George soule family tree

George Soule (c. – between 20 September and 22 January )^[1] was a colonist who was one of the indentured servants on the Mayflower and helped establish Plymouth Colony in ^[1] He was one of the signers of the Mayflower Compact.

Early life and family origin

It is known that George came on the Mayflower and was credited to the household of Edward Winslow as a manservant or apprentice, along with Elias Story and a little girl Ellen More, who both died in the first winter.^{[2][self-published source][3][4]} George Soule was mentioned in Bradford's recollections of the Winslow group: "Mr.

Edward Winslow; Elizabeth, his wife; and *2* men servants, called Georg Sowle and Elias Story; also a little girle was put to him, called Ellen, sister of Richard More".^[5] He continues: "Mr. Ed. Winslow his wife dyed the first winter; and he is maried with the widow of Mr. White, and hath *2* children living by her marigable besides sundry that are dead.

One of his servants dyed, as also the little girle, soone after the ships arrival. But this man Georg Soule, is still living and hath *8* children".^[6]

Earlier researchers into Soule's origin believed in the London association of Winslow and Soule.^[7] Thus, based on this belief, and for five years ending in , noted Mayflower researcher and biographer Caleb Johnson managed a fairly intensive search for Soule's English origins; he examined a number of likely 'George Soules' in various parts of England and subsequently concluded that the most promising candidate of all the 'George Soules' he reviewed was that of Tingrith, Bedfordshire, baptised in February /5.^[8]

More recent work in has identified the parents of George Soule through a high-quality Y-DNA match of Soule with families in Scotland and Australia.

Following up on research published by Louise Walsh Throop in , the DNA study pointed to Soule's parents as Jan Sol and his wife Mayken Labis, who are identified by their marriage as Protestant refugees in London, England, in and by the baptisms of their children before in Haarlem, Holland.^[9] Their eldest known son Johannes Sol is identified by his baptism in , as well as by his permissions in both Haarlem and Leyden to marry in Leyden.

Johannes Sol, a printer in Leyden with one known publication, died suddenly, probably while helping William Brewster in the presswork for the Perth Assembly.^[9] His apprentice, Edward Raban, apparently fled to Scotland in in order to avoid being apprehended by agents of the king of England. It appears he was accompanied by the pregnant widow of his master and probably took with him the missing press of Brewster, as well as the telltale type and initials from Brewster; Raban also apparently took with him the Sol press and type.

Edward Raban in published a very veiled version of his master's shocking death, well hidden in a discussion of drunkenness and resultant whoredom.^[10] It would appear all helpers in the press work and distribution of "Perth Assembly" took an oath of silence that was never breached, even after King James I died in ^[11]

Some researchers have pointed to circumstantial evidence that George Soule's family may have had Sephardic (Converso) Jewish roots, due to "Sol/Soule" being a common Sephardic name^[12] and "Soule" (the version George used in his will) being a Basque province.^[13] Soule's daughter-in-law, Rebecca Simonson, daughter of colonist Moses Simonson, may have had Jewish ancestry,^[14][15] and Soule's printing colleague, Edward "Raban was from a Jewish-descended family in Germany."^[16]

It is likely^{[according to whom?]} that George's presumed father Jan Sol, who married as a refugee in in London, was the grandson of Jan van Sol.^{[citation needed]} This Jan van Sol was a zealous opponent of Anabaptism, which he saw in as divided into three movements: the Melchiorites (the peaceful Mennonite group), the Davidites, and the Batenburgers.^[17] Jan van Sol was born at Dordrecht, in South Holland, but left the Netherlands in because of debts (he kept an inn there) and went east to Danzig.

George soul biography wife: George Soule (c. – between 20 September and 22 January ) [1] was a colonist who was one of the indentured servants on the Mayflower and helped establish Plymouth Colony in [1] He was one of the signers of the Mayflower Compact.

There he was known as Johann/Jan Solius (the Latin version of his name). In he bought the "Robitten" estate near Bardeyn in East Prussia. He returned in to Brussels but may have spent his last years, until about , in the territory of Preussisch-Holland. A presumed son born about , and by naming patterns was probably named Georg, would have married about perhaps in Brussels, and thus would have been the father of Jan Sol of the marriage record in London.

