BORN: 1607 • England
DIED: 1673 • Beverly, Essex, Massachusetts
DIED: 1673 • Beverly, Essex, Massachusetts
ELLEN LYN
BORN: 1637 • Massachusetts Colony
DIED: UNK • Beverly, Essex, Massachusetts
MARRIED: 14 Mar 1655 • Salem, Essex, Massachusetts
Ralph Ellenwood is the earliest known Ellenwood immigrant. He was born in 1607/8 in England and died in 1673/4 in Beverley, Massachusetts, (now Beverly) and is probably buried in the Ancient Burying Ground adjacent to the church on Cabot Street. According to his Find a Grave page he was known as "The Saxon", although there is no grave marker to verify this.
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| Descendancy Chart for Ralph Ellenwood |
Little is known about his origins other than he came on a ship from England, so it is assumed he was born there. This a case where DNA can be helpful. Y-DNA is useful tool for genealogy because it passes virtually unchanged from father to son over many generations. My brother consented to submit his DNA for genealogical purposes. The DNA matches coming back were linked to the surname "Elliot". I wasn't aware of any Elliots in our family tree, so I reached out to a professional DNA Genealogist to dig a little deeper. After more research I was able to confirm that Ellenwood DNA and Elliot DNA are from the same original Elliot family dating back centuries to Scotland. At some point Elliot morphed into Elwood (which means Elf Ruler) and branched off from the Elliot tree. The clues lead to Ralph's ancestral origins in Cumbria, England.
The Salem area was settled in 1626 by Roger Conant. Beverly was originally part of Salem, but because of religious differences with the Governor, Beverly would break away and officially incorporate in 1668.
The original New England population was strongly Puritan, and its governance was dominated by a small group of leaders who were strongly influenced by Puritan teachings. Its governors were elected, and the electorate were limited to "freeman" (not indebted to anyone in any way) who had been examined for their religious views and formally admitted to the local church. As a consequence, the colonial leadership exhibited intolerance to other religious views, including Anglican, Quaker and Baptist theologies. Their views were rigid and they believed in strict obedience to the laws set forth by their leaders and agreed upon by the community. If the laws were broken, they also believed in the strictest formed of punishment, usually public. These views and behaviors were difficult to sustain (as can be seen in court records) and they were relaxed over the subsequent generations.
Two years after arriving, Ralph was married and living in Salem, Massachusetts, for in the land grants voted 25 December 1637, he was given a half acre for a family of two. His first wife's name was Elizabeth. There were five Elizabeth's on the Truelove so it is possible that he married one of them shortly after his arrival.
Ralph and Elizabeth had one child, Josiah, in 1644. She is mentioned in the record as a witness in a civil court case in April 1641 and as joining the Salem Church in August 1648. She died sometime before 1655, as Ralph was married for a second time in 1655 to Eleanor "Ellen" Lynn who was born in Massachusetts in 1637. Testimony in Essex County court records includes the ages of Ralph and his second wife Eleanor at the time of their marriage: he was 48, she 18, 30 years his junior. The same court records for June 1677 indicate that following Ralph's death she married William Bath.
Ralph and Ellen had 8 children:
The following year Beverly became an independent town and a map of the houses and land holdings show Ralph's land as comprising the entire point West of the present Ellinwood Court.
Ralph died at 66/67. It's not known whether he was penniless when he landed in Salem. He was far from wealthy, as his name never occurs among the leaders of the community. There is no record of his having held public office or achieving the distinction of "Mr." and the designation of a gentlemen. On the other hand he had a servant within nine years of his arrival and he owned cattle and land.
All of the early records referring to Ralph spelled the family name is Elwood or Ellwood. Admission to membership in the first Church of Salem is spelled Ellenwood. Ralph's signature on the Beverly churches petition is spelled Ellingwood, but Ellenwood on the covenant. The spelling Ellingwood first appears in a land grant in 1659. Elwood does not occur after 1653, but the forms Ellinwood, Ellenwood, and Ellingwood survived in the next centuries.
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| Cumbria region of England |
Ralph came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony when he was 28 years old on the ship TRUELOVE, departing from London in September 1635. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was one of the original English settlements in New England, settled in 1630 by a group of about 1,000 Puritan refugees from England under Gov. John Winthrop. Like the voyage of the Mayflower 15 years earlier, the trip across the Atlantic probably took two months, so it was November 1635 when Ralph arrived in New England via Boston.
