Lancelot Granger (just being named such makes him a good subject of a movie!) was my 8 times great grandfather. My father's mother's family had the Grangers marry the Swaseys, and eventually there was me! His oldest son, John Granger was in my lineage.
Here's the blog I wrote about Lancelot Granger (Jr) A repost from 2018...
Lancelot Granger's (Jr.) First Home Kent's Island, Newbury, Mss, Built A.D. 1653
Lancelot Granger Jr
1637–1689
Birth 25 JUNE 1637 • Shillington, Bedfordshire, England
Death 3 SEP 1689 • Suffield, Hartford County, Connecticut
Lancelot had a lot of interesting stories told about his life, which must have been handed down through the generations, as he's my 6th great grandfather. He's also the father of Captain John Grainger.
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Lancelot was kidnapped...
Launcelot was kidnapped at the age of 12 or 14, from his mother (his father being dead) in the "west country" of England, and brought as a cabin boy on shipboard to Plymouth Plantation. There he was appenticed for two years to pay for his passage.
Launcelot's First Home at Kent's Island, Newbury MA was built in 1651. He moved there with his wife in 1653/54. It stood until 1888. Kent's Island is a rocky island of about 200 acres.
[According to James N Granger as reported to him by Sarah Granger Harmon (1731-1830)].
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A brief history of ...
Launcelot Granger, the son of Launcelot Granger of Shellington, England, came to America from England about 1648. He settled in Ipswich, Mass. It is thought that he returned to his home in England to settle his mother's estate, returning to Newbury with the financial means to marry and build a home. He then removed to Newbury, Mass. in the Massachusetts Bay colony. On January 04, 1653/54, Launcelot married Joanna Adams, the daughter of Puritans, Robert Adams and Eleanor Wilmot Adams. Launcelot and Joanna lived at Kents Island, Newbury, Mass., where they had eleven children. These children were John, George, Robert, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Dorothy, Hannah, Samuel, Mary, Abraham and Thomas.
In 1674, they removed to Suffield, Conn., where they were allotted land, living in a house on High Street. He was land measurer in Suffield for several years, and held other public offices.
In 1676, Launcelot was wounded by the Indians in King Philip's War, receiving a ball in his leg, which he carried for life. Launcelot Granger died on September 3, 1689 in Suffield, Conn.
TheGrangerFamily originally shared this on 14 May 2013 to Ancestry
Launcelot Granger of Newbury Mass., and Suffield, Conn., by James N. Granger, 1893
Documentary History of Suffield. Second Period, 1682-1715, by Hez. S. Sheldon, 1882
Chart of Roger Granger's Descendants, H. H. Granger, M. D., January 1, 1907.
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Old Center Cemetery-Suffield, Connecticut |
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A second brief history...
Launcelot and Joanna lived in Newbury Mass & Suffield CT .
This is a short version of the story which was passed down through the generations. He was born in England, but may have been of Scottish descent. After his father died, he was kidnapped and taken on a ship bound for Plymouth, MA. where he was made cabin boy. When he arrived in the USA he was sold (apprenticed) for 2 years to pay for his passage. He was about 12 - 14 years old when he was taken.
Once he was released from his service, he made a trip back to England to try to reclaim his inheriatance as he was firstborn. Walking on his way from the ship to his home, he met with theives who attempted to steal what little he had with him. They both had swords. He told them if they intended to rob him they would have to kill him first. He fought them off with his quarter-staff. He killed one and the other ran away. In the next town he confessed to the magistrate, and they released him.
When he arrived at his home he found his younger brother had already claimed his inheritance for himself, and he was not pleased to see Launcelot. He must have returned with some of the fortune though, since when he came back to the USA he was living quite comfortably.
He married a Puritan named Joanna Adams, daughter of Robert Adams. Puritans frowned upon anyone marrying someone like Launcelot who was of a different faith, so he must have been very well to do. They overlooked the fact that a person was not a Puritan if they had riches.
After marrying, Launcelot leased a very desirable property - Kents Island . They had a very nice home there. They lived there for 20 years, from 1654 to 1674, and raised their children there.
