Richard Sparrow (abt. 1605 - 1661)

Born about 1605 in England

Ancestors

Husband of Pandora (Bangs) Sparrow — married about 1629 in England [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 8 Jan 1661 at about age 56 in Eastham, Barnstable, Plymouth Colony

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Richard Sparrow migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See Great Migration Begins, by R. C. Anderson, Vol. 3, p. 1715) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Needs Research

Specifically these parents need to be researched and sourced or disconnected.

Biography

These sources don't provide birth information or parents for Richard Sparrow.

Anderson estimates his birth year around 1605^[1]

He first appeared in colonial records January 1 1632/3 among those who were admitted to Plymouth list of Freemen^{[2] [1]}. He also served as a deputy, constable, surveyor and tax collector in the town of Plymouth^{[1] [2] [3]}

In England, before 1629 he married Pandora^{[1] [3] [4] [5]}, which some researchers think may have been Theodora mis-transcribed^{[6] [7]}. None of these sources gives her maiden name or parents.

Richard and Pandora/Theodora had one child:

1. Jonathan, born circa 1629^[5], who married first Rebecca Bangs on October 26, 1654; married second, by 1669-70 Hannah (Prence) Mayo; and married third Sarah (Lewis) Cobb^{[1] [3] [4] [7]}

In "1633" Plymouth list of freemen, in close proximity to others admitted on 1 January 1632/3 [PCR 1:4]. In 7 March 1636/7 Plymouth list of freemen [ PCR 1:52]. As a freeman, Richard was granted a house tract of six acres in 1636, which required him to construct a house within four years. On 7 November 1636 granted six acres at Plymouth "to belong to their dwelling houses there, & not to be sold from their houses" [ PCR 1:46]. On 5 March 1637/8 granted forty acres "at the north end of Fresh Lake, and a parcel of marsh for meadow lying on the south side of Fresh Lake" [ PCR 1:78]. On 5 November 1638 "Richard Sparrow, of Plymouth, yeo[man]," was surety for William Burne (i.e., Bourne) of Duxbury [ PCR 1:101]. On 7 December 1641 he was one of eight men who brought various actions against James Luxford, primarily for trespass [ PCR 7:27]. In 24 June 1639, Mary Moorecock daughter-in-law of Thomas Whiton was apprenticed to Richard and Pandora for nine years in exchange for food, lodging, clothes and a ewe lamb. The lamb was to be kept by Mary’s stepfather, who was to “keep one third of the increase for labor”.On 12 January 1639/40 John Barnes of Plymouth sold to Richard Sparrow of the same four two-year-old steers and one three-year-old bull, for £83 [ PCR 1:138]; Richard Sparrow immediately sold the bull and two of the steers to Josias Winslow of Plymouth, for £50 [ PCR 1:139]. Richard Sparrow was a surveyor by trade. He was actively involved in the Colony and appointed to “View of the Meadows” in 1640. During the same year and the following one, he served as Constable for the Colony. By 1642 Sparrow’s land base grew, adding seven or more tracts to his original six acre house lot. On 1 June 1640, granted five acres of meadow [ PCR 1:154]. On 2 November 1640 granted five acres at Lakenham [ PCR 1:166].On 16 September 1641 Richard Sparrow was granted two acres of meadow ground at Wood Island "which was Mris Fullers" [ PCR 2:25]. He was granted a parcel of upland 7 December 1641 [ PCR 2:29]. On 17 October 1642 he was granted four acres of upland at the head of Mr. Hicks's field [ PCR 2:48] He held official positions such as Plymouth constable, tax collector, men able to bear arms. Between 1640 and 1653 he was named Surveyor of Highways seven times, and sat on over twenty-eight juries. In 1644 Richard and Pandora adopted Elizabeth Hopkins, increasing the family size to five members. Elizabeth Hopkins was willed by her mother Ruth to Richard, to be be raised “as his own” until married or 19 years old. Transfer carried out by Myles Standish and Caleb Hopkins. The Sparrow family remained in this house until 1653 when it was sold to George Bonum. (now the home of Plymouth Pottery) The family soon after moved to Eastham. While in Eastham, Richard remained active in the colonial government, serving as Eastham’s representative to Plymouth, as well as deputy to the General Court.

