Arabella: The question of the ship and precise date for the arrival of Simon Sackett in America is one we have not solved. However, we do have records in the Isle of Thanet which serve as a guide. Simon Sackett married Elizabeth Boyman in St Peter the Apostle Church in Thanet on 2 Nov 1618 and they had three daughters born in 1620, 1623 and 1625. Elizabeth Boyman died and Simon Sackett married Isabel Pearce on 6 Aug 1627 in St. John's in Isle of Thanet. From this it would appear to be evident that Simon and Isabel did not migrate to America before 6 Aug 1627. The first American record we have for Simon is an undated one which is considered by Anderson {"The Great Migration Begins"] to have been from about 1632. As I stated, the plaque in the Old Newtowne section of Cambridge, MA lists the Sackett surname among those who had established themselves there by 26 Jul 1630 [the source for this is not clear]. The Winthrop Society lists Simon Sackett as a "cowherd"; presumably because he recieved property for a "cowyard" (Source: Cambridge Town Records, p5, "Lotts Granted for Cowyardes. [listed among others] Symo Sakt 1/2 akr."). However, it was the practice at that time for all the inhabitants of a town to have the livestock pens in one location rather than keeping the animals near the individual homes. Therefore, time for Simon's arrival in America would appear to be between his marriage to Isabel Pearce on 6 Aug 1627 and 1630, or 1632. Concerning the ship on which Simon and Isabel came to America it is unfortunate that the early "passenger lists" we have are mostly reconstructions and are not considered to be complete. So, with the information we presently have we cannot be certain of the ship or the precise date of Simon's arrival. Most of the early histories [including Weygant] were of the opinion that Simon and Isabel arrived on the ship "Lyon" with Capt. William Pearce, Master. So then, anyone who can discover a document which gives us conclusive information for the name of the ship and the date of arrival for Simon Sackett in America will make a multitude of his descendants very happy!! I might add that there are other questions which beg to be answered, viz. when and how did John Sackett of the New Haven Colony in Connecticut come to be there? Who were his parents? Was he related to Simon Sackett and Isabel Pearce? & etc. Regards, Thurmon On Tue, 24 Feb 2004 11:39:50 -0000 "Sackett" <Sackett@BTinternet.com> writes: > Thank you for your swift reply. I will check my source who is a big > history buff. But he seems sure that the Sacketts did sail on the > Mayflower. But we all can make mistakes. I have been so busy with my > paid work that Sackett searching has had to take second place for > the > moment. But even when covering the Michael Flatley event in Monaco, > last > August I found myself sitting next to a Sackett. Michael was dancing > for > the Prince Rainier and Princess Caroline at the Red Cross Ball. We > Sacketts do get about. I would love to hear from any Sacketts in > California and Canada. My very best from one cold and snow bound > England. Arabella Sackett.

Thurmon E King wrote: > The first American record we have for Simon is an undated one which is > considered by Anderson {"The Great Migration Begins"] to have been from > about 1632. As I stated, the plaque in the Old Newtowne section of > Cambridge, MA lists the Sackett surname among those who had established > themselves there by 26 Jul 1630 [the source for this is not clear]. Thurmon, Your explanation in reply to Arabella was very helpful. I hadn't figured why the Winthrop Society site had Simon as a cowherd but your theory makes good sense. One small detail above ( but maybe an important one) - the date on the plaque is 26 Jul 1631. This date would of course leave possible Weygant's version of an arrival in Feb 1630/31. I re-checked the list on the plaque (Dudley, Bradstreet, Lockwood, Poole, "Capt." Patrick, Spencer, Kirman, and Sackett) and confirmed that this was the same as the undated list appearing at the beginning of the Cambridge Town Records which Anderson considered to have been "probably" from 1632. The only difference is the order of Poole and Patrick. The list in the book is - The Towne [ ] Newtowne Inhabitants then Tho = Dudly Efqr mr Symon Bradftreet mr Edmond Lockwood mr Daniell Patrike John Poole William Spencer John Kirman Symon Sackett I think we have gone over this data several times before but I don't recall that I had previously taken in the import of the date 26 July 1631. The list on the plaque must surely have been taken from the Town Records (notwithstanding the switch of Poole and Patrick), but where did they get the date from? It is not in the book. And Anderson was obviously unaware of any date. The date must appear in some other record that neither we nor Anderson know about. Do we know who caused the plaque to be erected? Maybe we could write to whoever that was (presumably a Cambridge Historical Society or somesuch) asking for details of their source for the date. Kind regards, Chris