Person:Ralph Sprague (2)

ORIGIN: Fordington St. George, Dorsetshire
MIGRATION: 1629
FIRST RESIDENCE: Charlestown
REMOVES: Malden
OCCUPATION: Fuller.
BIRTH: About 1595, probably at Upway, Dorsetshire, son of Edward and Christian (_____) Sprague. In his will, Edward calls 'Ralphe Sprague my eldest son' [NEHGR 134:195-96].
DEATH: Malden November 1650. His stepfather, John Corbin, wrote from Upway on 25 March 1651 'I am very sorry to understand that my brother-in-law John Holland shall report … that you are dead … but I give God praise that I hear to the contrary" [NEHGR 134:198].
MARRIAGE: Fordington St. George, Dorsetshire, 15 August 1623 Johane/Joan Warren [NEHGR 132:53], daughter of Richard Warren.

Ralph (Sprague), Charlestown 1629, came prob. with w. Joan, and s. John and Richard, that yr. in the fleet with Higginson, certain. with brs. Richard, and prob. William. They were s. of Edward prob. of Upway in Devonshire. Sometimes it has been thot. that these gent. were passeng. in 1628, with Endicott, but to me it seems more likely that, as they came, paying their own charges, they were in the fleet of 1629. With Endicott, in the Abigail, beside his fam. and serv. there not, I suppose, over twenty, includ. men, women, and ch. and most of them sent by the adventurers in London, as the first sh. for the planta. would naturally be occup. in transport. of persons wh. they should wholly control. The much larger exped. aft. gr. of the chart. 1629 had, also wider views of policy, and in obedience to the direct. of the officers of the comp. at home the Spragues, wh. came at their own charge, were sent by Endicott to take up the lands in C. but we kn. that the compiler of the Charlestown rec. threw back his narra. of early transact. by one yr. mak. Winthrop and the gr. body of our early sett. come in 1629. As the Spragues came one yr. bef. Winth. Mr. Green, the compiler of that MS. compliment. by Prince and most of us as the first rec. of C. natural. gave them the date 1628, and on the same premises our confidence reposes, that the true yr. was 1629. He had w. Joan, and the Nos. of hims. and her on our ch. list are 102 and 3. He had Samuel, bapt. 3 June 1632, but he may have been b. many mos. for his was the sixth ch. nam. in our list, and the rite had not been perform. since Nov. 1630, by reason of the abs. of Wilson the pastor, wh. came back from Eng. the wk. bef. this bapt. He and his w. were of the 33, wh. had desir. dismiss. from the congr. of Boston 'to enter into a new ch. body at C.' and were dismiss. 14 Oct. 1632; and his d. Mary was bapt. 14 Sept. 1634; s. Phineas, 31 July 1637. He had sprung, I imagine, from Dorsetsh. and own. lds. in Upway of that Co. as by let. of 25 Mar. 1651 from his f.-in-law, John Corbin, at that parish, appears. On 19 Oct. 1630 he req. adm. and 18 May foll. was sw. as freem. made constable at the Gen. Ct. Oct. 1630, serg. lieut. and capt. in regular success, rep. May 1635, being the third time of such an assemb. and very frequ. aft.; ar. co. 1639; but I believe that in later days he liv. on Mistick side, or Malden, for his name is in a commiss. to set. bounds there, and he d. Nov. 1650, and his s. Jonathan next mo. and his name of the wid. is the sec. on the women's memo. to the Gen. Ct. 1651 in favor Matthews; and she may have m. eleven yrs. later Edward Converse of "Woburn. Mary, his d. m. Daniel Edmunds, oft. writ. Edmunds, and in the will of her br. Capt. Richard has good provis."

Under 21 at the time of his father’s will in 1614, he had completed his apprenticeship (must be at least 21) by the time he gave testimony in a 1617 case. The court case of 1617, when Ralph was twenty-one or older, sets his year of birth no later than 1596. The 1614 will, when he was not of age, places it no earlier than 1594. Thus 1594-1596 best approximates his year of birth.

Lists sources:
Sprague, Ralph, Genealogy, Sprague, E. G., (Montpelier, VT:The Capital City Press, 1913), page 25.
Great Migration Begins, Anderson, Robert Charles, (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, 1995), "b. about 1595, probably at Upway, Dorsetshire", Volume III, page 1729.
Mary & John, Spear, Burton W., (Toledo, OH, The Mary & John Clearing House), "b. ca 1599", Volume 17, page 141.
Spragues of Malden, Chamberlain, George Walter, (Boston, Mass, Privately Printed, 1923.), "b. ca 1599".
American Families-Genealogies/Bio's., (New York, NY: The American Historical Society, Inc., 1921), "b. 1603", pages 30-40.
Sprague, Ralph, Genealogy, Sprague, E. G., (Montpelier, VT:The Capital City Press, 1913), "b. 1603.", page 25.
Ancient Artillery Company, Book 2, National Society Women Descendants and the Ancient & Honorable Artillery Company, Page 25, TERRY, Accepted March 10, 1943, National Number 330.
History of Artillery Company, page 78.
Northern New York Genealogical History, Anonymous, (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1910, 1417 pages), pages 477-481 provided by Barbara L. Gese, correspondent, note of December 7th, 2003.
Sprague Families in America, Sprague, Warren Vincent, (Rutland, Vt: The Tuttle Company, Printer, 1913), page 119.
New England Marriages, Torrey, Clarence A., (Baltimore, MD, Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004), page 698

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