Around that time Rev Parker was making life in Newburyport very uncomfortable for anyone who was not a "freeman." Launcelot is believed not to have been a "freeman" since he was not a Puritan, and only Puritans were allowed to be "freemen". That's when they made the move to Suffield, CT, where he was the given the position of Land Measurer.
"Launcelot was a man of great resolution; was of full medium height and stockily built."
Source : Launcelot Granger of Newbury, MA and Suffield, CT, by James Nathaniel Granger (Lockwood and Brainard, 1893).
He was one of the first settlers of Suffield, Ct. and all the Grangers that lived there in the early years were his descendants. One of those descendants was Gideon Granger , who was Postmaster General.
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According to the Ancestry trees, Lancelot's father, Lancelot Sr, lived till 1687, and his mother lived till 1677. And Lancelot was the younger son, with his brother Alexander being 7 years older than he was. So some of the details of these wonderful stories might be a bit of embellishment.
Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families on the States of Masaschusetts
Volume III, pp 2084-
Granger
The earliest mention of the surname Granger in England is in the Roll of Battle Abbey, 1066. The word Grange is of French origin and was applied in England to the farm house or homestead, and the bailiff who presided over a farm was called Ate Grange, and afterwards, Granger. There are several crests know to have been borne by the Granger family, the most common being a dexter arm couped and embowed, in hand three wheat ears all proper. The Grangers of Staffordshire born: a griffin passant; and the Essex family born; a dexter arm bearing a portcullis.
I. Launcelot Granger, immigrant ancestor, came from England to New England, was a resident of Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1648. There is a tradition conerning him which appears in several diffent branches of the family thus giving the story some measure of probablity. The story is as follows: "Launcelot Granger was born in the west of England, and when a lad of twelve or fourteen years of age, he was stolen from his mother (his father being dead), and brought to Plymouth, Masachusetts, where he was sold (apprenticed) to serve two years for his passage. He had served on ship as a cabin boy. He afterward married a lady named Adams, and settled east of Boston, where he lived until two children had been born. Being the eldest of his family, he returned to England to obtain his inheritance.
On the way from the place where he landed to his mother's house, to which he travelled on foot, he had to pass through an uninhabited country, and just before night, stopped at a little cottage. The old man of the house told him that frequent robberies had been committed on the road a short distance ahead, and advised him to put up for the night. But, not knowing but what he would be in as much danger at the cottage as on the road and being in haste he determined to proceed. After he had advanced some distance into the woods he perceived by light of the moon a man step into the road before him and moved on slowly until a second one joined him. When he came up to them they demanded his monty. He told them he had but one crown, which was barely sufficient to pay his expenses to his friends, who lived at some distance. They, however, told him he must give up his money or they would take his life. He replied that if they got his money they must fight for it, on which they attacked him with their swords, while he defended himself with his quarter staff. With the butt end of this he knocked down one and dispatched him and the other ran away. When he arrived at the next village he made an oath before a magistrate to what he had done, and was suffered to proceed on his journey. The inhabitants of the village found the man who was slain to be one of their "honest" citizens.
When he arrived at his mother's house he found his younger brother to be in possession of the estate, and very much displeased to see him, and, it is supposed, hired assassins to dispatch him. He walked out with them under the pretense of viewing hte farm, and when behind a piece of woods, they attacked him with their swords, but he defended himself so manfully with his quarter staff that he killed two of them and the other fled. He returned and made known what he had done to the magistrates, who upon investigation, acquitted him of all blame. Meeting, however, with difficulties in obtaining his inheritance, he abandoned it and returned to America. Launcelot was a man of great resolution, was of full medium height and stockily built.
