Corrections and Additions to Descendants of Alice Freeman Thompson Parke

The Alice Freeman Thompson Parke database (AFTP) was created back in 2009. It is stored online as a sub-directory of BrouwerGenealogyData, at RootsWeb (which is why brouwergenealogydata appears in the URL). Like the Brouwer Genealogy Database (BGD) it went down back in the fall of 2017. The AFTP was brought back this past August, and like the BGD, I will no longer be updating it, nor will I be able to correct errors that may be found within the pages of the site. And so, this blog, Brouwer Genealogy, will be the place to find corrections for the Alice Freeman Thompson Parke database. And there are now, some important ones.

As a background, the database was intended primarily as a source for descendants of Alice Freeman. Please see the main page for a little background on why Alice is an important 17th century immigrant to the American colonies. If you have an Ancestry that can be traced to colonial America, especially to New England, but also to New York and New Jersey, there is a chance, even a good chance, that you are a descendant of Alice Freeman. I have, in the years researching the New Netherland Brouwers, engaged and corresponded with a number of individuals who have in their ancestries, both Alice Freeman and one of the early New Netherland Brouwer families. Moving forward, corrections to AFTP and the other databases, will be found in posts to this blog.

The important corrections to Alice Freeman come to me by e-mail from Joe Cochoit who is the author of the Alice (Freeman) Parke profile page at WikiTree. I have not used, or been involved with WikiTree myself, but at quick glance I like the idea and the approach. It allows for changes and corrections, and all of us who have spent a good deal of time on genealogy, know that correcting earlier errors is a big part (and an ongoing part) of the process. So, thank you to Joe for bringing the following to my attention.

The changes I'll mention here all come from a series of articles written by Randy A. West, that were published in The American Genealogist in volumes 87 and 88 (2015). The articles are:

- West, Randy A.. "Robert Parke of Wethersfield, New London and Stonington, Connecticut, Was Not The Grandson of William Parke (d. 1551) of Gestingthorpe, Co. Essex," The American Genealogist Vol. 87, no. 2 (Jul-Oct 2014, pub. Jul 2015), pp. 91-92. This article refutes the long accepted ancestry of Robert Parke, the immigrant to Connecticut who married Alice Freeman as his second wife (likewise Robert was Alice's second husband). This Robert Parke is a son of Robert Parke of Acton, co. Suffolk and his wife Alice Chaplin, however, it is shown in the article that the elder Robert is not a son of William Parke of Gestingthorpe, co. Essex, who left a will dated 25 March 1551, proved 13 May 1551. Although the author suggests that William and Robert may have been close relatives, they were not father and son, and the long held Parke ancestry of Robert Parke is lost. The parents and ancestry of Robert Parke of Acton, co. Suffolk (father of the immigrant, Robert Parke) are not known.

-West, Randy A.. "Alice Freeman, Wife of John Tompson of Preston Capes, Northamptonshire, and of Robert Parke of Connecticut," The American Genealogist Vol. 87, no. 3 (Jan-Apr 2015, pub. Oct 2015), pp. 209-217. There are a number of changes here regarding vital dates, the family of Alice's father Henry Freeman is expanded, and  additional children are found for Alice Freeman and her first husband, John Tompson/Thompson. Starting with Alice Freeman's father, Henry Freeman: change his date of death to 5 August 1606 (Inquisition post mortem held at Kettering, Northamptonshre 14 October 1606). The will and codicil of Alice's brother, Thomas Freeman, dated 14 August 1637, codicil dated 23 August 1637, proved in September 1637, is presented on pages 210-212. Thomas apparently was unmarried and childless, and the will names siblings, nephews and nieces. Importantly, it places Alice as the mother of John Tompson's sons, Samuel and Thomas. The database has them listed as sons of John, but with an unknown mother (and a caveat for Samuel). We can now count Samuel and Thomas as sons of Alice Freeman. Their baptisms were found in the Preston Capes, Northamptonshire parish registers, and are reported as 25 May 1618 for Samuel and 23 Dec 1616 for Thomas. The author cites Thomas Freeman's mention of "kinsman Robert Peake" in his will, with a marriage recorded at Cranford, St. John, Northamptonshire, "Robert Peake of Achurch, & Margaret Thompson Neece unto Mr. Thomas Freeman of this parish were marryed July 31, 1634," to conclude that Alice and John had another daughter, Margaret, "born by say 1614, perhaps before 28 August 1614, the date of the earliest baptism in the surviving parish register." John Tompson's will is transcribed (only abstracts have previously been published, see p. 213). The will was proved 11 April 1627, so John Tompson died between 7 November 1626, the date of the codicil, and 17 December 1626, when he is mentioned as deceased in the baptism record of his youngest child, Martha. The place of John's death, London, may also be incorrect. Burial records for Preston Capes for 1626-1631 are lost. The article includes a genealogical summery (pp. 214-217) which concludes that Alice would have married John Tompson, "say 1613." This would necessitate altering the estimated range for Alice's birth from "between 1595 and 1600," to something a bit earlier. The author writes, "say 1695," while Joe in his e-mail suggested 1685-1695, which I would agree with. Joe also points out that Alice was not born at Preston Capes, as her father did not live there (he is called of Cranford, and her mother was from Alwalton) and I would agree with that too. So, change Alice Freeman's birth from 1695-1600 at Preston Capes, to 1585-1595, location unknown (but likely in Northamptonshire). The WikiTree page says, abt. 1593, Northamptonshire, which is a good and acceptable "guestimate." See the Genealogical Summary, pages 214-215 of the article for changes to the estimates for dates of births for Henry Freeman's other children, Thomas, Henry and Jane, as well as burial and marriage dates. Also in the Genealogical Summary, at pages 215-216, we find a range for the date of Alice's marriage to Robert Parke, as between 30 May 1644 and 28 October 1644. Robert Parke was of Weathersfield at the time, and they moved to New London by 1651. Alice was living on 24 December 1658 when she witnessed a deed (Robert Parke of Southington to John Russell). Robert Parke, in his will of 14 May 1660, only mentioned sons from his first marriage. And finally, the baptism date for Thomas Parke (son of Robert Parke and his first wife Martha Chalplin, and husband of Alice's daughter Dorothy Tompson) should be corrected. He was not baptized on 13 February 1615/16(?). Footnote 46 on p. 217 of the Genealogical Summary explains that there is a burial of 25 February 1615/16 for that child. No record of baptism for this Thomas is found and the author suggests that Thomas Parke was "born say 1619." (For corrections for Alice's mother, Margaret Edwards, see below).

