I am stuck at Emanuel Rouse born in 1673, by most accounts in Smithfield, Rhode Island, but some claim Barbados, and some claim somewhere in Devonshire. He seems to have been married to a Ann Harris in Clyst Hydon, Devon in the 1690s, and she seems to have died in Rhode Island, but there is no record of it. It seems odd that they left England right around the time John Rouse of the Rye House Plot was executed. Some claim he is the son of one of the sugar planters of Barbados, Thomas Rouse in particular is often mentioned. This may simply be a modern contrivance based on the notion that Emanuel is sounds like it should be a Hispanic name when in fact it was fairly common among English Quakers and even Puritans.
Some have also mentioned a John Rouse of Marshfield, however, that linage a pretty well-known and there is no Emanuel among them. Others have claimed a Thomas ‘Rose,’ however, DNA has just about proven that the Rouses and Roses are not closely related at all.
I have heard that a book The Genealogy of the Rouses of Devon contains information about the Barbados branch which might confirm, or at least eliminate Thomas Rouse of that place. In America they tended to marry into old lines of Cookes, Greenes, Clarks, and Tripps, which trace back a long way in England.
With many of my other lines claiming descent from Odin (seriously), having a roadblock on my direct paternal line is frustrating. Any help or advice is appreciated.