Launcelot Granger removed from Ipswich to Newbury at the time of his marriage in 1654 and leased the farm of Stephen Kent on Kent's Island. The site of his house there may still be seen. The house was torn down in 1884. About 1674 he removed to Suffield, Connecticut, and on September 14 of that year (1674), received a grant of sixty acres, and forty acres each for his two sons. He did not settle there permanently, however, until after the Indian hostilities were over, and in 1678 he was living on High Street. During King Philip's war he lived at the stockade in Westfield. Rev. Mr. Taylor in a narrative regarding the Indian fight at Westfield, October 27, 1675, says that a Mr. Granger was seriously wounded in the leg. There is scarcely any doubt that it was Launcelot Granger, as the circumstances is well authenticated by the family. He lived in Suffield until his death in 1689. A large maple tree which was planted by him still stands in front of the site of his house, and is known at the present itme as the "Launcelot Granger Tree". He was a prominent man in the town and served as land measurer for several terms. He died September 3, 1689, and was buried in the graveyard which was opposite the meeting house on High street. He married, January 4, 1653-54, Joanna Adams, born in England in 1634, died 1701 in Suffield, daughter of Robert and Eleanor Adams.
Children born at Newbury:
1. John, born January 15, 1754-55
2. Thomas; married Mindwell Taylor; died March 14, 1729-30
3. George, born November 28, 1658; married Lydia Younglove
4. Robert; died unmarried, August 8, 1709
5. Mary; married John Burbank, Jr.
6. Elizabeth, born March 13, 1662; married Vicary Sikes; died March 30, 1692
7. Dorothy, born February 17, 1665; married Dr. Robert Old
8. Rebecca; married Joseph Woolcot.; died July 27, 1693
9. Samuel, born August 2, 1668; married Esther Hanchett; died April 22, 1721
10. Hannah; married Thomas Taylor; died September 9, 1729
11. Abraham, born April 7, 1673; married (1) Hannah Hanchett; (2) Hannah...
"Genealogical and personal memoirs Relating to the families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts." MaryGraingerHarper http://archive.org/stream/genealogicaland00cuttgoog/genealogicaland00cuttgoog_djvu.txt
.jpg)
This is a short version of the story which was passed down through the generations. He was born in England, but may have been of Scottish descent. After his father died, he was kidnapped and taken on a ship bound for Plymouth, MA. where he was made cabin boy. When he arrived in the USA he was sold (apprenticed) for 2 years to pay for his passage. He was about 12 - 14 years old when he was taken.
Once he was released from his service, he made a trip back to England to try to reclaim his inheriatance as he was firstborn. Walking on his way from the ship to his home, he met with theives who attempted to steal what little he had with him. They both had swords. He told them if they intended to rob him they would have to kill him first. He fought them off with his quarter-staff. He killed one and the other ran away. In the next town he confessed to the magistrate, and they released him.
When he arrived at his home he found his younger brother had already claimed his inheritance for himself, and he was not pleased to see Launcelot. He must have returned with some of the fortune though, since when he came back to the USA he was living quite comfortably.
He married a Puritan named Joanna Adams, daughter of Robert Adams. Puritans frowned upon anyone marrying someone like Launcelot who was of a different faith, so he must have been very well to do. They overlooked the fact that a person was not a Puritan if they had riches.
After marrying, Launcelot leased a very desirable property - Kents Island . They had a very nice home there. They lived there for 20 years, from 1654 to 1674, and raised their children there.
Around that time Rev Parker was making life in Newburyport very uncomfortable for anyone who was not a "freeman." Launcelot is believed not to have been a "freeman" since he was not a Puritan, and only Puritans were allowed to be "freemen". That's when they made the move to Suffield, CT, where he was the given the position of Land Measurer.
"Launcelot was a man of great resolution; was of full medium height and stockily built."
Source : Launcelot Granger of Newbury, MA and Suffield, CT, by James Nathaniel Granger (Lockwood and Brainard, 1893).
He was one of the first settlers of Suffield, Ct. and all the Grangers that lived there in the early years were his descendants. One of those descendants was Gideon Granger , who was Postmaster General.
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Excerpt 3: Launcelot Granger of Newbury, Mass., and Suffield, Conn.: A Genealogical History (1893)
Blogger's note:According to the Ancestry trees, Lancelot's father, Lancelot Sr, lived till 1687, and his mother lived till 1677. And Lancelot was the younger son, with his brother Alexander being 7 years older than he was. So some of the details of these wonderful stories might be a bit of embellishment.
