Rev John Lothrop



My 9th Great Grandfather

"John Lothrop, my 9th great great grandfather, was baptized in Etton, 20 Dec. 1584. a He entered first Christ Church, College, Oxford for according to Foster's "Alumni Oxonienses" John Lothroppe of Yorkshire aged sixteen years, was admitted a pleb of Christ Church 15 Oct. 1602. Thence he went to Cambridge, where according to Venn's Alumni Cantabrigienses, John  was baptized at Etton, Yorkshire, 20 Dec. 1584.


"Rev. John Lothrop soon located in Egerton, 48 miles southeast from London, as curate of the parish there. To this living he was appointed about 1611 by the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul. It was probably his first and only parish charge as a minister of the English Church. Here Mr. Lothrop labored faithfully as long as his judgment could approve the ritual and government of the Church. But when he could no longer do this, we find him conscientiously renouncing his orders and asserting the right of still fulfilling a ministry to which his heart and his conscience had called him."

"Accordingly in 1623 his decision was made and he espoused the cause of the Independents. For being independent in thought he was arrested 22 Apr. 1632 and put in jail, along with a group of 24 others. In the old Clink prison, in Newgate, and in the Gatehouse, there men lingered for months. In the Spring of 1634, all but Mr. Lothrop were released on bail; he, their leader, the chief offender, was deemed too dangerous to be set at liberty."

"During the time he was in prison, a fatal illness was preying on his wife and bringing her fast to her end. Her name was Hannah House. "In New England's Memorials" by Nathaniel Morton, published in 1669, he says -- "His wife fell sick, of which sickness she died. He procured liberty of the bishop to visit his wife before her death, and commended her to God by prayer, who soon gave up the ghost.

At his return to prison, his poor children, being many, repaired to the bishop at Lambeth and made known unto him their miserable condition by reason of their good father's being continued in close durance, who commiserated their condition so far as to grant him liberty, who soon after came over unto New England".

"He embarked for Boston with about 30 others of his church and arrived there September 18, 1634, in the ship "Griffin" the 27th of the same month he proceeded with his friends to Scituate, MA. The Lothrop Bible was brought to America aboard the “Griffin” in 1634 by the Reverend John Lothrop, who became one of Barnstable’s first ministers and a famous preacher. During the voyage, while at evening devotions, the Reverend Lothrop spilled hot candle wax on the open book which burned through several pages, causing holes about the size of a shilling.  Before landing, he carefully repaired most of the damaged paper and filled in the missing text from memory. A few of the holes in the pages remain."  (The Bible is on display at the Barnstable Library.)

"On reaching Boston  he found already the preparations begun to welcome him to a new home in Scituate.  He settled at Scituate, was granted a farm and is where he started a church and Barnstable, being the first minister who preached at either place."

"Before 14 June 1635 he had taken a second wife. She was Anne Hammond, daughter of William Hammond, of Lavenham, England and Watertown, Mass.; she was baptized in Lavenham 14 July 1616." (I descend from their son Barnabas.)

Barnstable Home/Library

While there differences arose between him and the people on the question of baptism and he removed to Barnstable, where he had a house lot granted him. He died in Barnstable 8 Nov. 1653.

Children of Rev. John Lothrop and Hannah House (second generation);--
i. Jane, bp. 29 Sept. 1614 ; m. Samuel Fuller.
ii. Anne, bp. 12 May 1616 ; d. 30 Apr. 1617.
iii. John, bp. 22 Feb. 1617/8 ; d.y.
iv. Barbara, bp. 321 Oct. 1619 ; m. John Emerson.
v. Thomas, b. ; m. Sarah (Larned) Ewer, widow.
vi. Samuel, b. ; m. Elizabeth Scudder.
vii. Joseph, b. ab. 1624 ; m. Mary Ansell.
viii. Benjamin, b. ; m. Martha ________.
In Scituate, by second wife, Anne Hammond:--
+ ix. Barnabas, bp. 6 June 1636 ; m. Susanna Clark.
x. ______ child ; d. 30 July 1638, inf.
In Barnstable, by second wife, Anne Hammond:--
xi. Abigail, bp. 2 Nov. 1639 ; m. James Clark
xii. Bathsheba, bp. 27 Feb. 1641 ; m. Alexander Marsh.
xiii. John, bp. 9 Feb. 1644 ; m. Mary Cobb.
xiv. _______ child, b. 25 Jan. 1649 ; d. inf.

Rev. John Lothrop is an accepted ancestor for the Society of Colonial Dames - "Lothrop, Rev. John (1584-1653) Scituate and Barnstable, Mass. Queen's College, Cambridge, A.B. 1606, A.M. 1609. Minister at Scituate 1634-1639; and at Barnstable 1639-1653."