By Harriet Rockwell – Published Spring 2003,
Since this column is devoted to the immigrant, Pasco Foote, and his descendants, let’s take a look at the information that’s been published about him and about some of his descendants who were also named Pasco Foote.
This may help clear up the confusion that the repetition of his name down through the generations has caused some of us. I’ve given my sources for the material in this column at the end.
Pasco Foote, the immigrant, emigrated from England to Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1634, settling in Salem in 1636. His birth date and the name of his wife are not known. Pasco was granted land in Salem by the Frost Fish Brook in 1637.
In 1640, his name appears in a list of 17 men who owned land at Jeoffereyes Creeke and who petitioned the Salem general court for authority to establish a village there. Eventually, this village became the town of Manchester and in later years, was known as Manchester by-the-sea to distinguish it from other Manchesters in New England.
Pasco was admitted to the church in 1653 and in the same year, his eight children, John, Malachi, Samuel, Elizabeth, Mary, Isaac, Pasco and Abigail, were baptized. According to various sources, Pasco of Salem died September 28, 1670.
Pasco, son of Pasco, the immi grant, was obviously born before 1653, though the exact year is not known. He is named as one of the newcomers who appeared in New London, Connecticut, between 1670 and 1700. Published sources describe him as “Foote, Pasco, sonin-law of Edward Stallion” and as “a mariner engaged in the Newfoundland trade.” The History of Salem has a list of ships which includes the “Betty”, a ketch of 26 tons which was at sea in 1679, commanded by Pasco Foote.
This Pasco Foote married twice. His first wife was Martha Ward, whom he married in 1668 in Salem. Martha, born in 1649, was the daughter of Miles and Margaret Ward of Kentshire, England.
Pasco and Martha had three children: Malachi, Martha, and Pasco. By 1678, Martha had evidently died, as Pasco married again that year, this time in Killingworth, Connecticut. His second wife was Margaret Stallion, the daughter of Edward Stallion, who had emigrated from England and settled in New London. Margaret’s mother was Edward’s first wife. Her first name was also Margaret. Her maiden name is not known. Pasco and his second wife had three children: Isaac, Stallion, and Margaret.
Edward Stallion took Pasco and Margaret’s second son, Stallion, for his own child by a deed of adoption executed in 1683. This Stallion Foote died in 1710, leaving a wife, Ann, and their only child, also named Stallion, who subsequently died at the age of 6. Two months after the child’s death, this notice was recorded in New London: “Isaac, son of Pasco, late of New London, deceased, and Margaret his wife, hath desired his name may be now recorded Isaac, alias Stallion Foote.”
An interesting story that raises some questions that may never be answered. Sources describe Edward Stallion as a coastal trader, a planter and a ship owner. A sloop of thirty tons, the “Edward and Margaret”, was built for Edward Stallion in New London in 1681.
Edward was summoned before the court for sailing his vessel from New London to Norwich, Connecticut, on the Sabbath and was fined 40 shillings. Pasco, Edward’s son-in-law, became half owner of the “Edward and Margaret.” Ironically, Edward Stallion drowned in 1703 after falling out of his canoe. Pasco Foote of Salem was the first Pasco Foote in America; however, in the next five generations, five of his direct descendants bore this name. The lineages back to the original Pasco are in the box below:
| Pasco 2, Pasco 1 Pasco 3, Pasco 2, Pasco 1 Pasco 4, Samuel 3, Samuel 2, Pasco 1 Pasco 5, John 4, John 3, Samuel 2, Pasco 1 Pasco 6, Theophilus 5, Samuel 4, John 3, Samuel 2, Pasco 1 |
Sources
– The Abridged Compendium of American Genealogy;
– Massachusetts and Maine Families, Volume 2;
– Pioneers of Massachusetts; Guide to the Early Settlers of America;
– The National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 25;
– History of Salem, Volume 2;
– History of New London;
– Marriage Index, Connecticut 1635-1860;
– Three Hundred Colonial Ancestors;
– Ancestral Heads of New England Families;
– Geographical Dictionary of The First Settlers of New England;
– Colonial & Revolutionary Families, Volume 2;
– Foote Family by Abram W Foote.
See also the Manchester by-the-sea website.
Note to FFAA members: I’m told that some of you are descendants of both Nathaniel Foote of Wethersfield and Pasco of Salem. I’d like to write a column about these dual lineages, so please get them to me as soon as possible. Your participation is vital to the success of this column. Comments and suggestions are always welcome.
Harriet Rockwell