William Brewster

William Brewster
An imaginary likeness of William Brewster. There is no known portrait of him from life.
Background information
Birth name	William Brewster
Born	c. 1560 in Scrooby, England
Died	10 April 1644 in Duxbury, Massachusetts

Elder William Brewster (c. 1566 - April 10, 1644), was a Pilgrim colonist leader and preacher who came from Scrooby, in north Nottinghamshire and reached what became the Plymouth Colony in the Mayflower in 1620. He was accompanied by his wife, Mary Brewster, and his sons, Love Brewster and Wrestling Brewster. Son Jonathan joined the family in November 1621, arriving at Plymouth on the ship Fortune, and daughters Patience and Fear arrived in July 1623 aboard the Anne.

Biography

Origins

He was the son of William Brewster and Mary Smyth and he had a number of half-siblings. His paternal grandparents were William Brewster and Maud Mann. His maternal grandfather was Thomas Smyth. Brewster may have been born in Doncaster.

Scrooby Manor was in the possession of the Archbishops of York. Brewster's father, William senior, had been the estate bailiff for the archbishop for thirty-one years from around 1580. With this post went that of postmaster, which was a more important one than it might have been in a village not situated on the Great North Road, as Scrooby was then.

William Junior studied briefly at Peterhouse, Cambridge before entering the service of William Davidson in 1584.^[1] In 1585, Davidson went to the Netherlands to negotiate an alliance with the States-General. In 1586, Davidson was appointed assistant to Queen Elizabeth's Secretary of State Francis Walsingham, but in 1587 Davidson lost the favour of Elizabeth, after the beheading of her cousin (once removed) Mary, Queen of Scots.

Dissent

Cambridge was a centre of thought concerning religious reformism, but Brewster's time in the Netherlands, in connection with Davidson's work, gave him opportunity to hear and see more of reformed religion. While, earlier in the sixteenth century, reformers had hoped to amend the Anglican church, by the end of it, many were looking toward splitting from it. (See Brownist).

On Davidson's disgrace, Brewster returned to Scrooby. There, from 1590 to 1607, he held the position of postmaster. As such he was responsible for the provision of stage horses for the mails, having previously, for a short time, assisted his father in that office. By the 1590s, Brewster's brother, James, was a rather rebellious Anglican priest, vicar of the parish of Sutton cum Lound, in Nottinghamshire. From 1594, it fell to James to appoint curates to Scrooby church so that Brewster, James and leading members of the Scrooby congregation were brought before the ecclesiastical court for their dissent. They were set on a path of separation from the Anglican Church. From about 1602, Scrooby Manor, Brewster's home, became a meeting place for the dissenting Puritans. In 1606, they formed the Separatist Church of Scrooby.

Emigration

Restrictions and pressures applied by the authorities convinced the congregation of a need to emigrate to the more sympathetic atmosphere of Holland, but leaving England without permission was illegal at the time, so that departure was a complex matter. On its first attempt, in 1607, the group was arrested at Scotia Creek, but in 1608 Brewster and others were successful in leaving from The Humber. In 1609, he was selected as ruling elder of the congregation.

Initially, the Pilgrams settled in Amsterdam, and worshipped with the Ancient Church of Francis Johnson and Henry Ainsworth. Offput by the bickering between the two, though (which ultimately resulted in a division of the Church), the Pilgrims left Amsterdam and moved to Leiden, after only a year.

In Leiden, the group managed to make a living. Brewster taught English and later, in 1616-1619, printed and published religious books for sale in England though they were proscribed there, as the partner of one Thomas Brewer. In 1619, the printing type was seized by the authorities under pressure from the English ambassador Sir Dudley Carleton and Brewster's partner was arrested. Brewster escaped and, with the help of Robert Cushman, obtained a land patent from the London Virginia Company on behalf of himself and his colleagues.

In 1620 he joined the first group of Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower on the voyage to North America. When the colonists landed at Plymouth, Brewster became the senior elder of the colony, serving as its religious leader and as an advisor to Governor William Bradford.

As the only university educated member of the colony, Brewster took the part of the colony's religious leader until a pastor, Ralph Smith, arrived in 1629. Thereafter, he continued to preach irregularly until his death in April 1644.

Brewster was granted land amongst the islands of Boston Harbor, and four of the outer islands (Great Brewster, Little Brewster, Middle Brewster and Outer Brewster) now bear his name.^[2][3]

Brewster died in 1644 and was likely buried in Miles Standish Burial Ground in Duxbury.

Children

A rare 17th-century "Brewster Chair," named after the original owned by William Brewster [1]

William Brewster married Mary, whose maiden name is unknown. During much of the 20th century she was thought to be the daughter of Thomas Wentworth, however there is no compelling evidence to support this. More recent speculation suggests her maiden name was Wyrall, but again the evidence is weak at best.^[4]

The children of William and Mary were:

• Elder Jonathan Brewster (August 12, 1593 - August 7, 1659) married Lucretia Oldham of Derby on 10 April 1624,^[5] eight children:^[6]
  • Jonathan, born 17 July 1629
• Patience Brewster (c. 1600 - December 12, 1634) married Gov. Thomas Prence of Lechlade, Gloucestershire, 4 children
• Fear Brewster (c. 1606 - before 1634) so called because she was born at the height of the Puritans' persecution. Married Isaac Allerton of London, 2 children.
• Unnamed child was born and died 1609 in Leiden, Holland.
• Love Brewster was born in Leiden, Holland about 1611 and died between October 6, 1650 and January 31, 1650/1, at Duxbury, Massachusetts. At the age of about 9, he came with his father, mother and brother on the Mayflower to Plymouth, Massachusetts. He married Sarah Collier in Plymouth, Massachusetts on May 15, 1634. Sarah was baptized on April 30, 1616 at St. Olave, Southwark, Surrey, England, and died on April 26, 1691 at Duxbury, Massachusetts. She was a daughter of Jane (____) Clark and William Collier, one of the investors, or Merchant Adventurers, an initial shareholder in the Plymouth Plantation. Love and Sarah were the parents of 4 children:
  • Sarah
  • Nathaniel
  • William
  • Wrestling
• Wrestling Brewster was born in 1614 in Leiden, Holland; was living in 1627, died unmarried before the 1644 settlement of his father's estate.

