John Plaisted (1659 - 1744)

Born 1659 in Berwick, York, Maine

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Pickering) Plaisted — married 17 Nov 1686 in Portsmouth, Rockingham, New Hampshire

Descendants

Died 1744 at about age 85 in Portsmouth, Rockingham, New Hampshire

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Biography

This profile is part of the Plaisted Name Study.

John of Portsmouth, m. Mary Pickering, daughter of John and Mary (Stanyan) Pickering. He was a most distinguished man serving in the New Hampshire assembly from 1693 to 1727; was speaker of the house 1696, 1717 and 1727; chief justice of the supreme court of New Hampshire in 1719; member f the royal commissioners from 1702 to 1716; and also served as deputy surveyor of the king's woods. ^[1]

From Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of Boston and eastern Massachusetts by Richard William Cutter published 1908 page 682 retrieved through archive.org

John Plaisted, fourth son and child of Captain Roger Plaisted and Olive his wife, settled in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, about 1679, and is mentioned by his biographer as "a most distinguished man." He was member of the New Hampshire assembly from 1693 to 1727 : speaker of the house in 1696, 1717 and 1727: chief justice of the supreme court of New Hampshire in 1719; member of the royal commissioners from 1702 to 1716; and also served as deputy surveyor of the king's woods. He married Mary Pickering, daughter of John and Mary (Stanyan) Pickering, of Portsmouth. They had six children, but the following enumeration of them may not be given in the correct order of birth: i. John Jr., born January 9, 1683. died October 12. 1712: married, October 15. 1707, Jane Pemberton. born March 18. 1686. 2. Joshua, born September 20, 1685. 3. Mary, born March 29, 1687, married Captain Thomas Phipps. 4. Elisha, of Berwick and Scarboro, married Mary Sullivan. 5. James, of Berwick, supposed to have married Sarah, daughter of Rev. Jeremiah Wise, of Berwick. 6. Mehitable, married Captain Timothy Gerrish, his first wife.

From the Plaisted Family of North Wilts:

The fourth son of Roger of Kittery was John Plaisted (c. 1654-1727), who removed about 1679 to Portsmouth, N.H., where he became a distinguished citizen. John was a member of the council of State (1693-1727), being one of the six persons nominated by the Governor of the province ; he was also the representative for Portsmouth in the General Assembly, and Speaker of the House of Assembly (1696-1727). The amalgamation of New Hampshire with the province of Massachusetts Bay brought to the lesser state certain disadvantages, which were set out in an address (1692) endorsed by John on behalf of the inhabitants of New Hampshire, demanding equal privileges with Massachusetts. For a while John came into the limelight (1707-9) in a breeze with Governor Dudley and the Colonial Office at Whitehall, then known as the Committee of Trades and Plantations, over masts for ships which John and a certain Mr. Micoe had contracted to supply to a merchant in London for the Royal Navy. The Governor disputed their right to provide such a contract from the King’s Woods in New England. John maintained there was no law forbidding him to fell and dispose of timber. The Committee at Whitehall ordered a prosecution, but they lost their case when it was tried before a jury at Boston, so the lumber business continued. This John was one of the Royal Commissioners in New England (1702-16), Judge of the Supreme Court from 1699, and Chief Justice of New Hampshire from 1716. He married Mary, daughter of John Pickering of Portsmouth, N.H., who went out from England in 1635, and they had children : John (1682-1712), Joshua (b. 1685), Mary ( b . 1687), Elisha, James, and Mehetabel, who married Captain Gerrish.^[2]

Coat of arms

From "Seals from the Jeffries Collection of Manuscripts" in the New England historical and genealogical register January 1877 page 64:

JOHN PLAISTED, Speaker of N. H. House, 1695; Judge SupremeCourt, 1699; Chief Justice, 1716; Portsmouth, Sept. 28, 1721, and same date 1722; letters to Messrs. John and David Jeffries. Arms, erm. three elephants' heads erased, ar. Crest, an elephant's head erased, ar.

MARY PLAISTED, wife of the above. Portsmouth, Nov. 9, 1716 ; letter toMessrs. Jeffries and Shepreeve. Seal, a lion passant renversé .^[3]

americanheraldry.org has arms for members of the John Plaisted:^[4]

• Plaisted, John (of Portsmouth, N.H., 1679)
  • Blazon: Ermine three elephants’ heads erased Argent
  • Comments: Arms on his seal; Bolton suggests these are arms of Saunders. "Ermine" is probably an error for "ermines," white ermine spots on black.

Plaisted John Arms Blazon: Ermine three elephant heads Argent

Plaisted John Arms Blazon: Ermines three elephant heads Argent

Sources

1. ↑ William Richard Cutter. Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts, Volume 2. Lewis historical Publishing Company, 1908 - Boston (Mass.) p 681.
2. ↑ Plaisted, Arthur Henry. "(The) Plaisted Family of North Wilts, with Some Account of the Branches of Berks, Bucks, Somerset, and Sussex." The Westminster Pub. Co., 1939. pages 165-6 retrieved through archive.org
3. ↑ "Seals from the Jeffries Collection of Manuscripts" in the New England historical and genealogical register January 1877 page 64 retrieved through [Wikimedia Commons https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/The_New_England_historical_and_genealogical_register_%28IA_newenglandhistor1877wate%29.pdf]
4. ↑ "Roll of Early American Arms (letter P)." Heraldry in the USA, The American Heraldry Society, https://www.americanheraldry.org/heraldry-in-the-usa/roll-of-early-american-arms/p . Accessed 3 Nov. 2022. This reference in turn cites for all three people : Bolton, Charles Knowles. Bolton's American Armory. Boston: F. W. Faxon Co, 1927. page 132 viewed through Google Books

• Old Kittery and her families by Stackpole, Everett Schermerhorn, 1850-1927 Page 666