John
Gage
Born about in England
Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of
Amy (French) Gage
— married
1638 in Ipswich, Massachusetts Bay Colony
Husband of
Sarah (Swett) Gage
— married
7 Nov 1658 (to 24 Mar 1673) in Ipswich, Massachusetts
Descendants 
Died
at about age 68
in Bradford, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony
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| Created 8 Apr 2011
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| John Gage migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See Great Migration Begins, by R. C. Anderson, Vol. 2, p. 719) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm |
- Project protected by PGM as an immigrant with known published errors in his ancestry.
Contents |
Disputed Origins
Many genealogies claim that John Gage was from Stoneham in Suffolk, England, and was the second son of Sir John Gage, Bart., who married Penelope, widow of Sir George Trenchard.[1] However, another researcher has demonstrated that John Gage, second son of Sir John Gage, married Mary Baker, and died in England, without issue.[2][3] May 19, 1660, John's mother wrote a codicil to her will and confirmed conveyance of the "Mannor at Stonam" [sic], as well as land in Coddenham and other adjacent towns in Suffolk. "All these aforesaid Lands I confirm unto my son John Gage, as they already be settled on him, as by the deeds and writings as the same doe and may at large appear." She also names John with four of his siblings to share in the house at Bury, "with the furniture in it."[4]
In addition, the immigrant could not have been son of Sir John Gage and Penelope because: [5]
- According to Records of the governor and company of Massachusetts Bay in New England (vol. 1 p. 368), John Gage-159 was made a freeman of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay on 4 March 1633/4. As such, he must have been at least 21 years of age on this date, making him born sometime prior to March 1613 (New Style date).
- Even if he were born in 1613, this conflicts with the birth of John Gage, second son of the Baronet, which must have occurred in or after 1620. This is based on the Inquisition Post Mortem of his father John Gage-25, Baronet, an abstract of which is published in Notes of post mortem inquisitions taken in Sussex. 1 Henry VII, to 1649 and after (p. 99 no. 453). This states that eldest son and heir Thomas was aged 14 years and 6 weeks as at 16 January 1633/4, making him born in late November or early December 1619. Even if second son John Gage-215 were born very soon after Thomas, he could not have been born before late 1620.
- So there is a seven year gap between the latest possible birth date for immigrant John Gage-159 and the earliest possible birth date for John Gage-215.
Duane Marshall Gage proposed that John Gage, the immigrant, was the same John Gage who was baptized 21 April 1606 at Kersey, Suffolk, son of John Gage and Jane Lufkin.[6] In the sketch for John Gage in The Great Migration Begins, Anderson admits that the name, age, etc., make this a good fit, and that Suffolk is a "likely location," but the work today does not constitute proof; he recommends further research.[7] Perhaps more details clues to Gage's origin as Suffolk was included in the Spring 2021 Register article by authors Melinde Lutz Byrne and John Edward Hardy, "Three French Daughters and Their Husbands ... Amy (French) Gage, Susan (French) Kingsbury, and Anne (French) Hardy."[8]
Biography
John Gage was born about 1605 based on ages given at different depositions.
He emigrated by 1630, settling initially in Boston, removing to Ipswich in 1633, then Bradford (Rowley Merrimack) by 1662.
- Supposedly landed in Salem, MA June 12, 1630 on the Ship Arbella, one of the eleven ships of the Winthrop Fleet[9]
He was admitted to the Boston church in late 1630
- Signed the covenant of the First Church, Boston, Aug 27, 1630[citation needed]
One of the first 13 settlers of Ipswich, Massachusetts; was of Ipswich, 1633; the house at 6 Water Street in Ipswich, Massachusetts is referred to as the Gage house.
He was made a freeman 4 Mar 1633/4. Same year was Ipswich surveyor.
20 Feb 1636: selectman in Ipswich.
He married(1) by 1638 Amy ____; she died at Ipswich Jun 1658.
- Some say she was either a Kingsbury or a Wilford[10]
1639: Corporal
He was dismissed to Ipswich on 10 Sep 1643 (with Thomas Howlett).
