Austin Cowles Hyde

• Austin Cowles Hyde
  
• Born: April 12, 1858 Salt Lake City, Utah
• Died: March 18, 1941 Rupert, Idaho
• Related through: Elvira Wilde

My father, Austin Cowles Hyde, was born in Salt Lake City, 12 April 1858.  His father’s family came west with the pioneers of 1843.  They lived in Salt Lake City until the spring of 1858 when they joined a party of Saints going south to locate.  The family came back the same year and located in Kaysville, Utah.  They built a home that stood for one hundred years before it was torn down to clear the way for a new highway.  I know very little of my father’s early life.

When the railroad came west, it passed through grandfather’s farm and father went to work on the railroad. He told me that he was foreman of the rail crew that laid the first rail from Pocatello, Idaho to Butte City, Montana.  I do no know how long he worked there. 

He married Mary Melissa Griffeth of Hyde Park, Utah in April 1880.  This was very much through the efforts of his older brother, Heman, who had already married Mary’s sister.  Our first home was in Fairview, Idaho where we lived until our family numbered four. One died in infancy.

About this time the federal men were making it quite tough on the polygamists so my Grandfather Griffeth and Uncle Heman Hyde decided to move to Star Valley and as I remember, we had besides our household goods, four children, a few chickens and led two cows behind the wagon.  I can really picture the trip as a very tedious one. 

Later the issue of polygamy was dying down and Grandfather Griffeth decided to move back to Cache Valley, so his two families would be closer together. Father still owned his farm in Cache Valley so he and grandfather traded and we moved into our new home in the town of Auburn, Wyoming in 1893. It consisted of one room of log construction and dirt roof. It had 160 acres of choice meadowland with plenty of spring water. Our living quarters were very inadequate, so the first job was another room of the same construction. These two rooms served us as a home for several years. During those years father hauled logs from the canyons to the sawmill until he had enough material to build a large house and barn.

Once provisions were getting short and we were about 50 miles from the railroad. Wild game was plentiful so father and Uncle Heman decided to get an elk, but they came home with a mother bear and two cubs instead.

We now belonged to the Auburn Ward. Father’s brother Heman was bishop and held the office for thirty years. Auburn was a typical frontier town. It had a store, post office, a one-room church and a one-room school with the population of around fifty. A good number of them were people who could not get along anywhere else. The only entertainment was dancing and the town people would give us two or three plays during the winter. Father belonged to the group and usually took the part of the old man. Uncle Heman was most generally the hero.

After we moved to Auburn, Father joined as a caller because the only dancing was square dancing. Sometimes there were waltzes, but a couple could not dance more than two together because it was thought they were getting too close. Therefore most of the dancing was square dancing. Father was a big man and to site one incident, as he was calling squares, two men entered the dance hall, which was really the church house. They were drunk, so my father went over and asked them to straighten up or leave. One man pulled a gun on him. Uncle Heman came over to help, but father knocked the man down who had the gun and the two of them dragged them both outside. Afterwards they discovered that the gun wasn’t even loaded.

Auburn home about 1914. 

Father led the singing for a good many years, and often during the winter months he would teach music to anyone interested with no charge. There was no organ or piano available so his equipment consisted of a tuning fork and a baton.

Time changed all of these things and at 18 years of age, I went on a mission to the Eastern States. Some of the family was married and some went to college. Now that the family was pretty well taken care of, father decided to go on a two-year mission to the Northwestern States. Upon his return, he served as high councilman in the Star Valley Stake.  

After ten years of trial, my wife, Carrie, and I decided we wanted to farm and the only way we could do that successfully was to leave Star Valley. When we got ready to move, father and mother were ready to go with us. We left Wyoming on the 19th of March 1919 and located in Rupert, Idaho three days later. Within two years all of the family had moved to Rupert.

