Person:Robert Rose (3)

Robert Rose 1594-1665 of Wethersfield, Conn. came in the "Francis" in 1634 from Ipswich, England. He was a widower when he moved with others to the new town of Branford in 1644. "He was regarded as a wealthy man owning 10 horses when there were not as many more in town." It is said he also owned 10 cows. He was a religious man and gave the Sunday milking to the poor. His Bible printed in 1599 has been handed down in the family.

In 1655 he was one of the two largest proprietors in the town of Branford with an estate of £100. A New Haven record states "he was asked to hire a bull for the town."

Robert and his first wife Margery were both age 40 when they came to America. After Margery's death he m. 2nd Elizabeth who was twice widowed 1st from John Potter who left three children and 2nd from Edward Parker who left four children. Elizabeth died July 8, 1677.

Robert Rose was Constable 1650; Juror 1641; Representative to Gen. Court 1641-3; moved to Stratford before 1648; served in Pequot War.

Robert Rose, his wife and eight children, sailed on April 30, 1634, on the ship "Francis" from Ipswich, England. They landed at Watertown, Massachusetts, in August, 1634. They lived in Watertown for a while and then moved on to Wethersfield, Connecticut. In Wethersfiled, Robert rose was one of the largest original owners of "Adventurous Lands". He held many town offices including Constable, juror, and representative to the General Court of the Colony. He was a member of the Wethersfield Church but had differences with the pastor, a Rev. Henry Smith. Robert Rose prepared a list of grievances against the Rev. Smith and the dispute was taken to the General Court in November, 1643. The Court decided in favor of the Rev. Smith. All those who signed the petition against Smith were fined. Robert Rose's fine was forty shillings.

In 1644, Robert Rose moved to Totokiet (now Branford) Connecticut. Some of the family remained in Wethersfield. The Rev. Smith affair was apparently not the only instance where Robert Rose differed with the establishment. One account (Atwater, "History of New Haven Colony") indicated that "the name of Robert Rose often appears in connection with spiritual affairs. His was the leading mind in the dissentions which led to the early disruptions of that colony. His attitude in Branford was that of a worthy citizen aiding and adjusting the affairs of the community. He was liberal in his views, broad in his charities, highly respected and venerated in his life and by succeeding generations. He was regarded as a wealthy man, owning ten horses at a time when there were not that many more in town. He dispensed material aid to his less fortunate neighbors giving the Sunday's milking to the poor." (E. E. Starr, "Rose-Gillett Family" and Mary Belle Linnell, "A Partial Genealogy of The Rose Families of Granville, Ohio" compiled in 1967.)

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6} Robert Rose, in Anderson, Robert Charles; George F. Sanborn; and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635. (Boston, Massachusetts: NEHGS, 1999-2011)
   6:100-04.

   ORIGIN: Unknown.
   MIGRATION: 1634 on the Francis of Ipswich (on 30 April 1634, "Robert Rose," aged 40, "Margery his wife," aged 40, "John Rose," aged 15, "Robert Rose," aged 15, "Eliz[abeth] Rose," aged 13, "Mary Rose," aged 11, "Samuell Rose," aged 9, "Sarah Rose," aged 7, "Danyell Rose," aged 3, and "Darcas Rose," aged 2, were enrolled at Ipswich as passengers for New England on the Francis of Ipswich [Hotten 278-79].
   CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: On 10 November 1643, "Mr. Plum, for preferring a roll of diverse grievances against Mr. Smith & failing of proof in the persecution thereof, is fined £10. Robert Rose for joining with Mr. Plum therein is fined 40s." [CCR 1:97]. (Henry Smith was minister at Wethersfield at this time and a schism had developed in the church, with the General Court siding with Smith [CCR 1:86-87, 90, 97].)
   
   The undated inventory of the estate of "Robert Rose of Brandford" totalled £ 826 9s. 7d. (with £62 11s. owed to the estate and £186 10s. 3d. owed by the estate), of which £260 was real estate: "the house and land," £260 [NHPR 1:2:7-8].
   
   Savage's entry for this immigrant muddles records for the father and son (Savage 3:576).

2. ↑ Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co, 1860-1862)
   3:466, 3:576.
3.   Banks, Charles Edward. The Planters of the Commonwealth: a study of the emigrants and emigration in colonial times, to which are added lists of passengers to Boston and to the Bay Colony, the ships which brought them, their English homes, and the places of their settlement in Massachusetts, 1620-1640. (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1930).

   Charles E. Banks claimed that Robert Rose was from Elmswell, Suffolk [Planters 121; Topo Dict 152], but John Insley Coddington demonstrated that the Robert Rose of Elmswell could not have been the immigrant to New England [TAG 39:206-8]. Coddington also pointed out that the Robert Rose of Long Island was distinct from and unconnected with the subject of the present sketch, citing an article by Conklin Mann [TAG 11:139-43]. Great Migration

4. ↑ Rose, Christine (Christine Ciciarelli). Descendants of Robert Rose of Wethersfield and Branford, Connecticut: who Came on the Ship "Francis" in 1634 from Ipswich, England. (San Jose, California: Rose Family Association Nationwide, 1983)
   1-12.
5.   Robert Rose sketch, in Great Migration Newsletter. (Boston, Massachusetts: Great Migration Study Project)
   [1].

   BIRTH: About 1594 (aged 40 on 30 April 1634 [Hotten 279]).
   DEATH: Between 25 August 1664 (date of will) and 4 April 1665 (probate of will).
   MARRIAGE: (1) By about 1619 Margery _____.
   (2) Shortly after 7 June 1664 Elizabeth (_____) (Potter) Parker, widow of John Potter and of Edward Parker [NEHGR 54:20-23; NHTR 2:90; FANH 1459].