32540. Edmund FREEMAN
Edmund Freeman, Lynn, came in the ABIGAIL, aged 45, with others of the name.
32550. George SOULE
per MAYFLOWER INCREASINGS by Susan Roser
Mayflower Passenger!per Jim Dewater-birthplace
England possibly Ireland then to EnglandGEORGE SOULE
George Soule, born in England probably between 1593 and 1600, died in Duxbury before 22 Jan. 1679 ( O.S.) when his inventory was taken by Edward Southworth and Thomas Delano. The tentative dates for his birth are based on his signing of the
he Maytlower Compact in 1620 and his death in 1679. As a signer of the Compact he must have been twenty, the known age of Gilbert Winslow. Since a life span of eighty-five was rare in those days he was born probably not much earlier than 1593.The wife whom he married probably in Plymouth before 1626 was Mary Bucket (?Becket) who arrived in Plymouth before 31 July 1623 aboard the Anoe. She died in Duxbury in December 1676. She has not been identified.
Probably no other of the Pilgrim band has been so exhaustively researched as George Soule. Charles Edward Banks, himself a descendant of the Pilgrim, spent years attempting to determine the antecedents of his ancestor. Roland Soule tells us that
at "after studying all available American records he made a 'long sojourn' in England in 1922 and 1923 in an effort to determine the Soule parentage". -In the chapter written by Banks for Gideon G. T. Ridlon's "Sole Solly, Soule, Sowlee and Soulis"
Banks had cited as the father of George Soule, Robert Soule of Eckingham whom, he reported, had three sons Thomas, Robert and George named in his will of 1612. Banks' conclusion was that George the youngest son,
"answers best of all the candidates the demands of identification in point of time, locality and relationship to the Sole family which had contact with Governor Winslow in London and Worcestershire". However, later in the same chapter he stated
that the parish records prior to 1612 had been lost but that "an examination of the years remaining show that a George Soule married in 1631 and that a Nathaniel Soule, presumably his son, was baptized three years later". This then disposed of
George, son of Robert, since he could not have been the Pilgrim.In recent years extensive searches have been made in English parish records but despite all these investigations the parentage and birthplace of George Soule are still undiscovered. A most interesting and thought provoking article by Roland P.
P. Soule on a possible father for George Soule appeared in the Soule Kindred Newsletter for October 1978. The search still goes on.George Soule joined, probably in London, a company of adventurers off to the New World. His status is clearly established as a "servant" to relatively wealthy Pilgrim Edward Winslow, also as a signer of the famed Mayflower Compact of 11 Nov.
v. 1620, O. S. It appears logical, therefore, to assume that Winslow bore the cost of his passage to Plymouth aboard the Mayflower. The original New Plimoth Colony Records, William Bradford's "Of Plimoth Plantation, 1620-1647", Plymouth Registry of
Deeds and Probates, Bristol County Registry of Deeds, Plymouth Town Records, Duxbury Town Records and other authoritative sources provide sufficient evidence upon which to base a comprehensive sketch of George Soule's life in New England. Unlike
some of his colleagues, he never returned to his homeland. However, suffice to say that he became a relatively well-to-do leader, business man and office holder in Plymouth Colony. As early as July 1627 George Soule was one of a group of
fifty-eight "Purchaser or Old Comers" who assumed Plymouth Colony's debt to "The Adventurers", the promoters and capitalists who financed the voyage of the Mayflower and other early ventures and expenses of the colony. In return the group received
profitable trading concessions in Maine, at Cape Ann, on Buzzard's Bay and subsequently on the Connecticut River. The General Court voted 5 March 1639/40 to pay these "Purchasers or Old Comers" for the surrender of their patent. Existing land
records show that he acquired extensive holdings in Duxbury, Dartmouth, Middleboro, Marshfield and Bridgewater but resided only in Plymouth and Duxbury or "Ducksburrow" as it was called originally.On 27 Sept. 1642 he appeared before the General Court as one of two "Deputies" or representatives from Duxbury, Plymouth Colony having established representative government in 1639 after finding it no longer practicable to have all of the
e colonists participate as individuals. The representatives were limited to terms of one year and denied the right of succession so we find George Soule serving each alternate year for many years, with increasing assignments such as forming a
