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REV. LEONARD METCALF of Tatterford
Parents:
Leonard Metcalf married Amy Unknown.
Leonard was he rector the of the parish of Tatterford in Norfolk. [Ref]
Children of Leonard Metcalf and Amy Unknown:
MICHAEL METCALF (1587-1664) of Tatterford, Norwich and Dedham
Parents: Rev. Leonard Metcalf and Amy Unknown
Michael Metcalf was born on 17 Jun 1587 in Tatterford, Norfolk. He died on 27 Dec 1664. [Ref][Ref] He married first Sarah Elwyn on 13 Oct 1616 in Hingham, Norfolkshire. [Ref][Ref] He married second the widow Mary Pidge of Roxbury on 13 Aug 1645. [Ref]
Sarah was born in the adjoining town of Waynham [?] on 17 Jun 1593. [Ref] She was the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Elwyn and the granddaughter of Thomas Elwyn. [Ref] She died on 21 (12) 1644 in Dedham. [Ref]
Michael was made a freeman in Tatterford on 13 Oct 1816. [Ref]
Michael was a dornix, or embroidery weaver, in Norwich. [Ref] A devoted Puritan, he was persecuted under Bishop Wren and lost his property under a star chamber fine. [Ref] He wrote [cited in Ref]:
I was persecuted in the land of my father's sepulchres, for not bowing at the name of Jesus, and observing other ceremonies in religion, forced upon me at the instance of Bishop Wren of Norwich and his chancellor Dr. Corbet, whose violent measures troubled me in the Bishop's Court and returned me into the High Commissioners' Court. Suffering many times for the cause of religion, I was forced, for the sake of the liberty of my conscience, to flee from my wife and children, to go into New England; taking ship for the voyage at London the 17th of Sept 1636; being by tempests tossed up and down the seas till the Christmas following; then veering about to Plymouth in Old England; in which time I met with many sore afflictions.
Leaving the ship, I went down to Yarmouth, in Norfolk county, whence I shipped myself and family, to come to New England; sailed 15th April, 1637, and arrived three days before midsummer, with my wife, nine children, and a servant.
One of the charges later brought against Bishop Wren by a committee of Parliament was that while he held the See of Norwich, "3000 of his Majesties subjects, many of them whom used trades, spinning, weaving, knitting, making cloth, stuff, stockings, and other manufactures of wool; some of them setting a hundred poor people at work ... transported themselves to Holland ... " and "other parts, beyond the seas," because of his "superstition and tyranny." [Quote in Ref]
A document concerning people interested in leaving England says: [Ref]
April 8th 1637. The examination of Michill Metcalfe of Norwich, Dornix, weavear, aged 45 yeares and Sarah his wif, aged 39 yeares with 8 children, Michill : Thomas : Mary : Sarah : Elizabeth : Martha : Jane : and Rebeca : and his servant Thomas Comberbach, aged 16 yeares, are desirous to passe to Boston in New England to inhabit.
