Drowne/Drown
and Morrell/Morrill
Family Connection
The connection
between the Drowne/Drown and Morrell/Morrill Family is through the marriage of Samuel Drowne, son of Leonard Drowne
and Elizabeth Abbott to Elizabeth
Morrell in 1698 at Boston, Massachusetts, daughter or John Morrell and
Sarah Hodson/Hodsdon …
Leonard Drowne (Generation 1)
son of John Drowne
and Dorothy Childe
grandson of Richard
Drown
The first Drowne/Drown in North America was Leonard Drowne (1646-1729)
who came from Penryn, Cornwall, England where he was born in 1646, his arrival
in New Hampshire was in 1660 soon after the Restoration (England) of the monarchy
… Leonard was a shipwright and established a shipyard near Sturgeon Creek
(Kittery, Maine) which is now Eliot, Maine in York County … Leonard married
Sarah Abbott of Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1675, daughter of Walter Abbott
and Sarah Stewart … Leonard Drowne help organize and build the first Baptist
Church in Maine in 1682 … During the King William War, many Maine towns were
raided and English settlements were massacred by the Wabanaki people in conjunction
with the French … In 1696, twenty-eight members of the Baptist Church moved to
Charleston, South Carolina and established the first Baptist Church there while
the Drowne’s moved to Boston, Massachusetts in 1699, due to the ongoing war and
violence … After Sarah Abbott died, Leonard married his widowed sister-in-law,
Mary (Abbott) Caley … This marriage was performed by Reverend Cotton Mather in
Boston, Massachusetts, November 4, 1707 … Court Records indicate that Leonard
Drowne appeared in the York Court of Common Pleas as a Plaintiff in 1715 …
Leonard Drowne died in Boston, Massachusetts, October 31, 1729 and is buried in
the Copps Hill Burying Ground/Cemetery at Boston, Massachusetts along with
other early family members …
b. 1646, Penryn, Cornwall, England
d. October 31, 1729, Boston, Massachusetts
Buried: Copp’s Hill Burying Ground,
Boston, Massachusetts
m. (1) ELIZABETH
ABBOTT
1675, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
daughter of Walter Abbott and Sarah
Stewart
granddaughter of Thomas Stewart
b.
1654, Portsmouth, Rockingham, New Hampshire
d.
May 5, 1704, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts
Buried: Copp’s Hill Burying Ground, Boston,
Massachusetts
m. (2) MARY
ABBOTT CALEY
November 4, 1707, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
daughter of Walter Abbott and Sarah
Steward
widow of Robert Caley of Malden,
Massachusetts
b. 1652, Portsmouth, Rockingham, New
Hampshire
d. 1732, Berwick, York, Maine
Children of
Leonard Drowne and (1) Elizabeth Abbott
Samuel Drowne (SEE BELOW: Generation 2)
Solomon Drowne (Generation 2)
b. January 23, 1681, Kittery, York, Maine
d. October 9, 1730, Bristol, Rhode Island
m. Esther Bosworth
November 8, 1705, Bristol, Rhode Island
daughter of Joseph Bosworth and Esther
Smith
granddaughter of Jonathan Bosworth and
Hannah Howland
b.
August 18, 1686, Bristol, Rhode Island
d. July 26, 1744, Bristol, Rhode Island
Children of
Solomon Drowne and Esther Bosworth:
Solomon Drowne
b. October 4, 1706, Bristol, Rhode Island
d. September 21, 1780, Bristol, Rhode
Island
Buried: East Burial Ground, Bristol,
Rhode Island
m. Mercy Tillinghast, July 2, 1749,
Providence, Rhode Island
Esther Drowne
b. October 26, 1708, Bristol, Rhode
Island
d. November 24, 1787, Bristol, Rhode
Island
m. William Gladding, October 24, 1726,
Bristol, Rhode Island
Elizabeth Drowne
b. September 8, 1710, Bristol, Rhode
Island
d. May 6, 1765, Bristol, Rhode Island
m. Samuel Smith, Jr., May 10, 1731,
Bristol, Rhode Island
Joseph Drowne
b. February 12, 1712, Bristol, Rhode
Island
d. 1769
Bathsheba Drowne
b. June 10, 1715, Bristol, Rhode Island
d.
