John Wayne and the Revis Family

I have our family tree online at familysearch.org as well as Ancestry. This screenshot is from the familysearch site. Periodically I get emails from them promoting new data and new ways to search. Last week this popped up! How fun to see our connection, even though distant, to "The Duke"! We have the same Great Grandparents. Way back. Making him our 10th cousin . . . once removed. For the exact names, see the end of this Tale.

This Tale is focused on the 10x Great-Grandparents that we have in common with John Wayne;

William Bassett and his wife Elizabeth Mary Tilden.

William Bassett was christened 24 Oct 1600 at Stepney, London, England. He was the son of William Bassett and Cecelia Light. They lived in the Pilgrim neighborhood of Bethnal Green, Middlesex.

At some time the family moved to Sandwich, Kent, and then they moved with other Separatists to Leiden in Holland. While in Holland, it is thought that our William learned the blacksmith trade.

Higher resolution map of Leiden

His group of Pilgrims (they did not call themselves "Pilgrims", but rather "Saints") purchased a 60 ton vessel called the Speedwell. In 1620 they sailed for Southampton to meet up with the Mayflower and then to continue together to the New World. The Speedwell sprung a leak and had to make port in Dartmouth. In September of 1620 they set out again, but had to make port in Plymouth, England. Here they abandoned the Speedwell and 20 people were left behind. The Mayflower left alone to cross the waters. Our William was one of those 20 left behind in England.

He sailed on the next ship to America in 1621--the Fortune--with his wife Elizabeth. He became a prominent man in the new society. They had at least six children. Their daughter (and our 9x GreatGrandmother) Sarah, married Peregrine White, the baby born in 1621 on the Mayflower. I guess you could call him the first colonist to be born in America? Elizabeth died within the next 30 years and William then married Widow Mary Tilden Lapham sometime after 1651.

Looks like he didn't keep his yard looking nice and tidy. He was officially admonished three years in a row to " . . . mow at the end of his own ground".

We know that he got behind on his blacksmithy work because at one point he was fined 5 shillings " . . . for not mending of guns in a seasonable time."

The following text is from the book, New England, The Great Migration and The Great Migration Begins, 1621-1635. The book can be found on googlebooks.

My goal in all of the Dead Family Tales is to present stories that would have been told around a kitchen table or campfire during family gatherings.

A new Dead Family Tale is posted every Monday.

Come and visit again!

Do you have more tales of our Koprek, Haupt, Revis, or Oswald lines?

Please contact me or add it in the comment section at the bottom of this page.

If you are in a position to help with funding,

Dead Family Tales also has a Patreon page.