Elizabeth Pabodie (1623–1717), also known as Elizabeth Alden Pabodie or Elizabeth Peabody, was allegedly the

first white child The birth of the first white child is a concept that marks the establishment of a European colony in the New World, especially in the historiography of the United States. Americas Canada Snorri Thorfinnsson, born around 1010 in the Viking settle ...

born in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

Life

Elizabeth Pabodie was born Elizabeth Alden in 1623, the firstborn child of the

Plymouth Colony Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was, from 1620 to 1691, the British America, first permanent English colony in New England and the second permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was first settled by the pa ...

settlers

Priscilla Mullins Priscilla Alden (, ) was a noted member of Massachusetts's Plymouth Colony of Pilgrims and the wife of fellow colonist John Alden (1687). They married in 1621 in Plymouth. Biography Priscilla was most likely born in Dorking in Surrey, the dau ...

and

John Alden John Alden (c. 1598 - September 12, 1687) was a crew member on the historic 1620 voyage of the ''Mayflower'' which brought the English settlers commonly known as Pilgrims to Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts, US. He was hired in Sou ...

, who were both passengers on the ''

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...

'' in 1620. She married William Pabodie (Peabody), a leader of

Duxbury, Massachusetts Duxbury (alternative older spelling: "Duxborough") is a historic seaside town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb located on the South Shore (Massachusetts), South Shore approximately to t ...

, on December 26, 1644. All 13 of their children were born in that settlement before Elisabeth eventually moved to

Little Compton, Rhode Island Little Compton is a coastal town in Newport County, Rhode Island, bounded on the south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by the Sakonnet River, on the north by the town of Tiverton, and on the east by the town of Westport, Massachusetts. The pop ...

in the 1680s. She died on May 31, 1717 in Little Compton and was buried in the cemetery on

Little Compton Common The Little Compton Commons Historic District, or Little Compton Commons, is a historic district in Little Compton, Rhode Island. It is a triangular area roughly bounded by School House Lane to the north, South Commons Road to the east, and Mee ...

, officially called Old Commons Burial Ground. Her memorial is on Find A Grave as memorial #6868310.

Descendants

Elizabeth Pabodie's first child was a daughter, Lydia; next came a son named William after his father. In 1683 Lydia married Daniel Grinnell Jr; they also had 13 children together. William the younger and his wife Judith had a daughter Rebecca Peabody, who married the Reverend Joseph Fish. Their daughter Mary Fish married

Gold Selleck Silliman Gold Selleck Silliman (1732–1790) was a Connecticut militia General during the American War for Independence. Biography Silliman was born in Fairfield, Connecticut, graduated from Yale University and practiced law and served as a crown attorney ...

(1732–1790), and they were the parents of

Benjamin Silliman Benjamin Silliman (August 8, 1779 – November 24, 1864) was an early American chemist and science educator. He was one of the first American professors of science, at Yale College, the first person to use the process of fractional distillat ...

, the first person to distill petroleum, and grandparents of

Benjamin Silliman, Jr. Benjamin Silliman Jr. (December 4, 1816 – January 14, 1885) was a professor of chemistry at Yale University and instrumental in developing the oil industry. His father Benjamin Silliman Sr., also a famous Yale chemist, developed the process of ...

The Sillimans started the Chemistry Department at Yale, a forerunner of the

Sheffield Scientific School Sheffield Scientific School was founded in 1847 as a school of Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut, for instruction in science and engineering. Originally named the Yale Scientific School, it was renamed in 1861 in honor of Joseph E. Sheffield, ...

. Benjamin Silliman, Jr. married Susan Huldah Forbes; their daughter Alice Trumbull Silliman married

William Richardson Belknap William Richardson Belknap (March 28, 1849 – June 2, 1914), for 28 years was president of the Belknap Hardware and Manufacturing Company''The Cincinnati Enquirer'', June 2, 1914, p. 2. based in Louisville, Kentucky, one of the largest hardware Am ...

(1849-1914). It is through this lineage that the Belknap and Humphrey families of Kentucky descended. Other descendants of Elizabeth Alden Pabodie and William Pabodie include Priscilla Pabodie, Rebecca Pabodie, Eleanor Belknap Humphrey (1876-1964),

William Burke Belknap William Burke Belknap the younger (1885–1965) was the son of William Richardson Belknap and Alice Trumbull Silliman. He was an entrepreneur in the family of W. B. Belknap, William Burke Belknap, the elder (1811–1884), son of Morris Burke Be ...

the younger, Alice Belknap Hawkes, Dr. Edward Cornelius Humphrey, Rev. Robert P. Shuler, Alice Humphrey Morgan, economist Thomas MacGillivray Humphrey, Barbara Morgan Meade, co-founder of the Washington, D.C. bookstore,

Politics and Prose Politics and Prose (sometimes stylized as Politics & Prose or abbreviated as P&P) is an independent bookstore located in Chevy Chase, Washington, D.C., on Connecticut Avenue. It was founded in 1984 by Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade. They expande ...

, Charles Davis, Zechariah Vincent, and whistleblower

Edward Snowden Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American and naturalized Russian former computer intelligence consultant who leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013, when he was an employee and su ...

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely transl ...

was also a descendant of Elizabeth Pabodie. He made her parents John Alden and Priscilla Mullins famous through his poem ''

The Courtship of Miles Standish ''The Courtship of Miles Standish'' is an 1858 narrative poem by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow about the early days of Plymouth Colony, the colonial settlement established in America by the ''Mayflower'' Pilgrims. Overview ''Th ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pabodie, Elisabeth 1623 births 1717 deaths Colonial American women People of colonial Massachusetts People from Duxbury, Massachusetts People from Little Compton, Rhode Island People of colonial Rhode Island Burials in Rhode Island Early colonists in America