Family:John Bachelor and Mary Unknown (1)

The New England Children of Joseph and John Bachelor of Margate/Canterbury/Dover Kent and Salem, Massachusetts Bay

Both Savage, 1:87-89, and Perley, 1:445, give John Bachelor of Salem a son John, bp. 1639, d. young; and a daughter Hannah, bp. 1644, d. young. Savage cannot name Joseph's children and Perley tries, but gives Joseph himself and his two brothers as his sons. Franklin Clifton Pierce 343-49, gets closer, naming Joseph's children who were born here in addition to the one child of the four born in England, Mark, who survived to come with his parents. We know from the probate of their childless uncle Henry Bachelor, that Joseph's children John, Elizabeth Davis, and Hannah Warner survived their uncle as did John's children John, Joseph, and Hannah Corning.

Pierce gives Joseph four children: Mark (who died, unmarried) in King Philip's War; John, bp. 20 Jan. 1638 and married Mary Dennis and Sarah Goodale; Elizabeth, unrecorded, who married Captain James Davis of Gloucester; and Hannah, bp. 23 Jun. 1644.

Pierce then gives us a fourth brother, Joshua [as does Savage], and his children: John, who married Rebecca [this is John of Watertown, Dedham and Reading who is not connected with this family]; Elizabeth, unrecorded, no husband named; and Hannah, unrecorded, who married Daniel Warner. Joshua never existed; see the parents' family page.

He then gives us John, giving him, among seven children, John, bp. Jan 1639, d. in 1645; and Hannah, bp. 23 Jun 1644, d. young. These "deaths" are not recorded in the published Salem vital records.

The published Salem vital records give seven Bachelder/Bacheldor baptisms between 1638 and 1653. 1638 John and 1644 Hannah are listed with no father named. 1645 Hannah and 1650 John are listed as children of John along with 1640 Mary, 1642 Abigail and 1653 Joseph. Elizabeth, ca. 1641, was, of course, unrecorded.

CONCLUSION: The five individuals listed as children of John are children of John Bachelor (b ca. 1610) and his first wife Mary (-----). The two children listed without the father being named, along with the unrecorded Elizabeth, are those children of Joseph and Elizabeth (Dickenson) who were born in New England. The John and Hannah, who allegedly died young, who are assigned to John by Perley and Pierce, are really Joseph's and can be ascribed to a misinterpretation of the Salem church records.

See Putnam, Eben. Two Early Passenger Lists NEHGR 75:223-24, Willcox, Doris Schreiber. Massachusetts Descendants of the Rev. Thomas Wilson, Author Of the Pilgrims' Christian Dictionarie NEHGR 163:12-13 and the probate records of the three brothers, transcribed onto their respective person pages, for further clarification of the above discussion.

1. ↑ Ferris, Mary Walton. Dawes-Gates Ancestral Lines: A Memorial Volume Containing the American Ancestry of Rufus R. Dawes; and A Memorial Volume Containing the American Ancestry of Mary Beman (Gates) Dawes. (Milwaukee, WI: Cuneo Press, 1931-1943)
   2:98.