A short and late post this week. I have a good reason though – on Thursday 17th February I landed in Massachusetts with my family, where we will be living for the next 3 years.
It’s a bit of a culture shock, and the weather is taking a bit of getting used to (-8c at the weekend, 17c tomorrow, snow by Friday). But we are slowly settling in.
Our journey made me think of another traveller
My post this week concerns a man who made a similar journey, albeit by sea rather than air, 300 years ago, and an unusual, but potentially useful resource that he created while on his travels.
Thomas Prince (1687-1758) was pastor at Boston’s Old South Church, a scholar and historian. But before he settled, he travelled widely to both the Caribbean and England.
Imagine a young Harvard graduate setting out around the world, in an era when his return was anything but guaranteed.
His journey was partly motivated by religious fervour, as he was to preach to communities in East Anglia and even persuade some of them to return with him to New England.
But I can equally see a 21 year old man, eager to see what lay beyond his own familiar surroundings, the land where his ancestors were born and where many of his acquaintances hailed from.
Thomas Prince kept a journal of his return journey to Boston in 1717, but more importantly for this post, he kept a correspondence log.
You can see the original here.
Thomas was a very diligent young man
From 1709 to 1751 he recorded in his journal every letter received and sent, dates, places and postage costs!
Alas, most of the letters are no longer extant, but we can get so much good information from the log itself.
For example
Richard Southgate, a distant relative and part of my Southgate study, was on the ship with Thomas Prince, persuaded that he would find a welcoming community and a better life for his family in the new world.
Records of his life before he arrived in America are scant, but using Thomas Prince’s log I can accurately plot his movements, based on when and where he posted letters.
- On October 5th 1713 Richard was at home in Combs, Suffolk, England. Thomas Prince had arrived in Combs early in 1712, and for at least part of the next five years he was lodging with the Southgates. This is his first recorded letter to Thomas Prince who was in London.
- By October 8th 1715 Richard was in Boston, Massachusetts. He remained there until at least December 7th. Interestingly, letters from MA to Suffolk, England were taking about three months to arrive in the winter months.
- Spring 1716 found Richard in Leicester, Massachusetts, where he had purchased several lots of land from businessmen who had recently incorporated the town. He was in the town on May 3rd and the letter took exactly 2 months to arrive back to East Anglia (Thomas Prince was in Norwich).
- Richard sailed for England once he had secured his land, and by October 3rd 1716 he was home in Combs.
For non-conformist, ag lab ancestors who leave no paper trail
this kind of detail is invaluable
- I know where and when to look in the archives for documents that might have details of the Southgates’ lives.
- I can research the events that were happening in Boston and Leicester when Richard was visiting.
- I can identify other people who were in the area who might have had contact with my ancestor.
I have started to transcribe the journal, and here is an example. This is just the received section from 1713. I will continue to add to this with the goal of making it searchable.
I am hoping to spend my time here in the USA working to identify these correspondents, searching the archives for traces of their lives and seeing how many of them might have impacted Richard and his family’s life.
