The Mulford Family: Annotations and Corrections

The Mulford Family Annotations and Corrections Harold H. Fehr F OR SOME YEARS it has been accepted by many that John and William Mulford, who came to America from England about 1639, were the descendants of Roger Molford, gentleman, of South Moulton [old spelling], Devonshire, England, circa 1420. From all available evidence this now appears to be erroneous. This conclusion has been reached after considerable research including a visit by the writer to the College of Arms in London; extensive correspondence with A. Cohn Cole, Esq., Windsor Herald of Arms at the College of Arms; a search by a private genealogist, Frank W. Phillips, Esq., of Bishops Nytnpton, Devon, who is a member of the Devon and Cornwall Research Society; and a personal visit in 1975 to South Molton, Devonshire, the former place of residence of Roger Molford. The first such claim of the descent of John and William Mulford from Roger Molford seems to have been made by Tennis D.Huntting in History of the Mulford Family in the U.S.A. This treatise consists of data collected from various family sources and published in mimeograph form by members of the family in the mid 1950s. A copy is in the library of the Salem County Historical Society, Salem, New Jersey. According to this source the records of Huntting were never published and up to the present time nothing has been located to indicate where he obtained his information. Subsegilently, other writers have copied Huntting's statements and the more they have appeared in print, the more they have become recognized as fact. It is not the purpose of this article to seek out the one who first made the error, but rather to substantiate the findings of others through reliable and authoritative sources. There is one treatise on the Mulford family which does not make an outright claim to the descent of John and William Mulford from Roger Molford, gentleman. It is contained in colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New Series, V. New York 1934). After tracing The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine the lineage of the Molford family of Devonshire from Roger Mulford, circa 1420 through seven generations, this statement is made: "Two brothers, John and William, who are believed [italics H.1-1.F.] to be of the MoAlford family of Devonshire, England, the ancestry of which is recorded above, emigrated from England about 1639." With the exception of minor differences in the spelling of names, the lineage is the same as recorded in the History of the Mulford Family in the U.S.A. An historian of East Hampton, Long Island, New York, Jeannette Edwards Rattray, also make a qualified statement when she writes that "according to some authorities [italics H.H.F.], the Mulford family of East Hampton originated in the village of South Molton, Devonshire, England.... Others are equally positive that the two brothers, John and William were the sons of Thomas and Sarah Southcott Mulford...." Thus they would be descendants of Roger Molford of South Molton. The author of Lineal Ancestors of Susan (Mulford) Cops makes no such claim. Here it is stated that Robert L. Mulford visited England "some years ago" [the book was privately printed in 1937] and found that the name was spelled Molford, as taken from the records of the Visitation of Sussex, 1633-1634. This is an error as the name of Molford does not appear in this visitation. He probably intended to refer to the Visitation of Devon, 1620, which does set forth the Molford line beginning with Roger, circa 1420. The book states that the "Mulford authorities" [whoever they are], accepted without question that John and William Mulford were the sons of Thomas and Susan Southcott Molford. The compiler of the book searched the records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury in London and found that the two brothers were not the sons of Thomas and Susan Southcott Molford, as they had no son called William, though they did have a son John who lived to manhood, but died about 1610. The book is an extensive and well documented account of the lives and activities of both brothers while they were in and around Southampton and East Hampton, Long Island, New York. It is recommended reading for anyone interested in this family. Two other references show that the two brothers were not the sons of Thomas and Sarah Southcott Molford. Thomas Westcote in A View of Devonshire in MDCXXX, with a Pedigree of Most of its Gentry (Exeter, 1843), starts the line of Molford with William Molford who married Sabyn Stoke. This is two generations after Roger Molford. He omits the third generation, William Molford, who married Alice White, he then proceeds with Roger Molford and Amy Cadbury, the parents of the aforementioned Thomas Molford who married Sarah Southcott. The Muyrord Family 3 James Savage in his .Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, (Boston, 1861), delineates the line starting with the fourth generation and also shows that Thomas and Sarah Molford did not have sons who could be identified as the immigrant brothers. However, his inclusion of the Mulford family in a book on New England settlers infers that he believed there was a connection between the two families. It is obvious that considerable confusion exists. As much of my data has been obtained from the Windsor Herald of Arms, College of Arms, London, a brief review of heraldry, the duties of the Heralds, and the emergence of the College of Arms might be appropriate in order to underscore the authenticity of their records. Arms or Coat of Arms originated as a warfare device to enable men to distinguish each other in the days when the wearing of armor was the rule of warfare. In the early Middle Ages, royal and noble families and those with high standing had heralds in their households. In the widest sense, their duties were to arrange jousting tournaments, act as referees, see to the marshalling of ceremonies and the carrying of messages between nobles and armies. To perform these functions, the herald had to be able to recognize men by these devices on their shields and pennons. He became the acknowledged authority on such insignia. Armorial Bearings or Coat of Arms, were passed from father to elder son. The hereditary character this pursuit led him into the field of genealogy. Changing times robbed the heralds of their original duties and private heralds gradually disappeared, with the result that the only heralds who remained were those of the Royal Household. With the crumbling of the feudal system, a middle-class arose which possessed wealth and power. They sought to establish their gentility by assuming Coats of Arms. To eliminate the spurious and to put all matters concerning Coats of Arms in one body, King Richard III in 1484 issued a charter of incorporation to the Royal Heralds, known as the College of Arms. To this day the Heralds are members of the Royal Household, but they are not civil servants. The College consists of three Kings of Arms, six Heralds of Arms and four Puruivants, the latter being apprentices. A. Colin Cole, Esq., the Windsor Herald was the one consulted on the Molford genealogy, he has since been raised to the status of Garter Principal King of Arms. For almost five hundred years the Heralds have recorded the grants of Coats of Arms and have traced and recorded pedigrees. