Notes |
- On the Origins of Richard Seager
by Ges Seger
segerge@earthlink.net
Abstract
I indulge in some speculation about the origins and initial life of my first recorded ancestor. I look at where the surname can be found in England of that era and based on what is known of his history and the genealogy of his descendants theorize about where in England he came from. I also speculate on the possibility that he may have had a family predating his emigration to America. Due to the scarcity of hard data from this era, these can be only presented as theories and suggestions for further research at this time.
The Spelling of "Seager"
Anyone attempting to research the Seager family in New England has no doubt noticed the many different spellings of that surname in use. These include but are not limited to:
Segar
Seagar
Seager
This is likely due to the spelling-optional nature of record-keeping (such as in church registers, family bibles, and -- once you get past 1790 -- census records) over most of American history. For instance, the variant "Seger" which I use is actually the variant used by Dutch emigrants to America, even though I can clearly trace my descent to an English ancestor. Judging from census records, the change took place sometime in the late 19th century.
The whole point of this ramble is that the researcher needs to be aware of this phenomenon before presenting their data, and make the appropriate allowances. Therefore, for purposes of this article, I will assume the use of the spelling "Seager" when referring to Richard Seager and his descendants.
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Origins in England
All sources with which I am familiar agree that Richard Seager was born around 1595 somewhere in England. While the birthdate has at least one piece of hard data associated with it (a record of a doctor's visit in 1658 where he gives his age as 63), his place of origin in England is less fortunately blessed. Until records such as parish registers or passenger lists become available, the researcher must attempt an educated guess based on what is known about the Seager name throughout England in general and Richard Seager's history specifically.
The Seager Family in England
I performed a highly unscientific and non-rigorous scan of the Mormon genealogy website for all recorded Seager (and variant spelling) births before 1600 in England. What data exists for medieval times suggests to me an origin in Kent, a gradual migration north through Essex and the East Anglian shires, a turn west around Cambridgeshire, and a split in Hertfordshire. One branch appears to drift north toward Cumbria and the Lake districts, while another appears to head south and west through Gloucestershire into Devon. Again: this is highly unscientific and unsupported by any other Seager research of which I am currently aware. The large number of shires touched by the Seager name unfortunately does little to narrow searches based on church and parish registers, but gives us a subset of places in England where we could conceivable expect to find Richard Seager's origin.
The Association with Rev. Thomas Hooker
Thomas Hooker began his preaching as a Puritan lecturer in Chelmsford, Essex. After spending three years in Holland as an exile, he emigrated in 1633 to Newtown (later Cambridge) Massachusetts, In 1636, he emigrated again with 100 followers to the Connecticuit River valley. Reference 1 states that Richard Seager was one of the 100 followers. What is unknown is the exact time he became a follower.
Rev. Hooker's first congregation in America was formed partly out of people who had formerly been a part of his parish in Chelmsford, which would seem to suggest that Richard Seager was originally from near Chelmsford. Rev. Hooker's preaching had spread across most of England by then, which would also argue against this. Richard Seager could have just as easily heard about Rev. Hooker second-hand and joined his church at some later time. Without knowing when he joined the congregation, I cannot begin to guess which is true.
The Women Who Loved Seager Men
When I was researching the families that married into the Seager line in New England between 1680 and 1780, I was amazed to find that nearly all of them could be traced to the English shires of Devon or Somerset. This was enough to make me wonder if either of these two shires were the origin of Richard Seager, since all these families from the same area of England stayed together for so many generations in America. Additionally, most of the ports used by John Winthrop's original colonization fleet to Massachusetts Bay in 1630 were in this area of England.
A search of the ubiquitous Mormon genealogy website does turn up a birth record for a Richard Seager in 1597 at Newton St. Cyres, in Devonshire. Given that precise and accurate ages are about as common as standardized spelling of surnames in that era (see the first section above), I can accept an uncertainty of +/- 2 years in birth date. There is no hard data, however, to link this Richard Seager to the subject of this article.
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Did He Have a Family Prior to Emigration?
If we accept the circumstatial evidence that he was born about 1595 and emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay colony in the 1630's, Richard Seager would have to have been in his late 30's to early 40's when he left England. He would also have been well into his 50's when he and Elizabeth had their family. While there is nothing biologically impossible with this, it does seem (not to be too delicate about it) a rather long time to go without siring children.
To further confuse things before coming to my point, consider his actions upon leaving the Connecticut colony in the late 1660's. He, his wife, and all but one of their surviving children (the exception being Joseph, who seems to have been in an apprenticeship at that time) headed toward Rhode Island, eventually settling in Newport. While a compelling argument could be made that they were seeking a more tolerant environment to live after Elizabeth's witchcraft trials, I have to wonder if there were other reasons to select Rhode Island.
Looking at the earliest records of the Massachusetts Bay colony, we find the existence of one Thomas Seager, who settled there for many years before moving to Newport, RI. This Seager was still living in Newport when Richard Seager settled there. While not provable by the existing records of that era, there exists the intriguing possibility that the two were related. Given the average lifespan of that era and Richard's age at the time he settled in Newport, if (and a big if at that) they were related it seems more likely that Richard and Thomas were father and son rather than brothers. If any of this were so, Richard would be moving to a town where a relative already knew him and could assure him it was safe for his family.
If you haven't paid attention to the caveats I have been giving, let me repeat. This theory is highly speculative and unsupported by currently existing data. Verification -- or disproving thereof -- will depend on finding records from his life prior to emigration and/or an appropriate passenger list.
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Bibliography
Seager, C. W. and Seager, C. T. A History of the Seager Family in Colonial New England, (1978)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Family Research Center
Nichols, William C. A Biographical Sketch of the Life of Thomas Hooker. Available online
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Copyright 2001 by G. E. Seger, III
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