This Jan Sol and wife Maecken had seven children baptised in the Dutch Reformed Church of Haarlem in –^[18]

Mayflower

The Mayflower departed Plymouth, England on 6/16 September The small, foot ship had passengers and a crew of about 30–40 in extremely cramped conditions.

By the second month out, the ship was being buffeted by strong westerly gales, causing the ship's timbers to be badly shaken with the caulking failing to keep out sea water, and with passengers, even in their berths, lying wet and ill. These conditions, combined with a lack of proper rations and unsanitary conditions for several months, contributed to the high number of fatalities in the first winter, especially for the women and children.

On the voyage, there were two deaths, being just a crew member and a passenger. The worst was yet to come after arriving at their destination when, in the space of several months, almost half the passengers perished in the cold, harsh, unfamiliar New England winter.^[19]

On 9/19 November , after about two months at sea, preceded by a month of delays in and around England, they spotted land, which was the Cape Cod Hook, now called Provincetown Harbor.

After several days of trying to get south to their planned destination of the Colony of Virginia, strong winter seas forced them to return to the harbor at Cape Cod hook, where they anchored on 11/21 November.^[19]

On 11 November , Soule and others signed the Mayflower Compact.^[1] Soule and three others were under 21 years of age, and one of the three had a baptismal record showing he was just 20 years old at the time of signing.

It appears the signers were members of a church group, where the age of membership was The original compact was lost. It was published, without any signers' names appended, several times after It was not until almost 50 years after the signing that the Compact was published with the names of the signers. Thus the print work crew of Brewster, Winslow, Soule and others was sheltered from exposure to the agents of King James I of England.

When finally published with all names of signers, only Soule was still alive from the print work crew.^{[citation needed]}

In Plymouth Colony

In , the Division of Land at Plymouth provided one acre for George Soule between the property of "Frances" Cooke and "Mr.

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Isaak" Allerton.^[2][21]

About , George Soule married a woman by the name of Mary. It is known that the only Mary in Plymouth who was then unmarried was Mary Bucket (Buckett). In , "Marie" Buckett, as a single woman, had received one acre of land.^[2][22]

In George Soule was one of twenty-seven Purchasers involved with the colony joint-stock company which afterwards was turned over to the control of senior colony members.

That group was called Undertakers, and were made up of such Pilgrim leaders as Bradford, Standish and Allerton initially, who were later joined by other leaders Winslow, Brewster, Howland, Alden, Prence and others from London who were former Merchant Adventurers. On the agreement, dated 26 October , his name appears as "Georg Soule."^[23]

In the Division of Cattle, George and Mary Soule and their first son Zachariah (all with the recorded surname of "Sowle") were listed with the Richard Warren family.

They were allotted several animals that arrived on the ship Jacob, probably in ^[2][24]

Historic records indicate Soule became a freeman prior to /33 (Johnson) or was on the list of freemen.^[2][4]

In /34 Soule (as "Sowle") was taxed at the lowest rate which indicates that his estate was without much significance.^[2][25]

Per Plymouth records, Soule's life with his family appears to have been lived quietly in a Puritan home—obtaining some land holdings through the years which he would later provide for his large family.

He was never involved in any criminal or civil court dispute and did participate in a number of public service situations, one being his volunteering to fight in the Pequot War in , which was over before the Plymouth company could get organised.^[4][26]

Land records note that in he was assigned "a garden place…on Duxbury side, by Samuel Nash's, to lie to his ground at Powder Point".^[26]

The land records note that "one acre of land is granted to George Soule at the watering place…and also a parcel of Stony Marsh at Powder Point, containing two acres." The land at the "watering place" in south Plymouth was sold the next year, possibly as he was living in Duxbury at that time and did not need his property in south Plymouth.