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries they made periodical The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine visitations to various parts of the country to record arms and eliminate those used unlawfully. In the process they compiled genealogical records of permanent value. It was during the Visitation of Devon in 1620 that they recorded the arms and crest for Molford, and also a pedigree showing that those who were members of the family descended from Roger Molford, gentleman of South Moulton, Devonshire, who by conventional calculation can be said to have been living in the 1420's. This, and the following data has been extracted from the information supplied by the Windsor Herald. Copies of the original correspondence are available, or the material can be obtained from the College of Arms. The above Roger Molford married Elizabeth, daughter of Gilbert Hache (not Hack) who had a son Thomas. This Thomas Ma ford married Agnes Blackmore and by her had a son William (Wilton would appear to be an erroneous transcription) who married Sabyn, the cousin and heir of John Stoke of Newland. Their son, also named William, married Alice, the daughter of Thomas White of South Moulton and this couple had a son Roger, the second by this name. This Roger Molford married Amy Cadbury and they had four sons: Roder, the eldest died without issue. Thomas, the second son and heir married Susanna Southcott (a well-known Devon name) and by her had five sons and six daughters. The sons were Roger, John, Thomas and Gilbert, who all died unmarried and without issue. John (another of this name), the only son to be married (Elizabeth, daughter of Christopher Morgan), also died without issue. Thus this brings to an end this branch of the family. As far as the writer can determine this is the first time a fifth son has been reported, he is not recorded in the Harleian Manuscripts of the Visitation of Devon in 1620. It is at this point that the tine of descent is erroneously continued by many members of the Mulford family. The History of the Mulford Famil) states of the above Thomas Molford and Susanna Southcott: "In two of their children we are especially interested, viz: John Mulford, born in England about 1606, and William Mulford, born in England about 1615. These brothers, who we will learn later came to America, and are the progenitors of all the Mulfords in America of whom we have any knowledge." This is correct, the Southampton, Long Island Town Recoi-ds (v.1,29) record John Mulford as having purchased land there in 1643. The Milford Famqy 3 On page 55 of the records it is reported that he sold his house in 1648. At about this time he was one of nine persons who settled East Hampton, Long Island. His brother William soon followed him there, where he died in 1687. But how the Mulford brothers became "hitched" to Thomas Molford and Susanna Southcott of South Moulton, Devon, as their sons, is not known. Perhaps poor research, poor communications and over-enthusiasm all played their role. Furthermore, up to this writing no record has been found of the origin in England of the two Mulford brothers. Likewise, the searcher representing Susan Mulford Cory could not locate a Mulford family in England with a connection to the East Hampton Mulfords. Unfortunately he did not list the areas of his investigation. A newly acquired correspondent, Frank W. Phillips, Esq., of Bishops Nympton, South Molton, has been searching available records in the nearby parishes, but thus far has not found the origin of the emigrants, John and William Mulford. The History of the Mulford Fanzib, refers to a record of the family in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, XXXIV, April 1880. To this the Windsor Herald, A. Cohn Cole, Esq., replied: "I have read the account of the family and note that the parentage of John and William Mulford has not been detailed, nor indeed, would appear ever to have been seriously researched, in that no more is stated than that they 'probably came from Devonshire.' Devonshire is also given as their place of origin in Banks Topographical List of Ear(); emigrants. While such a theory is not impossible, it would seem that no record has been adduced to show immediate relationship to the armigerous family of Molford. In this respect it may be observed that the name is not of common occurrence and thus, if persons named Molford or Mulford are located in much the same part of this country, they are likely to be of the same stock with perhaps an ancestor living circa 1300." Frank W. Phillips points out that the family record taken by the Heralds at the Visitation of Devon in 1620 concerns only one line, and that it would be strange that before Roger and Amy Molford the others had only one child in each generation. He states: "The possibility is that the first American Mulfords were a co-lateral line from an earlier generation." This agrees in principal with the Windsor Herald. Phillips also noted that in the History of the Mulford Family, it is stated that "these brothers had been soldiers in the English Civil The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine fi • Wars . .," also that they are reported to have emigrated to this country about 1639. He offers a reminder that the Civil War in England did not break out into actual fighting until 1642. This minor inconsistency indicates that if they actually fought in the war, then they emigrated sometime after 1642, or, more than likely, they did not participate in the war. A continuing search is being made to determine the origins of the emigrants John and William Mulford and their possible connections to the Mollord family of Devon. However, as of this time nothing has been discovered as to their precise origin. In the Public Ledger for Tuesday, June 16, 1846 appears the following item: DEATH OF THE BUNKER HILL DRUMMER The revolutionary veteran Rufus Kingsley who was the drummer at the Bunker Hill battle died at his residence Hanford, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, on the 26th of May in the 84th year of his age. Many of our readers will recollect the enthusiasm with which the old veteran with his ancient drum was hailed when presented to the audience at the Great Clay mass meeting in the park in this village where he gave us a touch of the music which awakened the American combatants on the morning of that memorable battle. contributed by Austin Brough