John Turner Sr. (1622 - 1697)

Born 24 Mar 1622 in Terling, Essex, England

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Brewster) Turner — married 12 Nov 1645 (to 20 May 1697) in Scituate, Plymouth Colony, New England

Descendants

Died 20 May 1697 at age 75 in Scituate, Plymouth, Province of Massachusetts Bay

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John Turner Sr. migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Note on Identity

Please do not confuse this profile's Turner-41|John Turner with the John Turner who arrived on the Mayflower. See "Researchg Notes" for additional information.

Biography

John Turner, Sr. (oldest child of Humphrey Turner and Lydia Gamer) was baptized 24 March 1621/2 in Terling, Essex County, England.^[1] John died after 20 May 1697 and before June 28, 1697 in Scituate, Massachusetts.

John came with his parents to the Plymouth Colony in 1628 and went on with them to Scituate in 1633. He had a brother also named John (possibly to please a Godfather) and the two were distinguished as Sr. and Jr. or "Old" and "Young" or "the Elder" and "the Younger".

John married Mary Brewster (daughter of Jonathan Brewster and Lucretia Oldham) on November 10, 1645^[2] (November 12 in Plymouth Colony records). They had thirteen children.

This John settled 30 rods north-west of Union bridge, where he succeeded to the tannery of his father with his brother Thomas. Twenty acres were laid out for John, east of Barstow’s hill and adjoining the third Herring brook; his son Isaac lived on this land.

Like his father John held numerous town offices and was in the Narragansett campaign with his brother Joseph (who was Scituate's ne'er-do-well; see Harvey Pratt's, "The Early Settlers of Scituate", p. 316).

His great affection was for his brother of the same name. These two were much attached to one another. Whenever one was named to any committee, any jury of the Court at Plymouth, or any group to distribute land, the other was also inevitably named.

John's will was dated March 4, 1695 and proved June 28, 1697. The exact date of his death is unknown, however it is believed to be very shortly before the date of inventory of his estate - May 20, 1697. He made bequest to son Jonathan Turner, son Joseph Turner, son Ezekiel Turner six grandchildren: Isaac Turner, John James, Thomas Prince, Margret Turner, Alice Prince and the oldest child of my son Ezekiel Turner. He also mentions sons John Turner, Elisha Turner, son Benjamin and his wife Mary. The inventory was taken 20 May 1697^[3][4][5]

Marriage

Husband: John Turner

Wife: Mary Brewster

Date 10 NOV 1645 Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts^{[6][7][8][9][10]}

Children

• Jonathan Turner: born 20 Sep 1646
• Joseph Turner: born 12 Jan 1647/48; died 15 Jan 1647/48
• Joseph Turner: born 12 Jan 1648/1649: died 13 Feb 1723/24
• Ezekiel Turner: born 7 Jan 1650/51
• Lydia Turner: born 24 JAN 1651/52 died 20 JUN 1714
• John Turner: born 1654
• Elisha Turner: born 8 Mar 1656
• Mary Turner: born 10 Dec 1658 died 10 Dec 1738
• Benjamin Turner: born 5 Mar 1659/60 died 12 Aug 1748
• Ruth Turner: born 17 May 1662
• Isaac Turner: christened 30 Apr 1665
• Grace Turner: christened 2 Aug 1668
• Col. Amos Turner: christened 4 Jun 1671 died 13 Apr 1739

Research Notes

Misidentifications

• This John Turner is not to be confused with the John Turner, "Mayflower" passenger, who died in the winter of 1620/21. Unfortunately, it appears that some of the information listed in profiles for John Turner, II, is the result of just such a confusion.
• Wikipedia has an article on the "Mayflower" Turner which has information that does not match that of this John Turner. There is no way to identify these two Turners as the same person.
• The "Mayflower" Turner was born about 1590, whereas John Turner, II, was born October 22, 1620
• The supposed birthplaces of both Johns are different. The "Mayflower" Turner is thought to have been born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England; whereas the birthplace of John Turner, II, is thought to have been Kent, England (his son Humphrey is said to have been born in Devonshire, Kent, England since he was buried in the Men of Kent Cemetery).
• The "Mayflower" Turner only had three children: two sons (born about 1615 and who died with him that first winter of 1620/21 when they were about 5 years old), and a daughter (named Elizabeth, born around 1619, and who came to Salem some years later.

Sources

1. ↑ Lydia Gaymer, the Wife of Humphrey Turner of Scituate, by Vernon Dow Turner, NEHGR Vol 151 (1997), pages 287.subscribers
2. ↑ Vital records of Scituate, Massachusetts, to the year 1850. Volume II – Marriages and Deaths. (Boston, Mass. : Published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1909)
3. ↑ The Will and Inventory of John Turner, Sr. p. 41
4. ↑ Plymouth County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1686-1881.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.) https://www.americanancestors.org/DB1558/i/20958/21382-co1/426505945
5. ↑ "Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records, 1633-1967," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G97D-J81P : 21 March 2023), Probate records 1686-1702 and 1849-1867 vol 1-1F > image 142-144 of 490; State Archives, Boston.
6. ↑ James Savage A Gen. Dict. of the First Settlers of New England vol II, pg 353
7. ↑ Emma C Brewster Jones. The Brewster Genealogy 1566-1907 Grafton Press; New York 1908.
8. ↑ Samuel Deane. History of Scituate, Massachusetts Boston; 1831; pg 360.
9. ↑ Jacob Turner. Genealogy of the Descendants of Humphrey Turner, Part I and II (1852)
10. ↑ Representative Men and Old Families of SE Mass J H Beers Co; Chicago, Illinois; 1912; Vol 11, pg 864-865

See also:

• Bowman, George Earnest, The Will and Inventory of John Turner, Sr., Mayflower Descendant: A Magazine of Pilgrim Genealogy and History. Boston, MA: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1899- . (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010), Vol 5, pp. 41
• Lydia Gaymer, the Wife of Humphrey Turner of Scituate, Vernon Dow Turner, NEHGR Vol 151 (1997), pages 286 - 290. Repository: The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2013.)
• "The early Settlers of Scituate", by Harvey Pratt, pp. 316 ff.
• Brewster Genealogy
• Pane-Joyce Genealogy, David Pane-Joyce.
• Historic Homes and Places and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs relating to the Families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, William Richard Cutter, (New York: Lewis), 916.
• History of Scituate, Massachusetts, from its First Settlement to 1831, Samuel Deane, (Boston: James Loring), 360.
• American Marriage Records Before 1699, William Montgomery-Clemens, (Genealogical Publishing Company), 215.
• The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010), (Originally Published as: New England Historic Genealogical Society. Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols., 1995). p. 1845.subscribers$