27 Mar 1643[/4?]: Ipswich surveyor.
28 Sep 1658: Petit jury
He married(2) in Ipswich 7 Nov 1658 Sarah (______) Keyes, widow of Robert Keyes; she died in Newbury 7 Jul 1681.
26 Sep 1665: Petit jury
29 Sep 1668: served in the Essex grand jury
31 Mar 1669: Sergeant
He died in Bradford 24 Mar 1672/3.
Land
He received a number of grants of land at Ipswich, 20 acres of which he and his wife Amee sold on 21 February 1653 to "Daniel Roffe" of Rowley.
In 1659, he reported that he was about 50 years old (Essex Ct. Files)
3 April 1660 sold six acres in Ipswich to Thomas Newman of Ipswich
5 April 1660 sold ten acres to Mr. Robert Paine, ruling elder of the Church of Christ; land Gage had purchased of Mr. William Paine of Boston
Was of Rowley before October, 1661, when he was chosen one of the "overseers for pentuckit sid." His home was in that part of Rowley later in Bradford.
10 August 1662 sold six acres to Aron Pengry of Ipswich
11 January 1664 purchased 300 acres in Rowley from John Carlton of Haverhill
12 November 1672: granted 60 acres to his son Benjamin upon the latter's contract of marriage to Prudence Leaver, daughter unto Thomas Leaver of Rowley
Last Will & Testament
Undated but proved 25 March 1673; inventory taken 26 Mar 1673
- John Gage "daily waiting for my change" appointed "my sons Samuell, Daniell, Nathaniell, Jonatton and Josiah Gage" joint executors, and bequeathed to "my beloved wife Sarah Gag" one cow and "what household goods was her own during her life and to dispose of at her death"; residue of household goods for her during her life and at her death to "return to my children" except "my wearing cloths and my chest and all that is in it, and a great kettle and a cowel" to be distributed immediately to children; to "her one third part of all the corn that shall be mine at my decease"; "my five sons above mentioned" to pay to "my wife Sara Gag" 20s. apiece every year, half in grain, the other half in corn, this in exchange for her dower right of thirds; to "my sons" the lands already laid out to them and the island "which is not yet laid out to be equally divided amongst them, my grandson to have an equal share with each of them"; residue equally divided amongst my sons. Administration on the estate of "Sarah Gage, widow of John Gage, intestate," was granted on 29 March 1681 to "John French and Thomas Smith two of her sons-in-law" .
- The inventory of the estate of "Sareth Gage deceased July 7, 1681," was taken 14 July 1681 and totalled £28 2s. . On 27 September 1681 the court ordered that the estate "be equally divided to the three daughters, namely, the wives of Wm. Smith, John French and Samuell Buswell" . (These were her sons-in-law who had married three of her daughters by ROBERT KEYES .)
On Feb 16, 1718 a bond of administration of Daniel Gage for 200 pounds was taken out on the estate of his grandfather, John Gage of Bradford (Essex Co., Probate Files, Docket 10,484) Mentioned: "John Gage, Late of Bradford, formerly of Ipswich, deceased, Lying in Ipswich"
On Dec 13, 1719 his grandsons sold for forty pounds to Jacob Foster of Ipswich, an "Old Comonage or Comon Right" in the township of Ipswich. (1641) (Essex Co. Deeds, vol 48, p 98)
Associations
- In a reply to the court dated 28 September 1672 John Gage called THOMAS HOWLETT “my brother Howlet" . Since we have noted above that they were first at Boston together and were then dismissed at the same time to Ipswich church, there may well be a genealogical relationship between the two, and not just brotherhood in the church.
- COMMENTS: On 1 April 1633 John Gage was one of those permitted to accompany John Winthrop Jr. to Agawam to begin a new plantation . When Winthrop was recalled to Boston in 1637, John Gage was one of the inhabitants of Ipswich who petitioned that he be allowed to stay .
- As an early surveyor and lotlayer he was called into court many times to depose regarding bounds . He deposed at September 1658 court that Robert Roberts cut wood from the land of Goodman Scott . He deposed about the condition of Mr. Tuttle's oven and house at the end of Richard Shatswell's lease at court March 1662 .
