John Cogswell

Biography

John Cogswell, born in Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, England, was a successful merchant in London, England before migrating to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635. Cogswell married Elizabeth, the daughter of Rev. William Thompson, vicar of Westbury in 1615. Twenty years later, in 1635, Cogswell and his family embarked on the unlucky ship, the Angel Gabriel, for Massachusetts. However, the ship crashed off of the coast of Maine during the Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635. Cogswell salvaged most of what he lost from the wreck and headed south for Boston, Massachusetts before settling in Ipswich.

In Ipswich, Cogswell was granted 300 acres of land now known as Cogswell's Grant and he received freeman status to allow him to run for public office. He eventually became a deputy to the General Court for Ipswich, in addition to fulfilling functions for the town. Cogswell died in 1669. He was honored with a five-mile long funeral procession followed by a service conducted by Rev. William Hubbard. The historian Darrett B. Rutman states that Cogswell's will is "exceptional in providing for the formal education of a daughter." Although, he was a man of reputation in his time, his greatest legacy for posterity is surviving the great hurricane and leaving many celebrated descendants.

Descendants

John Cogswell and Elizabeth Thompson had many children; however, the following children left notable descendants:

William Cogswell (1619-1696). He married Susannah Hawkes. He and his son, Jonathan, signed a petition to protect John Proctor and his wife Elizabeth during the Salem witch trials. An influential citizen of Ipswich, he acquired the Rev. John Wise to be the first pastor of Chebacco Parish. Descendants include Princess Diana. Prince William, Prince Harry, Prince George of Cambridge, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr and Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Charles Francis Adams, Sr., Henry Adams, Brooks Adams, Margaret Mead, Tennessee Williams, William Cogswell, Thomas Pynchon

John Cogswell Jr (1622-1653). He died of a snake bite on a return voyage from London, a year after his wife, Elizabeth Thoth's (of England) death. He left behind three children, John, Samuel and Elizabeth Cogswell - the youngest but a year old. Descendants include Henry D. Cogswell

Hannah Cogswell (1626-1704). She married Deacon Cornelius Waldo. Descendants include Ralph Waldo Emerson, E. A. Robinson, Calvin Coolidge, Lamar Hunt, William Bart Saxbe

Abigail Cogswell (1641-1728). She married Thomas Clarke. Descendants include Nathaniel Hawthorne, Julia Ward Howe

Sarah Cogswell (1645-1692). She married Simon Tuttle. Descendants include William Hickling Prescott, Erskine Hamilton Childers