Introduction: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry writes about people whose ancestors were Revolutionary War patriots descended from Mayflower passengers. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.
Today I begin my series on “Patriot to Passenger” following the research compiled by past Elder Historian General Muriel Cushing of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants (GSMD) known as the Patriot to Passenger Bridge Project. The project’s list is a continuous effort to publish the names of Revolutionary War Patriots who descend from Mayflower passengers or married into Mayflower lines.
The goal of this project is to build a bridge between lineage societies, more specifically Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), and the General Society of Mayflower Descendants.
First Alden-Bass Connection
Former member Gertrude “Gert” Ann Crane Schubbe (1930-2023), daughter of Vernon Myatt and Stella Irene (Geary) Crane, and wife of Darrell Schubbe, joined the GSMD in Minnesota under Mayflower passengers John Alden and Pricilla Mullens.
Gert’s patriot ancestor was Joseph Crane (1756-1841), born in Milton, Massachusetts, to Joesph and Mary (Copeland) Crane, daughter of Elizabeth (Bent) and David Copeland, son of William and Mary (Bass) Copeland, daughter of John and Ruth (Alden) Bass, daughter of John and Priscilla (Mullins) Alden.
According to DAR records, Joseph Crane enlisted in 1777 under Captain Aaron Smith to reinforce the northern army and served in Captain John Armstrong’s company of Massachusetts militia in 1781 in Rhode Island.
Joseph Crane married Deliverance Mills, daughter of Solomon and Elizabeth (Kingsbury) Mills. Joseph died in Washington, New Hampshire.
Gert’s line: Joseph and Deliverance Crane had a son Samuel Crane (1786-1857), who married Caturah (Katura) Roundy (1793-1856), and their son James Harvey Crane married Abial Reed, and their son Watson Edward Crane married Anna Myatt and had a son Vernon Myatt Crane, the father of Gert.
In this photo, Gert and her husband Darrell proudly display a very old wooden model of the Mayflower which they bought at auction in poor shape and then refurbished it. This photo appeared in an article entitled “Ancestors Were Pilgrims.”
Second Alden-Bass Connection
Elizabeth “Lizzie” Florence Briggs Webster (1853-1940), born to shipbuilder Harrison Otis and Hannah Elizabeth (Stetson) Briggs, married Andrew Gerrish Webster (1846-1939), son of David Locke and Johanna Rich (Rider) Webster.
Lizzie has a direct line to Mayflower passengers John Alden and Pricilla Mullens through her Patriot ancestor Micah Stetson (1754-1838), born in Scituate, Massachusetts, to Jonah and Elizabeth (Hatch) Stetson. Micah married Sarah Copeland (1756-1842), daughter of Elizabeth (Tolman) and Joseph Copeland, son of William and Mary (Bass) Copeland, daughter of John and Ruth (Alden) Bass, daughter of John and Priscilla (Mullins) Alden.
Micah Stetson is recorded as a “Minute Man” on the Patriot to Passenger Bridge Project list and marched to the alarm at Lexington. He served as sergeant and made a corporeal in Captain Joseph Stetson’s company. According to records he was sent on a secret mission to Rhode Island.
Micah’s complete service records are referenced in “Mayflower Families through Five Generations: Descendants of the Pilgrims Who Landed at Plymouth, Mass., December 1620,” Plymouth, Massachusetts: GSMD.
Micah also served as a foreman in Captain Jedidiah Thayer’s company of carpenters, Corps of Artificers, comprised of a select group of highly skilled craftsmen formed for the production of objects necessary for the war effort.
Micah is listed on the payroll with master builders, which included his brother-in-law cabinetmaker Benjamin Vassall (1748-1838), who married Lusanna “Lucy” Stetson. Benjamin is not on the Patriot to Passenger list, but any descendants would be eligible.
In this photo, looking through the window is Hannah Elizabeth (Stetson) Briggs (1828-1881), wife of Harrison Otis Briggs, with her three children (left to right): Ella Stetson Briggs (1849-1939), who married George Andrew Thayer; Franklin Harrison Briggs (1860-1930); and Elizabeth “Lizzie” Florence Briggs (1853-1940), who married Andrew Gerrish Webster.
Third Alden- Bass Connection
Mabel Spellman (1881-1972), daughter of Judge John Martin and Mabel Ruth (Heafer) Spellman, made headlines in 1923 when she won two medals in the grammar department of Moores Preparatory School in Texas. This Dallas Morning News article also recorded her Mayflower lineage.
According to this newsclip (with information I added to clarify her lineage):
Miss Spellman directly descends from Mayflower passengers John Alden and Priscilla Mullins, classically famous in Longfellow’s “The Courtship of Miles Standish.”
Her line comes down through her mother Mabel Heafer (1881-1972), who is the daughter of James Henry and Nancy “Jane” Maria (Waring) Heafer.
Miss Spellman directly descends from Captain John and Ruth (Alden) Bass and their daughter Elizabeth Bass, who married Daniel Henshaw. Their daughter Elizabeth married Patriot Samuel Denny (1731-1817), and their son Isaac Denny married Grace Tidd (1773-1859). Their daughter Mariah Denny (1797-1883) married William Williams (1787-1875), and their daughter Harriet Ward Williams (1827-1866) married Francis Waring (1826-1908). Their daughter Nancy “Jane” Maria Waring (1853-1925) married James Henry Heafer (1848-1931); Nancy and James are the parents of Miss Spellman’s mother Mabel.
Miss Spellman’s Patriot ancestor Samuel Denny was born in Leicester, Massachusetts, to Daniel and Rebecca (Jones) Denny. He was a lieutenant colonel under his brother-in-law Colonel William Henshaw at the Lexington Alarm. In 1766 he served as colonel. He gave valuable service in the General Court and as chairman of the Committee of Safety of Leicester.
Ruth Alden married John Bass on 3 February 1657, and they had eight children together. The United States’ 2nd President John Adams (1797-1801) and 6th President John Quincy Adams (1825-1829) are among their descendants.
To be continued…
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Note on the header image: patriot to passenger #2. Credit: Melissa Davenport Berry.