Enoch LYNDE (1590 – 1636) was  Alex’s 11th Great Grandfather; one of 4,096 in this generation of the Miner line.

Enoch Lynde was born 1590 in England or Holland.  His parents names are not known.  His grandparents given in the old Bible, were Nathan LYNDE and Elizabeth [__?___]. He married  Elizabeth DIGBY 25 Oct 1614 in Church of St. John, Hackney, England. Enoch died 23 Apr 1636 in London, England.

The registry-record of the marriage of Enoch Lynde and Elizabeth Digby, discovered by the late Col. Chester of London, stands thus :

“Enocke Lyndlye and Elizabeth Dygbye.”

Elizabeth Digby was born 1584 in England.  Her parents were Everard DIGBY and Katherine STOCKBRIDGE De NEWKIRK.  Elizabeth died 1669 in London, England.

Children of Enoch and Elizabeth:

	Name	Born	Married	Departed
1.	Matthew Lynde	1620 London, England
2.	James Lynde	23 Jun 1622 London, England		3 Mar 1623 St. Andrew, Hubbard London, England
3.	Simon Lynde	bapt. Jun 1624 St. Andrews London, England	Hannah Newgate 22 Feb 1653 in Boston, Mass.	22 Nov  to1687 Boston, Suffolk, Mass
4.	Elizabeth LYNDE	1625 London, England	Matthew BECKWITH 1641 in Hartford, Connecticut Colony. . Samuel Buckland	1682 in Lyme, New London, Connecticut at age 57.
5.	James Lynde	bapt. 28 Jul 1630 St. Andrew, Hubbard London, England

Enoch Lynde, was a shipping merchant in the Netherlands engaged in foreign trade and he was also connected with the postal service between England and Holland.  He was fluent in Dutch and may have been of Dutch extraction.

“On the 7th of October 1636, in the Commissary Court of the Bishop of London, letters to administer the estate of Enoch Lyne, 10 late of the parish of St. Andrew, Hubbard, in the City of London, deceased, were granted to his relict Elizabeth.”

Enoch died, according to a record in his own Bible (above referred to), April 23, 1636.

An old business-paper of 1651, published among Suffolk Deeds of Massachusetts, fixes the place of his residence in London

Edward Bendall of Boston thereby acknowledging himself indebted to ” Symon Lynd of Lond.,” for a certain sum to be paid ” at the dwelling-house of Mrs Elizabeth Lynd in Buttolph lane in London.”

Today, Botolph lane  is just a two minute walk to the Monument to the Great Fire of London. It stands at the junction of Monument Street and Fish Street Hill, 202 ft (62 m) tall and 202 ft (62 m) from the place where the Great Fire started on 2 September 1666.   Its height marks its distance from the site in Pudding Lane of the shop of Thomas Farynor, the king’s baker, where the Great Fire began.

Undoubtedly Elizabeth had lived there in her husband’s life-time, as it was near London Bridge and the shipping; and the  Church of St. Andrew, Hubbard.  By 6 Sep 1666 the city lay in ruins, 87 churches having been destroyed.   In 1670 a Rebuilding Act was passed and a committee set up under the stewardship of Sir Christopher Wren to decide which would be rebuilt Fifty-one were chosen, but St Andrew Hubbard was one of the unlucky minority never to be rebuilt.   The church was situated close to Philpot Lane. in the area known as Little Eastcheap and took its name from Hubert, a mediaeval benefactor. Its parish records are among the most detailed in the UK  and have been extensively researched, for example they tell us it was a thriving but rat-prone living.

From Family Histories and Genealogies by Edward Elbridge Salisbury, 1892

This is from a pedigree written from the knowledge of Chief Justice Benjamin Lynde, youngest son of Simon Lynde. Elizabeth Digby was his grandmother. “Eliz. Digby, whose Parents dying while she was young, she was sent into Holland for Education, and there Instructed in the Protes Religion, her relations being generally Roman Catholics. She was a near Relation of Jn Digby 1st Earl Bristol, who Introduced her son Simon Lynde to Kiss King Charles hand: her arms see in margent. She dyed a widow 1669.”

