Matthew Boomer 1630-1692

My great x8 grandfather, Matthew Boomer was born in England- or so I believe. Sources lead me to say he started out his manic life somewhere in Gravesend, Gloucestershire, although I am not certain. His father was Joshua Boomer (b. about 1590) and his mother’s name is unknown to me. He came to America as a pioneer, although he was merely a young servant. It appears that he was the only Boomer to immigrate and that he settled in Freetown, Massachusetts with landowner Edmund Needham.

What is exciting about this first North American settler is how early he arrived. In the Society of Mayflower Descendants’ 1920 publication A Record of the Names of the Passengers on the Good Ship Mayflower, Matthew Boomer is listed as the only Boomer in America at the time (the 1st!). While he was not a passenger on the famed ship, he married a woman of 4th generation decendency from the Mayflower. This, I believe, means that he was among the 4th generation of colonial settlers! I’d like to thank one of my readers, Danell Patrick, for pointing out the generational lists in the 1920 record of early settlers! I’d also like to thank Lange (see comment below) who has indicated that the bracketed number after Matthew Boomer’s name references  his marriage to a Mayflower descendant (read further!).

I am still searching to find which ship Matthew Boomer arrived on and any help in this research would be greatly appreciated. In order to understand the life of my first North American ancestor from this family a little further, I’ve had to delve into the intertwined Needham family history. Beyond the confusion of Matthew’s age or generation, I do have record of this man working for Mr. Needham from The Pioneers, A Descriptive List […], by Charles Henry Pope (1900):

Edmund Needham (born about 1606 in London, Hampstead, Middlesex, England) migrated with his family to Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts between 1638-41. This area where he settled, near the Saugus river, is known now as “Needham’s Landing”.  There is record of Needham participating in the push to settle South Hampton, Long Island, NY in 1641. Matthew Boomer, it is claimed by some, came to America with Needham. If this is the case, he was not on the Mayflower, but a later ship. I will need to find Mr. Needham on a ship record to confirm this.

To get a picture of the history that Matthew Boomer participated in here, I have consulted History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts by Alonzo Lewis (1829) where the author describes Needham as having a very respectable position, a great deal of wealth and was well educated. He is well documented in the area in a great deal of texts. Matthew may have come over to America with Needhham, and if that is the case he may have been promised wealth or a better life.

The first documentation of Matthew’s life in Massachusetts is a record taken in 1647 of persons first shown to live in Lynn (History of Lynn). His name appears on its own without description. The same year a record documents his presence in the area where he was summoned to court (The Pioneers of Massachusetts, Charles Henry Pope, 1991).  His alleged offense was against Edmond Needham, “presented for striking at his master with a pitchfork” (The Essex Antiquarian, 1902). There is much to speculate from this simple statement, and putting it into the context of Puritan law which was widespread and common at the time, we must be careful to judge Matthew Boomer. What caused the argument is unknown.

In 1655, Matthew became a Freeman when he moved to Rhode Island (he appears on a list of Freemen in Newport). Here he married Elinor Peckham (daughter of John Peckham & Eleanor Weaver) of the important landowning family on Rhode Island. Elinor Peckham’s father, John, helped to form the first Baptist Church in Providence Rhode Island in 1644 and rose to great prominence within that church.

The couple had three children together whom I know of:

Elizabeth Buttersworth 1659-1720 (who married Joseph Buttersworth in Swansea, Bristol County, Massachusetts on July 22nd 1691),

Mary Freeborn (whom I have record of marrying Gideon Freeborn in the year 1678 in Massachusetts. Some researchers claim she was previously married to a man named John Lawton but I do not have enough documentation to back this up.),

and Matthew Jr who places the Boomer family in Pawtucket, Massachusetts in 1668 at the time of his birth.

In 1675 Matthew was again referred to as a somewhat deviant character according to History of Bristol  County (1883). Author Duane Hamilton Hurd describes pioneer settlers of Freetown Massachusetts, which includes the seemingly antisocial Matthew Boomer. He clearly did not fit  the norm of the times,  and also may have had problems with his temper or made enemies easily  as the second court trial on record- another charge of assault, makes evident. Note that the two trials (above left) are of different years. This text doesn’t distinguish between cases clearly, however the second case pertained to Matthew Boomer jr. (see his page for further detail).

