Frances Brett

Family/Spouse: John Pinchon. John (son of John Pinchon and Jane Empson) was born about 1565; died on 4 Sep 1610 in Springfield, Essex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 26 Dec 1590, Springfield, Essex, England
• Alternate birth: Abt 27 Dec 1590, Springfield, Essex, England

Notes:

The chief founder of Springfield, Massachusetts, he named it after his native village in Essex.

From Hale, House and Related Families (citation details below):

Mr. Pynchon was one of the Patentees of the Charter granted by King Charles I to the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, 18 Mar. 1628/9. He came to America in Governor Winthrop's Fleet in 1630, from Springfield, England, and settled in Roxbury, Mass.

He was Assistant to Massachusetts Bay, 1629 to 1636 inclusive, and Treasurer, 1632-3. He was one of the original proprietors of Springfield, Mass., in 1636, and was one of the Commissioners appointed in March, 1636, by the General Court of Massachusetts Bay to govern the Connecticut River settlements. He was Magistrate of Connecticut Colony, 1636 and 1638, while Springfield belonged in that jurisdiction, and thereafter was again Assistant to Massachusetts Bay, 1643 to 1650 inclusive. He was governing Commissioner of Springfield, 1636 to 1651.

In 1650 he published in England The Meritorious Price of Christ's Redemption which was so disapproved by the Massachusetts authorities that they deposed him from the magistracy and publicly burned the book in Boston by order of the Court. Mr. Pynchon rejected the Calvinistic doctrine of the atonement which was then orthodox theology with the New England clergy. The entire text of the controversial book was republished in full in Burt's History of Springfield (Vol. 1, pp. 89-121). Doubtless Mr. Pynchon was surprised that his book created such a furor and that it was savagely attacked. Turning over his large Springfield holdings to his son John, he returned in 1652 to England, where he bought a comfortable property at Wraysbury, Buckinghamshire. Here he divided his remaining years between his business affairs and polemic writing and, in 1655, published an answer to Rev. Mr. Norton's printed objections to his book.

From Robert Charles Anderson (citation details below):

Once back in England, William Pynchon continued his career as a controversialist, publishing two more such pamphlets--The Jewes Synagogue (London, 1652) and A Treatise of the Sabbath (London, 1654)--in addition to works of a less controversial nature.

No evidence survives that indicates that William Pynchon attended either Oxford or Cambridge, but he was certainly well educated, probably at one of the better English grammar schools and perhaps also at one of the Inns of Court, as he was skilled in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew and was also familiar with the law.

William married Anne Andrew about 1618. Anne (daughter of William Andrew and Bridget Rysley) died between 1630 and 1631 in Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1621
• Alternate birth: Abt 1622
• Alternate birth: Abt 1625

John married Amy Wyllys on 6 Nov 1645 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut. Amy (daughter of George Wyllys, Governor of Connecticut and Bridget Yonge) was born about 1625; died on 9 Jan 1698 in Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Mary married Eleazar Holyoke on 20 Nov 1640 in Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts. Eleazar (son of Edward Holyoke and Prudence Stockton) was born about 1616; died on 6 Feb 1676 in Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Hannah married Samuel Talcott on 7 Nov 1661 in Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts. Samuel (son of John Talcott and Dorothy Mott) was born about 1635 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts; died on 10 Nov 1691 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]