dmund Freeman (1590-1682), from Eng. in
the "Abigail", with wife and four children; settled at
Lynn, Mass., where he presented the colony with 20 corslets (armor),
moved to Plymouth, 1637, where he was admitted freeman, 1637; was
one of the ten to settle at Sandwich, Mass., 1639, and received
the largest land grant; dep. Plymouth Colony, 1641; asst. to Gov.
Bradford, 1640-47; mem. Council of War, 1642; presiding officer
of a court of three "to hear and determine controversies and
cawses," and later selected judge; m. Elizabeth --- (d. 1675/76).
[Frederick A. Virkus, The Abridged Compendium of American
Genealogy, Volume I, 1925]
Edmond Freeman was Deputy for Plymouth Colony 1641, Assistant
to Gov. Prence 1640-1646 and member of Council of War 1642. (DAR
LINEAGE BOOK VOL 14, P 260)
The Freeman family came from England in the year 1635 on the
ship "Abigail." Alice Freeman, 17; Edmund Freeman, 15;
Elizabeth, 12; and John, 8, were listed as passengers with their
father and mother, Edmond and Elizabeth. Edmond Freeman lived in
Lynn, Mass. before settling in Sandwich, Mass. about 1637 or 1638.
The will of Edmond Freeman was dated 21 Jun 1682. [STACYN.GED]
Wm.E. WRIGHT: "GREENE & LEWIS"; [private];
Houston, TX; 1991; pp 87-88. He married (2) 10 Aug 1632 in
Shipley Parish, Sussex, England, Elizabeth RAYNER. [Crandall
homepage]
It seems the town of Sandwich had more than its share of the
religious factionalisms widely prevalent throughout the Plymouth
Colony in the last half of the seventeenth century. Genealogists
of the George Allen family allege he was an Anabaptist. Such an
association would be in harmony with the next record: at a Court
of 7 Oct 1651 - "Wee further present Ralph Allen, Senior,
& his wife, George Allen & his wife, William Allen,
Richard Kerby, Peeter Gaunt & his wife, Rose Newland, Edmond
Freeman, Senr., & his wife, Goodwife Turner, and Widdow Knott,
all of the town of Sandwich, for not frequenting the publick
worship of God, contrary to order, made 6 of June 1651." [N.B.
Shurtleff, ed. "Records of the Colony of New Plymouth,"
1:107] [Maclean W. McLean, "Peter Gaunt (ca 1615 - ca 1678)
of Sandwich," National Genealogical Society Quarterly 62:4,
p.248 (1974)]
The first Freeman in America was Edmund who arrived in
Plymouth in 1635 aboard the "Abigail." He was the son
of Edmond and Alice Coles Freeman who lived at Reigate in County
Surrey, England.
He was admitted freeman at Plymouth, January 2, 1637. Edmund
was prominent, active and influential in affairs of the colony.
Edmund of one of the original nine men who founded the town of
Sandwich on Cape Cod.