"Cemetery in Suffield, Mass, where Launcelot and Granger descendants are buried. SDN Marks the general area where Launcelot Granger is believed to have been buried in 1689." I don't know the identity of SDN.
Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families on the States of Masaschusetts
Volume III, pp 2084-
Granger
The earliest mention of the surname Granger in England is in the Roll of Battle Abbey, 1066. The word Grange is of French origin and was applied in England to the farm house or homestead, and the bailiff who presided over a farm was called Ate Grange, and afterwards, Granger. There are several crests know to have been borne by the Granger family, the most common being a dexter arm couped and embowed, in hand three wheat ears all proper. The Grangers of Staffordshire born: a griffin passant; and the Essex family born; a dexter arm bearing a portcullis.
I. Launcelot Granger, immigrant ancestor, came from England to New England, was a resident of Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1648. There is a tradition conerning him which appears in several diffent branches of the family thus giving the story some measure of probablity. The story is as follows: "Launcelot Granger was born in the west of England, and when a lad of twelve or fourteen years of age, he was stolen from his mother (his father being dead), and brought to Plymouth, Masachusetts, where he was sold (apprenticed) to serve two years for his passage. He had served on ship as a cabin boy. He afterward married a lady named Adams, and settled east of Boston, where he lived until two children had been born. Being the eldest of his family, he returned to England to obtain his inheritance.
On the way from the place where he landed to his mother's house, to which he travelled on foot, he had to pass through an uninhabited country, and just before night, stopped at a little cottage. The old man of the house told him that frequent robberies had been committed on the road a short distance ahead, and advised him to put up for the night. But, not knowing but what he would be in as much danger at the cottage as on the road and being in haste he determined to proceed. After he had advanced some distance into the woods he perceived by light of the moon a man step into the road before him and moved on slowly until a second one joined him. When he came up to them they demanded his monty. He told them he had but one crown, which was barely sufficient to pay his expenses to his friends, who lived at some distance. They, however, told him he must give up his money or they would take his life. He replied that if they got his money they must fight for it, on which they attacked him with their swords, while he defended himself with his quarter staff. With the butt end of this he knocked down one and dispatched him and the other ran away. When he arrived at the next village he made an oath before a magistrate to what he had done, and was suffered to proceed on his journey. The inhabitants of the village found the man who was slain to be one of their "honest" citizens.
When he arrived at his mother's house he found his younger brother to be in possession of the estate, and very much displeased to see him, and, it is supposed, hired assassins to dispatch him. He walked out with them under the pretense of viewing hte farm, and when behind a piece of woods, they attacked him with their swords, but he defended himself so manfully with his quarter staff that he killed two of them and the other fled. He returned and made known what he had done to the magistrates, who upon investigation, acquitted him of all blame. Meeting, however, with difficulties in obtaining his inheritance, he abandoned it and returned to America. Launcelot was a man of great resolution, was of full medium height and stockily built.
Launcelot Granger removed from Ipswich to Newbury at the time of his marriage in 1654 and leased the farm of Stephen Kent on Kent's Island. The site of his house there may still be seen. The house was torn down in 1884. About 1674 he removed to Suffield, Connecticut, and on September 14 of that year (1674), received a grant of sixty acres, and forty acres each for his two sons. He did not settle there permanently, however, until after the Indian hostilities were over, and in 1678 he was living on High Street. During King Philip's war he lived at the stockade in Westfield. Rev. Mr. Taylor in a narrative regarding the Indian fight at Westfield, October 27, 1675, says that a Mr. Granger was seriously wounded in the leg. There is scarcely any doubt that it was Launcelot Granger, as the circumstances is well authenticated by the family. He lived in Suffield until his death in 1689. A large maple tree which was planted by him still stands in front of the site of his house, and is known at the present itme as the "Launcelot Granger Tree". He was a prominent man in the town and served as land measurer for several terms. He died September 3, 1689, and was buried in the graveyard which was opposite the meeting house on High street. He married, January 4, 1653-54, Joanna Adams, born in England in 1634, died 1701 in Suffield, daughter of Robert and Eleanor Adams.
