Elizabeth Fisher (mtDNA)

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Status summary

As of August 30, 2018

  • Page created for Elizabeth Fisher, second wife of Stephen Hopkins
  • Pilgrim Hopkins Heritage Society contacted
  • recruitment of individuals who are mtDNA descendants of Elizabeth (Fisher) Hopkins. Folks who believe they are matrilineal (all female line) descendants should Read me First

IMPORTANT: Read me First

Background

For more information see: Austin, John D., Mayflower Families Through Five Generations: vol. 6 Hopkins

First Generation

The General Society of Mayflower Descendants (GSMD) accepts the marriage recorded in the Parish register, St Mary Matfellon, Whitechapel, of Stephen Hopkins to Elizabeth Fisher on 19 Feb 1617[/18] as the second marriage of Pilgrim Stephen Hopkins.[1][2] Her parentage and ancestry has not been discovered to date.[3] The couple were on the Mayflower, along with their daughter Damaris and two children from Stephen's first marriage (to Mary): Constance & Giles. The family remained in the original New Plimouth settlement, where Elizabeth is said to have died sometime around 1642.[4]

Elizabeth and Stephen had two sons and five daughters

Second Generation

Damaris (c1618) was likely still alive in the 1623 Land division (as her father's company received six shares), but likely was not enumerated in the 1627 Cattle division. A younger sister was named after her, so she died young.

[1] Deborah was apparently born before the 1627 Cattle division.[5] She married (Plymouth 23 Apr 1646) Andrew Ring and she died after 1659.[6] They had three sons and four daughters (Elizabeth, Mary, Susanna & Deborah)

[2] Damaris (second of the name) was almost certainly born after the 1627 Cattle division. She married (Plymouth after 10 Jun 1646) John Cooke. She died there before Nov 1669.[7] They had three sons and five daughters (Elizabeth, Rebecca (died young), Mary, Martha & Ruth)

Ruth (c1630) died unmarried sometime between Nov 1644 and Jun 1651.

Elizabeth (c1632) also apparently never married. Her estate was appraised on 6 Oct 1659 "in case Elizabeth Hopkins do come no more."[8][9]

Third Generation

[3] Elizabeth Ring was born at Plymouth 19 Apr 1652 and died at Eastham in 1691. She married William Mayo. They had two sons and three daughters ([4] Thankful [1678-1739, m. Samuel Higgins, only had 3 sons], Hannah [1685] & Deborah [1690-b1717, never married).

[5] Mary Ring was born at Plymouth in 1657 and died at Middleborough 31 Oct 1731. She married John Morton. They had three sons and four daughters (Mary, Hannah, Deborah & Persis). However, none of these daughters had any maternal granddaughters, so no living mtDNA line.

Susanna Ring was born at Plymouth about 1658. Some sources state she may have been the the wife of William Walker (II) of Eastham. Possibly mtDNA research may be able to confirm or refute this claim. William and Elizabeth had the following children: Susanna (c1687), John (c1690), William (c1692) and Mehitable (c1698).

Deborah Ring was born at Plymouth about 1659.[10]


[6] Elizabeth Cooke[7] was born at Plymouth 18 Jan 1648/9 and died there 21 Nov 1692. She married John Doty (son of Mayflower Passenger Edward Doty). They had seven sons & two daughters: Elizabeth (1675/6) and Martha (1692).

[8] Mary Cooke was born at Plymouth 12 Jan 1657/8. She married John Rickard.[11] They had 3 sons and 4 daughters (Mercy [1682-1717, m. Jabez Eddy & Ignatius Cushing], Mary [1688- ], Esther [1691-1713, never married] & Elizabeth [1694-1731, m. Capt. Ebenezer Doggett])

[9] Martha Cooke was born at Plymouth 16 Mar 1659 and died at Plympton 17 Sep 1722. She married Elkanah Cushman and they had three sons and three daughters (Elizabeth [1684-1724, m. Robert Waterman but no children], Martha [1691-1771, m. Nathiel Holmes, but no daughters] & Mehitable [1693-1725, never married]). Thus no mtDNA descendants from Martha.

