Let’s pause the Pickering saga for a moment to introduce some other key persons in Cordelia Pickering Gaume’s family tree. Understanding these relationships, which go beyond just marriage, is vital. They all shared the major event of the Great Puritan Migration and the Winthrop Fleet in the 1630s, which connects them significantly. On top of that, some of them were participants in a pivotal case involving religious liberties known as the Antinomian Controversy.

So, before we had the DNA proof tying the Cordelia Pickering found in Frank Gaume’s military stuff to the daughter of Corbett Pickering in the Susquehanna County census records, I’d already figured out her family background using records from the New England Genealogical Society. But, honestly, I hadn’t dug deep enough to really know who some of these people were. What I didn’t realize was that some of these people were very famous for their involvement with the trial of Anne Hutchinson and were instrumental in the founding of two new colonies and a new city.

The Great Puritan Migration was a significant period in the early 17th century when thousands of English Puritans migrated to North America, primarily to New England. Driven by religious persecution, economic hardship, and a desire to establish a society based on their religious beliefs, these individuals sought to create a “city upon a hill,” a model community that would serve as an example to the rest of the world. This movement brought skilled laborers, educated individuals, and families who profoundly shaped the social, political, and religious landscape of the region.

A key moment within the Great Migration was the Winthrop Fleet of 1630. Led by John Winthrop, this fleet of eleven ships carried approximately 700 passengers to Massachusetts Bay. The arrival of the Winthrop Fleet marked a pivotal moment in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Winthrop, who became the colony’s governor, envisioned a well-ordered society governed by biblical principles. The arrival of this large and organized group of settlers provided the colony with a solid foundation, contributing to its rapid growth and success in the following years.

Not too long ago, I discovered an organization called the Winthrop Society. The purpose of this group is dedicated to honoring and preserving [the Puritans] memory, philosophy and tradition, and transmitting their example of courage, faith, civic duty and integrity.

Being the extreme introvert that I am, I am not a joiner of societies, associations, or clubs, yet considering that I am a descendent of “one or more passengers of the Winthrop fleet, or of others who settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony on or before 31 December 1640,” I thought I might apply to join an organization called The Winthrop Society, but I will pass for now.

I do wish to thank them for providing the list found on their website: Qualifying Ancestors Used by the Membership to Date.

On this list, I found five ancestors:

• John Bancroft settled in Lynn, Massachusetts in 1632. He is a great-grandfather of Hannah Bancroft, who was the mother of Jotham Pickering. John was Corbett Pickering’s 4x great-grandfather. It is through Hannah’s mother, Elizabeth Eaton, that I am able to draw a line to the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne. I’ll have more to say about this in a later chapter.
• William Baulston arrived in Boston in 1630, and was later banished to Rhode Island where he ran the colony’s first tavern. He was Corbett Pickering’s 5x great-grandfather. Absolutely loved discovering one of my ancestors launched Rhode Island’s first bar! As a Family Guy devotee for 25 years, this was an awesome surprise.
• William Chase arrived at Roxbury with the Winthrop fleet in 1630. He was Corbett Pickering’s 5x great-grandfather.
• John Coggeshall settled first in Roxbury in 1632 before founding a colony in Rhode Island. He was Corbett Pickering’s 5x great-grandfather.l
• Phillip Sherman settled first in Roxbury in 1633 before founding a colony in Rhode Island. He was Corbett Pickering’s 4x great-grandfather.

I am not sure how accurate the list is, considering that John Pickering, who arrived at Ipswich in 1635 and later built a house in Salem that still stands to this day, is not listed.

Three of the men Baulston, Coggeshall, and Sherman were signatories of an early colonial instrument of governance and each of them has a Wikipedia article.

The article for William Baulstone says he was a colonial New England innkeeper who was active in the civil and military affairs of both the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. He was a founding settler of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, was continuously elected to the highest positions in the colony, and was one of the ten Assistants named in the Rhode Island Royal Charter. It also mentions his connection to the “antinomian controversy,” a thing that he has in common with the other men.

Not everyone who arrived with the Winthrop Fleet throughout the 1630s was a member of the Puritan Church And for the most part that was not a problem for the authorities primarily because they were dealing with a severe shortage of resources. The colony needed men not only for labor but also for the security of the region. It was not until I started looking to see who in my family tree had a Wikipedia article. This was another one of those “why didn’t I think of this before”-moments because I was surprised when I determined that about a dozen Massachusetts ancestors had articles in Wikipedia.

