John Breed Sr
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John Breed Sr (1663 - 1751)

John Breed Sr
Born in Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts Baymap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married 11 Apr 1689 in Stonington, New London, Connecticut Colonymap
Descendants descendants
Died at about age 87 in Stonington, New London County, Connecticut Colonymap
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Profile last modified | Created 14 Sep 2010
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Contents

Biography

John Breed was born in Lynn, Massachusetts on January 28th, 1662/3 to Allen Breed II and Mary Sargent [1],[2] [3].

In 1688, John moved to Stonington, Connecticut, becoming (by some accounts) the 10th settler. He bought land from Gershom Palmer, and married his daughter, Mercy.

John became known as the head of the "Stonington Branch" of the Breed family. [4]

The Stonington Branch of the Breed Family complied by Olive Randall Smith Buckley, State Consulting Registrar Wisconsin DAR, tells us "John Breed established himself as a leather tanner and one of the stones which he used in his mill may still be seen near the side door step of the home of Mr. Henry Breed. His old mansion, built in 1689, large, square and painted white, was said to have rooms so large that 51 yards of carpet was required to cover the floor of one room. With four generations of Breeds all living in Stonington at the same time, and a John, a Joseph and an Allen in each generation, it would indeed be difficult to ascertain with certainty the dates of erection of the various old "Breed Homesteads" in Stonington or even to identify each one." [5]

Mercy was admitted to the First Congregational Church on April 18th, 1689. John was admitted on April 13th, 1690. The church was also known as "The Road Church" and Mercy's father, Gershom, would later become Deacon of the church. [6]

Marriage

John married Mercy Palmer on April 11th, 1689 in Stonington, New London, Connecticut. [7] [6] The image attached to this profile from the History of the town of Stonington, county of New London, Connecticut lists their marriage date as 8 Jun 1690. [8] This date is also shown in The Essex Genealogist article by Marcia Lindberg. [3] In Walter Palmer of Charlestown and Rehoboth family history they combine the two dates as 11 April (or 8 June) 1698/90, with "1698" being a mis-type for 1689. [6] The actual church record shows a recorded date of April 11th, 1689. [9]

Children

John Breed and Mercy (Palmer) had the following children, all born in Stonington, Connecticut:

  1. Mercy Breed (1 Mar 1691-1691)[10]
  2. Ann Breed (08 Nov 1693-23 Jul 1771)[11]
  3. Mary Breed (8 Jan 1697-20 Mar 1744)[12]
  4. John Breed (26 Jan 1700-24 Jan 1781)[13]
  5. Elizabeth Breed (6 Jan 1701-16 Jan 1770)[14]
  6. Sarah Breed (1 Feb 1704-23 Jul 1771)[15]
  7. Zurviah Breed (27 Aug 1706-14 Jun 1731)[16]
  8. Joseph Breed (4 Oct 1708-1786)[17]
  9. Berthiah Breed (30 Dec 1710-1774) [18]
  10. Allen Breed (29 Aug 1714-____) [19]
  11. Gearshom Breed (15 Nov 1715-5 Jan 1777)[20]

Death

John Breed passed away in 1751 at Stonington, New London, Connecticut [21]. His grave is in Wequetequock burying ground, northeast of Stonington near junction of Palmer Neck Rd. & Greenhaven Rd., Pawcatuck, Connecticut [22].

The Wequetequock burying ground (GPS 41.357, -71.876), contains two shared grave markers commemorating John Breed & Mercy Palmer. The original stone, depicted in the primary photo of this profile, was partially broken and severely eroded. A replacement stone was erected by the descendants of John Breed & Mercy Palmer about 20 years after their passing, and stands at the foot of their graves, thus in front of the original stone. The inscription on the replacement stone reads:

::"In Memory of a pious pair,

This carved ſtone is erected here,
viz, Mr. JOHN BREED &his wife
MERCY, who lived together in ye
marriage ſtate in a moſt religious manner
about 64 years & then decd leaving
a numerous ofſspring- he in ye year
1751 about 90 years of age & she in
ye year 1752 about 83. erected in ye
year 1772. 6 of their Children then
living.......
Behold the righteous live long on earth,
And in old age reſign their Breath,
They & their Ofſpring here are blessed:
When done with life they go to rest."

Notes

This John Breed was not the person who married Mary Kirtland, as erroneously chronicled in early publications of the region. Mary Kirtland's husband was Captain John Breed the son of John Breed (brother of Allen). Capt John Breed remained in Lynn and was the paternal first cousin of this John Breed. [23]. The cited online memorial site has been corrected to more accurately represent this John Breed, as well as his singular wife, Mercy Palmer.

The "Road Church" where John and Mercy were married, as were thousands of other inhabitants far and wide in southeastern Connecticut, was referred to by this colloquial term because it is located on the Boston Road, the main thoroughfare of that age between New York City and Boston. Today, U.S. Route 1 follows roughly that same route.

