Years ago, I acquired a copy of Frederick Verkus's Abridged Compendium of American Genealogy, which contains thousands of genealogies, undoubtedly a very valuable tool for historians and genealogists. In the index, thousands of names are found.
I pulled out my copy recently, to see what I could find out about the Dudley family in an effort to trace the origins of my Grandpa Reese's 8th great-grandfather, Francis Dudley. Francis was born in England in 1640 and arrived in New England in 1665. He married Sarah Wheeler and they lived in Concord, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. In this post, I will share information about the Dudley family from this source.
Dudley is found in the index of the Compendium, with 18 different Dudley men, named as follows:
Following are the pages containing these Dudley entries in the book, for those researching the Dudley family. Feel free to download or print it for future reference.
Ambrose Dudley, Ambrose Simeon Dudley, Benjamin William Dudley, Daniel Dudley, Edward Dudley, Ethelbert Ludlow Dudley, James Dudley, Joseph Dudley, Richard Dudley, Robert Dudley, Roger Dudley, Roy Dudley, Samuel Dudley, Stephen Dudley, Thomas Dudley, Thomas Underwood Dudley, William Dudley, and William Ambrose Dudley are named.
As you can see, there are many entries for Thomas Dudley. Thomas had come to New England on the Arabella with the Winthrop Fleet in 1630, and was involved with the formation of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, working closely with John Winthrop. Thomas served as governor, deputy governor, and other high ranking positions in the service of the Colony until his death in 1653.
According to Dudley Genealogies, by Dean Dudley, 1848, Thomas is said to have been a relative of Francis, which may or may not be true. Thomas did have a brother born in 1583 who was named Francis, indicating the name Francis was in his family, but Thomas had left England long before my ancestor Francis was born and he died two years before Francis arrived in New England.
You can learn more about Gov. Thomas Dudley on Wikipedia here and see some of Thomas Dudley's genealogy on Wikitree here. Note: Wikitree reports he had a brother named Francis who was born in 1583.
Stay tuned for more as I continue to attempt to trace Francis's roots. If you have any information to contribute, please contact me privately or use the public comments section below.