BIRTH: 15 JUL 1662, Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA
DEATH: 6 SEP 1725, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, USA
FATHER: Robert Sprout (?-1712)
MOTHER: Elizabeth Samson (1638-1711)
SPOUSE: Thomas Oldham (1660-1733)
Mercy Sprout was born on July 15, 1662, in Scituate, Massachusetts, the daughter of Elizabeth and Robert. She married Thomas Oldham on June 27, 1683, in her hometown. They had 10 children in 19 years. She died on September 6, 1725, in Plymouth, Massachusetts, at the age of 63, and was buried in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Her story
Born on 15 July 1662 in the coastal town of Scituate, Plymouth Colony, Mercy Sprout entered a world still shaped by the legacy of the Mayflower. Her maternal grandfather, Henry Sampson, had arrived on that storied ship in 1620, and Mercy grew up in a family steeped in the values and struggles of early colonial life. Her parents, Robert Sprout, a Scottish immigrant, and Elizabeth Sampson, a native of Duxbury, raised her amid the rhythms of Puritan devotion, hard work, and community resilience.
As a young girl, Mercy would have witnessed the aftermath of King Philip’s War (1675–1678), a brutal conflict that reshaped the landscape and relationships between settlers and Indigenous peoples. These formative years likely instilled in her a sense of caution and fortitude.
On 27 June 1683, Mercy married Thomas Oldham, a union that would anchor her to the growing townships of Plymouth County. Together, they raised a large family—at least 10 children, including sons Joseph, Joshua and John, and daughters Mary, Mercy, Elizabeth, Desire, and Grace. Their household would have been a bustling center of activity, with children helping in the fields, tending livestock, and learning scripture by candlelight.
Mercy’s life spanned a period of transformation in New England. She saw the consolidation of colonial governments, the rise of trade and maritime commerce, and the early stirrings of dissent that would one day lead to revolution. Through it all, she remained rooted in her faith and family, passing down the legacy of the Sampson line—a lineage that connected her to one of the founding stories of America.
She died on 6 September 1725 and was laid to rest in South Pond Cemetery in Plymouth. Her grave, like many from that era, may bear a simple inscription, but her life was anything but ordinary. Mercy Sprout embodied the endurance, devotion, and quiet strength of colonial women whose names rarely appear in history books but whose lives shaped generations.
Legacy of Mercy Sprout
Parents
Father: Robert Sprout (?-1712)
Mother: Elizabeth Samson (1638-1711)
Married
Married Thomas Oldham (1660-1733) on June 27, 1683, in Scituate, Massachusetts.
Children
- Joshua Oldham (1684-1759) married 1st Mehitable Gorham (1683-1747), 2nd Bathsheba Bradfud (1703-?)
- Mary Oldham (1686-1775) married John Bisbee (1690-1773)
- Mercy Oldham (1689-1775) married Andrew Newcom (1680-1748)
- Elizabeth Oldham (1691-1742) married John Damon (1684-1742)
- Abigail Oldham (1693-1742) married Nathaniel Eames (?-1773)
- Anna Oldham (1695-1766) married Joseph Young (1692-1770)
- Desire Oldham (1698-1786) married Samuel Tilden Jr (1695-1774)
- Thomas Oldham (1699-1735) married Desire Wormwall (1709-1736)
- Caleb Oldham (1702-1785) married Bethiah Stephens (1703-?)
- Grace Oldham (1704-1784) married Anthony Eames (1704-1774)
Documents
- Birth Records
- Massachusetts, U.S., Compiled Birth, Marriage, and Death Records, 1700-1850 > Scituate Births > Name: Mercy Sprout; Gender: Female; Birth Date: 15 Jul 1662; Birth Place: Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA; Father: Robert Sprout
- History of Scituate, Massachusetts > Family Sketches in Alphabetical Series > Robert Sproat > Children
- Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 > Scituate Births, Marriages, and Death > Mercy Sprout birth record
- Find a Grave Birth Date: 15 Jul 1662
- Marriage records
- U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700 > Name: Mercy Oldham; Maiden Name: Sprout; Gender: Female; Birth Year: 1662; Marriage Date: 27 Jun 1683; Marriage Place: New England, USA; Spouse: Thomas Oldham
- New England, The Great Migration and The Great Migration Begins, 1620-1635 > Vol 5, M-P > Marriage of Thomas Oldham and Mercy Sprout
- Massachusetts, U.S., Compiled Marriages, 1633-1850; Name: Mercy Sprout; Gender: Female; Marriage Date: 27 Jun 1683; Place: Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts; Spouse: Thomas Oldam
- U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 > Name: Mercy Sprout; Gender: Female; Birth Place: MA; Birth Year: 1662; Spouse Name: Thomas Oldham; Spouse Birth Place: MA; Spouse Birth Year: 1660; Marriage Year: 1683; Marriage State: MA; Number Pages: 1
- Death records
- Find a Grave Death: 6 Sep 1725
- Burial: South Pond Cemetery, Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, USA
- Other
- Mayflower Births and Deaths, Vol. 1 and 2 > Children of Thomas Oldham and Mercy Sprout
- Mayflower Increasings > Samson > Will of Robert Sprout
- Representative men and old families of southeastern Massachusetts > Vol III > Robert Sproat, of Scituate in 1660, later became a resident of Middleboro. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Sampson, of Duvbury, who was a member of the family of Edward Tilley, and a passenger of the “Mayflower,” 1620. Robert and Elizabeth’s children were: Mercy, born in 1662; Elizabeth, born in 1664; Mary, born in 1666; Robert, born in 1669; Anna, born in 1671; James, born in 16″73; Ebenezer, born in 1676; and Hannah, born in 1680.
Relation of Mercy Sprout to Steven Barry Staggs: 9th great-grandmother
Page last updated November 30, 2025
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