Beaumont & Beaman: Early 1600s New England
- beaumont21
- Dec 11, 2024
- 11 min read
By Gary Beaumont, September 2024
The First to Arrive in America
In 1635, nearly 400 years ago, two men and a boy arrived in Salem, Massachusetts: William Beamond, 27-years old, and John Beamond, 23-years old, both on the Elizabeth, sailing from England 15 April 1635, [1] [2] [3] and Gamaliel Bement, 12-years old, on the Elizabeth and Ann, sailing 7 May 1635. [4] [5] [6] Later, in 1648, Simon Beaman arrived, settling in Springfield, Massachusettes. [7]
Much is written about this period, which was considered to be the Great Puritan Migration. Between 1630 and 1642, thousands of Puritan emigrants, as well as people of other faiths, left England because of lack of economic opportunities and religious freedom issues. [8]
What is in a name?
The scribes of this era took great liberty with surnames, writing what they heard. Adding to the problem, original records are difficult to accurately transcribe because they are handwritten, varying in style and clarity, and perhaps faded. Also, many immigrants were illiterate and could not sign their own name. The surname “Beaman” certainly had its variations in period documents:
Great Migration = Beamon, Beaman, Beman, Beamont, Beament, Beamen, and Beaumont.
Original List = Beomond and Beomont.
New World = Beamond, evolving into Bement.
In theory, the surname “Beaman” is a variant of the surname “Beaumont.” And there is great interest in these early New England immigrants. More than 5,000 Ancestry trees claim either William Beamond (1608-1699), John Beamond (1612-1647), Gamaliel Beaman (1623-1707), or Simon Beaman (1626-1676). Many of these trees cite The Beaman & Clark Genealogy, [9] by Emily Beaman Wooden. She suggested that Gamaliel, William, John, and Simon were “of the same family,” Gamaliel and Simon were brothers, and they all came from Shropshire, England. Since it was written in 1909, no corroborating evidence has been found to support these ideas. Now, Beaman Y-DNA evidence suggests these ideas were incorrect and helps to answer questions about the true origins of these immigrants in England.
DNA Evidence
Every man alive today shares a common male ancestor known as Y-chromosomal Adam, who lived about 200,000 years ago. All Y-DNA, or human paternal lines, evolved from him. There are 18 branches of Y-DNA below Y-chromosomal Adam, represented by the letters A through R. In visual form, they look like a standard family tree. Instead of the names of individuals, however, this tree is made with their SNP mutations, which took place in a specific place and at a specific time. Y-DNA tests look at one chromosome, the Y-chromosome. Passed from father to son, it is a powerful and accurate way of tracing male lineages – hundreds and even thousands of years in the past. [10]
In the course of creating a Beaumont surname project on Family Tree DNA, [11] numerous Beaman matches began to appear. Exploring these matches has provided some answers to questions about New England Beamans. It also suggests paths for future research because it is hard to find historical records without knowing their correct location.
Y-DNA Testing
The validity of the following Y-DNA analysis relies on the accuracy of family trees that connect a descendant to their corresponding ancestor. If the family tree is incorrect, it weakens the argument. Three relevant family trees appear on Wikitree [12] in The Great Migration Project. Family trees also appear on Ancestry. [13]
The following table provides a timeframe for these paternal lineages. Column 1 shows the male lineage of Beaumont/IN91692 [14] for historical context. The Beaumont West Yorkshire surname project uses him as a proxy because he is a distant relative of Richard H. Beaumont (1749-1810), who once held the Whitley estate. RHB was in possession of early family documents, and he created a family tree starting with William de Bellomonte/Beaumont (1170-1230), arriving in West Yorkshire under the patronage of the Constable of Chester, or Roger de Lacy (c.1165-1211), a well-known baron of the era who inherited the Honour of Pontefract in 1194. This pins down the date of William de Bellomonte/Beaumont’s arrival in Yorkshire.
