Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Who Else is Related to Simon Bradstreet, Colonial Massachusetts Governor?

I received an email from Geni.com today that said I was related to Simon Bradstreet (1604-1697), who was Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1679 to 1686, and 1689-1692.  I knew that - he is my 9th great-grandfather.  The more interesting ancestor for me is his wife, Ann (Dudley) Bradstreet (1612-1672), the first American poet and the first woman to be published in Colonial America.

I was interested to see what Geni.com had to offer about this colonial "Power Couple" and if there was anything of significant interest in the Geni.com profiles for them.

Here is the top of the Geni.com profile for Simon Bradstreet:


I read the Notes, and waned to see what sources were given.  There is a Sources tab further down the page, so I clicked on that tab and saw:


There were only two sources - one was to a WikiTree profile for Simon Bradstreet and the other was to a published book in which Governor Bradstreet is mentioned.

I guess no one has added these sources to the list:

1)  Marston Watson, Royal Families: Americans of Royal and Noble Ancestry: Volume One: Governor Thomas Dudley and Descendants Through Five Generations, Second Edition ( Baltimore, Md. : Genealogical Publishing Company, 2005), Volume II, page 60.

2)  Dean Crawford Smith, edited by Melinde Lutz Sanborn, The Ancestry of Eva Belle Kempton, 1878-1908, Part II: The Ancestry of Amanda Spiller, 1823-1873 (Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008), page 8.

3)  Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins, Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633 (Boston, Mass. : New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), Simon Bradstreet sketch, Volume I, pages 209-215.

I guess I'll have to add those to the Sources list on geni.com so that readers can read some authoritative works.

Further down the Notes was an interesting list of descendants of Simon and Ann (Dudley) Bradstreet:



Assuming the list members are really descendants of Simon and Anne, then I am also related to all of those on the list.  That's cool, my cousins will enjoy knowing that they are related to Simon and Anne, but also to cousins Herbert Hoover, David Souter, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Richard Henry Dana, Elliot Richardson, Steve Young and John Lithgow.

Now my quandary is:  What qualifies someone to be on this list of descendants?  And:  Should I add my name as a "Non-political descendant?" Do my accomplishments in genealogy, such as they are, merit inclusion on the list?   I know, as a "Notable genealogist!"  I'm a bad boy - go check it out!

I wonder how long it would take to have my name taken off the list?  And who would do it - a curator?  Another Geni.com cousin?  Perhaps other cousins would add their name to the list too.

Oh well, we'll see what happens!  This was fun!

Are any readers descendants of Governor Simon and Anne (Dudley) Bradstreet also?  Surely, we are an elite group!

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/03/who-else-is-related-to-simon-bradstreet.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver


13 comments:

Unknown said...

It appears I also am related to the Bradstreets. I am still confirming some details and verifying sources - as one of them was a published family history. My wife who was an English Lit major was super excited to hear that her kids might be related to Ann. I confess I had to look up Ann on Wikipedia as I do not think I had ever heard of her. Now I know.

Julie said...

I have the Dudley's (Anne parents)only because Mary Winthrop married Rev. Samuel. I am descended from Elizabeth Fones Winthrop Feake Hallet via William Hallet. At this point in my research I have no connection to this family, but will be keeping an eye out :D I know I have I read about Thomas while reading about Elizabeth.

Unknown said...

I too am a descendent of the Bradstreets. I came across them when I was researching Col. John Porter who was in the Revolutionary War. I really need to spend some time to learn more about the one of these days.

Becky Mac said...

I'm descended from Gov. Simon and Ann (Dudley) Bradstreet from their son Dudley who married Ann Wood. From there it goes to Margaret Bradstreet and Job Tyler, Hannah Tyler and Capt. John Spafford, Bradstreet Spafford and Mary Page, Col. Nathan Spafford and Hannah Barnett, Maria (Mary) Spafford and Reuben Bickford, Maria (Mary) Bickford and Curtis Hiscock Green, then Harriet M Green and Abel H Wilder - who were my 3rd great grandparents. I've not done a lot on this line yet, but it looks right so far.

Btw - I think we're related several times over, Randy, because I've got Champlins, Cards, Barbers, Hazards, and probably others too.

Also, I grew up in York County, PA and only live a few hours from there now. Let me know if you'd like me to make a foray to the Historical Society or take pictures (preferably when it finally gets warmer out here!).

Unknown said...

I too am a direct descendent of Simon Bradstreet and Anne Dudley. Simon Bradstreet's grandson was also named Simon Bradstreet. He married Elizabeth Capen. A daughter was Lucy Bradstreet who married Robert Andrews. Their son, Robert Andrews, Jr. married Dorothy Goodenow. Their son Asa Andrews married Polly Seaver. Their son was Dudley B. Andrews. Dudley married Abigail Ball. Their son George Lyman Andrews is my maternal Great Grandfather. Their daughter was Alice Seaver Andrews who married George Smith Snyder. Their daughter, Dorothy Andrews Snyder, was my mother.Carol Roberts

Unknown said...

Another direct descendent here - my paternal grandmother was Bonnie Bradstreet and we have the genealogy tracked all the way back to Simon and Anne via the Bradstreets in Gardiner, Maine. Sorry I can't post the specific names in this post - it's packed away and hard to get to right now, but I will try to post in the future.

Unknown said...

My name is Shelby Bradstreet, my father's name is Paul and my grandmother's name is Sandra, that's all I know about my grandmother's side but I'm a direct descendant so does this make us all related? Aha

Unknown said...

I wonder if we are in fact related because I was born in Machias. I will ask my dad about your grandmother we have a ton of stuff we didn't know because the family was Roman Catholic and my grandmother broke out of it.

Unknown said...

my brrother has done our geneology and found we're decended fromt Catherine the Great (Not sure what he's found behond her) & Governor Bradstreet. His name has been passed down through through our fatther's ffamily with our grandfather Paul Bradstreet Kiefer being the last so named known to me but he could've had ciusins named bradsrreet too

Kevin McCarthy said...

Simon Bradstreet and Anne Dudley were my 10th great-grandparents. If extrapolated from the number of children they had as a means to calculate the number of their descendants through the centuries, we share the distinction with probably about 1 million other people. Still they are the most well known of the ancestors of whom I'm aware so a point of pride.

Unknown said...

This is probably a dead thread but Anne and Simon are my 10th great grandparents.


I was pretty excited to find this out as a writer with an English Lit degree. Having notable ancestors is also beneficial because records were more available concerning their ancestry.

Unknown said...

Simon and Anne are also my tenth great grandparents. I am a direct descendant through their son, John and his male descendants. John Bradstreet and another son were accused during the Salem Witch Trials but not tried.

Kevin McCarthy said...

Simon and Anne are my 10th GG parents as well through their son John down through Hazens to Crawfords to McCartys which is my paternal grandmother's family.