“His family founded an English town called LOWTHORPE, 180 miles north of London. Its Church of St. Martin began its records with the year 1086, twenty years after the Battle of Hastings.” 826

"The surname Lothrop or Lathrop is derived from the parish Lowthorpe. Thorp means village, so the name literally signifies "low village". The surname is on record in Yorkshire, where it has been common since 1216. The Lathrop family is among the oldest of the Colonial families who settled in New England. They were a family who suffered persecution and arrest in England for expressing and living according to their honest religious convictions, and secured immunity from further persecution only on their promise to leave the country". 243

“The Lo-Lathrops are descendants of the Lowthrops of Lowthrope, East Riding, Yorkshire, England. . . Rev. John attended Queen’s College, Cambridge, where he seems to have acquired the usual ‘dissenting’ spirit of that University. In 1611 he became the Vicar of Egerton, Kent Co., England, but resigned in 1623 and went to London, where he became pastor of the first independent Congregational church in London. It was broken up in 1632. He was tried by the Star chamber, and imprisoned for two years in Newgate. He was released in 1634, and sentenced to ‘banishment.’ He sailed from England with his family in the ship ‘Griffin,’ and landed at Boston in 1634-5. He settled at Scituate and Barnstable, being the first minister who preached at either place.” 275

“John Lothrop (1584-1653), bap. at Etton, Co. York, 20 Ddec. 1584; son of Thomas Lowthorpe, of Etton, and great grandson of John Lowthorpe, of /cherry Burton, Co. York; graduated at Queens’ College, Cambridge, B.A., 1605, M.A., 1609; Vicar of Egerton, Co. Kent, 1611-1623; became an Independent Minister at Union Street, Southwark; emigrated to Boston, 1634, and settled at Scituate, Mass.; m., and had issue:” 731

“The Will of Thomas Lothrop of Dengie, co. Essex, clerk, dated 20 October 1628. to daughters Ann, Jane, Elizabeth, and Mary - all under twenty-one years of age. Wife Elizabeth. Brother-in-law William Akett of Leckenfield [Leconfield], co. york. My sister Mary, wife of John Gallant. Brothers William Lathrop and John Lathrop. Proved 6 May 1629. (Consistory Court of London [somerset House], Bellmy, 324. Cf. Lothrop genealogy, p. 18.) The will of Thomas Lothrop, clerk, of which a brief abstract is given above, taken with the other records published in the Lothrop genealogy, establishes the parentage of Rev. John Lothrop, the minister at Scituate and Barnstable in the Plymouth Colony in New England. The father of Rev. John Lothrop, Thomas Lathop of Etton, co. York, did not mention in his will either his son John or his son Thomas because they had received their portions of their father’s estate in the cost of their education. But Thomas Lathrop of Etton did mention in his will his son-in-law William Akett, his son-in-law John Gallant, and his son William.” 822

“Rev. John Lothrop evidently entered first Christ Church College, Oxford, for according to Foster’s ‘Alumni Oxonienses’ John Lowthroppe of Yorkshire, aged sixteen years, was admitted a pleb of Christ Church, oxford, 15 Oct. 1602. Thence he went to Cambridge, where, according to Venn’s ‘Alumni Cantagrigienses’ John Loothrop, Lathrop, or Lothropp, who was baptized at Etton, yorkshire, 20 Dec. 1584, son of thomas of Etton, was admitted to the degree of Bachelor of Arts from Queen’s College in 1606 and to that of Master of Arts in 1609. A brief biographical notice of him is given by Venn. his brother, Rev. Thomas Lothrop, was admitted sizar at Queen’s College, Cambridge, 30 June 1601, took his bachelor’s degree in 1604/5 and his master’s degree in 1608, was rector of Dengie in Essex, 1613-1629, and died in 1629. (Venn, op.cit.)” 822

"Rev. John Lathrop, the american ancestor of this family, was baptized in Etton, Yorkshire, England, december 20, 1584, and died November 8, 1653. He was one of those who suffered imprisonment for ministering to a nonconforming congregation. His wife, with her large family of children, petitioned in person for his release, but died, about 1633, before he was liberated. He was a minister in Egerton, Kent, England, and removed to London in 1624, where he become the pastor of a Congregational church. He and forty-three member of his church were imprisoned by order of the archbishop, April 29, 1632, because they practiced the teachings of the New Testiment. Upon promising to leave the country they were released. Reverend Lathrop came to New England, with his family, in 1634, and shortly afterwards organized a church at Scituate, Massachusetts. He was admitted a freeman of Plymouth colony, 1636-37, and two years later removed, with a large part of the membership of his church, to Barnstable. He was a man of great piety and energy, and did much to further the secular, as well as the spiritual, welfare of the colony. He married (first) in England, October 10, 1610, Hannah, daughter of Rev. John House, rector of Eastwell in Kent. He married (second) about 1635, Ann, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Paine) Hammond of Levenham, County Suffolk,England. Rev. John and Ann (Hammond) Lathrop were the parents of six children born in New England. 243

"He graduated from Cambridge University with a B.A. in 1605 and M.A. in 1609. He became curate of the church at Egerton, County Kent from ca. 1611 to 1623. In 1623 he was called to succeed Rev. Henry Jacob (who had left for Virginia) at the First Independent Church in Southwardk, Surrey. Independent worship being illegal, Lothrop's services were conducted in secret. In 1632 he was imprisoned, but released on bail in 1634. Nathaniel Morton (New England Memoriall, p. 140-141) related some of his background, including the death of his first wife in England. Huntington, p. 25, quotes from Governor Winthrop's Journal under date of 18 September 1634 "The Griffin and another ship now arriving with about 200 passengers. Mr. Lathrop and Mr. Sims, two godly ministers coming in the same ship". That same year Lothrop went to Scituate, where he formed the first church there, and then in 1639 the church divided and Lothrop went with the group that settled at Barnstable, becoming minister there, too. His records of some activities and events at Scituate and Barnstable are in NEHGR 9:279-87, 10:37-43; also see text. Two of his letter of 1638 to Governor Prence mention in rather vague terms the forthcoming move from Scituate (Huntington, p. 28-32). One of the letters is also signed by Anthony Aniball, ___(no doubt Henry) Cobb, and ___ (no doubt Isaac) Robinson "in behalf of the church". He became a freeman on 7 June 1637 (PCR 1:60)." 243

"He married (1) Hannah House (sister of Samuel House, q.v.) and (2) Ann ___ who has variously been thought to be a Hammond or a Dimmock; since his son Barnabas was born 6 June 1636, he married his second wife probably in 1635 (see Torrey, and Wakefield, Marriages). His will (MD 11:42) dated 10 August 1653, inventory 8 December 1653, names his sons Thomas, John (in England), and Benjamin and daughters Jane and Deborah; "to the rest of my Children both mine and my wives my will is that every of them shall have a Cow". His children were to have a choice of one of his books each, and the rest were to be sold, with the money divided among them. Some of his lands were to be sold, with the money to be divided among the children "that have the least portions". The wording of the will in unfortunate, for it leaves open the questions as to how many children survived him. There is a possibility he may have been the father of Elizabeth, the unwanted wife of John Williams, q.v. PCR 4:107 shows that on 3 October 1665 "Mister Barnabas Laythorpe hath seen cause, in the behalf of his sister [Elizabeth Williams] and those related to her, to revive the former complaint [against John Williams]." For reasons too lengthy to give in detail, Barnabas Laythorpe could only be the son of Rev. John Lothrop, and sister in ths context could only mean blood sister or sister-in-law. Since Barnabas's wife was Susanna Clark, daughter of Thomas Clark, Q.v., and there was no Elizabeth in the Thomas Clark family, the erm probably meant blood sister. Otis/Swift, Barnstable Families, devotes some fifty pages to Lothrop and his descendants, but is not well documented. See also NEHGR 84:437." 243

The first minister bred at Oxford, if tradition can be trusted, but probably
he was only there for a short time, preached, perhaps, at Egerton, in Kent,
but certainly in London, where Bishop Laud caused him to be imprisoned for it,
for two years in which time his wife died. On liberation from prison he
embarked for Boston 1634, having fellow passengers Zachary Symmes, celebr. Ann
Hutchinson, and many others, arriving in Sept. and 27th of that month went to
Scituate there married second wife Ann who long out lived him dying 25 feb
1688. He removed to Barnstable with a large part of his flock, 11 Oct. 1639,
and was held in honor to his death 8 Nov. 1653.
BONHAM.GED, Lothropp, d. at Barnstable, Mass. 736

“Before he was appointed to Egerton, he was appointed curate at Little Chart, Kent, on 10 Jan. 1609/10 . . The Rev. John Lothrop renounced his orders and resigned from his cure at Egerton about 1623 to succeed Henry Jacob as pastor of an independent congregation at Southwark, near London. Lothrop and forty-one of his followers were seized and imprisoned, including Peninna and Samuel, children of the Rev. John House. . . In 1633, while Lothrop was yet in prison, a dispute arose in his church. Those who altogether rejected the established church and denied the legitimacy of infant baptism were led away by John Spilsbury. John Lothrop’s views were obviously less radical than Spilsbury’s. Not only did infant baptism continue in his own churches in New England, but, as the above entried show, his sons Joseph and Benjamin were baptized at Eastwell in 1624 and 1626 respectively by their grandfather House, whild John Lothrop was pastor of the independents at Southwark. John’s eldest son Thomas was baptized at Eastwell on 21 February 1612/3, while he was curate at Egerton. (It was not unusual for the eldest child to be baptized in the wife’s parish.)”821

“Not mentioned in earlier accounts of the Rev. John Lothrop is that, before he was appointed to Egerton, he was appointed cuate at Little Chart, Kent, on 10 Jan. 1609/10 (arthur J. willis, comp., Canterbury Licenses (General), 1568-1646 [London and Chichester, 1972], 58).”821

Much more info to be entered from Otis247 and from Price.823 and from Huntington.248 and from the Institute of Family Research, Salt Lake City. 2075

“In 1641 the active ministers of Barnstable, Sandwich and Yarmouth were John Laythorpe [Lothrop], John Mayo, William Leverich, John Miller and Marmaduke Matthews. These each bore the title of Mister, that insignia of Puritan importance which at that time was only applied tothe learned and the wealthy.”296

“After the determination of the congregation to ‘set down at Mattacheese,’ on the 26th of June a fast was help at Scituate, where this colony were residing, ‘that the Lord in his presence’ go with them to this new land. Rev. John Lothrop, the beloved pastor of the church there, by his letters, found among Governor Winslow’s paapers, has furnished many facts concerning the trials of himself and associates as to where the settlement should be. Some historians assert that Joseph Hull, Thomas Dimock and their few associates had settled here during the summer, or in advance of Mr. Lothrop and his assocaites; and there are circumstances that substantiate that. On June 4, 1639 (June 14, N.S.), the colony court granted permission to Messrs, Hull, Dimock and others ‘to erect a plantation or town at or about a place called by the Indians Mattacheese;’ and Rev. Mr. Lothrop, in his diary, said, that upon their arrival at Mattacheese, ‘After praise to God in public was ended, we divided into three companies to feast together - some at Mr. Hull’s some at Mr. May’s, and some at Br. Lumbard’s S.’ . . . There is no other record of the settlement of Barnstable until the arrival of Rev. John Lothrop and his associates on the 21st of October, 1639 (N.S.). The greater part of Mr. Lothrop’s church accompanied him to Barnstable, leaving the remaining few ‘in a broken condition.’ “296

Details of the Lathrop Church and John Lathrop’s records of Scituate, MA to be entered. 2076, 1531

“The Rewlinson MS. A 128, in the Bodleian Library, comprising records of the proceedings of the Court of High Commission (Ecclesiastical Division), 1632, gives an interesting account of the prosecution of Rev. John Lothrop and his flock of Dissenters who met at t conventicle in the Blackfriars, London. Among those arrested were Samuel Howes and his sister Penninah Howes, who was a sister-in-law of Mr. Lothrop.”2077

