• Thomas Cushman, son of the ruling elder who had succeeded Brewster, was ordered in 1664 to pay £5 for “carnall copulation” with his later wife, Ruth Howland, the daughter of Mayflower passengers John and Elizabeth (Tilley) Howland, though the court observed in this case the sin had occurred “before marriage but after contract.” It would seem an unusually long contract, for, the child being born on 4 October 1664, the sin would have occurred in January 1663/64, but the marriage did not take place until 17 November 1664.20

• Thomas Cushman and his wife were members of the church of Plympton. He resided on the west side of the highway that leads from Plympton meetinghouse to the north part of the town. The “Colechester Brook” ran through his farm.1868