Joseph
Marks
Sr.
Born about in Massachusetts Bay Colony
[uncertain]
[uncertain]Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of
Mary (Unknown) Marks
— married
about 1690 in Massachusetts Bay Colony [uncertain]
Descendants [uncertain] 
Father of
Joseph Marks jr, Mary (Marks) Peters, Susanna (Marks) Shepard, Esther (Marks) Barrus, Hezekiah Marks, Richard Marks and John Marks
Died
at about age 80
in Brookfield, Worcester, Province of Massachusetts Bay
Profile last modified
| Created 9 Apr 2013
This page has been accessed 2,175 times.
Biography
Joseph Marks was born about 1660, possibly in Massachusetts Bay Colony, but birthplace and parentage are uncertain. No marriage record has been found. His wife was Mary, last name unknown.[1] Both made their marks when signing documents, so were probably illiterate.
According to the Noyes-Gilman genealogy, [2] the land grants of Enfield, Conn. (formerly in Massachusetts) show that on June 30, 1684, Joseph Marks was granted 40 acres "provided he settles thereon and go about it as soon as his now time of service with Goodman Colton is out, managing and carrying on to the satisfaction of the committee, otherwise to forfeit it and lose all."
He was subsequently granted land at Springfield, west of the river, on February 2, 1685. [1]
Joseph was a soldier in Capt. Bull's company, which was sent from Springfield in November 1689 to help defend Albany and Schenectady from the French and Indians. He was taken captive on February 6, 1690 and carried to Canada.[1] By September 29, 1691, he was back in Springfield, where he appeared as plaintiff in two cases of debt, the court finding in his favor. [3] The following year he received 60 acres of upland in Brookfield for a house lot.[1]
He spent some time in Dedham around the mid-1690s. His son Joseph Jr. was born there in 1695-6, [4] and he is mentioned in the town records in 1696-97. [5]
By 1700, however, he appears to have settled permanently at Brookfield. In addition to the 60 acres of land he received after his return from Canada, he eventually acquired another 180 acres. Temple says that "[Joseph] and his sons had extensive grants of land on the southerly side of the Quabaug River... Marks Mountain is named for him." [1]
Joseph "departed this life Dec. ye 9th, 1740," according to the inventory sheet submitted for his probate.
Probate was opened May 13th, with the widow Mary Marks as administrator. John and Richard Marks signed the bond with her. The inventory was taken at Brookfield on January 26,1741. Sadly, it identifies Joseph as a slaveholder, for listed along with household and personal items is "An old negro man," name not shown. [6][7]
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Temple, J. H.; creator, History of North Brookfield, Massachusetts: preceded by an account of Old Quabaug, Indian and English occupation, 1647-1676, Brookfield Records, 1686-1783, with a genealogical register; Boston, Massachusetts,1887, p. 680. Also see pp. 140, 142, 145, 146, 155, 167, 194, 205. (https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/161005-history-of-north-brookfield-massachusetts-preceded-by-an-account-of-old-quabaug-indian-and-english-occupation-1647-1783-brookfield-records-1686-1783-with-a-genealogical-register?offset=)
- ↑ Noyes, Charles P., Noyes-Gilman Ancestry: Being a Series of Sketches, with a Chart of the Ancestors of Charles Phelps Noyes and Emily H. (Gilman) Noyes, his wife; New York, Gilliss Press, 1907, p. 419.
- ↑ West Brookfield Historical Commission, "Biography of Joseph Marks," citing History of East Brookfield, 1686-1970 Louis E. Roy, M.D. (https://westbrookfield.org/?page_id=140), accessed 10 Aug. 2022.
- ↑ The early records of the town of Dedham, Massachusetts, V. 1, p. 26; digital images, Archive. org (https://archive.org/details/earlyrecordsofto01dedh/page/26/mode/1up). "Joseph, the son Joseph & Mary Markes, born January 12, 1695-6."
- ↑ The early records of the town of Dedham, Mass., 1672-1706: a complete transcript of the town meeting and selectmen's records, V. 5, p. 247 (https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/205769/?offset=#page=251&viewer=picture&o=&n=0&q=), image 251 of 417.
- ↑ Worcester County, Massachusetts Probate File Papers, 1731-1881. AmericanAncestors.org, online database. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.) (https://www.americanancestors.org/DB1635/i/30212/38765-co1/0)
- ↑ "Probate records v. 2 1739-1748, 1790-1827" database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9YY-KF42 : 11 February 2024), Film# 007704427, Worcester, Massachusetts, image 63, Vol 2, Page 87.
See also:
- New Englanders in Nova Scotia, Manuscript. R. Stanton Avery Special Collections, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010.) No. 408 - PETERS, by F.E. Crowell, page 284.
- Peters, Edmond Frank, Peters of New England, (New York, New York, Knickerbocker Press, 1919) 444 pages; as reproduced in facsimile by HeritageQuest.com.
Is Joseph your ancestor? Please don't go away!
Login to collaborate or comment, or
contact
a profile manager, or
ask our community of genealogists a question.
Login to collaborate or comment, or contact
a profile manager, or ask our community of genealogists a question.
Sponsored Search by Ancestry.com
DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Joseph by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Joseph:
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Joseph by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Joseph:
-
~0.39%
Don Glenn
:
AncestryDNA
Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
Featured National Park champion connections: Joseph is 13 degrees from Theodore Roosevelt, 19 degrees from Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, 11 degrees from George Catlin, 16 degrees from Marjory Douglas, 22 degrees from Sueko Embrey, 10 degrees from George Grinnell, 25 degrees from Anton Kröller, 13 degrees from Stephen Mather, 20 degrees from Kara McKean, 14 degrees from John Muir, 15 degrees from Victoria Hanover and 23 degrees from Charles Young on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
I would respectfully suggest a merge of this profile Joseph Marks into Joseph Marks Sr. of Brookfield.
edited by S. Ford
I would offer advice on how to proceed but have offered all that I know. Hopefully someone with a little time and more knowledge can fix these. Best regards,
April
He had a son, Joseph Marks, junior. I haven't found a death date for junior. Junior's wife was Experience Hinds, married 18 Nov 1718. A death date of 1775 might possibly be for junior, but could easily be for junior's son -- although I don't have a list of his children, so can't say if he had a son named Joseph Marks. (Junior's brother's sons are listed with no Joseph.)
Going by the wife and the approximate date of birth, the profile for Joseph Marks-1031 was likely intended to be Joseph Marks 'senior, so I suggest we merge the two, using the documented birth, married, death, dates on Marks-749.
Thank you.