Joseph Lathrop Sr – A Very Important Lathrop Family Ancestor
Though Joseph Lathrop Sr. is in my family tree 9 generations before me, he is one of our most significant ancestors. When I say “our,” I am referring to those of us whom are his offspring. To my sisters, my Lathrop cousins and I, he is our 7th Great-grandfather. Of course, 7th Great-grandfather doesn’t seem very significant, but this 7th Great-grandfather is quite significant and it has nothing to do with wealth or fame. I’m talking strictly significant from a genealogical standpoint.
First, let’s get a little technical housekeeping done: When I refer to a great-grandmother or great-grandfather, I will just say great-grandmother or great-grandfather. When I refer to a great-great-grandmother or great-great-grandfather, I will just say great-great-grandmother or great-great-grandfather. However, if there are more than 2 greats, I will say 3rd great-grandfather or 5th great-grandmother, etc. This isn’t a hard-set rule across the world of genealogy, it’s just something I do.
Lathrop Lothrop Lathrope
Also, it is noteworthy that the name Lathrop and Lothrop are the same exact name. Somehow, the name I use, which is “Lathrop” has metamorphosized into a name that is pronounced lay-thrup. It’s my belief that some generations ago, both the names L-a-t-h-r-o-p and L-o-t-h-r-o-p were pronounced exactly the same and that pronunciation was “La”-“throp,” where the “La” sounded like the “la” in do-re-mi-fa-sol-la, and Lothrop was pronounced the same way. If you think about the way you pronounce “lot” or “log” or “lock” or “lob”, you have to conclude you would pronounce “loth” in the same manner. So, you can easily understand the confusion with the spelling, especially in a time where a lot of people didn’t read or write. We have several instances in the family tree where one person was Mr. Lathrop and his brother was Mr. Lothrop. Still, I believe, when Mr. Lathrop said his name, he pronounced it “La” “throp” and when Mr. Lothrop said his name, he pronounced it “Loth” “rop,” which is exactly the same.
Lathrope, on the other hand seems to be an entirely different family. It is tempting to see the name “Lathrope” without the “e” on the end and assume the person wearing the name tag with “Lathrope” on it is a relative of the person wearing the nametag with Lathrop or Lothrop on it. However, as far as I can see, this is not the case.
I’ve seen thousands of names in the family tree started by Rev. John Lathrop (1584-1653) of Barnstable, MA and none of them has an “e” at the end of the name. It is true the Reverend John had ancestor several generations back whose name was Lowthroppe, but in the American family tree starting in 1634, all of his offspring are either Lathrop or Lothrop.
I have done some genealogy of a few families with the name Lathrope and found one the families had immigrated from Germany in 1801. I found another of these families had immigrated from Rotterdam, South Holland, Netherlands in 1907 and a third family I traced back to 1857 when they sailed to Ellis Island from Southampton, UK. In all three cases, it looks like the name is English in its origin, but from what I’ve seen, it doesn’t appear there is a Lathrope who is a descendant of Rev. John Lathrop.
Lineage to Joseph Lathrop Sr.
Now for technical housekeeping project number 3, here is the genealogy from us to Joseph Lathrop Sr. using only the Lathrop side of our family. This is a small part of our family tree, I realize but right now, we’re only interested in get back to Joseph Lathrop Sr.
For my sisters and cousins and I, our grandfather is Edward Starr Lathrop. Our great-grandfather is Charles Ozias Lathrop. Our great-great-grandfather is Frederick Lathrop. Our 3rd great-grandfather is Daniel Lathrop Jr. Our 4th great-grandfather is Daniel Lathrop Sr. Our 5th great-grandfather is Barnabas Lathrop. Our 6th great-grandfather is Joseph Lathrop Jr., and our 7th great-grandfather is Joseph Lathrop Sr. Now, that the house is clean, we will continue:
Joseph Lathrop Sr.’s Marriages
The details of Joseph Lathrop Sr.’s marriages are out of the norm for 21st century, the 20th century and even 19th century marriages, but in the 1600’s, people marrying who were already related was very normal. However, I can promise that in the Lathrop family tree, there were no sister/brother marriages. With this out of the way, here is the story of Joseph Lathrop Sr. and his wives.