“3 May 1632. At a conventicle at the house of one Barnett, a brewer’s clerk dwelling in Blackfriars, the minister was one John Latropp, and among those present were Pennina Howse an Sarah Barbon. during the examination of Latropp [i.e., Rev. John Lothrop] by the Bishop of St. David’s he was asked; ‘Were you not Dr. King’s, the Bishop of London’s sizar at Oxford? I take it you were.’ [Rev. John King, D.D., was made Dean of Christ Church College, Oxford, 5 Aug. 1605, and was Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford, 1607-1610, and bishop of London, 1611-1621.] (Star Chamber Proceedins, Ecclesistical Division of the Court of High Commission. Cf. Register, vol. 69, p. 284.) “822

“Another 1634 ship for which Banks attempted a symnthetic list is the Griffin. Winthrop tells us only tht ‘mr. Lothrop and Mr. Simmes, two godly ministers,’ were on this ship [WJ 1:170]. These were Rev. John Lathrop and Rev. Zachariah Symmes; Banks then assumed that each of these men was accompanied by his wife and children, and so their names are entered into the synthetic list. . . .In general the attempts made by Colonel Banks to generate synthetic lists of passengers were unsuccessful. We should continue to look for clues embedded in late documents which might point to the ship on which a given immigrant came. But for the most part we will never know who came on which ship in 1634.” 1149

“Two more passenger ships appeared in Boston Harbor during the September sitting of the General Court, noted by Winthrop on the 18th of that month: ‘ . . . the Griffin and another ship now arriving with about two hundred passengers and one hundred cattle (Mr. Lothrop and Mr. Simmes, two godly ministers, coming in the same ship)’ [WJ 1:170].” 2078

“The will of Rev. John Lothrop is dated in 1653. We trust that it is not improper to subjoin an abstract of that will, for historical purposes. ‘To my wife, my new dwelling house. To my oldest son Thomas, the house in which I first lived in Barnstable. To my son John in England and Benjamin here, each a cow and 5 pounds. Daughter Jane and Barbara have had their portions already. To the rest of the children both mine and my wife’s, each a cow. to each child one book, to be chosen according to their aes. The rest of my Library to be sold to any honest an, who can tell how to use it, and the proceeds to be divided, &c.’ The inventory estimates the remainder of his library at 5 pounds. The removal of Mr Lothrop’s family was october 11, 1639. Barnstable Records.”1531

Photo of tombstone taken by Barbara Fleming August, 1997 on file:
“Erected to the Memory of
REV. JOHN LOTHROP
1584 - 1653
and such first settlers who fill
unmarked graves in this cemetery
and at the ‘calves pasture’.
Mr. Lothrop was pastor of the
Church of England at Egerton, 1611-1623.
The Congregational Society at
Southwark, London, 1624-1632
Confined Newgate, 1632-1634
Scituate, 1634-1639
Barnstable, 1639-1653.
He was a gentle, kindly man and beloved by all who knew him.
Barnstable Tercentenary 1939.”260

Stationary (and a larger picture) on file of Barbara Fleming with drawing of Sturgis Library (formerly home of John Lothrop) by Richard Sears Gallagher, 1959. “The Sturgis Library, founded in 1863, is the oldest library building in the United States”.
Also, postcard on file with photograph by Percy Williams “The Sturgis Library, Barnstable, Massachusetts 02630. Which occupies the oldest building (1644) in America to house a public library”.

“In 1641 the active ministers of Barnstable, Sandwich and Yarmouth were John Laythorpe [Lothrop], John Mayo, William Leverich, John Miller and Marmaduke Matthews. These each bore the title of Mister, that insignia of Puritan importance which at that time was only applied to the learned and the wealthy.” 296

“After the determination of the congregation to ‘set down at Mattacheese,’ on the 26th of june a fast was held at Scituate, where this colony were residing, ‘that the Lord in his presence’ go with them to this new land. Rev. John Lothrop, the beloved pastor of the church there, by his letters, found among Governor Winslow’s papers, has furnished many facts concerning the trials of himself and associates as to where the settlement should be. Some historians assert that Joseph Hull, Thomas Dimock and their few associates had settled here during the summer, or in advance of Mr. Lothrop and his associates; and there are circumstances that substantiate that. On June 4, 1639 (June 14, N.S.), the colony court granted permission to Messrs. Hull, Dimock and others ‘to erect a plantation or town at or about a place called by the Indians Mattacheese;’ and Rev. Mr. Lothrop, in his diary, said, that upon their arrival at Mattacheese, ‘After praise to God in public was ended, we divided into three companies to feast together - some at Mr. Hull’s, some at Mr. Mayo’s, and some at Br. Lumbard’s Sr.’ . . . There is no other record of the settlement of Barnstable until the arrival of Rev. John Lothrop and his associates on the 21st of October, 1639 (N.S.). The greater part of Mr. Lothrop’s church accompanied him to Barnstable, leaving the remaining few ‘in a broken condition.’ Besides Joseph Hull and Thomas Dimock and their accociates as mentioned in the grant, we find here in the autumn of 1639, John Lothrop, the pastor, Mr. Mayo, . . . “ 296

Scituate church records, listed fifty-seven Scituate houses and occupants from 1634 through 1637. He first listed nine houses that had already been built when he arrived at the end of September 1634, bracketing them together with the annotation, ‘all which [were] small plain pallizadoe Houses.’ Perhaps the most reasonable suggestion regarding the first houses in Plymouth would be that in addition to the four or five ‘fair and pleasant’ fully framed houses, some combination of pit or cave houses, earthfast structures, and palisado buildings were erected, these being those that Emmanuel Altham said would in time be improved.” 301

A list of these 57 houses to be entered.
“The Houses in ye planta . . .
Scituate
Att my comeing hither, onely these
wch was aboute end of Sept. 1634. . .
[Note by Dr. Stiles]
transcribed from the Revd John Lothrops originall MS. being all the Entries I find in his own Hand writing
By Ezra Stiles Augt 24, 1769” 843

“Mr John Lathrope” is listed in the List of those able to bear Arms in New Plymouth for “Barnstable. 1643”. 332

Records written by Rev. John Lothrop (Scituate and Barnstable Church Records) to be entered. 843, 647

“In October 1639 Rev. John Lothrop and part of his Scituate parishioners, including his brother-in-law Samuel House, or Howes, removed to Barnstable.” 797

“Lothropp, John (1584-Nov. 8, 1653), clergyman, minister at Scituate and Barnstable in the Colony of New Plymouth, was the son of Thomas and Mary Lothropp (variously spelled) of Cherry Burton and Etton, Yorkshire. He was baptized at Etton dec. 20, 1584. He matriculated at Queen’s College, Cambridge, and received the degrees of bachelor of arts in 1606 and master of arts in 1609. After preaching at Bennington, Hertfordshire, and at Cheriton and Egerton, Kent, he renounced his orders because he could no longer conform to the ceremonies of the Church of England. He united with a congregation of non-conformists and separatists which met in and about London in 1624, and succeeded Henry Jacob as pastor of the group in 1625. This congregation was tracked down at the house of Humphrey Barnett, a brewer’s clerk, in Blackfriars,
Apr. 29, 1632, by Tomlinson, a pursuivant of Bishop Laud, and Lothropp and two-thirds of his congregation were arrested. He appeared before the Court of High Commission May 3 and May 8 and was committed to prison, where he remained for two years. During his imprisonment his wife died. Her name is unknown, but he married her prior to 1614, and he bore him eight children. He was liberated Apr.l 24, 1634, on a bond to absent himself from all private conventicles and to appear before the Court of High Commission in Trinity Term (Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1633-34, 1863, p. 583). At the invitation of the settlers of Scituate in the Colony of New Plymouth to become their pastor (Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, America and the West Indies, 1574-1660), 1860, p. 194), and accompanied by some thirty followers, he fled to New England, where Winthrop recorded his arrival at Boston in the Griffin, Sept. 18, 1634. He proceeded immediately to Scituate, arriving there Sept. 27 and p-reaching twice on the following day. On condition that a church should be organized at Scituate, the church at Plymouth on Nov. 23 dismissed its members living at the former place. A church was gathered there Jan. 8, 1634/35, and Lothropp was chosen first pastor and ordained Jan. 19. Services were held in homes until a meeting-house was completed and dedicated in 1636. Soon after his arrival at Scituate, Lothropp took as his second wife a widow, Ann (surname unknown), by whome he had six children. He was admitted freeman of the colony of New Plymouth June 7, 1637. With other freemenn of Scituate he complained to the Court of Assistants of the Colony of scarcity of land at Scituate, Jan. 1, 1637/8, and he wrote to Governor Prence, Sept. 28, 1638, and again Feb. 18, 1638/39, asking for the grant of a new site. The Colony granted the group Seppekann or Rochester Jan. 22, 1638/39, but this tract proved unacceptable and Lothropp and more than half of his congretation removed to Barnstable, Oct. 11, 1639. A church was gathered there Oct. 31, 1639, and serviced held in dwelling houses until a meeting-house was erected in 1646. There Lothropp served as pastor until his death at the age of sixty-nine. “824

“A very interesting book, printed in 1605, is the ‘Bishop’s Bible’ brought to this country on the ship ‘Griffin’ by the Reverend Lothrop. There is a story about the bible written by Grace E. Dox, part of which is a quote from the autobiography of her Great Grandmother Elizabeth Coit Lathrop Hutchings, with additional information supplied by her cousin Reverend John Lathrop of Berkeley, California. It follows -
The Bishop’s Bible in the old English text was printed by Robert Barker of London in 1605, in the reign of James I.”766

“His [John Lowthroppe’s] great grandson, the Reverend John Lothropp was imprisoned in Newgate London for ‘worshipping God - in violation of human statute’ and held from the 22nd of April 1632 till April 1634. Soon after his liberation he came to America. On the voyage, as he sat reading his Bible with a lighted candle fell on the Book and burned several leaves, some holes nearly the sizeof a half dollar. He pasted paper over the holes and from memory reprinted most of the missing portions. The Bible, so amended, descended to Deacon Charles Lathrop and to his son Reverend Daniel Lathrop.’ “ 766

“The Lothrop Hill Burying Ground is one of the most evocative sites in our study: small, shady, rolling, half a mile from the harbor which gave Barnstable its early precedence among the towns of the Cape. A metal plaque at the front of the yard asserts this historic significance. It memorializes the Reverend John Lothrop (d. 1653) and other early settlers who lie in unmarked graves here ‘and at the calves pasture.’ . . . The Reverend John himself had a busy dissenting life, beginning as a minister of the Church of England at Egerton and at Southwark (South London: Shakespeare was a parishioner in Southwark until 1610; so close are the ties between the Elizabethans and the first Anglo-Americans.). After Lothrop spend some time in Newgate Preson, presumably for his views, he ministered at Scituate and Barnstable.” 549

“We now come to the experiences of John Davenport. In the first place, it should be said that the so-called Jessey Records throw a good deal of light on the beginnings of his Nonconformity. From these Memoranda it appears that during the year 1632, while John Lathrop’s Independent Puritan congregation was suffering much from persecution, Davenport preached a sermon in condemnation of Independency. Some notes of what he had said were brought to Lathrop’s people who were challenged for an answer. The challenge was accepted, but in order that any misconceptions might be avoided, a letter was sent to Davenport expressing the hope that he would send his own notes of his sermon for their perusal. this, we are told, he ‘loveingly’ did. LAthrop’s congregation accordingly studeied what Davenport had written, and wrote thereto an extended answer, with the effect that he never again went to Communion in the Church of England, ‘but went away when the Sacrament day came, and afterward preached, publickly & privately for the truth, & soon afterward went to Holland, where he suffered somewhat for the truths sake, . . . ‘ “ 669

“By his wife, Hannah House, Rev. John Lothrop had all his children except Barnabas, Abigail, Bashua, John and two who died young, who were children of his second wife, Anne, who died Feb. 25, 1687-8. (Her surname is unknown) . . . On Oct. 10, 1610, a license was issued for the marriage at Eastwell, Kent, of John Lathrop, M.A., Curate of Egerton, and Hannah House of Eastwell, virgin.” 738

“While Chauncy’s own estimation of his vicarious role in representing God to the people appears to justify the comparison with papal presumption, the obsequious terms of John Lothrop’s letter to Governor Thomas Prence (Volume three, Appendix 2) may be cited as an indication that others shared a tendency to confuse authority with divinity.” 870

“On page 122 of volume 1 of Plymouth Colony Wills is entered a copy of his unfinished will given below. He neigher signed it nor named an executor, therefore the records of Plymouth Colony show that on March 7, 1653-4,
‘Mis Laythorp is graunted ires of adminnestracon to adminnester on the estate of mr John Laythorp, deceased. Mr Thomas Prence is appointed and requested by the Court to take oath vnto the estate att home.
‘The last Will and Testament of Mr. John Lothropp ye pastour of the Church of Christ att Barnstable, August 10th 1653. . . [text of will and inventory to be entered].” 739

“The burial service for the Reverend John Lothrop was held at a private cemetery in one section of Calves Pasture. There was no permanent marker. Later, I have been told by one who has registered nearly all of the Barnstable gravestones, that those graves were relocated and his grave is supposed to be in the cemetery on Lothrop’s Hill, still without a marker. However, one reference to him is at the cemetery entrance where the Town of Barnstable placed a large stone and plaque. it reads:
JOHN LOTHROP
1584-1653
‘CALVES PASTURE’

CHURCH of ENGLAND
Egerton 1611-1623

CONGREGATIONAL SOCIETY, SOUTHWARK
London, 1624-1632

NEWGATE PRISON, 1632-1634 SCITUATE, 1634-1639

BARNSTABLE, 1639-1653
‘He was a gentle, kindly man and beloved by all who knew him’

Today, two churches which he pioneered, West and East, have bronze markers, bearing the following inscriptions:
IN MEMORY of REV. JOHN LOTHROP
WHO WITH THIRTY OF HIS CONGREGATION
SETTLED BARNSTABLE IN 1639, AND WHOSE LIFE AND LABORS, AD THAT OF HIS SONS
CONTRIBUTED TO THE PROSPERITY AND PERMANENT GROWTH OF THIS COMMUNITY” 848

NEHGR Vol 1 page 286 (July, 1847).

