Where to From Here? We've reached the Mayflower!

Well, we've made it to the Mayflower through this line. Now it is probably time to start back with another line that goes to the Mayflower also.

Joseph Washburn was born 7 July 1653 to John and Elizabeth (MITCHELL) Washburn.   John Washburn (5th), eldest son of  John Washburn (4th) (of John (3rd),  John (Jr.),  John) was born in Bengeworth, Worcestershire, England  in 1620, sailed to New England with his mother and brother in 1635, and settled first in Duxbury, Plymouth Colony. He married Elizabeth Mitchell, daughter of Experience and Jane (Cooke) Mitchell, of Duxbury, on 6 Dec. 1645 in Plymouth Colony. She was born in ca. 1628 in Plymouth Colony, a granddaughter of Francis Cooke, who came to New England in 1620 on the “Mayflower,” and Hester (Mahieu) Cooke, and possibly of Thomas A and Margaret (Williams) Mitchell, of Cambridge, England, and Amsterdam, Holland. Experience Mitchell and Jane Cooke had both sailed to New England in 1623 on the “Anne.”

From www.mayflowerfamilies.com:

Jane Cooke (daughter of Francis), married Experience Mitchell.

Children of Experience and Jane Mitchell
Elizabeth Mitchell, married John Washburn.
Thomas Mitchell. (Virtually nothing has been proven about him.  Several speculate him to be the Thomas Mitchell of Block Island)
Mary Mitchell, married James Shaw. (Wood presumes her "quite safely" to be dau. of Experience and Jane)

Children presumed to be of Experience's second marriage to Mary ______ and thus NOT currently Mayflower descendants. Included here for those who have relied on earlier documents.

Edward Mitchell, married, 1st Mary Hayward; married 2d, Alice4 Bradford (John3, William2-1).
Hannah Mitchell, married Joseph Hayward.
Jacob Mitchell, married Susanna Pope.
John Mitchell, married, 1st, Mary Bonney; married, Mary Lathrop; married 3d, Mary Prior.
Sarah Mitchell, married John Hayward.

Jane COOKE was born abt 1604 (probably) in Probably Leyden,Holland. No absolute birth or death records have yet been found for Jane, and as can be seen there are some prior discrepancies on her birth date. The most recent and exhaustive Cooke study suggests a 1604 date, and the rationale for this date assumption. She died after 1631, prior to 1640 in Plymouth, MA.  Her latest suggested death date as Experience remarries in this year, though it is noted that she was certainly dead before Bradford prepared his accounting of Mayflower families Parents: Francis COOKE Mayflower and Hester LE MAHIEU. She was married to Experience  MITCHELL after 22 May 1627 in Plymouth Colony, MA. Notes:

Rosser, Mayflower Increasings: "m. aft. 22 May 1627, Plymouth, Experience Mitchell . . ."

This date reflects that she was still single in the May 22, 1627 Division of Land.

Rosser: There is much controversy over the children of the two marriages of Experience Mitchell: "MFIP (Mayflower Families In Progress) , Cook:3 states Elizabeth Mitchell was b. 1628 and Thomas Mitchell c 1631. These two have been accepted by the General Society of Mayflower Descendants as Jane Cooke's. Since Thomas was the only Mitchell child known to have received land from grandfather Francis Cook, doubt is cast on the remaining Mitchell children who were born later than Thomas."

Ralph Wood takes exception, however, in his MF5G:12 volume, 1996, and includes Mary "presumed, quite safely, as a daughter of Jane, based on Mary's approximate date of birth.". Mary is born about 1632, presuming Jane married about 20. There is then a near 10-year span before the rest of Experience's children are born, presumably, by his second wife, Mary,.

Another observation is that if Jane died very early in their marriage, Experience was left with near infant children--quite a hardship in any event, and especially so in those days. Many such men would hasten to find a new wife and mother for such small children, and female companionship for themselves, however, Experience doesn't remarry until 1640/1. Children were: Elizabeth MITCHELL, Thomas MITCHELL, Mary MITCHELL.


Francis COOKE Mayflower emigrated in 1620 from Plymouth Colony, MA. He died on 7 Apr 1663 in Plymouth, MA. His will is made 7/10/1659. He makes his wife Hester and son John executors. It is witnessed by Howland and Alden. Inventory was taken 1663 by Eph. Tuckham and Wm Crowe. He was born prob after 1582 in Probably England.  As a Mayflower ancestor, Francis Cooke is documented rather thoroughly in numerous volumes; thus, we leave it to those studies for in-depth information. The recent volume "Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, Vol 12, Francis Cooke, Ralph V. Wood, et all, Picton Press, 1996, is probably the most comprehensive abstract to date on this Mayflower Family. This line is principally interested in the Experience Mitchell, Jane Cooke descendancy through Elizabeth Mitchell and John Washburn.

Background:

—A 1620 Mayflower passenger, Francis Cooke married Hester Mayhieu at Leiden 30 June 1603, the records there describing him as a woolcomber, unmarried, from England (MD 8:48). Thus he was in Holland before the arrival of the Clyfton/Robinson Separatists. He was probably born no earlier than 1583, for he must have been under sixty in 1643 when he was on the ATBA for Plymouth, and yet not much after 1583 if he married in 1603. He appears frequently in Plymouth records on grand and trial juries, as a surveyor of the highways, on various ad hoc committees, and in a number of land transactions. (See Bowman's "Francis Cooke and His Descendants," MD 3:95.) He came to Plymouth with son John, and Francis's wife and their daughter Jane and son Jacob arrived on the Anne in 1623. Two more children, Hester and Mary, were born at Plymouth. Jane married Experience Mitchell; Hester married Richard Wright; and Mary married John Thompson. Francis's son Jacob married Damaris Hopkins, daughter of Stephen. Dawes-Gates, 2:239-57 gives a good account of both father Francis Cooke and son Jacob Cooke. Another good account of the Francis Cooke family can be found in Small Descendants, 2:601. Francis died 7 April 1663 (PCR 8:23). Son John Cooke has a separate entry below. See also Walter J. Harrison, "New Light on Francis Cooke and His Wife Hester Mayhieu and Their Son John," MD 27:145. Some confusion about the marriage of Francis Cooke's son Jacob's daughter Mary Cooke, is cleared up by Stratton, "Which John Rickard Married Mary Cooke?," MQ 49:122. BACKGROUND:

Suffice it to say, Francis Cooke, born, probably in England after 1582, arrived on the Mayflower and was among those signing the Mayflower Compact. His early life abroad is virtually unknown to us. He married Hester Mahieu, intention in Leyden, Holland, 30, June 1603. probably about the age of 19 or 20. He was was called a "woolcomber." He and his son John were the first to arrive, with Hester and the other children following later.

Francis Cooke died 7 April 1663, having labored in this new land for some 43 years and receiving various additional land grants. His will and inventory enumerates his belongings and his bequests. He and his wife Hester had eight children. By 1666, of these children, John, Jacob, Hester and Mary were living, as was the widow Hester. Hester died after 8 June 1666.
He was married to Hester LE MAHIEU on 30 Jun 1603 in prob Leyden, Holland.  Intentions were recorded in Leyden. Children were: Jane COOKE, John COOKE, Child COOKE, Elizabeth COOKE, Jacob COOKE, Hester COOKE, Mary COOKE.