George Fairbanks Sr. (1619 - 1683)

Born 28 Nov 1619 in Halifax Parish, Yorkshire, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Adams) Fairbanks — married 26 Oct 1646 in Dedham, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died 10 Jan 1683 at age 63 in Medfield, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Biography

George Fairbanks Sr. immigrated to New England as a child during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640).

George Fairbanks was baptized 28 Nov 1619 in Halifax Parish, Yorkshire, England, the son of Jonathan and Grace (Smith) Fayrbanke. ^[1] He was named in his father's will, dated 01 Jun 1668, as his second son.^[2]

He came as a young man with his father from England by 1637 and resided in Dedham until about 1657. The home where he lived in Dedham is now on the National Register of Historic Places as the oldest known wooden structure in North America.^[3] He later moved to the southern part of Sherborn, which later became Medway, and today is Millis.^[4] George was the first settler there and was an esteemed citizen, a selectman, and a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company.^[4]

On 26 October 1646, George married Mary Addams in Dedham.^[5] She died August 11, 1711 in Mendon,^[6] probably at the home of her son-in-law, William Holbrook."^[7]

George drowned 10 Jan 1682/3 in Medway,^[4][8][9][4] and was buried in Old South Cemetery, Sherborn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.^[10] Administration of his estate was granted to his widow Mary on 31 May 1683.^[11]

"Captain George Fairbanks ... was the first settler in the vicinity [Sherborn], and he became a prominent and highly esteemed citizen. He was selectman of Sherborn, and belonged to the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Boston. The homestead passed down through four George Fairbanks in succession, then two Silas Fairbanks, and went out of the hands of the family about 1820. His was the famous stone house on the northern border of Bogistow Pond, in the eastern part of the town, now in Millis. That which has been more recently known as the Fairbanks farm was the southern part of his large landed estate. The stone house was originally the garrison house built by the residents of Bogistow farms as a place of refuge from the Indians. It was 65 by 70 feet long, two stories high, made of flat stones laid in clay mortar, with a double row of portholes on all sides, and was lined with heavy oak plank. The stones have all been carried away, and there is no trace of the house. In 1662 George Fairbanks signed the first petition for the incorporation of the town of Sherborn. He signed also the second and successful petition in 1674, and he had land granted in Sherborn. He was selectman four years, and on the committee to engage the first minister. He was a man of sterling character. His descendants are widely scattered throughout this country, Canada and Nova Scotia."^[12]

Children of George and Mary (Adams) Fairbanks:^[4][13][14]

1. Mary, born November 10, 1647, Dedham;^[15] married August 11, 1665, Deacon Joseph Daniels.
   
2. George, born May 26, 1650, Dedham. ^[16]
3. Samuel, born October 28, 1652, Dedham;^[17] died November 20, 1676.
4. Eliesur/Eleazer, born June 8, 1655, Dedham;^[18] d. June 10, 1745.
5. Jonas, born February 23, 1656/7, Dedham;^[19] died November 28, 1676.
6. Jonathan, born May 1, 1662, Medfield;^[20] died December 18, 1719.
7. Margaret, born June 27, 1664, Medfield;^[21] married William Holbrook, of Mendon.

Sources

1. ↑ Ruth Fairbanks Joseph and James Swan Landberg, "Jonathan Fairbank of Dedham, Massachusetts, and his family in the West Riding of Yorkshire," NEHGS Register, Vol. 166 (July 2012), p. 165
2. ↑ Lorenzo Sayles Fairbanks, Genealogy of the Fairbanks Family in America 1633-1897 (Boston, MA: pub. by the author [American Printing & Egraving Co.], 1897), pp. 32-33 *Ite I glue & bequeath to George (ffarbanke my secon)d sonne & to his heyers for euer, sixteene pounds the one halle whereof shall be payed to him within the space of one ( .... ) yeare next ensueing after the decease of my said wife; And whereas I haue allready giuen and doe herby confirme to my said sonne George all that my prt in the generaIl deuident (dividend ?) already laid out thro Meadfield & some workinge tooles & such like small things, my will & my mind is, That the said percell of lande and those tooles and other small thing soe giuen shall be all indifferently & Equally aprized and if they shall together amount to the value of eight pounds then it shall be accounted for his first payment.
3. ↑ The Fairbanks House
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4} Lorenzo Sayles Fairbanks, Genealogy of the Fairbanks Family in America, 1633-1897 (Boston, Printed by the American printing and engraving company, 1897), pp. 14-15, [37-38.
5. ↑ Don Gleason Hill, compiler, The Record of Baptisms, Marriages & Deaths ... Town of Dedham, MA, 1638-1845 (Dedham, MA: Town of Dedham, 1886), p. 22 "[1646] George Fairebanck & Mary Addams was married the 26 of the 8 mo."
6. ↑ "Fairbank, Mary, w. of ____ ["Geo." handwritten in NEHGS online copy], Oct. 11, 1711." Thomas W. Baldwin, compiler, Vital Records of Mendon, MA, to the Year 1850 (Boston, MA: NEHGS, 1920), p. 465
7. ↑ Ellery Bicknell Crane, Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts: With a History of Worcester Society of Antiquity (N.Y. & Chicago: Lewis Publishing, 1907), Vol. 4, p. 192.
8. ↑ Medfield, Vital Records of Medfield, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston, Mass. : Pub. by the New-England historic genealogical society, at the charge of the Eddy town-record fund, 1903), p. 210.