m. Nathan Jones, November 10, 1736,
Bristol, Rhode Island
Mary Drowne
b. June 7, 1719, Bristol, Rhode Island
d. April 5, 1759, Bristol, Rhode Island
m. Captain John Gladding, September 25,
1738, Bristol, Rhode Island
Samuel Drown
b. July 31, 1721, Bristol, Rhode Island
d. January 17, 1770, Portsmouth,
Rockingham, New Hampshire
m. Sarah Reed, December 27, 1743,
Rehoboth, Massachusetts
Sarah Drowne
b. July 23, 1723, Bristol, Rhode Island
d. September 17, 1775, Bristol, Rhode
Island
m. John Pratt, January 11, 1739/40,
Bristol, Rhode Island
Jonathan Drowne
b. June 13, 1725, Bristol, Rhode Island
d. August 21, 1780, Providence, Rhode
Island
m. Mary Bird, October 18, 1748,
Providence, Rhode Island
Shem Drowne
b. February 29, 1728, Bristol, Rhode
Island
d. May 7, 1794, Bristol, Rhode Island
m. Ann Durfee, July 27, 1758, Barrington,
Rhode Island
Shem Drowne (Generation 2)
He was born near Sturgeon Creek in what is now Eliot, York County,
Maine … He was the son of Leonard Drowne (shipbuilder) and Elizabeth Abbott …
Shem Drowne was a coppersmith with a shop on Ann Street (now North Street) in
the North End … He was baptized in the First Baptist Church of Boston in 1713 along
with the future Paster of that Church … In May/1721, he was elected a Deacon of
the church and served this position until his death in 1774 … In 1716, he
created America’s first authenticated weathervane, a gilded America Indian
archer, for the cupola of Providence House in Boston, Massachusetts, which in
1716 became the official residence of the Royal Governor … In 1721, he created
a rooster weathervane (also known as the weathercock) for the New Brick Church
on Hanover Street, the weathervane is now on the First Church in Cambridge,
Massachusetts … In 1740 he made a six foot long copper swallow-tailed banner
weathervane that is now atop Old North Church in Boston, Massachusetts … His most famous work is the weathervane on
top of Faneuil Hall in Boston, Massachusetts…. Commissioned by Peter Faneuil in
1742, it was designed to complement the grasshopper weathervane atop the Royal
Exchange in the City of London, and help symbolize the new building as the
capital of finance in the New World … The grasshopper is copper gilded with gold
leaf and glass eyes … The weathervane fell off the building during the earthquake
of 1755 which rattled Boston to the core … He and his son Thomas repaired it
and remounted it … The weathervane is the only part of Faneuil Hall which
remains totally unmodified from the original 1742 structure. In 1805, Charles Bullfinch expanded the
building and moved the cupola from the middle of the building to the front … In
1974 the weathervane was stolen but recovered in less than a week …
The Drowne Claim on the Pemaquid Patent
In 1632, The Plymouth Council for New England granted two merchants
from Bristol, England, Robert Aldsworth and Gyles Elbridge, 12,000 acres near
what would become Bristol, Maine … In a document known as the Pemaquid Patent,
Gyles survived Aldsworth and passed it to his son John, who in turn passed it
to his bother Thomas … Thomas
Elbridge mortgaged Monhegan Island and Damariscove Island to Richard Russell,
and sold half the Patent’s land, half of his furniture and half of his castle
for L200 to Paul White … In 1653, White and Elbridge conveyed the entire Moiety
title to Russell and Nicholas Davidson who in turn became sole owners of the
patents from Russell in 1657 … Elbridge continued to live in Pemaquid (Bristol)
and called himself the “Merchant of Pemaquid” … After the Second Anglo-Dutch
War, the Duke of York claimed the land as his under Royal Charter …
Drowne’s wife Katherine Clark, was a partial heir to the Davidson claim
of the Pemaquid Patents, and Drowne acquired power of attorney from the other
heirs … What became to be known as the “Drowne Claim” encompassed Bristol,
Bremen, Damariscottia and parts of Newcastle and Nobleboro … Other claims of
the tie included the “Brown Right” and the Tappen Right” … Starting in the
1730’s, Drowne filed a number of depositions in order to gain control of the
Drowne Claim … On June 12, 1746, he bought Monhegan Island and its surrounding
islands for L10, 13 shillings … His son later sold the island for L160 and his
estate bequest money to the First Baptist Church of Boston, Massachusetts …
b. December 4, 1683, Kittery (Sturgeon Creek)
York County, Maine
d. January 13, 1774, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
m. Katherine Clark
September 18, 1712, Boston, Massachusetts
daughter of Captain Timothy Clark and
Sarah Richardson
b. April 17, 1687, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
d. April 21, 1754, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
Children of Shem
Drowne and Katherine Clark:
John Drowne
b. September 13, 1713, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
d.
September 13, 1713, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts
William Drowne
b. September 22, 1714, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
d. June 5, 1715, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
Thomas Drowne
b. December 14, 1715, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
d. February 26, 1795, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
m. Sarah Paine, December 23, 1736,
Boston, Massachusetts
Joseph Drowne
b. December 10, 1717/1718, Boston,
Suffolk, Massachusetts
d. October 31, 1721, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
Katherine Drowne
b. March 22, 1720/21, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
d. October 13, 1726, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
David Drowne
b. October 6, 1723, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
d. 1748
m. Frances Pebbles/Prebbles, February 27,
1743, Boston, Mass.
