Warren - Richard Warren is unusual because although Bradford in his 'increasing and decreasings' gives him the 'honorific title of Mr.' He does not mention him at all in the text of his history, and very little is known about him except for a few brief mentions elsewhere. In 'Mourts Rebellion', Winslow lists ten men on an expedition in Cape God, three of whom including Richard Warren were from London. judging from the land transactions of his widow Elizabeth who came over on the 'Anne', with daughters, Abigail, A-ma, Elizabeth, Mary and Sarah. The family seemed to be one of the wealthier at Plymouth. However, he was not one of the select Undertakers in 1627. Nathaniel Morton wrote of the year 1628,' This year died Mr. Richard Warren, who--- was a useful instrument and during his lifetime bare a deep share in the difficulties and troubles of the first settlement of the Plantation of New Plimouth. His widow, Elizabeth was given the unique distinction of having a law passed by the whole Court to give her the Purchaser status that her husband had had. 'hee dying before he had preformed the bargine, the said Elizabeth preformed the same after his decease, and also for establishing lotts of land given formally by her sonnes in law, Richard Church, Robert Bartlett and Thomas Little'.
Plymouth Colony - Eugene Stratton - Ancestry
WARREN
Richard Warren, the first of the Warren name in America, sailed from Plymouth, England in
the historic "Mayflower" on 6 September 1620. He was not of the Leyden company,
but joined the Pilgrims from London, and he was one of the signers of the Mayflower
Compact. He was one of the third exploring party which was surprised by the Indians on
December 18th and was one of the first to land in the New World at Plymouth on December
21st.
Richard Warren
Under the land division of 1623, Richard Warren's apportionment was in the north side of
the town in a section which later became known as Wellingsley or Hobshole, where he lived
until his death in 1628.
By his contemporaries, Richard Warren was described as "grave Richard," "a
man of integrity, justice and uprightness, of piety and serious religion," and as
"a useful instrument during the short time he lived, bearing a deep share in the
difficulties and troubles of the plantation."
Richard's wife, Elizabeth, followed him to New England in the "Ann" in 1623,
accompanied by her daughters. She was a person of force and social position in the
community and often was referred to as "Mistress Elizabeth Warren," by no means
a common designation. Also, after the death of her husband in 1628, she remained a widow
all her life, which was unusual in those days. She died 2 October 1673 at more than ninety
years of age. For some reason unknown, she was not buried until twenty-two days after her
death, when it was entered into the records that she "having lived a godly life, came
to her grave as a shoke of corn, fully ripe."
More erroneous information has been published about Richard Warren than any other Mayflower passenger, probably because he has so many descendants (note that all seven of his children grew up and married). It is time here to debunk many of the mistakes that have been published over the past hundred years.
Common mistake #1. Richard Warren's wife is not Elizabeth (Jewett/Jonatt/Juett) Marsh. This is easily disproven. Elizabeth (Jewett) Marsh was born in 1614, which makes her not only younger than Richard Warren's two oldest children, but also makes her only fourteen years old when Richard Warren died. [Mayflower Descendant 2:63].
Common mistake #2. Richard Warren is not a proven descendant of any royalty, whether it be Sir John de Warrene or Charlemagne. Richard Warren's parents have not even been identified, despite extensive searches in the records of England (see the Mayflower Quarterly, 51:109-112 for a summary of one such search).
The only concrete things we know about Richard Warren's ancestry are that he was a merchant of London--whether he was born there or not is an entirely different question. We also know that his wife was named Elizabeth. He had five daughters baptized in England somewhere, and perhaps the true records will some day be brought to light.