My Family Tree

1628 in "Abigail", Weymouth to Salem MA. Settled in S. Bridgewater 1700, Shrewsbury 1731. Killed by lighting, 7/15/1665. Representative to the General Court of Mass. for several years. (Mitchell, p. 35.)
It was 310 Essex Street�s (Salem Witch House) long forgotten owners Captain Richard Davenport and his wife, Elizabeth Hathorne Davenport (ancestor of acclaimed Salem native Nathaniel Hawthorne), who helped establish the sound moral foundation upon which the New Jerusalem was built. Richard Davenport arrived in Salem in 1628 aboard the English ship Abigail. Already a skilled soldier, he went on to become an important military officer in the developing colony.
Before leaving, England, Richard was betrothed to Elizabeth Hathorne, sister of William Hathorne. His duties were to establish the Massachusetts Bay Colony and set up house for his new bride. While many settlers perished with a broken spirit from scarcity of food and sickness, Richard endured his first bitter cold New, England winter. During the summer of 1630, the Arbella, flagship of Winthrop�s Fleet, brought his new family.
The couple wed and life began in their new Naumkeag home: it was a �roughhewn dirt floor wooden structure with a roof solidly thatched and stone fireplace.� William Hathorne married Anne Smith, and they lived in Dorchester for their first three years in the colony, while he groomed himself for greatness. Meanwhile, Richard was �zealously engaged in agricultural operations,� and like many early Salem planters, he learned from the local Naumkeag tribe that the abundant herring were more useful as corn fertilizer than an evening meal; they called it �fishing the fields.� The problem of light was also solved by their new friends, as Rev. Higginson recorded after a visit to a native wigwam: �the pine trees cloven are so full of moisture of turpentine and pitch they burn as clear as a torch.�
Soon after settlements were established, their names were changed to suit Puritan ideals. Naumkeag was now Salem, Hebrew for peace. In 1636 William Hathorne joined the Davenport clan in Salem. Their wives shared domestic duties and their children played together. Richard and William served jointly in town affairs, tasked with establishing boundary lines and appraising land and properties. William was a magistrate, and court records indicate that Richard benefited handsomely when convicted men were sentenced to serve time on his farms.
Richard Davenport and Thomas Lathrop shared land in the Farms and managed the day-to-day operations of the planters. Chosen as overseer of the herdsmen, Richard noted in town records that he �contracted Keeper of the Cattle for 36 ponds per ann.� Also a member of the �train band,� Richard had strong ties with its captain, John Endicott, a �hothead Puritan� instigating acts with "indiscreet zeal."
During a drill in 1634, Endicott entered the field, grabbed the flag and cut out the patron cross of St. George with his sword. Endicott�s defiant act against �popish relics of superstition� made clear his desire to sever customs and binds to �Episcopacy, England.� Endicott�s Separatist vision was clear: �we stand on our own soil... which we have won with our swords, which we have cleared with our axes, which we have tilled with the sweat of our brows, which we have sanctified with our prayers to the God that brought us hither!�
Richard became best known in Salem as Ensign Davenport, and he named his daughter Truecross to honor that which Nathaniel Hawthorne called �the first omen of that deliverance which our fathers consummated.�
Richard, now a �man approved for his faithfulness, courage, and skill,� was appointed to command the colony�s chief fortress, Castle Island, and did so until his tragic death by lightening in June 1665. Elizabeth and the children remained in Boston. �The whole country mourned the loss and Court granted his family favors and lands.�
But arrival in colonies not so certain.

Records not imported into INDI (individual) Gramps ID I33901100:

ADDR element ignored 'Castle Island, Boston Harbor' Line 11973: 2 ADDR Castle Island, Boston Harbor
Boston
Massachusetts