John Folger (abt. 1593 - abt. 1660)

Born about 1593 in Norwich, Norfolk, England

Husband of Meribah (Gibbs) Folger — married before 1609 in Norwich, Norfolk, England

Descendants

Died about 1660 at about age 67 in Nantucket, Dukes (now Nantucket), Massachusetts

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John Folger migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 118) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

John was born about 1592/93 in Diss, Norfolk, England^[1] or Norwich, Norfolk, England.^[2]

He married by 1615/16 in Norwich, England, Meribah Gibbs.^[2]

Others (1862) say he was a widower when he emigrated; therefore he married her after he arrived.^[3]

BUT: G. Andrews Moriarty (in 1932) points out that Savage calls Folger of Norwich, co. Norfolk; was from Diss, co. Norfolk; his wife, Meribeh Gibbs, was the daughter of John Gibbs of Freudes Hall in that neighborhood, as is proved by the will of John Gibbs, 1609, in which he mentioned his daughter, "Merraba Folger."^[1]

The Great Migration Directory gives his date of immigration by 1638, based on a record of John Folger in Dedham.^[4] Other sources give his immigration earlier in Watertown:

"John, 'came from the city of Norwich in England in 1636,' ——, [and died] 1660, [P.R. 38 = private record, from the William C. Folger genealogical records in the possession of the Nantucket Historical Association (....statements should be recevied with caution, as it is not free from errors.)) " in Nantucket, Dukes County (now Nantucket) Massachusetts. ^[5]

"John and son Peter came from Norwich County, Norfolk, England in 1635 when Peter was about 18 years old. Just when they settled in Watertown, MA. is not known, but John owned a homestead and 6 acres there in 1642. It is probable that John and Peter accompanied Thomas Mayhew Jr. to Martha's Vineyard about this time and John purchased a house and considerable land there as shown by the records of the Vineyard. John died about 1660 and his widow Meribell was living in 1664^[3][6]

He died about 1660 in Martha's Vineyard, Dukes, Massachusetts.^[5]

Great grandfather of Benjamin Franklin.^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} G. Andrews Moriarty, "Miscellaneous Records of Various Families," in NEHGR, Vol. 86 (1932) page 257. View with NEHGS Membership
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Jordan, John W., et al. Franklin as a Genealogist. € The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 23, no. 1, 1899, pp. 1–22. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20085831. Accessed 21 Aug. 2020. Pages 17-21.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} William C Folger, "The Folger Family," in NEHGR, 16 (1862): 269-.
4. ↑ https://archive.org/details/earlyrecordstow02hillgoog/page/n68/mode/2uph
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850' (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2010): Nantucket Vital Records, Vol. 5, Page 266
6. ↑ New Englanders in Nova Scotia Manuscript. R. Stanton Avery Special Collections, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010.), p 25

See also:

• Nathan W Murphy, "Gibbs and Robertson Ancestry of Merrable Gibbs, wife of John Folger...," in The American Genealogist, 88 (Oct 2016) 286-301
• http://www.bakerancestry.org/public/pedigree/834.htm
• Find A Grave: Memorial #20850783 NOTE: No headstone or sources; burial information is unknown.
• Banks, Charles. The History of Martha's Vineyard (G.H. Dean, Boston, 1911). Vol 2, Pages 66-70.
• Starbuck, Alexander. The History of Nantucket, County, Island and Town: Including Genealogies of First Settlers. Boston: C.E. Goodspeed & Co, 1924. Page 740. View on FamilySearch (go to online page 743.
• Jordan, John W., et al. Franklin as a Genealogist. € The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 23, no. 1, 1899, pp. 1–22. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/20085831. Accessed 21 Aug. 2020. Pages 17-21.