They Came from Stonham Aspal, Suffolk County, England; to Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Massachusetts on the Diligent. The Diligent sailed from Ipswich, England; in June, and arrived in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts on August 10, 1638 (Old Style)
The Surname Packard:
The surname Packard is French. It means the descendant of Bacard (combat, strong).(Source: New Dictionary of American Family Names by Elsdon C. Smith. New York: Gramercy Publishing Company, 1988). The name Packard appears in English records as early as the beginning of the fourteenth century. The name was well established in East Anglia long before Samuel's birth.
Suffolk County, England:
Source:
[L. H. Haydon Whitehead, Parish Register Transcripts, 1558-1837, Church of England, Parish Church of Woolpit (Suffolk). Microfilm of mss. in the Suffolk County Record Office, Ipswich, Suffolk, England. (LDS #992,008, Items 10-11)].
In 1080, Suffolk was a county predominantly of villages and freeman, rather than manors and feudal vassals. Its population was fairly evenly distributed. None of the seven principal towns, which included Ipswich, Bury St. Edmunds, and Dunwich, had over 3000 residents.
Stonham Aspal:
Roger de Raisomes was the main landowner in Stonham Aspal in The Domesday Book. Stonham Aspal had a mill, a church, 36 pigs, and a Romano British bathhouse in 1080.
Chart of My Packard Lines - Chart One
Written and researched by Margaret Odrowaz Sypniewski, B.F.A.In early Norman records I found Ralph, Engeram, Richard, Peter, Geoffrey, and Walter Picard in Normandy from 1180-1196. Then we find a Robert Pichard in England circa 1198; and a John Pikert circa 1274. How and if these early Picards/Pikerts relate to later generations is not known. However, I found my own lineage in the parish records for Woolpit, Suffolk County, England:
How these two Georges relate, to each other, is unsure, but most current scholars place the second George as father to Samuel Packard who immigrated to Massachusetts. Since they also note them as the elder and younger Earls Stonham, and the fact that they married only one year apart, tells us that Ann Garrard was NOT his first wife.
Chart of My Packard Lines - Chart Two
For more information on the Packard Mayflower Lines see;
The Francis Cooke - Packard Connection
The James Chilton Connection
GENERATION ONE:
George Packard(1579?-1623) was a yeoman farmer. He had a farm called "Colman's" in Whitsungrene (Whitsun Green), England. Colmans is now called "Red House." George Packard married Mary Wyther, daughter of Thomas Wither (d. 1595) and Margaret --- his wife. Mary Wither was baptized in 1574 in Woolpit, and died August 19, 1652.
Stonham Aspal is in the diocese of Norwich in Norfolk County, England.
The will of George Packard was dated December 1, 1623, and he was buried December 14, 1623 in Stonham, Suffolk County, England. Mary's will was dated August 11, 1649 and was proven on August 19, 1652. She mentions her daughters, Mary, Frances Standley; her sons, John and George; and her grandchildren Mary Standley and Margaret Smyth.
Sources: [Arthur William Darwin, Parish Register Transcripts, 1541-1837, Church of England, Parish Church of Stonham-Aspall. Microfilm of mss. in the Suffolk County Record Office, Ipswich, Suffolk, England. (LDS #991,989, Items 13-14, #991,990, Items 1-3)].
GENERATION TWO: Samuel Packard (constable and tavern-keeper) was baptized on September 17, 1612 in Stonham Aspal, a small village in the Mid-Suffolk region of England. He married Elizabeth 1643. Samuel died on November 7, 1684 in Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. Elizabeth died on October 27, 1694 in Bridgewater. "The status of a yeoman farmer in these times was relatively good if he were successful, and there was enough social mobility that he could actually aspire to the status of the gentry for some of his children. Samuel was the third son. however, and in a land where promogeniture was the practice, he could expect little in the way of inheritance" (Packard, Karle S., "Samuel Packard and the English Origins of the Packard Family", an excerpt from a Packard's Progress editon). Samuel Packard with his wife, Elizabeth, and a daughter left Ipswich on the Ship Diligent on June 1638. They arrived in Boston Harbor on August 10, 1638. They immediately went to Hingham. They were in Hingham in 1652, when his daughter Deliverance was baptised. The family then moved to Weymouth where Samuel was a Selectman from 1654 to 1664 and some of his children were born in Weymouth. Then they settled in Bridgewater, Massachsuetts about 1664 where he was appointed Constable. Samuel purchased land in Bridgewater before August 1662. He was Collector of Minister's Rates in 1670, Surveyor of Highways in 1672, and Constable again in 1674. In 1671 Samuel was licensed to keep an ordinary (tavern) which he had in 1670. Since Samuel signed with a mark, this suggests that he could not write. This may be why some early records show the name as Packer.
John Howard was the son of James Howard and Mary Cooper. John came from England to Duxbury, Massachusetts, at age 15. He was born in 1628 in Sandwich, Kent County, England, and died in 1700 in Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. He married Martha Hayward in 1679 in Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. Martha was born in Aylesford, Kent County, England, and died before 1703 in Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. John lived with the family of Miles Standish and later moved to Bridgewater. John Howard was the first HOWARD to settle there. John was appointed Ensign on September 27, 1664. He also fought in King Phillip's War in May 1676.
GENERATION THREE: Zacheus Packard was born in 1650. He was christened on April 20, 1651 in Bridgewater, Plymouth County, MA. He died August 3, 1723. Zacheus married Sarah Howard in 1678. Sarah Howard was the daughter of John Howard and Martha Hayward. Sarah was born in 1659 (?) in Duxbury, MA. She died August 3, 1723 in Bridgewater, Plymouth County, MA.
Here's where my line divides into two Packard lines:
LINE ONE: Captain Abiel Packard was born in 1699, and he was christened on April 29, 1699. He died in 1723 or 1776 (if the later, it might have been in the war). Abiel married Sarah Ames on January 11, 1722.
LINE 2:
Solomon Packard was born on March 20, 1689 in Bridgewater, Plymouth County, MA. He married (1)Sarah Lathrop(2) Suzanna Kingman in 1723 (daughter of Samuel Kingman and Mary Mitchell who married January 1, 1696 in Bridgewater, Plymouth, County, MA). (3) Dorothy [nee Whipple] Perkins, widow of Mark Perkins. Children of Solomon and Sarah Packard were:
To be continued.....
Packard and Allied Families:
A Packard Poem ... Packard Forum
Massachusetts Genealogy ... The Plymouth Colony Archive Project ... Plymouth, Massachusetts ... Genealogy Resources - the Mayflower
Wyther/Withers is a English or Welsh family name. It meant "dweller at the sign of the rain; the son of Gwythyr or visitor"). Children of Samuel and Elizabeth Packard were:
Zacheus and Sarah had the following children:
GENERATION FOUR:
.
The children of Abiel and Sarah were:
Solomon Packard's line
National Packard Museum
(This link celebrates 100 years since the introduction of the Packard automobile)
The Bartholomew Family
The Dickerson Family ......... The Paine Family
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