In he was granted a meadow at Green's Harbor—now Marshfield. His land holdings included property in several towns, those being Namaskett, Middleboro and Dartmouth.^[1][4][26]

First in and last in , he was assigned to at least five grand and petty juries. He was deputy for Duxbury for several years.^[1][4][26]

In the Able to Bear Arms (ATBA) List, George and his son Zachariah (listed as "Georg" and "Zachary") appear with those bearing arms from Duxbury (written as "Duxbarrow").^[27]

In October the General Court granted to Duxbury inhabitants lands "about Saughtuckquett" and nominated "Captaine Miles Standish, Mr John Alden, George Soul…" and others for "equall devideing and laying forth of the said lands to their inhabitants." The purpose of this committee was to divide property in the Duxbury area for its inhabitants.

Soule was also on a similar committee in ^[26][28]

On 20 October Soule, with Anthony Thatcher, was chosen to be on a "committee to draw up an order concerning disorderly drinking (smoking) of tobacco." The law, as drawn up, provided strict limitations on where tobacco could be smoked and what fines could be levied against lawbreakers.^[26]

Family

Marie/Mary Buckett, wife of George Soule.

The young woman known to Plymouth Colony history as "Marie Buckett" arrived in Plymouth in July as a single woman passenger on the ship Anne. She may have been about age 18 (born c. ) and appears to have traveled with some Alden relatives of her mother, or with members of the possible Warren family with whom she may have lived after the death of her father.

Earlier researchers have been stymied in their efforts to prove her ancestry, or from where she came, whether Holland or England.^[29]

She first appears in Plymouth Colony records in the Division of Cattle with passengers of the Anne as "Marie Buckett" where she received one lot of her own "adioyning to Joseph Rogers" .."on the other side of towne towards the eele-riuer."^[29]

Author Caleb Johnson estimates she married George Soule about or ^[30] As George Soule was probably born in , and he would have had to wait to marry until released as Winslow's servant at age 25, the marriage of George and Mary was probably in

In the Division of Cattle she is listed with her husband George and young son "Zakariah" as " Mary Sowle."^[24]

Noted Mayflower researcher and author Caleb H.

Johnson writes in The Mayflower Quarterly of December that the origin of Mary Buckett, wife of Mayflower passenger George Soule, has not been conclusively proven by his, or any previous research. What Johnson did find in England, through extensive research and a lengthy process of elimination was a Mary Beckett in the parish of Watford, Hertfordshire.

This Mary was born about and fits the right age to have been on the Anne in Also she was in a family using the name Nathaniel, which is found in her own children. Her mother had a Mayflower-sounding name—Alden. She and her husband George were grouped with the Warrens in the Division of Cattle, with Mrs. Warren coming from Hertfordshire, as did Mary Beckett.

Mary's home parish register of St. Mary's Church, Watford, has a number of sixteenth-century Warren family entries of names which all appear in the Mayflower Warren family. Johnson considers the following to be among the most important information in considering Marie Buckett's ancestry—Mary Beckett's father died in when she was only about 14 years old.

As a custom of the time, she and her siblings were likely apprenticed out to relatives, neighbors, acquaintances, etc.

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Her mother remained a widow until at least (listed in that year as "Widow Buckett")—further increasing the chance that her children would be sent to other families. Johnson concludes by stating that the following could have put Mary Beckett hypothetically on the ship Anne sailing to America in the right age, associated with families of Mayflower surnames, within a family using the name Nathaniel, and could have had the opportunity to be transferred to another family that would eventually sail to America on the ship Anne.

Johnson notes after this time, Mary Beckett is not found again in Watford records, based on recent research.^[31]

Children of George and Mary Soule:

• Zachariah was born by May and died in Duxbury before 11 December He married Margaret Ford by , but had no recorded children.
• John was born about and died in Duxbury before 14 November He married:

1.

Rebecca Simmons about and had nine children. She died between and

2. Esther (Delano) Samson about and had three children. She died in Duxbury on 12 September ^[1]

• Nathaniel was born between and and died in Dartmouth before 12 October He married Rose Thorn by and had five children.

Nathaniel may have caused the most colony trouble of any of his siblings.

On 5 March /8, he made an appearance in Plymouth court to "answer for his abusing of Mr. John Holmes, teacher of the church of Christ at Duxbury, by many false, scandalous and opprobrious speeches." He was sentenced to make a public apology for his actions, find sureties for future good behavior and to sit in the stocks, with the stock sentence remitted.

