From: "Arlene L. Ackermann" To: "Richard Cleaveland" Subject: RE: Help Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2002 21:36:01 -0400 Dear Dick: Well, you certainly picked a good one... Bigod Eggleston (named spelled many different ways) is an ancestor of my only granddaughter (through her father's line). He was quite an interesting character and there is a tremendous amount of information available on him and some of it is online (especially a Eggleston Family website); however, to get to your question. Bygod Eggleston, bp 20 Feb 1586 (or poss 1587) at All Saints Church, Settrington, East Riding, (now North Yorkshire) England; d 1 Sep 1674 Windsor, Hartford, CT. His will, dtd 13 Nov 1673 can be seen online at http://hometown.aol.com/MREgleston/index.html. One persistent rumor is the claim that Bigod's maternal grandmother was a Bigod, this stemming from Bigod's unusual Christian name. While the family of Bigod had some importance in the 12th and 13th centuries and cadet branches of the Bigods held the manor of Settrington until 2 Jun 1537 when Sir Francies Bigod was put to death for treason, some researchers say no link has been found of any blood relationship between Bigod Eggleston and the Bigod line and there are just as many who say there is a link. In any event, sometime before 1612, Bigod Eggleston arrived at Norwich, Norfolk, England. He married (Mary - surname unknown) and had four children who were born in England. He sailed to America on the ship "Mary and John", which sailed from Plymouth, England on 20 March 1630 just a few days ahead of the Winthrop Fleet of 1630 and arrived 70 days later, on May 30, 1630, at Dorchester, MA. He is listed on the passenger list for the Mary and John and the Winthrop Fleet. Bigod first settled in Dorchester, MA in 1630 and was an original member of the Reverend Mr. Warham's church and was one of the founders of Windsor, CT in 1635. He brought to the colonies with him three sons, James, John and Samuel. A daughter Mary, another son James, and his first wife, are assumed to have died before Bigod left England and little else is known about them. He married again, Mary (and again, her surname is unknown). Together they had seven children; Thomas, Mercy (Marcy), Sarah, Rebecca (Deborah), Abigail, Joseph and Benjamin. Bigod was fined 20 shillings in 1645 for "bequeathing his wife to a young man." The young man, a George Tuckye, was fined 40 shillings, but he took off and didn't pay. Why Bigod thought he needed a young man for his wife is certainly questionable as he was 67 years old when he fathered his youngest son. Some researchers say Bigod not only survived his second wife, but married for a third and final time. Once again, her name is unknown and noknown children came of this marriage. Bigod Eggleston had at least 63 grandchildren and 144 great grandchildren. There's a great deal of speculation as to who Bigod's wives might have been. Mary Talcott is often named as one of them, however little hard information has come to light to support this guess. Who these women were remains one of the mysteries surrounding Bigod's life. Maybe somewhere there's a dusty old document that will one day solve this one for all of us. Some of the above information comes from Myke Egleston's fantastic site at http://hometown.aol.com/MREgleston/index.html [since changed to http://www.pennlaird.com/eggleston/indexx.html], as well as other wonderful websites (can give you the URLs if you really want them). Be careful ... once you log onto this website, you can't use your back button to get back to where you began. The source I'm having a little difficulty with is "The Great Migrations Begins 1620-1633" 2:620-624 by Anderson and I quote: "BIRTH: Baptized Settrington, Yorkshire, 20 February 1586[/7], son of "James Egeleston" [ TAG 10:198]. (Rosalie Eggleston and Linda Eggleston McBroom have identified the mother of Bigod Eggleston as Margaret, daughter of Miles Harker of Settrington [ TAG 69:193-201].) DEATH: Windsor 1 September 1674 "near 100 year old" (but actually eighty-seven) [ Grant 35; also CTVR 28]. MARRIAGE: (1) By 1612 _____ _____; not seen in any record. (2) By about 1634 _____ _____; on 5 June 1645 "Baggett Egleston, for bequeathing his wife to a young man, is fined 20s." [ CCCR 1:127; RPCC 34]; living on 13 November 1673 when named in her husband's will." Anderson does not say why Bigod bequeathed his wife to another man, nor does any of the other records that I've researched to date. And, Anderson also does not state the young man's name (George Tuckye) or that he was also fined and then drops out of the records. My personal comment (and it seems to match that of most other Eggleston researchers) is that Bigod's 2nd wife (or what it his 3rd wife?????) was a much younger woman and he wanted her to be taken care of, but no one has found any proof of this. Hope the above helps you with your question. I have tons of information on Bigod and his (supposed) ancestors and (highly probable and some provable) descendants. Let me know if there's something else you want to know. Arlene L. Brown Ackermann Stuart, FL alafl@adelphia.net Personal Website: http://home.adelphia.net/~alafl/ Sagadahoc Co, ME USGenWeb: http://www.rootsweb.com/~mesagada/ Martin Co, FL USGenWeb: http://www.rootsweb.com/~flmartin/ Martin Co, FL Gen Soc: http://www.rootsweb.com/~flmcgs/ Halpatiokee Chapter, NSDAR: http://www.rootsweb.com/~flhcdar/ Family Search: http://www.familysearch.com/ |