If you look at my family's history, we don't have a very long history in higher education, which is funny--education is important to my family now. I have worked in higher education as an instructional designer and I have an aunt who teaches college courses.
But so it is. My maternal grandpa attended college but that was interrupted by World War II. He didn't receive a degree, though he went on to become a computing pioneer. I remember him at the dining table writing out math equations on yellow legal pads with very sharp No. 2 pencils for fun and showing us various science experiments. He may not have finished but learning was extremely important to him.
Mom graduated from college, then I graduated from college about a decade later, then I graduated from grad school, then Mom graduated from grad school. So, in my direct line, Mom and I were first generation college grad and grad school student respectively. Now, her brother did graduate before her, then went on to grad school before me, and his wife was in grad school before I applied. This was a good thing, since I was able to get some advice from them about applying to grad programs.
On my Dad's side, my uncle was the known first college grad in a couple of centuries. If you go back to colonial times though, a few of my ancestors were college educated. In England in past centuries, sons of those who could afford it might either inherit property (typically in the case of eldest sons) or be prepared for some suitable occupation. One of these occupations was as a clergy. Preparation for the church involved college, hopefully followed by a "living." In the 1500s and 1600s, some of these college-educated clerics were exposed to Puritan ideas and developed Puritan leanings. In a number of cases, these leanings put their livings in peril. Those who were committed to Puritanism often had to give their parishes up. Their attentions were turned to the more tolerant Netherlands, then America.
Stephen Bachiler, one of these, might have qualified as the subject of the Black Sheep challenge from two weeks ago. According to the Great Migration Project, "Stephen Bachiler led a most interesting life, filled with unusual twists and turns far beyond the norm." But the Roosas and the Quicks won that honor.
Now, it's his second chance. He was among the early college graduates in my family, so he does represent the first kind of commencement mentioned above. He also represents another kind of commencement. While he didn't remain in America, he was the first generation of his family to settle here.
Stephen was born about 1561 and came from South Stoneham, Hampshire, England. He attended Oxford, matriculating at St John’s College on 17 November 1581 and receiving his B.A. about five years later in 1586. In 1587, he became the vicar at Wherwell, Hampshire, England.
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| Front quad of St. John's College Photo by Ed Webster, Wikipedia |
His first wife's name is not known but according to the Great Migration Project, she "was closely related in some way to Reverend John Bate, Bachiler’s successor as vicar of Wherwell." They had six children, sons Nathaniel, Stephen, and Samuel and daughters Deborah, Ann, and Theodate. Supposed sons Francis and Henry, mentioned by Savage, are not proven. A Mary Bachiler, born in 1651 or 1652, was not his daughter, according to Great Migration, but the issue of an adulterous affair between Stephen's last wife and one George Rogers.
According to Great Migration, "Bachiler began his long career of contrariety as early as 1593, when he was cited in Star Chamber for having 'uttered in a sermon at Newbury very lewd speeches tending seditiously to the derogation of her Majesty’s government' [NEHGR 74:319-20]. Upon the accession of James I as King of England, nearly a hundred ministers were deprived of their benefices between the years 1604 and 1609, and among these, as noted above, was Stephen Bachiler [Kenneth Fincham, Prelate as Pastor: The Episcopate of James I (Oxford 1990), p. 326]." Stephen was ejected from his living at Wherwell in 1605.
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| Church Street, Wherwell by Chris Talbot. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons |
That the Bachilers associated with Puritans can be seen in 1621 when Adam Winthrop, Gov. John Winthrop's father, stated, “Mr. Bachelour the preacher dined with us” at Groton. The Great Migration adds, "Although this might conceivably be the younger Stephen Bachiler, who had been ordained as a deacon late in 1613, the man referred to in these records is more likely the elder Stephen. Since he is well recorded as a resident of Newton Stacey both before and after this time, he must have made occasional visits to East Anglia."
It continues, "While at Newton Stacey (a village within the parish of Barton Stacey) Bachiler had managed to incite the parishioners of Barton Stacey to acts that came to the attention of the sheriff, who petitioned for redress to the King in Council; the complaint described Bachiler as “a notorious inconformist” [NEHGR 46:62, citing Domestic Calendar of State Papers, 1635]."
It should be noted that Stephen remarried twice in his sixties. Both of his second and third wives were widows--Christian Weare (married 2 March 1623 in Abbots Ann, Hampshire) and Helena, the widow of Rev. Thomas Mason (married 26 March 1627 also in Abbots Ann).
