SMITH-Dort/WINSOR-Secord/HARRIS
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| Winnisimmet Ferry map detail |
11th
GGFather: Thomas Harris (c1581-1634) 1630 Immigrant
THOMAS WILLLIAMS Alias HARRIS, “The
Ferryman of Winnisimmet”
Genealogical
lineage is typically determined by going back through the generations following each ancestor’s
surname. This creates a problem in our Harris line, simply because our
immigrant ancestor Thomas Harris used an alias as a last name: Williams. Why?
We can only guess. He is first listed on the 1630 Massachusetts Application of Freemen as “Williams, Thomas
(alias Harris).” An alias surname was not uncommon in 17th century England. The
most plausible reason for Thomas to have adopted an alias is explained in the
following excerpt from familysearch:
During
the 16th century, many men were reluctant to abandon ancestral names, and
consequently retained the forenames of their fathers or grandfathers as
surnames. …These practices were not limited to "the gentry" who,
because of land interests, made limited use of patronymics. According to John
Chynoweth's book, "Tudor Cornwall", in the 1569 Muster Lists for St.
Ives, 41% of the able-bodied men thus mustered had the forenames of their
fathers as surnames.
“Thomas
Williams alias Harris” was the son of William
Harris. He is registered in colonial records under that name even though his
children all continued to use the surname Harris.
Upon
arrival in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, he and his family soon settled in a small
community that would later be named Chelsea, situated directly across the
Mystic River from the city of Boston. It is not known what occupation Harris left
behind at Hatherop in the Cotswolds of Gloucestershire, England. But the
following spring (and on the same day) fifty year-old Thomas was admitted a
Freeman and recorded his intent to ply a trade:
“On
18 May 1631 ‘Tho[mas] Will[ia]ms hath undertaken to set up a ferry betwixt
Winnettsem[e]t & Charlton, for which he is to have after 3d. a person, and
from Winnettsem[e]t to Boston 4d. a person’
[MBCR 1:87].”
Thus
began the first chartered ferry in colonial America. The Massachusetts Bay
Transportation Authority provides this history of Thomas Williams (alias
Harris) who ran a ferry between his home at Winnisimmet (Chelsea) to Charlton
(Charlestown) and Boston until his death in 1634, when his widow’s second
husband, William Stitson, continued this ferry service:
“In
the 1600s, Boston was just a peninsula, connected to Roxbury by a thin strip of
land. To get to the city, farmers and residents in Chelsea had to walk through
Malden, Cambridge, Brighton, and Roxbury. The journey took 2 days.
This
was such a burden that the Massachusetts Court of Assistance offered a contract
to anyone willing to run a ferry between the Shawmut Peninsula (now the North
End of Boston) and Charlestown. In 1631,
Thomas Williams opened the first chartered transit service in the United
States.”
“1600s The shores stretching along Chelsea,
Charlestown, and Boston, Massachusetts served as New England’s maritime hub for
nearly 400-years. This natural estuary of the Atlantic Ocean was first
discovered in 1614.
“The site of Fitzgerald Shipyard’s maritime operation dates back to May 1631 when the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony granted rights to operate the first passenger ferry in the country. The Winnisimmet Ferry was first propelled by men with oars crossing the Boston Harbor between Chelsea and Boston until 1917 — a period of 286 years. The Ferry service saved passengers the 20-mile-long day trip by land between Chelsea and Boston.”
“The site of Fitzgerald Shipyard’s maritime operation dates back to May 1631 when the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony granted rights to operate the first passenger ferry in the country. The Winnisimmet Ferry was first propelled by men with oars crossing the Boston Harbor between Chelsea and Boston until 1917 — a period of 286 years. The Ferry service saved passengers the 20-mile-long day trip by land between Chelsea and Boston.”
(from website of Fitzgerald
Shipyard, Chelsea, MA)
Sources:
Illustration: detail from "A plan of the town and harbour of Boston" 1775, J. DeCosta (Library of Congress)
Use
of Aliases - an Overview. (2015, December 26). FamilySearch Wiki, .
Retrieved 21:04, April 29, 2019 http://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/index.php?title=Use_of_Aliases
an_Overview&oldid=2396274.
The
History of the T. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
online https://www.mbta.com/history
[MBCR]
Records of the Governor and Company of
the Massachusetts Bay in New England, 1628-1686, ed. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff.
Boston 1853-1854.
Online
article Fitzgerald’s Shipyard “History”
found at: http://fitzgeraldshipyard.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2&Itemid=2
Fitzgerald’s
Shipyard, 1 Winnisimmet Street, Chelsea, Massachusetts
“Williams, Thomas (alias Harris)”
ReplyDeleteDoes the actual list contain his name as written above? I have read sources which say he is not the passenger of the Lyon. Thanks.
Good question, Patti-Ann. I cite the Williams-alias-Harris reference from the MBCR records as recorded in "Great Migration Begins, Vol. 2; page 90:
Delete“FREEMANSHIP: Requested October 1630 (as “Thomas Will[ia]ms alias Harris”) and admitted 18 May 1631 (as “Thomas Williams”) [MBCR 1:80, 366]. Since the alias does not seem to be recorded on the ship manifest, I have corrected my text for accuracy. Thank you for your helpful question! ~GloverSmith