Questions about Robert cushman LRGP-C89
there was this old family story that stated that Robert Workman was knighted by the king of England and he the kong changed Robert’s name to Cushman then the story becomes about Robert Cushman. I can find nothing about a knighting of either Workman or Cushman.
there was a Robert Cushman but i don’t think he was a workman at any time and i think the knighting is untrue. What do you think?
Comments
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The Robert Cushman you reference in Family Tree shows parents with the surname Cushman (or Coucherman) so it seems highly unlikely that his name could have been changed from Workman as an adult.
There is a Wikipedia article about this Robert
In my experience most family stories are the result of wishful thinking by one or more family members at some time in the past. Having said that, it is not always easy to prove a negative.
Where does the name Workman feature?
Regards
Graham Buckell
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Dear Graham
here is where I found it
www.workmanfamily.org
then select histories then john workman
Workman Family History
by Mary Workman Chidester
It is a cherished story by the Workman family that Robert Cushman, who made it possible for the Pilgrim Fathers to emigrate to America was Robert Workman before the King of England dubbed him a knight and changed his name to Cushman. Robert and two brothers had passage to America on the Mayflower, but when the Speedwell was counted unseaworthy, and some of the company had to return to England and wait until another ship could be had to carry them across the water, it was decided by Merers Cushman, Carver, and Bradford, that it was better for Cushman to go back as he would have more influence with the King in securing another ship, so Robert Cushman and his brothers went back to England and let passengers from the Speedwell take their place on the Mayflower; they came over later.
Robert Cushman came over a year later on the Fortune, but had to go back to England in the interest of the colonies. He left his only son with Governor Bradford until his return saying, "I want this to be my last trip. I want to spend the rest of my days in this fair land of freedom, where I can worship God as I feel and lay down my bones in this fair land." But he sickened and died while in England. His son Robert is the progenitor of the Cushman family in America.
This Cushman story has been told to me by different members of the family in different States of the Union which testifies of its authenticity. However, when the brothers began to hold land in America, they took back thier true name Workman.
Sixty years later I began to gather and compile data for a Workman family history, the first thing necessary seemed to be to hunt down a copy of the history, written by John Workman. The one he had kept had been taken by his youngest son Hyrum Smith Workman who was unmarried at the time, and lived with his father. Some years after his father's death, Hyrum gave this history to a negro attorney that he might recover some of the property, especially the real-estate abandoned by his father in Tenn. I went to this attorney's office in Ogden, Utah and hunted and searched thru trunks, suitcases and boxes to no avail. He remembered it well and declared he had never lost anything, so it must be there. He gave some description of it as did others who had seen it, but we were forced to give up the search and count it lost. I turned my foot steps to Loamie, Illinois. Mrs William Workman Jr. Daughter-in-law to William Workman, brother of John Workman was still living. She remembered the book vividly, and gave the same description others had given, she said, " It was 6 or 8 inches wide 12 inches long and 2 ½ inches thick, with a yellow leather back beautifully written in Italics with his own pen. You could read it just as easily as you could read print." Then she told the this story; " In Williams Jrs. Last sickness we were all around his bed. He was conscious to his last breath. We knew that he had the Workman family history after his father's death, but no one had thought of it for perhaps years. My husband had no more than closed his eyes in death, when our son William Franklin turned to me in excitement and asked, "where is that Workman Family History that John sent to his grandfather." If he had thought of it a few minutes sooner and asked his father he no doubt could have told him what had become of it. But I did not know. He hunted cellar to garret. Every little while he would snap his fingers and stamp his foot saying, " I would give a thousand dollars if I could find that history." But he never did."
In Huntington, West Virginia, I found some descendants of Michael Workman. They told me that the one sent to Michael was handed down through a daughter until it was out of the Workman family. A lady of the third generation had it. She married a wealthy man and lives in Paris France, where they understood the history is reclining in a bank vault.
When I asked for an address, they said the last they heard she and her daughter were making a trip around the world and met an accident in Vancouver, Wash. The daughter was thought to be permanently paralyzed and they did not know where to locate them, but if they ever did get in touch with them again they would send me word.
Thus the family history that John labored so diligently to leave with the world has vanished without reaching hands who would have preserved it.
Zerma Ann Davis Herbert copied this history while at the D. U. P. Museum in Salt Lake City, Utah. Hannah Workman was her Great Grandmother. Mother of her Grandmother Delilah Davis. Hannah is Linda Bohrn's Great - Great - Great Grandmother.
there is more but i just copied the pertinent facts
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Thank you for that. Without spending any time researching it, I remain skeptical. "This Cushman story has been told to me by different members of the family in different States of the Union which testifies of its authenticity." I do not find this argument particularly convincing. All it says to me is that the story originated in an earlier generation and was passed down to several branches of the family. Stories can persist over many generations but that does not make them true. I go back to my comment in my previous post about his parentage. Of course that might be wrong. It is not unusual for people to look for a record with the right name and date and assume that the first one found is correct. But I also find it odd that the alleged knighthood is not referred to in the Wikipedia article. It is highly unlikely that a knighthood would be overlooked. Also his history does not suggest the sort of person that would have received a knighthood. It should be possible to check lists of knights. For example I found the following:
As has been proved, modern times are not the sole source of urban legends. They have been going on for many centuries!
Regards
Graham
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