Father had depended on paying for his farm from the sale of his property in Wyoming, but it did not seem to work out and he lost all of his property except for enough to buy a small home across the street west of the Washington School in Rupert and a shoe repair shop which took care of their needs as long as they were able to work.

There were eleven children born to this couple. Father was an honest, hard workingman and passed away at the age of 82 in 1941. 

Written by Rosel P. Hyde, son, Fall of 1959. Article found at familysearch.org.

Thomas Pitkin

• Name: Thomas Pitkin
• Born: June 18, 1700 Bolton, Connecticut
• Died: July 20, 1766 Bolton, Connecticut
• Related through: Lynn Crookston

Captain Thomas Pitkin at the age of 21 was one of the incorporators of the town of Bolton in 1720 (Hollister's Connecticut, Vol. !, p. 388).  An act granting a patent for the town of Bolton by Thomas Pitkin and others.  He was commissioned Lieutenant of the militia company of Bolton in 1737; Captain in 1739; Justice of the Peace from 1751 to 1756.  He represented Bolton in the General Assembly in 1755 and 1756.  By his will he manumitted his three slaves.

Thanks to whoever put this history on familysearch.org.

William Pitkin IV

• Name: William Pitkin IV
• Born: About 1664 East Hartford, Connecticut
• Died: April 5, 1723, East Hartford, Connecticut
• Related through: Dan's grandfather Lynn Crookston

William Pitkin was educated by his father in his profession of the law. He was judge of the county and probate courts and court of the assistants from 1702 to 1711. Upon the establishment of the Superior Court in 1711, he was appointed judge of that court, and in 1713 he was made Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He represented Hartford in the General Assembly in 1696. In 1697 he was elected one of the Council of the Colony, and was annually reelected for 26 years till his death (see Trumbull's History of Conn., ''. 425, 469, 477).

He was one of the commissioners to receive the Earl of Belmont on his arrival in New York. He was Commissioner of War in 1706 and 1707 (Col. Rec., p. 535). He was one of the committee to prepare the manuscript laws of the colony in 1709; also was on the committee for the revision of said laws (Col. Rec., Vol. V. p. 479). In 1718 he was appointed on of a committee of three, by the General Assembly to build the first State House in the Colony at Hartford (Col. Rec., Vol. VI, pp. 157 and 197).

He was also one of a committee to procure a map of the course of the Connecticut River from the "mouth of it to the north bounds of this Colony, to be inserted in the plan of the Colony now ordered to be drawn." He was a military officer in the company of his brother Roger.

He is said to have been no less able in repartee than in argument.  Being once opposed in a case by Mr. Eels, a brother lawyer, who in summing up the case, thinking he had the better of Mr. Pitkin, said "The Court will perceive that the pipkin is cracked." His instant reply was, "Not so much cracked, your honor, but he will find it will do to stew eels in yet."

Although so much engaged in his professional business, he had previous to 1706 built two mills at Pitkin Falls in connection with which he carried on a large business in clothings and woolens. These mills were bequeathed to his sons, William and Joseph, who succeeded him in the business. His son William went on to become the Governor of Connecticut.

Article came from familysearch.org. Thanks to whoever put it there.

Thomas Rogers

• Name: Thomas Rogers
• Born: Watford, Northamptonshire, England
• Died: Plymouth, Massachusetts
• Related through: Dan's grandmother Elvira Wilde

Thomas Rogers was a Separatist who travelled on the Mayflower to escape religious persecution, and is best known for being one of the 41 signers of the Mayflower Compact. His date of birth is unknown but thought to be approximately 1572. He was among those who did not survive the first harsh winter of 1620–1621.

Thomas Rogers was born in Watford, Northamptonshire, the son of William and Eleanor Rogers. He departed that area sometime after May 1613.

Thomas Rogers and his family moved to Leiden Holland by February 22, 1614. This was the date he bought a house on the Barbarasteeg. He became a citizen of Leiden on June 25, 1618 and worked as a camlet (fabric) merchant. Thomas Rogers is recorded to have sold his Leiden house on April 1, 1620 for 300 guilders, possibly preparing for his voyage to America.

