Sunday 29 January 2017

Immigrant Ancestors -- Thomas Tupper (1578-1676)

The way back machine is still on: this week's immigrant ancestor is another 9th great grandfather, Thomas Tupper (1578-1676), who was born in Bury in Sussex, and died in the town he helped to found, Sandwich, on Cape Cod.

As a young man, Thomas was a ship's carpenter by trade. Sources report that he likely came first to New England in 1621, then again in 1624 and finally in 1631, when he remained. I descend from the 1634 marriage between Thomas and his third wife, Anne Hodgson (abt 1588-1676), who is described in multiple sources as a widow. Hodgson was her husband's last name. Her own maiden name is lost. Their only child -- both being in their 40s when they married -- was another Thomas Tupper (1638-1706), my 8th great grandfather.

In 1637, Sandwich, which had been part of Plymouth Colony, became the first town established on Cape Cod (scroll down to the heading, A Brief History of Sandwich). Thomas is listed in documents as one of ten men granted proprietorship of land that formed the settlement of  Sandwich.

The original Tuppers in England were reportedly of Saxon descent. By the 17th century, my Tuppers were Puritan in their earliest days in America. Some of Thomas' descendants later became deacons or ministers in their churches -- faith was very important to early North American settler families, especially the Tuppers, where you see the biblical names Eliakim and Elias used from generation to generation. This much older source tells a bit more of the Tupper family and Thomas' life in Sandwich.

North America, Family Histories
My own Tupper line migrated from Cape Cod to Nova Scotia, among the New England Planters. Descendants of the first Tupper in North America, are scattered across Canada today.

One notable descendant is my 3rd cousin 5x removed, Sir Charles Tupper (1821-1915), who was one of Canada's Fathers of Confederation, premier of Nova Scotia, and for ten weeks, Canada's prime minister.

The never ending story continues....


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