Samuel Luther (1636 – 20 December 1716) was a prominent early figure in the

Massachusetts Colony The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the Thirteen Colonies, thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III of England, William III and Mary II ...

. He served as the minister of the First Baptist Church of

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from 1685 until his death. He also served as a

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

captain. Through his wife Mary Abell, daughter of Robert Abell, his descendants have richly documented English ancestry, including extensive ties to

royalty Royalty may refer to: * Any individual monarch, such as a king, queen, emperor, empress, etc. * Royal family, the immediate family of a king or queen regnant, and sometimes his or her extended family * Royalty payment for use of such things as int ...

and

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

. Samuel Luther perhaps survived a raid by a group of

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at age nine while accompanying his father on a trading voyage to Delaware Bay, and was held captive for a period. His father, Captain John Luther, was killed in the raid. Some

chronicle A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...

rs question the likelihood of a nine-year-old boy participating in such a risky trading endeavor, proposing that an older brother may have been the captive Luther. However, no older son of Captain Luther is acknowledged by

genealogical Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinsh ...

authorities. In any event, the general circumstances of the incident are corroborated by several

primary source In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called an original source) is an artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was created at the time under ...

s. His fourth great-grandparents were Hans Luther and Margaretha Lindemann.

References

* Winthrop's Journal Vol. II, pp. 203, 237 * "Medieval English Ancestors of Robert Abell" by Carl Boyer III (2001) * Luther, Leslie L. and George A. Luther. ''The Luther Genealogy: A History of the Descendants of Captain John Luther Who Arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1630-1635''. Lakeland, FL: G. A. Luther, 2001. {{DEFAULTSORT:Luther, Samuel People from colonial Massachusetts

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

1636 births 1716 deaths