Baptized: February 26, 1592/3 in Coningsby,
Lincolnshire, England
Occupation: Minister - First minister
in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Immigration: Arrived in 1629
on the George Bonaventure with his wife and family as part of the "advance
party" of the Puritans before Winthrop's Fleet was to arrive. Winthrop's
Fleet, bearing the main body of first Puritan settlers, arrived in 1630.
He was 36 years old and the three children with him were ages 2-6. One
more child would be welcomed into this family the year after arrival, in
1630.
Spouse: Susanna Travis, daughter
of William Travis, was born in Horbling, Lincolnshire, England, on September
11, 1597. They were married on April 27, 1619, in Sempringham, England.
Susanna died in the year following their arrival, on March 15, 1630/1,
in Salem, Mass. She was only 33 years old. Samuel did not remarry. (See
NEHGR 52:349).
Death: Samuel died in Salem, Mass
on August 2, 1634, age 41. The children would have still been young, ages
from 4-12. I'm not aware of what happened to them after their father's
death, but an Alice Beggarly (also known as Daniels) was in control of
his estate for some time after his death.
Primary source for above: The Great Migration Begins,
Anderson, 1995
Savage on Skelton:
"SAMUEL, Salem, came from Co. Lincoln, in 1629, arr.
with w. and ch. three or four, in the George, 29 June, in co. with Samuel
Sharpe, hav. sail. 4 May from Isle of Wight. He was b. 1584, bred at Clare
Hall, Cambr. Univ. where he had his degr. 1611 and 1614; nam. by
the Gov. and Comp. at London to be of the Counc. to Capt. Endicot, wh.
they appoint. Gov. of the Planta. as they heard that E. had "formerly receiv.
much good by his ministry;" but prob. he never was sw. for the arrest of
his assoc. the Browns, bef. com. of the commiss. would prevent organiz.
or action. But in the pulpit his right as pastor, as well as that
of Higginson, for teacher, was fix. 6 Aug. 1629. Desir. adm. as freem.
19 Oct. 1630, he was rec. 18 May foll. His w. d. 15 Mar. 1631, and prob.
he took ano. w. if the ord. of Court, June 1638, with the consent of Mrs.
Baggerly," that the incr. of his "cattle shd. b. div. acc. to Mr.
Skelton's will; and that the goods and household stuff wh. belong to the
three eldest ch. shd. be div. by some of the ch." be constr. to mean, that
he left a younger ch. and we might infer, that his. wid. had tak. new h.
Mr. Baggerly. But no such name is found in Felt's list of ch. memb. of
Salem, nor indeed does any Skelton appear there, but the pastor. He rec.
in July 1632 gr. of four lots of ld. of various quantity; from the Col.
besides what the town may have gr. if any, tho. no such benefact. to either
him or Higginson, or any ch. of either is ment. He d. 2 Aug. 1634, and
much do we regret the loss of his will, that perhaps would have nam. the
childr. In his Ann. II. 568, Mr. Felt explains the denial to Gov. Winthrop,
Isaac Johnson, and compan. of libert. to unite in the Lord's Supper, or
to have a ch. bapt. for wh. Cotton, then at home express. his surpr. and
regr. No wonder the Browns were driv. away, when these later comers could
not by Mr. Skelton be adm. to his communion as "not memb. of reformed chhs."
The great master of us all would gladly have rec. these men; but the rigid
separatists had sterner sense of duty. So extreme was their repugn. to
the formulary, wh. they had onced used in their weekly worsh. that they
would not longer believe, in the communion of saints."
SAVAGE, VOL 4 DICT FIRST SETTLERS OF NEW ENGLAND
Note that Savage speculated that Mrs. Baggerly was
possibly a second wife. TGMB only speculates that she was "related someehow."
Note also Savage has his birth year wrong.
Bancroft on Skelton:
"As the propagating of the gospel was the professed
aim of the company, care was taken to make plentiful provision of godly
ministers; all "of one judgment, and fully agreed on the manner how to
exercise their ministry." One of them was Samuel Skelton, of Clare Hall,
Cambridge, from whose faithful preachings Endecott had formerly received
much good; a friend to the utmost equality of privileges in church and
state. Another was the able, reverend, and grave Francis Higginson, of
Jesus College, Cambridge, commended for his worth by Isaac Johnson, the
friend of Hampden. Deprived of his parish in Leicester for non-conformity,
he received the invitation to conduct the emigrants as a call from Heaven."
History of the United States by George Bancroft (6
Volumes) Volume 1 Part 1 The English People Found a Nation in America Chapter
13 New England's Plantation
"NATHANIEL FELTON (1615-1705) came to Salem, in 1633, with his mother
"Misstress Eleanor Felton", his sisters Judith and Margaret, and his uncle
Benjamin Felton. Nathaniel Felton married Mary, daughter of Rev. Samuel
Skelton who was educated at Cambridge and was Rector of Semperingham and
afterwards the first Minister at Salem. Nathaniel Felton was born at Great
Yarmouth, Norfolk, England.
MARY SKELTON (1627-1701) was the daughter of the Reverend Samuel
Skelton (1597-1634), M. A. 1615, Clare Hall, Cambridge, who married Susanna
Trevis of Semperingham, County Lincoln, England, and who died March 15,
1631. Mr. Skelton was Governor Endecott's spiritual adviser while in England
and aided by Endecott and the Reverend Francis Higginson, founded the First
Church in Salem, 1629. Reverend Samuel Skelton was Pastor of church; Reverend
Francis Higginson was Teacher."
Memoir of Samuel Endicott With a Genealogy of his Descendants,
Pg 83