Joseph Kingsbury (abt. 1601 - abt. 1676)

Born about 1601 in Boxford, Suffolk, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about Apr 1676 at about age 75 in Dedham, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Joseph Kingsbury migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 195) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Update as to Origins

Until recently, the association of Joseph Kingsbury, son of James of Boxford, Suffolk, England, as the Joseph Kingsbury who immigrated New England and died of Dedham, Massachusetts, has been elusive. In 2005, Robert Charles Anderson believed the immigrant was related to the Kingsburys from that area, but he could not further define their relationship.^[1] A Spring 2021 article^[2] by Melinde Lutz Byrne and John Edward Hardy in New England Historical and Genealogical Register shows they are indeed the same man. See Research Notes.

Biography

Joseph Kingsbury was born say 1601; he was listed sixth in his fathers will, apparently then at least 21 years of age.^[3] From that will,

To Joseph Kingsberie, my son, certain furniture and other things.

Joseph died Dedham, Massachusetts, 1676 (a specific date cannot be known, the original image is damaged as can be seen here).^[4] The death prior is the 24th day of the 2nd month i.e. 24 Apr 1676, the death after is the 22nd day of the 2nd month so the records are somewhat out of order.^[5]

Immigration

Joseph and his brother John were signers of the Dedham Covenant (initially signed 15 Aug 1636 although a per-signatory date is not given).^[6] Presumably he signed the covenant before the 1637 land transaction listed below in order to be allowed to own land in Dedham.

Joseph was then mentioned on 18 Jul 1637 in a real estate transaction when Ezechiell [sic] Holliman requested permission of his society to turn some property over to "John Kingsbury and Joseph his brother".^[7]

Marriage

Joseph's wife was Millicent as she was named in his will^[8]; she was admitted to the Dedham church on 20 Oct 1639 (20th day of 8th month) but there is no record of her last name.

The Millicent "Eames" listed by Anderson married William Sprague in 1634 or 1635. Arthur Murry Kingsbury in his work on the family listed her as "possibly an Ames" which is shown as her current last name^[9]

Colonial Life

Joseph was in Dedham by 23 Nov 1638 when he appeared in the town's records in reference to an unfinished meetinghouse.^[10] He was admitted to the church there 09 April 1641 (after his wife):^[11]

Joseph Kingsbury of whom mention was made before yt he was left out of ye foundation of ye church for some cause ther mentioned wherin he could not of a long time co'e off to ye satisfaction of ye church yet at lenth. some temptations wherin he was being removed, & ye lord by his word more discovering his evills unto him & humbling him for ye same after divers meetings in private & some experience of his spiritt ye church was so well p'suaded of his repentance & faith as yt he was received into ye fellowship of ye church ye 9th of ye 2d m: 1641.

Joseph was listed as "brother" and "of Dedham" in John Kingsbury's will of 2 Dec 1659.^[7]

Will

1675 22 day of the third month called May I Joseph Kingsbery senr of Dedham in you County of Suffolke yeaman ... given & delivered to my two eldest sons Joseph & John their portion ... my brother John Kinsbery deceased ... Millesent my deare & well beloved wife ... son Eleazer [not yet married] ... Nathanell [son] ... daughter Sarah Crosseman ... son in law Thomas Cooper of Rehobath ... Elizabeth Brewer my grand-childe ... at the age of twenty... son in law Robert Croseman ... son in law Nathaniell Brewer ... Proved first of June 1676^[8]

As above, he calls out,

• wife Millicent
• brother John (deceased)
• sons Joseph, John, Eleazer, Nathaniel
• daug Sarah Crosseman
• sons-in-law Thomas Cooper, Robert Croseman & Nathaniel Brewer
• grandchild Elizabeth Brewer
• and Henry Kingsbury of Ipswich (his kinsman, presumed nephew)

Children

Records for the children^[12] are also found in the Dedham town records^[13]

• Sarah, b. probably sometime in 1639-1632 in England; m. 25 May 1652 Robert Crossman in Dedham; d. before December 1687 in Taunton. (See discussion and sources in Sarah's profile.)
• Mary b. Dedham, b 1 Sep 1637; m. Thomas Cooper; d Aug 6, 1678
• Elizabeth, b. Dedham 14 Sep 1638; m. Nathaniel Brewer; d June 25, 1661
• Joseph, b. Dedham 17 Feb 1640/1; m Mary Doner, Sept 7, 1681 Wrentham; d Dec 16, 1688 Wrentham.
• John b. Dedham, b 15 Aug 1643, Dedham; m Elizabeth Fuller, Nov 29, 1666; d May 30, 1669; Elizabeth m2nd Michael Metcalf 1672
• Eleazer, b. Deham 17 May 1645; m Esther Judson
• Nathaniel, b. Dedham 26 Mar 1650; m Mary Bacon, Oct 14, 1673, Dedham; d Oct 14, 1694 Dedham

Research Notes

In the 1630s, three Kingsbury immigrants arrived at Massachusetts Bay Colony--Henry Kingsbury, who was known of Assington, England, and Boston, Massachusetts, and two brothers, John and Joseph Kingsbury, who settled at Dedham. A younger Henry Kingsbury (b. about 1615), nephew of John and Joseph, arrived also, settling at Ipswich and Haverhill.

The 1622 English will by James Kingsbury of Boxford, Suffolk, England, calls out eight children, including sons Henry, John, and Joseph. Of this will, the 1905 authors Kingsbury and Talcott wrote, "Here we have the names of the three brothers who came to New England, Henry, John and Joseph ...";^[14] a Kingsbury descendancy chart is included, reporting all as sons of James of Boxford, deceased 1622.^[15] In the will, James also makes a bequest to his grandson Henry. In the context of the document, it is apparent this particular grandson is the child of James' son, Henry.

As late as 2005, writing about the origins of immigrant John Kingsbury and his brother Joseph, Anderson did not follow the 1905 findings by Kingsbury and Talcott, writing that "'Frederick John Kingsbury and Mary Kingsbury Talcott's proposed English origin [for the brothers, John and Joseph] may well be correct," adding,^[16]

All of these men [brothers John and Joseph Kingmsan, and "kinsman" Henry of Ipswich] were almost certainly closely related to Henry Kingsbury {1630, Boston} ... who is known to be from Assington, Suffolk ... However the names John, James and Henry are so common in this Kingsbury family that further evidence should be sought in support of this identification. In any case, these Kingsbury immigrants must have come from this small cluster of west Suffolk parishes.

In 2021 authors Melinde Lutz Byrne and John Edward Hardy published a related account, "Three French Daughters ..." in which they did subscribe to the 1905 conclusions and considered three of the immigrants--Henry (of Assington and Boston), John and Joseph Kingsbury, both of Dedham--to have been brothers.^[17]

Of the younger immigrant, Henry Kingsbury, the 2021 authors wrote, "[he] had two uncles who came to New England and settled at Dedham," This Henry Kingsbury, b. about 1615, is recognized by the authors as a son of Henry of Assington and Boston--the "grandson" by that name mentioned in James Kingsbury's 1622 will,^[18] thus by association, the three brothers are all sons mentioned in the will of James Kingsbury of Boxford.

Key to the analysis by Byrnes and Hardy was their argument that Henry of Assington and Boston had an earlier marriage to Jane Warren, identifying them as the parents of younger immigrant, Henry of Ipswich and Haverhill. Anderson had assumed the elder Henry first married in 1621, and further reporting his birth as "about 1596," based on that marriage date. Thus Anderson pictured the man of Assington as probably too young and certainly not married early enough to have been the father of Henry, born about 1615.

Research continues to better identify Milllicent, Joseph's wife and the mother of all his children. This would aid in the understanding of the family.

Better identifying Jane Warren or Waryn, the first wife of Henry of Assington might further aid in the proof of the Boxford Kingsbury family. Of this Jane, the 2021 authors wrote, "she may have been somehow related to Susan Warren, the mother of Thomas French, Sr.^[19]

Better identifying Joseph Kingsbury's brother-in-law, James French (married say 1617, Sarah Kingsbury of Boxford), might further aid in the proof of the Boxford Kingsbury family. This is especially true in light of the 2021 authors record that Joseph's nephew, Henry of Ipswich had wife, Susan French (not Susannah Gage, as she was previously named)--the daughter of Thomas French and his wife, Susan Riddlesdale, also immigrants.

GM Directory entry: Kingsbury, Joseph: Unknown; 1637; Dedham [DeTR 1:32; DeVR 1; DeChR 6; MBCR 1:379; Moore Anc 334-36; Kingsbury Gen 83-85]. Key

• First Record DeVR 1: Page 32.
• DeChR Page 6 - review of his devotion prior to church membership? too much of the world
• MBCR Page 379: Freemanship
• De Forest, Louis & De Forest, Anne. Moore and Allied Families, The Ancestry of William Henry Moore (De Forest Publishing Co., New York, 1938)Page 334-6. [Idenitifies parents, but Anderson seems to not accept the identification].

