ANDREW MESSENGER

• Death Notes
  • IMIGRATED TO BOSTON, MA PRIOR TO 1640 (1637) PROBABLY FROM YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND.
    
    ANDREW MESSINGER. Born in 1588 in Prob. Yorkshire, England. Andrew died in CT. Andrew married Sarah ?, in England. Born in 1590 in England. They had the following children:

• General Notes
  • Recent research (1998) shows that the English origins of Edward, Andrew, and Henry Messenger are, as yet, unknown. That Henry of Boston had the right to use arms is shown when His widow Sarah mentions the "Mesenger Arms Hanging in the Parlor" in her will. The research also indicates that the much repeated existence of an Andrew and Sarah Messenger as parents of the three New England Messengers has no evidential basis and is most likely a fabrication based on assumptions. It was 1927 before anyone had grouped the three Messengers as brothers and given them a father named Andrew. Lack of direct evidence also questions whether there were any Messengers aboard the Hector which landed at Boston in 1637. While Andrew and Sarah are most likely a fabrication, we cannot discount the possibility that any of the Messengers might indeed have been aboard the Hector or a sister ship which arrived at the same time.
         That Edward, Andrew, and Henry were brothers also lacks evidence and documentation. While it can be shown that Andrew and Henry were related, and quite possibly brothers, there is no direct evidence of a relationship between Edward and Andrew or Henry. Edward, however, did have business connections to Boston and New York, and he and Andrew both dealt with John Winthrop Jr. While this could provide circumstantial evidence of a relationship with Henry of Boston and Andrew of Long Island, at this point, the assumption that the three were brothers is unsubstantiated speculation.1