John Williams (1664 - 1729)

Born 10 Dec 1664 in Roxbury, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Husband of Eunice (Mather) Williams — married 21 Jul 1687 (to 29 Feb 1704) in Hampshire, Northampton, Mass

Husband of Abigail (Allyn) Williams — married 16 Sep 1707 in Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 12 Jun 1729 at age 64 in Deerfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Biography

John Williams was born^[1] 10 Dec 1664 in Roxbury, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Bay, British Colonial America. He fifth child and second son of Deacon Samuel Williams and Theoda Park Williams and a grandson of Robert Williams who was admitted freeman of Roxbury in 1638.

John was prepared in the Roxbury Latin School and graduated B.A. from Harvard College in 1683. For two years he taught school in Dorchester. He prophesied as a candidate in the frontier settlement of Deerfield and when some time later a church was gathered there, he was formally ordained its first pastor, October 17, 1688.

On July 21, 1687, he married first Eunice, daughter of the Rev. Eleazar Mather of Northampton and grand-daughter of Richard Mather. Children:

1. Eleazer (1688 - 1742)
2. Samuel (1690 - 1713)
3. Esther (1692 - 1751) Ransomed in 1706
4. Stephen (1693 - 1782) Ransomed in 1706
5. Eunice (1696 - 1785) Married an indian
6. John (1698 - 1704) was killed in the village during the raid on Deerfield in 1704
7. Warham (1699 - 1751) Ransomed 1706
8. Jerusha (1704 - 1704) was killed in the village during the raid on Deerfield in 1704

In 1707 he married Abigail (Allyn), widow of Benjamin Bissell. Children:

1. Abigail 1708
2. John (1709 - 1714)
3. Eliakim 1711
4. Elijah 1712
5. Stephen 1715^[2]
6. Sarah 1716

Almost from the beginning of Williams' ministry, Deerfield was in peril of French and Indian attack. Like many of his colleagues, Williams believed the border wars to be occasioned by God's dissatisfaction with his spiritually apathetic people; nevertheless, he met danger courageously and exhorted his people to stand their ground. When Queen Anne's War began, he urged Governor Dudley to strengthen the Deerfield fortifications, but the warning was too late. Before daybreak, February 29, 1703/4, a party of French and Indians sacked the town, killed many inhabitants, including Williams' two youngest children, and carried the rest into captivity. Williams' wife, weakened by recent childbirth and unable to withstand the hardships, was murdered by the savages. Williams was well treated, although he was separated from his children and suffered exposure, hunger, and grief. The captives were detained at Fort Chambly, where the Indians, seconded by Jesuit priests, spared no effort to convert them to the Catholic faith. Williams counteracted their exertions among his fellows so effectively that the priests sent him to Chateauviche, where he remained more than two years. Finally Governor Dudley effected his release and Williams returned to Boston, November 21, 1706.

During the following winter he preached in churches of Boston and vicinity and prepared, with Cotton Mather's help, "The Redeemed Captive Returning to Zion" (1707), a book which won wide approval as a testimony of Congregational fortitude against "Popish Poisons." Despite continued Indian depredations and more lucrative offers, he returned to his post in January 1707, where "his Presence...conduced much to the rebuilding of the Place." On September 16, 1707, he married Abigail (Allen) Bissell of Windsor, Connecticut. He served as chaplain in the expedition of 1711 against Port Royal and, with John Stoddard, as commissioner to Canada (1713-14) for the return of English prisoners; he regularly attended the yearly meetings of clergymen in Boston and in 1728 preached the convention sermon. Deploring the religious indifference of his age, he strove to restore the pristine spiritual enthusiasm of Massachusetts with sermons devoted to the principle "That it's a high Privilege to be descended from godly ancestors; and 'tis the important Duty of such...to exalt the God of their Fathers (A Serious Word To The Posterity of Holy Men, 1729, p 2). He died at Deerfield, survived by his second wife, their five children, and six children of his first marriage.^[3]

Rev. John Williams owned some slaves in Deerfield, Massachusetts.^[4]

