Re: Ancestry of George Byam?
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In reply to:
Re: Ancestry of George Byam?
James Graf 1/27/05
Dear James Henry:
When I clicked on the source you give I discovered a listing for George that was quite interesting.It said he was born about 1615 (OK) in Chelmsford, Massachusetts!Wow, Mormon records indicate Chelmsford predated the Mayflower by at least five years.Who knew?And it says that George was married to Susannah Shaw, which definitely was NOT the case.She was married to a Nicholas Byram.I don't see the 13 July 1620 date.
Now let’s be clear about religious belief in New England.It was not uniform, but it was not as diverse as your post would seem to suggest.There were then, as today, many who were non-religious, but there were few non-Calvinist Christians. There were virtually no Anglicans, as we today understand that term (which didn't get coined until the 19th Century) in New England in the first half of the 17th Century.By the late 17th and certainly in the 18th Century there were Anglicans, but NOT in the first half of the 17th.So if George were the son or grandson of a very Anglican leaning Church of England priest, he would have gone to a non-New England colony.
The study of history is very cyclical and in the 1950s through the 1970s there was a reaction to the traditional teaching that the Pilgrims and Puritans all came for religious reasons.During that period the notion that the real reason was economic was definitely in fashion in various schools.Modern historical studies, however, take a more nuanced approach.Some came for economic reasons and were only nominally associated with the church (one had to pay and attend, one did not have to join), but there were many who came for religious reasons, as evidenced by the numbers who came with their entire congregations. So, no, it was not just those on the Mayflower who were anti-Anglican pilgrims to America.I think it is fair to say that almost 100% (allowing for a few hypocrites) of the first generation church members in New England had come for religious reasons.
Let's look at George.He JOINED the church in Salem in 1640.He was one of only about 45 of the freemen in town before 1640 who were members.He and Susannah soon moved to Wenham where again they joined the church.Then they and five other families went with their minister, John Fiske, to Chelmsford and were founders of the church there.This was not the action of someone who merely attended because it was the only church in town but of a dedicated Calvinist.
Since so many in New England were NOT church members, it does not seem that when the witchcraft accusations came in the Salem area, long after George and Susannah had exited, that they were focused on non-church members.Indeed, most of the accused were church members.So I'm not sure anyone assumed that church membership was a guarantee of protection.
Kim Byham