RALPH BLAISDELL AND ELIZABETH PARKER 
Passengers on the ship the "Angel Gabriel"

Use your "back arrow" to return to the previous page.

This is a plaque donated by the Blaisdell Family Association.  It is mounted near the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, Maine.  The seal reads.....Blaisdell Family Association  In America Since 1635.  The plaque reads.....Near this site on August 15, 1635, Ralph Blaisdell and family were shipwrecked.  The ship was the Angel Gabriel bound from Bristol, England to Pemaquid.  From here the family went to York, Maine and later to Salisbury, Massachusetts. 

Click on it to see a larger picture. 

WHO WAS RALPH BLAISDELL?

Practically nothing is known of Ralph Blaisdell previous to his landing at Pemaquid Point, Maine, shipwrecked there, according to the family traditions, on August 15, 1635. The traditions however, state that he shipped from Milford Haven, on the south coast of Wales on the ship 'Angel Gabriel,' together with his wife, Elizabeth, and his small son, Henry.

There is a small town in Lancashire, northern England, named 'Bleas dale' and old records there include the name Ralph Bleasdel in the century previous to our Ralph. The name is suggestive that there was a later Ralph in this family. Moreover, in the earlier part of the seventeenth century, this region was the center of a Puritan movement which led many converted, to join the movement to the new world. There are other reasons also, to think that it was under the influence of this movement, that our ancestor determined to transfer to America.

It was not easy for such a person to get permission to leave England from the main ports where careful watch was kept. Possibly for this reason, or possibly because of ease of access, Ralph is supposed to have joined the ship 'Angel Giabriel' at Milf'ord Haven, Wales, rather than at Bristol, England, from which point the ship started; thus accounting for his name not appearing on the ship's roster of passengers.

The subsequent history of Ralph's adventure is commonly known. He was caught in the great storm which visited the Atlantic seaboard on August 15, 1635, and was shipwrecked on Pemaquid Point, from which place he made his way to York, Maine, the community where he first settled. Not being satisfied with conditions there he soon became one of the original settlers of Salisbury, Massachusetts, where he was one of the more prominent citizens. There is a tradition that late in life he moved to Lynn and that his death occurred there about the year 1650. He left one son, Henry, who was one of the original settlers of Amesbury, Mass., which was long the family center. Later an early descendant returned to Maine and became the progenitor of the great company of Maine Blaisdells.

FROM THE BOOK:

Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury Massachusetts vol 2, by David W. Hoyt, 1897

YORK COUNTY AND ESSEX COUNTY.

At least five of the first settlers of Salisbury had previously been at York (called also Agamenticus, and Gorgeana), viz.: John Bailey Sen., John Bailey Jr., Ralph Blaisdell, Thomas Bradbury, and Mr. William Hooke. Later there were frequent removals between Essex County and York County of families bearing the names Bailey, Barrett, Blaisdell, Bradbury, Littlefield, Merrill, Moody, Mussey, Purington, Sawyer, Wells, and perhaps Ball, Bond, Flanders and others. This is true not only of York, but of Wells, Kennebunkport (called also Cape Porpoise and Arundel) and other towns on the coast.

From the book, UNFINISHED VOYAGES, A Chronology of Shipwrecks-Maritime Disasters in the Northeast United States from 1606 to 1956.  By John Perry Fish, 1989: Pages 12 – 14.

"THE ANGEL GABRIEL "

"As the 17th century progressed, transatlantic passage became more and more frequent, primarily with immigrant ships from Europe and the British Isles. More often than thought, these immigrant ships were wrecked on the New World’s coastline.

One such ship was the Angel Gabriel which wrecked at Pemiquid Harbor, Maine on August fifteenth, 1635. The difference between many of the sunken immigrant ships and the Gabriel is that she had completed her voyage and was at anchor in the harbor when a violent August storm hit the region. For this reason the loss of life was not as severe as with the wrecking of later immigrant ships like the Mexico wrecked on New York shores on January second, 1837, and the St. John wrecked at Cohassett, Massachusetts, October seventh, 1849.

The story of the loss of the Angel Gabriel began one month earlier when she set sail for the Maine coast with immigrants and supplies. Even though settlements were already established in the New World, the settlers still relied on England to ease survival. They needed these supplies.

The Angel Gabriel departed in mid June with a group of vessels bound for the east coast of North America. Because of the good sailing weather during the summer months in the North Atlantic the crossing was uneventful. The caption was an experienced sailor and he was carrying more than the usual waterfront rabble that might make up a freight carrying crew. He attempted to see to the needs of his often seasick passengers.

The 250 ton Angel Gabriel made the voyage in about one month and arrived at Pemiquid Harbor, Maine in mid August 1635. The cable and anchor were set in the peaceful Maine cove. Two things pleased the passengers who were unaccustomed to sea travel. First, they were thankful to have solid ground under their feet and second, they were awed by the beauty of this new world, where they expected a new start. The immigrants gave thanks for their deliverance across the Atlantic.

