[phelps.FTW]
[Brøderbund WFT Vol. 1, Ed. 1, Tree #0988, Date of Import: Oct 22, 1998]
JOHN BURNHAM
(1618-1695)
From the best information obtainable at the present day, it would
appear that three brothers, John, Thomas, and Robert, sons of Robert and
his wife Mary (Andrews) Burnham, of Norwich, Norfolk County, England, came
to America early in 1635; that they came in the ship Angel Gabriel, in
charge of their maternal uncle, Capt. Andrews, master of the said ship;
that they were wrecked on the coast of Main; that, with the freight thrown
overboard to relieve the vessel at the of the disaster, was a chest
(containing valuables) belonging to three boys; that the boys came to
Chebacco, in the colony of Mass. Bay with their uncle, Capt. Andrews, who
having lost his ship settled there, the boys remaining with him.
John and Thomas served (boys as they were) in the Pequot expedition.
When grown to manhood, John and Thomas remained at Chebacco, and became
freemen there. Robert removed to Boston, and while there became one of a
company who purchased the town of Dover, N.H., to which place he removed,
erected his "garrison house" at Oyster River, became an inhabitant, and his
descendants are still there. John Burnham, when a young man of twenty, was
engaged in the Pequod expedition from Ipswich, and in consideration of his
services, the town granted him a large tract of land lying on the east side
of Haskell's Creek in that part of Ipswich which is now Essex. He was one
of the company that marched against the Indian Sagamore Passconway.
The first boat built in Ipswich was the handiwork of Thomas and John.
In 1673, John and Abraham Perkins owned the ketch "Dora" (29 ton
burthen) in which they sent mackerel from Portsmouth, NH to Barbadoes,and
brought back sugar. In 1692 he and his son, John, signed a petition in
behalf of the Proctors who were accused of witchcraft.
John was appointed deacon of the Church at Chebacco. Many of his
descendants removed from Chebacco and settled at other places. Ebenezer,
his grandson, removed to Windham Co., CN, and himself became the ancestor
of a numerous progeny. Others removed to New Hampshire and Maine.
Thomas was commissioned as Lt., was Deputy to the General Court, was
Selectman, and on town committees. He owned much land both in Chebacco and
in Ipswick, and a sawmill on Chebacco river.
In the town of Essex, MA, a large proportion of its inhabitants are
Burnhams, and are descended from Lt. Thomas, Sen., through his son John.
The Norwich, CN, Burnhams are descended from Lt.Thomas, Sen. There are now
also in Essex many of the name of Andrews, probably descended from Capt.
Andrews, brother of the mother of the three Burnham boys.
The descendants of these three brothers, (as will appear from various
letters to be found on the last pages of this book,) have made, at various
times, extending from 1829 to the present day, (1869,) efforts to obtain
the immense estate, believed to be still held in England,for heirs of the
Burnham descent now in America, and that for this purpose meetings for
consultation and for concentrated effort have been held, money raised, and
agents - among them an English Lawyer - employed and sent to England to
prosecute these claims, but so far, as it at present appears, with little
prospect of success.
Taken from "The Burnham Family", F.H.L. F# 381790 item # 1 ; also from
The Jameson Family, by E.C. Jameson.
John Burnham 
