Individual Details
Stephen TRACY
( - Aft 1654)
Stephen Tracy was about 28 years old when he sailed to the Plymouth Colony aboard the Anne. He was a separatist who had first migrated from England to Leyden, Holland to escape religious persecution. In Leyden he met Tryphosa Lee who became his wife on January 2, 1620. In the marriage record, he is listed as a "say-weaver" and she as a "maid."
They had their first child, Sarah, in Leyden and it appears that the family was scheduled to travel together on the "Anne," but Tryphosa, perhaps learning that she was pregnant, chose to remain at home. She and their two children came to America two years later on the "Jacob."
In the meantime, Stephen had acquired three acres in the Plymouth Colony land division of 1623. After the rest of the family arrived, each shared in the Plymouth Colony cattle division of 1627.
In 1633, Stephen was made a "Freeman of the Incorporation of Plymouth, New England," and, in 1634, he became one of the first settlers of the town of Duxbury. Over the years he held many important offices including:
Plymouth colony committee member to assess taxes, March 3, 1634; Duxbury representative on the committee to lay out highways, July 23, 1634; Coroner's jury, March 2, 1635; Duxbury representative on the committee to "nearer unite Plymouth & those on Duxburrough side," March 14 1635; Grand jury member, March 7, 1636 and again June 2, 1640; Committee member to apportion hay grounds, March 20, 1636; Duxbury constable "an office of high trust and responsibility," March 5, 1638 and again June 4, 1639; Arbiter by order of the governor, September 7, 1642.
On November 2, 1640, Stephen was granted eighty acres of land "with some Meadow to it" in Duxbury. In 1646 he was made a Freeman of Duxbury and, then disappears from all records until 1654 when he is found living in his birthplace, Great Yarmouth, England which was a seaport and market-town in Norfolk County. It is unclear whether Tryphosa returned with him to England, or remained in America. Some sources have her dying in Plymouth in 1655. The children, all being grown, remained in Massachusetts.
On March 2, 1654, while in London, Stephen Tracy "at present of Great Yarmouth in old England" made his will, in the form of a power of attorney to John Winslow, disposing to:
Son John "what land and houses I have there in Duxburrow" (along with some cattle) to "my daughter Ruth Tracy one cow and one two year old mare," and "what cattle I have more (Marye's two cows being cast in amongst them) to be equally divided among my five children living in New England," noting that some of his children were married with children, and others were unmarried. His son John had married Mary Prence, daughter of Governor Thomas and Mary Collier Prence. Tryphosa is not mentioned in the will, so may have died before Stephen.
Famous descendants of Stephen and Tryphosa Lee Tracy include -- Winston Churchill, Ulysses S. Grant, Bing Crosby, and Laura Ingals Wilder.
They had their first child, Sarah, in Leyden and it appears that the family was scheduled to travel together on the "Anne," but Tryphosa, perhaps learning that she was pregnant, chose to remain at home. She and their two children came to America two years later on the "Jacob."
In the meantime, Stephen had acquired three acres in the Plymouth Colony land division of 1623. After the rest of the family arrived, each shared in the Plymouth Colony cattle division of 1627.
In 1633, Stephen was made a "Freeman of the Incorporation of Plymouth, New England," and, in 1634, he became one of the first settlers of the town of Duxbury. Over the years he held many important offices including:
Plymouth colony committee member to assess taxes, March 3, 1634; Duxbury representative on the committee to lay out highways, July 23, 1634; Coroner's jury, March 2, 1635; Duxbury representative on the committee to "nearer unite Plymouth & those on Duxburrough side," March 14 1635; Grand jury member, March 7, 1636 and again June 2, 1640; Committee member to apportion hay grounds, March 20, 1636; Duxbury constable "an office of high trust and responsibility," March 5, 1638 and again June 4, 1639; Arbiter by order of the governor, September 7, 1642.
On November 2, 1640, Stephen was granted eighty acres of land "with some Meadow to it" in Duxbury. In 1646 he was made a Freeman of Duxbury and, then disappears from all records until 1654 when he is found living in his birthplace, Great Yarmouth, England which was a seaport and market-town in Norfolk County. It is unclear whether Tryphosa returned with him to England, or remained in America. Some sources have her dying in Plymouth in 1655. The children, all being grown, remained in Massachusetts.
On March 2, 1654, while in London, Stephen Tracy "at present of Great Yarmouth in old England" made his will, in the form of a power of attorney to John Winslow, disposing to:
Son John "what land and houses I have there in Duxburrow" (along with some cattle) to "my daughter Ruth Tracy one cow and one two year old mare," and "what cattle I have more (Marye's two cows being cast in amongst them) to be equally divided among my five children living in New England," noting that some of his children were married with children, and others were unmarried. His son John had married Mary Prence, daughter of Governor Thomas and Mary Collier Prence. Tryphosa is not mentioned in the will, so may have died before Stephen.
Famous descendants of Stephen and Tryphosa Lee Tracy include -- Winston Churchill, Ulysses S. Grant, Bing Crosby, and Laura Ingals Wilder.
Events
| Baptism | 25 Dec 1596 | Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England |  | ||
| Marriage | 2 Jan 1620 | Leiden, South Holland, Holland - Tryphosa LEE | | ||
| Death | Aft 1654 | Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England | |
Families
| Spouse | Tryphosa LEE (1596 - 1654) |
| Child | Sarah Tracy (1622 - 1708) |
| Child | Jane Tracy (1623 - ) |
| Child | Rebecca TRACY (1625 - 1686) |
| Child | Ruth Tracy (1628 - ) |
| Child | Mary Tracy (1630 - ) |
| Child | John Tracy (1632 - ) |
| Father | Stephen TRACY (1559 - 1630) |
| Mother | Agnes ERDLEY (1569 - 1640) |
| Sibling | William Tracy (1587 - ) |
| Sibling | Thomas Tracy (1589 - ) |
| Sibling | Christopher Tracy (1591 - ) |
| Sibling | Anne Tracy (1594 - ) |
| Sibling | Margaret Tracy (1599 - ) |
| Sibling | John Tracy (1601 - ) |
| Sibling | Margaret Tracy (1605 - ) |
Endnotes
1. Wakefield, Robert S., The Adventurous Tryphosa (Lee) Tracy (Demorest, Georgia: The American Genealogist, Vol. 51, No.2, April, 1975.).
2. Wakefield, Robert S., The Adventurous Tryphosa (Lee) Tracy (Demorest, Georgia: The American Genealogist, Vol. 51, No.2, April, 1975.).
3. Wakefield, Robert S., The Adventurous Tryphosa (Lee) Tracy (Demorest, Georgia: The American Genealogist, Vol. 51, No.2, April, 1975.).