Experience MITCHELL

Abt 1603 - 1689  (~ 82 years)

• Name	Experience MITCHELL
  Birth	Abt 1603  [1]
  Gender	Male
  Immigration	1623	Plymouth Colony
  	Arrived on the ship Anne
  Death	Between 2 Jun 1685 and 14 May 1689	Bridgewater, Massachusetts   [2]
  	Inventory of his estate was taken 14 May 1689.
  Notes	From The Great Migration Begins, Vol. 2, pp. 1270-1273: "EXPERIENCE MITCHELL ORIGIN: Leiden, Holland MIGRATION: 1623 on Anne FIRST RESIDENCE: Plymouth REMOVES: Duxbury by 1639, Bridgewater between 1684 and 1689 FREEMAN: In "1633" Plymouth list of freemen in close proximity to those admitted 1 January 1632/3 [ PCR 1:4]. In Plymouth Colony list of 7 March 1636/7 [ PCR 1:53]. In Duxbury section of lists of freemen dated 1639, 1658, 29 May 1670, and [blank] March 1683/4 [ PCR 5:274, 8:174, 198, 203]. EDUCATION: His inventory included "books" valued at 14s. He signed his will. OFFICES: Grand jury, 7 June 1659 (fined for refusing to serve), 5 June 1666, 5 June 1677 [ PCR 3:163, 4:123, 5:230]. Petit jury, 1 June 1647, 7 June 1648, 6 June 1649, 5 October 1640, 5 June 1644, 7 June 1649, 4 June 1652 [ PCR 2:117, 126, 140, 177, 7:17, 37, 46, 60]. Coroner's jury, 7 May 1662 [ PCR 4:12]. Duxbury surveyor of highways, 1 June 1658 [ PCR 3:136]. In Duxbury section of 1643 Plymouth Colony list of men able to bear arms [ PCR 8:189]. ESTATE: In 1623 Plymouth land division, George Morton and Experience Mitchell together received eight acres [ PCR 12:6]. In 1627 Plymouth cattle division "Experience Michaell" was the tenth person in the first company with Francis Cooke [ PCR 12:9]. On 9 May 1631 Experience Michell sold to Samuell Eddy his dwelling house and part of his garden plot [ PCR 12:18]. Assessed 18s. in Plymouth tax list of 25 March 1633 and 9s. in list of 27 March 1634 [ PCR 1:10, 27]. He was forty-ninth on the list of Purchasers [ PCR 2:177]. In an undated entry, but probably in 1645, Mr. John Holmes of Plymouth, messenger, sold Experience Mitchell of Duxbury two acres of marsh meadow [ PCR 12:109]. On 20 March 1647 Samuel Eedy sold Experience Mitchell one acre of marsh meadow [ PCR 12:151]. On 1 July 1650 Experience Mitchell purchased two acres of marsh meadow in Duxbury at Blewfish River from Andrew Ringe of Plymouth [ PCR 12:189]. On 20 November 1650 William Paybody of Duxbury, planter, sold to Experience Mitchell of Duxbury, planter, a house and ten acres of land at Blewfish River in Duxbury [ PCR 12:198]. On 3 October 1662 Experience Mitchell was one of a group nominated for consideration for lands on the northerly bounds of Taunton "if any be left over" [ PCR 4:27]. On 8 June 1664 he was part of a group permitted to look for land between Bridgewater and the Bay line [ PCR 4:67]. On 7 June 1665 Experience Mitchell was fifth on a list of twenty-four shares of land on the westerly side of Namasskett River "for his children," no one to possess above two shares [ PCR 4:94]. He again had liberty to look for land 5 June 1666 [ PCR 4:132]. On 3 June 1668 he was granted land near Mattapoisett River [ PCR 4:185]. On 29 October 1668 and 1 June 1669 the court arranged for Experience Mitchell and others to have land at Namassakett [ PCR 5:5, 20]. In his will, dated 5 December 1689 [sic] and proved 4 September 1689, "Experience Mitchell now living in the town of Bridgwater" bequeathed to "my son Edward Mitchell ... all my lands both upland and meadow lying in the town of Duxbury at the place where I formerly dwelt"; if "my wife Mary Mitchell shall survive me I require my son Edward to take care of her" if she wished to live in Bridgewater, but if "she rather incline to live at Duxbury" then half the rent of the land at Duxbury to be given her during her life; "my son Edward shall have the sole dispose of it as to the letting of it out for the house I acknowledged it to be his," he also to receive household goods; to "my son John I have formerly given him his portion of land and my will is that he rest satisfied ... which was fourscore acres of upland and four acres of meadow lying at Namatakeesit" and the moveables in his hands, "one cow, a short gun, a small iron kettle I give unto my grandson Experience and the remainder I give unto my son John"; "as for my land lying in the town of Middlebury I give it to my daughters Mary Shaw, Sarah Haward and Hannah Haward and to my grandson Experience Mitchell the son of my son John to be equally divided"; to "my daughter Mary Shaw 20s."; to "Hannah Haward 40s."; "and if my stock stand I give to my grandson Thomas Mitchell one cow and to my granddaughter Mary Mitchell one cow"; "I leave the dispose of my granddaughter Mary Mitchel with my son Edward and Joseph Bartlett"; residue of moveables and chattels to "my son Edward Mitchell," executor [ MD 4:150-51, citing PPR 1:44-45; Small Gen 518-20]. The inventory of the estate of Experience Mitchel of Bridgwater