The Mitchells in America

Matthew and Susan (Wood) Mitchell

Matthew MITCHELL - b. 1590, South Ouram, Halifax, Yorkshire, England; d. 1645. A dissenter of the Church of England, his ancestors three generations earlier moved from Scotland to Yorkshire. The family departed Bristol, England on May 23, 1635 aboard the 'James', arriving at Boston, MA on Aug. 17, 1635. Most of their belongings were lost in a shipwreck upon arrival in America, and they lived at Charleston, Concord, and Springfield, MA, and at Saybrook and Wethersfield, CT before finally settling at Stamford, CT. Married Aug. 21, 1616.

Susan WOOD - Widow of Nathaniel OVENDEN and of Thomas BUTTERFIELD. Samuel BUTTERFIELD, son of Susan and Thomas, was killed by Pequot Indians at Saybrook, CT, with them "roasting him alive." Daughter of Edmund WOOD and Janet HURST.

Children of Matthew and Susan Mitchell

1. Abigail - bap. Apr. 26, 1618, Yorkshire. Either she or, more likely, her sister Susanna married Rev. Abraham PIERSON.

2. David - bap. Nov. 14, 1619, Yorkshire; d. 1686, Stamford, CT. Married, Elizabeth.

3. Sarah - bap. Oct. 14, 1621, South Ouram, Halifax, Yorkshire, England. Married Samuel SHERMAN.

4. Martha - bap. Oct. 26, 1623, Yorkshire; d. Nov. 22, 1623.

5. Jonathan - bap. Dec. 19, 1624, Halifax, Yorkshire; d. Jul. 9, 1668, Cambridge, MA. Graduated Harvard College 1647, which he served as Tutor and Fellow 1650-1668. Jonathan was ordained at Cambridge, MA on Aug. 21, 1650. He preached Election Sermons in 1658 and 1667. On Nov. 19, 1650 at Cambridge, MA, Jonathan married Margaret (BORADELL) SHEPARD, the widow of Rev. Thomas SHEPARD (1605-1649), minister at Cambridge, MA. Rev. Thomas SHEPARD married first Margaret TOUTVILLE (mother of Rev. Thomas SHEPARD of Charlestown, MA), second Joanna HOOKER (daughter of Rev. Thomas HOOKER of Hartford, CT, and mother of Rev. Samuel SHEPARD of ROWLEY, MA), and third Margaret BORADELL (mother of Rev. Jeremiah SHEPARD of Lynn, MA).

6. Susanna - bap. Oct. 14, 1627, Yorkshire. Married, as his second wife, Rev. Abraham PIERSON (b. about 1608, Yorkshire; d. Aug. 9, 1678, Newark, NJ). Rev. PIERSON graduated Trinity College, Cambridge in 1632. Minister at Newark, Nottinghamshire, England; Lynn, MA (Nov.-Dec. 1640); Southampton, Long Island, NY (1640-44); Branford, CT (1645-55); and Newark, NJ (1667-78). He was a Chaplain in 1654. Son, ny his first marriage: Rev. Abraham PIERSON (1640-1707), President of Yale 1701-1707.

7. Matthew - bap. Jul. 5, 1629, Yorkshire; d. Oct. 4, 1679.

8. Hannah - bap. Jun. 26, 1635; d. Apr. 2, 1702, New Haven, CT. Married first Robert COLE, and second Nicholas ELSEY.