peasefamily

Pease Family

This page shows my Pease lineage.
Each name is connected to the page on on this site or at Rootsweb with information about that family. Some also have links to pictures.
If you have additions/corrections, please email me.
If you have old pictures that I could add to this site, please email them to me!!
I am a gg-granddaughter of Myron Pease.

The Pease family lived in Essex County in the eastern part of England. They were Saxons who came to England in 1000. They first came as raiders, but later stayed and then fiercely resisted the Vikings. The coat of arms was granted to their Saxon ancestor during the reign of Otto II, Emperor of Germany from 972-981. They lived in the village of Great Baddow, 30 miles NE of London and just 2 miles from the city of Chelmsford. The road continued NE to Ipswich, the nearest seaport. During the Saxon era Great Baddow belonged to Algar, Earl of Mercia, but in 1071 it was seized by William the Conqueror following a Saxon rebellion. There were 3 manor houses in Great Baddow that at one time each belonged to 3 Pease brothers: Barnes Manor, Cutin Manor, and Pease Manor (at one time consisted of 100 acres). The present Pease Hall was built in the 1500s and across the field from it is St. Mary's Church where many Pease family members were christened, married and buried. The earliest Pease record that has survived in the church records if the burial of Joan Pease (daug of Robert) in 1540.
[info from Pease Family History, by Phillip J. Rice, 1982]

Though there were many Pease family members in Essex County, England before 1485, the oldest Pease ancestor we can know for sure is:

Robert Pease "the smythe", born 1485 in Great Baddow, England (NE of London). He married Joan ? and died in 1547 in Great Baddow, the same year that Henry VIII died. Joan died in 1552.
During his lifetime:
1485 - Wars of the Roses ended the year he was born
1485-1509: Reign of King Henry VII (Tudor) (age 0 to 24
1491 - King Henry VIII was born. Great Baddow map

1492: Columbus Voyages to the New World (age 7)
1509-1547: Reign of King Henry VIII (Tudor) (age 24 to 62)
1522: Magellan circumnavigates the world (age 37)
1533 - Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn after divorcing his first wife, Catherine or Aragon.
1536 - Anne was beheaded.
1537 - 3rd wife Jane Seymour died after having Edward.
abt 1539 - He divorced Anne of Cleves
1542 - 5th wife, Catherine Howard beheaded.
1547 - Henry VIII died. King Edward VI became king.

Robert & Joan had 3 children:
1. John Pease, born 1510
2. Margaret Pease, d 1545
3. Joan Pease, died 1540

There is a great new website from England that has an index of wills 1384-1858:
http://www.documentsonline.pro.gov.uk/

Map shows Pease ancestral family village, Great Baddow, England, about 30 miles NE of London.

2nd generation in England:
John Pease "the smythe" (born 1510) married Ann? He died Oct 13, 1556 (age 46) in Great Baddow, England during the reign of Bloody Queen Mary. Bloody Mary had nearly 300 protestants burned at the stake during her last 3 years, ending in 1558. Ann died in 1591.
During his lifetime: St. Mary's Church

1533 - Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn.
1536 - Anne was beheaded
1537 - Jane Seymour died
1539 - Henry divorced Anne of Cleves
1542 - Catherine Howard was beheaded.
1547 - Henry VIII died, and John Pease's father died.
1553 - King Edward died.
1556 - John Pease died
1558 - Queen Mary died; Elizabeth became queen

John & Ann Pease's children were:
1. John "the clothier" Pease, born 1540, Great Baddow, England. Married Margaret Hykes
2. Lettis Pease, d 1567
3. Alice Pease, married John Taft in 1560
4. Edward Peasem, d 1580
5. Robert Pease, d 1552
6. Margaret Pease, married John Byekinir in 1564

St. Mary's Church in Great Baddow where several Peases were baptized, married and buried.

A drawing of old Great Baddow

3rd generation in England:
[You will notice right away that every generation has a Robert and a John!]
John Pease "the clothier", born 1540 (baptized 1540) in Great Baddow, Essex County, England and died there in 1616 (age 76).
John's childhood was a very turbulent time for England as they swung from Protestant to Catholic and back to Protestant. His father died in 1556 when he was only 16.
He married Margaret Hykes (1540-1612), daughter of Richard Hyckes. He and Margaret both lived to a ripe old age of 76 & 72.
During his lifetime:
1509-1547:   Reign of King Henry VIII (birth until age 7)
1547-1553:   Reign of King Edward VI (age 7 to 13)
1553-1558:   Reign of Queen Mary I (age 13 to 18)
1558-1603:   Reign of Queen Elizabeth I (age 18 to 63)
1562-1598:   Wars of religion in France (age 22 to 58)
1563:   Black Plague (again) at age 23
1587:   Sir Walter Raligh's lost colony at Roanoke (age 47)
1588:   Spanish Armada defeated by the English (age 48)
1603: a massive outbreak of the plague killed 30,000 people in London that year (age 63)
1603-1625:   Reign of King James I (Stuart) begins. (age 63)
1605: Guy Fawkes (a Catholic) attempts to blow up parliament (age 65)
1606 : Australia discovered by William Jansz (age 66)
1607:   Jamestown Colony Established (age 67)
1611:   King James Bible is published (age 71 )
1612: Last (recorded) burning of heretics in England (age 72)