1. "Robert Tigo, Negro Servant to Mr. John Williams died the 11th day of May 1695".
2. "Frank and Parthena, Mr. John Williams his negros were joyned in marriage by the Reverend Mr. John William June 4, 170?" The year is gone, probably 1703. '

His slaves Mesheck and Kedar are included in the History of Deerfield, Massachusetts:

• "Mesheck and Kedar, also owned by Parson Williams, and inventoried in 1729 along with a "one-eyed horse", a "weak backed cow" and other stock, as part of [William]'s estate. Mesheck was a mullato: each was appraised at £80. " ^[5] Ebenezer HInsdale married Abigail, a daughter of Rev. Jonathan Williams. It seems like tat Rev. WIlliams gave Mesheck to his daughter at her marriage. Mesheck then appears in records for Ebenezer Hinsdale.

John died 12 Jun 1729 in Deerfield, Franklin County, Massachusetts Bay, British Colonial America.

Husband: John Williams

Wife: Eunice Mather

Marriage Date: 21 July 1687, Hampshire, Northampton, Mass.^[6][7]

Death

12 JUN 1729 Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts Bay

"Here lyes ye Body of the Rev. Mr. John Williams The Beloved & Faithfull Pastor of this place: Who dyed on June ye 12th 1729 In the 65th Year of his age. Rev.14:13 Write Blessed are ye Dead, which die in the Lord."

Slaves

• Robert Tigo
• Parthena also killed in the raid on Deerfield. ^[8]
• Frank also killed in the raid on Deerfield. ^[9]
• Meschek- later owned by Ebenezer Hinsdale
• Kedar

Sources

1. ↑ "Quebec, Quebec Federation of Genealogical Societies, Family Origins, 1621-1865," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKDB-HF4G : 25 September 2015), John Williams, 10 Dec 1664; citing Birth, Roxbury, comté d'Oxford, Maine, United States, La Fédération québécoise des sociétés de généalogie [The Quebec Federation of Genealogical Societies]
2. ↑ Birth (for any year) is not recorded in Vital Records of Deerfield, so this maybe an error.
3. ↑ "Dictionary of American Biography" New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1937; vol XX, p 270
4. ↑ A History of Deerfield, Massachusetts Vol II the times when the people by whom it was settled, unsettled and resettled, by Sheldon, George. Deerfield, Mass. [Greenfield, Mass., Press of E.A. Hall & co, 1895-6. Page 889
5. ↑ A History of Deerfield, Massachusetts Vol II the times when the people by whom it was settled, unsettled and resettled, by Sheldon, George. Deerfield, Mass. Greenfield, Mass., Press of E.A. Hall & co, 1895-6. Page 890
6. ↑ Marriage
7. ↑ Marriage
8. ↑ [https://archive.org/details/redeemedcaptive00willrich/page/172/mode/2up The redeemed captive returning to Zion; or, The captivity and deliverance of Rev. John Williams of Deerfield[ by Williams, John; Williams, Stephen; Prince, Thoma; Taylor, John. Publisher Springfield, Mass., The H. R. Huntting company, 1908. Page 172.
9. ↑ The redeemed captive returning to Zion; or, The captivity and deliverance of Rev. John Williams of Deerfield by Williams, John; Williams, Stephen; Prince, Thoma; Taylor, John. Publisher Springfield, Mass., The H. R. Huntting company, 1908. Page 171.

See also:

• Wikipedia: John_Williams_(minister)
• International Genealogical Index (R) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Clemens, William Montgomery American Marriages Before 1699 (Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, USA: Biblio Co., 1926)
• Yates Publishing, U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 (Provo, UT, USA, The Generations Network, Inc., 2004)
• http://1704.deerfield.history.museum/popups/people.do?shortName=JohnWilliams#Attack
• Find A Grave: Memorial #53109011
• Williams, Stephen. What Befell Stephen Williams In His Captivity (Deerfield, Mass., 1889) Page 29: Footnote 1
• http://www.fichierorigine.com/app/recherche/detail.php?numero=244124
• Sprague, William Buell. Annals of the American Pulpit (Robert Carter & Brothers, New York, 1857) Vol. 1, Page 214-17.
• Demos, John. The Unredeemed Captive, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994