Page 358. < Hathitrust >
3. Torrey, Clarence Almon. Torrey’s New England Marriages Prior to 1700 (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore, 1985) PELL, Thomas (?1612-1669) & Lucy (____) [BREWSTER], w Francis; ca 1647; New Haven {Tuttle liv; NYGBR 6:59, 46:6, 7; Bennett etc. (1931) 19; TAG 12:207, 13:8; Reg. 57:197; Fairfield Fam. 1:101, 471; Fairfield Prob. 21; Sv. 1:244; Whipple-Wright, Chart betw 68 & 69; Thomas (#4) 458; Yates-Terry 16; Barlow Anc. 184} < AmericanAncestors >
4. “Connecticut Witches.” New Haven, CT: Families of Ancient New Haven. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as New Haven genealogical magazine. vols. I-VIII. Compiled by Donald Lines Jacobus. 8 vols. Rome, New York: Clarence D. Smith, 1923-1932. Page 955. < AmericanAncestors >
5. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Jones-16369
6. Possibly her baptism. “ Lucye Jones baptism on 12 Jan 1596 (born 1596), daughter of Richarde Jones, at Christ Church, Bristol, England. < Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 61666 #1727144 (accessed 27 August 2023)
7. Great Migration Newsletter, V.1-20.(Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2018.) Vol. 13, p. 20. (2004) “Focus on New Haven Land.” < AmericanAncestors > “…. Thomas Pell having married the widow sometime in 1647.”
8. http://www.jamestowne.org/brent---brooks.html Brewster, Frances - A9310; born 1600 England, died 1647 New Haven, CT; (Barbers' Guild member). accessed 13 September 2021
9. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Brewster-432
10. “No Witch Trials in Colonial Eastchester: Sarah Sanford Shute and Nathaniel Brewster.” By Richard Forliano, Eastchester Town Historian. < link > Thomas Pell, who sold a large portion of his land to his Fairfield neighbors, knew firsthand about the damage from witchcraft trials. The wife of Thomas Basset, who fought with Pell during the Pequot War, was executed in Stratford, Connecticut in 1651. By 1653 Pell and his new bride, the widow Lucy Brewster, were living in Fairfield. There the first wife of Roger Knapp was convicted of and executed in 1653.5