John Gould (1635 - 1710)

Born 21 Jun 1635 in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Baker) Gould — married 14 Oct 1660 in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died 26 Jan 1710 at age 74 in Topsfield, Essex, Province of Massachusetts Bay

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Biography

John Gould immigrated to New England as a child during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640).

John Gould was born about 1635 probably in Great Missenden, County Buckingham, England. He died 26 January 1709/10 in Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts.^[1]

"He was the greatest landowner and the most prominent citizen in Topsfield in his day. In the local foot-company he became an Ensign in 1674, Lieutenant in 1686 and Captain in 1694. He was Town Clerk from 1681/1682 through 1684/1685 and on his assuming that office he and Lieutenant Peabody were entrusted with transcribing the old town book into a new book. He was Selectman from 1677/1678 to 1686/1687 and again in 1692. Finally in 1690 he was a Deputy to the General Court. He was an active promoter of the iron works in Rowley Village, afterward Boxford, which venture was not successful and was abandoned about 1680.

In the unhappy scandal over the conduct of Mr. Thomas Gilbert, the Topsfield parson, in 1671, Sarah Gould was the principal witness against him, and there is much local color in the testimony. To the present-day reader of the testimony it would seem that Gilbert was a sick man rather than an alcoholic, but the court, although somewhat doubtful, ruled against him.

Captain Gould was an ardent defender of the Massachusetts Charter when it was abrogated in 1686, and an outspoken critic of the new government of President Dudley. Some of his Topsfield neighbors, regrettably including his brother-in-law John Wild, informed against him and he was accused of treason and lodged in Boston jail. He petitioned for pardon and was released upon the payment of a fine of £50, costs of £10, and provided a bond of £100 for good behavior. He must have had mental reservations, however, and there was ill will between him and the Topsfield informers until the church intervened.

From Captain Gould's five sons there is a multitude of descendants."^[2]

The church intervention took the form of a meeting in the parlor of Rev. Joseph Capen's house. According to Capen's diary, on June 13th 1692, he met with Gould, Jacob Towne and John How. Less than month later Towne's sister Mary Estey and How's sister-in-law Elizabeth How would be hanged in Salem.

Captain Gould served in the Pequot War, as well as King Philip's War serving in Lt. William Hasey's Three County Troop. He ranked an Ensign in 1679, Lieutenant in 1674, and Captain in 1693. ^[3]

Marriage

Sarah Baker married John Gould in Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts, in 1660.^[4]

Research Notes

Removed King Phillips War sticker template, as one doesn't currently exist (at least that I could find). According to the info left he was Capt serving under Lt. William Hasey's Three County Troop

Sources

1. ↑ Walter Goodwin Davis, Massachusetts and Maine Families in the Ancestry of Walter Goodwin Davis (1885-1966): A reprinting in alphabetical order by surname of the sixteen multi-ancestor compedia, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc. (1996), Volume 2, Page 57
2. ↑ Davis, page 57
3. ↑ Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume 2 By Newton Bateman, Paul Selby, Josiah Seymour Currey. On Google Books
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. https://www.americanancestors.org/DB1568/i/21174/641/426925281

• Benjamin Apthorp Gould, The Family of Zaccheus Gould of Topsfield, Lynn, Massachusetts: Thos. P. Nichols (1895), starting on page 36.