Ruth Cooke was born at Plymouth 17 Jan 1664/5 and is known to have been living as late as 11 Dec 1675. Some records indicate she married Hezekiah/Helkiah Tinkham and died at Kingston 10 Apr 1734. They had six sons and three daughters (Mary [1687-1717, m. Ebenezer Curtis], Sarah [1696-1714/5, never married] and Ruth [1701-1726, m. Ebenezer Cobb (II) but only had one son]). Thus her mtDNA line is only carried down through daughter Mary. Not currently accepted by the General Society of Mayflower Descendants. mtDNA testing may possibly help resolve this issue.

Fourth Generation

[10] Hannah Mayo was born Eastham about 1685 and died Chatham 11 Feb 1765. She married about 1706 Samuel Tucker and they had eight children (born Chatham): Keziah (1707 m. Nathaniel Covell [III]), John (1709), Thankful (1710, m. Nathan Hatch but likely had no children),[12] Elizabeth (1712 poss. m. Joseph Cheney), Hannah (1714 m. Isaac Hawes [II]), John (1715), Samuel (1719) and Eunice (1722 unknown if married).

Susanna Walker was born Eastham about 1687 and died Truro after 12 Dec 1753. She married Eastham 7 Jun 1716 Jonathan Collins and they had: Elizabeth (1716/7 m ____ Clark), Ruth (1719 m Thomas Cobb [II]), Andrew (1721), Susanna (1723 m Joseph Rich), Deborah (1726 m Stowers Arey & James Atwood), Joseph (1728) and James (1731).

Mehitable Walker was born Eastham about 1698 and died Haddam, CT 11 Oct 1752. She married Eastham 25 Mar 1721 John Knowles and they had: Elisha (c1722), Richard (1724/5), Mehitable (1728 m Abner Smith) and William (1732).

Elizabeth Doty was born Plymouth 10 Feb 1675/6 and died there 6 Jul 1772. She married Plymouth 12 Dec 1698 Joshua Morse and they had eight children (born Plymouth): Joshua (1699), Elizabeth (1701 m. Japhet Turner), Edward (1704), Joseph (1706), Newbury (1709), Abigail (1711 m. Simeon Leonard), Theodorus (1714) and Gershom (1716)

Martha Doty was born Plymouth Oct 1692 and died there 3 May 1775. She married Plymouth 7 Oct 1718 Ebenezer Curtice (Curtis) and they had four children (born Plymouth): Eunice (1723 m. John Howard), Martha (1725-1785 never married), Seth (1727) and Ebenezer (1731).

Mercy Rickard was born Plymouth 3 Feb 1682 and died there the winter of 1717/8. She married[13] Plymouth 4 Apr 1710 Ignatius Cushing and they had three children (born Plymouth): Hannah (1710-1710), Ignatius (1711-1717/8) and Hannah (1714 poss. m. Noah Cushing).

Elizabeth Rickard was born Plymouth abt 1694 and died there 7 Dec 1731. She married Plymouth 9 Jun 1720 (Capt.) Ebenezer Doggett and they had five[14] children (born Plymouth): Ebenezer (1722-1722), John (1724), Ebenezer (1726), Samuel (1728) and an infant daughter (1730-1730).

Martha Cushman was born Plymouth 17 Jan 1691 and died Halifax after Jul 1771. She married Plympton 6 Jun 1717 Nathaniel Holmes and they had six sons: John, Nathaniel, Jedediah, Jabez, Elkanah and John.

Mary Tinkham was born Plymouth 13 Aug 1687 and died there in 1718. She married Plymouth 19 Jan 1709/10 Ebenezer Curtice (Curtis) and they had four children (Plymouth): Jacob (1710), Caleb (1712-1729), Mary (1714 m Nathaniel Churchill) and Sarah (1717 m William Griffing).