The article on William Ballston told us that he arrived in Boston with the Winthrop Fleet in 1630 and was made a Freeman on October 19th of that same year. This meant that he had to have joined the Puritan Church. Joining the Puritan church was not as simple as just showing up and attending services. It just so happens that Willaim Baulstone became a freeman on the same day as did Gov. Winthrop. They and 107 others were admitted on that day in what was then the first general freemanship ceremony in the colony. Yet under new rules, becoming a Freeman did not make one a full member of the church.

During the 1630s, particularly in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, access to freeman status was tightly connected with membership in the Puritan (Congregationalist) Church, though each required separate procedures.

Membership in a 17th-century New England Puritan church was contingent upon demonstrating genuine spiritual transformation. Prospective members were required to deliver a public testimony, known as a “relation,” detailing their spiritual journey, past transgressions, and perceived divine forgiveness through Jesus Christ. This narrative served as a critical determinant of their commitment. Subsequently, ecclesiastical leaders conducted a thorough examination of the individual’s conduct, biblical knowledge, and adherence to doctrinal tenets. This evaluation was designed to ascertain the authenticity of their conversion and preparedness to comply with the church’s rigorous regulations. Ultimately, a congregational vote determined acceptance, necessitating near-unanimity to ensure admission and underscore the importance of ecclesiastical harmony. Upon acceptance, and if not previously baptized, the candidate would receive the sacrament. Full membership conferred the privilege of partaking in communion and presenting their children for baptism, rites of considerable significance within the Puritan community, thereby reflecting the centrality of the church in their existence.

Becoming a freeman meant gaining major perks like voting, running for office, and serving on juries—basically, being a full-fledged part of the community. Getting this status wasn’t a free-for-all, though. You had to be a guy, 21 or older, and most importantly, a card-carrying member of the Puritan church. This church requirement set Massachusetts Bay apart from other colonies; church wasn’t just about religion, it was your ticket to civic life. Once you met those qualifications, you’d ask the colonial government (the General Court) for freeman status. If they said yes, you’d swear the Freeman’s Oath, pledging loyalty to the colony’s laws and church rules. It was a big deal, a serious promise.

So, it appears that exceptions were made for Winthrop, Baulstone and others by granting them freeman status before they joined the church. The record shows that Winthrop did not become a full-fledged member of the church until one year later.

The article for Baulstone states that his daughter Elizabeth – my ancestor who married John Coggeshall, Jr. – was William’s only child to have survived into adulthood.

John Coggeshall, Sr, a merchant in the silk trade, became a member of the Puritan arm of the church a number of years before traveling to North America with his wife and children in 1634. It was here that they became nextdoor neighbors of William and Anne Hutchinson.

Anne Hutchinson was a charismatic and intelligent woman who arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1634. She began holding meetings in her home to discuss sermons and religious ideas. Her interpretations of scripture and her emphasis on the inner light of the Holy Spirit challenged the authority of the established Puritan clergy. She argued that salvation was based on grace, not works, and that individuals could have direct communication with God, a view that conflicted with the Puritan doctrine of salvation through predestination and adherence to church teachings.

Hutchinson’s teachings gained a large following but also drew sharp criticism from the colony’s leaders, who saw her views as a threat to social order and religious orthodoxy. She was eventually brought to trial in 1637 for heresy and sedition. Despite her articulate defense, she was found guilty and banished from the colony.

Her case, known as the Antinomian Controversy, was a pivotal moment in the history of religious freedom in America, highlighting the tension between religious dissent and established authority. Her stand for individual conscience and religious freedom laid early groundwork for the separation of church and state and the eventual establishment of religious liberty as a fundamental right in America.

John Coggeshall was a third great-grandfather of Abigail Chase, the mother of Cordelia Pickering’s grandmother, Alice Pickering – making him my father’s 9x great-grandfather.

In addition to being a witness for the defense at Anne Hutchinson’s trial, John Coggeshall, was one of the founders of the colony of the state of Rhode Island and a signatory of Portsmouth Compact, a document signed on March 7, 1638, that established the settlement of Portsmouth, which is now a town in the state of Rhode Island. His name has been in my database for many years, but I only made the connection recently.

Mrs. Hutchinson’s trial which took place in 1637 resulted in her and her supporters, John included, being found guilty of various charges which resulted in their being disenfranchised, disarmed, and banished from the colony. Many of them, including my ancestor, followed Roger Williams to Rhode Island. In 1647, John was elected 1st President of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. John Coggeshall assisted in the founding of two cities, two States, and two separate and independent governments.

As I mentioned earlier, the three men William Baulstone, John Coggeshall, and Philip Shearman were each signatories to an instrument known as the Portsmouth Compact.