was taken 14 May 1689 and totalled £21 17s., including no real estate [ MD 4:152, citing PPR 1:45; Small Gen 520-21]. BIRTH: By about 1603 based on estimated date of marriage. DEATH: By 14 May 1689 when his inventory was taken. MARRIAGE: (1) By about 1628 Jane Cooke, daughter of FRANCIS COOKE . She died before 1641, and perhaps some years earlier. (2) By about 1641 Mary _____. She died after about 1662 (birth of last child). CHILDREN: With first wife i ELIZABETH, b. Plymouth say 1628; m. Plymouth 6 December 1645 John Washburn [ PCR 2:94], son of JOHN WASHBURN . ii THOMAS, b. Plymouth say 1630. In 1936 Merton Taylor Goodrich argued at length that this Thomas Mitchell was the same as a man of that name who appeared on Block Island by 1678 and had a family there [ TAG 12:93-99; see also NEHGR 82:457-58, which does not make this claim]. Others who have agreed with this position are G. Andrews Moriarty [ TAG 19:226] and Robert S. Wakefield [ MD 38:187-89]. iii MARY, b. Plymouth say 1632; m. (1) Plymouth 24 December 1652 James Shaw [ PCR 8:14], son of JOHN SHAW ; m. (2) John Jenny [BrLR 3:61]. With second wife iv SARAH, b. Plymouth about 1641 (aged "about ninety years" December 1731 [Plymouth County Court Records 2:125]); m. by April 1661 John Hayward. v JACOB, b. say 1643; m. Plymouth 7 November 1666 Susanna Pope [ PCR 8:31], daughter of THOMAS POPE . (On 5 March 1677/8 Experience Mitchell, Edward Mitchell and Joseph Bartlett were appointed guardians of the children of Jacob Mitchell [ PCR 5:188, 252].) vi EDWARD, b. say 1645; m. (1) about 1668 Mary Hayward ("and lived with her forty years without children" [ TAG 59:31]); m. (2) Plymouth 26 August 1708 Alice Bradford [ PVR 89]. vii JOHN, b. say 1650; m. (1) Duxbury 14 December 1675 Mary Bonney; m. (2) Duxbury 14 January 1679[/80] Mary Lathrup; m. (3) Duxbury 24 May 1682 Mary Prior. viii HANNAH, b. say 1662; m. by 1682 as his third wife Joseph Hayward (eldest child b. Bridgewater 20 March 1682/3). ASSOCIATIONS: Thomas Mitchell, nephew of Experience Mitchell, wrote two letters to his relatives in New England, one dated 23 April 1661 [NS], and the other in 1689 [ Pilgrim Notes & Queries 3:101-4]. In the earlier of these two letters he asks his uncle Experience, "to present my respects and my sisters' and their husbands' to my Aunt Jean Gunn and my cousin Joseph." Jean Gunn remains unidentified and no record of her has been found in New England. COMMENTS: In 1973 John B. Threlfall pointed out the likelihood that Jane Cooke was not the mother of all the children of Experience Mitchell, with daughter Elizabeth and son Thomas as the only two who could be certainly ascribed to this mother [ NEHGR 127:94-95]. Ten years later Robert S. Wakefield emphasized the same points, with the additional point that Jane (Cooke) Mitchell must have died before Bradford prepared his accounting of Mayflower families early in 1651 [ TAG 59:28-31]. Both Threlfall and Wakefield note the possibility that daughter Mary was also a child of Jane (Cooke) Mitchell. The dates assigned above indicate a gap of nearly a decade between Mary and the next child of Experience Mitchell, with all later children following at more or less normal intervals. This chronological analysis places Mary in the same sequence as Elizabeth and Thomas and separates her from the other children. Although the evidence is not as strong as that for Elizabeth and Thomas, we feel more strongly than Threlfall or Wakefield that Mary was a daughter of Jane (Cooke) Mitchell. In this connection it should also be noted that the last child, Hannah, seems to be considerably younger than all the others, raising the possibility that Mary was the third wife of Experience rather than the second. In 1980 John B. Threlfall presented a document showing that on 3 April 1633 Mary Smedley and Mary Michell of Amsterdam "(where their husbands and children remain)" wished to return from England where they had been visiting friends. Mary Michell was described as the wife of Thomas Michell and Threlfall suggested that Thomas was a brother of Experience [ TAG 56:97-98]. On 20 June 1654, Experience Mitchell, Miles Standish, John Alden and Philip Delanoy were ordered to settle the bounds between Arther Howland and Thomas Doged [ PCR 3:62]. BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTE: Lora A.W. Underhill prepared a lengthy treatment of Experience Mitchell as part of her examination of the Small and allied families [ Small Gen 507-98]."
  Person ID	I2843	Ellingboe
  Last Modified	6 Jan 2011

  
  

• Sources

  [S96] Anderson, Robert Charles, Pilgram Migration, (Boston, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004), p. 326 (Reliability: 3). [S176] Wood, Ralph V., Jr., Francis Cooke of the Mayflower, (Camden, Maine, General Society of Mayflower Dedscendants, 1996 Volume: Vol. 12), p. 29 (Reliability: 3).