Additional Notes of Thomas Prence
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PRENCE, THOMAS Thomas Prence was born ca. 1600, for he was in hisseventy-third year at his death on 29 March 1673 (PCR 8:34). His fatherwas Thomas Prence ( or Prince-the Plymouth man always spelled it Prence)who had lived at Lechlade, Gloucestershire, but was a carriage maker of All Hallows Barking, London, when he made his will 31 July 1639 and namedhis "son Thomas Prence now remayninge in New England" (Dawes-Gates 2:683,gives an excellent documented account of Prence's life). Prence arrivedat Plymouth Colony in 1621 on the Fortune, and from the beginning seemedto have taken a leading role in Plymouth affairs- Of the eight PlymouthUndertakers, who seemed to be the most important men in the colony in1627, Prence was the only one who had not arrived on the Mayflower. Hebecame governor in 1634, and was elected an Assistant in 1635, and fromthen on he was either an Assistant or governor every year for the rest ofhis life. He also served as treasurer, as president of the Council ofWar, and in various other capacities. With the death of Bradford in1657, Prence became without doubt the most important and influential manin the colony. He was of a conservative nature, as is shown by hissiding with Bradford and Winslow in the 1645 Vassall controversy, and byhis actions against the Quakers. He was involved in several law suitswhich were decided in his favor, such as 1650, when Strong Fumell ofBoston submitted a written humble apology to the court for having evillyslandered Mr. Prence after the latter sued him for 200 pounds damage (PCR2:152). In 1665 as compensation for having required Prence, as governor,to reside in Plymouth, the court ordered that he would be paid 50 poundsper year as long as he remained governor, and he was given a house in thePlain Dealing area of Plymouth as a residence (in 1668, at his request,the court sold him that house for 150 pounds (PCR 4:108, 184). Heengaged in many land transactions, and he died a wealthy man, leaving apersonal estate in excess 400 pounds and some eleven tracts of land, atleast two of them containing 100 acres each (MD 3:206). He married (1) Patience Brewster, daughter of Elder Brewster on 5 August1624 (2) on 1 April 1635 Mary Collier, daughter of William Collier, (3)between 1662 and 1668 Apphia (Quicke) Freeman; and (4) before 1 August1668 Mary ( ) Howes, widow of Thomas Howes (Ella Florence Elliot, "Gov.Thomas Frence's Widow Mary, Formerly the Widow of Thomas Howes, and theInventory of Her Estate," MD 6:230; DawesGates 2:692 gives other datesfor (3) and (4) and supplies the name Quicke). His children by PatienceBrewster were Rebecca, who married Edmond Freeman; Mercy, who marriedJohn Freeman; Hannah, who married (1) Nathaniel Mayo and (2) JonathanSparrow; and Thomas, who died before 13 March 1672/73 in England. Hischildren by Mary Collier were Jane, who married Mark Snow as his secondwife; Mary, who married John Tracy; Sarah, who married Jeremiah Howes;Elizabeth, who married Arthur Howland; and Judith, who married (1) IsaacBarker and (2) William Tubbs (Dawes-Gates 2:693). In his will dated 13March 1672/73, proved 5 June 1673, he named his wife Mary; his sevensurviving daughters, Jane, the wife of Mark Snow; Mary Tracy; SarahHowes; Elizabeth Howland; Judith Barker; Hannah; and Mercy; his grandsonTheophilus Mayo; his granddaughter Susanna Prence, the daughter of hisdeceased son Thomas; his son John Freeman; Lydia Sturtevant; and his brother Thomas Clarke (MD 3:203). His chagrin over Arthur Howland'seventually successful suit for the hand of his daughter Elizabeth isrelated in the text, and he probably was not happy over the marriage oftwo of his daughters to sons of Edmond Freeman. The mention in his willof his deceased son Thomas's daughter Susanna Prence would indicate thathe died without surviving male issue in the Prence line. Mary WaIton Ferrir, makes the point in Dawes-Gates 2:686-87 that hisreputation for intolerance, particularly toward the Quakers, has cloudedover his extensive service to the colony. She especially notes that hepresided over the court in the very sane and reasonable handling ofPlymouth's first witchcraft trial in 1661; that he dealt in a humane waywith the Indians, and missionary Thomas Mayhew wrote of his "gentle andkind dealing" with them (Prence also presided over the court as governorin 1638 when the momentous decision was made to execute the white men whohad murdered an Indian); that he showed wisdom in 1637 when he negotiatedwith the Massachusetts men who unjustly demanded much of the land on theConnecticut River that Plymouth had purchased from the Indians; and thathe advocated and brought about a free school system in the colony. Source: Plymouth Colony Its History & People 1620-1691 by EugeneAubrey Stratton Rootweb Notes of Thomas Prence |