  1. Parish register
  2. Mayflower Quarterly, Jun 2012, pp. 126-27 has an article by Simon Neale on his attempts to identify the two wives of Stephen Hopkins. He discusses this marriage and states the Hopkins surname was fairly common in England, and London. As such there is no PROOF this couple were the Mayflower passenger.
  3. See http://mayflowerhistory.com/hopkins-elizabeth for more information.
  4. Her husband's will, dated 6 Jun 1644, requested he be buried beside his (deceased) wife. A date of death for Elizabeth of 4 Feb 1639 has been proposed, but it is currently unknown (to this compiler) the original source for this date.
  5. (unless sister Damaris was still living)
  6. birth of last child
  7. widow remarried
  8. MD 4:114-119
  9. The Christ Church in Barbadoes records the christenings of two sisters, Elizabeth and Damaris, on 25 Apr 1669. The records state both of them are "begotten" of Elizabeth Hopkins. This curious language (and lack of a father's name) appears to indicate where the mother was unmarried. Given the rare given name of Damaris, plus the curious language of the appraisal of the estate mentioned above, it appears the mother Elizabeth was the daughter of Stephen Hopkins and his second wife, Elizabeth.
  10. Some sources state she married Samuel Cole, but only had one son. NOT found in Pilgrim Hopkins Heritage Society Genealogy database or the Mayflower Silver Book for Hopkins.
  11. There were two contemporary John Rickards who both had wives named Mary. It is believed the husband was John Rickard "Jr." (1657-1712) and the children above are for this couple. mtDNA testing ideally should be able to confirm which John Rickard was the husband to mary Cooke.
  12. Some sources state they had a daughter Abigail (poss. by his second wife).
  13. Some sources state she married Plymouth 1699 Jabez Eddy and had seven children.
  14. Some sources claim they had a sixth child: Samuel, d. 1725 in Marshfield.

mtDNA Results H27a +T16278C!

According to the Winter 2019 The Mayflower Quarterly Magazine (page 39) the mtDNA of two matrilineal descendants of Elizabeth fell under the H27 haplogroup. However, they both have the mutation C9391T which defines the The H27a haplogroup. One individual reported where they have joined the General Society of Mayflower Descendants under this matrilineal line.

Examining the raw data, the individuals also had another mutation, T16278C! The exclamation point indicates where this is a back mutation. The original value in humans was T16287C. At some point in time along this line this location mutated to C16287T. Then sometime after the formation of the H27a clade the location mutated again back to T16278C. It is believed all matrilineal descendants of Elizabeth will have this back mutation.


Lineage of tester(s)

The lineages of the testers are as follows: Note that all testers descend from Damaris, daughter of Elizabeth Fisher. While Damaris had several sisters, only one sister, Deborah, may still have surviving mtDNA descendants.

 Elizabeth Fisher (c1595-b1644) m Stephen Hopkins
   Damaris Hopkins (p1627-c1667) m Jacob Cooke
     Elizabeth Cooke (1648-1692) m John Doty
       Elizabeth Doty (1675/6-1772) m Joshua Morse
         Elizabeth Morse (1701-1749) m Japeth Turner
           Hannah Turner (1729-1807) m James LeBaron (II)
             Abigail LeBaron (1768-1818) m Isaac Doten
               Sally Doten (1798-1877) m John Chandler
                 Mary Doten Chandler (1819-1895) m Dexter Trow
                   Emma Samantha Trow (1846-1910) m James Weston Averill
                     line continues
     Mary Cooke (1657/8-1712) m2 John Rickard
       Mercy Rickard (1682-1718) m2 Ignatius Cushing
         Hannah Cushing (1714-p1797) m Noah Cushing
           Hannah Cushing (1739-1789) m Micah Allen
             Mary Allen (1781-1835) m Ezekiel Williams Morse
               Mary Elizabeth Morse (1814-1887) m Robert Ransom Kellogg
                 Mary Theodosia Kellogg (1838-1907) m Frederick Augustus Thompson
                   Josephine Kellogg Thompson (1870-1933) m Clare Nowlen Stannard
                     Grace Carroll Stannard (1894-1927) m Lowell Doan Hunt
                       mother of tester
                         tester
                       Elizabeth Josephine "Betty Jo" Hunt m William George Darland
                         mother of tester
                           tester

References and External Links


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