Frances (Latham) Vaughn (bef. 1610 - 1677)

Born before 15 Feb 1610 in Kempston, Bedfordshire, England

Ancestors

Wife of William Dungan — married 27 Aug 1629 in St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London, Middlesex, England

Wife of Jeremy Clarke — married about 1637 (to 11 Jan 1652) in London, England

Wife of William Vaughn — married about 1655 in Newport, Rhode Island

Descendants

Died 2 Sep 1677 after age 67 in Newport, Newport, Rhode Island

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Frances (Latham) Vaughn migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Disputed Marriage

It has been proposed that Frances Latham married first, a "Lord Weston." No suitable "Lord Weston" has been found who could have been the husband of Frances, and no evidence of such a marriage has been found. See Louise Tracy's article for further explanation.^[1]

Disputed Ancestry

Frances Latham is listed, correctly, as a "Disputed Gateway". This means that she is a disputed gateway to Royal or Magna Carta ancestry. In her case, however, there is no dispute as to her ancestry back in England. There is some inclarity in her connections two and three generations back in England, but it is probable that she really was from the line shown. There are references for this, reputable but not definitive^[2] and ^[3] These do not show all the listed wives. The line from Philip Lathom back to Robert Lathom is quite secure, documented by John Ravilious. ^[4]. Robert Lathom's father was certainly named Henry. However, the exact attribution of this Henry is that which is quite unsure. The purported royal ancestry is through the sometimes attributed mother of Robert Lathom, one Emma Grelley. Ravilious^[4] lists his wife as unknown. See the page of Robert Lathom for discussions.

The line has been disconnected at the latest possible point, that between her certain father and uncertain grandfather.

Life

Frances Latham now generally called "The Mother of Governors," because no less than fourteen of her direct descendants, and many sons-in-law in succeeding generations, became Governors or Lieut. Governors.

Baptized 15 February 1609/10,^[5] she was the eldest of nine children of Lewis Latham.

We can imagine Frances as a young girl on the moors in companionship with her father as he attended the Royal Princes, Henry and Charlie, in their hunting with falcons, ever a favorite royal sport, the birds being highly trained to search out and pounce upon rabbit, grouse and other small game and bring them to their master.

Frances Latham was married in 1627 at age 17 to William Dungan, Gentleman, who was born about 1606, a London Merchant and Perfumer. His wares were in great demand and quite necessary to offset the obnoxious odors arising from the gutters in a thickly settled district subject to heavy fog and having surface drainage.

They made their home at St. Martins-in-the-Fields where later he died and was buried 20 September 1636, leaving her a widow at age 26 with four little children between the ages of 2 and 8 years. By his Will dated 13 September 1636 he gave all his property to his wife Frances, after bequeathing £70 to each of his four children whom he mentions by name.

About a year after William Dungan's death she was married to her second husband Jeremy Clarke, who was baptized 1 December, 1605. Jeremy and Frances came to Rhode Island about the year 1637 bringing the four young children by her first marriage. They settled at Newport where Mr. Clark became the first Constable, and in 1648 Governor and Treasurer of the Rhode Island Colony. His family were members of the Society of Friends at Newport, the first Quaker settlement in America. Here at age 46 Jeremy Clark died, and here according to records of Friends Meeting lie was buried 11 mo. 3rd, 1651.

Frances was married about 1655 to her third husband Rev. William Vaughan, Doctor of Civil Law, poet and distinguished scholar, one of the original members of the First Baptist Church of Newport, and one of the founders of the Second Baptist Church of which he was the first minister. He died in August 1677, by him she had no children, and outliving him only a few weeks, she died in September 1677, in her 67th year, and is buried at Newport in the Governor's lot.

Frances Latham was the mother of seven sons and four daughters. They all married, and all but William had children. Four, probably born in London, were by her first husband:

• Barbara Dungan born about 1628, married Dep. Gov. James Barker.
• Frances Dungan born about 1630, died 1697, married Hon. Randall Holden.
• William Dungan born about 1632, married Jane.
• Rev. Thomas Dungan born about 1634, married Elizabeth Weaver.

Seven were by her second husband:

• Gov. Walter Clarke born 1638, married (1) Content Greenman, (2) Hannah Scott, (3) Freeborn Williams, (4) Sarah Pryor.
• Mary Clarke born 164 1, married (1) Gov. John Cranston, (2) John Stanton.
• Dep. Gov. Jeremiah Clarke born 1643, married Anne Audley.
• Dep. Gov. Latham Clarke born 1645, married (1) Hannah Wilbur, (2) Anne Collins.
• Hon. Weston Clarke born 1648, Atty. Gen. and Treas. of R. I., married (1) Mary Easton, (2) Rebecca Thurston.
• Rev. James Clarke born 1649, pastor 2nd Baptist Church at Newport, married Hopestill Power.
• Sarah Clarke born 1651, a few months before her father's death, married (1) John Pinner, (2) Gov. Caleb Carr.

Name

Francis Latham^[6]

Birth

ABT 1611 Latham Manor House, Lancashire^[6] OCT 1609

Baptism

Frances Latham was baptized on 15 February 1610 at Kempston, Bedfordshire, England. He father was Lewis Latham.^[7][8]

Residence

1637 Lived in Covent Garden, London, England^[7]

Marriages

Frances is known to have married three times:

1. William Dungan, m. 27 Aug. 1629. ^[9][10]
2. Capt. Jerimah Clark, m. abt. 1636
3. Rev. William Vaughan, m. abt. 1655

27 Aug. 1629: Guillielmus Dungan & Francisca Ladham, with license

Husband: William Dungan

Wife: Frances Latham

Marriage: ^[11]

Marriage: August 27, 1629, London, Middlesex, St. Martin in the Fields.