Enoch had a contract with the English Government to carry the mails to the Low Countries and other foreign parts. He “subsequently acted as an agent in some capacity for the Government, during the war with France that broke out in 1627.” The following letter of his, copied from an original holograph in the Record Office of London, is worth preserving :

“Right Wo pp :

” My seruis rememb. — these are to lett you knowe that Mr : Mason’ was with me about the Inventary of the ffreinch pries brought into the port of Shoram, which Inventary of the salle of the goodes is not yett maid parffett, 7 because some thinges are not sould, and monneys are scarse, but w tb all speed it shal be ended. I am to goe to Shoram one Mundaye, and then I will hasten this bussenes ; and when all is done I will repayer to you with all the perticulers. I haue cast al thinges vpp att
random, and I make account ther wil be about ffive hundreth and ffowr skore poundes or there aboutes, whereof the Sauers clames the moyete ; but your Wo pp : knowe best what you have to doe with them, soe not having els I rest wishing yo r Wo pp : all and as much hapines as he whoe remaynes

Your ffreinde to command,

Enoch Lynd.”
” Buttelan, this
4 th of January, 1627.”
Endorsed : ” To the Right Wo pp :
Nicolas, Secretary vnto my Lord
Admirall the Duke of Buckingham.”

Of the ancestry of Enoch Lynde we have no positive knowledge, beyond the fact, given in the old Bible, that he was the grandson of Nathan and Elizabeth Linde, and the evidence of gentle descent afforded by the arms which he bore on his seal. Simon Lynde, son of Enoch, having been only twelve years old when his father died, would naturally lose much of the family-history, while the long widowhood of Elizabeth (Digby) Lynde accounts for more of the family-history of the Digbys being transmitted. The Lynde arms on Enoch Lynde’s seal were (tinctures not represented) : Gu. on a chief Or three mallets of the first.

An impression of this seal (proved to have been Enoch Lynde’s by its impaling Digby arms, in right of his wife as an heiress) was affixed by his son Simon to a Deed of 1682, and also to his Will dated July 21, 1685 ; and a grandson of Simon Lynde, in a letter to Lord Henry Digby, which we shall mention again, farther on, speaks of a silver inkcase, in his possession, as bearing “the arms of Digby impaled with those of our family.” A facsimile of this seal, from the original Will of Simon Lynde, for which we are indebted to Dr. F. E. Oliver of Boston, will be found on the sheet of our Lynde Pedigree. Of another seal used by Simon Lynde, which displays Lynde arms alone, Mr. Samuel H. Russell of Boston, in a recent letter (Oct. 28, 1889), says:

” Mr. Mitchell, our seal-engraver, says the cutting of this silver die of the Lynde arms is one of the best specimens, of Dutch or German work of the 17th century, better than could have been done in England.”

Probably the seal of Enoch Lynde was of the same workmanship.

Our Lynde arms, though “nowhere recorded in England … are almost identical with those granted in Holland to the noble family of Van der Linden, as recorded in the College of Arms at the Hague, a branch of which family is said to have emigrated to England in the sixteenth century.”  The arms of the Barons Van der Linden d’ Hoogvorst, of Dutch descent, now of Belgium, are : Git. on a chief Arg. three mallets Sa., with a crest differing from that of our Lyndes. In reply to a letter of ours giving a copy of the arms of Enoch Lynde, the following communications were received :

” The Hague, 29 Feb. 1880.”
” Dear Sir,

” I have the pleasure to inform you that I have discovered the name of the family bearing the coat of arms of which you have given me a copy. That name is Van der Linden. . . . The arms are Gules on a chief Argent three mallets Sable. Descendants of this family, the Barons van der Linden d’ Hoogvorst, are still living in Belgium. . . . The arms of the Stockbridges” are: Argent on a chevron Azure three bezants
Or. . . .

” P. A. Van der Velde,
” Secretary of the College of Arms and Nobility of the Netherlands.”
[To the United States Minister at the Hague, Hon. James Birney.]

“The arras of the family of Lynde, of which a drawing has been given to me, are identically the same as those of the Barons d’ Hoogvorst — Gules a chief Arg. charged with three mallets Sable. The crest differs. . . .”

[Translation of a report made by Mons. P. Delsaux, Archivist and Genealogist of Brussels.]

