John Thurston (bef.1611-1685) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree

John Thurston

Born before 13 Jan 1611 in Wrentham, Suffolk, England

Ancestors

Son of Thomas Thurston and Grace (Nutting) Thurston

Brother of Thomas Thurston

Husband of Margaret (Unknown) Thurston — married about 1631 in England

Descendants

Father of Thomas Thurston, John Thurston II, Joseph Thurston, Benjamin Thurston, Mary (Thurston) Smith, Daniel Thurston Sr., Judith (Thurston) Treadway, Hannah (Thurston) Cheney and Deborah Thurston

Died 1 Nov 1685 after age 74 in Medfield, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Profile last modified 11 Mar 2024 | Created 30 Aug 2010

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John Thurston migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 335)
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1 Biography
2 Sources

Biography

Parentage; Date and Place of Birth; Given Name

John Thurston,' son of Thomas Thurston and Grace Utting (Not Nutting), was baptized on January 13, 1610/11 in Wrentham, Suffolk, England as Thomas. It is hypothesized by Richardson on page 177 of his work "English Origins of the Thurston Family of Dedham" that Thomas changed his name to John in New England. Richardson writes, "This might seem like mere speculation, were it not a known historical fact that immigrants (particularly ministers) did assume aliases as well as disguises when they emigrated to New England in order to evade the authorities back in England" He goes on to say, "Evidently, John Thurston made such a switch but unlike others, he retained his new alias even after he had crossed the Atlantic."^[1]^[2]

Marriage

John married Margaret (her maiden name and parents are unknown) about 1631.^[2]

Emigration to New England

On May 10, 1637, John Thurston age 36 and his wife Margaret age 32 were passengers for New England in the Mary Anne out of Yarmouth, England; William Goose, master.

The following is the entry in the ship passenger list:

"May the 10th 1637. The examinaction of John Thurston of Wrentom in Suff. Carpenter, agreed 30 years and Margrett his wife agreed 32 years, with 2 children, Thomas and John, at desirous to passe to New England to inhabett." Also included in the list was Lucy Poyett, 23, spinster.^[2]^[3] His arrival in Salem is noted in Anderson's Great Migration Directory.^[4]

Residency in Salem

The "Mary Anne" arrived in Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony, where at a town meeting on 25 December 1637 "Thurstone Carpenter desires accomodation of a tenne acre lot", which was granted on 29 January 1637/8. John was granted another 20 acres on 21 January 1639/40. He is also listed as allowed ¾ acre of common land.^[5]

Residence in Dedham

John removed his family to Dedham, Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1640, as on 28 August 1640 his wife was received into the Dedham church, and on 13 September 1640 two of his sons were baptized there. John was admitted to the church on 28 May 1641.^[6] John Thurston appears as a signer of the Dedham Covenant, but signees were added over time, so his signature does not imply a residence date.

He became a freeman on May 10, 1643, and attended a meeting in Nov. 1644 to provide some means of education for the youth.

He had a grant of land in Dedham on Feb 16, 1643. His estate was part in Medfield, set off from Dedham in 1651.

John Thurston was commissioned by the town of Dedham to build the first schoolhouse in 1648 for which he received a partial payment of £11.0.3 on December 2, 1650. The details in the contract require him to construct floorboards, doors, and "fitting the interior with 'featheredged and rabbited' boarding" similar to that found in the Fairbanks House.

Entries for John in Dedham town records include:^[7]

On 10 July 1642 John was granted a parcel of land (p.88).
On 2 January 1642/3 John attended a town meeting regarding the division of lands, and the assignment of Town officials (p.92).
On 6 February 1642/3 John was granted 4 acres 2 rods of upland farmland (p.95).
On 3 October 1643 John was granted a small meadow (p.99).
On 1 January 1643/4 John is listed as attending the town meeting (p.100)
On 4 February 1644/5 John is listed as having been granted 4 acres 3 rods of woodlot (p.110).
On 8 January 1646/7 At a meeting of the entire town John agreed to make the seats for the (unfinished) Meetinghouse (p.113,115).
In 1648 and 1649 John appears on tax rate lists, which shows that his land and house were of middling values (pp.153,154, 161).
On 19 December 1648 John was granted 2 acres of swampland (p.123).
On 1 January 1649/50 John was appointed to a committee to find a place for the "feeding of a dry heard", as well as one of four"woodreeues" (p.126). He was also appointed to a committee to talk to "Bro: Whiteing", the current miller, about fixing inadequacies in the mill's performance :::(p.163).
On 23 February 1650/1 John sold land to Jonathan Fairbanks and Richard Ellis (p.178).
In 1652 John sold land to Anthony Fisher (p. 181).
On 10 February 1648/9 John appears on a list of people who were compensated for work done for the town (p.132). John had worked on the school house, probably in his capacity as a carpenter.
On 5 January 1656/7 John Thurston of Medfield was given liberty to fence in a meadow that he had purchased of Joshua Fisher and Ralph Day, which meadow apparently extended into Dedham (p. 140).

