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m. 4 Jul 1610
Facts and Events
(The History of the Town of York) Roger GARDE was a wool(en) draper of Bideford, England. He came to America in 1637 after the death of his wife, Philippa. He was the brother of John GARD of Rhode Island (d. 1688), and served as Mayor of Agamenticus (Old York) Maine from 1644-5, and Recorder of the Province of Maine. Roger died between 12 Jun 1644 and 24 Jan 1645. (Genealogical Dictictionary of New England & New Hampshire: p. 252) He was one of the earliest settlers of York, arriving before 1637, as on June 11 of that year Samuel Maverick granted him a tract of land in the town limits of York (York Deeds, i, 118) Genealogical Dictionary of New England - SAVAGE: Vol. II D-J: GARDE, GARD, or GARRARD, John, Warwick 1655, removed to New London 1667, perhaps was the man, "old John GARD," in 1712, and his son Daniel charged with misdemeaners. Roger, York, recorder of the Prov. 1640, at the first Assemb. under Sir F. Gorges' commiss. mayor of Acomenticus 1644, had no w. in the country, wh. exposed him to suspicion. Winth. II. 210 Roger GARDE and Philippa GIST had six (6) children all born in England. Roger was in the party of Sir Ferdinand GORGES that went to York, Maine directly from the Azores. As mayor of York, Roger GARDE presided at the famous trial of Catherine CORNISH, who was accused of adultery and the murder of her husband. He found her guilty upon the evidence presented and sentenced her to death. Catherine then turned against Mayor GARDE and accused him of having committed adultery with her also, giving him the incentive to put her away. Although her accusation was probably malicious and false, there were those who believed it and according to the GARD brothers in "THE EARLY BACKGROUND OF THE GARD FAMILY IN AMERICA," the last days of Roger GARDE's life "were made intolerable by the slanderous statements of his enemies." He died shortly thereafter "in despair, and died of a broken heart," but was buried with honor, indicating that he was exonerated by the people of the town after all. Descendants of Roger Garde, Proven and Probable by James R. Henderson "Originally published in the "Guardian" newsletter, Vol. 9, No. 2, August 1999." A fair amount of material has been published on Roger Garde and his son John in this century, including, "Parentage of Roger Garde, the First New England Mayor", [New England Historical and Genealogical Register, (NEHGR) Vol. 82 (1928), pp. 69-70], "The Gardes and the Champlins", by G. Andrews Moriarty [The American Genealogist, (TAG) Vol. 20, pp. 106-109], two brief articles by the same author in his series," Additions and Corrections to Austin's Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island" [TAG, Vol. 20, p. 121 and TAG Vol. 32, p. 38], as well as the article on Roger Garde in The Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire (GDMNH) by Libby, Noyes and Davis, 1928-1939. Unfortunately, none of these articles attempted to trace Roger Garde's descendants beyond his son John. This article has been written with the intention of filling that void. Roger Garde may have been a son of John Garde of Alwington, Devon who married Mary Suthcott there on 12 Nov. 1589, but this has not been proven. As will be discussed below, Roger is believed to have had a brother John who was a merchant of Fayal, Azores and of Newport, Rhode Island. Various spellings of the family name including Garde, Gard, Guard and sometimes even Gaurd were used in the early records. For the sake of simplicity the spelling Gard will be used in the remainder of this article unless quoting from a record where it is spelled otherwise. 1. Roger Gard was born about 1585, based on his marriage to Philippa Gist at Bideford, Devonshire on 4 July 1610. The parish register of Bideford shows that Roger and Philippa had at least six children, of whom only two are definitely known to have reached adulthood and gotten married. Roger Gard was a woolen draper in Bideford, leaving few extant records besides those in the parish register. After 24 years of marriage, his wife Philippa died and was buried on 1 Feb. 1634/5. Not long after her death he left England and settled in York, Maine then under the proprietorship of the Gorges family. He received a land grant there on 6 June 1637 and soon became a prominent individual. Mr. Thomas Gorges made Roger Gard his agent when Gorges went back to England in 1643 [York, Maine Deeds, Vol. 1, part 2, p. 14]. Roger served as Alderman, Town Clerk and Recorder of the York Court in the early 1640's and became Mayor of York, 1644-45. In 1645 he presided over the trial of one Catherine Cornish who was accused of murdering her husband, Richard. During the trial, Catherine accused Gard of having had an affair with her. Although she was found guilty and executed, her accusations were harmful to Gard's reputation and may have hastened his death, as he died a few months later, before 28 July 1645. He is quoted as saying on his death bed that "the people had broken his heart". He was buried "with his arms" and Rev. Joseph Hull preached his funeral sermon [GDMNH, p. 252]. A letter reporting Roger Gard's death was sent by Rev. James Parker on 28 July 1645 to Gov. John Winthrop of Massachusetts who entered the information in his journal [GDMNH, p. 528; The Journal of John Winthrop, 1630-1649, Harvard University Press, 1996, p. __]. In his Gard article Moriarty noted that Roger Gard was a member of the Church of England rather than a Puritan [TAG, Vol. 20,p.106]. While he was living in York, Roger Gard was mentioned on two bonds which were recorded in Aspinwall's Notarial Records [Boston Municipal Printing Office, 1903]. The first bond, dated 13 May 1643, was from John Manning and Nicholas Trerice for £70.10 to William Pennicott of the Island of Fayal. The bond specified that if Manning and Trerice failed to deliver on their contract with Pennicott, they would then pay the amount of the bond to "Abraham Shurt, Mercht & in his absence to Mr Roger Gard & in the absence of them both to Mr Samuel Maverick all living in New England." The appearance of Samuel Maverick's name on this bond is interesting in that he was the brother-in-law of the Rev. James Parker whose letter reporting the death of Roger Gard is mentioned above. The second bond mentioning Roger Gard was also dated May 1643. It was from Nicholas Trerice and John Manning for 100,000 Portuguese Reis payable to Samuel Andrews or John Gard of Fayal in the Azores. This John Gard may have been Roger's son born in 1618, but might instead have been his presumed brother, who married Rebecca Copp at Bideford, Devon on 27 Sept. 1629. This bond contained the provision that payment could also be made "in New England unto Roger Gard". Payment of both bonds was acknowledged when they were recorded in 1647. The connection between Nicholas Trerice and Roger Gard on these bonds is worth noting, because Trerice's son John was associated with William Gard in 1666 as presented under William Gard below. An excellent article on the career and family of Nicholas Trerice can be found in NEHGR, Vol. 143, pp. 25-39. As for Roger Gard's probable brother John, he may have been the same John Gard who, by 1660, was living in Newport, Rhode Island with a wife named Harte. Harte Gard died at Newport 16 Sept. 1660 age 55 and John Gard died there 7 Aug. 1665, age 61. As Roger Gard's son John also moved to Rhode Island by 1664 there has been some confusion regarding the two as discussed in the section on Roger's son John. Children of Roger and Philippa Gard, baptized at Bideford, Devon: i. Elizabeth, bpt. 16 Feb, 1613/14 2. ii. Rebecca, bpt. 9 May 1616; married William Champlin in 1641. 3. iii. John, bpt. 8 Nov. 1618; married Mary? Tetherley and Martha Brenton. iv. Thomas, bpt. 21 Jan 1620/21 v. Patience, bpt. 13 July 1623 vi. Mary, bpt. 1 Feb. 1626/27 4. vii. (possibly) Roger, probably born about 1630; remained in Bideford, twice married. DEATH: Actual Death Place: Agamenticus, (Now York), York, Maine
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