In Pemiquid Harbor Maine, the settlers began the lengthy process of unloading the Angel Gabriel. This was not an easy task since the Gabriel probably had livestock and large casks of provisions on board. Each load had to be transferred to a smaller boat, rowed to shore and then unloaded onto dry ground.

The settlers were taken by surprise, while the vessel was still only half unloaded, by a ferocious hurricane hitting the little settlement at Pemiquid in the early morning of August fifteenth. Several crew members or passengers may have been aboard the ship overnight, but it would have been usual procedure for the majority to be on shore.

One can only imagine the horror of anyone on board, with the livestock in terror, while the ship tossed on the waves, even in the assumed protection of the harbor. At some point the Gabriel failed to withstand the force of the wind and waves which buffeted her. We do not know exactly how she sank, but her sinking was a serious blow to the settlers. Since the ship was not fully unloaded much of their foodstuffs and supplies were lost. Undoubtedly the resourceful settlers salvaged many things from the wreck. Still, they would not have replacement for the lost provisions until the next supply ship arrived from home, which may have been months. Records show that the Angel Gabriel went entirely to pieces while at anchor in the harbor. It is more likely that she either snapped her cables or dragged her ground tackle into shallow water where her hull smashed to pieces.

This 1635 storm ravaged the entire northeast, and although the Angel Gabriel may have been the largest ship sunk in the storm, other vessels were lost as well. Records state that many houses were blown down and numerous vessels were sunk at sea from New York to northern Maine."

An interesting account of the voyage:

Voyage of Angel Gabriel and The James

The Angel Gabriel was a famous armed merchant ship and privateer, carrying 16 guns with provision for 4 more. Large guns between decks restricted the number of passengers an armed ship carried as did an unusual amount of freight and cattle.

The James had been lightly armed with four guns in 1614 but perhaps they had been removed. She could carry upward of 100 passengers, cattle, freight, and sufficient foodstuffs for a twelve week voyage.

We are indebted to Richard Mather, a Lancashire minister, who was to emigrate in The James for a detailed account of their voyage from Bristol. The Angel Gabriel carried fewer passengers and did not experience the port delays as did The James but they later fell in together for part of the voyage to New England as we shall see.

Although Mather and his family arrived in Bristol on 23 April 1635, some of their companions were already there and by May 1, all had collected. Their enforced stay in Bristol until they could board The James was painful as most of the time the winds were in their favor.

Mather blamed most of the delay on The Jame's owners. Humphrey Hooke was a prominent Bristol merchant and, by virtue of his daughter's marriage as Giles Elbridge's second wife, was Elbridge's father-in-law.

Bristol city lay about five miles inland, up the Avon River, from the Severn estuary where the wharves and merchant's establishments were located. Kings Road was a long deep water harbor at the mouth of the Avon on the east side of the Severn but with tides and contrary winds it was a most difficult channel to navigate.

Mather, his family, and the planters to emigrate in The James finally went aboard on May 23rd but all was not ready. Searchers also came aboard on the 23rd and certified the 100 or so passengers "to pass the seas."

Meanwhile Giles Elbridge's Diligence, near at hand and New Foundland bound, set sail and departed Kings Road on Monday the 25th. Not so The James. About 9:00 in the morning on Tuesday seaman on The James raised anchor but almostimmediately the wind turned against them and The James was forced to drop anchor again. That evening The Diligence returned to Kings Road after fighting headwinds in the Severn Channel for the better part of two days.

Tuesday evening the 26th of May The Angel Gabriel captained by Robert Andrews came into Kings Road, also bound for New England, but not yet having her full complement of passengers and cattle. John Cogswell and family, of Westbury Wiltshire, were to emigrate on The Angel Gabriel. They were accompanied by a great amount of household goods, supplies, and freight to the extent of 5000 Pounds Sterling which perhaps had come overland by wagon from Westbury to Bristol. Much of it was in hogsheads and carefully marked.

Three boats with passengers came aboard The Angel Gabriel on Wednesday while Captain Taylor of The James, Mather, and others were visiting people on the "Gabriel". Also coming aboard The Angel Gabriel on Wednesday was Sir Ferdinando Gorges to see the ship and the people, especially any planters for Massachusetts Bay. Gorges, newly appointed Governor of New England, professed his good will, promising that if he was ever posted to New England "he would be a true friend to them". On Thursday May 28th Captain Andrews and some of the passengers came aboard The James to visit and later that day The Angel Gabriel's cattle were boarded.