After William's death, Frances married Jeremiah Clarke about 1636

Married by Rev. Thomas Mountford D.D. Vicar of St. Martin in the Fields From the parish Registers of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, London, 1619-1636 published 1936, volume 2, pages 143, 72, 89, 99, 112, 313 we see:

Emigration

1637, New England.

Death

SEP 1677 Newport, Rhode Island. The tombstone of Frances reads: "Here Lyeth ye Body of Mrs. Francis Vaughan Alius Clarke ye Mother Of ye Only Children of Capn. Jeremiah Clarke She dyed ye 1 week in September 1677 in ye 67th Year of her Age." ^[6][7]

Wikipedia

Frances was known as the mother of Governors.^[12]

Governors, Of Direct descendants:

• Walter Clarke, her son, Rhode Island Governor 1676-1677, 1686, and 1696-1698
• Samuel Cranston, Rhode Island Governor 1698 - 1729
• William Greene, Jr. , Rhode Island Governor 1778 - 1785
• Nehemiah R. Knight, Rhode Island Governor 1817 - 1821
• Henry Lippit, Rhode Island Governor 1875 - 1877
• Charles C. Van Zandt, Rhode Island Governor 1877 - 1880
• Charles W. Lippit, Rhode Island Governor 1895 - 1896
• John R. Rogers, Washington Governor 1896 - 1902
• John Chaffee, Rhode Island Governor 1963 - 1969
• Lincoln Chaffee, Rhode Island Governor 2011 -

Governors Who Are Related By Marriage.

• Jeremy Clarke, Her Husband, Rhode Island President 1648 - 1649
• John Cranston Rhode Island Governor 1678 -1680
• Caleb Carr Rhode Island Governor 1695
• William Wanton Rhode Island Governor 1732 - 1733
• William Greene Rhode Island Governor for 11 Years From 1743 -1758

Sources

1. ↑ Louise Tracy. An historic strain of blood in America. Reprinted from the Journal of American history ed. New Haven, CT: 1908. Open Library.
2. ↑ Ancestry of Jeremy Clarke of Rhode Island and Dungan Genealogy, compiled by Alfred Rudulph Justice, Franklin Printing Co., Phila, PA, pp 73-82.
3. ↑ Memorials of the Reading, Howell, Yerkes, Watts, Latham and Elkins Families by Josiah Granville Leach. LLB., pp 217-220.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} a posting to the Usenet group soc.genealogy.medieval on Jan, 21,2005 by John Ravilious
5. ↑ Frederick George Emmison, Bedfordshire Parish Registers Volume XXXIX, Kempston---1570-1812 39:5 (Bedford: County record Office, 1931); image of p. 5 at InternetArchive.org.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} Genealogical Records of Jared Canfield
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2} Descendants of East Tennessee Pioneers, written by Olga Jones (Wear) Edwards and Ina Wear Roberts. (2nd edition) page 278
8. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/J3DP-MYF : accessed 13 Jul 2014), Frances Lathum, 15 Feb 1610; citing KEMPSTON,BEDFORD,ENGLAND, reference ; FHL microfilm 845461.
9. ↑ 27 Aug. 1629: Guillielmus Dungan & Francisca Ladham, with license https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_records/58181b50e93790eb7f330b52/francisca-ladham-guilielmus-dungan-marriage-middlesex-st-martin-in-the-fields-1629-08-27?locale=en
10. ↑ Entry at familysearch.org: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V52W-RMD
11. ↑ Roberts, Gary Boyd, "Immigrants to New England for Whom Royal Descent Has Been Proved, Virtually Proved, Improved, or Disproved Since About 1960: A Bibliographical Survey. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA. The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 1987.) Volume 141, page 106. View with NEHGS membership.
12. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Latham Wikipedia

See also:

• Royal Ancestry" Douglas Richardson 2013 Vol. II. p. 214:

[Mr.] Jeremy (or Jeremiah) Clarke, younger son, baptized at East Farleigh, Kent 1 Dec. 1605. He married in England about 1637 Frances Latham, widow of William Dungan, of St. Martin in the Fields, Middlesex, and daughter of Lewis Latham, Gent., of Elstow, Bedfordshire, Sergeant Falconer to King Charles I, by his 1st wife, Elizabeth. She was baptized at Kempston, Bedfordshire 15 Feb. 1609/10. They had five sons, [Mr.] Walter, Esq. [Governor of Rhode Island], Jeremiah, Latham, Weston, and [Rev.] James, and two daughters, Mary (wife of [Gov.] John Cranston and John Stanton) and Sarah (wife of John Pinner and [Gov.] Caleb Carr). He and his family immigrated to New England before 1638, in which year he was admitted an inhabitant of the island of Aquidneck, later Newport, Rhode Island. [Mr.] Jeremy Clarke was buried at Newport, Rhode Island Jan. 1651/2. His widow, Frances married (3rd) before 18 Jan. 1656 [Rev.] William Vaughan, pastor of the First Baptist church of Newport, Rhode Island. Rev.] William Vaughan died on or about 2 Sept. 1677. His wife, Frances, is thought to have died about the same time or soon afterwards, and buried at Newport, Rhode Island. [See NEHGR Volume 141, page 106. which lists William Dugan's ancestry as disproven].

• The Genealogical Records of the Jared Canfield Family (Wood County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society, 1987)
• Descendants of East Tennessee Pioneers, written by OlgaJones (Wear) Edwards and Ina Wear Roberts. (2nd edition) page 278
• Austin, John O. The Journal of William Jefferay, Gentleman (E. L. Freeman & Sons, 1899) Page 36-7, Page 136: She attended her grandson's wedding in 1673
• Rhode Island Historic Cemeteries
• Frances Latham Vaughn on Find A Grave: Memorial #20716199 Retrieved 13:48, 17 November 2017 (EST).