{"id":61379,"date":"2020-09-09T10:56:14","date_gmt":"2020-09-09T14:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=61379"},"modified":"2026-01-16T09:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T14:50:10","slug":"the-first-families-of-america-no-blue-bloods-on-the-mayflower-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/the-first-families-of-america-no-blue-bloods-on-the-mayflower-part-1.html","title":{"rendered":"The First Families of America: No Blue Bloods on the Mayflower (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry writes about the working-class background of the Mayflower Pilgrims \u2013 and the Blue Bloods of Boston. <\/em>Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com<\/a><\/em>, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History<\/a><\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n

In 1958 social historian Cleveland Amory wrote an article in the Boston American<\/em> newspaper on America\u2019s \u201cfirst families\u201d and how they influenced the society circles of his day. Amory wanted to clear the misconception historians cultivated about the Mayflower<\/em> Pilgrims, who arrived in the New World in 1620.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Boston American (Boston, Massachusetts), 28 September 1958, page 9<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For example, one American historian, Dixon Wecter, classified Mayflower<\/em> passengers as \u201cthe ne\u2019er-do-wells, underprivileged, and maladjusted.\u201d He clumped them in with Jamestown (First Families of Virginia) and Knickerbocker New Yorkers.<\/p>\n

Amory asserted that Wecter and other historians \u201c\u2026have gone too far. They not only fail to do justice to the Pilgrims who were, as a group, perhaps the greatest of all this country\u2019s heroes,\u201d he pointed out that a great many distinguished American citizens are Mayflower<\/em>-descended:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026including, to take a random selection, Boston\u2019s Adams family, Ulysses S. Grant, the first Mrs. Jefferson Davis [Sarah Knox Taylor], Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Mrs. Ralph Waldo Emerson [Lidian Jackson Emerson], William Howard Taft, J. P. Morgan, George F. Baker, the first Mrs. John D. Rockefeller Jr. (Abby Aldrich), and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Illustration:<\/a>
Illustration: \u201cMayflower\u201d descendant Sarah Knox Taylor Davis (1814-1835), wife of Jefferson Davis (1808\u20131889), and the daughter of the 12th U.S. President Zachary Taylor (1784-1850) and Margaret \u201cPeggy\u201d Mackall Smith (1788-1852). Credit: Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was not just the historians who looked down on \u201cthe other\u201d first family lines. The Boston elite, whose ancestors came over on the Arabella<\/em> (flagship of the Winthrop Fleet that arrived in Salem in 1630) claimed it brought the country\u2019s first Whitney and distinguished forebearer Sir Richard Saltonstall. These blood lines boasted of ten unbroken generations of Harvard men and their socially prestigious ladies.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Isabella Stewart Gardner (1840-1924) (left) and her mother Adeline Smith Stewart (1814-1886), married to William Stewart. Adeline is a direct descendant of Elder John Strong who came on the \u201cHopewell\u201d (Winthrop Fleet). Credit: the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Amory himself was bred from Brahmin stock. His pedigree consisted of a score of Harvard grads and famous colonial dames, with names such as Copley, Coffin, Appleton, and Peabody. I found several portraits of his predecessors.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:<\/a>
Illustration: portraits of Cleveland Amory\u2019s ancestors painted by Joseph Blackburn: Richard Fisher Amory (1722-1784), son of Thomas Amory (1682-1728) and Rebecca Holmes (1701-1770); and his wife Elizabeth Coffin (1743-1823), daughter of William Coffin (1669-1775) and Ann Holmes (1669-1774). Credit: Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite his high position on the social ladder, Amory did not put on airs \u2013 rather, he loved to play and pun at the upper echelon, especially its grande dames.<\/p>\n

He referenced two of them in the Boston American<\/em> article. Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis (Eliza Ann Wetherby), who was asked if she was descended from the Mayflower<\/em>, replied: \u201cOh no, we came on the second boat. We sent our servants on that.\u201d Mrs. Jack Gardner (Isabella Stewart Gardner) put a visitor in their place when they launched into a family history that included the Mayflower<\/em>. She responded: \u201cIndeed, I understand the immigration laws are much stricter nowadays.\u201d<\/p>\n

More can be found in Armory\u2019s book The Proper Bostonians<\/em> (1947).<\/p>\n

The first families of Boston not only missed the Mayflower<\/em>, they originally settled not in Boston but in Salem \u2013 where, as the saying was, \u201cits Peabody or nobody.\u201d Amory shook a few family trees, dug below the upper crust, and found not one \u201cGent\u201d to be among the Pilgrim group. Yes, the Mayflower<\/em> transported the first commoners, and the 41 men who signed the famous compact were working men who came to the New World to create a social order that represented \u201cequality of all men.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ruthie Stearns of Lincoln, Nebraska, joined the Mayflower Society a few years back. She descends from passengers Richard Warren, Francis Cooke, and John Alden. Ruthie shared some of her family photos which will appear in the second part of this story. I found a Plimoth Plantation \u201cYe Olde Wedding\u201d reenactment of Ruthie\u2019s direct Mayflower<\/em> line featured in the Boston Herald<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Boston Herald (Boston, Massachusetts), 11 July 1986, page 31<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The happy couple: Robert Bartlett and Mary Warren. In the 1627 village, Captain Standish Miles officiated the ceremony at his home and the bride\u2019s parents, Richard and Elizabeth (Walker) Warren, hosted the \u201cbride ale,\u201d the Pilgrim\u2019s version of a wedding feast. The top of the \u201cWho\u2019s Who\u201d list of attendees was John and Elizabeth (Tilley) Howland. The couple walked through the little village to spread their good news with residents and visitors alike.<\/p>\n

Cleveland Amory used his pen to expose the pretensions of upper-crust society, but nursed another passion which is prevalent among WASP and Mayflower<\/em> lines: Animal Rights. According to sources, Amory\u2019s love for animals was fostered by his Aunt Lucy \u201cLu\u201d Claredon Creshore (1871-1955) of Beacon Hill, who harbored more stray animals\u00a0than the Beales of Gray Gardens. And for that, Amory is on my \u201cWho\u2019s Who\u201d list of those who loved all creatures great and small.<\/p>\n

Stay tuned: in my next article, Amory investigates Pilgrim occupations and interviews Mayflower<\/em> descendants, and I\u2019ll have more images from society member Ruthie Stearns \u2013 whose gr. grandfather did carpentry work at Moldenke Castle in New Jersey!<\/p>\n

Create a free account<\/a> at GenealogyBank for 7 days to start your journey and discover the stories your ancestors left behind.<\/p>\n

Further Reading:<\/strong><\/p>\n