“Who were my ancestors?”

“Where did they come from?”

“How did they get here?”

These are the questions that lead a person to research his family history.  One might think that it would be easy to find this out, with records supposedly computerized and all.  But, think again---It would be great if we could go to one source and find all the information neatly catalogued and indexed.  Not so!  Instead the genealogist must search in a field so vast and scattered that once begun, it seems like there is no end and it may become a lifetime preoccupation.  There are always questions left unanswered, and so it goes to the next generation.  That is where we find ourselves: “The next generation”, still trying to find the why’s and wherefore’s of Thomas Barnum, the Immigrant.

We are an immigrant nation, yet the records of early immigration and naturalization were sorely neglected, thus leaving us to guess and speculate much of the time about our immigrant ancestors.

The early immigrants to New England were self-chosen people.  Most of them could read and write.  They had very strong and advanced religious and political views.  The total immigration to New England between 1620 and 1640 was just 22,000 people.  These early immigrants had large families.  As a result, there is a high probability of people who have 17th century New England ancestors, being cousins.

This is the story as we know it of Thomas Barnum, our first known ancestor. It is believed that all of the Barnum’s in America are his descendants.  It isn't known whether or not other Barnum’s came over from England. 

CAUTIONARY NOTE .  It was quite common during the early 1900's for families to write or commission genealogical records for the express purpose of showing their descent from the earliest settlers of North America or from the European nobility. It was important to some to obtain a “Coat of Arms” for their family name.  The result was a fair amount of questionable research - and even the publication of some outright falsehoods. As a result, the connection between the Barnham’s of old England and the Barnum’s of New England should be considered "probable, but not certain," because of the lack of reliable documentary evidence. We should also be cautioned to keep in mind that the original data upon which much of this genealogy was based may be suspect in some respects. One of the unfortunate effects of using any written genealogy (including this one) is that there is a tendency to accept what is written as fact, even though the original source may be suspect.

Where did he come from? Hollingbourne or Danebury, England ?

The Case for Hollingbourne:  Sir Francis Barnum (the supposed father of Thomas) was a prominent man in Hollingbourne and a member of parliament.  He is listed in “The County Genealogies” and “Visitations to Kent” series.  These documents are a comprehensive list of prominent families in the area, a member of each submitting family wrote out the names of the family members and submitted it for inclusion in the book.  The record is only as good as the memory of the person writing out the genealogy.

The Case for Danebury: The only reference I have found thus far is that he was supposed to have come from Danebury, England.   Since he was instrumental in colonizing Danbury, Connecticut it makes sense that he would have wanted to name his new home after his old one in England.

WHO WERE HIS PARENTS?

There are quite a few “Barnum History’s” written, some with references, most without.  However, despite the references and documents used to try to verify the Barnum family, there are still many discrepancies and errors.  A popular reference,   Noah G. Barnum’s “The Barnum Family, 1517-1904”  offers very little documentation.  He states that Thomas is the 15th child of Sir Francis Barnham and his wife Lady Elizabeth Leonard (Lennard).  Although the statement has not been proven, it has not been disproven, and it seems likely based upon the available information.  While looking at naming patterns, Thomas’s eldest son was named Frances, which would make sense if Thomas the immigrant’s father was Frances. Some researchers dispute this information, so when researching the parentage of Thomas Barnum one needs to look at it as no more than supposition until documents are found to prove his parentage.

Sir Frances Barnum had 15 children, but Thomas is not listed in the will.  There could be several reasons for this, all of which are purely speculation.  One theory is that he had a wandering heart and wanted to go to New England and left against his father’s will.  He may have left England as so many others, for economic reasons.  Perhaps if he was the 15th son, there may not have been much left for him after the land was divided among the older sons.  Clearly more research is needed to prove the parentage of Thomas Barnum, the immigrant.

WHY, WHEN & WHERE did Thomas go?

