Jabez Fox (1647 - 1703)

Born 1647 in Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Husband of Judith (Rayner) Tyng — married about 1678 (to 28 Feb 1703) in Cambridge, Middlesex, Province of Massachusetts Bay [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 28 Feb 1703 at about age 56 in Boston, Suffolk, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Problems/Questions Profile managers: David Townsend [send private message] and Gillby Weldon [send private message]

Biography

Jabez Fox was a lineal descendant of John Fox, the martyrologist. He was born in Concord, Massachusetts, in 1647, the son of Thomas Fox and his second wife Ellen. By 1652, his family had removed to Cambridge, Massachusetts.^[1][2][3]

Jabez graduated from Harvard College in 1665. In 1678 he was invited to serve one year as assistant to Rev. Thomas Carter, first pastor of the church in Woburn, Massachusetts. On November 5, 1679, the parish voted to call him to be their minister for life. He was ordained soon after. Rev. Fox was first minister of Woburn's church of Christ for 23 years.^[1][3]

He married by 1678, probably at Cambridge, Judith Rayner, daughter of Rev. John Rayner, minister of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Dover, New Hampshire.^[1][4]

Rev. Jabez Fox died of "small-pox" in Boston, Massachusetts, on February 28, 1702-3, "AGED 56 YEARS (gravestone)." He is buried at the First Burial Ground in Woburn, where his gravestone reads:^[2][3][5]

💀

HERE LYES Yͤ BODY OF

Yͤ REVEREND M^R. JABEZ FOX

PASTOUR OF Yͤ CHURCH OF

CHRIST IN WOBOURN 23 YEA^RS

& AGED 56 YEARS DECEAS^D

FEB^R. Yͤ 28^th 1702₃

Children

Children of Jabez and Judith Fox, all but the eldest were born in Woburn:

1. John, born May 10, 1678, at Cambridge; married Mary Tyng; died December 12, 1756.^[6][7][8]
2. Thomas, born July 6, 1680; died July 10, 1680.^[9][10]
3. Thomas, 2nd, born November 13, 1681.^[11]
4. Jabez, born December 2, 1684; married, March 8, 1705, Hannah Burroughs.^[12][13]
5. Judith, born June 19, 1690; died ____, 1690.^[14][15]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Fox: Pages 12-14. Citing: "Thomas Fox, married as second wife, Ellen Green, widow of Percival Green. ... 2. Rev. Jabez Fox ... son of Thomas Fox of Concord, was born in that town in 1647 ... [more life facts]. ... married Judith Rayner, daughter of Rev. John Rayner, minister of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Dover, New Hampshire."
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Woburn Records: PART II. DEATHS. Page 75. Citing: "FOX, Rev. Mr. Jabez, s. of ___, of small-pox, in Boston, Feb. 28, 1703; 56 y."
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Woburn Records: PART II. EPITAPHS, FIRST BURIAL-GROUND. Pages 11*-12*. Citing: ""(24.) "MEMENTO MORI." "FUGIT HORA."
   "Here Lyes y^e body of y^e Reverend Jabez Fox pastour of y^e church of Christ in Wobourn 23 yea'rs & aged 56 years decease'd Feb'r y^e 28 1702."
   Rev. Jabez Fox, probably a native of Cambridge, Mass., and a lineal descendant of John Fox, the martyrologist, ... [more life facts]."
4. ↑ New England Marriages to 1700. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org($). New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. Volume I. Page 53. Citing: "FOX, Jabez (1647-1703) & Judith [RAYNER] (1658-1756, ae 98), m/2 Jonathan TYNG; by 1678; Cambridge {Reg. 11:238, 26:331, Woodstock 5:81; GDMNH 243, 583; Sibley's Harv. Grad. 2:199, 4:404; Fox Fam. News 3:2; Stone(#7) 94; Morton 156; Tingley-Meyers 69; Lane Fam. Papers 21; Moseley Anc. 17, 20; Tracy (1936) 176, 189}."
5. ↑ Historical Memoranda Concerning Persons and Places in Old Dover, New Hampshire. Page 358. Author: Alonzo Hall Quint. Available FREE at: https://archive.org/details/historicalmemora00scal/page/358
6. ↑ Cambridge Records: VOLUME 1. BIRTHS. Page 264. Citing: "FOX, Jno. s. of Jabez and Judeth, May 10, 1678."
7. ↑ Fox: Page 16. Citing: "John Fox married Mary Tyng, daughter of Hon. Edward Tyng of Mass."
8. ↑ Woburn Records: PART II. DEATHS. Page 75. Citing: "FOX, Rev. Mr. John, s. of ____, Dec. 12, 1756."
9. ↑ Woburn Records: PART I. BIRTHS. Page 100. Citing: "FOX, Thomas, s. of Jabez, July 6, 1680."
10. ↑ Woburn Records: PART II. DEATHS. Page 75. Citing: "FOX, Thomas, s. of Jabez, July 10, 1680."
11. ↑ Woburn Records: PART I. BIRTHS. Page 100. Citing: "FOX, Thomas, s. of Jabez, Nov. 13, 1681."
12. ↑ Woburn Records: PART I. BIRTHS. Page 100. Citing: "FOX, Jabez, s. of Jabez, Dec. 2, 1684."
13. ↑ "Massachusetts Marriages, 1695-1910," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FCQG-7YM : 9 February 2018), Jabez Fox and Hannah Burroughs, 08 Mar 1705; citing reference ; FHL microfilm 0928191 IT 2.
14. ↑ Woburn Records: PART I. BIRTHS. Page 100. Citing: "FOX, Judith, d. of Jabez and Judith, June 19, 1690."
15. ↑ Woburn Records: PART II. DEATHS. Page 75. Citing: "FOX, Judith, d. of Jabez and Judith, ____, 1690."

See also:

• Fox, N.M. A History of That Part of the Fox Family Descended From Thomas Fox of Cambridge, Mass. (St. Joseph Mo., Union Printing Company, 1899).

• Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume III, G-H (subscription) page 149. This article about Percival Greene and his wife Ellen talks about her marriage to Thomas Fox father of Jabez Fox.

• Baldwin, Thomas. Vital Records of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Wright & Potter Print. Co., Boston, Mass., 1914)

• Johnson, Edward. Woburn Records of Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Marriage Intentions, from 1640 to 1900 (Woburn, Mass., 1890-1919).

• Sewall, Samuel. The History of Woburn, Middlesex County, Mass. (Wiggin and Lunt, 1868). Pages: 66, 88. 138-145.

• Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 30 July 2019), memorial page for Rev Jabez Fox (1642–28 Feb 1702), Find A Grave Memorial no. Find A Grave: Memorial #18264137, citing First Burial Ground, Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by Robin Parker (contributor 46847861).

Acknowledgments

• Thank you to Gillby Weldon, David Townsend and Kitty Smith for contributions to this profile.