John Cousins
John Cousins was a 17th-century English emigrant to the New England Colonies. Cousins River, Cousins Island and Littlejohn Island in what was then North Yarmouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony, are named for him.
Arrival in the Thirteen Colonies
After living firstly in Falmouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony, between 1626 and around 1635, he moved ten miles north to North Yarmouth a year or so before the arrival of his compatriot William Royall, living on a neck of land between branches of the Cousins River. He is regarded as second only to Royall in importance as a pioneer in the area.In 1645, he purchased from Richard Vines, Steward General and councillor for Sir Ferdinando Gorges, what became known as Cousins Island and Littlejohn Island, at the mouth of the Yarmouth River. The two islands were collectively known as the Hogg Islands at the time of Cousin's inhabitance. In 1647, he sold approximately half of Cousins Island to Richard Bray, who settled there with William Wise.
Conflicts forged by King Philip's War caused Cousins to abandon his Westcustogo home of over thirty years and move south. He was injured, and went to York to receive treatment.