John Mariner (abt. 1644 - 1717)

Born about 12 Mar 1644 in Guer, Morbihan, Bretagne, France [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 21 Dec 1717 at about age 73 in Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts

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Biography

John Mariner was born in 1644. It is probable that he came to Boston, Massachusetts with a number of French Protestants in 1687.^[1]

John Mariner was married twice: first to Elizabeth^[2], and secondly to Rachel^[3]

Known children of John and his first wife:^[4]

1. John, b between 1680-1685 in France
2. Martha, was living in 1688, but probably died young
3. Susanna, m John Dolliver Nov 1, 1700; d Feb 28, 1706

John Mariner died Dec 21, 1717.^[1]

Note

Source:^[1]

"John Marin, or Mariner, was a poor minister who had felt the full effects of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685 ; yet, as the preacher Saurin said, "A thousand dreadful blows were struck at our afflicted churches before that which destroyed them." The pastors of the Reformed Church, as soon as the Revocation was registered, on October 22, were allowed fifteen days for their departure from the kingdom ; in addition, every cunning device was used to prevent their crossing the border within that time. They were allowed to take neither wife nor children, and forbidden to carry their movables or to dispose of their estates. Yet hundreds of pastors escaped, and were joined by their families in England, Ireland, or America, though stripped of all their worldly possessions. "

It must be acknowledged, here was one of the most violent persecutions that is to be found in history,"

"The unwritten story of the Rev. John Mariner can only be imagined : the long and tedious voyage on board ship, at a time when comforts were unknown ; his arrival in a foreign country and struggle with a foreign tongue ; and his attempts at unaccustomed manual labor, to which most of the refugees were reduced. Of the intervening years he has left no sign ; but in 1708, when he was sixty-four years of age, his name appeared in the Gloucester records with that of his son John. It is quite probable that he was living there in 1700, when his daughter Susanna was married to John Dolliver.

"The Commoners or Proprietors of Gloucester, on June 22, 1708, granted to "John Mariner . . . about six acres of ground att the Cape Side . . . and the lot said Mariner drew the 25th January 1709 fell out to be the sixty fourth lot in number." On the former date, there also was granted to John Mariner " about twelve acres of ground on Chebacco Side," which was toward Ipswich. At a meeting of the Proprietors, February 22, 1715, it was "Voted that the Comoners will give to John Mariner money or land equivolent to one thatch lot." Two years later, his death is thus recorded: "John Mariner (aged about 73 years) Dyed Dec. 21, 1717."

"On March 5, 1722/3, the Proprietors, according to a vote taken February 27, preceding, "laid out unto the widow Marriner about three acres of land bounded (above Fresh Water Cove) beginning at a black birch tree, being John Marriners bound: thence west northerly about 13 rods to a beach tree marked being John Doliver's bound : " This widow of John Mariner must have been a second wife, since the record of her death is given : " Rachel Marriner widow aged about 76 years. Dyed Oct. 24, 1723."

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Underhill, Lora Altine Woodbury Descendants of Edward Small of New England, and the Allied Families, with Tracings of English Ancestry, Volume 3, published 1910. Reference pages 1120-1121
2. ↑ Underhill, page 1120
3. ↑ Underhill, page 1121
4. ↑ Underhill, page 1121-22

• Upper Brittany, France Births & Baptisms, 1501-1907, Ancestry.com

• Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook).