John Knowlton Sr. (abt. 1633 - 1684)

Born about 1633 in Uxbridge, Middlesex, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 8 Oct 1684 at about age 51 in Ipswich, Essex, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Barbara M [send private message] and Shirley Holt [send private message]

John Knowlton's Parentage and the Knowlton DNA Haplogroup Problem

DNA testing has demonstrated with certainty that the descendants of John Knowlton (Stocking ID 2) and William Knowlton (Stocking 3) are not related through the male line. John's line falls into haplogroup R1b, while William's falls into haplogroup T.

While there is not yet sufficient evidence to explain decisively the nature of this divide, the most plausible theory supported by the evidence that has been collected as of March 2019 is that the initial three brothers (John, William, and Deacon Thomas) were biological brothers due to the lack of any indication in England (including the will of their kinsman, Ralph) that would hint otherwise. As DNA testing has shown that the two lines have different haplogroups, and that John (2)'s line continued only through this John -- Stocking's John (5) Knowlton and his descendants -- John (5) was probably not descended from John (2).

This working theory is that Margerie was pregnant with this John (5) when she married John (2). Therefore this John's relationship to John Knowlton (b. 1602) is flagged as non-biological and will remain so unless and until additional DNA testing or other evidence is able to link this Knowlton line with their English progenitor.

For more information, please see the Knowlton Name Study and the Knowlton DNA Project on Family Tree DNA.

Previous Discrepancies and Stocking Problems

Ed. 14th Oct 2017: Previous entries relied on or at least presented Stocking's "John (5)" biography^[1], which conflates John with his father and has other errors, like a 2nd marriage to a Sarah who died in 1678/79; as his first wife, Deborah, is deposed in court in late 1677, the Sarah in question was more likely married to this John's son, John (18).

Stocking also asserts that John moved to Wenham and back to Ipswich but there is no record of John ever having lived in Wenham. In 1679 and later, the John Knowlton in the Wenham records is this John's cousin, John (11) son of William (3).

This entry has been updated to rely only on the Errata^[2] and physical records from London and Massachusetts.

Biography

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

Birth (1633): Uxbridge, England. ^[3]

The Will of Jane Kenning (1653): Ipswich, MA. John is mentioned in the will of his Aunt, Jane. ^[4]

Marriage (1655?): Deborah in Ipswich, MA. Stocking says her maiden name may be Grant but this has not been proven.^[2]

Residence (1665): Ipswich, MA. The town distributed land at Plum Island, Hog Island, and Castle Neck. John's family received one share (three acres). ^[5]

Sale of Land (10 Sep 1666): Ipswich, Essex Co., MA. "John Knowlton, Sr., Yeoman of Ipswich," John Baker Sr. and Deacon Thomas Knowlton sold 82 acres to Wm. Goodhue. ^[6]

Property (30 May 1670): Ipswich, Essex Co., MA. John bought property on the corner of East St. and Brook St (now Spring St). from JOhn Baker and built a house. His son Nathaniel subsequently occupied the home. The property is currently a green space just East of the house at 26 East St. ^[6]

Letter to Samuel Sayward (5 Apr 1675): Ipswich, Essex Co., MA. John expressed deep regret in a letter that he was not able to rejoin Sayward and John David in York, Maine, due to his failing eyesight. He asks them to sell his house there. ^[7]

Wife Deborah deposed in Court (5 Nov 1677): Ipswich, Essex Co., MA. "Deborah, wife of John Knolton, deposed that Sarah, wife of Henry Gould about two years ago brought a writing to her house and desired her to read it and after she had read it..." ^[8]

Residence (2 Dec 1679): Ipswich, MA. On the list of people who had 3 votes in town affairs. ^[9]

Property (1679): York, Maine. Using the authority granted them in the 1675 letter, Samuel Sayward and John Davis sell John's house and land there. ^[7]

Death (8 Oct 1684): Ipswich, Essex Co., MA. ^[10][11]

His death is in present day Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA

Probate (3 Mar 1685): Essex, MA. John died intestate. See image 35 for the list of debts and image 117 for the inventory of his estate mentioned in the Errata. Those 2 pages are apparently all that survived of his probate case No. 16075.

Sources

1. ↑ Stocking, Rev. Charles Henry Wright. D.D. The History and Genealogy of the Knowltons of England and America . Vol 1 New York: The Knickerbocker Press, 1897. Stocking ID: John (5)
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Errata and Addenda to Dr. Stocking's Genealogy pg. 2-4 (on John (5)).
3. ↑ Ancestry.com Christening Records London Metropolitan Archives, Saint Margaret, Uxbridge, Composite register: baptisms 1538 - 1656, marriages 1538 - 1653, burials 1538 - 1646, DRO/010, Item 001 - Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
4. ↑ The Will of Jane Kenning of Ipswich Essex County, Massachusetts Probate records, 1635-1681.
5. ↑ Ancestry.com Residence Records Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook).
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Waters, Thomas Franklin. Ipswich in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Ipswich Historical Society (1905), Ipswich, MA.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} The Colonial Society of Massachusetts. Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts Volume 5, pg. 173. 1902.
8. ↑ Essex County Depositions, Vol. 6, Pg. 352.
9. ↑ Ancestry.com Death Records Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011 - Original data: Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook).
10. ↑ Ancestry.com Vital Records Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook).
11. ↑ Ancestry.com Probate Records Case 16075, Massachusetts, Essex County, Probate Records; Author: Massachusetts. Supreme Judicial Court (Essex County); Probate Place: Essex, Massachusetts - Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.