MICHAEL METCALF, Sr. was born in 1586 or June 17, 1587 (his older
brother was baptized in July 1587) in Tatterford, Norfolk County, England.
He married Oct 13, 1616 to Sarah Elwyn (born June 17, 1593 in Hingham,
Norfolk County; the daughter of Thomas Elwyn & Elizabeth Benslye. Elwyn
family:
Thomas Elwyn, son of William Elwyn Jr (1537-1616) & Alice, was
born 1564 in Heigham, Norfolk, England. Elizabeth Benslye born abt 1565
in Heigham, Norfolk, England. William Elwyn Sr. , b 1510; m unknown; was
son of Peter Elwyn (b abt1480, England) & Lucy
Michael was a dornix weaver and owned a cloth factory in Norwich,
Norfolk County, England, that employed 100 men making damask or dornix
(a material that was used for making carpets, curtains or wall hangings.
Here he was made a freeman, June 21, 1618. Their first 7 children
were born in St. Benedict's, Norwich; the other 4 at St. Edmondsbury.
He was a man of prominence in his city and church. He lost his
property by a Star Chamber fine under the persecution of Bishop Wren.
He felt he must emigrate to America to escape further religious persecution
and gives the following reasons for leaving:
“I was persecuted in the land of my father’s
sepulchres, for not bowing at the name of Jesus, and observing other ceremonies
in religion, forced upon me, at the instance of Bishop Wren of Norwich
and his chancellor Dr. Corbet, whose violent measures troubled me in the
Bishop’s Court, and returned me into the High Commissioners’ Court.
Suffering many times for the cause of religion, I was forced, for the sake
of the liberty of my conscience, to flee from my wife and children, to go
into New-England; taking ship for the voyage at London the 17th of Sept
1636; being by tempest tossed up and down the seas till the Christmas following;
then veering about to Plymouth in Old England; in which time I met with
many sore affliction....
“Leaving the ship, I went down to Yarmouth, in Norfolk County, whence
I shipped myself and family, to come to New England; sailed 15th April,
1637, and arrived three days before midsummer, with my wife, nine children,
and a servant.” (Thomas Comberbach, aged 16)
“...My enemies conspired against me to take away my life, and sometimes,
to avoid their hands, my wife did hide me in the roof of the house, covering
me over with straw.”
These excerpts came from a letter of Jan 13, 1636 written in Plymouth,
England and directed “To all the true professors of Christ’s Gospel within
the city of Norwich.”
Evidently he tried to sail alone in Sept. 1636, but the ship was driven
back to London, so he gathered his family and sailed again in April, 1637.
Bishop Wren held the See of Norwich for 2 years & 4 months. A Committee
of Parliament later charged him with the departure of 3000 people, who
fled his persecution to Holland and America. His Star Chamber Court
was abolished in 1640. Michael sailed from Ipswich in the “John and
Dorothy” or the “Rose” (both ships passenger lists were recorded together).
He was 45 and Sarah was 39 years old when they came to America with their
9 children.
Boston was first settled in 1630 with 1000 people, beginning the Great
Migration: 1630-1640 when 16,000 people fled to Massachusetts to escape
religious persecution in England. After arriving at Boston in Midsummer,
1637, Michael settled at Dedham (SW of Boston), where he was admitted
a townsman July 14, 1637; joined the church in 1639; and was Selectman in
1641. He was a school master, and was on the committee to build the meetinghouse.
He had a clay pit on Dedham Island where bricks were manufactured.
Sarah died Nov 30, 1644. Michael married Aug 13, 1645 at Dedham to
Mary Pigge(Pidge), widow of Thomas of Roxbury, Mass. "Thomas Pig died
of Dec 30, 1643 in Roxbury of dropsy, a godly Christian man. He had a fall
& a bruise on his back, which hurt his kidneys & not carefully cured
they utterly wasted away & many other of his entrails. Mary Pigge the
wife of Thomas Pigge was admitted to Roxbury church as member #85. She married
2nd in Dedham 13 August 1645 to Michael Metcalf, as his second wife.”