Before this correspondence had elicited the facts Col. Chester, consulting English records, had decided that our Lynde arms are a foreign coat. We have already noted circumstances which indicate that our Lyndes were of foreign extraction, perhaps Dutch ; the finding of their arms in Holland, though with a difference in tinctures, confirms this supposition. The difference in tinctures between the arms of Van der Linden and those of our Lyndes may be due either to an original variation, determined by heraldic authority, or to a loss, in our family, of the tradition of the true colors. As has been stated, the seal of Enoch Lynde did not indicate tinctures. If, as facts seem to show, Enoch Lynde was either born in the Low Countries or of Dutch descent, his business-associations with them would be easily accounted for. It was perhaps there, or on his ships going to or returning from England, that he met Elizabeth Digby, who had spent her youth, and perhaps her life till her marriage, with her mother’s relatives in Holland. We may believe that Dutch was spoken in their family, and that in that way their son Simon acquired the intimate knowledge of the language which caused his being chosen by Mr. Delanay to attend to his business in Holland. It has been customary, in all generations, for foreigners, on becoming resident in England, to translate or otherwise change their names into English forms. A natural and easy gradation of change in the name of this family would be from Linden to Linde, Lind and Line, or Lynde, Lynd and Lyne. The grandparents of Enoch Lynde, as we have seen, were called Nathan and Elizabeth Linde ; and examples of the other forms are to be met with.”

” There had been, in England, very ancient heraldic families spelling their names De la Lynde, Lynde, Lynne, Lyne, etc., whose coats of arms are entirely different from that of our family. The Lynde family of England was one of distinction whose name a Van der Linden need not be unwilling to bear.

In the beginning of our investigations, before we had ascertained the nationality of Enoch Lynde’s ancestry, Col. Chester wrote : “I have often found undoubted Lynnes spelling their name Lin,/, Linde, Lynd, and Lynde, and as often undoubted Lytnles spelling theirs Lynne, Line, Lyne, and even Lines and Lynes.”

Robert Edwin Lyne, a contributor to “Notes and Queries” (VI. Series, iv. 391), writes us : “I have a copy in my possession of an original letter written by General Monck, recommending Enoch son of Matthew Lyne for admission to the Charter House [School], London, as follows :

” ‘ Honoured Sir : There being one Mr. Matthew Line, who hath bin longe in the Service of the Commonwealth as Chyurgeon att Sea, and being a very deserving person, I make itt my Request to you that you will afford your assistance for the admitting of his sonne Enoch Line into the Charter-house, which I shall take as a Respect done your very humble serv’, George Monck.”

“St. James’s, 11 Ap. 1660.
For the ho bIe John Thurloe Esq., Secretary of State, these att Whitehall.’ ”

Simon Lynde, in his Will, leaves a legacy to this nephew in the following words :

” Item, I doe give and bequeath unto my Kinsman Enoch Lynde sonne of my Deceased Brother Mathew Lynde Twenty-five Pounds, to be paid within twelve months after my decease ; and acquitte him alsoe of what he is Justly accountable to me for, a Cargoe I intrusted him with Considerable, Provided he accept the said Bequeste thankfully, and give a full and Generall Discharge According to the
Discretion of my Executors.”

There was, also, another son of Enoch and Elizabeth (Digby) Lynde, named Enoch born, probably, between 1624 and 1630, of whom we know no more.

Cousins

Children

1 Matthew Lynde

From Family Histories and Genealogies by Edward Elbridge Salisbury, 1892

The exceptional imperfection of the existing Registers of the parish of St. Andrew, Hubbard — there being no record whatever for the period between 1599 and 1705, “except two or three leaves containing entries for the year 1621 and 1622,” as Col. Chester has informed us, limits our knowledge of the children of Enoch Lynde, from that source, to the scanty items already stated. But the Will of his son Simon refers to ” my Deceased Brother Mathew Lynde.”

This Matthew Lynde the “Calendar of State Papers” enables us to trace as a Surgeon in the British Navy as early as 1653; the family- pedigree, drawn up by the second Chief Justice Lynde, places his birth “about 1620.”

Of the year 1653, December 3, among letters and papers relating to the Royal Navy, is an “order for 50/. to Mat. Lynde, late Surgeon of the Rainbow, on his petition for expense of medicines for prisoners, planters and mariners taken by Sir John Ayscue in his expedition to Sally and the Barbadoes.”

Of February 20, 1654, in the same collection, is a communication from Generals Blake and Penn to the Commissioner of the Navy of the following substance :

” Having appointed Math. Linde surgeon of the Sovereign, one of the summer guard, have sent him up for his chest and medicaments, and desire that his bills may be made out for his imprest and free gift, and the money paid to him.”

Of the date of March 25, 1662-63, 1S a memorandum as follows :

” Matthew Lyne’s appointment as surgeon for the Kent came after the place had been filled up, on order of the Duke of York, by Wm. Wye. Begs that Wye may be retained, and Mr. Lyne shall be entered on one of the other ships which are to be fitted up.”