Table abbreviations: B. = born, D. = died, MRCA = most recent common ancestor (for Y-DNA this means male ancestor), SNP = single nucleotide polymorphisms, ybp = years before present. The dates in the table are approximations. The Y-DNA results appear in the Beaumont surname project on Family Tree DNA. [15]
Beaumont IN91692 England | Beaman 270842 Canada | Bement 981573 USA | Beaumont 983807 USA | Beeman 445019 USA | Circa
|
R-M269 | R-M269 | R-M269 | R-M269 | I-M223 |
|
Richard H. 1865-1952 |
Private |
Private |
Private |
Private |
|
George 1825-1899 | Charles R 1836-1895 | Asahel 1810-1890 | William W 1809-1872 WI |
| 1810
|
George 1796-1882 | William R 1807-1880 | Jesse 1777-1859 | William H.W. 1785-1865 WI |
|
|
Richard 1761-1828 | Joseph 1767-1839 | Jesse John 1740-1790 | William H 1753-1807 NY |
| 1750
|
George 1725-1773 | Thomas K 1729-1780 | John 1701-1756 | William H 1725-1812 CT |
|
|
George 1696-1736 | Ebenezer 1690-1764 MA | John 1667-1703 | Samuel 1691-1748 CT |
| 1690 |
George 1663-1712 | John 1649-1739 MA | John 1644-1684 MA | Samuel 1657-1748 CT |
|
|
William 1638-1713 | Gamaliel Beaman | John Beamond | WilliamBeamond [16] | SimonBeaman | 1630 |
George 1600-1664 | B. 1623 D. 1707 Dorchester, MA | B. 1612 D. 1647 Plymouth, MA | B. 1608 D. 1699 Saybrook, CT | B. 1626D. 1676Springfield, MA |
|
Thomas 1556-1614 |
|
|
|
| 1570 |
Humphrey 1515-1568 |
|
|
|
|
|
John c.1490-1521 |
|
|
|
| 1480 |
Lawrence fl. 1472 | Match | Not a match | Not a match | Not a match | 1420 |
John fl. 1442 |
|
|
|
|
|
Roger |
|
|
|
| 1360 |
Henry 1335-1400 | MCRA 1430 [17] |
|
|
|
|
John |
|
|
|
| 1300 |
Robert |
|
|
|
|
|
William III |
|
|
|
| 1240 |
William II |
|
|
|
|
|
William de Bellomonte |
|
|
|
| 1180 |
Richard H. 1865-1952 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1120 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Norman Conquest |
|
|
|
| 1060 |
Table 2. Timeline to Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA)
Simon Beaman (1626-1676)[18] A direct male descendant (Beeman: 445019) tested as Haplogroup I-M223. Matches in the surname group suggest that Simon was NOT related to William, John, or Gamaliel or to West Yorkshire Beaumonts. A search on Ancestry for Simon did not produce a baptismal record in Shropshire, but there was one in Hertfordshire: Simond Beamond, baptized 19 Feb 1627 Totteridge, Hertfordshire. His father was Simon.[19]
Most likely, I-M223 arrived in Britain as refugees from the Roman Conquest of Gaul (50 BC – 100 AD). Then, as the Romans advanced throughout Britain, these Gaels sought refuge either in Scotland (Scots Gaels) or Ireland (Irish Gaels). The Gaels were distinct from their distant Briton cousins, with the Britons speaking what would eventually become the Welsh language, and the Proto-Gaels speaking what would eventually evolve into Irish and Scottish Gaelic. [20]
William Beamond (1608-1699) [21] A direct male descendant (Beaumont: 983807) tested as Haplogroup R-M269, but he did NOT match West Yorkshire Beaumonts. Marriages and Burials, 1512-1812 provides an intriguing one: William Beamont, baptism 24 Aug 1608, All Hallows, Almondbury, Yorkshire. His father was Johes (John) Beamont. [22] One reference says that William was tailor to Richard Saltonstall.[23] A close match to this descendant has completed a FTDNA Big Y test. FTDNA says his Haplogroup is associated with archaeological evidence suggesting Danish Viking origins, possibly the Brice Day Massacre of 1002 CE.
John Beamond (1612-1647) [24] [25] A direct male descendant (Bement: 981573) tested as Haplogroup R-M269, but he did NOT match West Yorkshire Beaumonts. Also, John was not related to William. A possible baptismal record for John (1612-1647) is John Beamont, baptism 23 Jul 1612 All Hallows, Almondbury, Yorkshire. [26] Y-DNA results in the Beaumont surname project suggests that the male line was broken about this generation. A close match to this descendant has completed a FTDNA Big Y test. FTDNA says his Haplogroup is associated includes R1b-U106. In Britain has long been association with the Anglo-Saxon invasion in the late Iron Age. But the study of this Haplogroup is complex and difficult because: There is an aboriginal presence of U106 in Britain, followed by further Bronze Age entrants, to provide almost 20% of West Country U106. At least one significant cluster has been in Britain since the Bronze Age. Another 25% arrived in the Iron Age, before 200 BC. In 450 CE, about half of all West Country U106 arrived. And finally, only about 8% of U106 arrived after 850 CE.
Gamaliel Beaman (1623-1707) A direct male descendant (Beaman: 270842) suggests that he was related to West Yorkshire Beaumonts. Descendants of West Yorkshire Beaumonts all share SNPs R1b > R-M269 > R-L23 > R-L151 > R-P312 > R-Z290 > R-L21 > R-DF13 > R-Z39589 > R-BY9003, which is characteristically Brythonic Celt. They also share A18420, which is a familial SNP that suggests a common ancestor about 1100 CE, probably in Yorkshire.
