The document titled Profile of Richard Mills , shows what was found for him in the Sherington and Newport Pagnell area of Buckinghamshire and for his adult life in Enfield, Middlesex. His children are included as are some of his grandchildren. His will is also in the document.
It’s important to keep in mind that research on Richard was not intensive and no attempt was made to document every descendant or event in his life. It’s possible some of his children were christened or buried outside Enfield. He likely had children who moved away from Enfield and had their families in other parishes. Working with the surname Mills in the London area generates a lot of finds even in the 1600s, so other than the more obvious possibilities for Richard’s family no further attempt was made to follow this line any farther.
John Kendall alias Mills Sr. lived from 1623-1666. He fathered only one known child, but may have had other children. He died during an outbreak of plague that hit Newport Pagnell particularly hard. He had at least two wives, but despite knowing the name of the second wife, no marriage has been found for either marriage. For a more complete description of his life, property transactions, will, burial, and more follow this link.
How did Y-DNA help determine the parentage of Francis Kendall? For the answer to that question to make sense, some basic knowledge of Y-DNA is required.
What is Y-DNA?
Y-DNA is passed down only by males to males.[1] It is a direct father to son transmission for every generation in a paternal line. Women do not carry Y-DNA, not even from their fathers. It is part of the Y chromosome, which women do not get. Y-DNA changes only a little over many generations so a father’s or even a great grandfather’s Y-DNA may be identical to a son’s or great grandson’s. Or it may change, but minute differences can only be detected by a specific Y-DNA test.
Y-DNA vs atDNA
Y-DNA, as stated, changes little over multiple generations of males, but autosomal DNA (atDNA) changes a lot with every generation.[2] Autosomal DNA is the test most of us are familiar with, being done by Ancestry, 23 and Me, FamilyTreeDNA, My Heritage and others. Male and female children in any given family can make use of autosomal testing because every person inherits approximately half their autosomal DNA from each parent and every succeeding generation does the same. Autosomal DNA is quickly watered down as it passes through multiple generations, so a great grandparent and a great grandchild share only 12.5% (or less) of their DNA. That is a large difference from the 100% or nearly 100% inheritance of Y-DNA over the same number of paternal generations.
Y-DNA and surnames
Typically, Y-DNA goes hand in hand with the transmission of a surname in European/European-settled cultures (like North and South America) and in many Asian countries. However, surnames and Y-DNA do not always go hand in hand because of NPEs.[3] Whether the acronym stands for Non-Paternity (or Non-Parental) Event, or Not the Parent Expected, the meaning of the term is that the paper trail and DNA results are not a match. This may happen for several reasons including illegitimacy, adoption, use of alias surnames and the fluidity of surnames, intentional name changes, and more. When using Y-DNA as evidence to build a family tree, caution about what to expect should always be exercised.
Before reading this, please read the post titled Why Y-DNA? if you are not already familiar with Y-DNA testing for genealogy. It will explain how Y-DNA can be used for genealogical research.
Kendall testing
My husband took a Big-Y 700 DNA test in February 2023. His test matched that of another man with the surname Mills in the same haplogroup on all but 13 out of 700 markers. Genetically speaking, that is a paternal line relationship. However, Y-DNA changes very little and very slowly, so even close Y-DNA cousins may have a most recent common ancestor (MRCA) born before church or vital records were commonly kept. FamilyTreeDNA (FTDNA), a well-known testing company for Y-DNA, hosts the Kendall Y-DNA project and many others. FTDNA has estimated the common ancestor for my husband and the other tester was living between 1450 and 1800, with the greatest likelihood around 1600 to 1650.[1] With a connection that early, finding an MRCA might not be possible, but there were other clues we could use.
Colonial America Kendalls
Many Kendall family histories, including a number of those for the Francis Kendall family, state he and his brother, Thomas, came from either Cambridgeshire or Norfolk in England. None provided original documentation for those statements. Generations of Francis and Thomas Kendall descendants have combed Cambridgeshire and Norfolk without success for a family of Kendalls with sons named Thomas and Francis (born about 1616 and 1620).
Failure to find Francis and Thomas in either Cambridgeshire or Norfolk told us one of two things. Either they were from one of those counties but lived in a parish without records in the early 1600s, or researchers were looking in the wrong places. Without an additional clue, a different location for their origin would have been hard to determine.