Edmund's first wife was Bennett Hodsoll, but she apparently
died in England. Edmund married Elizabeth Gurney who came to
America with him. Four children also came American with the
family. [Lee
Murrah's Freeman Family Page]
FREEMAN, EDMUND, Lynn, came in the Abigail 1635, aged 45, with
others of the name, Mary, 50; John, 35; Thomas, 24; John, 9; and
Cecilia, 4; all ent. at the custom ho. 17 June in London; but we
kn. of six others for the same sh. ent. 1 July foll. viz. Edward,
34; his w. Eliz. 35; and four ch. not of Edward, but of Edmund,
Alice, 17; Edmund, 15; Eliz. 12; and John, 8. Who Mary and the
four others were, that took their passage on the earlier day, is
all unkn. as well as the Edward with w. Eliz. Conjecture will
find no benefit from rec. it is thought; for we are not able to
determine whether he brought a w. yet kn. that he had one at
Sandwich, but not her name. Presume we may (from his will of 21
June 1682, pro. 2 Nov. foll. naming s. Edmund, John, and Edward
Perry, as the w. of Edward Perry was Mary), that he had m. on
this side of the water, a wid. Perry, tho. Mr. Winsor took a
diverse view, as if E. P. had m. a d. of Freeman. No d. is ever
ment. in this country, exc. the two found in the old rec. of the
London custom ho. Alice, wh. m. 24 Nov. 1639, deac. William Paddy,
and d. at Plymouth, 24 Apr. 1651; and Eliz. wh. m. a. 1645, John
Ellis. An Eliz. F. wh. d. at Sandwich, 14 Feb. 1676, may have
been the fellow passeng. call. in the rec. w. of Edward, but
while we are ignor. wh. Edward was, or where he liv. or if indeed
the name be not a delusion on the rec. there may be possibil. of
her being the w. of Edmund. Dr. Palfrey found gr.stones of many
of this fam. name at Benfield in Northamptonsh. but the late Rev.
Dr. James Freeman understood from fam. tradit. that he was deriv.
from Devonsh. On the first arr. of Edmund with his assoc. at
Sandwich, they call. the place Saugus, out of regard to the Ind.
name of the place in Mass. whence they rem. He was an Assist. of
the Col. 1640-46 incl. but why in foll. yrs. omit. is not guessed
at, nor why among instances of longev. he is not cited, when many
younger are. [Savage, Gen. Dictionary, 1965]
EDMOND FREEMAN - Dawes-Gates, p.349-64, gives a well
documented account showing that Edmond Freeman was baptized 25
July 1596 at St. Mary's Church, Pulborough, Sussex, the son of
Edmond and Alice (Coles) Freeman, and he died 2 November 1682 at
Sandwich, Plymouth Colony. He married (1) at Cowfold, Sussex, on
16 June 1617 Bennett Hodsoll, daughter of John and Faith ( ) (Bacon)
Hodsoll, who died in 1630 at Pulborough and (2) Elizabeth, whose
surname is not known, but who may have been the Elizabeth Raymer
who married Edmond Freeman on 10 August 1632 at Shipley, Sussex (parish
register). He sailed for New England with four surviving children
and some other people with his surname on the Abigail in July
1635, and he settled first at Saugus (Lynn) in the Bay Colony. He
was evidently the leader of the Saugus men who moved in 1637 to
Sandwich, and it was to him that a deed was granted as agent for
the others. He became an Assistant in Plymouth Colony, but was
not reelected in 1646, and Edward Winslow wrote to Gov. John
Winthrop in Boston that "I suppose the country left [Freeman]
out in regard of his professed Anabaptistry & Separacon from
the Churches' (MHS Collections, 4th series, 6:178). The Dawes-Gates
account shows also that he was of an unorthodox nature for his
time and place, and was later sympathetic to the Quakers. He had
business interests of his own in New England, and he had a power
of attorney in behalf of his brother-in-law, John Beauchamp, who
had continued as one of the four London Undertakers after the
other Adventurers sold out their interests.
His will dated 21 June 1682, proved 2 November 1682, named his
three "sons," Edmond Freeman, John Freeman, and Edward
Perry (whose wife Mary has sometimes been assumed to have been a
daughter of Edmond Freeman though no evidence has been found).
Also named were his daughter Elizabeth Ellis, and his grandsons
Matthias Freeman and Thomas Paddy (MD 12:248). Ms son Edmond
married (1) Rebecca Prence, daughter of Thomas and (2) Margaret
Perry. His son John married Mercy Prence, daughter of Thomas.
Ifis daughter Elizabeth married John Ellis. Ifis other children
were Alice Freeman, who married William Paddy, and a daughter
Bennett and a son Nathaniel, both of whom died young. For
additional comments on the Perrys, see Lydia B. (Phinney)
Brownson and Maclean McLean, "Ezra Perry of Sandwich. Mass.
