Over the years I have seen
many statements relating to the first Amsden to arrive in the
Americas, generally thought to have been Isaac. Some of these have
been based on broadly known facts, others have been based on a great
deal of conjecture and frequently stated as fact. In order to put
this into some perspective, here is the truth as understood at this
time, i.e the start of 2000.
ISAAC AMSDEN
The Facts and the
Assumptions
Fact - An ISAAC AMSDEN arrived in the
Americas prior to 1654.
Since he in mentioned in the estates of
Nathaniel Sparhawk in 1647 it has been assumed that he must have
arrived there prior to that date. However, the AMSDEN's and the
SPARHAWK's lived in close proximity to each other in Oxfordshire
prior to 1600, so there is no guarantee that they did not know each
other before either of them went to the Americas.
Fact - ISAAC AMSDEN married FRANCES
PERRIMAN 8 Jun 1654 in MA
Fact - These two had children ISAAC and
JACOB
Fact - A JOHN AMSDEN appears in MA at
around the same time as ISAAC AMSDEN.
Fact - JOHN AMSDEN married ELIZABETH (? )
and they had two children JOHN and ISAAC.
Fact - An ISAAC AMSDEN was baptised at St
Nicholas church, Colchester, England, 24 Aug 1620. Father - WILLIAM
Mother - REBECCA
Conjecture - That the ISAAC born in
Colchester, England is the same ISAAC that turns up in the Americas.
Other than the coincidence of this Isaac's birth date being about
right for the Isaac in the Americas, there is no proof that these are
one and the same person. No evidence has been found relating to
sailing dates from England or for arrival in the Americas.
Conjecture - That JOHN AMSDEN is the son of
ISAAC AMSDEN (who married Frances Perriman) by an earlier marriage to
a person unknown. It has been assumed that ISAAC married whilst still
in England and that this wife and his son JOHN went to the Americas.
That his wife died there and he later married Frances. No evidence
has been found to support this assumption.
If this Amsden family had been resident in
Colchester for any length of time then one would expect evidence that
Isaac had married, and that a son (John) had been born there.
There is evidence that a JOHN AMSDEN was
baptised at St Nicholas, Colchester on 8 Feb 1623. Father- WILLIAM.
Mother - KATHREN. It is possible, therefore, that the father of
ISAAC is the same as that of JOHN. REBECCA dying and WILLIAM
remarrying. This would make JOHN, ISAAC's half brother, not his son.
JOHN's age at the time of his death would then be 73 and not 46 as
usually stated. This is perfectly feasible.
Another aspect of this story should also be
borne in mind. The surname AMSDEN was unusual in the area around
Colchester at that time., but the surname EMSDEN was less so. It
would seem that the AMSDEN's in Colchester came from somewhere else
in the country, unless EMSDEN had been corrupted to AMSDEN. If this
is the case then the AMSDEN's in the Americas are actually members of
the EMSDEN family and not the AMSDEN family. Whilst EMSDEN and AMSDEN
would seem to be obvious variations of the same name, (and there is
evidence that this did happen), there is only scant proof that they
are one and the same family.
The conclusion is that the history of ISAAC
and JOHN AMSDEN in England is, at best, conjecture and should be
treated as such until such time as factual evidence comes to light.