John Sweet Jr (abt. 1628 - abt. 1677)

Born about 1628 in England [uncertain]

Husband of Elizabeth (Unknown) Wilson — married before 1656 in New England

Descendants

Died about 16 Jul 1677 at about age 49 in Warwick, Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations [uncertain]

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Biography

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

John Sweet was born say 1628, likely in England. He was the son of John and Mary (birth surname unknown) Sweet. John, his brother James, and possibly sister Meribah emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1632. The family initially settled at Salem.^[1]

He married Elizabeth, whose birth surname is unknown, in about 1655 but circumstantial evidence suggests it could be Jeffreys or Scott.

• Daniel b 1657; m Ethalenah Carpenter^[2]
• Richard; m Priscilla Carpenter^[3]
• John (1655-1717)
• Henry
• Benjamin
• William
• Jeremiah

Providence

After John Sweet Sr.'s death, John's mother remarried and the family lived in the Providence Plantation. John Sr's estate held land there beginning in 1638.^[4]

In 1648 he and his brother James appeared in court for falsely raising the military alarm, and he was noted to have shot off his gun.^[5]

Warwick

For five years after the 1642 Shawhomett Purchase by Samuel_Gorton, political and religious conflict prevented successful settlement there. Finally with assistance from the Earl of Warwick, the town of Warwick was chartered in March of 1648.^[6]

John was recorded as one of the "inhabitants of the town" prior to June 5, 1648."^[7]

Chronology

• 3 Feb 1650: John purchased the Town mill, its land "together with ye Apartenances and Priveledges..." from Mathias Harvy. ^[8]
• 1651, Sep 1: "Ordered that John Sweet may have a plott of ground to build on before his lotts..." ^[9]
• 1652, Apr 24: chosen as Town sargeant ^[10]
• 1653 Jun 3: John served as a commissioner representing Warwick in the General Assembly ^[11]
• 1653 Oct 2: the first of many times chosen to be one of the "Jury Men" ^[12]
• 1655 Jun 20: Sold his house to John Cooke ^[13]
• 1655 John is listed on the Freeman's list in 1655. ^[14]
• 1656 Apr 19: John purchased the dwelling house and other parcels, including a duck pond, from Henry Townsend. ^[15]
• 1658, May 19: In accordance with with new Colony rules, the Town book entered for John Sweet "one anker of liquors." ^[16] This appears to be the first of many similar entries.
• 1659 Apr 12: "That whereas John Sweet goinge out to looke after his cattell found an Indian dead...almost eaten up with wild beastes..." a grand Inquest was called to determine his cause of death. Both John and James served as jurors; the cause of death was not discovered. ^[17]
• 1659 Aug 23: John and James served as Commissioners on behalf of Warwick at the General Court. ^[18]
• 1662 May 9: The Town of Providence issued a "Prohibition" warning the Sweets and others to "not entrench upon us" by marking trees within the "bounds of our townes land." ^[19]
  
• 17 Jun 1662: John, brother James, and others petitioned the General Assembly to allow a purchase of 4,000 acres of land from the local Indians. ^[20]
• 18 Feb 1665: John and James served as jurors in an inquest regarding the drowning death of a nine-year old girl. ^[21]
• 20 Feb 1665/6: The Town addressed the issue of "ye sad and troublous condition of ye inhabitants..." that the mill was in such poor condition their corn could not be ground and they were forced to bring the corn to Pautuxet. The Town's miller, John Sweet, said he was no longer able to keep it maintained and "saith he is willing to submt to ye townes mercy." ^[22] He was ordered to make the repairs and get the mill operational by September 29th.^[23]
• 12 Feb 1666/7: It was ordered that John be paid for killing a wolf and that an arbitrator be assigned to work out a dispute between him and Thomas Humphry. ^[24]
• 14 Feb 1666/7: The arbitrator found John Sweet liable for defamation because John's son had called Thomas Humphry's maid "his whore." John claimed he should be excused from liability because Humphry "so abusively urged [she] fell upon the lad & beat hime." He was ordered to pay a fine of ten shilllings. ^[25]
• Jul 1667: John was granted liberty to sell the mill. ^[26]
• 20 May 1671: He took the oath of fidelity. ^[27]
• 7 Mar 1676: The Council at Hartford in Connecticut Colony granted his family ten bushels of corn due to their distressed situation during King Philip's War. ^[28]
• 27 Jun 1677: then living in Newport, sold his land to Randal Holden ^[27]