Lineages of Members of National Society of the Sons & Daughters of the Pilgrims. Genealogical Publishing co, 1988, pg 332.

http://www5.pair.com/vtandrews/i0010878.htm#i10878 (from notes of Jonathan Lathrop, [email protected])

The Yarmouth Register, p. 22, 7 Sep 1989

Plymouth Colony - its History and People 1620-1691”, Eugene Aubrey Stratton, Ancestry Publishing, Salt Lake City, UT

http://www.texhoma.net/~lrsears/barnhist.htm

http://www.cs.umbc.edu/~mayfield/genealogy/558HannahHouse.html

“JOHN LOTHROP
ORIGIN: London.
MIGRATION: 1634 on the Griffin (on 18 September 1634, John Winthrol reported ‘the Griffin and another ship now arriving with about two hundred passengers and one hundred cattle (Mr. Lothrop and Mr. Simmes, two godly ministers, coming in the samw ship)’ [MJ 1:170]).
FIRST RESIDENCE: Scituate.
REMOVES: Barnstable 1639.
OCCUPATION: Minister.
CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: On 8 January 1634/5, John Lothrop was the eleventh among the thirteen founding members admitted to Scituate church (entered in the record as ‘Myself”) [NEHGR 9:279]. When the Scituate church moved to Barnstable in the late 1639, John Lothrop remained as member and pastor, until his death in 1653 [NEHGR 10:37-39].
FREEMAN: Admitted to Plymouth Colony freemanship (as ‘Mr. John Lathrop, pastor of Scituate’), 7 June 1637, and added to colony list of 7 March 1636/7 [PCR 1:53, 60]. In the Scituate and Barnstable sections of the 1639 Plymouth Colony list of freemen [PCR 8:175, 176].
EDUCATION: Matriculated at Oxford from Christ Church, 15 October 1602; removed to Queens’ College, Cambridge; B.A. 1607, M.A. 1609 [Venn 3:945; Foster 3:104; Morison 388]. His inventory included ‘his books’ valued at £5 [MD 11:43, citing PCPR 1:122].
OFFICES: In the Barnstable section of the 1643 Plymouth Colony list of men able to bear arms (as ‘Mr. John Lathrope’) [PCR 8:193]. His inventory included ‘one musket’ valued at 10s. [MD 11:43, citing PCPR 1:122].
ESTATE: On 20 February 1634[/5]?], the town of Scituate granted to ‘Mr. John Lothrope twenty acres of upland’ [SciTR 1:235]. On 7 February 1636[/7?], the town of Scituate granted to ‘Mr. John Lothrope the portion of marsh lying at the east end of the foresaid twenty acres . . . , as also a portion of marsh joining at the west side to the lot of marsh of Samuell Howse’ [ScitTR 1:235].
[More details to be entered} . . .
BIRTH: Baptized Etton, Yorkshire, 20 December 1584, son of Thomas Lothrop [Lothrop Fam 19].
DEATH: 8 November 1653 [Morton 152].
MARRIAGE: (1) Eastwell, Kent, 16 October 1610 Hannah House [TAG 70:251], daughter of Rev. John House [TAG 70:250-51; NEHGR 66:356-58, 67:260-61]. She died in London about 1633, while her husband was in prison [Burrage 2:298].
(2) By 1635 Ann ___ (on 14 June 1635, John Lothrop wrote that ‘my wife and brother Foxwell’s wife joined [Scituate church] having their dismission from elsewhere’ [NEHGR 9:279]). She died at Barnstable on 25 February 1687/8 [MD 6:238]. (She was not a daughter of WILLIAM HAMMOND {1631, Watertown} {GMB 2:853-54].
CHILDREN: [details to be entered]
COMMENTS: The baptismal records from Etton, Yorkshire, and Egerton, Kent, were supplied by Horatio Gates Somerby and should be checked independently.
John Lothrop was made curate at Little Chart, Kent, on 10 January 1609/10 [TAG 70:251} and then served as curate at Egerton, Kent, from about 1614 to 1624. He then moved to London to join the independent, but not yet separatist, conventicle that had been organized by Rev. Henry Jacob [Murray Toulmie, The Triumph of the Saints: The Separate Churches of London, 1616-1649 (Cambridge 1977), pp. 7-19].
Lothrop joined Jacob’s congregation about 1624, and was chosen pastor there in 1625. On 29 April 1632, a meeting of this congregation was raided by ecclesiastical agents, and about forty members, including Lothrop, were imprisoned. Most of thse members were soon released from prison, but not Lothrop. He was interrogated before the Court of High Commission. In June of 1634, after the death of his wife, he was finally released from jail, and departed soon after for New England [Burrage 1:320-27, 2:295-302, 311-117].”
{More details to be entered] 735

“At this court [4 Sept 1634] were many laws made against tobacco, and immodest fashions, and costly apparel, etc., as appears by the Records; and £600 raised towards fortifications and other charges, which were the more hastened, because the Griffin and another ship now arriving with about two hundred passengers and one hundred cattle, (Mr. Lothrop and Mr. Simmes, two godly ministers, coming in the same ship,) there came over a copy of the commission granted to the two archbishops and ten others of the council . . . “900

“With the excellence of the Rev. John Lathorp, we could form little acquaintance in a place, to which every reader would most naturally resort, the Description of Barnstable, in 1 Hist. Coll. III. But the extraordinary errors of that tract, pages 15, 16, or any other writer’s deficiency, are all forgotten on perusal of the memoir of him and his posterity, by a descendant, found in 2 Hist. Coll. I. 163. Eliot has afforded two pages to him, and his name is excluded from Allen only by some less desirable matter. A great, great grandson, one of the most sincere and benevolent men of his time, who died since furnishing that narrative of his ancestor, after a long life of devotion to his duties will long be remembered as pastor of the Second Church of Boston. The patriarchal divine at West Springfield, whose sermons have justly been more in repute than those of equal volume by any other American, who deceased since my work on hese pages began, deduced his origin from this first clergyman of Scituate. A very numerous line of descendants is found in our country.” 900

“Mr. Lathrop, who had been pastor of a private congregation in London, and for the same kept long time in prison, (upon refusal of the oath ex-offico,) being at Boston upon a sacrament day, after the sermon, etc., desired leave of the congregation to be present at the administration, etc., but said that he durst not desire to partake in it, because he was not then in order, (being dismissed from his former congregation,) and he though it not fit to be suddenly admitted into any other, for example sake, and because of the deceitfulness of man’s heart. He went to Scituate, being desired to be their pastor.” 900

“After ye Space of about 2 Years of the Sufferings & Patience of these Saints they ware all released upon Bail (some remaining so to this day as mr Jones &c, though never caled on) only to Mr Lathorp & mr Grafton they refused to shew such faviour, they ware to remain in Prison without release. At last there being no hopes yt Mr Lathorp should do them further Service in ye Church, he having many motives to go to new England if it might be granted After the death of his Wife he earnestly desiring ye Church would release him of yt office wch (to his grief) he could no way performe, & that he might have their consent to goe to new England, after serious consideration had about it it was freely granted to him Then Petition being made that he might have Liberty to depart out of ye Land he was released from Prison 1634, about ye 4th Month called Iune, & about 30 of the members, who desired leave & permission from ye Congregation to go along with him, had it granted to them, namely, Mr Io: Lathorp, Sam. House, John Wodwin, Goodwife Woodwin, Elder & Younger, Widd: Norton, & afterwards Robt Linel & his Wife, Mr & Mrs Laberton, Mrs Hamond, Mrs Swinerton. . .. “[from the Gould Manuscripts] 668

“The will of Rev. John Lothrop of Barnstable was made on 10 August, 1653, and the inventory of the personal estate was made on 8 december, 1653. Both are recorded int he Plymouth Colony Wills and Inventories, Volume I, page 122. The will was probated at Plymouth on 7 March, 1653/4, the record being found int he court Orders, Volume III, page 44. Literal copies of these three records follow.
[Rev. John Lothrop’s Will]
[I:122] The Last will and testament of Mr John Lothropp Pastour of the Church of Christ att Barnstable August 10th 1653.
ffirst I will and bequeath unto my wife the house wherin I now Dwell with the furniture therof and the ground belonging therunto with the Marsh land that lyeth of the East besides Randevou Creeke; and alsoe my ground in the Comon feild; . . .
This 8th of December 1653
A true Inventory of the Cattle and goods of Mr John Lothropp Pastour of the Church of Christ att Barnstable late deceased; . . .
[Court Orders, III: 44, under date of 7 March, 1653.] Mis Laythorp is graunted Lres of adminnestracon to anminnester on the estate of Mr John laythorp Deceased
Mr Thomas Prence is appointed and Requested by the court to take oath unto the estate att home.”
[text of will and inventory to be entered” 2079

“At Plymouth, the county of Kent was represented in 1620 by James Chilton’s family and Moses Fletcher, at Scituate in 1634 by Rev. John Lothrop’s family and in 1635 by these fellow passengers of Dr. Comfort Starr on the ship Hercules . .. . “ 868

“The discipline of the church being relaxed, the Brownists who had assembled in private from house to house for twenty or thirty years, re-assumed their courage, and shewed themselves in public. We have given an account of their origin from Mr. Robinson, and Mr. Jacob, in 1616, the last of whom was succeeded by Mr. John Lathorp, formerly a clergyman in Kent, but having renounced his orders he became pastor of this little society. In his time the congregation was discovered by Tomlinson the bishop’s pursuivant, at the house of Mr. Humphrey Barnet a brewer’s clerk in Black-Friars, where forty-two of them were apprehended and only eighteen escaped: of those that were taken, some were confined in the Clink, other in New=Prison and the Gate-House, where they continued about two years, and were then released upon bail, except Mr. Lathorp for whom no favour could be obtained; he therefore petitioned the King for liberty to depart the kingdom, which being granted, he went to New-England, with about thirty of his followers. Mr. Lathorp was a man of learning, and of a meek and quiet spirit, but met with some uneasinesses upon occasion of one of his people carrying his child to be re-baptized by the parish minister; some of the congregation insisting that it should be baptized, because the other administration was not valid; but when the question was put, it was carried in the negative, and resolved by the majority, not to make any declaration at present, whether or no parish churches were true churches? Upon this some of the more rigid, and others who were dissatisfied about the lawfulness of infant baptism, desired their dismission, which was granted them; these set up by themselves, and chose Mr. Jesse their minister, who laid the foundation of the first Baptist congregation in England. But the rest renewed their covenant, ‘to walk together in the ways of God, so far as he had made them known, or should make them known to them, and to forsake all false ways.’ And so stready were they to their vows, that hardly an instance can be produced of one that deserted to the church by the severest prosecutions. Upon Mr. Lathorp’s retiring to New-England, the congregation chose for their pastor the famous Mr. Canne, author of the marginal references in the bible . . . “ 2080, 2081