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| St. Mary's Church, Abbots Ann Photo by Lee Hargreaves Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons |
At a time when other men were settling into the final decades of their lives, Stephen's life took a dramatic turn. He refused to conform and was dismissed. Like a number of other nonconformists at the time, the Bachiler family ended up in Holland for some time, then came to America. Stephen was seventy-one when he sailed from London 9 March 1632 aboard the William and Francis and arrived in Boston 5 June.
Not all of the Bachilers came with him. Of his children, Deborah (Bachiler) Wing and Theodate (Bachiler) Hussey settled in America. Three sons of daughter Ann (Bachiler) Samborne and Nathaniel, son of his son Nathaniel also came to America at some point, as well.
Here, he was admitted a freeman in Saugus (later called Lynn), Essex, Massachusetts 6 May 1635 and organized a church there. Stephen gained attention soon after settling in Saugus. Four months in, there was a complaint about “some irregularities in his conduct.” On 3 October 1632, at the court at Boston, he was ordered to “forbeare exerciseing his giftes as a pastr or teacher publiquely in or Patent, unlesse it be to those he brought with him, for his contempt of authority, and till some scandles be removed.” What these irregularities and scandals were, I'm not sure.
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| Saugus Iron Works - The town's colonial ironworks, now reconstructed by the National Park Service |
On 4 March 1633, he was allowed to preach again. However, about 1635, several members began to leave his congregation and a council of ministers was held on 15 March. The matter was not reconciled and another meeting was scheduled. Stephen told those who had left his congregation to write their grievances, but when they refused, he tried to excommunicate them.
The ministers returned to Lynn and decided that “although the church had not been properly instituted, yet the mutual exercise of their religious duties had supplied the defect.” The strife continued and Stephen requested and was granted a dismissal from the congregation for himself and the members who had come with him from England. Stephen continued to preach to those who had come with him. The people of Lynn complained, the magistrates forbade him to continue his ministry, and, in January 1636, he was brought to court in Boston, where he was ordered to leave Lynn within three months.
He is said to have gone to Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts. In the winter of 1637, traveled with some friends 100 miles on foot to Mattakeese (now Yarmouth, Barnstable, Massachusetts). He had planned to establish a town and church but was unable to do so and went instead to Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts. On 6 July 1638, he and his son-in-law were granted land there.
On 6 September 1638, he was granted permission to start a settlement at Winnacunett (now Hampton, Rockingham, New Hampshire). Stephen and son-in-law Christopher Hussey sold their land in Newbury and moved to Hampton in 1638. Stephen once more became the minister of his own church. However, there was a division in the town between his supporters and the supporters of Rev. Timothy Dalton.
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| Rev. Stephen Bachiler Monument at Hampton Image from Hampton Historical Society |
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| Plaque from the memorial Image from Lane Memorial Library |
In 1641, Stephen was excommunicated for “irregular conduct” and his house and most of his property was burned down. His communion was restored but not his office.
By 20 April 1647, he settled at Strawberry Bank (now Portsmouth, Rockingham, New Hampshire). Stephen, then about ninety, married a fourth time, Mary, widow of Robert Beedle, in 1650. He was fined for not publishing the marriage according to law.
The marriage was not a happy one, as later in the year, Stephen and Mary were brought to court regarding their relationship: "that Mr. Bacherler and Mary his wife shall live together, as they publicly agreed to do, and if either desert the other, the marshal to take them to Boston to be kept until next quarter Court of Assistants, to consider a divorce.... In case Mary Bacheller live out of this jurisdiction without mutual consent for a time, notice of her absence to be given the magistrates at Boston" And in 1650, the Piscataqua (now Kittery, York, Maine) court cited, "George Rogers for, & Mary Batcheller the wife of Mr. Steven Bacheller minister for adultery." George received forty strokes and Mary thirty-nine "six weeks after the delivery" of her baby from the affair, plus branding with the letter A.
Soon afterwards, Stephen returned to England. Mary petitioned for divorce 14 October 1656 and accused him of committing bigamy in England. There is no evidence that he actually did marry another woman.
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| Stephen's chair (According to Lane Memorial Library, as of 2010, this chair belongs to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City,) |
Stephen most likely was the “Steeven Batchiller Minester that dyed att Robert Barbers” who was buried 31 October 1656 at Allhallows Staining Church, London, Middlesex, England.
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| The remaining tower of Allhallows Staining Church Photo courtesy of John Armagh |
Next week's challenge from No Story Too Small: "Week 23 (June 4-10) – Wedding: June is time for weddings. Write about a June bride in your family or highlight a favorite wedding photo. Maybe there’s a serial marry-er in the family — that could be a fun post!" I have been hoping for this topic! And it has to do with Stephen's grandson and perhaps the wildest wedding I've ever heard of. Hint: The wedding crashers may have had peglegs and eye patches.