In the decades between 1620 and 1640, 20,000 people migrated to the colonies from England. Some left for religious reasons, some economic and some social. In old England it was impossible for those not born into the Gentry class to improve their circumstances. Many newcomers from England were from what was know as the "middling" class: farmers, artisans, tradesmen, etc. Ralph entered New England through Boston in the New Massachusetts Bay Colony. He is listed in "The Pioneers of Massachusetts" by Charles Henry Pope, which list over 5,000 persons who settled the colony and were instrumental in its growth."The Register of the names of all ye Passinger wch Passed from ye Port of London for an whole yeare ending at Xmas 1635. . . xix Sept. 1635. Theis under written names are to be transported to New England imbarqued in the Truelove. Jo: Gibbs, Mr. the men have taken the oathes of Alleg: and Supram: . . . Ralph Ellwood 28 years old."
The Salem area was settled in 1626 by Roger Conant. Beverly was originally part of Salem, but because of religious differences with the Governor, Beverly would break away and officially incorporate in 1668.
The original New England population was strongly Puritan, and its governance was dominated by a small group of leaders who were strongly influenced by Puritan teachings. Its governors were elected, and the electorate were limited to "freeman" (not indebted to anyone in any way) who had been examined for their religious views and formally admitted to the local church. As a consequence, the colonial leadership exhibited intolerance to other religious views, including Anglican, Quaker and Baptist theologies. Their views were rigid and they believed in strict obedience to the laws set forth by their leaders and agreed upon by the community. If the laws were broken, they also believed in the strictest formed of punishment, usually public. These views and behaviors were difficult to sustain (as can be seen in court records) and they were relaxed over the subsequent generations.
Two years after arriving, Ralph was married and living in Salem, Massachusetts, for in the land grants voted 25 December 1637, he was given a half acre for a family of two. His first wife's name was Elizabeth. There were five Elizabeth's on the Truelove so it is possible that he married one of them shortly after his arrival.
Ralph and Elizabeth had one child, Josiah, in 1644. She is mentioned in the record as a witness in a civil court case in April 1641 and as joining the Salem Church in August 1648. She died sometime before 1655, as Ralph was married for a second time in 1655 to Eleanor "Ellen" Lynn who was born in Massachusetts in 1637. Testimony in Essex County court records includes the ages of Ralph and his second wife Eleanor at the time of their marriage: he was 48, she 18, 30 years his junior. The same court records for June 1677 indicate that following Ralph's death she married William Bath.
Ralph and Ellen had 8 children:
- Stephen (1656-1674)
- Ralph II (1657-1728)
- John (1659-unk)
- Joseph (1662-1694)
- Mary (1664-1750)
- Elizabeth (1666-unk)
- Benjamin (1668-1731) our direct ancestor
- David (1670-unk)
- 1638 - a neighbor brought action against him for trespass
- 1644 - an inquest was held regarding the death of his servant (no fault was determined)
- 1647 - insufficient fences allowing his cattle to graze in the common fields
- 1653 - unknown civil action brought against him
- 1660 - he and his wife were described as "rogue and baud" by a Beverly neighbor
- 1673 - just before his death another trespass charge, along with "carrying away dung"
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| Direct ancestors who were the original founders of the First Church of Beverly |
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| Ellinwood Point |
"January 7th 1673. The Last Will and Testament of Ralph Ellinwood who became weecke in body but of good memory. First I commit my body to the earth and my Soule to God. Secondly I make Ellen my wife my lawfull executrix and to make use of all my estate to bring up our Children in the feare of the Lord. Thirdly, I make my son Ralph my lawful heir after decease but when he is come to the age of twenty one years, he is to have the ten akres which was formerly old Robert Molton's lot and that our son Ralph is to pay our other four sons, namely John, Joseph, Benjamin and David and our two daughters Mary and Elizabeth each and either of them an equall portion according as the estate is prised to be paide as each comes to age. I allow my wife hir thirds during the term of her life and after her decease equally her thirds are to be divided amongst our sons and daughters that doe survive."
As the children were fairly young when he died, he appeared to take great care to ensure that they would be taken care of. Daughters in Puritan New England needed to own land to bring something to a marriage. Once she was married, her husband then owned the land. One of Ralph's grandsons, Robert, would later marry into the prominent Woodbury family, one of the original grantees of the 1,000 Acre Grant of 1635.
All of the early records referring to Ralph spelled the family name is Elwood or Ellwood. Admission to membership in the first Church of Salem is spelled Ellenwood. Ralph's signature on the Beverly churches petition is spelled Ellingwood, but Ellenwood on the covenant. The spelling Ellingwood first appears in a land grant in 1659. Elwood does not occur after 1653, but the forms Ellinwood, Ellenwood, and Ellingwood survived in the next centuries.
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| Modern Map of Beverly |
Source: The Ellinwood Family 1635-1963, by Leonard Ellingwood, 1963
Next Post: Benjamin Ellenwood and the 2nd Generation