Children born at Newbury:
1. John, born January 15, 1754-55
2. Thomas; married Mindwell Taylor; died March 14, 1729-30
3. George, born November 28, 1658; married Lydia Younglove
4. Robert; died unmarried, August 8, 1709
5. Mary; married John Burbank, Jr.
6. Elizabeth, born March 13, 1662; married Vicary Sikes; died March 30, 1692
7. Dorothy, born February 17, 1665; married Dr. Robert Old
8. Rebecca; married Joseph Woolcot.; died July 27, 1693
9. Samuel, born August 2, 1668; married Esther Hanchett; died April 22, 1721
10. Hannah; married Thomas Taylor; died September 9, 1729
11. Abraham, born April 7, 1673; married (1) Hannah Hanchett; (2) Hannah...
"Genealogical and personal memoirs Relating to the families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts." MaryGraingerHarper http://archive.org/stream/genealogicaland00cuttgoog/genealogicaland00cuttgoog_djvu.txt
------------------------------ Some History of the Granger Family
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It reads: THE GRANGER MAPLE. Planted by Launcelot Granger, who died 1689. "An unremembered Past Broods like a presence 'mid the long gray boughs Of this old tree, which has outlived so long The flitting generations of mankind." Planted 1674, it was removed in 1922. Suffield, CT. It lived 248 Years
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Some History of the Granger Family
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 |
It reads: THE GRANGER MAPLE. Planted by Launcelot Granger, who died 1689 . "An unremembered Past Broods like a presence 'mid the long gray boughs Of this old tree, which has outlived so long The flitting generations of mankind." Planted 1674, it was removed in 1922. Suffield, CT. It lived 248 Years |
Sharing with Sepia Saturday, and Generations Cafe' on Facebook, the site of 52 Ancestors, 52 Weeks.
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Lancelot did have some momentous walks. How interesting to know so much about your 8th great grandfather.
ReplyDeletehttps://findingeliza.com/
I've actually seen some of these stories attributed to other people as well.
DeleteSo not only did settlers in Plymouth colony supplant Native people from their land, but they also accepted kidnapped youth like your ancestor Lancelot as indentured servants? Thank you for this history of your ancestor’s challenging life.
ReplyDeleteAll the colonies (that I know of) had indentured servants and apprentices to various trades. Young people did a lot of the work forming the early towns.
DeleteIt would seem Launcelot never saw his mother alive again, nor did she see him, poor woman. At first I thought perhaps she allowed the "kidnapping" as a way of hopeing to give her son a better life? But the farm apparently being successful and providing a nice living his brother didn't wish to give up would negate that idea. The problem here is which accounting of Launcelot's life does one believe? All the accounts have some common ground, but there are certainly some variances.
ReplyDeleteGood catch, and the same conclusion I came to. He lived, and had a big house, and a big family. He was successful and there were stories told about him after he was gone (probably.) If they had been told while he was alive, he might have corrected them!
DeleteLancelot sounds like he lived up to his name. It's fascinating to read different versions of the same person's history. I looked up "freeman" in Wikipedia and it says that it means, of course, a man who was not a slave, but "in Massachusetts Bay Colony, a man had to be a member of the Church to be a freeman; in neighboring Plymouth Colony a man did not need to be a member of the Church, but he had to be elected to this privilege by the General Court. Being a freeman carried with it the right to vote, and in Plymouth only freemen could vote by 1632." I think these early obstacles to political rights influenced many men to migrate to colonies that had less restrictive laws.
ReplyDeleteThese details have slipped my mind, but are of course important in understanding a life at the early colonial times. Thanks for putting the definitions here, a good sense of "who made it into accepted society." There are many records for these "church/state" alliances which are wonderful for genalogical research. Of course no women were given much credence, but often they were listed as well as the children's names.
DeleteA fascinating name if
DeleteA fascinating name in Lancelot and a well researched story of his life. It sounds as if he was a victim of the “ press gangs” who kidnapped men off the streets to serve in the Royal Navy
Sorry, Barbara, yet again, i forgot to move on from anonymous in my previous comment Susan - Scotsue’ ,
DeleteThanks Susan...for letting me know it was you commenting! I've got scads of Anonymous commentators!
Delete