Tuesday, September 30, 2014

The Tracks We Leave...England to NEW ENGLAND!

The Tracks We Leave...



My family comes from England. Francis Kendall, born about 1620, in Norfolk, England and his brother Thomas were the first of this Kendall line to sail to the New Colony. Josiah was the first of this Kendall line to settle in Sterling (then Lancaster) in the 1730's.  The exact date of his removal from Woburn to Sterling is unknown.  (following from the "Memorial of Josiah Kendall" published in 1864)"Our biography of Josiah Kendall commences with his removal from Woburn to Lancaster. I am unable to give the date of this removal but it was probably soon after 1736, the year of his marriage."


From Francis to Thomas 1648 to Samuel 1682 to Josiah 1712 to Herman 1740 to Herman JR 1783 to Josephus 1808 to Edward 1860 to Ernest 1884 to Mildred in 1926 to me in 1948. This  is my line from Norfolk, England to Townsend MA USA.





"Kendall Family from "Colonial Families of the United States of America", Vol VI, pages 327 and 328, by George MacKenzie
"Francis, b. in England 1620 [incorrect birthdate] came to America and was living in Charlestown, Mass in 1640; he emigrated under the name of Miles to conceal his intentions from his family. At Charlestown he signed the town order for the new town of Woburn and was one of its first and most prominent inhabitants, serving for 18 years on the Board of Selectmen and on various town committees. He owned and operated a mill on one of the streams of Woburn and is described by Sewall as "a gentleman of great respectability and influence in the place of his residence." In a strict Puritan community he had the courage to differ slightly in faith from the majority for which he was duly fined."

Thirteen citizens of Woburn were prosecuted before the Middlesex Co Court in December 1671 for publicly manifesting contempt for the ordinance of infant baptism and attending the assemblies of Ana-Baptists which were then not allowed by law. One of the thirteen was Francis Kendall.
"In 1657, Francis Kendall is released from all 'Ordinary Traynings.' Middlesex County Court records, Vol. 1, p 143. There is a well authenticated tradition in the Kendall family that Francis Kendall was stolen from a Ralph Miles in England and brought to this country." Woburn VR 14