“John Lathorp. - this excellent person was minister of Egerton in Kent; but, renouncing his episcopal ordination, was chosen pastor of the independent church, under the care of Mr. Henry Jacob, London, upon Mr. Jacob’s retiring to America. This little society, which had hitherto assembled in private, moving from place to place, began about this time to assume courage, and ventured to shew itself in public. It was not long, however, before the congregation was discoved by Tomlinson, the bishop’s pursuivant, at the house of Mr. Humphrey Barnet, a brewer’s clerk, in Blackfriars; when, April 29, 1432, forty-two of them were apprehended, and only eighteen escaped. Of those who were taken, some were confined in the Clink, some in New Prison, and others in the Gatehouse, where they continued about two years. They were then released upon bail, except Mr. Lathorp, for whom no favour could for some time be obtained. He, at length, petitioned the king, and his numerous family of children laid their lamentable case at the feet of Archbishop Loud, requesting that he might go into banishment in a foreign land; which being granted, he went ot New England, in the year 1634, when he was accompanied by about thirty of his congregation. it is observed, that, during his imprisonment, his wife fell sick and died; but that he obtained so much favour as to visit her, and pray with her, before she breated her last; and then returned to prison. [Morton’s Memorial, p. 141. - Neal’s Puritans, vol. ii, p. 273.]
Mr. Lathorp was a man of learning, and of a meek and quiet spirit; but met with some uneasiness from his people on the following occasion. It appears that some of his congregation centertained doubts of he validity of baptism, as administered by their own pastor; and one person, who indulged these scruples, carried his child to be re-baptized at the parish church. This giving offence to some persons, the subject was discussed at a general meeting of the society; and when the question was put it was carried in the negative: at the same time it was resolved, by a majority, not to make any declarationn at present, whether or no parish churches were true churches. This decision proving unacceptable to the most rigid among them, theyu desired their dismission; and, uniting with sme others who were dissatisfied about the lawfulness of infant baptism, formed themselves into a new society, which is thought to have been the first baptist congregation in England. This separation took place in the year 1633, and the new society chose Mr. John Spilsbury for its pastor. [Neal’s Puritans, vol. ii. p. 373, 374. - Crosby’s Baptists, vol. i, p. 148, 149.]
Mr. Lathorp, being driven from his native country, and retiring to New England, was chosen first pastor of the church at Scituate, where he continued for some time, distributing the bread of life. Part of the church afterwards removing to Barnstaple, he removed with them, where he continued pastor of the church to the day of his death. He died November 8, 1653. He was a man of a happy and pious spirit, studious of peace, a lively preacher, and willing to spend and be spent for the glory of Christ and the salvation of souls. [Morton’s Memorial, p. 141]. Mr. Prince, in compiling his ‘Chronological History of New England,’ made use of ‘An original REgister,’ in manuscript, by Mr. Lathorp, giving an account of Scituate and Barnstaple, where he had been successively the first minister. [Prince’s Chron. Hist. vol, i. Pref. p. 3]. ” 1026

“About eight Years H. Jacob was Pastor of ye Said Church & when upon his importunity to go to Virginia, to wch he had been engaged before by their consent, he was remitted from his said office, & dismissed ye Congregation to go thither, wherein after [blank space] Years he ended his Dayes. In the time of his Service much trouble attended that state & People, within & without.
After his Departure hence ye Congregation remained a Year or two edifying one another in ye best manner they could according to their Gifts received from above, And then at length Iohn Lathorp sometimes a Preacher in Kent, youned to ye Said Congregation; And was afterwards chosen and Ordained a Pastor to them, a Man of tender heart and a humble and meek Spirit serveing the Lord in the ministry about 9 Years to their great Comfort.
1632. the 2d Month (called Aprill) ye 29th Day abeing ye Lords Day, the Church was seized upon by Tomlinson, ye Bps Pursevant, they ware mett in ye House of Hump: Bornet [Baranet], Brewers Clark in Black: Freyers, he being no member or hearing abroad, At wch time 18 were not domitted but scaped or ware not then present.
About 42 ware all taken & their names given vp. Some ware not comitted, as Mrs. Bernet, Mr. Lathorp, W. Parker, Mrs. Allen &c Several ware comitted to the Bps Prison called then the New Prison in [blank space] Crow a merchants house again) & thence Some to ye Clink, some to ye Gat house, & some that thought to have escaped he joyned to them, being in Prison togeather viz
John Lathorp . . .
After ye Space of about 2 years of the Sufferings & Patience of these Saints they ware all released upon Bail (some remaining so to this day as mr Jones &c, though never called on) only to Mr Lathorp & mr Grafton they refused to shew such faviour, they ware to remain in Prison without release.
At last there being no hopes yt Mr Lathorp should do them further service in ye Church, he having many motives to go to new England if it might be granted AFter the Death of his Wife he earnestly desiring ye Church would release him of yt might have their consent to goe to new England, after serious consideration had about it it was freely granted to him. Then Petition being made that he might have Liberty to depart of ye Land he was released from Prison 1634, about ye 4th Month called Iune, & about 30 of the members, who desired leave & permission from ye Congregation to go along with him, had it granted to them, namely, Mr Io: Lathorp, Sam. House, Iohn Wodwin, Goodwife Woodwin, Elder & Younger, Widd: Norton, & afterwards Rob.t Linel & his Wife, Mr & Mrs Laberton, Mrs Hamond, Mrs Swinerton . . . “ 668

“Covenant Renewed.
Whilst mr Lathorp was an Elder here some being greived against one that had his Child then Baptized in y Common Assemblies, & desireing & urging a REnouncing of them, as Comunion wth them, Mr Can also then walking Saints where he left Mr How (he going wth Some to Holland) He desiring that ye Church wth Mr Lathorp would renew their Covenant in Such a Way, & then he with Others would have Comunion wth them: Mr Dupper would have them therein to detest & Protest against ye Parish Churches, Some ware Unwilling in their Covenanting either to be tyed either to protest against ye truth of them, or to affirm it of them, not knowing wt in time to come God might further manifest to them thereabout Yet for peace Sake all Yelded to renew their Covenant in these Words
To Walke togeather in all ye Ways of God So farr as he hath made known to Us, or shall make known to us, & to forsake all false Ways, & to this the several Members Subscribed their hands
After this followed several Sheets contianing ye Names of ye Members of ye said Congregation & ye time of their admission” 668

“Sundry of ye Church whereof Mr Iacob & Mr Iohn Lathorp had been pastors, being dissatisfyed wth ye Chruches woning of English Parishes to be true Churches desired dismission & Ioyned togeather among themselves, as Mr Henry Parker, Mr Tho. Shepard Mr Samll Eaton, Marke Luker, & others wth whom Ioyned Mr Wm Kiffen.” 668

“Reports relating to the appearance of certain separaists before the court of High Commission between April 19 and June 21, 1632
[Under the date April 19, 1632.] . . .
In the Court of high Commission
3 Maij. 1632.
This day were brought to ye Court out of prison divers persons (and some of them appeared by bond) which were taken on Sunday last at a Conventicle mett at ye house of [____] Barnett a brewers Clarke dwellinge in ye precint of Black Fryars. By name iohn Latroppe their MInister Humphrey Bernard [Barnett], Henry Dod, Samuell Eaton [____] Granger Sara Iones, Sara Iacob, Pennina Howse, Sara Barbon, Susan Wilson: and divers other [sic] there were which appeared not this day. Mr Latropp ye Minister did not appeare at ye first, but kept himself out of ye way a while, therefore the man of the howse wherein they were taken was first called: who was asked when he was at his parish Church? He answered that he was then at his parish Church when they were in his house, and that he vseth to goe to church, but his wife will not, then said the archBishop of York, will you suffer that in your wife? Then said the Binges Advocate these persons were assembled on Sunday last at this mans house in black Fryars & there vnlawfullie held a Conventicle, for which there are Articles exhibited in this Court agains them, I pray that they may be put to answere vppon their oathes to the aRticles, & that they sett forth what exercises they vsed, & what were the wordes spoken by them. And as for you mr. Dod 9Quoth ye Advocate) you might well haue forborne seing you haue been warned heertofore, & passed by vpon promise of amendment: good mr Advocate, spare that, saith Dod: He was asked whether he vseth to come to his parish Church: He saith he hath come to his parish Church as often as he could & vseth to come thither, but he endeavoureth to heare the most powerfull Ministery, and therefore said ye Bishop of London you heare mr Latroppe, what ordination hath he? He is a minister saith mr Dod. did you not heare him preach & pray? [?] saith ye Bishop. nay you your self & the rest take vpon you to preach & to be Ministers, Noe saith mr Dod, London, yes, you doe, and you were heard preach & pray. Dod, I shalbe readie in this particuler to confesse my fault, if I am convinced to be in any. Then two of them were put to their oath, but they desired to be excused for this tyme, & that they might have some time to consider & be informed of the oath.” 668

“[Under the date May 3, 1632]
Then came in mr Latropp, who is asked what authority he had to preach, & keepe this Conventicle? and saith the Bishop of London, how manie woemen sate crosse legged vpon ye bedd, whilest you sate on one side & preached & prayed most devoutlie? Latroppe, I keepe noe such evill companie, they were not such woemen. London, are you a minister? Bishop of St Davides, were not you Doctor King the Bishop of Londons Sizer in Oxford? I take it you were; and you shew your thankfullnes by this. He answered that he was a Minister, London. how, & by whom, qualified? where are your Orders? Latropp. I am a Minister of the gospell of ‘Christ, and ye Lord hath qualifyed me. Will you lay your hand on the booke, & take your oath, saith ye Court? He refuseth the oath. . . .
London. speake to Dod. Latroppe. & ye man of y house. Henry Dod you are ye obstinate & perverse ringleaders of these folkes: you had a faire admonition ye last Court day. and you haue this day assigned yo to answere vpon your oath. Dod. I hope we are not soe impious. we stand for ye truth: for takeing ye oath I craue your patience, I am not resolved vpon it. Brewers Clarke. I was at ye Church, but for takeing ye oath I desire to be resolved. London. Mr Latroppe. Hath the Lord qualifyed you, what authority, what Orders haue you! the Lord hath qualifyed you, is that a sufficient answere? you must giue a better answere before you & I part. Latropp. I doe not know that I haue done any thing which migh cause me iustly to be brought before ye iudgment seat of man: and for this oath I doe not know the nature of it. Kinges Advocate, the manner of ye oath is, that you shall answere to that you are accused of, for Schisme. York. & London. if he will not take his oath, away with him. Latropp I desire that other passage may be remembred, I dare not take this oath. wherefore the Court ordered, that they should be kept in straight custodie especiallie Latropp. for ye Bishop of London said he had more to answere then he knew of.
Samuell Eaton being demaunded whether he would take the oath. He answered, I doe not refuse it, though I doe not take it: it is not out of obstinacie, but as I shall answere it at ye last day I am not satisfyed whether I may take it.
Samuell Howe (saith ye Kings Advocate) you are required by your oath to answere to ye articles. Howe. I have served the King both by sea & by land, and I had been at sea if this restraint has not been made vpon me: my conversacion I thank God none can taxe. Register, will you take your oath? How. I am a yong man, & doe not know what this oath is: Kinges Advocate. The King desires your service in obeying his lawes.
Then P. Howes was called, and required to take her oath. but she refused. London. Will you trust mr Latropp & beleive him rather then ye Church of England. Pennina. I referre my self to the word of God, whether I maie take this oath or noe.” 668

“In 1630 it is probable that Staresmore was in England for a time. We arrive at this conclusion by a comparison of two passages from widely different sources which seem to refer to the same unusual incident. One passage is in A.T.’s ‘A Christian Reprofe’, 1631, in which the following word occur: ‘yet since hee [Staresmore] was cast out from vs, hee went and had communion with them [members of the Parish churches in England], and batpized his child with them also. the other passage is in the so-called Jessey Records (No. 1 of the Gould Manuscript, of which we shall hear more in a subsequent chapter), three paragraphs from the close: ‘Whilst mr Lathorp [John Lathrop] was an Elder here [in Jacob’s church] some being greived against one that had his Child then [1630] Baptized in the Common Assemblies . . .’ “669