Around 1653, Richard and his wife moved to Eastham^{[1] [3] [4]} In Plymouth section of 1639 list of freemen, and in Eastham section of 1658 list [ PCR 8:174, 202]. Sparrow won an action 7 March 1653/4 against Nathaniel Mayo for defamation [ PCR 7:69]. In 1653 (day and month not given) Richard Sparrow of Eastham sold to George Bonum of Plymouth "all that his house and garden plot on which the house standeth being scituate in Plymouth aforesaid in the South Street near the mill together with six acres of upland ... in the new field" [MD 3:138-39, citingPCLR 2:1:69]. (This same transaction was entered again under date of 22 November 1656 [ MD 10:215, citing PCLR 2:1:183]. On 5 October 1656 Captain Myles Standish brought suit against Richard Sparrow of Eastham, in behalf of Elizabeth Hopkins, charging that Sparrow had not performed the terms of an agreement concerning Elizabeth [ PCR 7:80]. On 6 October 1657 Richard Sparrow won his suit against Ralph Smith for taking away a piece of timber, though having been forbidden, and refusing to give it back [ PCR 7:84]. " In 1657, Sparrow sold his remaining land holdings in Plymouth to Gyles Rickard. On 4 June 1657 "Richard Sparrow of Eastham, planter," sold to Giles Rickard Sr. of Plymouth, weaver, "a parcel of upland meadow in the meadow commonly called Doten's Meadow in the township of Plymouth aforesaid containing five acres" [ MD 11:18, citing PCLR 2:1:191]. On 6 October 1657 Richard Sparrow and others were allowed to claim lands about thirteen English miles from Rehoboth [ PCR 3:123]. On 1 June 1658 he was granted a portion of land between Bridgewater and Weymouth [ PCR 3:142]. In 1658 he was chosen to represent the town as delegate to Plymouth, to consult about military affairs of the colony. His residence was near the cemetery at South Eastham. On 4 October 1658 Richard Sparrow of Eastham, planter, sold to Abraham Sampson of Duxbury, carpenter, "a parcel of marsh meadow containing three acres and three quarters or thereabouts ... lying on the east side of the great wood island in the township of Marshfield ... whereof two acres of the said three acres and three quarters was at first granted to Joshua Pratt and by him sold to Josias Cooke, and by him sold to Richard Sparrow; and the other acre and three quarters granted to Mistress Bridgett Fuller and exchanged with Richard Sparrow for two acres in Dotie's Meadow"; "the wife of the said Richard Sparrow hath given her consent" [ MD 13:141-42, citing PCLR 2:2:11]. committee on Kennebec trade, 3 October 1659 [ PCR 3:170-71].

Richard Sparrow died January 8, 1660/1 in Eastham^{[8] [9] [1][10]}. His will was dated November 19, 1660 and it names his wife, son Jonathan and three grandchildren: John, Priscilla and Rebecca. The inventory of his estate was taken January 22, 1660/1^{[1] [4] [5][11]}

He was buried in the Cove Burying Ground in Eastham along with his wife and son^[12]. The inscription reads:

Here Rests the Dust of Richard Sparrow and his wife Pandora who came from Kent County England about 1633 and settled in Plymouth about 1650 They came to Eastham and settled near this place where he died January 8, 1660. Here also rests Johnathan Sparrow only child of Richard Together with his first two wives Rebecca Bangs & Hannah Prince He settled in the part of Eastham now East Orleans whence after filling many offices of honor and trust in both church and state he died March 21, 1706 aged 73 years - In memory of these early settlers of our country we their descendants have erected this tablet in this centennial year of our American Independence AD 1876.