The clue that sent research in the right direction was the Y-DNA testing. It also proved Kendall Y-DNA testers are in many different haplogroups (about 20 so far). Therefore, Kendalls are not all closely related and did not all come from the same place. This is a shout-out to Scott Kendall for all the work he has done on the Kendall DNA projectand to all those who have joined the project. Without his project and chart, it would be difficult to make Y-DNA comparisons.
Besides the family of Rafe Mills alias Kendall, there were others in Newport Pagnell and the local area using the alias surname from the 1560s through the 1750s. The alias surname is unique, so these others MUST have been related to Rafe, whether by marriage, adoption or blood. But it’s tough to establish exactly HOW they all relate. This post sets out what we know and what we theorise about them.
The earliest Kendalls, Millses and aliases
Newport Pagnell PRs start in 1550 and provide our earliest evidence of Kendalls and Mylls there in the records for just two families.[1]
1. Hewgh Kendall with a wife probably named Margery was having children in Newport from 1560 to 1570, all recorded or known solely as Kendall. Hewgh was possibly born c1535 and buried on 4 January 1595/6, giving a rough age at death of 60ish. He did not leave a Will. The family group:
Hewgh Kendall Family [wife possibly Margery buried 27 Oct 1604]
Hewgh born c1535, buried 27 Oct 1604
1560, 8 Dec – Joan dau of Hewgh Kendall bap [buried 11 Dec 1560]
1561/2, 15 Jan – Andrew son of Hewgh Kendall buried
1561/2, 15 Jan – Ann dau of Hewgh Kendall buried
c1563 – Anthony Kendall [no baptism found, known as Kendall in adult records]
c1564-5 – Elizabeth Kendall [no baptism found, married John Kyght in Newport 5 Dec 1586]
1566, 2 May – John Kendall (no father named – as a Kendall more likely to be Hewgh, but could be Thomas – fate unknown unless he was the eldest son John named in Thomas’ 1605 Will, see below)
1570 – Agnes dau of Hewgh Kendall bap [possibly buried 7 May 1594]
Possibly a dau Isabell buried as an older child or adult on 29 September 1584.
Of Hewgh’s sons, only Anthony is known for sure to have survived and had descendants in Newport, all named Kendall, none using the alias surname.
Can more research be done on the Kendall alias Mills family? Of course. That’s always the answer when it comes to genealogical research. We try to exhaust available sources, but most of the time we are exhausted (time-wise and/or funding) before they are. As I write this last instalment in the Mills alias Kendall story, I am moving on to other lines and ancestors, but if anyone wants to pick up this baton there is more searching and analyzing to do.
A lot of big questions about the ancestry of Francis and Thomas Kendall have been answered. Due to the unique alias surname that Francis used (Kendall alias Mills) and a lot of supporting evidence (see the many posts written about the research finds), we have added quite a lot to the family saga. We have found where Francis and Thomas came from in England (Sherington/Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire), who the father of Francis and Thomas was (Ralph), the names of their siblings (John, Richard, Elizabeth, Mary, and Susan), what their general economic status was (well enough off to own a little land), and what occupations the family had (mostly carpenters). However, there are still a few “holes” in our knowledge of the Kendall alias Mills family and their connections. These form suggestions for future research. I have grouped the biggest remaining questions into three categories based on place and time.
Pedigree research:
Who are Ralph Kendall alias Mills’ descendants today? Research may trace the progeny of Richard and John (brothers of Francis) who had known descendants, and perhaps also find family ties through Ralph’s daughters, Elizabeth, Susan, and Mary.
Who are the descendants of John Mills & Ann Dancer and their son, James Mills, the ancestors of the Mills DNA tester? Finding living descendants of James Mills (see post titled How Y-DNA helped identify Francis Kendall alias Miles/Mills) will give us a better chance of finding how the ancestors of James Mills connect to the Ralph Kendall alias Mills family.
A transcript of a letter Edward Starbuck wrote to John Winthrop (yes, Massachusetts Bay Governor John Winthrop) has survived and was published in the New Hampshire State Papers.[1] It is not the original hand-written letter, but it appears to have been written by Edward himself. That piece of evidence plus others indicate Edward was literate.
In addition, his signature was preserved on two original documents including:
The Dover Combination (Original at PRO in London, transcribed copies indicate the signature was abbreviated Edward Starr: or that was all that could be read)[2]
A petition to the governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1654 (below)[3]
Edward’s signature from the 1654 petition is slightly different from his signature on a 1675 petition to Governor Andros (see below).[4] The difference may be due to Edward aging more than twenty years, or one of the two signatures may have been copied. Each petition has different handwriting/letter formation for most of the signatures, so it’s likely at least some, if not all, of the signatures are original.
