Thomas Cushman (1607/08–1691) was a leader in Plymouth Colony, New England.
He arrived at the colony with his father Robert Cushman on the ship Fortune in November 1621. Robert Cushman returned to England alone, leaving Thomas as a ward of Governor William Bradford.
In 1649 Thomas succeeded William Brewster as Ruling Elder and held that position for over 40 years until his death. Over his long life Cushman became a person of note in the colony being involved in numerous important activities. His wife Mary was the daughter of Pilgrim Isaac Allerton.
English origins
Thomas Cushman was born in Canterbury, county Kent, England, being baptized at St. Andrew, Canterbury on February 8, 1607/8. His parents were Robert Cushman and Sara Reder, his father being a grocer at that time. When Thomas was very young, the family emigrated to Holland to follow the English Separatist religious movement.
The Cushman name
Robert Cushman seems to be one of the earlier carriers of this name, which over many years, per Kent parish records of the 16th and 17th centuries, derived from such surnames as Cowchman, Couchman, Cutchman, Cuchman, Crocheman, etc. The surname of Robert Cushman's father Thomas was Couchman.
Although spelled differently, the Couchmans of England had their deepest ancestry in Kent with Cranbrook at the center. Predominantly they were cloth makers, Flemish in origin, who with other countrymen came to several regions of England at the invitation of King Edward II around the year 1336. (from Thomas Fuller, Church History of England, 1837.)
Life in Holland
Robert Cushman was a wool-comber in Leiden, Holland. In 1616, his wife Sara and two children were buried at St. Peter's church in Leiden. Robert later married Mary (Clark) Shingleton on June 5, 1617. She was the widow of Thomas, shoemaker of Sandwich, Kent. Late in 1617, soon after his second marriage, Robert Cushman and John Carver were tasked by the Leiden congregation to go to the Council for Virginia in London to negotiate for patent within the company's grant. Robert Cushman was the Leiden, and later, the Plymouth contingent's Chief Agent in England from 1617 until his death in 1625. There is no further record of Robert Cushman's second wife. She may have been deceased before the Cushmans embarked in the Fortune in 1621 and therefore the reason Thomas was left with Bradford.
Life in New England
Robert Cushman and his son Thomas arrived on the ship Fortune on November 11, 1621, at New Plymouth. But Robert Cushman, having already been at sea for four months, returned to England shortly thereafter; this left young Thomas in the care of colony William Bradford. Bradford recorded that Robert Cushman's stay to attend to business regarding the London Adventurers agreement with the colony was “not above fourteen days”.
Thomas remained in Plymouth, working as a surveyor of roads and as a rate-assessor, among numerous other minor positions.
In the land division of 1623, he was paired with William Beale, the two of them receiving two “akers” (acres).
He was a Purchaser, that group involved in Plymouth colony investments and received a number of land grants.
His name also appears in the 1627 Division of the Cattle, which was, in effect, also a census. This was lot eleven, which listed, among others, the Bradfords, with whom Thomas was apparently living.
On January 1, 1633/34 he was admitted a Plymouth freeman.
On the 1643 “Able to Bear Arms” list, he is named along with the men from Plymouth.
On March 3, 1645/46 Cushman made a successful motion in court that Mr. Isaac Allerton be allowed a years time to recover his debts in the colony, Allerton being his father-in-law.
On April 6, 1649, he was chosen as Ruling Elder of the church, succeeding William Brewster, a position he held until his death.