His inventory included "a Bible [and] 2 small books" valued at 10s. In his will, dated 19 Nov 1660 and proved 5 Mar 1660/61, Richard Sparrow bequeathed to “Pandora my loving wife my dwelling house and housing with my garden plot adjacent in the Township of Eastham during her life and then to belong to Jonathan Sparrow my son” (along with some movables); “as for my uplands at Poche and my meadow ground … the one half I have already given to Jonathan my son and the other half … I give to John Sparrow my grandchild as his propere inheritance only my wife to have the use of my meadow or as much as she shall need during her life”; “whatsoever land shall befall to me from the country as my right it being purchased I give to John Sparrow my grandchild; “to the church of Eastham one ewe sheep to be disposed of according to the discretion of my overseers”; to “Pressila Sparrow my grandchild one ewe sheep to be improved in a small stock for her, and the rest of my ewe sheep I give to John and Rebecca Sparrow my grandchildren to be improved as a stock for them; to “Jonathan Sparrow my son my great cloth coat, and for the rest of my wearing apparel, my wife to dispose of them as she see cause”; wife Pandora and son Jonathan to be executors; friends and brethren Mr. Thomas Prence of Eastham, Mr. Thomas Willett of Rehoboth and Lieutenant Thomas Southworth of Plymouth to be overseers; residue of estate to be equally divided between wife and son The inventory of the estate of Richard Sparrow was taken 22 January 1660/1 and totalled £85, with no real estate included. His inventory included “a Bible [and] 2 small books” valued at 10s.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7} Richard Sparrow page 1715, Volumes 1-3 of The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010), (Originally Published as: New England Historic Genealogical Society. Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols., 1995).
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Records of the colony of New Plymouth in New England : printed by order of the legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by New Plymouth Colony; Shurtleff, Nathaniel Bradstreet, 1810-1874; Pulsifer, David, 1802-1894; Publication date 1855-1861; Publisher New York : AMS Press. See Volume 1, page 3-4 for The names of the Freemen of the Incorporation of Plymouth in New England, An 1633
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} The history of Cape Cod: the annals of Barnstable County, including the district of Mashpee by Freeman, Frederick, 1799-1883; Publication date 1858; Publisher Boston, Printed for the author, by Geo. C. Rand & Avery. See the footnote on Volume 2, page 361 for Richard Sparrow
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3} Dawes-Gates Ancestral Lines: A Memorial Volume by Ferris, Mary Walton, 2 vols. (Milwaukee: priv. print., 1931–43). See Volume 2, page 763-8 for Richard Sparrow
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Richard Sparrow's Will by George Ernest Bowman, published in Volume 12, page 57-58 of 'The Mayflower descendant : a quarterly magazine of Pilgrim genealogy and history; Published: Boston : Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1899-
6. ↑ Facts and Fancies of Family History by Marcy, Elizabeth Eunice Smith, (Evanston, Ill.: Bowman, 1911)
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Torrey's New England Marriages to 1700 Volume 2, page 1418 (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015, which provides more sources, as follows: SPARROW, Richard (-1661, 1660/1) & Pandora/?Theodora ____ (-1660+, 1665+); in Eng, by 1632; Plymouth/Eastham {MD 6:203, 8:4, 12:57; Sparrow 102; Plymouth (Davis) 248; Winthrop-Babcock 453; Bangs 314, Chart; Sparrow 102; Brewster 22; Bassett-Preston 265; Dawes-Gates 2:763+; Cape Cod Lib 32:2; Reg 5:388, 7:280; Linnell-Snow 52. This reference also provides sources for Jonathan's three marriages
8. ↑ V.6, p.203/264885147 Eastham-Orleans Vital Records, Volume 1, page 40 published in Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850. (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016) citing the New England Historical and Genealogical Record Volume 123, page 204, and which states Richard Sparow : deceased the : eaight of Jenuary in the : yeare one thousand Six hundered & Sixti
9. ↑ Eastham-Orleans Vital Records, published in Volume 6, page 203 of The Mayflower descendant : a quarterly magazine of Pilgrim genealogy and history; Published: Boston : Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1899- which states Richard Sparow : deceased the : eaight of Jenuary in the : yeare one thousand Six hundered & Sixti
10. ↑ Births, marriages, deaths, 1649-ca.1840; intentions of marriage, 1700-ca.1905, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G979-9FQV  : 28 September 2022), FHL microfilm 007009735, image 124, Eastham, Massachusetts, Volume 2, Births, & Deaths, 1654-1797, Page 40.
11. ↑ "Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records, 1633-1967," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-897D-V352  : 8 March 2023), Wills 1633-1686 vol 1-4 > image 273 of 616; State Archives, Boston.
12. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #15871823

• https://web.archive.org/web/20141015165331/http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/r/i/c/Stanton-G-Richards/FAMO2-0001/d163.htm archived page, captured 15 October 2014
• https://web.archive.org/web/20110623185206/http://capecodhistory.us/genealogy/wellfleet/i2394.htm
• https://www.caskey-family.com/richardsparrow/

In 1931 Mary Walton Ferris published a typically thorough study of Richard Sparrow and his son Jonathan [Dawes-Gates 2:763-68], and in 1960 Donald Lines Jacobus also prepared a briefer account [ Ackley-Bosworth 41-42]..

• http://www.sparrowhouse.com/SparrowMain.htm
• http://trees.ancestry.com/owt/person.aspx?pid=2249598&st=1