Thomas Rogers and his 18 year old son Joseph departed Plymouth, England aboard the Mayflower on September 6/16, 1620. The small, 100-foot ship had 102 passengers and a crew of about 30-40 in extremely cramped conditions. By the second month out, the ship was being buffeted by strong westerly gales, causing the ship‘s timbers to be badly shaken with caulking failing to keep out sea water, and with passengers, even in their berths, lying wet and ill. This, combined with a lack of proper rations and unsanitary conditions for several months, attributed to what would be fatal for many, especially the majority of women and children. On the way there were two deaths, a crew member and a passenger, but the worst was yet to come after arriving at their destination when, in the space of several months, almost half the passengers perished in cold, harsh, unfamiliar New England winter.

On November 9/19, 1620, after about 3 months at sea, including a month of delays in England, they spotted land, which was the Cape Cod Hook, now called Provincetown Harbor. After several days of trying to get south to their planned destination of the Colony of Virginia, strong winter seas forced them to return to the harbor at Cape Cod hook, where they anchored on November 11/21. The Mayflower Compact was signed that day.

Thomas Rogers married Alice Cosford on October 1597 in Watford, Northamptonshire. She apparently died in Leiden Holland sometime after the 1622 poll tax listing.

Governor William Bradford (Mayflower passenger) wrote of Thomas Rogers in 1650: "Thomas Rogers, and Joseph, his son (came). His other children came afterwards… Thomas Rogers died in the first sickness, but his son Joseph was still living, and was married with 6 children. The rest of Thomas Rogers children came over, and were married, and had many children."

Thomas Rogers died in the first winter. Along with other victims, he was buried in an unmarked grave in Coles Hill Burial Ground, Plymouth. He left behind his son Joseph. Thomas is named on the Pilgrim Memorial Tomb, Plymouth, Massachusetts. The burial place of his wife Alice, whether in Holland or England, is unknown.

This article comes from the Wikipedia article about Thomas Rogers. Thanks Wikipedia.

Peter Browne

• Name: Peter Browne 
• Born: January 1594 Dorking, Surrey, England 
• Died: 1633 Plymouth, Massachusetts
• Related through: Dan's grandmother Elvira Wilde 

Peter Browne, often modernized as Peter Brown, was a Mayflower passenger on its 1620 voyage that initiated the settlement of New England, and a signer of the Mayflower Compact. Peter Browne was probably born in January 1594 in Dorking, Surrey, England to William Browne. He was baptized in the local parish on 26 January 1594.

Browne's brothers John and James joined him in Plymouth Colony in 1632. They were weavers, his vocation is believed to have been a carpenter or machinist. In 1619 or 1620 he was likely enlisted by William Mullins, as part of the "London contingent," whose trades and skills were necessary for the voyage of the Mayflower and the Speedwell and the creation of the colony.

The Mayflower departed Plymouth, England on September 6/16, 1620. The small, 100-foot ship had 102 passengers and a crew of about 30-40 in extremely cramped conditions. By the second month out, the ship was being buffeted by strong westerly gales, causing the ship‘s timbers to be badly shaken with caulking failing to keep out sea water, and with passengers, even in their berths, lying wet and ill. This, combined with a lack of proper rations and unsanitary conditions for several months, attributed to what would be fatal for many, especially the majority of women and children. On the way there were two deaths, a crew member and a passenger, but the worst was yet to come after arriving at their destination when, in the space of several months, almost half the passengers perished in cold, harsh, unfamiliar New England winter.

 On November 9/19, 1620, after about 3 months at sea, including a month of delays in England, they spotted land, which was Cape Cod. And after several days of trying to get south to their planned destination of the Colony of Virginia, strong winter seas forced them to return to the harbor at the Cape Cod hook, where they anchored on November 11/21. Realizing they were not at the intended destination they determined to bind themselves as a democratically governed and administered colony loyal to England. This document became known as the Mayflower Compact and was sign by all eligible men on behalf of themselves, their families, their fortunes and property. Peter Browne was one of the 41 men who signed the Mayflower Compact on 11 November 1620.