committee 26 Oct. 1646 with Anthony Thatcher "to draw up an order concerning disorderly drinking of tobacco".Early in 1637 the Pequot Indians "fell openly upon the English at Connecticut". In response to a plea for assistance, the Plymouth General Court agreed forthwith to send fifty men. George Soule volunteered for this service 7 June 1637 as one of
f 42 men under Lieutenant William Holmes and Reverend Thomas Prence as chaplain "but when they were ready to march ... they had word to stay; for the enemy was as good as vanquished and there would be no need." The Society of Colonial Wars
recognizes the eligibility for membership of any descendant of George Soule by reason of this "service" which, strictly speaking, was not actually performed. An eye witness also has identified one "George Soule, Sr." as having occupied the fort at
Middleboro for six weeks in 1675 during King Philip's War. Admitting that Pilgrim George Soule was an original proprietor of Middleboro, the disposal of his property there in 1668 and his advancing age, lend credibility to a theory that the member
of the fort party was actually the Pilgrim's son George Soule (1639-1704).The will of George Soule, probated in 1679, reads
In Ihe Name of God Amen
I Gorge Soule senir of Duxbury in the Collonie of New Plymouth in New England being aged and weake of body but of sound mind and Memory praised be God Doe make this my last Will and Testament in Manor and forme following Imprimis I comitt my soule
into the hands of Almighty God whoe Gave it and my body to be Decently buried in the place appointed for that use whensoever hee shall please to take me hence, and for the Disposall of my outward estate which God of his Goodness hath Given mee
first I have and already formerly by Deeds under my hand and seale Given unto my two sonnes Nathaniel and Gorge All my lands in the Township of Dartmouth; Item I have formerly Given unto my Daughters Elizabeth and Patience all my lands in the
Township of MiddleberryItem I Give and bequeath unto my Daughters Susannah and Mary twelve pence a peece to be paid by my executor hereafter Named after my Decease; And forasmuch as my Eldest son lohn Soule and his family hath in my extreme old age and weakness bin
tender and careful of mee and very healpfull to mee; and is likely soe to be while it shall please God to continew my life heer therclore I give and bequeath unto my said son John Soule all the Remainder of my housing and lands whatsoever to him
his heires and Assigns forever Item I Give and bequeath unto my son John Soule all my Goods and Chattles whatsoever Item I Nominate and appoint my son John Soule to bc my sole Executor of the my last will and Testament; and lastly I doo hearby make
Null and voyde all other and former wills and Testaments by mee att Any time made; and Declare this instrument to be my last Will and Testament In Witness whereof I the said Gorge Soule have heerunto sett my hand and seale this eleventh Day of
August in the year of our Lord one Thousand six hundred seaventy and seaven,Gorge Soule and a seale
The above named Gorge Soule Did signe seale and Deliver this Instrument to be his Last Will and Testament in the presence of us
Nathaniel Thomas
The Marke D T of Deborah Thomas
Apparently, as often happens in families when property is concerned, John Soule was displeased with the amount of property given to his sister Patience and his displeasure came to the notice of his father for he delivered this caveat in a codicil;
Item the twentyeth Day of September 1677 I the above Named Gorge Soule Doe heerby further Declare that it is my will that if my son John Soule above named or his heires or Assignes or any of them shall att any time Disturbe my Daughter Patience or
her heires or Assignes or any of them in peacable Posession or Injoyment of the lands I have given her att Namassaket allies Middleberry and Recover the same from her or her heires or Assignes or any of them That then my Gift to my son John Soule
shall shalbe voyd; and that then my will is my Daughter Patience shall have all my lands att Duxburrey And shee shalbe my sole executrix of this my last Will and Testament And enter into my housing lands and meddowes att Duxburrow,In Witness wherof I have heerunto sett my hand and seale;
Gorge Soule and A seal
The above Named Gorge Soule Did Signe and seale to this addition in the presence of us
Nathaniell Thomas
The Marke D T of Deborah Thomas;
The order of birth of the children of Pilgrim George Soule is not known. It is established that Zachariah was the first born; John was 75 years old in 1707; George jr. was 34 years old in 1673; Patience's last child was born 1691; Elizabeth was
s in trouble in 1663; and Pilgrim George had but eight children as of 1650. An unpublished note of Robert S. Wakefield develops an acceptable ordering which will be used in this volume.ยจ05