Our Britton Family Mayflower Connection

In the history of Westmoreland, New Hampshire we find the Latham family becoming part of our particular Britton line of descent. In that account William Britton IV (1733-1778) marries Mary Latham, daughter of James and Abigail (Harvey) Latham.

This Mary Latham is identified in the Mayflower Families as a descendent of James Chilton, the Mayflower passenger who died on board ship in Cape Cod Harbor, now known as Provincetown.

From the Mayflower genealogy as cited below, we can trace the line of descent as follows:

James Chilton (1563-1620) and Susanna Furner (1564-1621) are recorded as having ten children of which the third child and first daughter was Mary Chilton (1607-1678).

Mary Chilton married John Winslow (1597-1674) and they had nine children, of which the oldest was a daughter Susanna (1630-1685).

Susanna Winslow married Robert Latham (Abt. 1623-1688/1689). They had seven children of which the youngest son was Chilton (1671-1751).

Chilton Latham and Susanna Kingman (1679-1776) had eight children of which the fourth was a son named James (1708-1792). It was this James Latham that married Abigail Harvey, and Mary Latham (1744-1827) was the third of their five children.

With the listing of the five children of Chilton and Susanna, the Mayflower Families account ends. It is from the Westmoreland History we learn that Mary Latham married our William Britton IV.

This William Britton served in the Revolutionary War as a soldier in “Capt. John Cole’s Company at Bennington 1777.” He died in 1778 of Smallpox. It was from our descent from this William Britton that my mother established her membership in the Daughter of the American Revolution (DAR).

The next few generations are found in the Westmoreland History. William and Mary had six children of which the second was a son named Benjamin (1769-1857). Benjamin’s wife was Sarah, but we do not know what her maiden name was. Benjamin and Sarah had five children of which the second was a son named Lucius (1807-1883).

This was the Lucius Britton who with his wife Phebe Hart brought their five remaining children from Vermont, and settled in Ransom Township, Hillsdale County, Michigan. The oldest son Louis (1833-1852) had died in Vermont.

After arriving in Michigan, their daughter Louisa (1841-1857) died. That left them with four surviving sons, William Bailey, Christopher H., Quincy M., and my Great Grandfather Orendo Wilber Britton. All of the descendants of these four brothers share that link to William and Mary (Latham) Britton, and thus to the Mayflower.

My own line at this point is:

Orendo Wilber Britton and Angelia Sloan > Dollie Britton and Cecil Bavin > Mildred Bavin and Rex Newcomer > Joy, Carol, John, and myself.

Sources:

Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, Vol. Two (Robert M. Sherman, Editor; General Society of Mayflower Descendants; (1978)), pg. 84.

History of Westmoreland (Great Meadow) New Hampshire, 1741-1970, And Genealogical Data, (Westmoreland History Com., Westmoreland, NH; (1976)), pgs. 348 - 355, 486 - 488; (Cheshire Co., NH)