After more contrary winds, going ashore to wash, to get oats and hay for the animals, and bread for themselves, The James and The Angel Gabriel set sail Thursday morning 4 June 1635. Even so, The Angel Gabriel almost collided with The James in getting underway, to the concern of all. The New Foundland bound ships, The Diligence, The Mary (80 tons) and The Bess or Elizabeth (240 tons) sailed with them.

The five ships were forced by head winds to anchor three times in the channel before reaching Lundy Island at the mouth of the wide Severn on Saturday, June 6 where they dropped their pilots. Finding the west winds would not let them gain the open sea, the little fleet weighed anchor on Tuesday, June 9 and tacked north to Milford Haven in Wales. Here they bought fresh victuals, visited, went to church, held joint services with the "Gabriel" and other ships, and variously occupied twelve wind-bound days.

Finally on Monday, June 22, the five ships set sail on a strong east wind and were soon on the deep Atlantic. By Tuesday the three New Foundland ships had sailed out of sight but The James decided to stay with the well-armed Angel Gabriel for protection although she was a slower sailer.

The two ships exchanged visitors by boat on Monday, June 29. Captain Taylor of The James went aboard the "Gabriel" where they found several children recovering from small pox and afterward they stayed for supper with Captain Andrews. By Saturday, July 4, The James lost sight of The Angel Gabriel sailing slowly behind them and Mather notes prophetically "and we never saw her again anymore". By Monday, July 6, the Captain of the James decided not to hold-up for the "Gabriel" as Mather and others perceived a shortage of bay and water for the cattle. The seaman hoisted their remaining sails and The James went on ahead full speed.

After many experiences on the open Atlantic, The James reached the Grand Banks and the promise of land on Saturday, August 1. Weathering a bad storm on August 3 and after part of a week of variable winds, heat and fog, The James slightly north of her intended course, made landfall on Saturday, August 8 at Monhegan Island which they knew to be abandoned. They sighted Pemaquid and the islands off the coast. Keeping in sight of the mainland, The James continued westward, coming to anchor at Richmond's Island on Monday, August 10, where they intended to pick up a pilot.

Meanwhile, The Angel Gabriel was running three or four days accumulated sailing time behind The James and may have had other difficulties as well. Several passengers had died during the westward passage across the Atlantic. The "Gabriel" made her landfall off Monhegan during the early morning hours of Friday, August 14. Although it had been raining and stiff winds were blowing from the southwest quarter, Captain Andrews tacked The Angel Gabriel safely to anchor in Pemaquid Harbor by early evening, probably in the cove opposite Shurt's Fort. (Present day Fort William Henry). Weary from their long and tedious voyage from England, a number of passengers must have gone ashore before darkness fell. Abraham Shurt not yet returned from Bristol, was not there to greet them.

Southwestward at Richmond's Island, off Cape Elizabeth south of present-day Portland, The James weighed anchor on August 12 for her destination in Massachusetts Bay. Facing the same rain and gtiff south-west winds, The James made little headway for several days, tacking about, laying off at sea, until they finally put in at the Isle of Shoals about ten o'clock in the evening on Friday the 14th where they found some shelter from the wind. They anchored and prepared to spend the night.

Disaster for The Angel Gabriel

Unknowingly, both Captain Andrews and The "Gabriel" at Pemaquid, and Captain Taylor farther southward with The James at the Isle of Shoals, had entered what is today one of the most well-defined storm tracks in the North Atlantic, the path of the tropical hurricanes that originate in early Autumn in the Caribbean. Rotating counterclockwise, and bringing tremendous quantities of rain from the sea on their leading edge, these cyclonic winds of upwards to two hundred miles per hour are capable of huge destruction. The great storms generally move northeastward in the Atlantic up to thirty miles per hour in terms of land speed. In the case of the 1635 hurricane, Governor Bradford at Plymouth and John Winthrop at Massachusetts Bay, correctly observed the shifting of the winds, the tidal surges, the erratic tracking so typical of these powerful storms, and recorded the facts in their respective journals.

Being farther to the south, The James experienced the beginnings of the oncoming storm shortly after midnight Friday when the wind shifted to east-northeast, the sea8 roughened, and torrential rains struck the ship in their narrow passage between the Isle of Shoals. By day-break Saturday, the 15th, The James was in serious trouble. The extreme winds threatened to pile the ship on the rocks, when two anchors broke. The seamen cut the cable on the third, as Captain Taylor desperately tried to raise sail and put out to sea. The winds promptly tore their sails to shreds and the ship was driven before the wind towards the rocky mainland. Being near the storm's center, the winds shifted to the opposite quarter, only minutes before The James piled up on the lee shore near Piscataqua, and blew them offshore. By noon the storm passed and the crew fitted sail Saturday afternoon at sea. The James, borne on a favorable wind, made her way south-west by west toward Cape Ann.

