Many present day members of the Richmond Family are direct descendants of the Mayflower pilgrims. In the fall of 1620, a small group courageous pilgrims left Leyden, Holland and immigrated to America to found the Plymouth Colony on the shores of Cape Cod Bay. Although no Richmonds were aboard the Mayflower, the children and grandchildren of the early Massachusetts settler, John Richmond, lived and grew up in the same Plymouth Colony communities as the Mayflower descendants.

The Richmond Mayflower connection comes through the descendants of Thomas Rogers of the Mayflower. Thomas was a Leyden contingent and also a signer of the Mayflower Compact. The ancestry of Thomas Rogers had for many years remained a question. The lineage for Thomas Rogers recognized by the Thomas Rogers Society is the research completed by Clifford Stott and published in the Genealogist in 1989. Stott states that Thomas Rogers (1572-1598) was the son of William and Eleanor Rogers and the grandson of William and Joan Rogers. Thomas married Alice Cosford (October 24, 1597; Watford, Northampton, England). The baptismal records for his children are all found in the parish records of Watford, Northampton, England. It also states that Thomas Rogers is not a descendent of John Rogers the Martyr, which misinformation has been often published.

The traditional lineage, no longer accepted, was portrayed by John Cox Underwood in his book Lineage of the Rogers Family published in 1911. To view a synopsis of this traditional information as written by R. Walton click here.

Thomas Rogers became a citizen of Leyden, Holland on June 25, 1618 with the sponsors William Jepson and Roger Wilson, and was called a Camelot-merchant. Two years later on April 1, 1620, he sold his house in Leyden before coming to America on the Mayflower. Thomas was a business man and not a Puritan or Pilgrim. He took advantage of the connection he had made with them while living in Holland, and joined them on their trip. Thomas brought his third son, Joseph with him on the Mayflower. Only his fourth son, John Rogers is known to also have come to America. Thomas Rogers died during the first winter at the Plymouth Colony in 1621.

John Richmond (1637-1663), who was the son of John Richmond, was the first Richmond to marry a pilgrim wife. He married Abigail Rogers (1641-1663), the daughter of John Rogers and Ann Churchman and the granddaughter of Thomas Rogers. This line has produced many Mayflower descendants.

Colonel Silvester Richmond (1672-1754), son of Edward Richmond and Abigail Davis and grandson of John Richmond also married a pilgrim wife. Silvester married Elizabeth Rogers in 1693. She was a niece of the Abigail Rogers who married Silvester's uncle John. Elizabeth's father was John Rogers, son of John Rogers and Ann Churchman and grandson of Thomas Rogers. Descendants of Silvester and Elizabeth have a second Mayflower line through her mother Elizabeth Pabodie whose parents were Hon. William Pabodie and Elizabeth Alden, the daughter of pilgrim John Alden and his wife Priscilla Mullins. Col. Silvester Richmond and his wife had 11 children to carry on this double Mayflower lineage.