Alexander Sessions deposed on 27 March 1669 that "Goodman Kingsburough's son said were his uncle Gage's hogs," suggesting that Henry Kingsbury had married a sister of Gage, or vice versa, or that the two men had married sisters . Whatever the solution it supports the suggested origin of Gage in southwestern Suffolk, as that was the origin of Henry Kingsbury.
Family
John and Amy (French) Gage were the parents of at least six children,
- Samuel Gage, born say 1638 (he was age at least 14 in 1656);[11] married in Bradford 10 June 1674 Faith Stickney.
- Daniel Gage, born about 1639 (he was age about 30 in 1669); married in Bradford 3 May 1675, Sarah Kimball.
- Benjamin Gage, born say 1641; married (1) Andover 16 February 1663/4, Mary Keyes (his stepsister), who died at Rowley Village, 20 December 1668; he married (2) in "Merimack" (Bradford), 11 October 1671, Prudence Lever.
- Jonathan Gage, born say 1643; married in Andover, 12 November 1667, Hester Chandler.
- Nathaniel Gage, born about 1645; married by 1696, Mary _____. (Anderson notes in 1995, "She is said to be Mary (Weeks) Green, widow of Thomas Green of Malden, but the evidence is not seen.")
- Josiah Gage. born say 1648 (about 21 on 31 March 1669); married (1) "Rowley Village by Merrimake," 15 May 1669 Lydia Ladd; married (2) Haverhill, 17 May 1697, Martha Dow.
Research Notes
- Possible H.G. Somerby Fraud: Writing in 1908, Arthur E. Gage wrote, "Some have claimed, on the authority of the late Horatio Somerby, that he was from Stoneham, in Suffolk, England, and was the second son of Sir John Gage, Bart., who married Penelope, widow of Sir George Trenchard."[12] This immediately raises red flags as H.G. Somerby is the one of most notorious fraudsters in genealogy. His modus operandi was to be hired by Americans to do the research in England, he would then "find" a link to an English family of note and send it back to his clients who would then incorporate it a book or an article. Though we cannot be sure this was likely done here and is likely another case of an Horatio Gates Somerby Fraud.
Sources
- ↑ Granite Monthly (1882), History of Sanbornton, NH (1882); American Ancestry Vol III (1888), History of Rowley, Mass.
- ↑ Gage, Duane M. John Gage of Ipswich: His English Ancestry and Some American Descendants. North Truro, MA (P.O. Box 202, North Truro 02652: D.M. Gage, 1983. Page 16. View in FamilySearch
- ↑ Gage, Arthur E., "Some Descendants of John Gage of Ipswich, Mass.", The New England Historical & Genealogical Register (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 1908). Vol. 62, p. 254.
- ↑ Metcalfe, Walter Charles. The Visitations of Suffolk made by Hervey, Clarenceux, 1561, Cooke, Clarenceux, 1577, and Raven, Richmond herald, 1612 (W. Pollard, Exeter, 1882). [https://archive.org/details/visitationsuffo00hervgoog/page/n211/ Pages 177-8.
- ↑ Thank you, Nic Donnelly, for conducting and sharing these details.
- ↑ Gage, Duane M. John Gage of Ipswich: His English Ancestry and Some American Descendants. Page 17. View in FamilySearch
- ↑ Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 719-22 (John Gage), at 721; digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.
- ↑ Melinde Lutz Byrne and John Edward Hardy, "Three French Daughters and Their Husbands ... Amy (French) Gage, Susan (French) Kingsbury, and Anne (French) Hardy," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 175 (2021):105-119, in particular, p. 110-12 (John Gage, Husband of Amee French); digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.
- ↑ Winthrop Society (Link via Wayback Machine, 17 Jun 2016 capture date.)
- ↑ Torrey, Clarence Almond, "New England Marriages Prior to 1700", Genealogical Publishing Company, 1985, P. 290 Google Books
- ↑ Writing that Samuel was "at least fourteen in 1656 when he deposed about a fence," citing EQC 1:416," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III (1995), 3 vols., 2:719-722 (John Gage), in particular, p. 721; digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.
- ↑ Gage, Arthur E., "Some Descendants of John Gage of Ipswich, Mass.", in New England Historical & Genealogical Register, volume 62. (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 1908): page 254.