Death and Estate

The will of John Sweet, dated 28 Jun 1677 mentions "my ancient mother Mary Holliman," his wife Elizabeth, his sons John, Daniel, James, Henry, Richard, Benjamin, William, and Jeremiah" and refers to two female children, but does not name them.^[29]

John Sweet died between the date of his will and 22 or 27 Feb 1677/8 when two of his sons received their interests in his duck pond.^[30]

Research Notes

Disputed Spouse: Elizabeth Jeffreys was previously connected as the wife of John Sweet. While there is some circumstantial evidence that suggests a connection between the Jeffreys and Sweet family, it also appears that the Jeffreys family left New England by 1646, when daughter Elizabeth was only 17. This makes it unlikely that she was in New England at the time John Sweet married his wife Elizabeth. Please see g2g discussion

Mistranscription of will: There was an early mistranscription of John's will which claimed to have mentioned "dyvers female children yet to be raised." Austin's Dictionary said there was one daughter. According to a more recent analysis, there are no known daughters.^[30]

Sources

1. ↑ Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 1995. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010) Subscription Link $. Pages 1789-90.
2. ↑ Carpenter, Daniel Hoogland. History and Genealogy of the Carpenter Family in America. New York, NY: Self-Published, 1901. Page 319.
3. ↑ Carpenter, E.B. "The Carpenter Family." New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 9. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1855. Page 53.
4. ↑ Bartlett, John R. Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in New England 1636-663, Vol 1. Providence, RI: Self-Published, 1856. Page 24.
5. ↑ The Early Records of the Town of Providence, (https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/337873/)Volume XV, Page 16-17.
6. ↑ Fuller, Oliver Payson. The History of Warwick, Rhode Island, Settlement in 1642 to the Present Time. Providence, RI: Self-Published, 1875. Page 33.
7. ↑ Fuller, 1875. Page 40.
8. ↑ ERW, 1926. Page 287.
9. ↑ Librarian of the Rhode Island Historical Society. The Early Records of the Town of Warwick. Providence, RI: Rhode Island General Assembly, 1926. Page 60.
10. ↑ ERW, 1926. Page 63.
11. ↑ RICR1, 1856. Page 267.
12. ↑ ERW, 1926. Page 84.
13. ↑ ERW, 1926. Page 261.
14. ↑ Bartlett, John R. Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in New England, Vol 1. Providence, RI: Self-Published, 1893. Page 302.
15. ↑ ERW, 1926. Page 228.
16. ↑ ERW, 1926. Page 191.
17. ↑ ERW, 1926. Page 210.
18. ↑ RICR1, 1893. Page 419.
19. ↑ The Early Records of the Town of Providence, Vol III. Providence, RI: Providence Record Commissioners, 1893.Page 24.
20. ↑ Fuller, Oliver Payson. The History of Warwick, Rhode Island, Settlement in 1642 to the Present Time. Providence, RI: Self-Published, 1875. Page 58.
21. ↑ Fuller, 1875. Page 62.
22. ↑ Librarian of the Rhode Island Historical Society. The Early Records of the Town of Warwick. Providence, RI: Rhode Island General Assembly, 1926. Page 157.
23. ↑ ERW, 1926. Page 160.
24. ↑ ERW, 1926. Page 174.
25. ↑ ERW, 1926. Page 175.
26. ↑ ERW, 1926. Page 178.
27. ↑ ^{27.0 27.1} Austin, John Osborne. The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island Comprising Three Generations of Settlers Who Came before 1690. Albany, NY: 1887. Page 175.
28. ↑ Trumbull, J. Hammond. The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, 1675-1678. Hartford, CT: General Assembly State of Connecticut, 1852. Page 414.
29. ↑ Stewart, Lois. "James Sweet of Rhode Island: A New Mystery Umfreville of New Haven, Connecticut.." The American Genealogist, Volume 53. New Haven, CT: 1977. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009-.) Subscription Link $. Page 28.
30. ↑ ^{30.0 30.1} Porter, Harold F. "James Sweet of Warwick, Rhode Island." The American Genealogist, Volume 67. New Haven, CT: 1992. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 -.) Subscription Link $. Page 177-183.