Just the Facts! (updated 4 Nov 2011)

There is currently a lot of confusion over the lineage of the Grout family line in the early 1600`s. This is due to several factors:

First there is an unfortunate lack of documentation in this period when our ancestors first arrived in the New Colonies. Existing documents are sketchy and some that should exist, such as passenger lists, have yet to be uncovered, if they still exist at all.

Second, there are numerous fathers and sons as well as mothers and daughters with the same first names, leading to confusion about which generation is being referred to where actual documentation exists. For example; Capt. John named his eldest son John by his first wife; Mary (Cakebread) and his eldest daughter Sarah by his second wife; Sarah (Busby). Many sources appear to have these individuals mixed up.

Finally, there were many premature deaths and remarriages at this time, many of which can only be inferred from other documents as no record is presumed to exist.

Many authors over the years have printed inaccurate information and the Internet has only exacerbated the problem. Much of the posted information can be debunked by close examination of the few known documents or by constructing a time line, i.e. following peer age cohorts. Unfortunately much of the conjectural information cannot be disproved or proved.

Below I`ve gathered just the facts we know to be true, whether by documentation or clear inference. As you digest these facts remember that many of the named people may not be the same individuals and I have made no attempt to indicate them by generation.

1610 Anne Cakebread born. [From Cutler family history]

1616 Capt. John Grout born [Calculated from John Grout testimonial of land grant (pg. 4)]

1619, 12 Dec. Sarah Busby, daughter of Nicholas Busby, is Christened [From St Mary Coslany records] ed. note: Christening dates are not necessarily birth dates by Puritan custom.

1630 Thomas Cakebread and Mrs. Sara Cakebread arrive in America with the Winthrop fleet. They settle in Watertown. [From Winthop Fleet passenger lists and Watertown town records]

1633 to 1637 James Cutler, Anne Cakebread with her sister and John Grout all arrive in the New Colonies during this time. [From Grout family and Cutler family histories]

1634 James Cutler marries Anne Cakebread [From Cutler family history]

1634 to 1639 The sister of Anne (Cakebread) Cutler marries Ensign John Grout. [From Cutler family history]

1636 to 1640 John Grout acquires lots in Watertown from Thomas Cakebread and settles there [From Watertown town records] ed. note: on the map both names appear on the same lots.

1639 Thomas Cakebread is granted land and moves to Sudbury and builds a grist mill. [From Sudbury town records]

1641, 8 Jun, ``John the son of John & Mary GROUT borne 8 (6) 1641``. [From Watertown birth records]

1642, 4 Jan. Thomas Cakebread dies [From Sudbury town records]

1641 to 1643 Mary Grout dies sometime between her son John`s birth 8 June 1641 and Capt. John having a child with ``Sara`` 11 Oct. 1643. [Inferred from Watertown birth records]

1643, 8 May, The land of ``Antient Cakebread`` in Sudbury is ``confirmed`` to Sergt. John Grout along with more land to ``pen watter for the use of the Mill`` [From Sudbury town records]

1643 ``Sarah the daught of John & Sarah GROUT borne 11 (10) 1643``. [From Watertown birth records]

1643, 23 Oct, Sudbury record states ``Lande formerly granted to Thomas Cakebread is now in the possession of Sara Cakebread Widdow`` [From Sudbury town records] ed. note: Note that Sara is referred to as `widdow` here and again as late as 14 Dec 1646 (after the date John and Sara (Busby) married)

1649, 24 Jul, ``Joseph, son of John & Sarah GROUT`` [From Sudbury birth records] ed. note: All birth records of the subsequent children of John and Sara Grout can also he found here.

1649, 7 Nov, Sarah Cakebread marries Philemon Whale in Sudbury [From Sudbury marriage records]

1652, 14 Jan, Sudbury town ordinance states, ``Granted to John Grout 6 acres... formerly granted to his Father Cakebread`` [From Sudbury town records] ed. note: There are several other records that call Thomas Cakebread John`s ``Father``.

1657, 25 Jul, Nicholas Busby names ``John Grout`` his ``Sonne`` and ``Sara Grout, my grand daughter`` in his Will. [From the Will of Nicholas Busby]

1659, 26 May, John Grout acknowledges receipt of cash from ``my deceased father in law Nicholas Busby`` [Suffolk County court records]

1667, 15 Apr, Marriage of John GROUT & Rebecca TOLL. [From Sudbury town records]

1670, 22 Mar, In a legal dispute John Grout`s representative describes a property as ``formerly belonging to his father-in-law Tho. Cakebread`` [From Morse pg. 9] ed.note: Morse reports this was Capt. John`s son, John², but was it?

Please check back here as I will add new facts as they emerge.

NEW! You could answer one of the many questions about Grout ancestry. Find out how here.

Just the Speculation (updated 4 Nov 2011)

Capt. John Grout and the Cakebread family were very intertwined in the early 1600`s. John was very close to Thomas Cakebread in Watertown and married to a Mary Cakebread. After she died a few years later Morse reports he married to the widow of Thomas Cakebread, Sara Busby. But many dispute this including this author. This inconsistency has led to a lot of speculation. Were Mary and Thomas even related? Were they siblings or father and daughter? Was there a Thomas Sr. and Thomas Jr. in the Colonies? If so it seems both men married to a Sara and both died within about a year of each other. There are in fact 2 death records in the Sudbury records of a Thomas Cakebread, exactly one year apart. Most researchers say it was the same man and explain the 2 records as the use of different calendars at the time. The odds that Thomas Cakebread Sr. and Jr. died on the same date one year apart are very long but intriguing.

There are two competing theories regarding the relationships between the Grout`s and Cakebread`s in the early 1600`s. In the first theory John Grout first marries Mary Cakebread, the sister of Thomas Cakebread, who is married to Sara Busby. By 1643 Mary dies and Thomas also dies then John marries Thomas`s widow Sara (Busby) Cakebread.

Conventional wisdom has been that Sara Busby was first married to Thomas Cakebread because John Grout took possession of his Mill in Sudbury by 1643. It is also thought she brought a daughter to the marriage named Sarah Cakebread. However there are holes in this theory. In Sudbury town records Thomas is referred to as John`s ``father`` and a Sara Cakebread is referred to as ``widdow`` beyond the date John and Sara Busby had children together.

In the second theory Mary Cakebread is the daughter of Thomas who is married to Sara Busby. However, since we know certain that John Grout and Sara Busby married it`s unlikely. She would have had to have been much older than John and be his former mother-in-law. Consider this: if Sara were say 18 when Anne was born in 1610 she would have been 107 at her death in 1699. Was a Thomas Sr. then married to another Sara?

A third possible theory would be that there was an older Thomas Cakebread married to another Sara, (not Busby) who died about 1643 and perhaps they had a Thomas Jr. who married Sara Busby and also died around 1643. We know John Grout was very close to Thomas and could possible have been essentially adopted by him, thus explaining why he acquired his Mill. Morse states John`s father died when John was still in his minority and John and his brother were raised by someone else. Could it have been Thomas Sr.? John then married Sara Busby who may or may not have been previously married.

This theory leads to other speculation. Was John`s first wife Mary Cakebread the daughter of Thomas? Which Thomas is registered on the Winthrop Fleet passenger list in 1630 with his wife Sara? Sr. or Jr.? And which Sara? Why did Mary Cakebread and her sister Anne come to America ``unattended`` sometime in the mid 1630`s if their parents came earlier? They could have been in Boarding school or living with relatives or they may not be directly related.

There is also the question of: Did John² first marry his step sister Sara Cakebread who shortly died? Morse reports John² calls Thomas Cakebread his father-in-law in a legal document. But maybe it was actually Capt. John in the document who called Thomas father-in-law, (from his marriage to Mary) not the son.

Finally in this tangled web is the Sudbury document of Sara Cakebread marrying a Philemon Whale. I have previously argued this Sara was the daughter of Sara Busby and Thomas Cakebread. But if there was a Thomas Cakebread Sr. married to a Sara ---, then who married Philemon Whale? Perhaps it was the Widow Sara Cakebread mentioned in the records. It seems there were at least 3 generations of Philemon Whale's as well!

For what it`s worth my current theory is this: The Sudbury Miller Thomas Cakebread was of an older generation than Capt. John and took in young John and his brother when their father died around 1634. Thomas was married to a Sara ---, (but not Sara Busby). Capt. John first married Mary Cakebread who was the daughter of Thomas thus making Thomas both John`s adoptive father and father-in-law. They have a child in Watertown: John² in 1641. After Marry`s death John remarries to Sara Busby in 1642. Sara has not been previously married and has no children. When Thomas Cakebread dies in 1643 he leaves his Mill to John. John and Sara live out long and eventful lives and have many children together. Also, John² never married his step sister as it was in fact Capt. John who brought the legal claim and accurately calls Tho. Cakebread his father-in-law.

I acknowledge this theory has holes in it but to fill them would be pure conjecture. The facts that I know of support this theory however I eagerly look forward to the uncovering of new facts and maybe a true timeline of events will emerge we can all agree on.

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