When Did Thomas Pell Arrive in America?

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When did Thomas Pell arrive in America? The question is simple. It may, however, be unanswerable.

The record is clear that Thomas Pell was born in England in 1613. It is further clear that Pell was in America by 1637. What is not so clear is how and when he arrived in America.

Lockwood Barr addressed the issue in his book regarding the history of Pelham published in 1946. He wrote:

"Accounts do not agree in all particulars; however, there seems to be no question but that Thomas Pell arrived in the Colonies in 1635. Pelliana, Vol. I, No. 3, May 1935, states: ". . . a Thos. Pell, Carpenter, aged 25 years, accompanied by Marie Pell, aged 26, and infant Marie Pell, aged one year, took passage for New England on the ship Planter on April 5, 1635. However, for some reason, the passage was cancelled so late that these Pells are not included in the passenger list--but are ruled out with a pen. A few weeks later, a Thos. Pell, this time giving our Thomas' correct age of 22 years (he was born 1613)--engaged passage on the ship Speedwell. He called himself a tailor."

Original Lists of Persons of Quality from Great Britain to the American Colonies, compiled by John C. [Page 16 / Page 17] Hotten, includes the Pell family of three on the ship Planter, as noted by Pelliana. However, this same book lists but one trip for the ship Speedwell, and that passage as of May 28, 1635, from London to the Virginias--not to New England. Thos. Pell was not listed as a passenger on that voyage of the Speedwell.

Founders of New England by Samuel G. Drake, shows the Hopewell, Wm. Burdock, Master, April 1635, bound for New England. Among the passengers there was a Thos. Pell, aged 22, listed as "A Taylor."

If Thomas Pell--the "Carpenter" and Thomas Pell the "Taylor" were one and the same person--then the question is still open as to what became of Marie, and the infant? Research has been made by the authors contributing to Pelliana, without result--so that story may never be told."

Source: Barr, Lockwood A., A Brief, But Most Complete & True Account of the Settlement of the Ancient Town of Pelham Westchester County, State of New York Known One Time Well & Favourably as the Lordshipp & Manour of Pelham Also The Story of the Three Modern Villages Called The Pelhams , pp. 16-17 (Richmond, VA: The Dietz Press, Inc. 1946).

A review of the sources cited by Lockwood Barr supports his assertions. The book edited by John Camden Hotten (cited below), contains the following reference, quoted in pertinent part:

"vje [Voyage] Aprilis 1635

THEIS pties heerevnder mencioned are to be transported to New England : imbarqued in the Planter NICO: TRARICE Mr [Master] bound thither : they have brought Certificate from the Justices of Peace & Ministers of ye pish that they are conformable to the orders of ye Church of England and are no Subsedy Men : they have taken the oath of Supremacie & Allegeance die et Ano prd. . . . [Page 47 / Page 48]

More for the Planter

* * *

[Page 48 / Page 49]

PHILLIPP ATWOOD........................12
BARTHOL: FALDOE.........................16
A Carpenter THO: PELL*.................26
MARIE PELL......................................26
MARIE PELL....................................... 1
WM LEA................................................16
A Carpenter FRANC'S BUSHNELL...26

* * *

[Footnote * Reads: "*[This and the three following names are crossed through in the original MS.]"]

IN the Hopewell WILLM BUNDOCK Mr [Master] bound for New-England &c.

JAMES BURGIS...........................................14
ALEXANDER THWAIT'S...........................20
JO: ABBOTT.................................................16
JO: BELLOWES............................................12
JO: JOHNES..................................................18
CHRISTIOM ‡ LUDDINGTON..................18
MARIE ABBOTT..........................................16
MARIE COKE................................................14
MARIE PEAKE..............................................15
A Tayler THO: PELL....................................22
A Glazier JO: BUSHNELL............................21

* * *"

Source: Hotten, John Camden, ed., The Original Lists of Persons of Quality; Emigrants; Religious Exiles; Political Rebels; Serving Men Sold For A Term Of Years; Apprentices; -- Children Stolen; Maidens Pressed; And Others Who Went From Great Britain To The American Plantations 1600-1700. With Their Ages, The Localities Where They Formerly Lived In The Mother Country, The Names Of The Ships In Which They Embarked, And Other Interesting Particulars. From MSS. Preserved In The State Paper Department Of Her Majesty's Public Record Office, England., pp. 47-49 (London: John Camden Hotten 1874).

As the footnote indicates, the above-quoted entry showing a list of some of the passengers for the Planter includes two diagonal lines drawn through the following names: "A Carpenter THO: PELL......26 MARIE PELL............26 MARIE PELL...........1 Wm LEA..........16". However, the name "WILLM LEA.......16" is rewritten in the next column. Those names of the Pells are not.

Lockwood Barr suggests that the entries from Hotten's book quoted above may indicate that something happened to prevent Thomas and, perhaps, a family consisting of 26 year old Marie Pell and a one-year-old infant also named Marie Pell from traveling on the Planter. Instead, Barr suggests, Thomas Pell traveled the same month to New England in the ship "Hopewell".

Such an interpretation seems, to me at least, to assume too much. Thomas Pell, born in 1613, would have been 22 years old in 1635. The man referenced as "A Carpenter THO: PELL" in the passenger list of the ship "Planter" is listed as 26 years old. Moreover, there is no known evidence linking a young woman named "Marie Pell" or a one-year-old infant also named Marie Pell with Thomas Pell.

The "THO: PELL" referenced on the passenger list of the Hopewell is listed as 22 years old. That man is listed as "A Tayler" [tailor].

The records related by Hotten, on their face, strongly suggest that these were two different men. Thomas Pell, a 26-year-old carpenter traveling with two members of the Pell family, and Thomas Pell, a 22-year-old tailor, traveling without any other members of the Pell family. Chances are, the 22-year-old man described as "A Tayler" is the Thomas Pell who eventually acquired the lands that became the Manor of Pelham, but this may never be established with certainty.

The second authority referenced by Lockwood Barr -- a book by Samuel G. Drake cited below -- sheds no further light on the matter. It purports to transcribe the same records quoted above. However, the book omits from the passenger list for the Planter the references to "A Carpenter THO: PELL.........26 MARIE PELL...........26 MARIE PELL............1 Wm LEA...........16", presumably because the references were struck through with diagonal marks in the original records. The same book, however, lists "Tho: Pell A Taylor 22" on the passenger list for the Hopewell.

Source: Drake, Samuel G., Result Of Some Researches Among The British Archives For Information Relative To The Founders Of New England: Made In The Years 1858, 1859 and 1860. Originally Collected For And Published In The New England Historical And Genealogical Register, And Now Corrected And Enlarged., pp. 17-19 (Boston, MA: The New England Historical and Genealogial Register, 1860).

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