(c. 1625-1689)," NEHGR 115:86.
Source: Plymouth Colony Its History & People 1620-1691 by
Eugene Aubrey Stratton
EDMOND FREEMAN was born before Jul 25 1596 in Pulborough,
Sussex, England. He was christened on Jul 25 1596 in Pulborough,
Sussex, England. He died between Jun 21 1682 and Nov 2 1682 in
Sandwich, Barnstable Co., MA. (dates his will was written and
presented for probate) [Beverly J. Freeman. The Lineage of
Richard Vernon Freeman. Privately published Auburn MA 1971.]
Edmund and his family sailed from Oxford on the Abigail in 1635.
They settled first in Saugus (later known as Lynn); Edmund's
portion of land was the largest. He presented the Colony with 20
corsletts (pieces of plate armor), supposedly for defense against
the Indians. In 1637 they removed to Plymouth. Soon after he
removed to Sandwich, with ten others, in order "to worship
God and to make money". Received a grant of 500 acres from
King Charles I (location not specified by Freeman). Edmund was
Assistant Governor 1640-1646, and headed a court that settled
disputes in area townships. He was dropped from this position
because of his "liberal and tolerant principles" and
belief in freedom of worship.
Edmund and Elizabeth both rode on horseback over the area.
They were buried on their own land in the rear of their dwelling
-- the oldest burying place in Sandwich. A stone on the property
resembled a pillion; shortly after Elizabeth's death, it was
hauled by oxen to mark her grave. Another stone resembled a
saddle, and Edmond had this placed over the precise spot "where
ere long another grave must be digged". The monuments are
known as the "Saddle and Pillion"; the burial ground
was given to the town of Sandwich shortly before 1971. "A
well-worn path leads from the street through a field and then one
sees the graves under the trees. From the street the Freeman farm
is visible, banked on the side with yellow forsythia bushes."
That original homestead burned and a new house was built about
1695, by either son John or grandson John. When Beverly Freeman
wrote in 1971, the house was still standing, and the property was
occupied by a descendant of John Freeman, Mrs. Everard Pratt. [Plymouth
& Cape Cod MA Genealogy]
EDMOND FREEMAN JR., son of Edmund Freeman and Alice Coles, was
baptized July 25, 1596, at St. Mary's Church, Pulborough, County
Sussex, England, and died in Oct. 1682, at Sandwich, Plymouth
Colony, MA. He married 1st at Cowfold, County Sussex, on June 16,
1617 to BENNETT HODSOLL, daughter of John HODSOLL and his wife,
the widow Faith (-----) BACON, of that place. From that marriage
there were four children prior to Bennett's pre-mature death in
Pulborough in 1630. He married 2nd Elizabeth Beauchamp PERRY the
widow of a "gentleman" by the name of PERRY from
Devonshire and the Pulborough area.
John HODSOLL, father of Edmond FREEMAN's wife, Bennett, died
between August 1, 1617, the date of his will, and November 16,
1617, the date of probate. The will names Faith Hodsoll, my
beloved wife; my son-in-law William Scales and Elizabeth his wife,
my daughter; my daughter Bennett Freeman, wife of Edmond Freeman;
Katharine Hodsoll and Christian Hodsoll, my daughters; my sister
Joan Whitacre; my brother-in-law Richard Moorer; Faith Bacon, my
wife's daughter; my son John Hodsoll; my nephew John Hodsoll, son
of my late brother, Robert Hodsoll; to his son John Hodsoll he
bequeaths a farm called Bakers, in the parish of Stansted in Kent,
"sometime the lands of my father John Hodsoll, deceased, and
which to me descended after the decease of my late brother Henry
Hodsoll, and also all those my lands and tenements in the parish
of Stansted, Kent, which I lately purchased of Mr. Broughton,
merchant taylor." My brother John Gratwick to be executor.
The name Hodsoll, altered to Hadsel, Hatsel and Hatsil, has
been used as a given name among descendants of Edmond Freeman,
almost to the present day.