Notable descendants

• Roger Nash Baldwin, was one of the founders of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).^{[citation needed]}
• Benjamin Harris Brewster, was an attorney and politician who served as United States Attorney General from 1881 - 1885.^{[citation needed]}
• Daniel Baugh Brewster, was a Democratic member of the United States Senate, representing the State of Maryland from 1963 until 1969. He was also a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 1950-1958, and a representative from the 2nd congressional district of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives from 1959-1963
• David Brewster (journalist),^[7][8][9] is an American journalist
• Diane Brewster, was an American television actress.^{[citation needed]}
• Janet Huntington Brewster, was an American philanthropist, writer, radio broadcaster and relief worker during World War II in London. She was the wife of Edward R. Murrow, an American broadcast journalist
• Jordana Brewster,^[10] (born April 26, 1980) is an American actress, and granddaughter of Kingman Brewster, Jr.
• Kingman Brewster, Jr.,^[11] was an educator, president of Yale University, and American diplomat
• Ralph Owen Brewster, was an American politician from Maine, who was a Republican member of the United States Senate from 1941 until 1952.^{[citation needed]}
• Chevy Chase, is an American Emmy Award-winning comedian, writer, and television and film actor.
• Julia Child,^[12] American entrepreneur and chef of French and French-influenced cuisine
• Harry Lillis Bing Crosby, was an American singer and actor^[13]
• Howard Brush Dean III, is an American politician and physician from the U.S. state of Vermont.^[14]
• Calvert DeForest, also known by his character Larry "Bud" Melman, was an American actor and comedian.^{[citation needed]}
• Lee De Forest, was an American inventor.^{[citation needed]}
• Richard Gere,^[15] is an American actor.
• Katharine Hepburn,^[16] was an American actress of film, television and stage.
• George Trumbull Ladd,^[17] was an American philosopher and psychologist.
• John Lithgow,^[18] American actor and philanthropist
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, was an American educator and poet^[19]
• Seth MacFarlane,^[20] is an American animator, composer, writer, producer, actor, voice actor, and creator of Family Guy
• George B. McClellan, Civil War general, Governor of New Jersey, Democratic opponent of Abraham Lincoln in the 1864 United States presidential election
• Robert Noyce, nicknamed "the Mayor of Silicon Valley", was the inventor of the integrated circuit or microchip.^{[citation needed]}
• Sarah Palin,^[21]. Alaska Governor and 2008 Republican Vice-Presidential nominee.
• Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry ^[22](1785–1819) an officer in the US Navy. He served in the War of 1812 against Britain, and earned the title "Hero of Lake Erie."
• Matthew Calbraith Perry^[22]( (1794–1858) was the Commodore of the U.S. Navy who compelled the opening of Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854.
• William Blaine "Bill" Richardson III,^[23] is a Democratic politician and the current Governor of New Mexico.
• Cokie Roberts,^[24] is an American Emmy Award-winning journalist and bestselling author.
• John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV,^[25] has served as a Democratic U.S. Senator from West Virginia since 1985.
• Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller,^[26] was the 41st Vice President of the United States, the 49th governor of New York, a philanthropist, and a businessman.
• David Souter,^[27] is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
• Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr.,^[28] the publisher of The New York Times and chairman of the board of its owner, The New York Times Company.
• William Howard Taft,was the 27th President of the United States and the 10th Chief Justice of the United States.^{[citation needed]}
• Zachary Taylor,^[29] was an American military leader and the 12th President of the United States.
• Sarah Knox Taylor,^[29] the daughter of General Zachary Taylor, later President of the United States, and the wife of Jefferson Davis President of the Confederate States of America.
• The Wright brothers,^[30][31][32] Orville (1871–1948) and Wilbur (1867–1912), were two Americans who are generally credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane.
• Sewall Green Wright, was an American geneticist known for his influential work on evolutionary theory.^{[citation needed]}

References

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (July 2009)

Specific references

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Brewster, William.

General references

1. Dowsing, J. Places of the Pilgrim Fathers Sunrise Press, London.
2. Encyclopædia Britannica. (1960)
3. This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

See Ashbel Steele's Chief of the Pilgrims; or the Life and Time of William Brewster (Philadelphia, 1857); and, most importantly, a sketch in Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647 by William Bradford; the complete text, with notes and an introduction by Samuel Eliot Morison (1952; 2001).

More recent sources are:

• 'Brewster, William' in the American National Biography (2000) and the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004).
• Mary B. Sherwood, Pilgrim: A Biography of William Brewster (1982)
• Richard Greaves and Robert Zaller, eds. Biographical Dictionary of British Radicals in the Seveneeth Century (1982)
• Dorothy Brewster, William Brewster of the Mayflower (1970)

Genealogical information may be found in:

• Emma Brewster Jones, The Brewster Genealogy, 1566-1907, Two volumes (1907)
• Barbara Lambert Merrick, compiler, William Brewster of the Mayflower and His Descendants for Four Generations Mayflower Families in Progress. 3rd Edition (2000)
• Barbara Lambert Merrick, compiler, William Brewster of the Mayflower and the Fifth Generation Descendants of his son Love². Mayflower Families in Progress. (2003)

External links

• The Elder William Brewster Society, A Pilgrim Lineage Society
• Genealogy of William Brewster