Capt  John Gorham

This picture, 'Gorham-history-02a', was taken on March 30th, 2016 in 20 Old Boston Post Road, Old Saybrook, CT and sourced from Ray C. Gregory. Picture Notes Shown  is markedup  page two of five typed pages of Gorham history provided by Mary Gorham, Grandaughter of John J. Gorham Jr. (Born 1809, Havana, Cuba - Llived in Billerica Middlesex, MA). Research indicates that Capt. John Gorham married Desire Howland vice Elizabeth Howland.  Elizabeth Howland married John Dickinson as shown in the page shown.  Refer to Web site http://www.ourfamtree.org/. Other names in this document agree with the Capt. John Gorham familytree.

John was born on January 28th, 1621 in England, Northamptonshire, Benefield.¹   John's father was Ralph Gorham and his mother was Margaret Stephenson.  His paternal grandparents were James Gorham and Agnes Bernington  . He had a brother and a sister, named Thomas and Eleanor.  He was the second oldest of the three children.  He died due to a medical problem at the age of 55 on February 5th, 1676 in MA, Bristol Co, Swansea.  He was buried in February 1676 in MA, Barnstable Co, Barnstable, Cobbs Hill Cemetery (East and West).^1 1 

• Death Notes

  Born in Benefield, Northhamptonshire, England and died in Swansea, Breistal, MA, USA
  
  Died from the flu.

• General Notes

  John Gorham and his decendants are the only ones listed in the Plymouth colony throughouth the Seventeenth century, so even if there were other sons, only he survived.
  
  He was baptized in Benefield, Notrhamptonshire in England on January 26, 1620/21.  He was probably born around 1618.   He was raised in the Puritan faith and was a leather tanner by trade.
  
  On January 8, 1643/44 he married Desire Howland in Plymouth.  Desire was a daughter of Jolhn Howland and Elizabeth Tilley.  She was born in Plymouth on April 24, 1627.
  
  It is through Desire Howland that we have two 'Mayflower Lines'.  Her father, her mother and her mother's parents all came over on the Mayflower and landed at Provincetown and finally landed in Plymouth in 1620.
  
  In 1646, John and Desire moved North along the coast to the new town of Marshfield.  He was chosen Constable there in 1648.  He became a freeman there in 1650 and in 1651 was a member of the Grand Inquest of the Colony.
  
  In 1652, he moved to Cape Cod and settled in Yarmouth and purchased part of the Hallett farm.  He had some 100 acres, most of which lay in the town of Banrnstable.  He operated both a grist mill and a tannery in Yarmouth.  He was a deputy to the Plymouth Colony Court in 1653.
  
  In 1669 he was granted a large portion of land in Swansea, Massachusetts.  He didn't seem to go there immediately as in 1673 and 1674 he was a selectman in the town of Barnstabe.
  
  In 1675, John was made a Captain of the militia from Yarmouth in the war with King Phillip, and Indian chief who vowed to run the white men out of his land.  He led his troops in the decisive battle of December 19, 1675 that broke the will of the Indians.
  
  John Gorham developed flu from the cold and died in Swansea and was buried on the lands he owned but never occupied.  He died February 5, 1675/76.
  
  As reward for service in the war with King Phillip, soldiers wer given lands in Main and the town was named Gorham, Maine in John's honor.
  
  John was a resident of Yarmouth at the time of his death, but soon his widow moved to live with her son in Barnstable.  She, Desire Gorham, died there December 13, 1683.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
  Children of John GORHAM and Desire HOWLAND are:
  
  1. Desire GORHAM, born April 02,     1644    in Plymouth, MA; died June     30, 1700    in Yarmouth, MA; married     John    HAWES October 07, 1661.
  
  2.  Temperance GORHAM, born May        05, 1646 in Marshfield, MA.
  
  3.  Elizabeth GORHAM, born April 02,        1648 in Marshfield, MA.
  
  4.  James GORHAM, born April 28,      1650 in Marshfield, MA.
  
  5.  John GORHAM, born February 20,      1651/52 in Marshfield, MA.
  
  6.  Joseph GORHAM, born February      16, 1653/54 in Yarmouth, MA.
  
  7.   Jabez GORHAM, born August 03,      1656 in Barnstable, MA.
  
  8.   Mercy GORHAM, born January 20,      1657/58 in Barnstable, MA.
  
  9.   Lydia GORHAM, born November      16, 1661 in Barnstable, MA.
  
  10. Hannah GORHAM, born       November 28, 1663 in Barnstable,       MA.
  
  11. Shubael GORHAM, born October       21, 1667 in Barnstable, MA.
   
  Notes:
  
  Selectman/ military service. Soldier in Great Swamp Fight. Came over from England with his father, Ralph in 1635, but Ralph returned to England. Was landowner at Yarmouth; resided at Barnstable and Plymouth, MA; capt. 2nd Barnstable company in Great Swamp fight. 
  
  
  
   
  
  

Details of  John's family with Desire Howland