Edmond Freeman seems to have had some education, for he wrote
a fair hand; a letter of his is preserved in facsimile, shows
care and perhaps business training. It is probable that by his
marriage he rose somewhat in the social scale and bettered his
prospects.
Both Edmond and his brother William, with their respective
wives, were beneficiaries in the wills of their father-in-law,
John Hodsoll, and his son of the same name, the wives being co-heirs
to their brother. In January, 1633/4, EDMOND, on behalf of
himself and his five living children, brought suit in Chancery
Court against his brother William and others in regard to the
disposition of certain lands and tenements formerly belonging to
John Hodsoll, his father-in-law. The depositions taken (see below),
give evidence, among other things, of the dates of baptism of
four of the six children of Edmond at Billinghurst, the register
of which was then existent though not now to be found; that he
then owned lands in both Pulborough and Billinghurst; that he
must have removed in 1619/20 to Billingshurst for a period of
seven or eight years; and that he was a man of good credit and
repute in the community.
On January 13, 1633/34, John Draper deposed that he knew all
the complainants and swears he hath taken out of the register
book of Billingshurst the dates of baptism of the children of
Edmund and Bennett Freeman, viz. of Edmond, Bennett (who is
lately deceased), Elizabeth and John. Of Alice, another child, he
says the date is defaced in the parchment, but that she is of the
age of sixteen years or thereabouts, "for as this deponent
conceiveth she is older than her brother Edmund by two years or
thereabouts."
He knows Edmond Freeman th' elder to have lands at Pulborough
to the yearly value of 50 pounds, yf the same were in his present
possession, but saith one Wexham, an old man of th' age of three
score and ten years hath fifteen pounds per annum thereof during
his life; and saith that sd Edmond Freeman has copyhold lands at
Billingshurst worth 80 pounds per annum, which he holds by copy
of Court Roll for the term of his life, and that of one of his
children; that he is a man of good credit and estimation amongst
his neighbors and soe hath been reported for divers yeares past,
and hath divers goods, plate, chattels and household goods.
About fifteen months after the date of this deposition, and
perhaps in consequence of the outcome of this suit, Edmond
Freeman decided to embark for New England. It is not known if
there was any religious motive in his emigration, since it is not
known if he was a Puritan. It has been surmised that he was sent
over by his brother-in-law, John Beauchamp, to look after his
interests in the Plymouth Colony. It is true that in 1635 the
financial affairs of the Colony were in a disturbed state, owing
to the duplicity of Allerton and the exorbitant demands of the
seven London Adventurers, of whom Beauchamp was one. In 1645
Edmond Freeman was called an attorney of Beauchamp, to look after
his interests.
During the Fourteenth and Fifteenth century in England, many
of the Freeman's were prominent and wealthy land owners. Many
carried the title "Gentleman" , which was the
equivalent of a "Squire". This title denoted a person
of quality, of higher education, of wealth, or of a large
property owner. The four main traditional home counties of the
Freeman family were: Suffolk, Woechestershire, Buckinghamshire,
and Northamptonshire. My first direct descendant from England was
from Pulborough or Devonshire, County of Sussex, England.
In 1630, the "Great Immigration" took place. It
began with the Winthrope Fleet, consisting of 11 vessels and the
flagship, that sailed from England to America. The ships were:
Abella (Flagship), Ambrose, Talbot, Jewel, Charles, Mayflower,
William, Fransis, Whale, Hopewell, Success, and Trail. They
arrived in Salem, Mass. between June 13, 1630 and July 1630. This
immigration continued through 1635.
