The Coldham Family of Gloucester, Massachusetts

A view of modern day Gloucester, Massachusetts

While researching the Coldham family of Gloucester, Massachusetts, I came across the following details about my 11th great-grandfather, Clement Coldham. It is perhaps my favorite description ever of a person in my family tree.

Like his father, he [Clement Coldham] was a miller; he was also a farmer, a constable, a member of Boston's Ancient Artillery Company, and, according to James G. Dempsey (1971, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register), an indefatigable "self-appointed overseer of Gloucester townspeople and their morals." Dempsey's article devotes nearly two pages of tiny type to accounts of Clement Coldham snooping on his neighbors, complaining against them, testifying in court to their perfidiousness, accusing them of disloyalty to the King, suing them for slander, and occasionally being himself admonished in court for telling lies. At one point, he even spied on his own brother-in-law. Despite everything we know about human misbehavior in late 17th-century Essex County, most notably the Salem "witchcraft" madness of 1692, the fact that Clement Coldham lived to a prosperous old age instead of being stuffed down a well is a testimony to the equanimity and moderation of these early settlers. [source] (Paragraph edited for clarity and context)

The Clements were early English emigrants to America on my Smith branch of the family tree. This line is peppered with loyalists, religious fanatics, and generally people not much appreciated by their neighbors. 

Clement's father, Thomas Coldham is my immigrant ancestor on the Coldham line, and my 12th great grandfather. Thomas was born about 1589 in England, possibly Norfolk, and emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony sometime around 1633. He was married in England (this wife's name is unknown) and had at least three children there:

1. Clement Coldham (b. 1625; m. Mary Pierce; d. 1703)

2. Enoch Coldham (b. abt. 1630)

3. Martha Coldham (b. abt. 1631; m. Richard Whitney)

There were at least two additional children born in or near Lynn, Massachusetts, where the Coldham family settled upon their arrival.

4. Mary Coldham (b. abt. 1634)

5. Thomas Coldham (b. abt. 1638; d. 1675)

After the death of his first wife, Thomas married again in America, to a woman named Joanna. Her maiden name is sometimes said to be Rhodes, due to the fact that Thomas mentioned a "brother" Henrye Rhodes in his will, but this is not proven.

The cities of Lynn, Salem, and Gloucester in Massachusetts

Thomas' eldest child, Clement, married Mary Pierce in about 1647. Mary was born in Norwich, Norfolk, England, the daughter of John Pierce and his wife Elizabeth. Clement and Mary had three children together:

1. Clement Coldham, Jr. (b. 1641; d. 1675)

2. Elizabeth Coldham (b. 1645; m. Francis Norwood; d. 1711)

3. Judith Coldham (b. 1649; d. 1649)

Clement and Mary settled in Gloucester, northeast of Lynn. I have been pleased to recently discover several ancestors from Gloucester in my family tree, including Clement. Gloucester is a place I've always felt a particular connection to, for no reason I can clearly define. When in college in Massachusetts, I loved to visit the Cape Ann beaches, and every time I return to Massachusetts now, I always make sure to stop in Gloucester. 

Clement quickly set about making a name for himself in Gloucester. He is first mentioned in the Quarterly Court records on September 11, 1649, as a witness to the beating of Richard Stocker by Thomas Farrar. I have not been able to find information about this conflict, but given the report of Clement's character, I am not surprised to hear he was in the middle of it. 

In 1651, Clement and his young family settled in a house near Goose Cove, on the north end of Gloucester. In 1653, at the age of 28, he was elected Deputy in Gloucester. He would later be elected Selectman. 

Painting of a militia in Massachusetts Bay, 1600s

Clement served in his local militia in Gloucester. At that time, regional militias were primarily formed to engage with local Native American groups when there were no British military troops nearby to do so. Clement's service began in about 1649, and he earned the rank of ensign. In 1666, Clement was suddenly stripped of that rank, and then quit the militia in protest. I haven't seen any explanation for his demotion. It could be as simple as the fact that he was disliked. I have seen some speculation that his daughter Elizabeth's marriage to Francis Norwood in 1663 was frowned upon locally. I don't know why there would have been a reaction to this three years after the marriage, but it's possible.