Joseph Lathrop Sr, was born in 1661 in Norwich, Connecticut and died in 1740, in the same town. His first wife was Mercy Scudder. Her name is sometimes seen as “Mary” but it has been “Mercy” for many years in the family tree. I believe “Mercy” is actually her correct name. The following is taken from the book “New England Marriages before 1700.” I have included some names other than Joseph and Mercy Scudder Lathrop Sr. just to show how people living in same towns and are certainly related to one another spell the name “Lathrop” different.
Mercy was Joseph’s mother’s niece. So, she was his wife and 1st cousin. They had 11 children together. This cousin/wife was our 7th Great-grandmother and 1st cousin 8 times removed. After she died, Joseph married Elizabeth Waterhouse. They had 6 children together. Only 5 survived past the age of 2 years old.
Elizabeth Waterhouse Lathrop died before Joseph, and so he then married Martha Perkins. She was the Mother-in-Law of one of his sons, Solomon Lathrop (1706 – 1733). As you can see, Solomon died very young. He had his will made out and since he died at 26 years of age, it would seem he had some sort of illness as opposed to having died by way of accident. With that aside, it seems fortunate that by the time Joseph Lathrop Sr. married his son’s mother-in-law, his fathering days were behind him. If this had not been the case, I would guess the genealogy of this part of the tree would have been kind of messy.
The following article that talks about “Lathrop Bridge,” which was suspended across the Shetucket River, makes me think Solomon Lathrop might not have an illness of some kind after all. By the way, I haven’t found a Lathrop Bridge still standing in Norwich but there is a Lathrop Lane.
Still, despite “hair-breadth escapes” by his family members and all the anomalies of the husband-wife relationships of Joseph Lathrop Sr., he had and therefore, we have an absolute powerhouse of famous relatives!
President Ulysses S Grant
Joseph Lathrop Sr.’s sister, Abigail Lathrop (1665-1745) married John Huntington (1665-1696). Their daughter Martha Huntington married Noah Grant I. Noah Grant I and Martha Huntington were the great-great grandparents of General and President Ulysses S Grant. To put this another way, Joseph’s sister Abigail was President Grant’s 3rd great-grandmother.
The following is taken from as book titled “Lathrop Family Memoirs”
It is interesting that “Lathrop Family Memoir” was written in the mid to late 1800s and since Ulysses S Grant was President from 1869 to 1877, he may actually had been “President Ulysses S Grant” when it was written.
President Rutherford Birchard Hayes
Joseph Lathrop Sr.’s son, Joseph Lathrop Jr., married Mary Hartshorn (1701-1757), daughter of Johnathon Hartshorn and Mary Birchard. Mary Birchard’s parents were John Birchard and Elizabeth Robinson. They were the 4th great grandparents of President Rutherford Birchard Hayes. In other words, Joseph Lathrop Sr.’s grandchildren, since they were the children of Joseph Lathrop Jr. and Mary Hartshorn, were the great grandchildren of John Birchard and Elizabeth Robinson who were the 4th great grandparents of President Rutherford Birchard Hayes. One of Joseph Lathrop Sr.’s grandchildren was Barnabas Lathrop late of New Milford, CT and he is our 5th great-grandfather, This means President Hayes’s 4th great grandparents are our 8th great grandparents since Barnabas is our 5th great-grandfather and John Birchard and Elizabeth Robinson are in his direct lineage 3 generations before him.