More evidence
The clerks for Dover, Nantucket, and Rockingham County, New Hampshire were careful to note the differences between signatures and marks when transferring documents into their town and deed books. The records below were transferred into various books and each entry indicated Edward wrote his own name on the original document. In many cases, others who signed the same documents were noted on the transcript as using a mark. This is a partial list of items Edward signed:
An agreement for a grant of Nantucket land to William Worth in 1674[21]
As Nantucket magistrate, Edward acknowledged a 1674/75 land sale by John Savidge[22]
As signer a of petitions to Governor Andros in 1675, on which his signature was preserved[23]
And as witness or seller in several other deeds, agreements, and other legal matters.
In addition to the list of documents Edward signed, there are two other indications he was literate.
He was brought into court to affirm his signature on a 1647 document clearing Nathaniel Boulter of a debt to Darby Field.[24]
A November 1679 entry for a Salisbury, Massachusetts court session stated a letter written by Edward Starbuck, dated 2 July 1648 or 1658, was entered into the court record.[25]
Edward was Educated
A post by Celia describes possibilities for Edward’s silent years (those with no direct documentation). Becoming literate during that time is highly probable. By 1640, he was confident enough in his own literacy to write to a governor, sign petitions, and conduct his businesses as well as assisting others with theirs. Even without a documented school record, it is clear he must have been taught privately or publicly. How much he was taught is a good question, but we can with some confidence state his vocabulary and grammar indicate he was educated through primary and possibly grammar school (ages 10-14).
Edward’s son Nathaniel could at least sign his name, if not more. There are plenty of Dover and Nantucket documents he signed, his will (when he was quite elderly and possibly in poor health) is the only document with an X. Edward’s daughters, Abigail and Sarah signed documents with an X, but no document requiring Dorcas’s signature could be found.
The Letter to Governor Winthrop
Edward’s letter to John Winthrop was about an issue in Dover with a man named John Underhill. He was a town leader, and ostensibly governor of Dover, but he was not doing his job and was interfering with the upcoming merger with Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Bay eventually governed Dover and other nearby towns for most of the second half of the 1600s, though there were legal issues to negotiate first.
Here is a small portion of the transcript of that letter. It has the typical spelling variations, word choices, and capitalization that documents in that time have. Edward shows throughout the letter that he could construct complex sentences.
This letter survived because of its recipient. Most private correspondence from the 1600s between individuals has disappeared if it hasn’t been passed down through families. While archives often have correspondence written by and to notable individuals and scholars, it’s unusual to have surviving letters written by businessmen or tradesmen to others in their socio-economic class. Yet we know they wrote to friends, to family, to ecclesiastical leaders, to business associates, and to government officials. Without national and international government-run postal systems, how did seventeenth century letters reach their destinations?
Letter delivery in the 1600s
Before a general postal service was established, letter writers were tasked with finding their own methods of sending mail. If it was travelling within or between North American colonies, that task was relatively simple. Merchants, family members/friends or Native Americans traveling by foot or on horseback could be entrusted with correspondence that would very likely reach its destination.[26]
Distance transportation was more challenging, especially if it involved ocean travel or a wilderness trek. The trans-oceanic delivery problem was partially solved in 1633 when the General Court of Massachusetts designated Richard Fairbanks’ tavern in Boston as the official site of mail delivery going to or coming from overseas, a practice that had been long used by England.[27] That pattern was picked up by other port towns and spread inland. Most trans-oceanic mail came and went on merchant’s ships, but any trusted vessel could be used. Personal and merchantile networks often overlapped with business partners passing along private letters. Redundancy was employed to ensure at least one copy of a letter made it to its destination.[28]
Regular horseback postal routes were eventually established, hence the naming of the Old Boston Post Road, today’s Route 1.[29] The road was used regularly to transfer mail between New York and Boston and included branches that passed through Providence, Rhode Island, New Haven Connecticut, and Hartford, Connecticut.[30] It is unlikely a scheduled mail service existed between Dover and Boston by 1640, but letters were passing between those locations by the early 1630s as shown through a letter written by William Hilton to John Winthrop Jr. in Ipswich, Massachusetts, asking Winthrop to carry letters Hilton was forwarding to their final destination in Boston.[31]
Letters often traveled in an indirect route, passing from villages and small towns to larger ones and eventually to their ultimate destination. By the time Edward wrote to Governor John Winthrop, travelers passed regularly between Dover and Boston and would have been given mail to deliver or drop off at a local tavern or town meeting hall. In the case of Edward’s letter to Governor Winthrop, it may have been delivered personally to him as the governor was a prolific correspondent with a large correspondence postal network in place.