“After Jacob’s departure the congregation managed as best it could without a pastor until about 1624, when John Lathrop, [In Rawl. MS. A. 128, in the Bodleian Library, which consists partly of reports of cases tried in the Court of High Commission, it is hinted under the date, May 3, 1632, that Lathrop had been ‘Doctor King the Bishop of Londons Sizer in Oxford’!], who had formerly been a Puritan preacher at Cheriton in Kent, and who evidently was still an Independent Puritan, joined the church. He was chosen pastor in 1625, and is said to have been ‘a Man of a tender heart and a humble and meek Spirit’. In 1630 it was urged upon Lathrop’s congregation to separate from the Church of England. Up to this time it seems probable that both Independent Puritans and separatists had mingled in peaceful union in this church, but the matter of separation was not specially forced upon their attention owing to the fact that some one associated with the congregation, possibly Sabine Staresmore, had had his child baptized in a parish church during that year. About this time separatism was gaining ground in London, and John Canne, who had been pastor of Mr Hubbard’s church, and was about to sail to Holland, sought to persuade Lathrop’s congregation also to become separatist, and in renewing their covenant to renounce the Church of England.” 669

“On Sunday, April 29, 1632, Tomlinson, the Pursuivant of the Bishop of London, captured about forty-two of the church members in the house of Humphrey Barnet, a brewer’s clerk in ‘Black Fryers’ [Rawlinson MS. A. 128 in the Bodleian Library gives extensive reports relating to the appearance of members of Lathrop’s congregation, taken captive on April 29, 1632, before the Court of High Commission on May 3, 8, and June 7, etc., in that year. These reports may be seen in full in S.R. Gardiner’s ‘Reports of Cases int he Courts of Star Chamber and High Commission’, Camden Society, 1886, pp. 278-80, 281, 284-86, 292-95, 300-2, 307, 308-10, 315. the names of the prisoners here given are important since they have enabled us, as indicated above in the text, to correct some of the mistakes in the names found in the Jessey Memoranda, as well as to add some names to the list. From the High Commission reports the following names have been collected: . . . John Latroppe their minister. . . .]
Barnet was not then a member of the congregation and was out of the house at the time, while eighteen members either escaped or were not present. ‘Some were not commited, as Mrs. Earnet, mr. Lathrop, W. Parker, Mrs. Allen 7c. Several were committed to the Bishops Prison caled then the New Prison (in ___ crow a merchants house again) & thence some to the Clink, some to the Gate House, & some that thought to have escaped he joyned to them, being in Prison togeather viz’ John Lathrop [Lathorp] . . . “ 669

“Those of Lathrop’s company who had been impriosned, with the exception of Lathrop and Grafton, were all released upon bail after two years’ confinement. These two, however, were to be kept indefinitely in prison. Consequently after the death of his wife, seeing that he could accomplish nothing by spending his life as a prisoner, Lathrop petitioned that he might be relieved of the responsibilities of is office as pastor of the congregation. this request was granted, and about June, 1634, he was released from prison to go to New England. He was accompanied by about thrity members, among whom were, - Samuel Howse; John Wodwin; Goodwives Woodwin, elder and younger; Widow Norton; and afterward Robert Linel and wife, Mr. and Mrs Laberton, Mrs Hammond, and Mrs Swinerton. During the years 1636-1637 after Lathrop’s departure the remnant of the congregation were somewhat troubled by persecution, but on the whole they seem to have lived in comparative peace, and in the summer of 1637 Henry Jessey became pastor in Lathrop’s place.” 669

“In 1624 a former clergyman joined the congregation and was son elected pastor in Jacob’s place. John Lathrop was a Cambridge graduate who had been a humble curate at Egerton in Kent until, at the age of forty, he renounced his ordination in the Church of England and moved to London to join the Jacob church. Described in the Jessey memorandum as ‘a man of tender heart and a humble and meek spirit,’ Lathrop restored stability to the congregation by carefully following Jacob’s latitudinarian policy. During Lathrop’s pastorate external circumstances reinforced the internal drift of the congregation in a separatist direction . . . The defection of the Duppa group does not seem to have materially weakened the Lathrop church, for its morale was high enought to withstand the next serious crisis. In April 1632 the whole church was detected and arrested by Tomlinson,the Bishop of London’s pursuivant. Most of the members were brought before the Court of High Commission, which made a major effort to deal decisively with the stubborn problem of these separatists by imprisoning them all for a long time. In the proceeding against them, Bishop Laud several times expressed his horror and disgust at thse ‘dangerous men’ who formed a ‘scattered company sown in all the city’ and outlying parishes, ‘all of different places.’ The members of the church were released from prison about eighteen months later, but the leaders were singled out for special treatment. Lathrop and Samuel Easton were released on bail after two years of imprisonment, and Ralph Grafton, an upholsterer of Cornhill who was described as a ‘rich man’ and a ‘principal reingleader’, was fined two hundred pounds as well as being imprisoned for an indefinite period. Although none of the congregation recanted, Lathrop and thirty other decided that the wilderness of New England was preferable to the threat of imprisonment in London.” 1383

“He matriculateda t Queen’s College, Cambridge, 1601; M.A., 1606; was perpetual curate of Egerton, 48 m. S.E. of London. In 1623, he renounced this living and espoused the cause of the Independents, and for eight years carried on the ministry in London in violation of he law. He was arrested with many of his congregation, Apr. 22, 1632. His wife died while he was in prison. After this event, his children visited the Archbishop, who took pity on them, releasing their father, provided he would go to New England. He arrived at Boston, Sept. 18, 1634, in company with 32 of his congregation; others of it having preceded him. (Atwater’s New Haven, p. 39.) He imdiately located at Scituate, where he was warmly welcomed and a house for his family of ‘meane proportions’, was quickly built by willing hands. Mr. Otis describes it thus: ‘The walls were made of poles filled between with stones and clay, the roof thatched, the chimney to the mantel, of rough stone and aabove of cob work, the windows of oiled paper and the floor of hand sawed planks.’ Of the beginnings of his work, thre is a record by Dr. Stiles of Yale. In October, 1639, he with a large number of his congregation removed to Barnstable, bringing with them the crops they had raised at Scituate. He was a strong man and an independent thinker, holding views far in advance of his time, which he fearlessly proclaimed in both the old and new worlds. It has been said of thim: ‘No pastor was ever more beloved by his people and none ever had a greater influence for good.’ He is accounted one of the great religious fathers of New England. “738

“John Lothrop or Lathrop, the emigrant ancestor of this family is too well known in the early history of New England to need an extended sketch of his remarkable career. He was born in Elton, East Riding, Yorkshire, England, and baptized there December 20, 1584. He was the son of thomas Lothrop of Cherry Burton who had twenty-two children, and grandson of John Lowthorpe of Lowthorpe, Yorkshire, England. In 1601 John Lothrop entered Queens College, Cambridge, and there spent eight years, receiving his degree as A.B. in 1605 and A.M. in 1609. After his graduation from the University, he was a clergyman of the Established Church, and was settled for some time over the parish of Edgerton, Kent. While there his views changed and he was shortly afterwards invited to succeed Rev. Henry Jacob as pastor of the Separatist church at Southwark, London. This was about 1625. In 1632 he and many of his flock were apprehended by Archbishop Laud and imprisoned. After nearly two eyars of such confinement, during which he wife died, he was released on his promise to go into exile. He embarked for Boston in 1634, in he ship ‘Griffin,’ having as a fellow passenger the celebrated Anne Hutchinson, and on his arrival settled at Scituate with many of his flock who had accompanied him. He removed to Barnstable with a part of his church in 1639, and there ministered until his death November 8, 1653. “ 829

‘The following tribute is paid to Rev. John Lothrop in Morton’s New england Memorial: ‘He was a man of a humble and broken heart and spirit, lively in dispensation of the word of God; studious of peace, furnished with Godly contentment, willing to spend and to be spent for the cause of the Church of Christ.’ In his will, dated August 10, 1653, he makes provision for his wife and mentions his children, Thomas, Benjamin, John, Jane, and Barbara. Beside these he had Samuel and Joseph, both born in England. Among the early divines of New England none had led a more devoted life or had suffered greater hardships for his religion. John Lothrop was twice married. His fiest wife is said to have been Hannah Howse, of Eastwell, Kent County, England, their marriage license having been issued in Canterbury, October 10, 1610. She died in England about 1633. She was the mother of the eight older children. He probably married his second wife in Scituate, and by her had other children. Her first name was Ann, and she died in Barnstable, February 25, 1688. ” 829

“The Lathrop Family Memoir states that John Lothropp (as he wrote his name) was the son of thomas Lothrop of Etton, Yorkshire, England, where he was baptized December 20, 1584. The Memoir also states that he entered Queen’s College, Cambridge, in 1601 and graduated with the degree of B.A. in 1605 and M.A. in 1609. A marriage license was issued at Canterbury, england, October 10, 1610, to Rev. John Lothropp, M.A., curate of Egerton, in the County of Kent, and Hannah Howse of Eastwell, in the same county, to be married at Eastwell. The parish records indicate that his family was at Egerton as late as 1619. About 1623 he abandoned the Church of England and became one of the body of Independents and in the following year was chosen pastor of the First Independent Church of London, which at that time was located on Union street, Southwark.
Neal, in his Hisotry of the Puritans, writes as follows [text to be entered]. 912

“That he married again before June 14, 1635, is shown by an entry of that date on the Scituate Church Records which reads:
‘My Wife and Brother Foxwell’s wife joyned having their dismission from elsewhere.’
It has been supposed that he only married twice, but the Genealogical Notes of Barnstable FAmilies, compiled by Amos Otis and revised by Charles F. Swift, states that Mr. Lothrop married February 16, 1636-7, widow Ann Hammond.
Ann was the name of Mr. Lothrop’s last wife, who survived him; if the date of this marriage is correct, the authority for which is unknown to the compiler of this sketch, she must have been Mr. Lothrop’s third wife.
The indications are, however, that this date of marriage is erroneous.
We now know that John Lothrop’s first wife was probably Hannah House of Eastwell in the County of Kent. Samuel House was one of he members of the Scituate Church at its organization January 8, 1634-5. Possibly he was a brother of Mr. Lothrop’s first wife. House married Elizabeth Hammond, daughter of William Hammond of Watertown, and his first child, Elizabeth, was baptized October 23, 1636.
Mr. Lothrop made this entry on the Scituate Church records:
‘Elizabeth Hammon my Sister having a dismission from the church at Watertowne was joyned Aprill 14, 1636.’
Was she not at this time the wife of Samuel House and, through an inadvertence, her maiden name instead of her married one entered on the records?
If so, this oculd account for Mr. Lothrop’s calling her ‘my Sister’.
Until something further is discovered, it is useless to theorize as to the maiden name and parentage of Ann, the last wife of Reverenc John Lothrop. [more details to be entered] 739

“The Jacob church was not yet radical enough to elect a layman to the pastoral office, but for two years lay members edified ‘one another in the best manner they could according to their gifts.’ n 1624 a former clergyman joined the congregation and was soon elected pastor in Jacob’s place. John Lathrop was a Cambridge graduate who had been a humble curae at Egerton in Kent until, at the age of forty, he renounced his ordination in the Church of England and moved to London to join the Jacob church. Described in the Jessey memorandum as ‘a man of tender heart and a humble and meek spirit,’ Lathrop restored stability to the congregation by carefully following Jacob’s latitudinarian policy.
during Lathrop’s pastorate external circumstances reinforced the internal drift of the congregation in a separatist direction. . . The defection of the Duppa group does not seem to have materially weakened the Lathrop church, for its morale was high enough to winstand the next serious crisis. In April 1632 the whole church was detected and arrested by Tomlinson, the Bishop of London’s pursuivant. The members of the church were released from prison about eighteen months later, but the leaders were singled out for special treatment. Lathrop and Samuel Eaton were released on bail after two years of imprisonment . . . Although none of the congregation recanted, Lathrop and thirty others decided that the wilderness of New England was preferable to the threat of imprisonment in London. . . The growth and vitality of the Jacob church is indicated by its capacity to withstand sizeable withdrawals between 1630 and 1634. Eleven members are named in the 1630 secession, thirty members went to New England with Lathrop, a further eighteen withdrew to form Eaton’s church, and undoubtedly other members were drawn away to the strict separatist societies. With Lathrop’s departure, the Jacob church remained without a pastor until 1637 when Henry Jessey was offered the position. . . . Jacob’s intention, when he founded his congregation, was that the puritan gethered church, like the parish congregation, should have a professional minister. The three successive pastors of the parent church, Jacob, Lathrop, and Jessey, were supported by the congregation, and they were, furthermore, former clergymen of the national church.. The determination of the Jacob church to enjoy a professional ministry is evident in the long intervals they were prepared to wait without a pastor in order to secure the services of an appropriately trained candidate, an interval of two years between jacob and Lathrop, and three years between Lathrop and Jessey.” 1383