President James A Garfield
One of the daughters of Joseph Lathrop Sr. and Elizabeth Waterhouse was Elizabeth Lathrop. She married Dr. Daniel Davis. Their daughter was Sarah Davis who married Barnabas Lathrop. Barnabas Lathrop was the son of Joseph Lathrop Jr. and Mary Hartshorn and the grandson of Joseph Lathrop Sr. and Mercy Scudder. So, Sarah and Barnabas were cousins. Actually, since first cousins have one set of grandparents in common, Sarah and Barnabas were actually half-first cousins since they only shared a grandfather, Joseph Lathrop Sr. in common. Another way to look at this is Mercy Scudder is our 7th great-grandmother because she is the grandmother of our 5th great-grandfather, Barnabas Lathrop, and Elizabeth Waterhouse is our 7th great-grandmother because she is the grandmother of our 5th great-grandmother, Sarah Davis, and this means Joseph Lathrop Sr. is our 7th great-grandfather twice. Therefore, I see him as a very significant ancestor. The bigger issue here though is that Dr. Daniel Davis’s great-grandfather was William Allen (1611-1686) and he was the 6th great-grandfather of President James A Garfield. It is noteworthy that William Allen is also the 6th great-grandfather of Frederick Lathrop who is our great-great-grandfather.
Franklin D Roosevelt
Joseph Lathrop Sr.’s father was Samuel Lathrop (1623-1700). Samuel Lathrop is the 7th great-grandfather of Franklin Deleno Roosevelt. Like President Franklin Roosevelt, our great-grandfather, Charles O. Lathrop was the 7th great grandson of Samuel Lathrop (1623-1700).
Oliver Wendell Holmes
One of Joseph Lathrop Sr.’s daughters, Temperance Lathrop, married Rev. John Bishop. One of Temperance and John’s sons was Abiel Bishop who married Sara Wendell. One of Sara and Abiel’s sons was Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (1809-1894). Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. was a physician. He was also a poet of great renown. He was one of the fireside poets. He was thought to be one of the best writers of his time! In spite of all of this, he is probably more famous for being the father of Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841-1935). Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr, is the 3rd great grandson of Joseph Lathrop Sr.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Joseph Lathrop Sr. is the grandson of the Rev. John Lathrop, who, himself, was a famous person. One of the many famous people the Rev. Lathrop is an ancestor of is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He is the 4th great grandson of the Rev. John Lathrop. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is the great grandson of Elizabeth Lathrop, who is daughter of Thomas Lathrop, who is the son of Rev. Joseph Lathrop (1624-1702) who was the uncle of our 7th great-grandfather Joseph Lathrop Sr. So, even though ancestry dot com shows Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to be only our 5th cousin 4 times removed, he did have a lot of Lathrop genes in him. A couple of Longfellow’s greatest works are “The Village Blacksmith” and “Paul Rev.eres’ Ride.” Another is a poem tittle “Evangeline.” Without any knowledge at the time that they were related to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, my daughter and son-in-law named their daughter “Evangeline.” This, it would seem, was very much a coincidence! Or was it???
Rev. Joseph Lathrop DD
Another Joseph Lathrop in the family tree is Rev. Joseph Lathrop DD (1731-1820). His sermons are still being preached today. There are books written about him and books filled with his sermons. Many are available in bookstores and even on Amazon. The Rev.erend Doctor Lathrop had degrees from both Harvard and Yale. If you google him, you will find him.
Dr. Lathrop was born in Norwich, CT on 10-20-1731 and died in West Springfield, MA on 12-31-1820. The following is an excerpt from “Lathrop Memoirs.”
The Rev. Joseph Lathrop DD was the grandson of Joseph Lathrop Sr.