He and his four children, in company with several other
individuals of the same family name, whose relationship is not
yet established, engaged passage for New England on the Abigail
of London, Richard Hackwell, Master. On July 1, 1635, a Freeman
family, consisting of Edmund Freeman, husband, 34, Mrs. Elizabeth
Freeman, wife, 35, Edward Freeman, 15, John Freeman, 8, Elizabeth
Freeman, 12, and Alice Freeman, 17, was enrolled. The ages of the
children coincide so closely with the date of their baptisms in
the Billingshurst register as children of Edmund Freeman and
Bennett, his first wife, that it is almost certain that the
family has been correctly identified. The difficulty is in the
name of the father as Edward, aged 34. C. E. Banks changed the
name of the father to Edmond, but the name of the son aged 15 to
Edward, leaving the father's age as 34. This seems arbitrary,
unless the Custom House records actually read that way. These
records are copies, all in one handwriting, of originals made at
the time of enrolling passengers. Thus, there is room for error.
The confusion of the similar names of Edmond and Edward and the
confusion of the numerals 4 and 9 would be quite possible.
The ship Abigail sailed from Plymouth, England, about August 1,
1635, and arrived at Boston, MA on October 8, 1635, having been
on the ocean ten weeks. Two hundred and twenty persons were
aboard, some of them distinguished persons, and many cattle.
Smallpox developed during the voyage, but whether it claimed any
lives is not known.
Edmond Freeman and his family settled first in Lynn,
Massachusetts for a short time. During his residence there he
presented to the Massachusetts Bay Colony twenty corslets or
suits of plate armor. These he doubtless brought over in view of
an Indian menace. For some reason he and others of Lynn wished to
remove to Cape Cod and asked Plymouth Colony for a grant of land
there. On April 3, 1637, it was ordered "that these ten men
of Saugus [Lynn], including Edmond, "shall haue liberty to
view a place to sitt downe & haue sufficient lands for three
score famylies. . ." The present location of Sandwich was
chosen and a number of men, many of whom had families, removed
there from Lynn in, or perhaps even before, 1637. Certain
conditions were to be met before an absolute deed would be given
to them by the Colony and in 1647 this document was made out to
Edmond as agent, who in turn devised the lands to the town and to
its various proprietors on their repayment to him of money
invested and their promise to complete the requirements, the
matter not being closed until 1651. As a consequence of this
agency he is called "the original proprietor of Sandwich."
The status of Edmond may be inferred from the fact that of the
fifty-eight men who became entitled to shares in the division of
lands at Sandwich, his portion was much the largest and his name
was ordinarily preceded by the title "Mr." or followed
by that of "Gent."He was called a freeman of Plymouth
Colony on March 7, 1636/7, although he was not "sworn and
admitted" as such until January 2, 1637, so his removal to
Sandwich undoubtedly preceded those dates.
In the autumn of 1641, the eight trustees of the Plymouth
public debt and guardians of her trade for the payment thereof,
called in John Atwood and William Collier and "some other
friends on both sides, and Mr. Freeman brother in law to Mr.
Beauchamp." These drew up an inventory of all things which
were assets of the trading group, amounting to about £1400, and
proceeded to draw up Articles of agreement between the three
Londoners and themselves to conclude the long and tiresome
business. Dated October 15, 1641, the document was witnessed by
Edmond Freeman, William Paddy and others. Is this the foundation
of the statement that Mr. Freeman was attorney for Beauchamp in
1641 or 1645?
A letter of Edmond Freeman:
Sr these may pleas your worship to understand that I have
appointed my son William Paddy to receve of you for the Corne
which I was to have of the last yeare. I desire you would satisfy
to him for so much as I paid for yt long sins, which is I think
11 li 13s 4d. there was A cow appointed by Mr. Andrews for Mr.
Williams of providens. I desire you woulde be pleased to send me
word whether you have any or noe or mony to buy for him; I have
directiones from him to the effect that Mr Williams may have a
Cow to keepe her for haulfe the calfes I the rather make bold to
entreat your answer because Mr Williams hath sent to me often
tymes abought yt. With my salutations to you in the lord & to
all those that seeke the Lord with you, I take Leave your
worshipes to use Edmond Freeman & pr.