His father George and brother John had to pay surety for Nathaniel's good behavior with he being bound for monies and to pay a fine. Three years later, on 5 June , he was fined for "telling several lies which tended greatly to the hurt of the Colony in reference to some particulars about the Indians." And then on 1 March /5 he was sentenced to be whipped for "lying with an Indian woman," and had to pay a fine in the form of bushels of corn to the Indian woman towards the keeping of her child.^[32]

• George was born about and died in Dartmouth before 22 June He married by Deborah Thomas ^[33] and had eight children.

  She died in Dartmouth about February

• Susanna was born about and died in Kingstowne, Rhode Island after She married Francis West by and had nine children.
• Mary was born about and died in Plymouth after She married John Peterson by and had nine children.
  George soul biography In the Duxbury sections of the , and 29 May Plymouth Colony lists of freemen. Signed his will. His inventory included "books" valued at i pound [MD ]. Petit jury, 1 June [PCR ]. Committee to draw an order concerning the disorderly drinking of tobacco [!

  He died between 29 April and 26 March , probably in Plymouth.

• Elizabeth was born about and died after She married Francis Walker by 23 July and had one child. He died in probably Middleboro about ^[1]

Elizabeth, like her brother Nathaniel, also had her share of problems with the Plymouth Court. On 3 March /3, the Court fined Elizabeth and Nathaniel Church for committing fornication.

Elizabeth then in turn sued Nathaniel Church "for committing an act of fornication with her and then denying to marry her." The jury awarded her damages plus court costs.^[34]

On 2 July Elizabeth was sentenced to be whipped at the post "for committing fornication the second time." And although the man with whom she committed the act was not named, Elizabeth did marry Francis Walker within the following year.^[35]

• Patience was born about and died on 11 March /6 in Middleboro.

  She married John Haskell in January /7 in Middleboro and had eight children. He died on 15 May in Middleboro.

• Benjamin was born by about and died unmarried during King Philip's War on 26 March

Although George Soule became wealthy in the Plymouth colony he still bound out at least one of his daughters to a John Winslow.^[36]

Will, death and burial

George Soule made his will on 11 August and mentions his eldest son John "my eldest son John Soule and his family hath in my extreme old age and weakness been tender and careful of me and very helpful to me." John was his executor and to whom was given nearly all of Soule's estate.

But after he wrote his will, on 12 September George seemed to have second thoughts and made a codicil to the will to the effect that if John or any family member were to trouble his daughter Patience or her heirs, the will would be void. And if such happened, Patience would then become the executor of his last will and testament with virtually all that he owned becoming hers.

To put his youngest daughter to inherit his estate ahead of his eldest son would have been a major humiliation for John Soule. But John must have done well in his father's eyes since after his father's death, he did inherit the Duxbury estate. Twenty years later Patience and her husband sold the Middleboro estate they had received from her father.^[35]

George Soule's will was dated 11 August , with a codicil dated 20 September and with the will proved in His will named his sons Nathaniel, George and John, and daughters Elizabeth, Patience, Susannah and Mary.

His sons Zachariah and Benjamin had predeceased him.^[4]

George Soule died shortly before 22 January , when inventory was taken of his estate. He was buried at Myles Standish Burial Ground in Duxbury, Massachusetts as his wife Mary had predeceased him in

Per Stratton, the Soule family history compiled by Gideon T. Ridlon is not reliable.^[4] Researcher and author Louise Walsh Throop considers Ridlon occasionally reliable, as the second volume was printed in haste.

Records received by correspondence are usually reliable, but Ridlon's assigned lineages and interpretations of relationships are not always reliable.^{[citation needed]}

Notable descendants

• Silas Soule, abolitionist, soldier, and hero who refused to participate in the Sand Creek Massacre, and later was murdered, possibly in retaliation for his testimony against his commanding officer.^[37]
• Dick Van Dyke, comedian, actor, dancer^{[citation needed]}
• Richard Gere, actor^{[citation needed]}
• Joshua Soule, Methodist-Episcopal Bishop^[38]
• Gideon Lane Soule, third principal of Phillips Exeter Academy^[39]
• H.

  Verlan Andersen, LDS General Authority

• Matthew C. Perry, U.S. naval officer^[40]

References

External links