Ephraim Kempton Sr.

Ephraim KEMPTON Sr. (1591 – 1645) was Alex’s 10th Great Grandfather; one of 2,048 in this generation of the Miller line.

Ephraim Kempton – Coat of Arms

Ephraim Kempton was born 26 Oct 1591 in Berwick-Upon-Tweed, Northumberland, England.  His parents were George KEMPTON and Mary JERSEY.  His brother Manasseh Kempton was also one of the “old-comer” immigrants.  He married Elizabeth WILSON 12 April 1617 in Holy Trinity the Less, London. He came to the Plymouth colony in the winter 1639/40.  His son Ephraim Jr. came with him and was in partnership with him from the time of coming to this country until his death. Ephraim died 5 May 1645 in Scituate, Mass.

The Merchant Taylors’ Hall, London, c.1810 – Ephraim was apprenticed to the Merchant Taylor’s Company from 1606-1615

Elizabeth Wilson was born about 1596 in Holy Trinity, London, England.  Her father was of the Scottish Wilson sept of the clan Gunn.    Elizabeth died about 1635 in London England and did not emigrate.

Children of Ephraim and Elizabeth The names of the other children are not known. They were probably daughters

The direct male lineage as Ephraim Sr. – George – William – Robert – George Kempton/FitzAlan – Thomas FitzAlan Earl of Arundel

Ephraim was a tailor by trade.  Sometime after the death of his father, Ephriam apprenticed himself to Daniel Elsmore of St Sitches Lane in London. He served Elsmore from 1606-1615, when he became free of the Merchant Taylors’ Company.

The Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The Company, originally known as the Guild and Fraternity of St John the Baptist in the City of London, was first incorporated under a Royal Charter in 1327; the charter was confirmed by later charters in 1408, 1503 and 1719. Its seat is the Merchant Taylors’ Hall between Threadneedle Street and Cornhill, a site it has occupied since 1347.

The 108 livery companies are nominally trade associations based in the City of London, almost all of which are known as the “Worshipful Company of” the relevant trade or profession. The medieval livery companies originally developed as guilds and were responsible for the regulation of their trades, controlling, for instance, wages and labour conditions. Until the Reformation, they were closely associated with religious activities, notably in support of chantry chapels and churches and the observance of ceremonies, notably the mystery plays.

Under an order issued by Mayor Robert Billesden in 1484, the Merchant Taylor Company ranks in sixth or seventh place (making it one of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies) in the order of precedence of the Livery Companies, alternating with the Skinners’ Company.

In Ephraim’s time, the association of tailors. By the end of the 17th century, its connection with the tailoring trade had virtually ceased and it became what it is today, a philanthropic and social association. As a result it owns, supports or is associated with several schools, almhouses and other charitable institutions.  It owns Merchant Taylors’ School, Sandy Lodge & St. John’s Preparatory School, Northwood, and is associated with Merchant Taylors’ School, Crosby, Merchant Taylors’ Girls’ School, Crosby, Wolverhampton Grammar School, Foyle and Londonderry College, Wallingford School, and The King’s School, Macclesfield. It is also associated with St John’s College, Oxford, founded by Sir Thomas White (a Master of the Company) in 1555, and with Pembroke College, Cambridge.

Ephraim’s brother Manasseh Kempton came in 1623, probably in the ship “Ann,” is called one of the “old-comers.” sharing in the division of cattle in 1627, was taxed in Plymouth in 1632, admitted freeman in 1633, deputy to the general court in 1639 and for nine years following. He was one of the purchasers of the town of Dartmouth, Massachusetts. He died 14 Jan 1662/63; his widow 19 Feb 1665, in her eightyfirst year. They left no children.

Ephriam Kempton and his son of the same name immigrated to the colonies between 1638 and late 1640, when they settled on a farm of twelve acres in Scituate, which had been purchased by his brother Manassas Kempton from Elder Henry Cobb.

The names of both  Ephraim and Ephraim Jr. appear on the list of 1643 of those able to bear arms, but that of Ephraim Sr. was crossed off afterward, his age doubtless exempting him from service.

7 March 1643, he was brought before the court charged with misdemeanor and use of opprobrious (disgraceful) language to Mr. Hatherly, a magistrate, for which he was fined twenty shillings and placed in the stocks for a few hours.

The inventory of his estate was filed and administration granted October 28, 1645, to his brother Manasseh and son Ephraim. The estate was divided June 4, 1645. Manasseh Kempton, of Scituate, and Thomas RAWLINS. Sr.. of Boston, father-in-law of Ephraim Jr., arranged for the apportionment of the estate to Ephraim and the three other children June 8. 1658.

Children

1. John Kempton

John enrolled in the Merchant taylor’s School 1630-1634,  in the City of London where the brothers appear as ‘john Kempton ma’ and ‘Ephriam kempton minor,” the time honored way in which English private schools distinguish between two brothers attending the same school, major indicating the elder of the two; not seen thereafter.

The school is celebrating its 450th anniversary in 2011.  It was founded in 1561 by members of the Merchant Taylors’ Company. It was originally located in a manor house called the Manor of the Rose, in the parish of St. Lawrence Pountney in the City of London, where it remained until 1875.

2. Ephraim KEMPTON Jr.  (See his page)

4. Lettice Kempton

Lettice’s husband Edward Jenkins was born in 1618. Edward died in 1699 in Scituate, Plymouth, Mass.

Sources:

http://chrisman.org/pedigree/out41.htm#RIN13781

http://www.famhist.us/getperson.php?personID=I596186&tree=allfam

Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of …, Volume 2 By William Richard Cutter

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/m/o/o/Janet-Moorhead/GENE5-0021.html

http://trees.ancestry.com/owt/person.aspx?pid=16426683&st=1