Journal 5 no 1

The Puritan movement in England, and its related Puritan migration to Massachusetts Bay Colony, were the impetus that brought Richard4 Scudder’s great-grandparents to Boston Harbor. Richard4’s parents, John3 Scudder and Joanna2 (Betts) Scudder, were the first generation in their families born in America.

THEIR HERITAGE EXTENDS FROM ENGLAND TO MASSACHUSETTS TO NEW NETHERLAND–NEW YORK TO NEW JERSEY
John3 Scudder’s parents and Joanna2 Bett’s mother were teenagers when they immigrated to Massachusetts with their families and 20,000 Puritans who had left the tumult of their homeland. Their family’s story deserves preserving within its historical, family, social and religious contexts.

The 250-year story of the Scudder family, from 1526 to 1776, can represent many colonial American families and progressively document the common peoples’ responses to sovereign oppression against rights of conscience, that, in due time, contributed to the rise of American Independence.

This issue of the Journal focuses on Notable Ancestors and Descendants of Richard4 “Betts” Scudder that Pertain to All Three American Scudder Lines so there is something here for all Scudder descendants to discover. This issue has Puritan history about Richard4’s ancestors and American Revolutionary War history that features three of Richard “Betts” Scudder’s grandchildren, including his grandson-in-law John4 Hart, signer of the Declaration of Independence.