Last moneth 25th day 1645 [Feb. 24, 1646?]
The Massachusetts men who were the first settlers of this town
were Puritans rather than Pilgrims, many of whom were merchants
and some were well-to-do. They were "friends of good order"
and good government and were a religious people but free in a
remarkable degree "from the acerbities of polemic strife"
existing in some parts of the Bay Colony. They started a church
as early as 1638, of which Edmond1 was a member and a
deacon. Although that church was one of the most bigoted in the
Colony, Edmond1 was known as fair and tolerant.
Evidence that they, as a group, were less intolerant than most
church bodies of Puritan origin of their day is seen in the fact
that their neighborhood later became the earliest stronghold of
Quakerism in Plymouth Colony. The Sandwich Monthly Meeting,
established in 1660, was the first organized Meeting in New
England and even antedated most of those in England. Some of the
earlier adherents of this faith seemed to have really craved and
invited difficulty with, and persecution by the authorities, but
the majority, who are said to have asked only freedom to worship
as they chose, soon gained the good will of their neighbors, who
often shielded them from the law and thus sometimes incurred
penalties on their own behalf. Edmond evidently felt this
tolerance, for though he was actively interest in church affairs,
as evidenced by his signing a call to a pastor in 1655/6, giving
at that time £1 toward the building of a meeting house and
contracting on July 17, 1657, to give £1 yearly thereafter
toward the pastor's salary, yet he and his wife were indicted on
October 7, 1651, for absence from public worship, contrary to the
order of June 6 preceding, which absence was a method then
frequently employed to show disapproval of the policy of
authorities against the Quakers.
He is generally recognized as disfavoring the current "ecclesiastical
censures and legislative coercion;" of sympathizing with the
Quakers, some say even to the point of considering personal
alliance with them; and of having views too liberal for the times.
The stringency of the laws provided that freemen who became
Quakers, or who encouraged such by attending their meetings, by
entertaining them, or by any other means, should lose their
citizenship and various men were so penalized. Many more were
fined and Captain Cudworth of Scituate was even deprived of his
military command because of his sympathies. He made the statement
too, that in 1658 "almost the whole town of Sandwich is
adhering to them."
Edmond, who had been a Magistrate or Assistant to the Governor
for several years, was permanently dropped at the election in
1646, some say as a result of his general theological tolerance.
Public opinion in this section in favor of the Friends became so
marked, and protection of them from many harshnesses was so
frequent, that the Plymouth government in about 1657/8 appointed
one George Barlow as a state marshal for this locality to collect
the fines from and inflict punishments upon these passive
offenders "and their encouragers," but his great
unfairness only increased the resentment of fair-minded people.
While the most extreme penalties such as cutting off of ears and
hanging were not resorted to in Sandwich, the local persecutions
included whipping, imprisonment which carried with it a fee for
committal, as well as a second one for discharge, and heavy fines
for the non-payment of which the offender's cattle or goods were
distrained at a preposterously low valuation, and with an
admitted intent to confiscate the most needed articles rather
than such as could be more easily spared.
At one court in 1661, fines amounting to £150, for attendance
at Quaker meetings and for refusal to take the oath of fidelity,
were laid on certain Sandwich men in such respective amounts as
£24, £46 and £20, the last named fine being assessed against a
poor weaver whose entire holdings were of less than £10
valuation. One list of fines imposed upon nineteen Friends in and
near Sandwich for this period showed a total of £660 of which
over £89 was distrained from Edward Perry, called "son"
by Edmond Freeman.
Knowing the disapproval of the Freeman family for these
measures, Marshal Barlow had the audacity to call upon Edmond for
"aid" in his duties! Prompt and indignant refusal of
such assistance caused Barlow to enter a complaint at court, and
consistency caused the authorities to lay a fine of ten shillings
on Freeman.