The broader picture
Because so few personal letters from the 1600s survive, we may unintentionally minimize their importance to early North American immigrants. Even before leaving England, puritan and dissenter networks forged links outside home parishes with others who planned to immigrate, possibly coalescing around a well-known preacher, or simply forming a community with which to travel and settle.[32] Unfortunately no pre-immigration letters from Edward nor from his correspondents have been found.
Edward’s choice of Piscataqua Plantation for his home, the name for the Dover area in the 1630s, is somewhat atypical. Most of those who came to North America that decade settled in the more “civilized” areas under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts Bay Colony or Plymouth Colony. Piscataqua Planation began in the 1620s as a commercial enterprise tasked with sending fish and other natural resources back to England. Most of the initial residents did not plan on settling, rather coming for a year or two to earn money and then return to England.
So, how did Edward hear about the Dover area and when? What made him think it would be a suitable location for him and especially his family? How did he know it was an area where his skills would be in demand enough to earn his living there? More questions could be asked, but they all come down to the answer of someone told him about Dover. It’s possible that happened after he reached North America, but that would probably have necessitated him staying in Boston or another port town for a while. That could have happened, but there is no record of Edward being anywhere prior to his settlement in Dover. It appears that was his first residence.
Unfortunately, we cannot put a name to who told Edward about Piscataqua Plantation and its opportunities. It may have been in a letter sent to him, or to someone else since letters with news often became public knowledge no matter who the recipient was.[33] By the 1630s dissenter networks had become sophisticated enough to regularly pass news between England and New England.[34]
Edward may also have seen a notice posted in Sawley or another English parish. A recruiter passing through Derbyshire looking for men to harvest New England resources for export may have encouraged him to move or a push through a dissenter network to get more puritan-leaning settlers to North America or to Dover may have been behind his relocation. There is no remaining evidence or correspondence to answer this question.
Another thing we do know about emigrating puritans is that it was a collaborative effort.[35] Most travelers needed pre- and post- migration support and the way to get that was through building up relationships through correspondence. Even the choice of carrier could have an impact if that individual could certify acquaintance with and the sincerity of the letter writer. Letters to other godly believers rooted the writer, not in English soil, but in relationships with fellow travelers and supporters. Did Edward do this before he immigrated to Dover? We don’t know, but if he followed the typical pattern of early dissenter/puritan travelers he may have been part of a network of like-minded individuals who initiated travel plans and found the place to settle before leaving Starbucky Territory. In his papers, Governor Winthrop said Edward Starbuck’s letter was the biggest factor in his decision to oppose Underhill. Clearly, Edward had the skills needed to write a persuasive letter.
[1] Nathaniel Bouton, editor, New Hampshire State Papers vol 1, (Concord, New Hampshire: George E Jenks, state printer, 1867), 126-128; digital images, New Hampshire Secretary of State (www.sos.nh.gov : accessed 3 March 2022).
[2] Sibyl Noyes, Charles Libby, Walter Davis, Genealogical Dictionary of New Hampshire and Maine, (Portland, Maine: The Southworth Press, 1928), 49.
[3] Massachusetts Bay Colony, Massachusetts State Archives Collection, Colonial Period, 1622-1788, volume 3:446, Edward Starbuck, 1654, FHL microfilm 2, 294,197, item 1, image 585/1626.
[4] Franklin Benjamin Hough, compiler, Papers relating to the Island of Nantucket while under the Colony of New York (Albany, New York: State of New York, 1856), 75-77, 81-82; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 6 January 2022). 75-77, 81-82.
[5] “Rockingham County, New Hampshire deeds,” database with images, Ava (www.ava.fidlar.com : accessed 9 June 2022), Edward Starbuck 10 April 1645.
[6] Nathaniel Bouton, editor, New Hampshire State Papers vol 40 (Concord, New Hampshire: George E Jenks, state printer, 1867)124-125; digital images, New Hampshire Secretary of State (www.sos.nh.gov : accessed 3 March 2022).
[7] “Rockingham County, New Hampshire deeds,” database with images, Ava, Edward Starbuck 20 December 1649.