The Portsmouth Compact, signed on March 7, 1638, is a historically significant document because it represents one of the earliest examples of a political agreement based on democratic principles in the United States. The document was written and signed by a group of Christian dissidents seeking religious freedom from the governmental oversight of the Massachusetts Bay Colony by moving to Aquidneck Island to set up a new colony. Among this group was Anne Hutchinson, who had been banished from Massachusetts Bay following the Antinomian Controversy there.

The purpose of the Portsmouth Compact was to set up a new, independent colony that was Christian in character but non-sectarian in governance. It has been called “the first instrument for governing as a true democracy.”

These are all ancestors of Cordelia’s great-grandmother, Abigail Chase. Philip Sherman was Abigail’s 2x great-grandfather on her father’s side. John Coggeshall was her 2x great-grandfather on her mother’s side, and John’s wife, Elizabeth Baulston(e), was the daughter of William Baulston.

During the trial of Anne Hutchinson, William Baulstone signed a petition in support of Anne’s pastor, the Reverend John Wheelwright, who was censured by the General Court in March 1637.

Following this, William was arrested, fined, stripped of his voting rights, prohibited from bearing any public office, and forced to give up all of his weapons: “guns, pistols, swords, powder [&] shot.” He was then subsequently banished from the Massachusetts colony. All because he was a follower and supporter of Mrs. Hutchinson.

He and others originally planned to go to the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam (Manhattan), but Roger Williams convinced them to settle near the Narragansett Bay, and they soon established Pocasset on Aquidneck Island (also called Rhode Island) in the bay. After moving there, he was permitted to develop a house of entertainment for strangers, to sell wines, and to brew beer.

The Portsmouth Compact established Portsmouth, Rhode Island, as a settlement for religious freedom, breaking from Puritan rule. It’s an early example of a social contract and democratic governance, laying the groundwork for future American democratic principles. The compact reflects a covenant under God, aligning governance with spiritual beliefs without imposing a singular doctrine, highlighting evolving ideas of governance and religious freedom in colonial America.

In addition to Coggeshall and Baulstone, Phillip Shearman (Sherman) was caught up in the Antinomian Controversy, and because of his religious beliefs he was persecuted by the authorities in Boston. Born in the village of Dedham in Essex, Phillip left his home in England to escape persecution there and arrived in Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1633. The following year, he was made a freeman. It was not too long afterwards that he became attracted to the preachings of Rev. John Wheelwright and Anne Hutchinson.

So, on November 20, 1637, they told him and a group of others to hand over all their weapons – guns, pistols, swords, ammo, the works. Apparently, it was because the “opinions and revelations” of Mr. Wheelwright and Mrs. Hutchinson had gotten a lot of folks in New England tangled up in some “dangerous errors.” And the Roxbury church records actually mention Sherman in connection with all this: “He came into the land in the year 1632 [sic; should read 1633], a single man, & after married Sarah Odding, the daughter o[f] the wife of John Porter by a former husband. This man was of melancholy temper, he lived honestly & comfortably among us several years, upon a just calling went for England & returned again with a blessing: but after his father-in-law John Porter was so carried away with these opinions of familism & schism he followed them & removed with them to the Island, he behaved himself sinfully in these matters (as may appear in the story) & was cast out of the church.”

Basically, lots of Wheelwright and Hutchinson’s supporters got kicked out of Massachusetts. But before they left, some, like Sherman, signed the Portsmouth Compact. It was all about setting up a non-religious government that everyone agreed on, but with a Christian vibe. They thought about heading to New Netherland, but Roger Williams convinced them to buy land from the Native Americans on Narragansett Bay instead. They set up shop on Aquidneck Island, called it Pocasset at first, then switched to Portsmouth in 1639. William Coddington became their first leader.

In addition to my father and myself, among the many descendants of Philip and Sarah Sherman are former United States Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush. Other descendants include James S. Sherman, Susan B. Anthony, Janis Joplin, Sir Winston Churchill, Lyndon LaRouche, Conrad Aiken, Mamie Eisenhower, Taylor Swift and possibly Marilyn Monroe. I’ll talk more about famous cousins in a later chapter.

So, what happened to Mrs. Hutchinson and her family? Anne Hutchinson settled in Portsmouth, Massachusetts, but after her husband’s death and threats from Massachusetts, she moved to what’s now The Bronx, New York City, with her younger children. Sadly, she and most of her household were killed by the Siwanoy Indians in 1643; only her daughter Susanna survived. Hutchinson played a huge role in early American religious freedom and women in ministry, challenging the power of the established ministers. Massachusetts honors her with a monument, and she’s considered a really significant figure in colonial American history.