Over the years I have seen many statements relating to the first Amsden to arrive in the Americas, generally thought to have been Isaac. Some of these have been based on broadly known facts, others have been based on a great deal of conjecture and frequently stated as fact. In order to put this into some perspective, here is the truth as understood at this time, i.e the start of 2006.

ISAAC AMSDEN

The Facts and the Assumptions

Fact - An ISAAC AMSDEN arrived in the Americas prior to 1654.

Since he in mentioned in the estates of Nathaniel Sparhawk in 1647 it has been assumed that he must have arrived there prior to that date. However, the AMSDEN's and the SPARHAWK's lived in close proximity to each other in Oxfordshire prior to 1600, so there is no guarantee that they did not know each other before either of them went to the Americas.

Fact - ISAAC AMSDEN married FRANCES PERRIMAN 8 Jun 1654 in MA

Fact - These two had children ISAAC and JACOB

Fact - A JOHN AMSDEN appears in MA at around the same time as ISAAC AMSDEN.

Fact - JOHN AMSDEN married ELIZABETH (? ) and they had two children JOHN and ISAAC.

Fact - An ISAAC AMSDEN was baptised at St Nicholas church, Colchester, England, 24 Aug 1620. Father - WILLIAM Mother - REBECCA

Conjecture - That the ISAAC born in Colchester, England is the same ISAAC that turns up in the Americas. Other than the coincidence of this Isaac's birth date being about right for the Isaac in the Americas, there is no proof that these are one and the same person. No evidence has been found relating to sailing dates from England or for arrival in the Americas.

Conjecture - That JOHN AMSDEN is the son of ISAAC AMSDEN (who married Frances Perriman) by an earlier marriage to a person unknown. It has been assumed that ISAAC married whilst still in England and that this wife and his son JOHN went to the Americas. That his wife died there and he later married Frances. No evidence has been found to support this assumption.

If this Amsden family had been resident in Colchester for any length of time then one would expect evidence that Isaac had married, and that a son (John) had been born there.

There is evidence that a JOHN AMSDEN was baptised at St Nicholas, Colchester on 8 Feb 1623. Father- WILLIAM. Mother - KATHREN. It is possible, therefore, that the father of ISAAC is the same as that of JOHN. REBECCA dying and WILLIAM remarrying. This would make JOHN, ISAAC's half brother, not his son. JOHN's age at the time of his death would then be 73 and not 46 as usually stated. This is perfectly feasible.

Another aspect of this story should also be borne in mind. The surname AMSDEN was unusual in the area around Colchester at that time., but the surname EMSDEN was less so. It would seem that the AMSDEN's in Colchester came from somewhere else in the country, unless EMSDEN had been corrupted to AMSDEN. If this is the case then the AMSDEN's in the Americas are actually members of the EMSDEN family and not the AMSDEN family. Whilst EMSDEN and AMSDEN would seem to be obvious variations of the same name, (and there is evidence that this did happen), there is only scant proof that they are one and the same family.

The conclusion is that the history of ISAAC and JOHN AMSDEN in England is, at best, conjecture and should be treated as such until such time as factual evidence comes to light.

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