[8] Dover, New Hampshire, Town Records 1647-1753; digitized images, City of Dover, NH (https://www.dover.nh.gov/government/city-operations/finance/city-clerk-tax-collection/historic-dover-records/ : accessed 10 August 2023), 21.
[9] “Rockingham County, New Hampshire deeds,” database with images, Ava, Edward Starbuck, 20 July 1653.
[10] George Wadleigh, Notable Events in the History of Dover, New Hampshire, from the First Settlement in 1623 to 1865 (Dover, NH: Tufts College Press, 1913), 37-38; digital images, Internet Archive (www.archive.org : accessed 10 August 2021).
[11] “Rockingham County, New Hampshire deeds,” database with images, Ava, Edward Starbuck, 6 Mar 1659/60 and 9 Mar 1659/60.
[12] Nantucket, Massachusetts, Deed Book 2:8, Edward Starbuck, 1660, FHL film 906,232, item 2, image 132/621; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 18 January 2023).
[13] Joshua Coffin, “Martha’s Vineyard,” New England Historical Genealogical Register 12 (1858): 33, American Ancestors (222.americanancestors.org : accessed 11 March 2022).
[14] Nathaniel Bouton, editor, New Hampshire State Papers vol 40; digital images, New Hampshire Secretary of State.
[15] Hough, Papers Relating to the Island of Nantucket While Under the Colony of New York, 13-14. Original record on film 945,268, item 1 Book 1, page 75.
[16] Nantucket, Massachusetts, Deeds Book 1:31, Edward Starbuck, 1663, FHL film 906,232, item 1, image 67/621; digital images Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 19 January 2023).
[17] “Rockingham County, New Hampshire deeds,” database with images, Ava, Edward Starbuck, 11 May 1664.
[18] Nantucket, Massachusetts, Deed Book 2: 28, Edward Starbuck, 1668, FHL Film 906,232, item 2, image 153/621; digital images, Family Search (www.familiysearch.org : accessed 8 February 2022).
[19] Franklin B. Hough, Papers Relating to the Island of Nantucket While Under the Colony of New York, 25.
[20] Nantucket, Massachusetts, Deed Book 2: 6, Edward Starbuck, 1674, FHL Film 906,232, item 2, image 130/621; digital images, Family Search (www.familiysearch.org : accessed 19 January 2022).
[21] [21] Nantucket, Massachusetts, Deeds Book 1:38, Edward Starbuck, 1674, FHL film 906,232, item 1, image 71/621; digital images Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 19 January 2023).
[22] Nantucket, Massachusetts, Deed Book 2: 11, Edward Starbuck, 1674/1675, FHL Film 906,232, item 2, image 135/621; digital images, Family Search (www.familiysearch.org : accessed 11 February 2022).
[23] Hough, Papers Relating to the Island of Nantucket While Under the Colony of New York, 75-77, 81-82.
[24] Essex Institute, “Old Norfolk County Records,” The Essex Antiquarian 2 (1898): 181, image copy American Ancestors (www.americanancestors.org: accessed 6 April 2022).
[25] The transcription indicated the year was uncertain due to difficulty reading the original entry. It proved Edward ran sawmills in Dover in the 1640s and 1650s. Records and Files of the Quarterly Court of Essex County, Massachusetts, Volume 7, 1678-1680 (Salem, Massachusetts: The Essex Institute, 1911), 286; digital images, Internet Archive (www.archive.org : accessed 23 March 2022).
[26] Rickie Longfellow, Transportation in America’s Postal System, online article in General Highway History, US Department of Transportation (https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/back0304.cfm#:~:text=In%20early%20colonial%20times%2C%20letter,service%20in%20the%20colonies%20appeared. : accessed 30 January 2024).
[27] Longfellow, Transportation in America’s Postal System, online article in General Highway History.
[28] Sarah Kate Hall, “Preserving Sociability: Negotiation and Mediation in Transatlantic Puritan Correspondence Networks, 1625-1649,” (Ph.D. thesis, East Anglia University, 2019), 102-103.
[29] Longfellow, Transportation in America’s Postal System, online article in General Highway History.
[30] Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org), “Boston Post Road,” rev. 21:24, 12 December 2023.
[31] William Hilton to John Winthrop Jr (18 April, 1633), typescript copy printed in the Winthrop Papers, III, 119, (https://www.masshist.org/publications/winthrop/index.php/view/PWF03p119: accessed 9 February 2024).