Rounding Cape Ann on Sunday the 16th, The James reached Nantasket at low tide in the evening where they dropped their fourth and perhaps remaining anchor. Later Sunday evening, Captain Taylor raised anchor on the incoming tide and sailed into Boston Harbor where they dropped anchor for the night. Ile company went ashore

Monday morning August 17 after a sometimes fearful voyage of 3,000 miles, and thirteen Sundays aboard ship, but without a single loss among passengers or anirnals. Mather praised God.

Northward at Pemaquid, The Angel Gabriel was not so fortunate. Anchored for Friday night the 14th, but not in the inner harbor (Pemaquid River) where some chroniclers thought she might have been safer, the storm struck Pemaquid and The "Gabriel" early Saturday morning. Whether the ship's crew could have taken steps to save their ship is not known. New England-bound ships carried numbers of anchors and great amounts of tackle because of poor bottoms for anchorage. The "Gabriel" probably dragged her anchors and may have been forced into John's Bay where shifting winds and high tides piled her on the ledges. Good contemporary evidence says the ship was anchored "at Pemaquid", and there seemed to be no expectation of iinpending disaster. Edgar Rowe Snow believes The "Gabriel" was wrecked at Pemaquid Point. Unlike the situation on The James, we have no first hand account of the circumstances. Had Abraham Shurt, with his broad experience of the area been present, the outcome might have been different.

The Angel Gabriel's losses were catastrophic both in terms of lives and financial assets. The experience marked some of the survivors to the end of their days. Three or four of the passengers, names totally unknown, lost their lives. One seaman was drowned. Mather says most of the cattle perished, and the passengers lost their goods.

The "Planters"

The Angel Gabriel probably did not make the voyage to Pemaquid as a general rule although the Cogswell family and their great amount of freight from Westbury may have been a factor. Most of her passengers in 1635 were destined for Massachusetts Bay locations. However, contemporary evidence suggests The "Gabriel" called at Pemaquid in April 1634 with about thirty passengers for Bay settlements. Robert Aldworth's ship The White Angel, and beginning in 1635 owned by Giles Elbridge, usually sailed the Bristol-Pemaquid-Plymouth route because of her greater stowage. According to Plymouth's Governor Bradford, The "Angel" did so for over twenty years, sometimes arriving in New England twice in a calendar year. As we shall see later, Abraham Shurt the Pemaquid agent, was to return in The White Angel sailing from -Bristol in November 1635. Some brief notes about The Planters follow.

Captain Robert Andrews, Norfolk County, England, settled in Ipswich's Chebacco Parish, where he had a house and family. He was made freeman 6 May 1635.

The three Burnham boys: John, Thomas and Robert were sons of Robert Andrews' sister Mary who had married Robert Burnham in Norwich, England. Captain Andrews brought the boys to Chebacco Parish where they later became heads-of families and very useful citizens. Andrews will, dated 1643, makes his relationship to the three Burnhams abundantly clear.

John Bailey, a weaver from Chippenham, England, settled in Newbury with his son and daughter. His wife and other children in England remained separated forever as the wife refused to risk the New England voyage and Bailey would not return. However, John Bailey in his will, dated 1651, left his wife twenty pounds sterling provided "she come over."

Ralph Bleasdell, wife and son Henry, from Lancashire, England, settled at York. Much is known about the Blaisdell family.

John Cogswell, his wife, eight children, and servants William Furber and Samuel Haines, migrated from Westbury, England. Cogswell had recently sold his woolen business and all his property to settle in Ipswich where he received a town lot and a large grant of 300 acres in Chebacco Parish. Cogswell salvaged only a part of his freight from the wreck of The "Gabriel" although goods and specie valued at $25,000 were aboard, a large sum for the seventeenth century.

Furber and Haines departed from Ipswich probably on expiration of their apprenticeships with John Cogswell. Later William Furber moved to Dover, married and settled down. Samuel Haines returned to England to marry, bringing his bride to New England and settled in Dover as well.

Henry Simpson "planted" at York. No representative of the Simpson family was known to have signed the Simpson Register at the 350th Anniversary Reunion at Pemaquid in August 1985.

John Tuttle also settled at Dover. As other Tuttles emigrated in 1635 in other ships, the Dover Tuttle was always referred to as "John Tuttle who came in the Angel Gabriel". His descendants live in Dover today.

Taking into account the now known passengers, deaths at sea, and drownings at Pemaquid, about thirty "Planters" boarded The Angel Gabriel in Bristol for New England.

These pictures were taken at the ruins of the ancient Pemaquid settlement. This settlement dates back to the early 1600's. Our ancestor, Ralph Blaisdell, spent time here after being shipwrecked in 1635 before moving on to southern Maine and later to Massachusetts.

The ruins of the ancient settlement at Pemaquid Point.  Our ancestor, Ralph Blaisdell, spent time here before moving on to southern Maine and then Massachusetts.

linda@lfthompson.com

Back to the Ancestry of Ellen O'Bryan