BLOSSOM, Deacon Thomas

1560 - 1633  (73 years)  Submit Photo / Document

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• Name	BLOSSOM, Thomas
  Prefix	Deacon
  Birth	1560	Parham, Suffolk, England
  Christening	26 Feb 1566	Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England
  Gender	Male
  Death	1633	Barnstable, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America
  Burial	17 Oct 1633
  WAC	17 Mar 1880  [1]
  _TAG	Reviewed on FS
  Headstones	Submit Headstone Photo
  Person ID	I14186	Joseph Smith Sr and Lucy Mack Smith
  Last Modified	19 Aug 2021

  
  

  Father	BLOSSOM, John ,   b. 1535, Cambridgeshire, Cambridgeshire, England Cambridgeshire, Cambridgeshire, Englandd. 27 Dec 1578, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England (Age 43 years)
  Mother	BARNES, Margaret Agnes ,   b. 1537, England Englandd. 26 Dec 1570, Shelford, Cambridgeshire, England (Age 33 years)
  Marriage	5 May 1558	Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire, England   [2]
  Family ID	F7635	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	PALMER, Anne ,   b. 1568, Parham, Suffolk, England Parham, Suffolk, Englandd. 20 Oct 1657 (Age 89 years)
  Marriage	1587	England   [3]
  Children	+ 1. BLOSSOM, Frances ,   b. 1589, Parham, Suffolk, England Parham, Suffolk, Englandd. 17 Oct 1633, Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States (Age 44 years)
  Family ID	F7634	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	24 Jan 2022

  
  

• Photos		The Landing of the Pilgrims, by Henry A. Bacon, 1877. This painting, painted by artist Henry A. Bacon, in 1877, portrays the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, Massachusetts, which actually took place over 200 years earlier.
  		At least one living or private individual is linked to this item - Details withheld.

  
  