Sources

  1. Vital Records of Lynn, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849 (The Essex Institute, Salem, Mass., 1905) Vol. 1, Page 61. Birth given as "28 : 11m : 1662"
  2. "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (4 December 2014), John Bread, 28 Jan 1662; citing Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, ; FHL microfilm 877,468.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Lindberg, Marcia, The Breed Family, The Essex Genealogist, New England Historic Genealogical Society: 1991-3, AmericanAncestors.org, Volume 12, No. 1, page 34, paid subscription site.
  4. Breed Family Association, Volume 16 (1963), Page 44
  5. Breed Family Association, Volume 2 (1923), John Breed Newhall, presiding; Page 28, para. 4.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Buys Doris Palmer. Walter Palmer of Charlestown and Rehoboth, Massachusetts and Stonington, Connecticut: a 400 year (1585-1985) family history. Orem, Utah: Published for the Compiler by Historical Publications, 1986. Contains known errors, use with caution.
  7. Connecticut, Town Marriage Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection)
  8. Wheeler, Richard Anson. History of the town of Stonington, county of New London, Connecticut, from its first settlement in 1649 to 1900. New London, Conn: Press of the Day, 1900. page 787, digitized by Google from the library of the University of Virginia Publisher. Contains known errors, use with caution.
  9. FindMyPast.com, paid subscription site.
  10. Ancestry.com. Connecticut, Church Record Abstracts, 1630-1920 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: 2013. Original data: Connecticut. Church Records Index. Connecticut State Library, Hartford, Connecticut.
  11. "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906," database, FamilySearch (3 December 2014), John Breed in entry for Ann Breed, 08 Nov 1693; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown.
  12. "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906," database, FamilySearch (3 December 2014), John Breed in entry for Mary Breed, 28 Jun 1697; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown.
  13. "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906," database, FamilySearch (3 December 2014), John Breed in entry for John Breed, 26 Jan 1699; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown.
  14. "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906," database, FamilySearch (3 December 2014), John Breed in entry for Elizabeth Breed, 28 Jun 1702; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown
  15. "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906," database, FamilySearch (3 December 2014), John Breed in entry for Sarah Breed, Feb 1703; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown.
  16. "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906," database, FamilySearch (3 December 2014), John Breed in entry for Zurviah Breed, 27 Aug 1706; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown.
  17. "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906," database, FamilySearch (3 December 2014), John Breed in entry for Joseph Breed, 04 Oct 1708; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown.
  18. "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906," database, FamilySearch (3 December 2014), John Breed in entry for Bethiah Breed, 30 Dec 1710; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown.
  19. "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906," database, FamilySearch (3 December 2014), John Breed in entry for Allin Breed, 29 Aug 1714; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown.
  20. "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906," database, FamilySearch (3 December 2014), John Breed in entry for Gearshom Breed, 15 Nov 1715; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown.
  21. "Connecticut Deaths and Burials, 1772-1934," database, FamilySearch (accessed 7 July 2015), John Breed, 1751; citing , reference p 62; FHL microfilm 3,364.
  22. Find A Grave: Memorial #16224222
  23. Breed Family Association vol. #8 (1929), John Breed Newhall, presiding; Page 225, para. 6.




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Comments: 16

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Last year a new Find A Grave memorial was created with some known errors on this John. I have requested a merge of the two memorials on FAG since they are similar to WikiTree in that only one memorial per person is allowed.
Now that the merge on FAG is completed, I’ve requested changes for the other issues as mentioned in research notes above. Thanks John for all your hard work on this profile!
After doing further research, I've discovered that John was NOT the 10th settler of Stonington. The land that the town was situated on was originally called Wequetequock and was first settled by William Chesebrough in 1649. The next settlers were (in order) Thomas Stanton, Thomas Miner, Gov. Haynes who sold his land to Walter Palmer, Capt George Denison, Capt John Gallup, and Robert Park. The town was then formed and called Mystic and Pawcatuck. The name of Mystic was changed to Stonington in May 1666 and in a 1668 census there were 43 families settler there, and John Breed was not listed, he was only 6 years old and living with his parents in Lynn at that time.

Wheeler Richard Anson, History of the town of Stonington, county of New London, Connecticut: from its frist settlement in 1649 to 1900 (New London, Conn: Press of the Day Publishing Company, 1900), page 18.

What you do in cleaning up would be most appreciated.
This bio goes on for pages and pages, any issue with me cleaning it up? I see no reason why the same thing is listed three times (twice listing sources for his kids, urls that are running off the page because the format isn't right, etc.)

Would love to help. Please see what I've done here- https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Breed-145 John is also a patriot of the Revolutionary war since he fired at the British from his house. Would love to include information about HIM and his immediate family in his bio so we get a sense of who he is. Let me know. Thanks!

I would suspect the wrong date come from the error on the image attached to this profile which also shows the wrong wife. I will correct it to match the bio and sources and add a note about the date being wrong on the attached photo.
Question- I noticed this in my own genealogy program and came here to verify sources and low and behold, the same issue is here!

Up above at the top where is shows wife of Mercy Palmer is the marriage date of 8 Jun 1690. But in the bio is shown 11 Apr 1689. The source cited (#3) shows 11 Apr 1689. Where is the 8 Jun 1690 coming from?

On the notes from Feb 2018 shown below- the John that Married Mary Kirtland had one child, Sarah who died about 6 months old and they never had any other children. They actually raised Mary's two grand nieces and another orphan that was related to Mary. I just did research on them, very interesting. Anyway, that John was a son of John, and a grandson of Allen(1) but it looks like the bio here explains it pretty well.

In which case, I imagine some of the children shown as his actually may belong to the other John and should be removed as his (and added to the other John Breed).
According to Breed Family Association vol. 8 (1929), p. 225 this John married Mercy Palmer and Mary Kirtland was married to Capt John Breed of Lynn, a cousin. Also the biography on this page states John-12's first wife was named Ann.
posted by Jennifer Lapham
Some birth dates and spelling of children's names are incorrect on attached profiles, you may want to check them out.

Have a Great Day. :)

posted by Loretta (Leger) Corbin
Breed-445 and Breed-12 appear to represent the same person because: Same father, siblings, spouse, child, dates, locations.
Breed-445 and Breed-12 are not ready to be merged because: Different mothers.

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