Sarah’s Pigge children were:
1. Mary, born 1622; m Nicholas Wood
2. Ann, buried 1626/7
3. Sarah, bapt 1626, buried 1629
4. Hannah, bapt 1629
5. Thomas, bapt 1631, buried 1632 (7 mos)
6. Thomas, born abt 1635; d abt 1660
7. Sarah, b 1637; m Thomas Metcalfe (her stepbrother)
8. John, b abt 1640; m Mary Farrington
9. Martha, b Roxbury 1642/3; m Benjamin Bullard
Michael died Dec 27, 1664 at Dedham, Mass. (age 78).
Children of Michael & Sarah, all born in England:
4a) MICHAEL METCALF, born Nov 13, 1617; died young in England
4b) MARY METCALF (or Marcy), born Feb 14, 1618; married Nov 24, 1642
at Dedham to Henry Wilson
4c* MICHAEL
METCALF Jr, born Aug 29, 1620; married Feb 2, 1644 at Dedham to Mary
Fairbanks; died 1654; children: (Mary's brother was an ancestor of
President George Bush)
...... 4c1) MICHAEL METCALF, b 1645; m Elizabeth
Kingsbury
...... 4c2) MARY METCALF, b 1646; m John Ware
...... 4c3) SARAH METCALF, b 1648; m Robert
Ware
...... 4c4) JONATHAN METCALF, b 1650; m Hannah
Kendric
...... 4c5* ELEAZER
METCALF, b 1653; m Meletia
Fisher
4d) JOHN METCALF, born Sept 5, 1622; married Mar 22, 1647 to
Mary Chickering (daug of Francis); died Nov 27, 1675 at Dedham, Mass.
Children:
...... 4d1) JOHN METCALF, b Mar 21, 1648
...... 4d2) MICHAEL METCALF, b Aug 20, 1650
...... 4d3) MARY METCALF, b Oct 2, 1652
...... 4d4) JOSEPH METCALF, b 1658 in Medfield
4e) SARAH METCALF, born Sept 10, 1624; married Robert Onion
of Dedham
4f) ELIZABETH METCALF, born Oct 4, 1626; married Sept 15, 1648
at Dedham to Thomas Bancroft of Reading
4g) MARTHA METCALF, born Mar 27, 1628; married 1st William
Brignall; married 2nd Aug. 2, 1654 at Dedham to Christopher Smith; married
3rd ? Stow
4h) THOMAS METCALF, born Dec 27, 1629 (one record makes Thomas
the 4th child, b Jan 7, 1622); married 1st July 12, 1656 (MR) at Dedham
to Sarah Pigge(Paige), his step-sister; married 2nd Dec 2, 1679 to Anne
Paine; he was a deacon at Dedham; died Nov 16, 1702
...... 4h1) SARAH METCALF, b Mar 3, 1658; m Samuel
Whiting, 1676
...... 4h2) SAMUEL METCALF, b Oct 17, 1661; d 1713
...... 4h3) Thomas Metcalf, b Sept 22, 1665; d
as an infant
...... 4h4) THOMAS METCALF, b May 7, 1671; m Sarah
Avery, Nov 24, 1696; d 1704
...... 4h5) JOHN METCALF, b Sept 20, 1675
...... 4h6) Judith Metcalf, b Oct/Dec 25, 1677;
d 1682
4i) ANN METCALF (may have been Joanne), born Mar 1, 1631; died
young in England
4j) JANE METCALF, born Mar 24, 1632; married Samuel Walker
of Rehoboth (her name may have been Joan Waker). Another marriage
record shows a Jane Metcalf married Phillip Walker, 1654, Rehoboth, Mass.
4k) REBEKAH METCALF, born Apr 5, 1635; married Feb 5, 1659
(marr. rec.) to John Mackintosh of Dedham
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