The Packard - Mayflower Connection   Clara Florence Packard was my maternal grandmother. This page describes the connection of the family to the early Plymouth Massachusetts Colony and to the Mayflower voyage. This is their story, as I know it.
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Introduction - Josiah Packard

Captain Josiah Packard (1723-1806), was my 5th great-grandfather. He fought the British during American Revolution and became the first American Citizen in our Packard family line. All his ancestors can be traced back to the earliest colonial times with one branch having claim to arriving with the original colonists on the Mayflower in 1620.

Important note: The claim to Captain Josiah Packard as our 5th great grandfather is made on assumptions regarding the parentage of Shepard Packard (b Abt1818). The identity of his parents have not been documented at this time and thus cast some doubt on this entire page.

I have provided an ancestor tree which includes all the family members discussed on this page and their relationship to Capt. Josiah for your convenience. You may print it for future reference or you may leave it's window open and refer to it as you read about our first American colonists. By "our" I mean those in my particular family line. We will concentrate only on the earliest arrivals to these shores.

Click the button for the tree in pdf format

Samuel Packard was the great-grandfather of Josiah Packard through Zaccheus Packard (1661-1723) (grandfather) and Abiel Packard (1699-1744)(father).

Samuel Packard (1612-1684) married Elizabeth (Family unknown) (1614 - 1694) in about 1635 at Stonham, Aspal Parish, Suffolk, England. With their two year old daughter Mary they emigrated to Plymouth Massachusetts Colony  in 1638 on the ship Diligent from Ipswich, England, where, they were the parents of 13 additional children. 11 were born in Hingham, Mass. and 2 in Weymouth, Mass. before they relocated to Bridgewater, Mass. According to Karl S. Packard ...

"He was an active member of the town, being Collector of Minister's Rates in 1670, Surveyor of Highways in 1672, and Constable again in 1674. He was licensed to keep an 'ordinary' (tavern)  in 1671.  He died there 7 November 1684, and his will, dated 29 October 1684, was signed by mark, helping to explain why the common mispelling of his name as Packer was not corrected earlier"

Samuel and his sons were soldiers in King Philip's War, a bloody conflict with the native Americans, under Captain Benjamin Church. (see War )

For more information

John Howard was a great-grandfather of Josiah Packard through Sarah Howard (grandmother) and Abiel Packard (father).

John Howard (1617-1701) is believed to be born in London, England. His date of birth is in question and his date of arrival in the colonies is also uncertain. Even the spelling of his name is in doubt having been recorded as Howard, Hayward and Haywood. He was married to Martha Hayward (????-1693). She is believed to have been born in Plymouth but there is conflicting information about both husband and wife at this time. They were the parents of Sara Howard, grandmother of Josiah Packard.

William Ames was the 2nd great-grandfather of Josiah Packard through  John Ames (great-grandfather), John Ames (grandfather) and Sarah Ames (mother).

William AMES was christened on 6 Oct 1605 in Bruton, Somerset, England. He died on 1 Mar 1653/1654 in Braintree, Norfolk, MA. He was buried on 6 Mar 1653/1654 in Braintree, Norfolk, MA. He married Hannah in 1640 in Braintree, Norfolk, MA.

Hannah was born about 1611 in , , Somerset, England. She died on 31 Jan 1702/1703 in Braintree, Norfolk, MA. She married William AMES in 1640 in Braintree, Norfolk, MA.

They had the following children:
Hannah AMES was born on 12 May 1641 in Braintree, Norfolk, MA. She died on 3 Jul 1690 in Braintree, Norfolk, MA. She was buried in Milton Cem., Braintree, Norfolk, MA.
Rebecca AMES was born on 10 Oct 1642.
Liddia AMES was christened on 2 Jun 1645 in Braintree, Norfolk, MA.
John AMES was christened on 24 May 1647 in Braintree, Norfolk, MA. He died on 1 Mar 1726 in West Bridgewater, Plymouth, MA.
Sarah AMES was christened on 1 Mar 1650/1651 in Braintree, Norfolk, MA.
Deliverance AMES was born on 6 Dec 1653 in Braintree, Norfolk, MA. She was christened on 6 Feb 1653/1654 in Braintree, Norfolk, MA.

John Washburn was the 2nd great-grandfather of Josiah Packard through John Washburn (great-grandfather), Sarah Washburn (grandmother) and Sarah Ames (mother).

John Washburn baptized 02-Jul-1597 Bengeworth, Worcestershire, England; died 1671 in Bridgewater. He was the son of John Washburn and Martha (Timbrell) Stevens.

He married Margery Moore in 1618 Bengeworth, Worcestershire, England. Margery was born about 1586 probably England. He arrived in Plymouth before 1633 but may have returned to England to arrange passage for members of his family. John was a tailor and held a number of offices in the community. He was on the 1643 list of men able to bear arms and a soldier in expedition against the Narragansett Indians in 1645.

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Experience Mitchell is a 2nd great-grandfather of Josiah Packard through Elizabeth Mitchell (great grandmother), Sarah Washburn (grandmother) and Sarah Ames (mother).

Experience1 Mitchell was born before 1609 in Leyden, Holland, and died on 04 Sep 1689  in Bridgewater, Plymouth County, MA. He immigrated in Aug 1623 to Plymouth Colony, MA. on the ship Anne. He married Jane Cooke on 22 May 1627 in Plymouth, Ma. She was the daughter of Francis Cooke and Hester Le Mahieu. They also had a son, Thomas and a daughter Mary. Jane was born in 1613 in Leyden, Holland. After Jane's, death between 1640 and 1650 Experience married Mary (maiden name unknown) There were five additional children.

The Mayflower Connection

Francis Cooke is a 3rd great-grandfather of Josiah Packard through Jane Cooke (2nd great-grandmother),  Elizabeth Mitchell (great grandmother), Sarah Washburn (grandmother) and Sarah Ames (mother).

Francis Cooke (1583-1663) was born in England. He lived for a time in Leyden, Holland where he married Hester Mayhieu., probably born at Canterbury, Eng. They had 5 children before he immigrated 1620 on the Mayflower with his oldest son John, leaving the rest of the family in Holland. Hester Mahieu Cooke and her children including Jane arrived in Plymouth in 1623 on the Anne. Two more children were born to the couple in Plymouth.

Francis Cooke  1650

"And seeing it hath pleased Him to give me [William Bradford] to see thirty years completed since these beginnings, and that the great works of His providence are to be observed, I have thought it not unworthy my pains to take a view of the decreasings and increasings of these persons and such changes as hath passed over them and theirs in this thirty years ...
"Francis Cooke is still living, a very old man, and hath seen his children's children have children. After his wife came over with other of his children; he hath three still living by her, all married and have five children, so their increase is eight. And his son John which came over with him is married, and hath four children living."
William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation 1620-1647, ed.
Samuel Eliot Morison (New York : Knopf, 1991), p. 75-6.

Francis Cooke's Death
"Francis Cooke died the seauenth of Aprill, 1663."
Plymouth Colony Records, Vol. 8, p. 23.

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© Grandpa Don Plefka
aka Harry Ronald Cecora
 10/23/2007

 

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My Family The Packard - Mayflower Connection
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