From the book, Ellenwood, Wharton and 20 Allied Families;

In 1635 the ship, ABIGAIL came from England, and among her passengers was, "MR. EDMUND FREEMAN, who presented to the Colony twenty corsletts or pieces of plate armor." The use of the "MR." before his name is of interest, as the History of Massachusetts Bay tells us that in a list of 100 freemen not more than four or five were distinguished by this title. He was at Saugus (Lynn) in 1635, admitted freeman at Plymouth 2 Jan. 1637, was of Duxbury a short time, and was one of the "ten men of Saugus" mentioned in Plymouth Records 3 April 1637 who were granted authority to form a new settlement, which was the first English town on Cape Cod, the Town of Sandwich. We learn his status from the fact that, of the 58 who were entitled to shares in the division of lands, his portion was much the largest. He was early appointed the head of a court of three, was always prominent and influential, and from 1640 to 1647 was successively elected assistant to Governor Bradford.

EDMOND (1) FREEMAN, b. Pulborough, Essex, England 1590, d. in Sandwich 1682, where his grave may still be seen. Confusion has existed regarding his wives, and grateful acknowledgment is given the well known genealogist, John Insley Coddington, who furnished me the following data based on research he did in England in 1936-37: "EDMOND (1) FREEMAN m. 1st at Cowfold, Co. Sussex, Eng. 16 June 1617, BENNET(T) HODSOLL, and she was the mother of his six children. He m. 2nd at a date and place unknown, perhaps in England, perhaps in New England, a widow named ELIZABETH(???)." Her gravestone in Sandwich reads: Born in England 1600 Died in Sandwich 1675-6.

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From the book, Thomas Tupper and His Descendants;

Mr. Edmund Freeman, a native of Pulborough, county Sussex, was a brother-in-law to John Beauchamp, merchant of London, to whom the leaders of the colony in New Plymouth were heavily indebted. Mr. Freeman was also brother-in-law of the Earl of Warwick, whose word went a great way with the leaders of the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay. He came over under power of attorney from John Beauchamp to collect monies due from the Plymouth colonists, and also armed with authority to organize a colonization under his own initiative granted through the direction of his powerful kinsman. He made the collections for his principal, and opportunely, after a short residence in Duxbury, he made use of his organizing authority to promote the establishment of a town on Cape Cod, the first in that section of the Colony.

At a sitting of the Court of Assistants held at Plymouth 3 April 1637 permission was obtained from the government of New Plymouth to begin this settlement, in these oft-quoted words: "... agreed by the Court that those ten men of Saugus, viz: Edmund Freeman, Henry Feake, Thomas Dexter, Edward Dillingham, William Wood, John Carman, Richard Chadwell, William Almy, Thomas Tupper and George Knott, shall have liberty to view a place to sit down and have sufficient lands for three score families, upon the conditions propounded by the Governor and Mr. Winslow." The result of this action was the settlement of what came to be called Sandwich, the first town on Cape Cod, and the ten men named, known as the proprietors of the new town, were soon on the ground. The grant was made to these ten men on the assumption that they were all church members and freemen, and that being such they would receive into the township when organized only such persons as already were church members or fit to become so. Mr. Edmund Freeman picked his own associates in the enterprise, and the nine men who with himself were known as the ten proprietors of Sandwich were of his own choice from the list of his personal friends. It has been stated that Freeman displayed a well balanced judgment in this choice, with respect to his associates' station in life and their respective ages. Including himself five were men of means, the other four being Carman, Dexter, Feake and Chadwell, the other five being in contrasting moderate circumstances, namely, Almy, Dillingham, Wood, Tupper and Knott. Similarly, ages were balanced; Dexter, Feake, Carman, Knott and Tupper being each well past fifty, whereas Freeman himself, Almy, Dillingham, Wood and Chadwell were all comparatively young men. Whether or not this adjustment was intentional on his part it worked to advantage, and in any event the apportionment gives us an interesting angle on the ten proprietors. Of the ten, five eventually moved from the community, the five remaining to end their days in Sandwich being Edmund Freeman, George Knott, Richard Chadwell, Edward Dillingham and Thomas Tupper.