Sarah Drowne
b. September 19, 1725, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
d. July 7, 1773, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
Mary Drowne
b. February 10, 1727, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
d. February 11, 1727, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
Elizabeth Drowne
b. January 15, 1728, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
d. March 15, 1728, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
Susanna Drowne (Generation 2)
b. 1684, Kittery, York, Maine
d. November 2, 1720, Charlestown, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
m. John Johnson
January 11, 1708/1709, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
b.
September 10, 1681, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts
d.
November 25, 1749
Simeon Drowne
(Generation 2)
Occupation:
Shipbuilder
b. April 8, 1686, Kittery, York, Maine
d. August 2, 1734, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
Buried: Copp’s Hill Burying Ground,
Boston, Massachusetts
m. (1) Mary Paine
daughter of Colonel Nathaniel Paine
and Dorothy Rainsford
1701, Berwick, York, Maine
b. June 8, 1682, Bristol, Rhode
Island
d.
(2) Mary Everenden
October 7, 1725, Boston,
Massachusetts
b. 1705
d. 1752
Children of
Simeon Drowne and (1) Mary Paine:
Hannah Drowne
b. May 20, 1702, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
Alithea Drowne
b. 1710, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts
Jonathan Drowne
b. May 7, 1711, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
d. July 27, 1732, Barrington,
Bristol, Rhode Island
m. Sarah Kent
Mercy Drowne
b. 1714, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
d. 1764
m. Frances Price, November 21, 1734,
Dorchester, Mass.
Children of
Simeon Drowne and (2) Mary Everenden:
Issac Drowne
b. 1726, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
Thomas Drowne
(Generation 2)
b. 1690, Kittery, York, Maine
d.
m. Elizabeth Ham
daughter of William Ham and Sarah Dennett
June 1, 1710, Portsmouth, Rockingham,
New Hampshire
b.
1690, Portsmouth, Rockingham, New Hampshire
d.
Mary Drowne
(Generation 2)
b. 1693, Kittery, York, Maine
d. January 24, 1732, Charlestown, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
m. James Kettle of Charlestown, Suffolk, Massachusetts
April 24, 1712, Charlestown, Suffolk, Massachusetts
b.
March 23, 1685, Suffolk County, Massachusetts
d.
June 30, 1759, Charlestown, Suffolk, Massachusetts
Elizabeth Drowne (Generation 2)
b. November 2, 1699, Kittery, York, Maine
d. 1709
m.
Sarah Drowne
(Generation 2)
b. November 20, 1702, Kittery, York, Maine
d. February 26, 1724, Providence, Providence,
Rhode Island
m. John Shephard
1723
b.
d.
Samuel Drowne (Generation 2)
son of Leonard
Drowne and Elizabeth Abbott
b. March 7, 1675/1676, Kittery (Sturgeon Creek)
York, Maine
d. January 25, 1721, Kittery, York, Maine
1730, Kittery, York, Maine
Buried: Drowne-Morrell Cemetery, Old
Cottage Lane, Eliot, Main
m. ELIZABETH MORRELL
February 3, 1698, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
Married by Rev. Ben Wadsworth
daughter of John Morrell and Sarah
Hodson/Hodsdon
b.
1676, Kittery, York, Maine
d.
January 1740/1741, Kittery, York, Maine
Buried: Drowne-Morrell Cemetery, Old
Cottage Lane, Eliot, Maine
Special Notation:
This is just a small
piece from an article written by Ethel Morrell McCollister
(believed to be from
The Portland Telegram, 1923) …
RE: Drowne-Morrell
Cemetery, Old Cottage Lane, Eliot, Maine
“There is a small
cemetery just back of the house on the hill side and one wonders why this was
established when John (Morrell) and several of his children were buried at the
foot of the hill. There are several
stones still standing and the oldest is that of John (Morrell) senior’s
son-in-law, Samuel Drowne who died in 1730, the year the garrison house was
built.
Children of
Samuel Drowne and Elizabeth Morrell
Elizabeth Drowne (Generation 3)
b. April 20, 1700, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
d. 1795
m. James Wittum/Whittum/Wittem
March 12, 1720, Kittery, York, Maine
b. 1690/1700
d.
Samuel Drowne
(Generation 3)
b. July 15, 1704, Boston, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
d. 1795, Rochester, Strafford, New Hampshire
m. Martha Tibbetts
January 12, 1727/29, Durham/Rochester,
Strafford, New Hampshire
b.
d.