“Hatherly was a strong supporter both of John Lothrop (whom he has apparently known in London) and Charles Chauncy. Neither was famous for toleration. . . . Hatherly donated the land on which Scituate’s first meeting house was built. His wealth enabled him to buy, hold, give, and sell property in ways that benefited Scituate’s clergymen, as well as several laymen of Lothrop’s congregation when they were organizing their removal to Barnstable in 1639.” 870

“North of Satuit Brook was a common path to the harbor mouth, and along it were the house lots of James Cudworth (which served as a meeting house; see volume three, Appendix 1), John Lothrop, Eglin Handford, and Gowen White, as well as Timothy Hatherly. When John Lothrop, Scituate’s first minister, arrived in late September 1634, he noted the presence of nine house; seven of them had been built on the west side of Kent Street.
According to Lothrop, all the houses built before his arrival were ‘small plaine pallizadoe Houses.’ The term ‘pallisadoe’ probably informs us that these houses were examples of a type of vernacular architecture characteristic of Plymouth Colony, in which a relatively simple timber frame (with few or not intermediate studs between the corner posts, but in some cases having angled corner braces and horizontal girts) is covered with external vertical planking.” 501

“After listing the houses already built before his arrival, Lothrop recorded the houses built ‘since my coming to October 1636,’ in other words, in the two-year period after September 1634. They were his own house and those belonging to his son, and Foxwell, Watts (a name otherwise unrecorded in this period in Scituate), Chittenden, ‘Lumber’ [Lombard], Haite [Hoyte], Hatch, Lewice Sr. [Lewis], Mr. Tilden, ‘The Smiths,’ Lewice Jr., and ‘Goody Hinkles’ [the house belonging to Goody Hinckley], as well as ‘Goodman Rowleyes new house, on his Lott.’ “ 501

“Deane did not have John Lothrop’s material, first published in 1855-1856, at hand to inform him of the historical developments that took place before Charles Chauncy became Scituate’s pastor in 1641. Not surprisingly, some refinements can be made to the story told by Deane. Several appear significant. First, there is no local documentary reference to the presence of Giles Saxton in Scituate, whom Deane describes as ‘undoubtedly the first who officiated [as a minister in Scituate] for any considerable term of time.’ (Deane, p. 167). Contradicting that assertion, Deane reports the dismission in November 1634, two months after the arrival of John Lothrop in Scituate, of Anthony Annable, Henry Cobb, George Kendrick, George Lewis, ‘and several others’ [Lothrop’s notes mention, besides Annable and Cobb, William Gillson and his wife, Henry Rowlee and his wife, Henry Cobb’s wife, Humphrey Turner, Edward Foster, Richard Foxwell, and Samuel House; Lothrop does not list Kendrick and Lewis] from member ship in the church at Plymouth on condition that they ‘join in a body at Scituate’ [i.e., form a congregation there], which indicates that Scituate’s church was consituted as a congregation then, and that Lothrop was its first pastor (Deane, pp. 168-169, citing ‘the records of Plymouth Church’; the Plymouth Church records, now in Pilgrim Hall, do not contain this information . . . “ 501

“According to Lothrop’s notes the congregation formally established itself on 8 January, 1634/5. Second, Deane seems to be the source of the assertion that thirty members of Lothrop’s congregation accompanied him to Scituate, a statement that I do not find to be borne out by the documentation at hand. Deane wrote that Lothrop ‘embarked for Boston, with about thirty of his Church and people, and arrived September 18, 1634, in the ship Griffin: and on the 27th of the same month he proceeded, with his friends, to Scituate, where a considerable settlement had already been made by ‘the men of Kent,’ and who received Mr. Lothrop as a former acquainance’ (Deane, p. 168). Deane paid very little attention to the significance that might be found in tracing the history of Scituate’s church as a congregation that came from London with its pastor in a migration originating in Henry Jacob’s Independent congregation in Southwark. Lothrop had succeeded Jacob as pastor after Jacob left for Virginia. Among the members of Lothrop’s congregation who were with him in prison in 1632, only Samuel House, Jane Harris, and possibly William Granger turn up later in Scituate records, as well as congregation members Robert Linnel and his wife, who was apparently Lothrop’s sister (see Champlin Burrage, The Early English Dissenters in the Light of Recent Research, 1550-1641 [Cambridge, 1912], I:322-326, II: 296-304). Timothy Hatherly, from Southwark, may be assumed to have known Lothrop there. Manassah Kempton of Plymouth, who came over on the Anne in 1623, had been a member of Henry Jacob’s congregation before Lothrop’s pastorate; his brother, Ephraim Kempton, lived in Scituate. Although there is no indication that Scituate was consciously founded by a congregation on the move, the parallel with the migration of John Robinson’s congregation to Plymouth and the personal connections with that congregation could be explored.” 501

“Lothrop’s church records combined with the town records and Plymouth court records name the following one hundred seventy-one people who lived in Scituate between 1633 and 1639, the first period of the town’s settlement. . . Samuel Hinkley, Samuel Hinkley, Jr. [two infants of this name], George - ‘dwelling with Goodman Hinkley,’ Sarah Hinkley (Samuel’s wife), Elizabeth Hinkley . . . Bernard Lombard, Mary Lombard, Bernard Lombard’s wife, Barnabas Lothrop, John Lothrop, Thomas Lothrop, John Lothrop’s wife, a daughter of John Lothrop [infant, sic], . . George Willerd . . . Thirty-one of the children listed here were baptized by Lothrop in Scituate.” 501

“Lothrop’s notes inform us of some of the concerns of the people of Scituate, but they are not explicit about what led most of his congregation to join him in leaving Scituate to settle Barnstable in 1639. Lothrop was chosen Pastor at his house on 19 January 1634[/5] and ‘invested into office,’ indicating that the congregational polity practiced by Robinson’s church in Leiden and Plymouth and by that of Henry Jacob and John Lothrop in Southwark and Blackfriars was followed in Scituate, also. . . REligious dissension was the subject of a day of humiliation in early 1638 (when Foster and Bisbetch were chosen deacons); Lothrop and his followers had evidently already conceived fo removing themselves from Scituate, as he describes the reason for the observance as ‘partly for the two deacons more, but especially for our removal, as also for the removal of these spreading opinion in the churches at the Bay, as also for the preventing of any intended evil against the churches here.’ This no doubt refers to the removal to Rhode Island of several dissenters from Massachusetts Bay Colony.” 501

“There were days of thanskgiving, as well. Lothrop describes one held on 22 december 1636, in some detail.” 501

“The congregation that moved to Barnstable considered itself already convenanted from its origins in Scituate when it renewed its covenant, on 8 January 1634[/5]. Lothrop described that event: ‘We had a day of humiliation and then at night joined in covenant together, so many of us as had been in Covenant before.’ Most had been in covenant before at Plymouth, except for Lothrop and perhaps Cudworth. Thus there is no initial list for the congregation when it moved to Barnstable. Who went with Lothrop from Scituate to Barnstable on 11 October 1639 can, however, be learned from his lists of baptisms, death, and marriages for Barnstable. Besides Lothrop himself, Bernard Lombard . . . Samuel Hinckley . . are early Scituate names found in Barnstable before 1650. . . John Lothrop, Anthony Annable, James Cudworth, Samuel Fuller, Isack Robinson, Henry Cobb, Samuel House, Bernard Lombard, Henry Bourne, Edward Fitzrandolph, George Lewis, and Samuel Hinckley are all still listed in 1643 among the freemen of Scituate . . . although all but Fuller and House are also found among the names of the freemen of Barnstable in the same year. . . . The people who left Scituate settled in Barnstable with several other people from elsewhere (the families of Joseph Hull, Thomas Dimmock, William Casely, John Mayo, Nathaniel Bacon, and Dolor Davis).” 501

“Concerns about the validity and exclusivity of the covenant (a topic that was the focus of dissension throughout New England in the 1630s) arose at the time of the removal of Lothrop and his followers to Barnstable, although what caused them to look for greener pastures is obscure. Perhaps the main reason was dissatisfaction with the land . . . A year later, on 1 January 1637/8, fifteen freemen of Scituate, Hatherly and Lothrop among them, complained ‘that they have such ssmall proporcions fo lands there allotted them [at Scituate] that they cannot subsist upon them’. . . Deane, however, surmised that the controversy principally had to do with baptism, and characterized Lothrop’s ministry in Scituate as ‘not rosecuted with great sucess or in much peace’ (Deane, p. 169). . . Why Lothrop and his followers moved cannot be explained solely as a necessary consequecne of a dispute about baptism, and baptism is not mentioned in preserved documents concerning the removal to Barnstable.” 501

“To Governor Prince at Plymouth, Lothrop wrote in September 1638 [text to be entered] . . . Expressing worry about delays the colonists intending to move were experiencing, as well as the fear that there was a conspiracy to cause them to weary of the venture, Lothrop wrote again to Prince in February 1639, ‘Many grievances attend me, from the which I would be freed, or at least have them mitigated, if the Lord see it good.’ That excerpt seems to be the sole basis for Deane’s negative description of Lothrop’s Scituate ministry. Lothrop went on to describe the reason for the congregation’s removal as being ‘to the end God might have the more glorye and wee more comfort . . . On 1 November 1640, Hatherly bought the Scituate house and lands of John Lothrop, ‘Pastor of the Church of Barnstable in America.’ “ 501

Land Grants:
“20 February 1634[/5] . . . page 235 - Twenty acres of upland to Mr. John Lothrop; Bernard Lombard’s lot to the north; John Hewes’ lot to the south; the marsh to the east and south; Samuel House’s lot to the west.
page 236 - Eight acres of upland to Samuel House; into the woods to the north (eighty perches from:) the New Harbor Marsh to the south; Mr. John Lothrop’s lot and the end of some others to the east [the original says ‘south’]; Richard Foxwell’s lot to the west.” 501

Land Grants:
[page 234] A portion of meadow to Humphrey Turner; Humphrey Turner’s upland to the north; the channel of the Herring River to the south; Nathaniel Tilden’s marshland to the east; Mr. Lothrop’s marsh and a creek to the south. . .
[page 235] The portion of marshland lying at the ast end of his lot of upland to Mr. John Lothrop; extending to the other side of the branch of marsh to the upland extending southward before John Hewes’ land; and also a portion of marsh with the upland to the north; the Herring River to the south; Thomas Lapham’s lot to the east; Samuel House’s marsh to the west.” 501

Land Grants:
“1 November 1640 (recorded 1 December 1640)
John Lothrop, ‘Pastor of the Church of Barnstable in America,’ sold his house, barn, and outhouses, with associated land in Scituate, for £80 to Timothy Hatherly; lying a quarter of a mile east from First Herring Brook, the upland bounded on the west by land belonging to ‘Mr. Checkett’ [Josias Checkett, according to the deed of 5 October 1641], on the south by the highway and land of John Hewes, on the north by common lands and land of John Winter and John Emerson, on the east by land belonging to Humphrey Turner, ‘being parted by a little creek,’ Part of the marshland, ‘is an island bounding towards the land of Mr. Checkett on the west, toward the lands of Mr. Tilden & Humphrey Turner on the east twoards the highway on the north, towards the North River compassing an island part thereof on the south’; as well as John Lothrop’s great lot of one hundred acres ‘lying up the river not far from Scituate.’ (Plymouth Colony Deeds, p. 66).
23 November 1640 (recorded 1 December 1640)
Timothy Hatherly sold the house and land he had just bought from John Lothrop for £60 to Christopher Blackwood of Scituate. Signed by Timothy Hatherly; witnessed by Edward Foster. (Plymouth Colony Deeds, p. 67). . .
28 December 1640 (recorded 3 March 1640 [1641])
John Lothrop of Barnstable sold ‘one dwelling house [in Scituate] together with one out house’ with five acres of land for £14 to Richard Sealis of Scituate; bounded to the east with the common footpath from the Stony Brook to the harbor’s mouth, on the north with the land of Eglin Handford, on the west with a lane going northward into the woods from the Stony Brook, and on the south with land belonging to Thomas Ensign. Signed by John Lothrop; witnessed by John Cooper, Henry Cobb, and Isack Robinson. (Plymouth Colony Deeds, p. 71).” 501