See also:
- Find A Grave, Ancient Burying Ground, Bradford, Essex, Massachusetts, USA
- Roberts, Jeanie. "John Gage of Ipswich and Bradford." July 5, 2014 and "John Gage of Ipswich b. 1606 Boxted, Suffolk and Penelope D'Arcy-Not his mother." January 29, 2012. on The Family Connection (blog).
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The profile narrative makes clear why John Gage could not have been son of Sir John Gage and Penelope. Future discussions on this topic should be posted on G2G where they will receive a wider audience.
Thank you for your understanding.
Author Gary is 7 degrees from this John Gage Gary -34 is his number I have several John Gary’s no family’s there either gages or Grays , Grey. And yet they are Gary’s. I have A William,Ann, William jr. And a Henry Gary Same 4 named people are called Grey, gray,Gant, Gainey. Greere is another one . I was told by one person to prove it ,well I working on it. Havealot Ogden pictures of old records where they are actually called Gary’s . I’m not trying to change history I’m just trying to find one of my ggggg grandfathers you can’t find the parents of these gages because they are Gary’s thank you for listening to me. Anyone want to tackle this. I’ll help
The fact that his exact parentage, place & date of birth are unknown and the exact details of his immigration (other than "by 1630" when he joined the Boston church) is hardly unusual for early New England immigrants and "Gage" is not an uncommon name. You can see on the profile that the problem is rather "too many" possible origins, not "can't find any possible origins".
Are you proposing that he was related to Arthur Gary-34? Or do you believe that you have a connection to John Gage through a DNA match with a descendant? When I read your post I'm not quite sure of the point you are trying to make with respect to this profile.
Thank you in advance.--Gene
edited by GeneJ X
I doubt very much that there is any connection.
Ann
Folks may wish to research further for Horatio Gates Somerby archives, but the reference to his 19th century work is found in the 1908 Gage article by Arthur E. Gage in which that author refers to claims attributed to the work of Horatio Gates Somerby. Arthur E. Gage wrote,
(quoting) Some have claimed, on the authority of the late Horatio Somerby, that he was from Stoneham, in Suffolk, England, and was the second son of Sir John Gage, Bart., who married Penelope, widow of Sir George Trenchard ; but as that John Gage, the second son of Sir John and Penelope, married one Mary Baker, and died in England, without issue, leaving a will dated July 17, 1682, proved April 27, 1688, he could not have been our John Gage the immigrant. (end quote)
See Arthur E. Gage, "Some Descendants of John Gage of Ipswich, Mass.", The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 62 (1908):254-263 at 254; digital image, Hathi Trust.
edited by GeneJ X
Incidentally, I’ve recently dna tested at livingdna.com because of their UK reputation, and discovered that while 82% is from UK and Ireland, the greatest percentage — nearly 25% — is from southern England, and the second highest percentage — 17% — is from East Anglia. I know this doesn’t prove anything but I found it interesting.
Thank you for supporting WikiTree.
edited by GeneJ X
by Rowley (Mass.); Mighill, Benjamin P; Blodgette, George B. (George Brainard), 1845-1918 (https://archive.org/details/earlyrecordsofto01rowl/page/218/mode/2up?q=gage)</ref>
One of the items heard at the meeting was a request by Winthrop for "his servant, Henry Kingsbery" to reside at Dedham for some period.
See Don Gleason Hill, ed., Early Records of the Town of Dedham, Massachusetts: 1636-1659 Dedham Town Records (Dedham: Dedham Transcript, prt., 1892), multiple vols., 3:22-23; digital images, Hathi Trust.
edited by GeneJ X
edited by GeneJ X
John and Jane (Lufkin) Gage had children baptized at Polstead, including a son John, bp. 21 April 1606. "This John ... has been proposed without proof as the New England immigrant, and no evidence has been found to refute the possible identification."
According to Wikipedia, Polstead is a "village and civil parish in the Babergh district of Suffolk, England."
edited by GeneJ X
The profile narrative makes clear why John Gage could not have been son of Sir John Gage and Penelope. Julie, if you believe that you still have evidence that he was, please lay out your case, appropriately cited, on a freespace page. It's no longer working to use the comments feature on this profile for this purpose.
Thank you, everyone.
edited by Jillaine Smith