Solomon Drowne
(Generation 3)
b. March 26, 1706
d. 1797, Rochester, Strafford, New Hampshire
m.
Thomas Drowne
(Generation 3)
b. December 23, 1708, Kittery, York, Maine
d. August 3, 1709, Kittery, York, Maine
m. unmarried with no
issue
Hannah Drowne
(Generation 3)
b. @1710, Kittery, York, Maine
d.
m.
Mary Drowne (Generation 3)
b. @1712, Kittery, York, Maine
d.
m.
_________________________________________________________
Abraham Morrell/Morrill (Generation 1)
son of Richard Morrill
and Joan Childe
grandson of Hugh
Morrill and Elizabeth Cartar/Carter
grandson of Robert
Childe and Agnes Rudkyn
… 1632, Arrival at
Cambridge, Massachusetts …
… 1650, Census at
Salisbury, Essex, Masssachusetts
b. 1586, Hatfield Broad Oaks, Essex, England
d. June 20, 1662, Roxbury, Suffolk,
Massachusetts
m. SARAH CLEMENT
daughter of Richard Clement and Lydia
Drummer
granddaughter of Robert Clement and Agnes
Alice Fellows
granddaughter of Robert Drummer
b.
d.
John Morrell (Generation 2)
son of Abraham Morrell and Sarah Clement
John Morrell, born in 1640 as
shown by a Deposition, Land Grant in 1668. He was a mason. In 1676 he settled at "Cold Harbor,"
in what is now known as Eliot, Maine. He married, before 1667, Sarah, dau.
of Nicholas and Elizabeth ________Hodsdon. He was living in
1720. He was licensed to keep a ferry
and house of entertainment in 1686.
REFERENCE: Old Kittery and Her Families, Author: E. S. Stackpole Publication: 190, Page 619.
John
Morrell is found in Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1661, about four years before
his marriage in Kittery. "Acting under this law [for avoiding the
settlement of poor people], the Selectmen [of Ipswich] made complaint to the
Ipswich Court in March 1661, that they had notified Daniel Grazier and John
Morrill, Irishmen, that they were not willing to have them as inhabitants and
they had not removed." We don't know of any other John Morrell in New
England at this time, the only other family of this surname is Abraham Morrill
of Salisbury, so it is highly likely that this is our John Morrell of Kittery.
In addition, 1661 aligns well with the first mention of John in Kittery, which
was in 1663, occupation "plasterer." This is the first clue we have
as to the nationality of John Morrell, as it seems at least some folks in
Ipswich believed he was of Ireland. REFERENCE: Ipswich in the Massachusetts
Bay Colony, Thomas
Franklin Waters (Ipswich MA: Ipswich Hist. Soc., 1917)
John Morrell was born in 1640 and
married Sarah Hodson (daughter of Nicholos of Kittery) in 1674 father-in-law
deeded him Birch Point, part of his homestead, reserving right to water from
the spring, which still furnishes an abundant supply of excellent water. Birch
Point is in the town of South Berwick Maine and near a bridge that spans the
river at that place. Two years later John Morrell sold land to Abram
Conley and bought a farm at “Coole Harbor” in present town of Elliot
which was in the family until 1932. It burned to the ground the next
year. He was licensed to conduct a ferry and keep a place of
entertainment – one of the first taverns in this state. He was the first to
embrace the Friends Religion (Quakers) which many of his descendants embrace to
present time. There is little doubt that many a Quaker fleeing from persecution
in Boston was carried on the Morrell ferry to safety “down east”. John Morrell Jr. lived on part of the old
homestead and was also a large landowner in the present town of North Berwick.
He was a slave owner and a man of wealth and prominence in town. The Morrell’s,
Winslow’s, Lowe’s, Peasley’s and Pope’s were all Quakers down to grandfather
Paschal Pope Morrell who became a Methodist Minister. He was later a chaplain
in the Civil War. The first Quakers to arrive in America were viewed as
dangerous heretics in many of the colonies. They were deported as Witches,
imprisoned or hung. REFERENCE: History
of the Morrell Family (Online Record)
JOHN MORRELL (Generation 2)
b. @1640, Kittery, York Country, Maine
d. @1723, Kittery, York Country, Maine
d. SARAH
HODSON/HODSDON
daughter of Nicolas Hodgson and Elizabeth
Wincoll Needham
granddaughter of Richard Hodson and
Elizabeth Prise of Hertfordshire, England
granddaughter of Thomas Wincall and
Beatrix ____________
1665, Kittery, Maine
before 1674
b. 1649, Watertown, Massachusetts
1650, Cambridge/Boston, Massachusetts
d.
For additional Morrell Family Lineage see
The Morrell Family of New England