Land Grants:
“5 October 1641 (recorded 1 June 1642)
Christopher Blackwood sold a house, barn, outhouses and lands for £60 to Cahrles Chauncy; the lands described as those Blackwood had bought from Timothy Hatherly who had bought them from John Lothrop, excepting ‘the piece of marsh lying without the pallisadoes of the field next to Goodman Turner.’ Signed by Christopher Blackwood; witnessed by George Willerd, John Beaumont, and Elisha Bisbe [Bisbeth]. (Plymouth Colony Deeds, p. 82).
8 June 1642 James Cudworth of Barnstable sold his house and land in adjoining the land that had belonged to John Lothrop to the north, Timothy Hatherly’s land to the east and south, and the common land west. (Plymouth Colony Deeds, p. 84). [The published version ‘common lane’ is a misreading.]” 501

Land Transfers:
“1 March 1648 [1649] (recorded 22 July 1650)
Nicolas Simkins of Scituate sold his dwelling house, barn, ‘and all other housing whatsoever at this time being,’ with thirty acres of upland (formerly owned by John Lothrop and Samuel House), for £30 to John Williams Jr.; bounded by land belonging to John Williams Jr., ont he east, by the highway ‘towards the west to the lands of Lieutenant Hewes’ by land belonging to John Williams Jr., and by the common towards north, and by the highway towards the south; together with thirty acres of marsh in front of the house, bounded ont he north by the highway, on the south by the Herring River, on the east by marsh belonging to Widow Lapham, and on the west by marsh belonging to Lieutenant Hewes. Signed by Nicolas Simkins; witnessed by John Barker, William Pabes, and Thomas Hiland. (Plymouth Colony Deeds, p. 192).” 501

“Loothrop, Lathrop opr Lothropp, John. B.A. from Queens’, 1606; M.A. 1609. S. of Thomas, of Etton, Yorks. Bapt. there, Dec. 20, 1594. Ord. deacon (Lincoln) Dec. 20, 1607; C. of Bennington, Herts. P.C. of Egerton, Kent, 1609, till 1622 or 1634; afterwards nonconformist. Succeeded Henry Jacob as pastor of the Independent Church at Southwark, London. Imprisoned for two years; released on bail; escaped and sailed for Boston, 1634. Minister at Scituate, Mass., 1634-9. Minister at Barnstaple, Mass., 1639-53. Author, Queries respecting baptism. Died Nov. 8, 1653. (D.N.B.; J.G. Bartlett.) “ 827

“Lothropp, John (bap. 1584, d. 1653), minister in America, was baptized on 20 December 1584 at Etton in the East Riding of Yorkshire, the son of Thomas Lothropp (d. 1606) and his second wife, Mary (d. 1588/9), of Cherry Burton and Etton. He had two brothers, Thomas (d. 1629), later rector of Dengie, Essex, and William, and two sisters, Mary and another who later married William Akett of Leconfield, Yorkshire. After matriculating on 15 October 1602 at Christ Church, Oxford, where he was a sizar to Dr John King, he moved to Queens' College, Cambridge, where he graduated BA in 1606 and proceeded MA in 1609. He was ordained a deacon at Lincoln on 20 December 1607, and served as curate of Bennington, Hertfordshire, before becoming perpetual curate of Egerton, Kent, in 1609. On 10 October 1610 he obtained a licence to marry Hannah, daughter of John Howse, minister of Eastwell, Kent. Their children included five sons, Thomas (21 Feb 1613–29 Sept 1675), Samuel, Joseph (b. 1624), Benjamin, and Fuller (married 8 April 1635), and three daughters, Jane (1614–1634/5), Barbarah (bap. 31 October 1619; married 19 July 1638), and Elizabeth.
About 1624 Lothropp, perhaps influenced by discussions with a group of separatists at Egerton led by John Fenner, resigned his curacy, renounced his ordination, and moved to Southwark. There he joined the Independent congregation founded by Henry Jacob, was elected its pastor in 1625, and was reordained. The congregation split in 1630 after one of the members had a child baptized in the Church of England, an act that sparked calls by some to renounce the established church and become fully fledged separatists, a course recommended by John Canne. When Lothropp and his supporters refused to do so, ‘not knowing what in time to come God might further manifest to them’ (Burrage, 2.301–2), John Dupper and his followers seceded. In 1632 Lothropp, having obtained notes of John Davenport's sermon against Independency, sent him a substantive critique that changed his mind. On 29 April 1632 Bishop William Laud's pursuivant, one Tomlinson, arrested Lothropp and approximately forty-one of his adherents as they worshipped in the house of a brewer's clerk in Blackfriars. Eighteen members of the church were either absent or escaped. When Lothropp appeared before the court of high commission on 3 May, he claimed that ‘the Lord hath qualified me’ to be a minister and refused to take the oath ex officio, a position he reiterated before the commission on 8 May (Gardiner, 281). While he was incarcerated, some of his church members left in September 1633 to establish a separatist congregation, the first pastor of which was Samuel Eaton. Lothropp's wife also died while he was in prison.

On 12 June 1634 the high commission ordered Lothropp's release on bond, with the stipulation that he return in Trinity term and not attend conventicles. When he failed to appear, the commission ordered his arrest on 19 June and again on 9 October, and on 19 February 1635 it cited him for contempt and repeated the call for his apprehension. By this time he had sailed for Massachusetts with his church's approval, taking approximately thirty members with him. Nine days after arriving in Boston on 18 September 1634, he went to Scituate at the invitation of its settlers to organize a church. He had the support of the Plymouth congregation, which dismissed its members in the Scituate area on 23 November so they could join Lothropp's group. Following the church's foundation on 8 January 1635, Lothropp was ordained on 19 January. Some time after 8 January Lothropp remarried, for his new wife, Ann, joined the congregation on 14 June 1635. They had six children, Barnabas (bap. 6 June 1636, d. 1715), Abigail (bap. 2 Nov 1639), Bathsua (bap. 27 Feb 1642, d. 1724), John (1645–1727), and two who died at or near birth (1638, 1650). On 7 June 1637 Lothropp was admitted as a freeman of the colony of New Plymouth.

On 1 January 1638 Lothropp and other freemen of Scituate complained to the colony's court of assistants about a shortage of suitable land, and the following month he reported to the governor that he was experiencing numerous problems, including suspicions (which proved unfounded) of plotting between local residents and people in England. He sought new land on which to settle his flock, but not until October 1639 could he and some of his members relocate to Barnstable, in the same colony. He sold his farm at Scituate to Christopher Blackwood, who subsequently returned to England and became a prominent Particular Baptist. A new church was formally organized at Barnstable on 31 October 1639, and John Mayo became Lothropp's assistant the following year. Lothropp served as minister until his death on 8 November 1653. His will bequeathed two houses and several lots at Barnstable to his wife and eldest son, and he left goods valued at £72 16s. 5d. Nathaniel Morton described him as a humble man, a ‘lively’ preacher, and ‘studious of peace, furnished with godly contentment’ (Morton, 141).
Richard L. Greaves” 828

“7th of ffebrewary 1636
To Humphery Turner a portion of Medow Leyinge against the south west side of his fore mentioned Lot. bownded on the weste with the Marsh of Mr. Lathrope & a Cricke on the south with the Chanell of the Heringe River & on the North with the upland of his lot & on the easte withe the Marsch Land of Nathaniell Tilden.” 501

“[folio] (9) 20th of ffebrewary 1634
To Mr. John Lothrope Twenty Ackeres of upeland More of lese buttinge withe the este and southerly end upon the Marshe & extending in Lenght to the lot of Samuel Howse bownded on the south with the Lot of John Hughes & on the North with the Lot of Bernard Lambard.” 501

“7th of ffebrewary 1636
to Mr. John Lothrope; the portion of Marsh Land leyinge at the easte end of the foresayd twentey Ackeres extendinge to the other side of the Branch of Marsh to the upland extending southward before John Hughes his Land to a white oacke marked for that purpose; as allso a portion of Marsh Joyninge at the west side to the lot of Marsh of Samuell Howse & on the este side to the lot of Thomas Lapam limited between the hering River & the upland on the North side
[in a later hand: ‘Thomas Lapan’]
[in a later hand: ‘Mr. (Rev.) John Lothrope’]” 501

“LOOTHROP, LATHROP, or LOTHROPP, JOHN. B.A. from Queens’, 1606; M.A. 1609. S. of Thomas, of Etton, Yorks. Bapt. there, Dec. 20, 1584. Ord. deacon (Lincoln) Dec. 20, 1607; C. of Bennington, Herts. P.C. of Egerton, Kent, 1609, till 1622 or 1624; afterwards nonconformist. Succeeded Henry Jacob as pastor of the Independent Church at Southwark, London. Imprisioned for two years; released on bail; escaped and sailed for Boston, 1634. Minister at Acituate, Mass., 1634-9. Minister at Barnstaple, Mass., 1639-53. Author, Queries respecting Baptism. Died Nov. 8, 1653. (D.N.B.; J.G. Bartlett.)” 827

In a letter from Henry Jacie to John Winthrop, Jr. London, 6th mo. 18th day [1637]:
. . Now seing they ar yet stayed and ar like to stay I know not how long, til they be satisfied: I could not so be content, tho I enjoyd so great priviledges there, bodily and spiritual: but having been sued unto and oft provoked by that society wher Mr. Latr[op] was, and long sought, and at last obteined ful satisfaction for uniting to them . .. “ 394

“Only two had crossed the divide into separatism, renouncing their ordination in the Church of England as antichriatian. [Knollys and Lothropp had renounced their ordination in the Church of England. Bachiler, Higginson, Newman and Wheelwright had been active as unlicenses preachers.]”846

“New England Ministers . . .
Lothropp, John (1584-1653), from 1625 pastor to a London separist church, in succession to Henry Jacob. Imprisoned 1632; released and emigrated 1634. Minister in Plymouth Colony: Scituate, 1634-9; Barnstable, 1639-53.” 846

“Cotton had been equally surprised by Skelton’s apparent willingness to admit ‘one of Mr. lathrop’s congregaion’ to the Lord’s Supper, and his child to baptism upon sight of his testimony from this Church. This Lathorp was none other than the John Lathrop who had succeeded Henry Jacob in the Southwrk congregation, and Skelton’s acknowledgement of the ligitimacy of this church clearly placed im on one side oa a line at that time occupied by only very few English Puritans, and not yet by Cotton himself. For while the Southwark church over which Lathrop had presided since 1624 presented itself as an upseparated institution, it had many hallmarks of more extreme Puritan organizations, including a provision that allowed lay members to expoind and apply scriptural passages to the rest of the congregation - that is, to ‘prophesy.’ Lathrop did not hesitate ot practice communion with avowed separatists as well as with members of the English parish churches; and because his church’s membership had included everyone from such bona fide separatists as Sabine staresmore, who had been associated with Robinson’s Leyden congregation, o conservatives such as the London bookseller John Bellamie, soon to become a prominent presbyterian, the Southwark church remained an exciting meeting place for those who presented a wide range of Puritan alternatives to the ecclesiastical standing order.” 2082