-West, Randy A.. "The English Origins of Christopher Peake of Roxbury, Massachusetts," The American Genealogist Vol. 87, no. 3 (Jan-Apr 2015, pub. Oct 2015), pp. 204-208. At page 207 in the genealogical summary we have details for Robert Peake, the wife of Margaret Tompson (above). He was baptized 6 November 1603 at Thorpe Achurch, Northamptonshire, buried there 13 December 1666. He left a will dated 28 November 1665 which names children Elizabeth Peake, Joseph Peake, Margaret Peake now wife of Thomas Chapman, Mary Peake now wife of James Ollaman, John Peake and Jonathan Peake. These names can now be added to the descendants of Alice Freeman. Robert's wife is not mentioned in the will, but a date for her burial is not included. Robert Peake was a son of Boniface Peake and Joan Clarke and a brother of Christopher Peake who immigrated to Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1634, and married Dorcas French. (Neither Robert Peake, nor Margaret Tompson are found on the AFTP).

-West, Randy A.. "New Information on the Edwards Ancestry of Alice (Freeman) (Tompson) Parke of Roxbury, Massachusetts and Connecticut," The American Genealogist Vol. 88, no. 4 (Oct 2016), pp. 302-309. Alice Freeman's mother was Margaret Edwards, daughter of Edward Edwards and Ursula Coles. Until now her date of baptism was not known. Margaret was baptized 25 September 1565 at Stoke Bruerne, Northamptonshire. There is also a problem with Margaret's burial as it appears on the database. There we have her "probably buried" 12 January 1603/4 at St. Andrews. This cannot be possible. Margaret was named in her mother's will dated 14 January 1606. In 1617 she is named in her brother, Peter Edwards will, and in 1637 is named in her son Thomas Freeman's will. Margaret clearly did not die in 1603/04. There is, however, a burial at St. Andrews for a Margaret Freeman (see here). But who she is, is not known (could she be Henry Freeman's mother???) Additional children are added for Edward Edwards and Usula Coles. Edward was a son of Peter Edwards and Susanna Samwell. A prior marriage for Susanna Samwell has been found. She was first married to John Bond. The dates of her marriage to Peter Edwards are narrowed down to 11 August 1533 to 2 August 1535. The date of death for Peter Edwards can be changed to between 14 October 1550 and 3 October 1551. Susanna Samwell married her third husband, John Arundell, between 3 October 1551 and 11 February 1556/57. John Arundell died by 30 October 1557 when his will was proved. Susanna married her fourth husband, John Bill, by 5 March 1557/58 (the date of his will). So, add two more husbands, not found in the database, for Susanna Samwell (John Bond and John Bill). Susan was buried at All Saints, Northampton, Northamptonshire on 23 February 1585/86. I would suggest consulting the Genealogical Summary in this article for considerably more info on descendants of Peter Edwards.

There are a lot of corrections here. I have created a PDF with revisions to the children and grandchildren of Alice Freeman. This document provides source citations and supersedes that what is shown on the current (and last) incarnation of the Descendants of Alice Freeman Thompson Parke website. It also supersedes any other PDFs I may have placed online in the past covering Alice Freeman's descendants or ancestry.

I would suggest that those researching Alice Freeman, her ancestors and children consult the articles mentioned above and published in The American Genealogist, copies of which are likely to be found in larger libraries and those with a department devoted to genealogy. And, if you have a significant interest in colonial era ancestors, I would recommend a subscription to the publication.

BGB 609

PDF version of this post