Torrey NE Marriages sources: KINGSBURY, Joseph (-1676) & Millicent [AMES?/EAMES?] (-1676+); by 1637; Dedham {Dedham 83; Reg. 16:338; Kingsbury 11; Caldwell Anc. 10; Briggs Anc. 91; Moore Anc. 336; NYGBR 22:78} Key

Sources

1. ↑ Robert Charles Anderson,The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume IV, I-L (2005), pp. 183-88 (John Kingsbury article), in particular, p. 186; digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.
2. ↑ 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):104-119; digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.
3. ↑ Citing "Harrold 300," Frederick John Kingsbury and Mary Kingsbury Talcott, The Genealogy of the Descendants of Henry Kingsbury Ipswich and Haverhill, Mass. (1905), 52-53; digital images, Hathi Trust. Note: Baptismal records of only two or three of James children appear in the Boxford register.
4. ↑ Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1627-2001 image 34 of 763 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-9979-RX8W?i=33&cc=2061550
5. ↑ Page 15, Early Dedham Records - https://archive.org/details/earlyrecordsofto01dedh
6. ↑ The Early records of the town of Dedham, Massachusetts, 1636-1659 by Hill, Don Gleason, 1847-1914 Publication date 1892 Vol. 3 p. 3
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Robert Charles Anderson,The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume IV, I-L (2005), pp. 183-88 (John Kingsbury article), in particular, p. 186; digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} Suffolk County (Massachusetts) Probate Records, 1636-1899; Author: Massachusetts. Probate Court (Suffolk County); Probate Place: Suffolk, Massachusetts Notes: Probate Records, Vol 5-7, 1666-1674. Joseph Kingsbery Senr. public image
9. ↑ .Arthur Murray Kingsbury, Kingsbury Genealogy; the Genealogy of the Descendants of Joseph Kingsbury of Dedham, Massachusetts, Together with the Descendants in Several Lines of Henry Kingsbury of Ipswich, Massachusetts, and Our Canadian Cousins (Minneapolis, 1962), pp. 14-15; digital images, Hathi Trust
10. ↑ Robert Charles Anderson,The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume IV, I-L (2005), pp. 183-88 (John Kingsbury article), in particular, p. 186; digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.
11. ↑ Don Gleason Hill, compiler, The Record of Baptisms, Marriages & Deaths ...transcribed from the Church Records in the Town of Dedham, MA, 1638-1845 (Dedham, MA: Town of Dedham, 1888), pp. 24-25
12. ↑ Frederick John Kingsbury and Mary Kingsbury Talcott, The Genealogy of the Descendants of Henry Kingsbury Ipswich and Haverhill, Mass. (1905), 83-84; digital images, Hathi Trust.
13. ↑ The early records of the town ..by Dedham (Mass. : Town); Hill, Don Gleason, 1847-1914; Slafter, Carlos, 1825-1909 Publication date 1886 https://archive.org/details/earlyrecordsofto01dedh/page/n15/mode/2up?q=kingsbury
14. ↑ Frederick John Kingsbury and Mary Kingsbury Talcott, The Genealogy of the Descendants of Henry Kingsbury of Ipswich and Haverhill, Mass. (Hartford: Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company, 1905), p. 22; digital images, Hathi Trust;
15. ↑ As a pull out, this chart is viewable in the InternetArchive edition, see Kingsbury and Talcott, The Genealogy of the Descendants of Henry Kingsbury of Ipswich and Haverhill, Mass. (Hartford: Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company, 1905), p. n74 (between pages 44 and 45); digital images, InternetArchive.
16. ↑ Robert Charles Anderson, Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume IV, I-L, 2005, 183-188, in particular, p. 187; digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.
17. ↑ 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. 114; digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.
18. ↑ 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, 113 and 113n; digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.
19. ↑ Citing "Threlfall, 'Thomas French of Assington' [note 1] Register 142:250-252," 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):112; digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors. Authors note: "Threlfall was unable to reliably sort the Warrens in surviving records."

See also:

• Henry A. Kingsbury, Re: Kingsbury Dedham, MA c. 1780 (GenForum Post), dated 24 Jan 2001, includes a lengthy post of information from data sent him by Michael Kingsbury, of Atlanta 7 Oct 2000.
• William B. Trask, “Abstracts from the earliest wills on record in the county of Suffolk, Mass.,” The New England Historical and Genealogical Register 10 (1856):176 for “John Kingsbery, of Dedham”; digital images, Hathi Trust (accessed 2014).
• Addison Kingsbury and Joseph Addison Kingsbury, A pendulous edition of Kingsbury genealogy, gathered by Rev. Addison Kingsbury (1901), 13, for Joseph (1) Kingsbury; digital images, Hathi Trust (accessed 2014).
• Arthur Murray Kingsbury, Kingsbury genealogy; the genealogy of the descendants of Joseph Kingsbury of Dedham, Massachusetts, together with the descendants in several lines of Henry Kingsbury of Ipswich, Massachusetts, and our Canadian cousins (1962), 14-15, for Joseph Kingsbury (1600-1676); digital images, Hathi Trust (accessed 2014).
• Robert Charles Anderson, _Great Migration- Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume IV, I-L_ (2005) page 187 public image for a discussion on the Kingsburys of Massachusetts and Boxford.