Coldham's fall from grace could have been brought about by his new son-in-law, Francis Norwood, Sr. Norwood had come to New England after the restoration of the Stuart monarchy made England an inhospitable environment for someone with his radical religious and political convictions. He first kept a tavern in Lynn, a center of early Baptist and Quaker enthusiasm, but after a few years, he settled in Gloucester at Goose Cove amidst the Quaker Pearces and Hammonds and the Congregationalist Coldhams. In 1663 he married Clement Coldham's daughter. [source: Christine Heyrman, 1984]

Francis Norwood is my 10th great-grandfather and I will be discussing his complicated family in an upcoming post.

Clement was a Congregationalist. Encyclopedia Brittanica describes this religion as follows.

[Congregationalism was a] Christian movement that arose in England in the late 16th and 17th centuries. It occupies a theological position somewhere between Presbyterianism and the more radical Protestantism of the Baptists and Quakers. It emphasizes the right and responsibility of each properly organized congregation to determine its own affairs, without having to submit these decisions to the judgment of any higher human authority, and as such it eliminated bishops and presbyteries. Each individual church is regarded as independent and autonomous.

Although it was not always true in the early days in America, Congregationalists have generally been distrustful of state establishment of religion and have worked for civil and religious liberty. Their emphasis on the rights of the particular congregation and on freedom of conscience arose from their strong convictions concerning the sovereignty of God and the priesthood of all believers. 

James G. Dempsey's 1971 article about the Coldham family in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register relates that Clement Coldham was involved in the Salem Witch Trials, like my Eveleth ancestors, who lived nearby. In 1692, during the witchcraft hysteria, Clement was about 67 years of age. Dempsey does not describe the breadth of Clement's involvement in the witchcraft trials, but just one moment where he testified in a trial involving Elizabeth Hubbard. Young Elizabeth was an accuser in the witch trials, and she famously pretended to be in a trance during the trial of Elizabeth Proctor, wife of my husband's 9th great-granduncle, John Proctor. 

Elizabeth Hubbard is best known as the primary instigator of the Salem Witch Trials. Hubbard was 17 years old in the spring of 1692 when the trials began. In the 15 months the trials took place, 20 people were executed.

As the trials progressed, Hubbard began instigating more and more accusations. She gave her last testimony on January 7, 1693. Records show that she filed 40 legal complaints and testified 32 times. As a result of her testimonies, 17 people were arrested, 13 were hanged, and two died in jail. (Wikipedia)

While it seems evident that Clement enjoyed finding himself in a court room, this was undoubtedly the most consequential of his many appearances there, being an actual life and death situation for many. Dempsey related the following about the occasion, quoting from the Essex Institute Historical Collection:

... he deposed that on May 29th 1692, being at Salem Village, carrying home Elizabeth Hubbard from the meeting behind me -- she desired me to ride faster -- I asked her why; she said that the woods were full of Devils and said there they be! but I could see none. Then I put on my horse and after I had ridden awhile she told me I might ride softer for we had outridden them. 

May 29th would have towards the start of what was known as the Court of Oyer and Terminer, formalized witchcraft proceedings after some months of less formal hearings and imprisonments. 

May 27, 1692: Governor Phips sets up the Court of Oyer and Terminer to try witchcraft cases. Judgement is based on intangible evidence, such as confessions, supernatural attributes like "witchmarks", reactions of the afflicted girls, and spectral evidence- that the Devil could assume the "specter" of an innocent person. (source)

It is not clear whether Clement's testimony was in support of any party, or whether it merely related an incident supporting the idea that Elizabeth Hubbard could sense the presence of witches.

An artwork depicting the Salem Witch Trials

Clement Coldham died on December 18, 1703, at the age of 78. He was a complicated, seemingly unlikeable person living during a dramatic moment in history. He may not have been the best neighbor, but through his daughter Elizabeth, he has many, many American descendants. May we all spend less time in court than Clement did.