Another intimate phase of the question is seen in the fact
that Edward Perry married about 1653, Mary (-----), but was so
imbued with Quaker ideas that he persistently and repeatedly
declined the services of Thomas Tupper, who was the constituted
authority to perform marriages. The result was that Edward Perry
was fined £5. Governor THOMAS PRENCE [who would have been doubly
interested in that he was father-in-law to JOHN FREEMAN] was
directed to see this marriage "ratifyed as hee goeth home,"
and Thomas Tupper for not forcibly performing the ceremony "was
required henceforth to desist, and is not intrusted with that
business any more."
Evidence that even the Governor's persuasive powers lacked
potency in this matter is seen in the Court record of June 6,
1654, when Edward Perry "for refusing to haue his marriage
rattifyed before Mr. Prence . . . is fined fiue pounds for this
spent Court and soe fiue pounds for euery Generall Court that
shall bee during the time of his said neglect for the future."
Knowledge of the outcome of this conflict would be interesting,
but is not found.
In 1643, Edmond and his two sons Edmond and John were among
those "able to bear arms" in Sandwich. The elder Edmond
served on the grand jury in 1636 and 1647, as Assistant
continuously from 1640 to 1646, and as a Representative in the
latter year. As Assistant, he and his associates held court for
the three townships, Yarmouth, Barnstable and Sandwich, "for
small causes." In 1641, he with Governor Winslow and Myles
Standish dealt true justice in ruling that a certain man should
pay for a deer which his son had bought of an Indian long before,
and that another man should pay two shillings for mending a hole
which he had shot in the same Indian's kettle. The attitude of
Edmond toward the natives is further shown in a case where he
addressed several notes to the General Court about 1655 relative
to "spoyle done in the Indians corn by horses," and
about suitable recompense therefor.
In Sandwhich, Mass. he served as Assistant Proprietor from
February 2, 1636-1637. He was admitted a free man at Plymouth on
January 2, 1637. While in Sandwhich, Mass. Edmond was prominent,
active, and influential in the affairs of the colony. He sold
land in Scituate on March 10, 1642, on behalf of his brother-in-law,
John Beauchamp, who was one of the adventurers of the Plymouth
Colony. Edmond was an active member of the council of war from
1640-1645 and was a deputy. He also served as Assistant Governor
of the Plymouth Colony from 1640-1646. Edmond later resided at
Duxbury, Mass. and finally settled in Eastham, Mass.
Elizabeth died on February 14, 1675 and Edmond died in 1682.
It had been a practice during this time period for couples to
ride together on some horse, the husband in saddle in front and
the wife on a pillion behind him, a manner in which Edmond and
Elizabeth reportedly traveled happily through life. When
Elizabeth died, Edmond buried her on a knoll near their home and
used a large circular stone, being emblematic of a pillion, to
mark her grave. Beside that stone he placed another stone carved
in the shape of a saddle which, after his death served as his own
headstone. To reach their grave sites today, one would follow
Route 6A west from Eastham past two entrances to Tupper Road.
Proceed another hundred yards to a break in a stone wall where
there is a sign and path leading to their graves "in a
charming wooded bower."
Edmond's will was dated: June 21, 1682 and was probated on
November 2, 1682. He listed his 2 sons, John and Edmond, and his
son-in-law, Edward Perry as executors. He made bequeaths to the
executors, his grandsons; Matthias Ellis and Thomas Paddy, and to
his daughter, Elizabeth Ellis. Edmond and Elizabeth were both
buried in Eastham, Mass. [LeVonda's Family
Tree]
17 Junij 1635
In the "Abigall" prd: p Cert; from the Minister of
their conformitie C from the Justices, that they are no Subsedy
men.
Edmond Freeman......45
(under entry In the "Abigall" prd. Primo die Julij 1635)
Husb: Edward Freeman......34
"vxor" Elizabeth Freeman......35
Edmond Freeman......15
John Freeman......8
[John Camden Hotten, The Original Lists of Persons of Quality
1600-1700, 1874]
Back