The theory is Gamaliel was of Whitley Beaumonts. The paternal line of the Whitley Beaumonts did not continue after Richard Beaumont (1574-1631) who died without a male heir. In his will, he named Thomas Beaumont (1606-1668) of the Lascelles Beaumonts to inherit the Whitely estate, and Thomas’ line went extinct in 1857. As a result, comparing Y-DNA with a living male is not possible.
In the absence of Y-DNA evidence, it is necessary to turn to circumstantial evidence, including motive, means, and opportunity. Here, we explore Gamaliel Beaman, the ancestor of FL Beaman, #270842. Who had a motive, the means, and the opportunity to send a twelve-year old boy, alone, to America?
The name Gamaliel, which means the “recompense of God,” suggests he was illegitimate. One fact that seems to support this – Gamaliel’s wife, Sarah, presented her children for baptism because she was the “member in whose right they were baptized.” For Gamaliel, there does not seem to be a baptismal record in West Yorkshire, or for that matter, in all of England.[27] But, I suggest that his father was Richard Beaumont (1575-1631),[28] who certainly had a reputation as a bounder and was apparently dubbed the “Black Dick of the North” by King James I.
It is certainly possible that a male from an unknown branch fathered Gamaliel, but the only Whitley Beaumont alive at the time of Gamaliel’s birth was Richard Beaumont (1575-1631).[29] The only Lascelles Hall Beaumonts alive at the time of Gamaliel’s birth were Thomas Beaumont (1606-1668) and his father, Richard Beaumont (1570-1656) of Mirfield.
Richard (1575-1631) died 4 years before Gamaliel immigrated, and it was the family of Richard (1570-1656) that potentially had a motive to hide away Gamaliel, especially if it was thought that he threatened the inheritance of the Whitley estate.
Regarding means, Richard (1570-1656) certainly had the power and money to hide illegitimacy and ship the “problem” to America. He also had a relationship with Richard Saltonstall (1586-1661).
Richard Saltonstall married Grace Kaye, November 1609 in Almondbury, Yorkshire.[30] [31] In 1629, he was appointed chairman of emigration “adventurers” for the Massachusettes Bay Company. After the death of his first wife, he sold his estate in Yorkshire and, with his children, sailed to America on the Arbella (Winthrop Fleet), landing at Salem in June 1630, and establishing Watertown, Massachusettes. In March 1631, he returned to England, settling in London. He continued to hold property in Massachusettes and Connecticut, and he was responsible for sending groups of people to America, some of whom managed his properties there.
Richard’s son, Richard Saltonstall (1610-1694), was baptized in Yorkshire and lived at Woodsome, near Almondbury. He married in 1633,[32] and in May 1635, he, his wife, Muriel, and their child, sailed on the Susan and Ellin, from London to Massachusetts Bay.[33] [34] In the same expedition, Gamaliel sailed on a sister ship, Elizabeth and Ann (May 1635).[35]
Historical records also connect the Beaumonts and Saltonstalls – at least the land-owning members:
Edward Beaumont (1537-1574), lord of Whitley Hall, Yorkshire, was the son-in-law of Samuel Saltonstall (1560), father of Richard (1586-16610.
Richard Saltonstall (1586-1661) owed £20, “forced loan,” to Richard Beaumont (1574-1631), lord of Whitley, Yorkshire, according to a letter dated 7 July 1608.
Motive, means , and opportunity -- Threat to an inheritance of the Whitley estate; rich and powerful people stacking the deck in their favor, and a £20 debt owed by the individual organizing the voyage to America. It’s the stuff about which novels are written. But is it fact? The Y-DNA evidence does not negate this theory, but it is still just a theory. And like in the novels, there is a dead body that could provide clues. Richard Beaumont (1575-1631) is buried at St. John the Baptist,[36] Kirkheaton, Yorkshire.
Figure 1. Here lyeth interred the Body of Sir Richard Beaumont of Whitley Hall in the Countie of Yorke, Knight and Baronet who departed this life the 20th day of October Anno AEtatis svae 58 Anno Domini 1631, expecting a glorious resurrection at the coming of Christ. Who dying unmarried made Thomas Beaumont, sonn and heir apparent to Richard Beaumont of Kexbrugh in the Countie of Yorks Esq. one of his executors and heir to his park at Sandal, and to his ancient inheritance in Whitley, South Crosland,
Figure 2. Folger Digital Image Collection. Source Call Number: X.d.330 (https://luna.folger.edu)
Conclusion
DNA does not lie. The Y-DNA of descendants of Gamaliel, William, John, and Simon suggest that they were not related to each other, but historical records suggest that William, John, and Gamaliel most likely immigrated from West Yorkshire.
The Y-DNA of a descendant of Gamaliel suggests that he was related to West Yorkshire Beaumonts, which makes him the first West Yorkshire Beaumont to immigrate to America.[37] Many more would follow later.