William Bradford
One of the daughters of Joseph Lathrop Sr. and Elizabeth Waterhouse was Zeruiah Lathrop. Like many in our family tree, she is also said to be Zeruiah Lothrop, or Lothropp (1718-1740). Her first name is often said to be Zerviah. Though this seems like a beautiful name I believe it is a misprint because Zeruiah is truly a Biblical name whereas Zerviah is not. The name Zeruiah is pronounced Ze-ru-ya. Zeruiah Lathrop married William Bradford (1718-1799) who was the great-great grandson of William Bradford (1590-1657), who came over on the Mayflower and was the 2nd Governor of Plymouth Colony. William and Zeruiah’s daughter, Zeruiah Bradford, never had any children and died at the age of 30.
The marriage of Zeruiah Lathrop to Gov. William Bradford in no way makes us decedents of a Mayflower passenger, however, the fact Joseph Lathrop Sr.’s daughter was married to one, shows us one more genealogical celebrity who was member of his extended family.
The following is from “Mayflower Descendants.”
Samuel Fuller
Jane Lathrop was an aunt of Joseph Lathrop Sr. To put this another way, Jane Lathrop was the sister of Joseph Lathrop Sr.’s father, Samuel Lathrop. Jane married Samuel Fuller who at the age of 8 years old came to the new world with his father Edward Fuller on the Mayflower. Again, this doesn’t make us the descendants of a Mayflower passenger but it does point out that there were Pilgrims in the Lathrop family tree. Jane Lathrop Fuller was our 8th great-grandaunt. All of the children of Samuel and Jane Lathrop Fuller were first cousins of Joseph Lathrop Sr. and they are our 1st cousins 8 times removed.
The following is from “Mayflower Descendants.”
Benedict Arnold
This relative comes in the interest of full disclosure.
Benedict Arnold was actually Benedict Arnold V. He was born in Norwich, CT in 1741. Oddly enough, he was the son of Benedict Arnold III. This is so because he had an older brother who was named Benedict Arnold IV. He died at the age of 1 year old and so, his parents simply named their next son, Benedict Arnold V.
During the earlier stages of the American Rev.olution, Benedict Arnold was a hero. He was a superb strategist and because of this he was promoted to Major General. His role in defeating the British in the battle of Saratoga earned praise from George Washington. He was said to be the Colonists’ greatest tactician! It is widely believed if he died in this battle, he would have been one of the most decorated war heroes of all time!
Instead, as the war went on, he felt he was being overlooked as generals were being assigned to lead battles. A complicating factor was that as his frustration grew, his wife, Peggy Shippen, a well-connected loyalist, was able to put him in touch with the British command. Since he was the commander of West Point at that time, they made a deal with him to turn it over to them. If this plot had been successful, it certainly would have greatly hurt the Colonists’ chances of gaining their independence. Whether or not he didn’t have the stomach to do this or he was just unable to, West Point never became the property of Great Britian.
Still, Benedict Arnold had switched sides and even though this is the case, he was never very highly celebrated by his new countrymen. He died on the streets of England in 1801, at the age of 60 without any fanfare whatsoever. In America, his name has become synonymous with the word “traitor.”
Genealogically speaking, Benedict Arnold V’s mother was Hannah Waterman. Her parents were John Waterman and Elizabeth Lathrop (1679 – 1708). Though this is a familiar name, this Elizabeth Lathrop was the daughter of Samuel Lathrop Jr, (1650 – 1738) who was the brother of Joseph Lathrop Sr. Joseph Lathrop Sr. was the great granduncle of Benedict Arnold V and Joseph’s father Samuel Lathrop Sr. was benedict Arnold’s great-great-grandfather. One more way to look at it is that our 4th great-grandfather, Damiel Lathrop Sr. of New Milford, CT, who also fought in the American Rev.olution was the 3rd cousin of Benedict Arnold.
Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple (1928-2014) was the daughter of George Fransis Temple Sr. and Gertrude Amelia Krieger. George’s parents were Fransis M Temple and Cynthia Fell. Fransis’ parents were Reuben Smith Brown Temple and Jane Durham. Reuben was the son of Robert Temple and Eliza Allen. Eliza was the daughter of Hezikiah Allen and Elizabeth “Polly” Lathrop. Elizabeth was the daughter of Zacheriah Lathrop and Mehetable Cleveland. Zacheriah was the son of Wiliam Lathrop and William Lathrop was the son of Israel Lathrop (1659-1733) who was the brother of Joseph Lathrop Sr. So, Shirley Temple was the 6th great-granddaughter of Joseph Lathrop Sr.’s brother and therefore, the 7th great-granddaughter of Joseph’s father, Samuel Lathrop Sr., who is also our 8th great-grandfather. This means Shirley Temple and my father were 8th cousins and my sisters and cousins and I are Shiley Temple’s 8th cousin 1 time removed.
Tuesday Weld
We start off Tuesday Weld’s genealogy by recapping Shiley Temple’s genealogy. Shirley Temple’s 7th great-grandfather was or 8th great-grandfather, Samiel Lathrop Sr. Her 6th great-grandfather was Israel Lathrop, her 5th great-grandfather was William Lathrop and her 4th great-grandfather was Zachariah Lathrop.
Tuesday Weld’s genealogy from our perspective, starts with Zachariah Lathrop’s brother, whose name was, believe it or not, Rev. John Lothrop (1740-1816). This is not a Rev. John Lothrop we are familiar with, but another Rev. John. Also, he is a Lothrop, who has a brother who is a Lathrop. Rev. John Lothrop has a daughter, Anna Lothrop who married Thomas Motley and had a daughter Anna L Motley who married Alfred Rodman. A daughter of theirs was Eloise Rodman who married Stephen Weld. They had a son Edward Motley Weld who married Sarah King. They had a son who was Lothrop Motley Weld. With his wife, Yosene Ker, they gave birth to Susan Ker Weld. We all know her better as Tuesday Weld.
Like Shirley Temple, our 8th great-grandfather, Samuel Lathrop Sr. is her 7th great-grandfather. So, she is our 8th cousin 1 time removed and she is my father’s 8th cousin.
What’s interesting is, since Zachariah Lathrop and Rev. John Lothrop are brothers, their father, William Lathrop (1688 – 1778) is the 5th great-grandfather of both Tuesday Weld and Shirley Temple. This makes them each other’s 6th cousin.
Tuesday Weld was born August 27, 1943. Her father, Lothrop Weld, died when she was 4 years old.
The Rev. John Lathrop
Joseph Lathrop Sr. is in the direct lineage of Rev. John Lathrop (1584-1653). Of course, sometimes you’ll see The Rev. John Lathrop as Rev. John Lothrop.
The Rev. Lathrop was born in Elton, Yorkshire, England. Instead of preaching what was dictated by the church of England, his calling was to read the Bible and preach the Gospel. For this, he was thrown in prison on more than one occasion. These prisons weren’t beneath using cruel and unusual punishment. His first wife died while he was in prison. Many of Rev. Lathrop’s followers were jailed just for listening to him. For many years he was harassed for preaching from the Bible. One of his jail terms lasted for more than 2 years. Then, one day he was given the chance to leave the country for a world unknown on a prison ship. He took the opportunity and landed in New England in 1634. While there, he built a massive following! His church was in Barnstable, Massachusetts. History writes that the Rev. John Lathrop was part of the reason America was founded on the principle of “freedom of Religion” and we must thank him for as long as we have it.
Many books, and even children’s books have been written about the Rev. John Lathrop of Barnstable. One such book is “Exiled: The Story of John Lathrop 1584-1653.” It is available on Amazon and all bookstores, though bookstores are dwindling away. Interestingly, the description of the book on Amazon mentions John Lathrop as a direct ancestor of George W. Bush. Indeed, he is. The Rev. John is an ancestor of hundreds of famous people. However, in this short story, we cover some of the more closely related famous people in our branch of the Lathrop Family Tree.
The Rev. John Lathrop was the grandfather of Joseph Lathrop Sr. and he is our 9th great-grandfather.