This is part of a series about my New England colonial ancestors who arrived by during the Great Migration. If you have early Massachusetts ancestry, be sure to check out AmericanAncestors, as the Great Migration Study Project can be viewed there with a membership to the New England Historic Genealogical Society.

Richard Norman, born c1587, might be one of the more interesting of my early colonial New England ancestors for one reason – it is believed that he was NOT a Puritan, in spite of the fact that he was in Salem by 1626. He is one of my 10X great grandparents.

I didn’t realize that there were any non-Puritans in Massachusetts Bay Colony that early, but apparently there were a handful.

Why, then, did Richard Norman emigrate from England? It is thought that he was either a fisherman or a ship builder and left for Massachusetts Bay because of the economic opportunities. Kind of like the early bird catches the worm, I guess. He was a member of the Dorchester Company.

The maiden name of Richard Norman’s wife is unknown, although church records in Charminster, Dorset, England have identified her as Florence. Note, though that Salem church records show two Arabella Normans joining – one in May 1637 and the other on 25 February 1637/38. Richard’s son John married Arabella (MNU), so she is one of the women. The second is a clerical error and should say “Florence Norman.”

Richard had five children who survived to adulthood, all likely born in England, given the dates.

Children:

1. John, baptized 7 February 1606/07. Charminster, Dorset, England; died Manchester, Essex, Massachusetts, before 24 November 1672, when inventory of his estate was taken; married Arabella (MNU), before May 1637.
2. Elizabeth, baptized 12 January 1610/11; buried 23 April 1613, Charminster, Dorset, England.
3. Margaret, baptized 4 February 1614/15, Charminster, Dorset, England; married Robert Morgan, c1633.
4. Susannah, baptized 31 July 1617, Charminster, Dorset, England; married Robert Lockwood, by 1635.
5. Florence, baptized 17 October 1619, Charminster, Dorset, England; married (1) John Hart, c1639 (2) Thomas Whittridge, c1657.
6. Richard, baptized c1623/24; married Margaret (MNU), c1650.

My line of descent:

1. Richard Norman & Florence (MNU)
2. Robert Lockwood & Susannah Norman
3. Joseph Lockwood & (Isabella?) Beacham
4. John Lockwood & Elizabeth (MNU)
5. David Adams & Susannah Lockwood
6. John Adams & Sarah Coley
7. Thomas Adams & Sarah Brawn
8. Daniel Adams & Sarah Ann Parker
9. Calvin Segee Adams & Nellie F. Tarbox
10. Charles Edwin Adams & Annie Maude Stuart
11. Vernon Tarbox Adams & Hazel Ethel Coleman
12. George Michael Sabo & Doris Priscilla Adams
13. Linda Anne (Sabo) Stufflebean – Me!