He immediately settled in Dedham, where he was a proprietor on 18 Jul 1637. [Ref] He took the oath of allegiance and was a freeman on 14 Jul 1637. [Ref] He was admitted to the church on 24 Aug 1639; Sarah was admitted on 11 Oct 1639. [Ref] He was a selectman at Dedham in 1641. [Ref] He was a school master in Dedham. [Ref] He had a clay pit on Dedham island where bricks were manufactured. [Ref]
In 1656 Michael Metcalf agreed with the town of Dedham to be school master for £20. [Ref]
He signed his will on 15 Nov 1664. [Ref] His estate was proved and inventoried on 1 Feb 1664/5. [Ref] His property was valued at about £364. [Ref]
Children of Michael Metcalf and Sarah Elwyn:
MICHAEL METCALF (1620-1654) of Dedham
Parents: Michael Metcalf and Sarah Elwyn
Michael Metcalf was born on 29 Aug 1620 in St. Benedicts, Norwich, Norfolkshire. [Ref][Ref] He died on 27 Mar 1654 in Dedham. [Ref] He married Mary Fairbanks on 2 Mar 1644. [Ref]
Michael Metcalf is on both the 14 May 1640, the 18 May 1642 and the __ May 1645 lists of freemen. [Ref]
Inventory was taken on his estate on 31 (1) 1654. [Ref] It amounted to £164.09.10. [Ref] Administration was granted to his widow Mary on 26 Apr 1654. [Ref] The court refers to five children. [Ref]
Children of Michael Metcalf and Mary Fairbanks:
MICHAEL METCALF of Dedham (1645 - 1693)
Parents: Michael Metcalf and Mary Fairbanks
Michael Metcalf was born on 21 (11) 1644 in Dedham. [Ref][Ref says 22 Jan 1645. ][Ref says 21 Jan] He died on 1 or 2 Sep 1693. [Ref][Ref, p. 18, 1 Sep] He married Elizabeth Fuller on 17 Sep 1672. [Ref][Ref, p. 13] She died on 24 Oct 1732. [Ref]
Michael Metcalf is on the 15 May 1690 Dedham list of freemen. [Ref]
Children of Michael Metcalf and Elizabeth Fuller:
ELEAZER METCALF (b. 1685) of Wrentham
Parents: Michael Metcalf and Elizabeth Fuller
Eleazer Metcalf was born on 12 Feb 1684/5 in Dedham. He married the widow Judith (Rocket or Rockwood) George on 15 Feb 1709/10 in Wrentham. [Ref says Judith George]
Children of Eleazer Metcalf and Judith Rockwood:
ABIGAIL METCALF
Parents: Eleazer Metcalf [Ref, p. 453] and Judith Rocket (Rocket or Rockwood)
Abigail was born on 18 Jan 1712/3 in Wrentham. [Ref] Abigail Metcalf married Capt. Simon Slocum in Wrentham. [Ref, p. 453]
In his will, Abigail's father Eleazer says, "In consideration of the parental love and affection that I bear toward my well-beloved son-in-law Simon Slocomb of Wrentham, clothier, and for their more comfortable subsistence, freely give unto unto said Simon Slocomb and Abigail, his wife, as £80 as part of their portion of my estate after my decease, twenty-six acres of land in Wrentham." [Ref, p. 453]
References
Allen, John Kermott, "Thomas Bancroft of Dedham and Reading, Mass. and Some of his Descendants," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 94, 1940, 215.
Baldwin, Thomas Williams, Bacon Genealogy: Michael Bacon of Dedham, 1640 and his descendants, Cambridge, Mass, unknown, 1915.
Baldwin, Thomas W., comp., Vital Records of Wrentham, Massachusetts to the Year 1850, Boston 1910.
Cutter, William Richard, Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of the State of Massachusetts, Lewis Historical Publishing Company, New York, 1910.
Editors, "Extract from Dedham Records, 1656," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 10, 1856, 282.
Editors, "Diary of Rev. Samuel Dexter," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 14, 1860, p. 112.
Editors, "Founders of New England," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 14, 1860, 297 - 346.
Harris, Luther Metcalf, "Metcalf Family," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 6, 1852, 171.
Kingsbury, Addison, A Pendulous Edition of Kingsbury Genealogy, Pittsburgh, Murdoch-Kerr Press, 1901.
Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850. Online Database: NewEnglandAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2007.
Paige, Lucius, R., "List of Freemen, " New England Historical and Genealogical Register 3, 1849, 89-96, 187-194, 239-246, 345-352.
Pulsifer, David, trans., "Records of Boston," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, various issues.
Slocum, Charles Elihu, History of the Slocums, Slocumbs and Slocombs of America, Defiance, Ohio: Slocum, 1908.
Trask, William, "Abstracts from the Earliest Wills on Record in the County of Suffolk, Mass.," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, various issues.
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