Children

Children of JOHN THURSTON and MARGARET were:^[8]^[9]

THOMAS THURSTON, baptized in Wrentham, England, 4 Aug 1633, died 20 May 1704; m. SARAH THAXTER.
JOHN THURSTON, baptized in Wrentham, England, 13 Sep 1635, died 3 Mar 1712 m. MARY WOOD.
JOSEPH THURSTON, born 13 Sep 1637 in transit??, baptized in Dedham September 15, 1640, died 9 Jul 1688 in Jamaica Long Island (NY).
BENJAMIN THURSTON, born 8 Jul 1640 in Dedham, baptized September 15, 1640 died 10 Nov 1678, Boston MA; m. ELIZABETH WALKER, December 12, 1660. Cause of Death: Small Pox
MARY THURSTON, b. born 8 Mar 1643 in Dedham; m. SETH SMITH, December 27, 1660.
DANIEL THURSTON, b. born 5 Jul 1646 in Dedham, died 23 Jul 1683; m. (1) MARY STEDMAN; m. (2) HANNAH MILLER.
JUDITH THURSTON, b. born 17 May 1648 in Dedham, died 12 Oct 1726; m. JONATHAN TREADWAY, March 10, 1665/66.
HANNAH THURSTON, b. born 28 April 1650 in Dedham, died 29 Dec 1690; m. JOSEPH CHENEY, March 12, 1667/68.

Death; Will

John Thurston died a widower in Medfield on 1 November 1685. Margaret had died there on 9 May 1662. ^[10]

John wrote his will on 13 June 1683. He asked that his estate be divided into nine equal shares, considering both quantity and quality. Two shares went to his eldest son Thomas, and one share each to sons John and Joseph, to the widow of his deceased son Benjamin, to son Daniel, to daughter Mary Smith, and to sons-in-law Jonathan Treadway and Joseph Cheney. John's sons Thomas and John were the executors of the estate. His modest inventory was proved on 21 October 1686, and included land and carpenter tools.^[11]

Research Notes

The identification of the Thomas Thurston of Wrentham with this John Thurston is not entirely convincing, due to the difference between the 1607 declared birth year (age 30 in 1637) and the 1611 baptism year.

A search for Thomas Thurston on FindMyPast finds a Thomas Thurston marrying Margaret "Th." on 26 May 1632, in Norwich St. Peter Mancroft, Norwich, England.^[12] The same record is also viewable on AmericanAncestors at England Marriages. Further, a Thomas Thurston was baptized in Norwich on 20 April 1607,^[13] which matches John Thurston's declared age of 30 in 1637. In addition, this Thomas was a carpenter, as was the immigrant John.

Wrentham is about 27 miles from Norwich. There seems to be enough of a record trail to support the theory that the emigrant John Thurston was the Thomas Thurston of Norwich who was baptized there in 1607 and married a Margaret there in May 1632, and removed with his wife Margaret to Wrentham, where their first child was baptized in August 1632. Margaret was therefore at least six months pregnant at the time of the marriage, so obviously with child. This may have motivated their move to Wrentham, and also Thomas' name change to John in the examination of emigration, as he may have faced a fornication charge in Norwich. If a Thomas Thurston faced a charge in Norwich in about 1632, it would strongly support the theory outlined here regarding the origins of John Thurston the immigrant.

A search for "Thurston" in Minutes of the Norwich Court of Mayoralty, 1632-1635 shows that the surname occurs twice, on pages 191 and 245.^[14] Diligent Wikiteers (thanks Ann!) have found this to be for a different Thurston. An email to Richardson failed to elicit a response. A request for help to the Norfolk Records Office led to a prompt response that the files in question are in Latin and in a difficult script, and that they did not have the resources to research it. The depositions book for 1631-32 is DN/DEP 40/45. The two act books for 1631-32 are DN/ACT 61 and DN/ACT 62. They are only viewable on microfilm, on site.

Despite the difficulty of further research, it seems that the Thomas Thurston, carpenter, born in Norwich in 1607 and known to have married a Margaret, is a better fit for the immigrant John than the Thomas Thurston baptized in Wrentham in 1611. Minimally, the parents of this profile should be marked as Uncertain.

Sources

↑ Dean Crawford Smith, The Ancestry of Eva Belle Kempton, 1878-1908, Part III: The Ancestry of Henry Clay Bartlett, 1832-1892 (Boston 2004) 3:394-407
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Douglas Richardson, "English Origins of the THhrston Family of Dedham" in TAG (1978) 54:176-77
↑ Britain, Registers of Licences to pass beyond the seas 1573-1677 Image 13 FindMyPast member site
↑ Anderson, Robert Charles, The Great Migration Directory
- Text: “Thurston, John: Wrentham, Suffolk; 1637 on Mary Anne; Salem, Dedham, Medfield [Hotten 293; STR 1:62, 64, 98, 103; EPR 1:37; DeVR 1; DeChR 24; TAG 54:176-77; Kempton Anc 3:394-407].”
↑ Salem town records, v.1 pp. 62, 64, 98, 102 FamilySearch
↑ Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 Dedham Church Records, pp. 24, 25, 27 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016). NEHGS member site
↑ Dedham Town Records, v.1, FamilySearch
↑ Thurston, Brown compiler, Thurston Genealogies, 1880 HathiTrust
↑ Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 Dedham, v.1&2, pp.3-4, (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016). NEHGS member site
↑ Vital Records of Medfield, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 1903), p. 237 Internet Archive
↑ Suffolk County, MA: Probate File Papers.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2017-2019. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives. Digitized images provided by FamilySearch.org) NEHGS member site
↑ Norfolk Banns and Marriages, Norwich, St Peter Mancroft, Norfolk, England; m1 & duplicate, FindMyPast member site
↑ FindMyPast member site
↑ Minutes of the Norwich Court of Mayoralty, 1632-1635, pp. 191, 245, searchable on HathiTrust

John Thurston (bef. 1611 - 1685)

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