   "Fayrebanke, George Sr., drow[n]ed, Jan 10, [16]82.

9. ↑ "Fayrebanke, George Sr., drow[n]ed, Jan. 10, [16]82." NEHGS, compiler, Vital Records of Medfield, MA, to the Year 1850 (Boston, MA: NEHGS, 1903), p. 210.
10. ↑ Findagrave.com, online http://www.findagrave.com Capt George Fairbanks Find A Grave: Memorial #29941598, citing the Medway Historical Society and an account that George was buried with three of his children in this cemetery.
11. ↑ Suffolk County, MA: Probate File Papers.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2017-2019. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives. Digitized mages provided by FamilySearch.org) Case 1281: Administration.
12. ↑ Ellery Bicknell Crane, Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts: With a History of Worcester Society of Antiquity (N.Y. & Chicago: Lewis Publishing, 1907), Vol. 4, p. 192| "Page 192"
13. ↑ Ellery Bicknell Crane, Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts: With a History of Worcester Society of Antiquity (N.Y. & Chicago: Lewis Publishing, 1907), Vol. 4, p. 192.
14. ↑ E.O. Jameson, The biographical sketches of prominent persons, and the genealogical records of many early and other families in Medway, Mass. 1713-1886 (Millis, Mass. [Providence, R. I., J. A. & R. A. Reid, printers] 1886) Page 151.
15. ↑ Dedham (Mass. : Town), Don Gleason Hill, and Carlos Slafter, The Early Records of the Town ... of Dedham, (Dedham, Mass., Dedham Transcript Press, 1886), Volume 1, p. 4.

    "Mary, the Daughter of George & Mary Fairebanck, was borne the 10 of the 9 mo. [1647]"

16. ↑ Hill, Don Gleason, The Record of Births, Marriages, and Deaths in the Town of Dedham 1635-1845 . . . , p. 4.

    "George, the Son of George & Mary fairebanck, was born the 26 of the 3 m. [1650]

17. ↑ Dedham (Mass. : Town), Don Gleason Hill, and Carlos Slafter, The Early Records of the Town ... of Dedham, (Dedham, Mass., Dedham Transcript Press, 1886), Volume 1, p. 6.

    "Samuell, the Son of George & Mary Fairebanck, was borne the 28 of the 8 mo. [1652]"

18. ↑ Dedham (Mass. : Town), Don Gleason Hill, and Carlos Slafter, The Early Records of the Town ... of Dedham, (Dedham, Mass., Dedham Transcript Press, 1886), Volume 1, p. 6.

    "Eliezer, the Son of George & Mary Fairebanck, was born the 7 of the 4 mo. [1655]"

19. ↑ Dedham (Mass. : Town), Don Gleason Hill, and Carlos Slafter, The Early Records of the Town ... of Dedham, (Dedham, Mass., Dedham Transcript Press, 1886), Volume 1, p. 9.

    "Jonas, the Son of George & Mary Fairebanck, was born the 23 of the 12 mo. [1656/7]"

20. ↑ Medfield, Vital Records of Medfield, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston, Mass. : Pub. by the New-England historic genealogical society, at the charge of the Eddy town-record fund, 1903), [https://archive.org/details/vitalrecordsofme00medf_0/page/50/mode/1up p. 50.

    "Fayrbanke, Jonathan, s. George (Fayrbank) and Mary, May 1, 1662."

21. ↑ Medfield, Vital Records of Medfield, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston, Mass. : Pub. by the New-England historic genealogical society, at the charge of the Eddy town-record fund, 1903), [https://archive.org/details/vitalrecordsofme00medf_0/page/50/mode/1up p. 50.

    "Fayrbanke, Margaret, d. George (Fayrbank) and Mary, June 27, 1664."

Acknowledgements

Regina DeMarco. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Regina and others; Elizabeth S. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Elizabeth and others; Laura Mittler. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Laura and others.