Some of the material presented here is based on "A History of the Thurbers," an unpublished, unverified work by Charles H. Thurber. Please note that directly quoted unedited passages from that work will be shown in green. This material is the work of an amateur genealogist and contains much inaccurate and conflicting information and should not be accepted as fact without independent verification. Comments in brackets are mine, and not part of the original work.
The history of the Thurber families in America, including both the
United States and Canada, began with the arrival of John and Priscilla
Thurber and six of their eight children.
John was born about 1625 in a small parish called Market Stainton
in the county of Lincolnshire, England, about 129 miles from London. [This has not been confirmed, and cannot be considered factual.] He
married Priscilla _____(who was born about 1627) about 1645.
John was a dissenter, a term used to describe members of a
number of Protestant denominations which, because they refused to take the
Anglican communion or to conform to the tenets of the restored Church of
England in 1662, were subjected to persecution under various acts passed
by the Cavalier Parliament between 1661 and 1665. Many families moved to
Holland or to the New England Colonies to escape the persecution. John
Thurber, a Baptist, moved first to Holland. It is thought that he being
quite religious may have read the following verse from the Bible: "And he
removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove
not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the LORD
hath made room for us, and
we shall be fruitful in the land." (Genesis 26:22) and decided to Join
Rev John Myles in the Colonies. Holland was very crowded at the time, so
John probably returned to England around 1668, and with his wife, three of
his sons, and three of his daughters and left on the second trip of the
William and Mary to the Colonies. A son and daughter remained behind in
England.
In 1663 Rev. John Myles arrived in Massachusetts with part of his
Baptist congregation of Swansea, Wales, having been driven out for
non-conformity.' He organized the first Baptist Church in Rehoboth, with
seven members. This church was offensive to the Congregational Church and
the members were fined and advised to remove to a place where they would
not prejudice' any existing sect. In 1667 these Baptists incorporated a
town by the name of
Swansea. Among those who signed the agreement, 22 Feb. 1668/9, to become
inhabitants of
Swansea were John Thurber, Eldad Kingsley and Hugo Cole. John was also
listed on divisions of land, February 1670/1. When the land was divided,
he received Lot No. 40, and his son Capt. John Thurber received Lot No.
47. On December 24, 1686, when lots were drawn, John Sr. got Lots 3 and 4,
and Capt. John got Lot 84.
John died in or before 1705 as this was when will was
acknowledged. Back of his will Priscillas was married to John 57 years
1645+57=1702.
The eight children of John and Priscilla (with approximate dates of birth)
were:
Abigail, 1647; Elizabeth, 1648; Capt. John, 1649/50; Mary, 1652;
Thomas, 1658/59; James, Aug.26, 1660; Edward, 1662; and Charity,
1663/64. [Other sources list children as: Capt. John ca. 1649, Mary ca. 1652,
Edward ca.1654, Thomas ca. 1656/7, Elizabeth ca. 1658, James 26 Aug. 1660,
and Charity ca. 1663.]
Boston Transcript gives data on David Thurber born 1658, who married Mercy
or Mary Stafford, the granddaughter of Stukely (Sic) Westcott. [Boston Transcript was in error. A search of original Rehoboth records has shown that the entry in the vital records book under THURBER for the death of Mercy wife of David was in error; it should have been under
THURSTAN/THURSTON, not THURBER.] That was
the only
place Charles H. Thurber found any data on a David Thurber as a
child of John Thurber and Priscilla. He included it as a postscript in
his notes with the thought that it could have been Thomas and changed
first name.
3rd child of John (1) and Priscilla, Capt. John Thurber, Jr. (b.
1649/50, d. Nov 27, 1717) married Mary (b. 1644, d. Mar 25, 1718) in
about 1672. Capt. John was born in England. In America, he lived first in
Swansea, MA. After his marriage he moved to Warren, RI. His children born
there. He and wife are buried in Kickemuit Cemetery, oldest cemetery in
Warren, RI (started in 1697). He was baptized on a Brigantine vessel . See
story below about him.
John and Mary had 5 children: Mary, b. Jul. 10, 1674; Thomas b.
Nov 24, 1676,d. Apr. 12, 1703; Elizabeth, b. Aug. 24, 1678; Priscilla,
b. Sep. 7, 1680; and Rachael, b. Mar 5, 1682/3.
Story about Henry Woodward and Capt. John Thurber
Henry Woodward came to America in 1666 in Capt. Robert Stanford's
ship. He stayed alone among Indians, and explored So. Carolina as a home
for the Lord Proprietors, a group of Cavalier noblemen who had helped King
Charles II and to whom he gave the Country of Carolinas. Woodward was
captured by some Florida Spaniards and taken to St. Augustine as a
prisoner, but was later taken away by a pirate named Robert Searle. In the
Caribbean Sea, the ship encountered a hurricane and he was cast ashore on
Nevis, one of the Islands.
In 1669 he was picked up by the Lord Proprietors on the way to
establish their home in Carolinas. For 15 years he was the ablest explorer
of the southwestern wilderness, really surpassing Daniel Boone in feats of
daring and pathfinding, but another bit of fame is due him.
One day in the 1680's, a New England Brigantine vessel under Capt.
John Thurber was in distress. John made the acquaintance of Henry
Woodward. Under the curios that Capt. Thurber had picked up at Madagascar
was a package of rice, about one bushel, which he presented to Henry
Woodward. Instead of eating the rice, Woodward planted it as a pleasing
variation to the Indian corn.
History would have been changed in important ways if he had used
this rice in any other way. There was about one bushel of rice which gave
excellent yield, and the seed thus procured was distributed around and
used to plant the next year. This rice, bought by Capt. Thurber and given
to Henry Woodward who planted it in the late 1600's established the south
as a place of great plantations.
It was a hundred years later that the cotton industry was
established in the Carolinas, and today, 1964, the United States is the
3rd largest exporter of rice in the world.
This Capt. John Thurber was the son of John and Priscilla Thurber
who came to the colonies in 1669 and settled in Rehoboth, MA. Capt. John
was from Warren, RI.
Inscriptions in Kickemuit Cemetery, Warren, RI:
Here lyeth ye body of John Thurber dyed November ye 27, 1717 in 68th year
of age.
Here lyeth ye body of Mary, the wife of John Thurber died March
ye 20th 1718 in ye 74th year of age.
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