WHO WAS THE JOHN SPOFFORD WHO ACCOMPANIED THE REV. EZEKIEL ROGERS IN 1638?
— 1. Thomas Spofforth (Spawford), of Wistow, co. York, had: 2. John Spofforth, born circa 1587 or 1588; St. Catherines College, Cambridge, inc, 1614; B.A., 1617; ordained York Minster, March 1617; priest, December, 1617; curate of Sutton in Holderness, co. York, 1626; admitted vicar of Silkstone, co. York, 19 December 1642; signed Vinduciae, 1648; ejected, his successor instituted, 29 September 1662; after ejection lived at the house of William Cotton, at Nether Denby, Penistone, co. York, where Oliver Heywood visited him, Monday, 2 March1667-68; died 1668, aged 80; buried Silkstone, 9 June 1668; married ———; she died at the house of her son-in-law, John Hulme, April 1679, aged 94 "in dotage" (Oliver Heywood Registry); (born circa 1584 or 1585); buried Silkstone, 28 April1679; had:

( i ). John Spofforth; bap. Sutton in Holderness, 16 April 1626.*

( ii ). Sarah; bap. Sutton in Holderness, 13 July 1628.

The question arises, who were the other members of the family of John Spofford, the first mentioned? Did he have a son named John, and was that son the John Spofford who accompanied the Rev. Ezekiel Rogers from Rowley in 1638, whose age at that time, accepting the affidavit at Salem as correct, would have been 27 or 28, a more probable age for an emigrant than a youth of 12 years, as the son of the Rev. John Spofforth, then Curate of Sutton in Holderness, would have been?

Howden,Yorkshire, England. F. H. SUNDERLAND

*It is recorded in certain genealogical works (including that of a Mr Ashworth P. Burke, of which a reprint was published London. 1897): "Genealogical Account of the Spofforth (Spofford) Family", which was copied into an account of Spofford Family: "Genealogy of Spofford Family". by Dr Jeremiah Spofford, published Bostson, Massachusetts,1869, that this John Spofford was the John Spofford who accompanied the Rev. Ezekiel Rogers from Rowley, Yorkshire to America (they sailed from Hull, 1638, and landed in America October that year). This is incorrect. The John Spofford who sailed with Rogers was born circa 1611 or 1612, and his age in 1662 is vouched for in an affidavit on file at Salem, being then fifty years of age. The pedigree first given by Mr Ashworth P. Burke is furthermore amazingly inaccurate in many particulars, and so much so as to throw doubt on the greater part of it. It gives as the father of the Rev. John Spofforth, sometime vicar of Silkstone, a Robert Spofforth whose wife was Agnes, dau. of Gilbert Clare, of Pontefract. This is incorrect, as the Rev. John Spofforth’s father was Thomas Spofforth of Wistow.

As for the identity of the John Spofford who accompanied the Rev Ezekiel Rogers to America in 1638, it is more likely that he was from Rowley parish or from Kirk Ella, a parish in the vicinity of Rowley where there are recorded in the registers a number of entries relating to the Spofford family, all recorded as Spofford, which spelling of the name has been retained by American descendants. The Kirk Ella registers are imperfect, and there is a gap of about 40 years at the commencement of the 17th century.

The Spofford entries are:

1601. Baptiz. Willimus filius Johanis Spofford eid (vicesimo die Septi).

1647. Baptizat. Johannes filius Willmi Spofford vicesimso September.

1677. ………..ye………… of John Spofferd.

1679. Wm the Son of John Spofford was Bapt. Novembr 5th.

1680-1. William ye son of John Spofford was buryd January 9.

1680. Elizabeth ye daughter of John Spofford Bapt March 26.

1685. Ann ye daughter of John Spofford was baptized May 1^st, Henry Plaxton, Vic.

1686-7. John son of John Spofford of Anlaby bapt. Jan: 20.

1691. July 31. Peace wife of John Spofford of Anlaby, Buried.

1695. March 6. Bridget daught: of John Spofford.