2. James Lynde

“James 1 ® son of Enoch and Elizabeth Lind,” was baptized June 23, 1622, “in the parish-church of St. Andrew, Hubbard, in the City of London ;” who was buried there, on the third day of the following March, under the name of “James son of Enoch Linde.”

3. Simon Lynde

Simon Lynde  was only twelve when his father died and was brought up by his widowed mother, who was in communication with her wealthy and influential Digby relatives. He was presented by John Digby first Earl of Bristol to King Charles I, to offer his allegiance.

John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol  was an English diplomat and a moderate royalist during the English Civil War.

John Digby was the son of Sir George Digby of Coleshill, Warwickshire and Abigail, daughter of Sir Arthur Henningham. He was educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge King James I sent Digby to Madrid as his ambassador to Spain during the early 1610s, and Digby was a leading figure in the unsuccessful Spanish Match, the effort to marry Prince Charles to the Infanta Maria Anna of Spain. Digby was made the scapegoat, recalled and ordered to reside on his estates. Charles after his accession offered Digby his favour if he would admit his fault : Digby, always a stubborn and hot-tempered man, refused. Charles, infuriated, impeached him and sent him to the Tower of London; Digby, undaunted, made counter-charges against the Duke of Buckingham, the prime favourite. His trial never proceeded, although he remained in the Tower until 1628, and the affair seriously damaged the King’s reputation as a man of honor.

The murder of the Duke of Buckingham caused Digby to reconsider his opposition to the King: like the Earl of Strafford and others he was alarmed at Parliament’s increasing radicalism. He offered his services to Charles and was reconciled with him. Charles, however, was slow to trust those who had ever opposed him and Digby had little influence through the 1630s.

As the political crisis of the early 1640s mounted, Digby emerged as a trusted and moderate royal adviser, along with his son George, Lord Digby. At the Council of Peers held at York in September 1640 ,the King showed an unprecedented willingness to listen to Bristol’s criticism of his policy, and agreed to his advice that a Parliament must be summoned. 1641 saw a complete reconciliation between the two men: Bristol with the Earl of Bedford became leader of the moderate Royalists in the House of Lords, working to achieve a compromise with John Pym, and save the Earl of Strafford’s life. After the collapse of the attempt at compromise Bristol was seen as a “hardline” royalist: as such Parliament imprisoned him after the outbreak of the Civil War, although he was later allowed to join the King at Oxford. After the King’s defeat he moved to Paris and died there in 1653.

Clarendon, who knew and liked Bristol, gave a sketch of him:

“Of a grave aspect, of a presence which drew respect, and a very handsome man who by the extraordinary favour of King James to his person was Ambassador to Spain before he was 30. Though he was a man of great parts and a wise man in Council he was passionate and supercilious and was too voluminous in discourse so that he was not considered there with much respect.”

A modern historian praised him as the greatest servant of the English Crown of his generation.

Back to Simon Lynde

Simon’s wife Hannah Newgate was born 28 Jun 1635 in Boston, Mass. Her parents were John Newgate and Ann Hunt. Hannah died 20 Dec 1684 in Boston, Mass

Simon  came to New England in 1650, and,  in February 1652, after a brief visit to the old country in the interval, married Hannah daughter of Mr. John Newdigate, who died December 20, 1684.

Simon Lynde made his home, on his marriage, in the house of his father-in-law Newdigate, to which he made a large and handsome addition, “a fair large structure.” This house stood on the corner of Hanover street and Wing’s Lane, now Elm street; and there his son Samuel so resided with his family.”

From Family Histories and Genealogies by Edward Elbridge Salisbury, 1892

SIMON “third son,” baptized (as his grandson the second Chief Justice of the name says) at St. Andrew, Holborn (properly Hubbard, see above), in June 1624. ” He was for a time apprenticed to a Mr. Delanay, a merchant of London afterwards he was sent by him to Holland for business-purposes, and ” Keept his books in ye Dutch toungue.” That Simon Lynde treasured Mr. Delanay’s memory, through life, with affectionate respect, is shown by the following item in his Will :

” I give and bequeath to Mr. Benjamin Delanay, my Honoured Master, six pounds in money, to be paid within on yeare after my Decease.”

It seems very probable that Mr. Lynde named his son Benjamin in honor of this friend of his youth who had trained him for his business-life.