 A 12 January 1621 incident is recorded in Mourt's Relation whereby Peter Browne and John Goodman became lost in the woods after their dogs began to chase a deer. After a sleepless night, during which time both Browne and Goodman believed they heard lions (possibly mountain lions or other large mammals such as bears or coyotes), they successfully reoriented themselves and returned safely to the site of the village on the shore.

Being among the half of the crew who survived the first winter, Browne could have been present at the First Thanksgiving in the fall of 1621, the event that set the precedent for the American Thanksgiving holiday.

Peter Browne came over as a single man. By about 1626 he had married a widow Mary Ford, wife of ___ Ford, who were passengers in 1621 on the ship ‘Fortune’.  She gave birth after the ship’s November 1621 arrival, but her husband died soon after, as did the baby. Contrary to information published in some sources, Mary Ford was not the wife of the Fortune’s master. Per Banks, the master of the Fortune on this 1621 voyage was Thomas Barton.

Although Peter Browne had married two times, at his death in 1633 he left only three female descendants. The administration of the estate of Peter Browne on 10 October 1633, indicates that he died sometime since the last reference to his property in the records. It is widely believed that he succumbed to the same sickness that spread through Plymouth Colony in the summer of 1633. He is buried at Cole's Hill, Plymouth. He was survived by his second wife Mary who acted as the executrix of his estate. Following the death of Peter Browne, his widow Mary received custody of the two children she had with him, but his two daughters by his first marriage, Mary and Priscilla, were apprenticed out until they were age seventeen — Mary to John Doane and Priscilla to William Gibson. When they reached that age they requested that the Plymouth Court assign them to the custody of their uncle, John Brown, a weaver in Duxbury.

This article came from the Wikipedia article on Peter Browne. Thanks Wikipedia!

Francis Cooke

• Name: Francis Cooke
• Born: 1583 England?
• Died: April 7, 1663, Plymouth, Massachusetts
• Related through: Dan's grandmother Elvira Wilde

Francis Cooke was a Separatist who fled religious persecution under English King James I, and in 1620 traveled to the New World on the Mayflower.

Francis is described in Leiden Walloon church marriage records dating from 1603 as a "woolcomber out of England," however his exact origin is unknown. In Leiden, sometime after July 20, 1603, as Franchoys Couck, he married Hester le Mahieu, born in Lille, the daughter of Protestant refugees from England.

While in Leiden, Francis and Hester were members of the Walloon church. In 1606, they left Leiden briefly for Norwich, England, where they joined another Walloon church, returning to Leiden in 1607, possibly for religious reasons. Between 1611 and 1618, the Cookes were members of the Separatist congregation in Leiden.

Francis Cooke with one son John, departed on the Mayflower from Plymouth, England on September 6/16, 1620. The small, 100-foot ship had 102 passengers and a crew of about 30-40 in extremely cramped conditions. By the second month out, the ship was being buffeted by strong westerly gales, causing the ship‘s timbers to be badly shaken with caulking failing to keep out sea water, and with passengers, even in their berths, lying wet and ill. This, combined with a lack of proper rations and unsanitary conditions for several months, attributed to what would be fatal for many, especially the majority of women and children. On the way there were two deaths, a crew member and a passenger, but the worst was yet to come after arriving at their destination when, in the space of several months, almost half the passengers perished in cold, harsh, unfamiliar New England winter.

On November 9/19, 1620, after about 3 months at sea, including a month of delays in England, they spotted land, which was the Cape Cod Hook, now called Provincetown Harbor. And after several days of trying to get south to their planned destination of the Colony of Virginia, strong winter seas forced them to return to the harbor at Cape Cod hook, where they anchored on November 11/21. The Mayflower Compact was signed that day.