• Notes

  Thomas Blossom was one of seven children of Peter and Annabel Blossom from Great Shelford, Cambs. After his birth the family moved to Stapleford in around 1582, where Peter is described as a "husbandman", or small farmer, in records. In 1605, at the age of 25 he married Ann Elsdon on 10 Nov 1605 in St Clements, Cambridge Cambridgeshire England, daughter of Cuthbert Helsdon and Margaret Elsdon. The couple fled to the Dutch city of Leiden to escape religious persecution in England along with other exiles known as the Pilgrims. During their time there the couple buried three children who died at a young age. They first attempted to sail to the New World in 1620 on board the Speedwell, a sister ship of the Mayflower. But while the Mayflower carried America's founding fathers across the Atlantic, the Speedwell developed a leak and had to turn back. The original Mayflower was dismantled for scrap in 1623, but a second ship of the same name eventually took Thomas Blossom and his family to America at their second attempt in 1629. Thomas Blossom became an important member of the Pilgrim community as the first Deacon of the Church of Plymouth, but died in 1633 from an infectious fever, probably influenza. After his death, he left behind a daughter Elizabeth, who was nine when the family set sail, and two sons, Thomas and Peter. Less THOMAS BLOSSOM ORIGIN: Leiden, Holland MIGRATION: 1629 FIRST RESIDENCE: Plymouth CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: (See discussion below under COMMENTS.) EDUCATION: His correspondence with William Bradford indicates substantial education This may have taken place at Cambridge, although there is no evidence of him on the university records there. ESTATE: In the 25 March 1633 Plymouth tax list, "Widdow Blossome" was assessed 9s By the date of the 1634 list she had remarried. BIRTH: By about 1580 based on date of marriage; he was probably son of Peter and Annabel (_____) Blossom of Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire DEATH: Plymouth before 25 March 1633 MARRIAGE: St. Clement's, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, 10 November 1605 Anne Elsdon ; she married (2) Plymouth 17 October 1633 HENRY ROWLEY CHILDREN: i Child, bur. Pieterskerke, Leiden, 12 April 1617 [NS] [ ii Son, b. by 1620; accompanied his father on the Speedwell in 1620, returned to Leiden, and died there by 15 December 1625 [MD 5:166-67 (see discussion below)]. iii ELIZABETH, b. ca. 1620; m. (1) Scituate 10 May 1637 Edward FitzRandolph [NEHGR 9:286]; m. (2) Piscataway, New Jersey, Capt. John Pike iv THOMAS, b. about 1623; m. Barnstable 18 June 1645 Sarah Ewer v PETER, b. after 1627 (not in 1643 list of men able to bear arms); m. Barnstable 21 June 1663 Sarah Bodfish ]. COMMENTS: In his letter to Bradford from Leiden, dated 15 December 1625 [NS], Blossom closes by stating that "God hath taken away my son, that was with me in the ship, when I went back again; I have only two children which were born since I left you" [MD 5:166-67]. This statement assists greatly in arranging the list of Blossom's children. It also seems to be the only source for the claim that Blossom was one of the passengers on the Speedwell in 1620, and that he and his son had to be left behind; while this is not the only possible conclusion to be drawn from this passage, it is reasonable, and is followed here. The claim that Thomas Blossom was deacon at Plymouth derives from Savage, but this appears to be a misreading of Prince, who was supposedly quoting Morton, but was in fact misquoting Bradford. In his history of Plymouth Bradford included an account of the infectious epidemic of 1633, and mentioned specifically Thomas Blossom, Richard Masterson and Samuel Fuller as dying in that year. He refers to Samuel Fuller's services as deacon, and this was apparently transferred by Savage to Blossom [Bradford 260]. Prince quoted most of this same section, but altered the sequence, although not enough to confuse the attribution of the office of deacon, and claimed Morton as his source; he mentioned Blossom and Fuller, but not Masterson [Prince 437]. Morton also paraphrased this same passage, but noted by name only Fuller, so he cannot have been the sole source for Prince [Morton 108]. To this confusing mix we must add Morton's account of the early history of the Plymouth church, in which he explicitly states that Richard Masterson and Thomas Blossom were named deacons after the death of Samuel Fuller [PChR 1:83]. But Bradford's language (on which Morton must have been relying here as well) carries the clear implication that Fuller died after Masterson and Blossom, and Samuel Fuller was still alive on 1 July 1633 to receive an allocation of mowing ground [PCR 1:14] whereas Thomas Blossom was already dead by that date. In this instance Morton seems to have misinterpreted Bradford in a different way, and his claim that Masterson and Blossom were briefly deacons at Plymouth should not be accepted. This passage also bears on the date of death for Thomas Blossom. Most of the deaths in 1633 occurred in the months of June, July and August, and it appears from Prince's version that Blossom falls within this period. But in Bradford the reference to these summer months comes several lines after the mention of Blossom, and Blossom's death is not so closely tied to Fuller's in Bradford as it is in Prince. Blossom had certainly died before 1 July 1633, as a letter of that date from Rev. Ralph Smith in Plymouth to Rev. Hugh Goodyear in Leiden refers to "Tho: Bloso[m] our brother who now sleepeth" [TAG 63:77]. The tax list of 25 March 1633 includes an entry for Widow Blossom, so the death apparently took place before that date, although this list could have been altered at a later date [PCR 1:11]. Thomas Blossom:Baptism: 1568, All Saints, Cambridge, England. Date born 2: 1568, England. Died 3: 1684, Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ.102 Thomas Blossom and Ann Elsdon:Marriage: 10 Nov 1605, St Clements, Cambridge Cambridgeshire England. Children of Thomas Blossom and Ann Elsdon are: +Frances Blossom, b. 1591, England, d. 1635, Duxbury, Plymouth, Mass..

  
  

• Sources

  [S64] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, International Genealogical Index. Thomas Blossom; Male; Birth: 1568 , , England; Baptism: 23 OCT 2003 OAKLA; Endowment: 27 MAR 2004 OAKLA; Sealing to Parents: 01 JUN 2004 OAKLA; John Blossom / Margaret Barnes; Father: John Blossom; Mother: Margaret Barnes; No source information is available. Record submitted after 1991 by a member of the LDS Church to request LDS temple ordinances. Search performed using PAF Insight on 02 Oct 2004 [S64] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, International Genealogical Index. JOHN BLOSSOME; Male; Spouse: MARGARET BARNES; Marriage: 05 MAY 1558 Great Shelford, Cambridge, England; Batch Number: 8823905; Sheet: 37; Source Call No.: 1553257 Type: Film Form submitted by a member of the LDS Church Search performed using PAF Insight on 22 Sep 2004 [S64] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, International Genealogical Index. Thomas Blossom; Male; Birth: 1568 , , England; Spouse: Anne Palmer; Marriage: About 1590 , , England; No source information is available. Record submitted after 1991 by a member of the LDS Church. Search performed using PAF Insight on 02 Oct 2004