Children:
1. Robert Pease, b 1565. His wife and 2 sons, Robert Jr & John moved to the American colonies.
2. Richard Pease, m ? Prott & Susan Wither
3. John Pease
4. Alice Pease, m John Clark
5. Joan Pease
6. Thomas Pease, m Sara ?
7. Mary Pease, m Benjamin Carter

4th generation in England:
Robert Pease was born 1565. Both he and his parents survived the plague of 1603, the year King James I was crowned. 30,000 people died of the plague in London alone in 1603. King James began his reign by proclaiming that he would make people conform to the state religion or drive them out of the land.
Robert's parents died about 1612.
His will of 1613 was proven in 1623. His wife Margaret moved to the American colonies in 1639, following her sons who had moved there in 1634.
Children of Robert & Margaret:
1. ? Pease, b Dec 10, 1587
2. Robert Pease, Jr., b Oct 28, 1589. He came with his brother John to America in 1634.
3. William Pease, b 1591; d 1623
4. John Pease, b 1593; d 1600
5. Mary Pease, b 1600
6. Elizabeth Pease, b 1602
7. Richard Pease, b/d 1607
8. John Pease (see below), b 1608. He came with his brother Robert to America in 1634.

American Lineage:

In 1627 John Woodbury left newly-founded Salem, Mass. to recruit settlers from the east counties of England. In 1629 King Charles I dismissed Parliament and set out to rule on his own. This helped to incite immigration fever. In 1630 John Wintrop sailed to New England with 1000 people, but he settled in Boston.
Essex County, England was a hotbed of Purtian activity and with 266 people sailing to America from 1620 to 1650, it was the 2nd highest county in the country for immigration. About 1628 Thomas Hooker was appointed lecturer at St. Mary's Church in Great Baddow. The Pease brothers left England about 11 months after John Cotton and Thomas Hooker. Undoubtedly these 2 Puritan preachers has great influence on their decision.

Pictured: the first meeting house or church in Salem, built in 1634, measuring 20'x17'. Salem was founded in 1626 and for the first several years had held church in homes. The men sat on one side and the women and children on the other. Roger Williams also arrived in Salem in 1634, as did Anne Hutchison. She held meetings in her home. John Pease's wife, Lucy and her parents were followers of Hutchison which caused difficulties for John.
In 1636 Roger Williams was banished from the colony. He founded Providence, Rhode Island, where Anne Hutchison also fled, along with Samuel Gorton and his followers, which now included Lucy's parents.
John probably went back to England in 1638 to get the rest of the family (his mother and his nephew).

1. John Pease, b 1608 England, m Lucy (Weston or Reeves).

2. James Pease, Sr., b 1637 Massachusetts, m Elizabeth Norton

3. James Pease, Jr., b abt 1664 Massachusetts, m Hannah Dunham. Hannah's father, Rev. Jonathan Dunham was a missionary to the Indians and pastor of the church in Edgartown (Martha's Vineyard), Mass. from 1685 to 1717

Below is Jonathan Dunham's tombstone

4. Nathan Pease, b 1687, Edgartown, Massachusetts, m Sarah Vincent

5. Christopher Pease I, b 1717 in Edgartown (Martha's Vineyard) Massachusetts, m Hannah Hill(s)

6. Christopher Pease II, 1751, Lebanon, CT, m Rebekah Wright

7. Christopher Pease III, b 1791 in Hartford, Vermont, m Hannah Randall
Christopher and Hannah moved to Winona Co, Minnesota with their children and died there in 1873/74. (Sophia moved to MN then to KS; Miles moved to MN then to MO; Chris IV moved to MN; Ermina moved to MN, then to CA, then to MO, Cordelia moved to MN, married Susan Metcalf's brother & died there.)
Other Peases from New England also moved to Minnesota. Today there is a town called Pease, MN (abt 30 miles N of Minneapolis)

8. Miles Pease, b 1822 in Hartford, Vermont, m Susan Metcalf
    Picture of Susan Pease and their 5 sons: Alando, Myron, George, Clinton & Clarence
    Pictures of Alando & Dora Pease
   Picture of Clinton Miles Pease

9. Myron Pease, b 1855, NH, m Winnie Johnson & Eva White. both in MO; d MO
    Pictures of Myron & both wives, & 2nd family & Tula (1898-1906)
    Picture of Bethany School in 1899 with 4 of the Pease children
    Pictures of Walter (b 1875) & Russell
    Pictures of Myrtle (b 1881) & Johnnie Lindesmith
    Pictures of Norton (b 1890) & Bryon (b 1891) & of Byron's (b 1891) family
    Picture of Susie (b 1893)
    Picture of Minnie (b 1896), teacher at Bethany School (land donated by Myron for school)
    Picture of Hershel "Jack" (b 1901)
    Picture of Opal (b 1906)
    Looking for pictures of Eula Maye (Pease) Kane, Nina Anna (Pease) Bay & Joe Neill Pease.

Site map: Pease line - John Pease (Am. emigrant) - Christopher III -
Miles' family - Alando - Myron - Susan & sons - Myron's Writings -
Myron's children: Walter - Byron & Norton - Herschel Jack - Minnie - Opal - Susie -
Bethany School - home page

If you would like to check my database to see if the information on your family is correct, go to my ancestor file then search for the name of one of your ancestors. (Only those born before 1930 or no longer living are listed by name. I have names of the living, but they are not displayed in the online database.) Please email me if there are any corrections or additions!!