Allen line: Lucretia Oldham Brewster 1600-1678

I've written before of how hard it is to learn the stories of our female ancestors.  Usually we are lucky to find a birthdate, a marriage date, and a death date.  Sometimes all we know of our grandmothers is their first name, sometimes just the last name of their first husband, and sometimes nothing at all. 

With this ancestor, we have just a little bit more.  We have a few phrases that tell us quite a bit about her.  And for that, I declare this "Happy Genealogy Dance" day, for whenever you happen to read this blog post. 

Here are the "normal" facts for Lucretia.  She was born about January 14, 1600/1601, which is actually her christening date, in Derby, Derbyshire, England.  Some sources say she was born ten days earlier.  She was christened at All Saints Church in Derby, and her parents were William and Philippa Sowter Oldham.  We don't know what William's occupation was but Philippa was the daughter of a butcher, so it is likely that William wasn't a man of great means. 

Lucretia arrived in Plymouth Colony in July of 1623 on the ship Anne with her brother John Oldham.  We don't know what motivated her to come to the new colony.  Did she come to keep house for her brother, or to accept another position as servant here, or was she simply an adventurous lady who wanted to see more of the world than Derby?  She was 23 years old when she arrived here, and apparently had acquired some education because she is referred to later in life as a "doctoress, nurse, and midwife". 

From my reading, I think this also implies that she was something of an herbalist.  Nurses and midwives are frequently portrayed in both fiction and non-fiction about colonial times, as women who gathered and processed herbs to use in medicines and teas, many of which were surprisingly effective.  I'd love to know where she got this knowledge, especially since many of the plants she would have relied on were native to New England and not known in England at all.  Did some of the native American women share there knowledge with her?  It's not a far-fetched idea, since there were few English women in the colony, and since her husband traded with the Indians.

Oh, yes, her husband...She married Jonathan Brewster, oldest son of Elder William and Mary Brewster, in April 10, 1624 in Plymouth Colony.  She must have been a respectable woman, to be approved by her new in-laws, and probably she was considered a "catch", too. I need to acknowledge that their were few single women in the colony by 1624, but even so... Jonathan was a widower with no children, and was an ambitious, curious, probably very interesting man, so the two probably complemented each other.

Jonathan and Lucretia had eight children together.  They lived in Duxbury for a time while Jonathan built up his business, which involved trading along the coast line as far south as Virginia, as well as running a ferry service and acting as a surveyor for the colony.  He also helped operate a trading post with the Indians, set up on the Connecticut River just north of the Dutch trading post which had been set up for the same purpose.  After the couple had been married about 25 years, Jonathan suffered some financial reverses (I am not sure what they were, perhaps he lost a ship in a storm or perhaps it was something else) and he had to sell his Plymouth and Duxbury properties. 

The couple soon went to Norwich, Connecticut in 1649, when Jonathan set up a trading post with the Indians.  All this time, Jonathan had been interested in alchemy and he was now closer to John Winthrop the Younger, who was deeply involved in the same research.  It is easy to imagine that Lucretia worked with him on his experiments, except that there is reference that his wife and family knew nothing of this part of his life (it was highly secretive work).  Regardless, there may have been books involved that Lucretia consulted for her own use. 

In Norwich, in the part known as Preston, Lucretia was well-respected.  She is referred to as "Mrs." or "Mistress", which was above the rank of "goodwife".  She witnessed at least one will, although we don't know whether this was for one of her patients or not.  Women seldom were recognized as witnesses for wills but she had a reputation that allowed this. 

I like to think about Lucretia.  She was a mother of eight and yet gave herself to her community.  I wonder how many pregnancies she attended as a midwife?  It's quite possible that she was the midwife at the birth of some of our other ancestors, so we owe her a double dose of honor and respect. 

Jonathan died October 7, 1659 and Lucretia died about 20 years later, on October 4, 1678/79.  She had not remarried, but had remained a widow for all her remaining days.  What a legacy she left her family, of faith and hard work, of faithfulness and servanthood.  It is an honor to be able to share a little of her story with you.

The line of descent is

Lucretia Oldham-Jonathan Brewster
Hannah Brewster-Samuel Starr
Thomas Starr-Mary Morgan
Thomas Starr-Jerusha Street
John Starr-Mary Sharp
John Starr-Elizabeth "Betsy" Chester Havens
John Havens Starr-Clarissa Falley
Harriet Starr-John Wilson Knott
Edith Knott-Edward Allen
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants