Daniel Gookin Sr., baptized in 1582 at Ripple in Kent, England, landed in Virginia in 1621 aboard the ship Flying Hart, which he either owned, or chartered for the voyage. A year later he re-crossed the ocean and died in Cork, Ireland ca. 1632. His wife was Mary Byrd.
Daniel Gookin the Immigrant
It is said Daniel Gookin named his plantation Marie’s Mount after his wife. It was located
on the north shore of Hampton on a tip of land called Point Hope. (See James Hagemann’s The Heritage of Virginia.)
Gookin never returned to America, but sent two sons to administer his Virginia plantation. Daniel Jr. celebrated his 18th birthday on his father’s Virginia plantation, but returned to England sometime prior to November of 1639.
Daniel Gookin Jr., wife Mary and infant son Samuel returned to the Virginia plantation in 1641. He was made a Burgess and represented upper Norfolk Co. in the 1641/42 Grand Assembly. Daniel received a grant of 2,500 acres northwest of the Nansemond River in 1637 and 1,400 acres on the Rappahannock in 1642.
Nonconformists Leave Virginia
Gookin was among those welcoming three Puritan ministers from New England in 1642. Gov. Berkeley, an adherent to the Church of England, had an Act of Conformity passed. All nonconformists had to leave Virginia. (See Henning's Statutes at Large 1:277.) Gookin, his family and friends left for Maryland in 1643. Although under Catholic rule, it welcomed nonconformists. Gookin purchased land near Annapolis.
Daniel’s brother John died shortly after . Gookin, no longer tied to Virginia, set sail for Boston the summer of 1644. Within a week of arrival, Gookin was admitted to membership in First Church. The family first lived at Roxbury, where Daniel helped establish a school, and was appointed deputy to General Court. In 1648, the Gookins moved to Cambridge, where he soon became its court deputy.
Gookin Helps Govern Massachusetts Colony
Gookin became Speaker of the General Court and was elected to the Council of 18 magistrates which, with the Governor and Deputy Governor, governed the colony. He was re-elected for 35 years.
Gookin is also known for his writings on Indians. He often accompanied Rev. John Eliot Sr., known as “Apostle to the Indians”, on visits to Indian settlements. Gookin’s two books about Indians provided future generations some of the first insights into Indian culture and their conversion to Christianity.
Daniel was among the first officials to oppose British intrusion upon the colonists’ political freedom and commercial enterprises. This probably played a part in his 1681 election as Major-General, which made him Commander-in-Chief of the colony’s military force.
Gookin Line of Descent
The following line of descent was prepared in 1979 by Richard Newton Gookins of Salem, Oregon. His 18th century ancestors added the ‘s’ to the surname spelling. Genealogists should use it only for clues as they document their own family research.
- Daniel Gookin, the 1621 immigrant.
- Daniel Gookin Jr. (1612-1687) was born in Ripple, England, and died in Massachusetts, where he had been Major General of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Descent is through his second wife, Mary Dolling, who died in 1683.
- Samuel Gookin was born in 1652 at Cambridge, MA, and died there in 1730. He married 1) Mary Larkin, who died at Cambridge sometime after April 29, 1707.
- Samuel Gookin (1683-ca. 1767) had children by Bethia Grover of Watertown, MA. (No marriage record could be found).
- Samuel Gookins (1739-1812) was born at Cambridge, MA, and died at Rupert, VT. He married ca. 1761 Mary Mullet (1742-1823) of Charlestown, MA.
- Samuel Gookins was born in 1762 at Suffolk, CT, and died in 1842 in Ripley Co., IN. A Revolutionary War veteran, he married in 1786 at Pawlet, VT, Mary (Polly) Andrus, probably born at Norwich, CT, and died in 1848 in Ripley Co., IN.
- Samuel Gookins, born 1797, VT, and died 1873, Ripley Co., IN, married 2) Parthenia Chamberlain. They were wed ca. 1828 and she died in 1829.
- William Gookins (1829-1909) in 1851 married Sarah Jane Hennegin (1833-1898). He died at Napoleon, IN.
- Oscar Newton Gookins was born in 1872 at Napoleon, Indiana, and died in 1952 at Salem, OR. He married 2) in 1910 at Loveland, CO, Leona Belle Trindle, born in 1885 at Van Meter, IA, and died in 1976 at Salem, OR.
- Richard Newton Gookins, born 1921, Salem, OR. He married 1) Helen D. Dobell and 2) Marian L. (Burbank) Lane. It is Richard who submitted this lineage.
Daniel Gookin descendants qualify for membership in the Jamestowne Society.
SOURCE: Gookins, Richard N., A History and Genealogy of the Gookin Family of England, Ireland and America (Salem, Oregon: 1991)
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