John Holmes (1678 - 1756)

Born 28 May 1678 in Duxbury, Plymouth Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Joanna (Sprague) Holmes — married 11 May 1710 in Marshfield, Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Husband of Susannah (Randall) Holmes — married 25 Nov 1714 in Pembroke, Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died 28 Mar 1756 at age 77 in Hanover, Plymouth, Province of Massachusetts Bay

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Biography

John, the 5th child and 2nd son of Josiah Holmes and Hannah (Samson) Holmes, was born in Duxbury, Plymouth Colony 28 May 1678. ^[1][2][3][4]

On 11 May 1710 in Marshfield, John married Joanna Sprague, ^[5] daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Chillingworth) Sprague. The couple resided in Pembroke and on 27 July 1713, they had a daughter, Mary ^[6]who lived just 3 days. 2 days after Mary's death, John's wife Joanna also died (1 August 1713).^[6]

John's second marriage was to Susanna (Randall) Stetson, widow of Nathaniel Stetson and the daughter of Isaac and Susanna (Barstow) Randall. Susanna had 2 children with Nathaniel, Susanna and Nathaniel. John and Susanna were married in Pembroke on 25 November 1714.^[6] where they resided until sometime after April 1717. The family relocated to Scituate before June 1719 (based on the birth place of their chilren) and resided there until about 1724 or 1725 when they returned to Pembroke. ^[1]

John had 9 children, born in Pemboke and Scituate. The first by his first wife, the others by Susanna.^[1]

1. Mary Holmes, b. Pembroke 27 July 1713; died 30 July 1713^[6]
2. Josiah, Pembroke 26 September 1715^[6]
3. Mary, Pembroke 29 April 1717^[6]
4. Deborah(twin), Scituate 22 June 1719^[7]
5. Ruth(twin), Scituate 22 June 1719^[7]
6. Abigail, Scituate 21 February 1720^[7]
7. Lemuel, 24 November 1723
8. Jacob, Pembroke 13 April 1726 ^[6]
9. Nathaniel, Scituate 8 December 1729^[3][7]

John died at Hanover, MA on March 29, 1756, burial unknown. (NOTE: Mayflower Families... Vol 20 Part 1 pp 16-17 gives the correct source document for John's death but the date is wrong.) The source document is History and Records of the First Congregational Church, Hanover, Mass., 1727-1865 p. 187. ^[8]The following is from that source:

1756 March 29: John HOLMES an aged man after a few weeks abode in and support by ye town, the town of Pembroke in which he once owned a very good estate, having no more manhood than to fling him upon the Town of Hanover because they might do it by the law of Province.

No probate records have been found for John.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Wakefield, Robert S. (editor). Mayflower Families Through Five Generations. Volume Twenty. Part 1 Family of Henry Samson. Robert Moody Sherman and Ruth Wilder Sheman (compilers).(General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 2000) Pages 16,17
2. ↑ Vital Records of Duxbury, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850, (Boston, Mass., 1911) Page 92 (https://archive.org/details/vitalrecordsofdu00duxb/page/92/mode/2up)
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Vinton, John.The Giles Memorial, (Boston, 1864) Page 189 (https://archive.org/details/gilesmemorialgen00invint/page/189/mode/2up)
4. ↑ Mayflower Descendants and Their Marriages for Two Generations After the Landing, (Bureau of Military and Civic Achievement, Washington, D.C., 1922) Page 32 (https://archive.org/details/mayflowerdescend00bure/page/32/mode/2up)
5. ↑ Massachusetts Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, (Ancestry.com Operations Inc., Provo, UT, USA, database on-line, 2011), (marriage) [1]
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6} Vital Records of Pembroke, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 1911) births, page 108; marriages p. 291; deaths p. 414
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3} Vital Records of Scituate, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, 1909) Births page 184 (https://archive.org/details/vitalrecordsofsc01scit_0/page/n367/mode/2up)
8. ↑ L. Vernon Briggs, History and Records of the First Congregational Church, Hanover, Mass., 1727-1865, (Boston: Wallace, Spooner, Printer, 1895), Page 187 (https://archive.org/details/historyrecordsof00brigiala/page/186/mode/2up)

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