Francis Cooke was active in Plymouth civil affairs in the 1630s and 40s — committees to lay out land grants and highways, petit jury, grand jury, coroner's jury. He appears on the 1643 Plymouth list of those able to bear arms. At some point in 1638 or afterward, he settled at Rocky Nook on Jones River, within the limits of Kingston, a few miles from Plymouth.

Francis Cooke married Hester Mahieu in Leiden, Holland on July 20, 1603 or shortly thereafter. They had seven children. Her parents were Jacques and Jenne/Jeanne Mahieu, from France.

Hester died after June 8, 1666 and was buried at Burial Hill in Plymouth, Mass. His burial place is unknown.

Their son John came with his father on the Mayflower and survived to live a long life. In the summer of 1623 Hester came over with her other children Jane, Jacob and Hester on the ship 'Anne' or 'Little James.'

This article was taken from the Wikipedia article about Francis Cooke. Thanks Wikipedia!

Stephen Hopkins

• Stephen Hopkins 
• Born: April 30, 1581 (Christened)  Upper Clatfor, Hampshire, England
• Died: between June 6, 1644 and July 17, 1644
• Related through: Dan's grandfather Lynn Crookston

The son of John Hopkins and Elizabeth Williams. He was a tanner and merchant who was one of the passengers on the Mayflower in 1620, settling in Plymouth Colony. Hopkins was recruited by the Merchant Adventurers to provide the governance for the colony as well as assist with the colony's ventures. Hopkins was one of forty-one signatories of the Mayflower Compact and was an assistant to the governor of the colony through 1636.

Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor by William Halsall (1882)

Not much is known about his early life in Hampshire, but his family appears to have removed to Winchester, Hampshire by 1586. His father died there in 1593, and by 1604 he had moved to Hursley, Hampshire and was married to a woman named Mary. Their three children, Elizabeth, Constance and Giles were baptized at Hursley between 1603/4 and 1607/8.
In early 1609 Stephen Hopkins began employment as a minister’s clerk, reading religious works to a congregation including members of the Virginia Company. 

On June 2, 1609 Hopkins left his wife and family and in his ministerial clerk‘s position, departed for Jamestown in Virginia on the 300-ton Sea Venture, flagship of a flotilla lead by Sir George Somers. The Sea Venture was carrying the new Jamestown governor, Sir Thomas Gates, to his post as well as resupplying the colony with goods and new settlers. Recent scholarship believes that this is the same Stephen Hopkins who was the only Mayflower passenger who had previously been to the New World and that Hopkins had adventures that included surviving a shipwreck in Bermuda and working from 1610–14 in Jamestown as well as possibly knowing the legendary Pocahontas, who married John Rolfe, a fellow Bermuda castaway.


After almost two months into the voyage, a severe storm separated the ships of the flotilla on July 24, 1609, and by evening the storm began raging worse and lasted for five days. Just when the Sea Venture was about to sink from storm damage, “land” was called out with that being the island of Bermuda. The ship was forced to run itself aground about mile off-shore to keep from sinking. The castaways soon found that Bermuda was a Paradise, with plentiful water and food.
On September 1, 1609, a month after the shipwreck and after they had built up their ship’s longboat for an ocean voyage, they sent eight men out to try to reach Jamestown, Virginia to get help but they never returned.


In late November 1609, commenced construction of boats enough to take everyone off the island. By January 1610, even though Stephen Hopkins had remained with Governor Gate’s group, he starting voicing dissatisfaction to the governance of Thomas Gates and questioning his authority.
 Hopkins was arrested and charged with mutiny and was found guilty for which the sentence was death. Many persons begged mercy for him and he obtained a pardon. Hopkins ceased voicing controversial issues.


