John Lothrop , Rev.

He first settled in Egertown in Kent, and afterwards succeeded Henry Jacob as pastor of the Southwark Church in London. He came over to Plymouth in the Griffin in 1634 (Sept. 18th), and settled first in Scituate, and then in Barnstable in 1639. He was educated at Oxford. From Leon Clark Hills' book: He attended Queen's College, Cambridge, England, where he seems to have acquired the usual "dissenting" spirit of that University. In 1611 he became Vicar of Egerton, Kent Co., England, but resigned in 1623 and went to London, where he became pastor of the first independent Congregational church in London. It was broken up in 1632. He was tried by the Star chamber, and imprisoned for two years in Newgate. He was released in 1634, and sentenced to "banishment." He sailed from England with his family in the ship "Griffin," and landed at Boston in 1634-5. He settled at Scituate and Barnstable, being the first minister who preached at either place. He had two daughters first (no more details on them). From [Freeman, 1:209]: "The Rev. John LOTHROP came to Boston, from England, September 18, 1634 or 1635. He had been educated at the University of Oxford, and settled first in Kent, in the established church. After leaving Egerton in Kent, 1625, he succeeded Rev. Henry Jacob, as pastor of the independent church, organized 1616, in London, and which is said to have been the first of that order formed in England, and which, it may be superfluous to add, was made up of seceders from the Church of England. It is stated that about thirty of his flock accompanied him to this country. Going from Boston to Scituate soon after his arrival, he was there chosen pastor, and remained four or five years, until his removal to Barnstable. He was undoubtedly a man of learning, and, as Neal says of him, "of a meek and quiet spirit." He brought four sons with him from England [Thomas, Samuel, Joseph, Benjamin]. ... Rev. Dr. Lothrop, of Boston, published a memoir of his ancestor, in the Massachusetts Historical Collection." !Death: Freeman 1:208. From Annals of Barnstable County, 1653: "The colony, and especially Barnstable, now sustained great loss in the decease of the Rev. John Lothrop. He died this year, November 8, greatly lamented." -------- The following writeup is due to Michael Roman (roman@mpgs.enet.dec.com): John Lathrop was born in Yorkshire, England in 1584 [Huntington, Elijah B., "A Genealogical Memoir of the Lo-Lathrop family", 1884]. He first entered Christ Church College, Oxford in 1601 but transferred to the more liberal Queen's College from which he graduated with a B.A. in 1605 and an M.A. in 1609. He moved to Egerton, Kent, a town 48 miles southeast of London, where he was curate of the parish church. He left Egerton in 1623 apparently due to a distaste for the Church of England and became the minister of the First Independent Church of London, a church whose religion was not the same as the King's and thus was illegal. On April 22, 1632 the church's gathering was invaded by the authorities and forty-two members were taken into custody and were held in the old Clink prison in Newgate. In the spring of 1634 all but Reverend Lathrop were released on bail. However, his wife apparently became sick and died about this time and he was temporarily released to care for the children [Huntington]. Reverend Latrhop made his escape to America in 1634 as indicated from Governor Winthrop's journal entry. ------ His English Ancestry is traced in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 84, pages 437-439. Includes Baptism and degrees. He was not identified in his father's will, probably because he had already received his portion of the estate in educational costs. But, his brother Thomas Lothrop of Dengie does identify John Lathrop as a brother. [NEHGR 84:438] -------------- Distinguished descendants include: Franklin Delano Roosevelt (U.S. President), Benedict Arnold (U.S. Rev. War), Thomas E. Dewey (Gov. of N.Y., twice candidate for U.S. President), Adlai E. Stevensen (U.S. Senator from IL, twice candidate for U.S.Pres), John Foster Dulles (U.S. Sec. of State), Alan W. Dulles (director of C.I.A.), Marion Meriwether Post (founder of General Foods), Dina Merrill (actress), Oliver Wendell Holmes (U.S. Supreme Court Justice), Ulysses S. Grant (U.S. President), George Romney (Gov. of MI, Pres. of American Motors), Alfred C. Fuller (founder of the Fuller Brush Co.), Joseph Smith (Mormon founder), Eli Whitney (inventor of the Cotton Gin), George Bush (U.S. President), Benjamin M. Spock (Physician and writer), Sir Robert Laird Borden (prime minister of Canada), John P. Morgan (Financier), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (poet), and Lewis C. Tiffany (artist, philanthropist). Source ["John Lathrop 1584-1653" Inst. of Family Res., Salt Lake City, 1979].