Constance Hopkins (baptized May 11, 1606 – October 1677), also sometimes listed as Constanta, was a passenger on the ''

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

'' in 1620.

Biography

Hopkins was probably born in

Hursley Hursley is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Hampshire, England with a population of around 900 in 2011. It is located roughly midway between Romsey and Winchester on the A3090. Besides the village the parish includes th ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

since her baptism record is there along with older sister and younger brother. Constance was the second daughter of Stephen Hopkins, by his first wife, Mary. Some believe she was named in honor of Constance (Marline) Hopkins. Constance, at the age of fourteen, along with her father and his second wife Elizabeth (Fisher), accompanied by brother Giles, half-sister Damaris as well as two servants by the name of Edward Doty and Edward Lester were passengers on the ''

'' on its journey to the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

in 1620. Along the way her half-brother

Oceanus In Greek mythology, Oceanus ( ; , also , , or ) was a Titans, Titan son of Uranus (mythology), Uranus and Gaia, the husband of his sister the Titan Tethys (mythology), Tethys, and the father of the River gods (Greek mythology), river gods ...

was born, the only child born on the Mayflower journey. Her memorial plaque, in the Cove Burying Ground in Eastham, Massachusetts, placed in 1966 by descendants, states in part "Wife of Nicholas Snow, Eastham's first town clerk 1646 – 1662". We do not know the exact location of their graves. Constance married Nicholas Snow sometime before the Division of Cattle which occurred May 22, 1627. Nicholas came to

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

on board the ship ''Anne'' in 1623 and was made a freeman at Plymouth in 1633. The inventory of Nicholas Snow's estate made at his death lists a wide variety of cooper's and carpenter's tools; this may indicate his trade. He was a town clerk at Eastham and held several other local government offices. According to Governor William Bradford, who wrote between March 6 and April 3, 1651: "Constance is married, and has 12 children all of them living, and one of them married".

Children of Constance and Nicholas Snow

*Mark b. Plymouth, May 9, 1628, married (1) Ann Cooke daughter of Josiah Cooke, married (2) Jane Prence, daughter of

Thomas Prence Thomas Prence (c. 1601 – March 29, 1673) was a New England colonist who arrived in the colony of Plymouth Colony, Plymouth in November 1621 on the ship ''Fortune''. In 1644 he moved to Massachusetts Bay Colony, Eastham, which he helped found, r ...

*Mary b. Plymouth, 1630, married Thomas Paine *Sarah b. Plymouth, 1632, married William Walker, who came to the colony on the ship '' Elizabeth'', in 1635 *Joseph b. Plymouth, 1634, Joseph Snow married Mary Higgins she was the daughter of Richard and Mary (Yates) Higgins *Stephen b. Plymouth, 1636, married (1) Susanna Rogers (Deane), daughter of Stephen Deane, married (2) Mary Bigford (Cottle, Bickford), daughter of Edward Cottle and Judith, last name unknown *John b. Plymouth, December 11, 1638, married Mary Smalley, a twin daughter of John Smalley and Ann Walden *Elizabeth b. Plymouth, 1640, married Thomas Rogers, son of Joseph Rogers, the son of

Pilgrim The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

, Thomas Rogers *Jabez b. Plymouth, 1642, married Elizabeth, last name unknown, she was possibly the daughter of Ralph Smith *Ruth b. Plymouth, 1644, married Lieutenant John Cole Sr., son of Daniel Cole and Ruth Chester Josiah Paine, a Town Clerk and historian of Harwich wrote "Nicholas and Constance had a dau. named for her mother who was the first wife of Daniel Doane of Eastham…" *Constance (unproved), b. Plymouth, married Daniel Doane The name Constance Snow (child of Nicholas Snow and Constance Hopkins Snow), was seen by the town clerk Josia Paine listed on proper documents and testified to this in a town meeting. This was 100 years after Constance Hopkins Snow had lived. A fire burned down the building retaining these documents, and the town clerk Josiah Paine was questioned about the Snows lineage. The Doane Family and Lineage accept Constance Snow Doane as a descendant of the Stephen Hopkins family. The only Society that does not accept the Constables' testimony is the Mayflower Society. As far as the Doanes are concerned, Constance Snow was the granddaughter of Stephen Hopkins who was on the Mayflower along with other family members including Constance Hopkins, Constance Snow's mother. * Two unknown children Constance is the 10-times great-grandmother of actress Allison Janney.

Legacy

A beaver hat, reputed to have belonged to Constance Hopkins, is in the collection of the Pilgrim Hall museum in Plymouth.

Fictional representations

Constance Hopkins is the central character in Patricia Clapp's young adult novel ''Constance: A Story of Early Plymouth.'' Clapp herself was a descendant of Hopkins.

References

1. Caleb Johnson, ''

The American Genealogist ''The American Genealogist'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academic disc ...

'' 73:161-171, "The True English Origins of Stephen Hopkins of the Mayflower", July 1998. His first wife was not Constance Dudley, though this erroneous name is given by older references with no citations 2. ''Mayflower Families Through Five Generations,'' Volume Six, Third Edition, Stephen Hopkins

External links