Christopher Helme

Christopher Helme was the first Helm in my tree to come to America here is a bit about him.


Christopher HELME (William Elme, William Elmes, John) was baptized on 24 Jul 1603 in Long Sutton, Lincolnshire,
England. He married Margaret Rouse (?) circa 1639, perhaps in New Hampshire. He died between 26 May 1649 and
19 Dec 1650 in Warwick, Kent County, Rhode Island. He was also identified as Christopher "Elme" or "Elmes."
He is believed to have arrived in Boston in July of 1637 (a time of conflict between the colonists and the Pequot Indians in Rhode Island
and Connecticut). He was likely part of a group led by the Reverend John Wheelwright, a clergyman from Lincolnshire, who had
indirect family ties to Christopher’s stepmother Priscilla Wentworth. Wheelwright was the brother-in-law of Anne Hutchinson,
with whom he shared the same religious beliefs. Christopher’s step-mother Priscilla was Anne’s cousin. Wheelwright "was a man of
leading character, of advanced opinions, and of bold speech; one who in those times might well look forward to being silenced, any day,
for non-conformity." Wheelwright left Lincolnshire in 1632 and emigrated to New England in 1636. In Boston, he and Anne
Hutchinson soon became embroiled in religious upheavals which caused considerable turmoil in the Massachusetts Bay Colony for years.
Not long after his arrival Wheelwright was banished from Massachusetts and went to New Hampshire, where, along with thirty-four others
(including Christopher Helme), he signed the Exeter Combination on May 4, 1639.