A Y-DNA research project names the progenitor of the West Yorkshire Beaumonts – William de Bellomonte/Beaumont (c. 1170-c. 1230). [38]
References:
[1] Savage, James. “Gleanings for New England History.” New World Immigrants. Michael Tepper, ed. 1979. Vol. 1, p. 41 … https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/48115/
[2] Hotten, John Camden. The Original List of Persons of Quality. 1874. p. 60 … https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/510649/
[3] Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration 1634-1635. 1995. Vol. 1, p. 219-20 … https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2496/
[4] New World … Vol. 1, p. 45
[5] The Original List ... p. 76
[6] The Great Migration … 1995. Vol. 1, p. 217
[7] Colket, Meredith B., Jr. Founders of Early American Families: Emigrants from Europe, 1607-1657. Cleveland: General Court of the Order of Founders and Patriots of America, 1975. p. 366
[9] Wooden, Emily Beaman. The Beaman & Clark Genealogy. 1909.
[12] Wikitree
· William: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Beaman-456
· Gamaliel: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Beamon-66
[13] Ancestry
[14] http://beaumontarchives.blogspot.com/ (Accessed March 2022)
[15] Beaumont surname project: https://www.familytreedna.com/public/BeaumontWestYorkshire?iframe=yresults
[16] Dr. William Beaumont (1785-1853) is in this male lineage. His father was Samuel, the second son of William H. (1753-1807 … https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Beaumont
[17] IN91692 and 270842 are estimated to share a common paternal line ancestor who was, with a 95% probability, born between 1100 and 1700 CE. The most likely year is rounded to 1450 CE. This date is an estimate based on genetic information only.
[18] Sheldon, George. A History of Deerfield, Massachusetts. 1895. Vol. 1, p. 195 … https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_History_of_Deerfield_Massachusetts/W2wWAAAAYAAJ
[19] https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/140746507:9841?tid=&pid=&queryId=75074f31b0b0e4b0e945c84d3cc4da64&_phsrc=wxo24590&_phstart=successSource (Accessed March 2022)
[20] Tyrone Bowes. Scottish Origenes. https://www.scottishorigenes.com/news/scottish-and-irish-dna-compared Accessed August 2024.
[21] Collections of the Massachusettes Historical Society. 1852. Volume 1 of the Fourth Series. p. 50 … https://www.google.com/books/edition/Collections_of_the_Massachsetts_Historic/jnoFAAAAQAAJ
[22] https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/4481933:2256?tid=&pid=&queryId=7911b8fca16828744a0e3c54435150d5&_phsrc=AZQ1297&_phstart=successSource (Accessed August 2022)
[23] Waters, H. F. (Henry Fitz-Gilbert). New England Historic Genealogical Society. The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. 1849-50. Vol III, p. 161 … https://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951001920480q
[24] Leach, J. Granville. Chronicles of the Bement Family in America for Clarence Sweet Bement. 1928. p. 9
[25] Essex Institute. Records and files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts. 1911. Vol. 1, p. 118
[26] https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/4482563:2256?tid=&pid=&queryId=43193692f7220b3efb3513163c3d4713&_phsrc=AZQ1423&_phstart=successSource (Accessed August 2022)
[27] Richard Beaumont (1574-1631) and Richard Beaumont (1570-1656) both kept homes in London.
[28] Gamaliel was not mentioned in the will of Richard Beaumont (1574-1631). Richard never married, but he had two daughters who were provided for.
[29] https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/member/beaumont-sir-richard-1574-1631. Accessed Aug 2024
[31] West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1512-1812 (Accessed on Ancestry.com) Names listed as Gratia Kay and Richus Sallerstall
[32] London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 (Accessed on Ancestry.com)
[33] Savage, James. “Gleanings for New England History.” New World Immigrants. Michael Tepper, ed. 1979. Vol. 1, p. 40 … https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/48115/
[34] Hotten, John Camden. The Original List of Persons of Quality. 1874. p. 59 … https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/510649/
[35] Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration 1634-1635. 1995. Vol. 1, p. 217 … https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2496/
[36] Of the are 12 ancient parishes in West Yorkshire, St. John the Baptist, Kirkheaton, is the only parish whose records do not go back to 1623.
[37] In 1618, Richard Beamont, 43, a sailor from Ratcliffe, Middlesex, England, appears on a supply ship to Jamestown, Virginia. In 1624, a Frenchman, Giles Beaumont arrived in Virginia. And in August 1635, Thomas Beomont, 29, was transported to Virginia on the George from England – no additional information about him.
[38] Beaumont, Gary. The Medieval Origins of West Yorkshire Beaumonts. 2024. PUBLIC . OCT 2024 VERSION Y DNA.pdf
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