He came to New England in 1650, and, in February 1652, after a brief visit to the old country in the interval (see above, where he is named as “of Lond.” in 1651), married Hannah daughter of Mr. John Newdigate, who died December 20, 1684. Simon Lynde made his home, on his marriage, in the house of his father-in-law Newdigate, to which he made a large and handsome addition, ” a fair large Structure.” This house stood on the corner of Hanover street and Wing’s Lane, now Elm street (in the aristocratic quarter of colonial Boston) ; and there his son Samuel also resided with his family, affixing to the building the Lynde arms. It was the home of Newdigates and Lyndes for at least four generations In the list of soldiers in King Philip’s War, of Capt. Oliver’s Company, appears the name of ” Mr. Simon Lynde.” He was a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery.

” During the more than thirty years of his life in the colony . . .” he “was a person of prominence, and acquired large landed possessions in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. In 1686 he was appointed, under President Dudley, one of the Assistant Justices of the Court of Pleas and Sessions [the first colonial Court established after the vacating of the colonial charter], and, in the following year, one of the Justices Assistant of the Superior Court, with Samuel Shrimpton and Charles Lidgett. He died on the 22d of November 1687, possessed of a large estate . . .

From Washburn’s Sketches of the Judicial History of Massachusetts, pp 85-87

“During the more than thirty years of his life in the colony —” he “was a person of prominence, and acquired large landed possessions in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. In 1686 he was appointed, under President Dudley, one of the Assistant Justices of the Court of Pleas and Sessions (the first colonial Court established after the vacating of the colonial charter), and, in the following year, one of the Justices Assistant of the Superior Court, with Samuel Shrimpton and Charles Lidgett. He died on the 22d of November 1687, possessed of a large estate.”

From page vi of Lynde Diaries

“During the more than thirty years of his life in the colony, (Simon) was a person of prominence, and acquired large landed possessions in Massachusetts, Connecticut,, and Rhode Island. In 1686 he was appointed, under President dudley, one of the Assistant Justices of the Court of Pleas and Sessions, and, in the following year, one of the Justices Assistnat of the Superior Court.

“With his training and transatlantic connection, Simon prospered. In 1666 he was one of a group of men who signed a petition in favor of acknowledging ‘the King’s Authority.’ In fact there was quite a large and respectable party in Massachusetts which had grown upset with the local government, best described as a theocracy. — The Massachusetts Bay Colony was not know for its religious tolerance. People who held non-conforming opinions wer whipped, fined, imprisoned, banished – unreasonable persecuted. Simon Lynde was brave enough to let some Anabaptists meet in one of his houses in 1674. Perhaps his Dutch ancestry or experiences in his business made him more lenient. — Simon owned three of the 26 origianl lots of Freetown (later set off to become part of Fall River) and gave them to his first son Samuel.”

From the bible of Simon Lynde which was given to him by his mother, Elizabeth Digby Lynde. This entry was made by one of his children.

“My hon Father Simon Lynde Esq was born June 1624; was contracted to my hon mother, then Hannah Newdigate, in Feb 1651, and was married to her unpon his return from England Feb 1652; and dyed 22 Nov 1687, aged 63 years.”

From Family Histories and Genealogies by Edward Elbridge Salisbury, 1892

This is from a pedigree written from the knowledge of Chief Justice Benjamin Lynde, youngest son of Simon Lynde.
“Simon Lynde Esq: born in Lond June 1624 Serv’d to a merch in Lond, Mr. Delanay, after went into Holland and Keept his books in Y Dutch tongue; he came to Bost: in N. Eng. 1650, married feb. 1652, and lived a merch in Boston; 1686 he was made a Justice for County of Suffolk; dyed 22 Nov. 1687, aged 63 yrs. 5 m.”

Simon’s son Benjamin Lynde  was the first Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court serving from 1729 to 1745 and again from 1769 to 1771.

4. Elizabeth LYNDE (See Matthew BECKWITH‘s page)

Sources:

http://trees.ancestry.com/owt/person.aspx?pid=18108007&st=1

Family histories and genealogies. A series of genealogical and biographical monographs on the families of MacCurdy, Mitchell, Lord, Lynde, Digby, Newdigate, Hoo, Willoughby, Griswold, Wolcott, Pitkin, Ogden, Johnson, Diodati, Lee and Marvin, and notes on the families of Buchanan, Parmelee, Boardman, Lay, Locke, Cole, De Wolf, Drake, Bond and Swayne, Dunbar and Clarke, and a notice of Chief Justice Morrison Remick Waite. With twenty-nine pedigree-charts and two charts of combined descents (1892) By Salisbury, Edward Elbridge, 1814-1901; Salisbury, Evelyn (McCurdy) 1823-