Who knows what motivated our Thomas Barnham to leave England at the age of 15 for the New World.  It is pretty evident that Thomas left England and sailed for the New World in 1640. some researchers say that he arrived in New England in 1657.   This information suggests that he made stops along the way, as many did.

When one looks at the history of England during this time period it is evident that there was plenty going on in the lives of the English.  Times were a changing.  The “Bishop’s Wars”, also known as the “Wars of the Three Kingdoms” were just getting going good in 1639.  This led to the King making demands on the English parliament which ignited the English Civil War.  Maybe he was a Royalist, which was the loosing side of the conflict, and felt compelled to leave.  

Another reason could be that there was lack of opportunity at home, while the allure of America was beckoning.  Maybe he lived in a seaport community and other family members may have already left for varying countries and he decided to join the stream of emigrants. 

There has been some speculation that Thomas may have been on a ship bound for The West Indies. There was a large migration of English to the West Indies during this time period.  Barbados is one of these islands.  English Colonization of Barbados was taking place between 1625-1644. People that had connections both financially and socially were given land, which proved to be fertile ground for raising tobacco, cotton and sugar cane.  This created a need for people to work the plantations.  White civilians who wanted to emigrate overseas could do so by signing an agreement to serve a planter in Barbados for a period of 5 or 7 years. To meet the labor demands, servants were also derived from kidnapping. 

Of course, this is all purely speculation where Thomas is concerned.  We don’t know much about his life between 1640 when he left England, and 1660 when he married at the age of 35.  Where could he have been for those 20 years? 

WHICH PORT???????

There is some discussion as to where Thomas landed when he got to New England.  Some say it was Ulster, New York.   Although this area of the New World was claimed by the Dutch, only a limited number of Dutch were attracted across the ocean.  Holland of the day was one of the most prosperous and desirable places in the world.  Instead people of different nationalities searching for economic opportunities found new hope in New Amsterdam.  From its earliest times, the town was a melting pot.  

There is a Thomas Barnum found in Massachusetts around 1640.   This could be our Thomas, but there is no certain proof.  He may have settled first in Springfield, Massachusetts then known as Agawam. Springfield was for a while claimed to be under the jurisdiction of the Connecticut Colony.  We find our Thomas in Fairfield County Connecticut in 1660.  This is where we pick up his story as he is well documented in this area.

References

Barnum, Kenneth, Researcher of records in England

Barnum, Patrick W. “Barnum Family Genealogy.:http://www. patrickbarnum.org (Sep 2005)

Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County. Chicago; J.H. Beers and Co. 1899

Barnum, Noah G.. The Barnum Family, 1517-1904

Barnum, Eben Lewis, Barnum, Rev. Frances. The Barnham/Barnum Genealogy; Genealogical Record of the Barnum                                                   Family Presenting a Conspectus of the Male Descendants of Thomas Barnum 1625-1695.

                    Meals Printing Co., Gardner, MA 1912

Torry, Clarence Almon. “New England Marriages Prior to 1700”.Genealogical Pub. Co., Inc., Baltimore, MD 1992

Orcutt, Samuel. History of Stratford. s.n. 1884

New Netherlands http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h561.html

Savage, James A. Genealogical Dictionary of the first settlers of New England. Little, Brown and company (1860)

Orcutt, Rev. Samuel. A History of the Old Town of Straftord and the City of Bridgeport, Connecticut. New England Historic Genealogical Society.  FHL Book 974.69 H20 vol. 1

Hall, Edwin. History of Norwalk. New York: Baker & Scribner,1847

Lane, Megan. Lessons from our Ancestors.  BBC News Magazine. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4163982.stm

Mead, Spencer P., L.L.B. ABSTRACT OF PROBATE RECORDS AT FAIRFIELD, COUNTY OF FAIRFIELD, AND STATE OF                                              CONNECTICUT. Volume 4, 1690 - 1702. Page 82. Probate:  1696 #359 FHL film #1018731

If anyone can find documented answers to these questions,

please share with the rest of the Barnum's

Thomas and his Wives