Click on this paragraph to link to the town of Ipswich, Massachusetts, and the list of early town records avaiable on its website. 

John and Elizabeth (Thomson) Cogswell, who removed to the American colonies in 1635 aboard the ill-fated ship Angel Gabriel, came from the town of Westbury in Wiltshire, England.  The home which they owned before leaving England is located just a few hundred feet south of All Saints Church in Westbury.  It remains in good repair and in use as a private residence nearly 400 years after they departed for America.

Genealogical researchers and most family historians look for a collection of source records to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that information gathered and subsequently presented in various publications is accurate and true.  The Cogswell Genealogical Research website was established to help all viewers make their own assessments as to which parts of the family history are facts, and which are fiction.

This website begins with pages specific to both the Cogswell and Thomson surnames.

Notice that we use the spelling of "Thomson" for Elizabeth's birth surname, not "Thompson" as is frequently recorded elsewhere.  When Elizabeth's father, Vicar William Thomson, made entries in the parish register at Westbury, he consistently spelled his surname without a "p" in it.