In the Rhode Island Court Records: Records of the Court of Trials of the Colony of Providence Plantations, 1647-62 (1920), we see Matthew is again charged in court on several occasions (all about the year 1666): this time for damages against another man and for inciting a riot (above). Although he was not severely charged or found guilty, Matthew ended up paying legal bills as a fine. It is unfortunate that no other details were given here.

In the same document, Matthew is also revealed as a petit juryman for several hearings including the Walwin case, a hearing on October 24 1666 in Newport for the Job Hawkins case, for the Spinks case. Most interesting of all is when he comes to court to speak on behalf of his wife “elen” (Eleanor) who is charged with felony (above right). She was also found not guilty by the jury. In each case,the couple paid fees in order to leave the court room.

Matthew’s residence in Freetown, Massachusetts in 1675 is confirmed by another text about the Plymouth colony’s panic and fear of ‘Indians’ at the time.  Author Ebeneezer Weaver Peirce describes Matthew as living at an area of Freetown which was later called Fall River. The same year, a man in the area was “slain” and there was a great fear of Indians as a whole where neighboring towns had been cleared by fleeing settlers. Peirce notes that Freetown was “purchased of the Indians April 2, 1659 […] it was then known as the Freeman’s Land at Taunton River and had been to a considerable extent settled by the English” (Indian History, pg. 101). This settlement was fraught with tension which exploded with the death of Wamsutta and the ascension of the less trustful (aware of the loss of his people’s resources) Metacom as the Grand Sachem of the Wampanoag Confederacy. In 1675, King Philip’s war- one of the bloodiest wars in the history of North America- began between Native American inhabitants (their Chief, Metacom was called King Philip by the English settlers) and the new English colonists with their Native American allies.  The Native Americans burned down the town of Swansea after the English Colonists took the liberty of trying and hanging 3 Native Americans for murder of one of their own. By the spring of 1676 at the end of the war, every town in Massachusetts had been bloodied: 800 English colonists and 3,000 Native Americans had lost their lives.

There is evidence that Matthew and his family had been affected personally during this war: a statement that his house was burned by Indians. On  February 26, 1676 Henry Stevens stated that he had sold those burned 10 acres to Matthew Boomer about 18 years ago (RI Land Evidences, Volume 1, 1648-1696).

William Hubbard, The History of the Indian Wars in New England from the First Settlement to the Termination of the War with King Philip, in 1677. Samuel G. Drake (Ed.) (New York: Franklin, 1971 reprint).

It appears that I might be able to relate Matthew Boomer’s history in the area a little further to the wars of his time. A record of his trial- the same year as King Philip’s war broke out- has also been written about by author Richard P. Gildrie in his study of Puritan New England (left: first paragraph only). His research shows that Matthew Boomer, the rogue, had been an “indian trader”.  People who fit his description were generally those who would trade European goods for items such as furs, pelts, hides and foodstuffs- as well as geographic information  or social and political alliances. Typically an Indian trader would be depicted as ” […] a back-woodsman or hunter-peddler, historically associated directly with the beaver trade because of that animal’s highly prized fur, used by Europeans in the manufacture of hats and coats by Europeans” (Indian Trade & Traders, Gale Encyclopedia of US History).  In the context of the war, however, where there was a great fear of Native people, he might be seen as more of a traitor. So, while Matthew lived outside of the Puritan church-going society, he clearly made trade relationships with local natives which might have added to the ire of authorities (see Matthew Boomer jr. for more details on the second paragraph of this document).

The last record of Matthew is on a tax list. Matthew and his son, Matthew Jr, are on the October 17, 1688 tax list for Freetown, MA., however only one Matthew Boomer is listed on the tax list of June 25, 1690. This likely determines that Matthew Sr. had passed away in the interim. A Bristol County ledger also details the residences and history of the family:  “Matthew Bommer Sr. of Freetown sold to Matthew Bommer Jr. of Freetown one freeman’s lot in Freetown where said Matthew Bommer Junr. now dweleth” – ( January 5, 1692, Bristol Co. LR 1:301).

This all gives a pretty historic picture of our first Boomer: his run-ins with the law, his Capitalist tendencies as a trader. Now further research into his arrival will continue.