The English in Jamestown and those later in Plymouth were the antithesis of each other — with those in Virginia composed of titled leaders who were in charge of often inexperienced settlers and soldiers who were veterans of European wars, such as Capt. John Smith. All at Jamestown were focused on returning a profit to their London investors, and under great stress when no gold, minerals or anything else of much value to London was found in the Chesapeake area. The colonists could not/would not farm, tried to barter for food with the Indians and later stole food from them, leading to much violence, which continued for years.


On May 10, 1610, the two newly constructed boats departed Bermuda with all on board and arrived at Jamestown in Virginia eleven days later. What they found there was that the colonists in Jamestown were starving to death due to their inability and in some cases unwillingness to produce food. They were afraid to go outside their fort so were tearing down their houses for firewood. They were not planting crops, nor trading with the Indians or catching fish. Much of this had to do with some settlers feeling it was beneath their dignity to work and the violent abuse they gave the local Indians which caused much enmity towards the English. 

At his arrival from Bermuda, Governor Gates estimated there was only days worth of food left, and decided to voyage to Newfoundland and from there find a ship heading for England. Just as they were preparing to depart, an English ship came into the harbor with supplies and new settlers along with a new governor, Lord de la Warr. The colonists were forced to return and reestablish their fort, albeit reluctantly.


In England, William Shakespeare first presented “The Tempest” in November 1611, which is about a group of passengers being shipwrecked by a mighty storm in Bermuda. A subplot involves a character which could have been based on Stephen Hopkins.


Back in England, Stephen’s wife Mary has survived by being a shopkeeper as well as receiving some of Stephen’s wages. But she unexpectedly died in May 1613, leaving her three young children all alone. By 1614, a letter arrived for a "Hopkins" in Jamestown and it is presumed that this is how he learned of her death, as he did return to England soon afterward to care for his children.
 He then took up residence in London, and there married his second wife Elizabeth Fisher.


Although he had been through all manner of hardships and trials in the New World, including shipwreck, sentenced to death with a last-minute pardon, went to Jamestown, Virginia where he labored for several years, possibly having known Pocahontas, who married one of his fellow Bermuda castaways, John Rolf. When he learned of the planned Mayflower voyage to Northern Virginia to establish a colony, he signed on to go to America.

The Mayflower Compact, a painting byJean Leon Gerome Ferris
which was widely reproduced through much of the 20th century

Stephen Hopkins departed Plymouth, England on the Mayflower on September 6/16, 1620. The small, 100-foot ship had 102 passengers and a crew of about 30-40 in extremely cramped conditions. By the second month out, the ship was being buffeted by strong westerly gales, causing the ship‘s timbers to be badly shaken with caulking failing to keep out sea water, and with passengers, even in their berths, lying wet and ill. This, combined with a lack of proper rations and unsanitary conditions for several months, attributed to what would be fatal for many, especially the majority of women and children. On the way there were two deaths, a crew member and a passenger, but the worst was yet to come after arriving at their destination when, in the space of several months, almost half the passengers perished in cold, harsh, unfamiliar New England winter.

On November 9/19, 1620, after about three months at sea, including a month of delays in England, they spotted land, which was the Cape Cod Hook, now called Provincetown Harbor. And after several days of trying to get south to their planned destination of the Colony of Virginia, strong winter seas forced them to return to the harbor at Cape Cod hook, where they anchored on November 11/21. The Mayflower Compact was signed that day.

Stephen Hopkins was a member of the early Mayflower exploratory parties while the ship was anchored in the Cape Cod area. As he was well-versed in the hunting techniques and general lifestyle of American Indians from his years in Jamestown Virginia, which was later found to be quite useful to the Pilgrim leadership.

The first formal meeting with the Indians was held at Hopkins’ house and he was called upon to participate in early Pilgrim visits with the Indian leader Massasoit. Over the years Hopkins assistance to Pilgrims leaders such as Myles Standish and Edward Winslow regarding his knowledge of the local Indian languages was found to be quite useful.

This article was taken from the Wikipedia article about Stephen Hopkins. Thanks Wikipedia!