“The Jacob-Lathrop church exerted an important influence on Puritan New England, particularly in the 1630s. . . . Perhaps most infuelential was Lathrop himself, who came to Massachusetts with thirty members of his church after they had decided that the New World’s wilderness was preferable to life in England under the bishops. Lathrop and his follwoers had been forced to this decision in 1632 when a majority of the church were brought before the Court of High Commision and subsequently imprisoned on a charge of separatist activities. Released from prison, he and many members of his flock had arrived in Boston by the early fall of 1634. There, as Winthrop noted, this ‘pastor of a private congregation in London’ asked the local congregation for permission ‘to be present at the administration [of the sacrament] . . but said that he durst not desire to partake in it, because he was not in order (being dismissed from his former congregation), and he thought it not fit to be suddenly admitted into any others.’ Between Winthrop’s lines we should recognize not only Lathrop’s willingness to worship with what ine ffect still was an unseparated congregation, a tendency probably derived from Jacob and Robinson, but also his polite insistence ont he necessity of being a member of a convenanted church separated from the Church of England before partaking of the sacrament. Yet even though Lathrop met with no persecution in the colony, he soon enough learned that the Boston-area churches were not for him; and, like his more radical counterpart Ralph Smith, whose extreme separatism had made him unwelcome even in Skelton’s Salem, he moved to the Plymouth patent. By late 1634 we find him settled over the church in Scituate. . . . In New England in the early 1630s, though, through individuals liek Richard Browne and John Lathrop, the debates over the precise boundaries of congregational polity were extended in several important ways.” 2082

“After Lathrop and thirty otheres emigrated to New England in 1634, the Southwark church was left without a leader until 1637. “ 2082

“”But altough the proper mode of baptism was an issue among some particular Baptists in England and Chauncy was later to cause more trouble over tis point when he assumed the pulpit in Scituate after Lathrop had left that church, Hickes’s arguments agaisnt the discipline of the Plymouth church clearly were of a different order.” 2082

“The first major test of their resolve occurred in Lathrop’s Scituate church,w here the question of baptism and its proper administration was no more settled than it had been in the Southwark congregation he had left behind. those among Lathrop’s parishioners who had argued for ‘dipping’ infants evidently found some of the town’s original settlers similarly inclined, ad the church became so torn by bickering over this issue that in 1639 Lathorp moved to the new settlement of Barnstble on Cape Cod. “ 2082

“As early as 1633, two brothers, Bernard and Thomas Lombard, came to this country, and settled in Scituate, Mass. They were members of Rev. John Lothrop’s Society, known as the ‘Men of Kent.’ This title, ‘Men of Kent,’ was given to more particularly distunguish them from other colonists, who came from different sections of England. . . . In the year 1639, a grant of land was obtained for the purpose of establishing a settlement at Mattakeese, lying somewhere between Yarmouth and Sandwich; and this settlement was commenced chiefly by people from Scituate. Only two persons were named in the grant, but among the names of the associates we find Rev. John Lothrop and Mr. Bernard Lombard.” 473

“Lothrop, John, Scituate, the first min, was bred at oxford, if the tradit. may be trusted, but prob. he was there only for a short time, preached, perhaps, at Egerton, in Kent, but certain. in London, where Bp. Laud caus. him to be impris. for it, for two yrs. in wh. time his w.d. by whom he had all his ch. exc. these by sec. w. Barnabas, bapt. at S. 6 June 1636; Abigail, wh. was bapt. at barnstable, 3 Nov. 1639, the first in that ch.; Bathshua, bapt. 27 Feb. 1642; John, 9 Feb. 1645; and two, wh. d. soon aft. b. 20 July 1638 and 25 Jan. 1650. On liberat. from prison he embar, for Boston 1634, hav. fellow-passeng. Rev. Zachary Symmes, celebr. Ann Hutchinson, and many others, arr. in Sept. and 27th of that mo. went to S. there m. sec. w. Ann, wh. long outliv. him, dying 25 Feb. 1688. On 18 Jan. 1635, the ch. at S. were gather. for enjoy. the benefit of his services, as in Deane’s Hist. 167, is told, but the author. ment. that the centenn. annivers. would occur on 7 Jan. 1835, deduct. eleven days, whereas the true annivers. requir. addit. of ten days, must have been 28 of that mo. He rem. to Barnstable with a larg part of his flock, 11 Oct. 1639, and was held in honor to his d. 8 Nov. 1653. His will, made 10 Aug. bef. provides for w. the eldest s. Thomas, and Benjamin, beside John, wh. was in Eng. and ds. Jane and Barbara. Jane m. 8 Apr. 1635 says her f. Samuel Fuller; Barbara m. 19 July 1638 . . . Emerson and Abigail m. 7 Oct. 1657, James Clark. It is much regretted that no better acco. of this eminent confessor is obtaina. than a descend. of our days compil. in 2 Hist. Coll. I. 163, for in Mather nothing but his name in the list. is gen. Ch. beside those already nam. were his sec. and third s. Samuel and Joseph, both brot. from Eng.” 8

Details to be entered. 826

“So long as Lothrop was pastor in Scituate and Barnstable he remained in control of the Society, but not without problems. As his people began to express themselves there were diferences of opinion, some of theological interpretation. Where previously Lothrop had been an extreme liberal he was now required to become a mediator in order to hold the parish together. Ther was an occasional discipline probelm in a worship and it is recoreded that one unruly lady was expelled for laughing during a service.
On July 22, 1646 John Lothrop preached ‘for the reforming of things amongst ourselves, especially in Deadness & drowsyness in public duties.’ For Barnstable, church and town affairs were almost inter-related and the meeting-house also served as a building for town meetings.”848

“A tribute to John Lothrop’s influence made history in the town of Yarmouth. One entry states: ‘Their nearest neighbors, from four or five miles away, were fortunate in having for their minister, Rev. John Lothrop, not only a wise and devoted pastor, but also an historian who left on record some account of their temporal as well as their spiritual progress. (Swift, p. 25)” 848

“Ezra Stiles made a copy of of Lothrop’s diary in 1769 which is kept with the Stiles papers in the Yale library, bound in a volume of Gov. Winthrop’s New England History. It begins with 1634 at Scituate, continuing for five years there, and in Barnstable includes happenings of importance to him until his death on November 8, 1653. (Trayser, p. 3)” 848

“For fourteen years the Reverend John Lothrop served the Barnstable parish as its leader until death claimed his activities. It was ten years before the parish could decide upon an acceptable sucessor, partly because of a strong division of lay-opinion which threatened to split the church over theological beliefs. In 1663 Rev.Thomas Walley was accepted and remained as pastor until his death on March 24, 1678. (Trayser, p. 462). “ 848

“In John Lothrop’s WILL which was granted on February 25, 1654 were several items unique in their provisions, including his emphasis upon the value of education. In addition to gifts made previously to daughters Jane and Barbara, his sons John and Benjamin were each given a cow and five pounds sterling. . . .” 848

“In a booklet, ‘John Lothrop: Reformer, Sufferer, Pilgrim, Man of God’ published by the Institute of Family Research, Inc. is this special tribute: ‘During Lothrop’s 14 years as minister in Barnstable no civil authority was needed to restrain crime. The church served as both the civil and the ecclesiastical authority. To become a member of Lothrop’s church no applicant was compelled to sign a creed or a confession of faith. The Reverend John Lothrop professed freedom to worship God and promised to live according to the Word of God as he understood it. Lothrop and his followers, both in England and America, were held by the general public to be steadfast int he acuse of independence . . . No pastor was ever more loved by his people, and none ever had a greater influence for good on a flock and on a nation than John Lothrop. He promised that his faith in God should be his constant encouragement, and that it should be his unending endeavor to keep His commandments and live a pure life, and to walk in love with his brethren.’ “ 848

“Otis continues: ‘He was a good business man, and so were all his sons. Whenver one of his family pitched his tent that spot soonbecame a center of business, and land in its vicinity appreciated in value.” 848

“Of Lothrop’s treatment by the hierarchy of the Church of England and the British Government one might recall Edwin Markham’s short poem which illustrates the opposite:
‘They drew a circle and shut him out.
Heretic - rebel - a thing to flout!
But love and I had the wit to win;
We drew a circle and took him in.’ “848

“Lothrop, university graduate with two degrees, clergyman, educator, was founder of the family in America. He brought four sons with him on the Griffin.” 848

“The burial service for the Reverend John Lothrop was held at a private cemetery in one section of Calves Pasture.” 848

“Samuel Howe had been a member of the London semi-Separatist church of John Lathrop, and later joined a conventicle that turned Baptist.” 874

“From the early records of the Plymouth Colony and from the records of Reverend John Lothrop we learn that Henry Cobb was a member of the Puritans in the Independent Church in London in the 1620’s. O april 29, 1632 Reverend Lothrop and forty one members of his church were imprisoned in Newgate Prison for violating the law relating to religious gatherings at dds with the Established Church of England. Upon being released, Rev. Lothrop with his family and congregation left England for New England, arriving September 18, 1634. In his records Reverend Lothrop notes that in the town of Scituate where he and his congregation sought refuge were other members of his congregation who had arrived earlier, among whom was Henry Cobb.” 287

“On August 16, 1635 Samuel [Hinckley] and Sarah joined the church at Scituate. Two years later Samuel took the freeman’s oath at Scituate. The church at Scituate during the following years was rent with discord over the religious tolerance of its leader, Reverend John Lathrop. As a consequence of the dissension within the church, the congregations split with a part following Reverend John Lothrop to West Barnstable, where the Plymouth Colony had found land for the church. Samuel Hinckley and his growing family moved to West Barnstable in June 1640 and were among the first followers of Reverend John Lothrop to do so.” 287

“In 1622 Henry Jacob left for Virginia, dying there two years later. The Southwark church continued under the leadership of John Lothrop, who was imprisoned, then allowed to emigrate to Plymouth Colony, where in 1634 he became the first pastor at Scituate. . . In 1632, Alice, Elizabeth, and Rebecca Wincop were among the members of John Lothrop’s (or Lathrop’s) London Separatist church who were arrested” 415

“He [William Hutchinson] came in the ship with Re. John Lathrop and Zechary Symmes in 1634.” 1403

“On 1 March 1648[/9], ‘Mr. Nicolas Simpkins of Scittuate . . . , gentleman,’ sold to ‘John Williams Junior of Scituate . . ., husbandman, . .. all my dwelling house wherein I now live with my barn and all other housing whatsoever at this time being, together with thirty acres of upland more or less lying and being in Scituate aforesaid and was sometimes the land of Mr. John Laytrope and Samuell House, . .. as also thirty acres of mars meadow lying before the aforesaid dwelling house’” 419

“Zachariah Symmes . . .
MIGRATION: 1634 on the Griffin (on September 1634, John Winthrop report ‘the Griffin and another ship now arriving with about two hundred passengers and one hundred cattle (Mr. Lothrop and Mr. Simmes, two godly ministers, coming in the same ship)’ [WJ 1:170]).” 419

“It shall be of such as were in the actual exercise of their ministry when they left England, and were the instruments of bringing the gospel into this wilderness, and of settling churches here according to the order of the gospel. . . our first Good Men. . .
Mr. John Lothrop, of Barnstable. . . “ 420

“Its [Scituate] founding father and leading citizen Timothy Hatherly, Esq., and half the church had favored ‘total immersion,’ while the pastor John Lothrop, who had dropped the ‘sign of the cross in baptism’ as a popish superstition, and the rest of the congregation held for the ‘laying on of hands.’ Lothrop’s desire to cleanse the baptismal rite from such post-apostolic additions as the cross reflected his larger separatism. Unlike a majority of the first ministers in the Bay Colony who still claimed a reformed but non separating membership in the Church of England, Lothrop totally rejected the mother church. The failure of this charismatic pastor to have his way resulted in his departure with his adherents in 1639; they remained ‘stedfast in our resolution to remove our ends and pitch elsewhere, if we can see Jehovah going before us.’ “ 316

“Whereof Master Lathorpe was Pastor, and yet they refuse all the inventions of men, and choose to serve the Lord in his owne Ordinances onely. Now truely Sir, (to use your owne word) I feare this newes pleaseth not the Lord Jesus, and therefore the more inwardly sorry I am, that is pleaseth you rather to returne to them, not to helpe the Lord again the mighty, to wit, either against the high Prelates, or against the inventions of men, as you suppose, for that you might have done here, in or Plymouth, or in Master Lathorpes Congregation; but to helpe erring though zealous soules against the mightie Ordinances of the Lord, which whosoever stumble at shall be broken. . . [John Lothrop (1584- 1653), a Separatist, was pastor of the church at Scituate and later at Barnstable in Plymouth Colony. For a sketch of his life and career see DAB.] 879