John Stebbins Sr. (abt. 1626 - 1679)

Born about 26 Jun 1626 in Bocking, Essex, England

Ancestors

Husband of Anne (Munson) Stebbins — married 14 May 1646 in Springfield, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died 7 Mar 1679 at about age 52 in Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts

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Biography

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

John Stebbins was born on June 26, 1626 in Bocking, Essex County, England. He immigrated with his parents Rowland Stebbins (originally was Stebbing, but he changed it to Stebbins after arriving in the new world) and Sarah Whiting Stebbins in 1634. They lived first in Roxbury, Massachusetts. At some point before 1646, they moved to Springfield, Massachusetts. The first Springfield record was in 1646 when he was taxed with others for his share of 30 pounds due Pynchon for purchasing land from the Indians. On 21 Feb 1649 he was granted land. He then moved to Northampton in 1656 and lived at the end of "Pudding Lane". He was a farmer and also owned a sawmill. ^[1]

He first married widow Anne (Munson) Munden on May 14, 1646 in Springfield. They had five children, only two of whom survived to adulthood and had children. John then married Miss Abigail Bartlett, daughter of Robert and Ann Bartlett, on December 17, 1657. They had ten or eleven children; all but one survived to adulthood. John died at his sawmill on March 7, 1679; Abigail then married Jedediah Strong, son of Elder John Strong, on December 28, 1681.

Children with Anne:

1. John, 1647-1724; married Dorothy Alexander.

2. Thomas, 1649-1649; died young.

3. Anne, 1651-1652; died young.

4. Edward, 1653-1653; died young.

5. Benoni (also Benony, and Stebbing is seen in some records), 1655-1704; married widow Mary Broughton Bennett, then married widow Hannah Atkinson Edwards.

Children with Abigail:

6. Samuel, 1659-1732; married Mary French.

7. Abigail, 1660-1748; married William Phelps.

8. Thomas, 1662-1712; married Elizabeth Wright.

9. Hannah, 1664-1704; married John Sheldon.

10. Mary, 1666-1733; married Thomas Strong (or John Strong).

11. Sarah, 1668-1703/1704; married William Southwell.

12. Joseph, 1669-1681.

13. Deborah, 1672-1715; married Benjamin Alvord, then Benjamin Burt.

14. Rebecca, 1675-1712; married Nathaniel Strong.

15. Thankful, 1678-__ ; married Jerijah Strong.

John Stebbins was in Roxbury in 1651, and in that same year bought a house in Springfield. He was one of the first landowners of Pocumtuck (the original name of Deerfield) but never seems to have resided there. Rather, he settled in Northampton in 1656 and lived at the lower end of Pudding Lane, which is now Hawley Street. He had a large farm and owned real estate valued between 400 and 500 pounds. His saw mill was within the bounds of Easthampton.

A public spirited man; in 1654 he was a selectman of Northampton, the highest New England town office. He later served on various committees: land survey (1659), laying out of public highways (166l), building of the new meeting house (1661). He served as juror in 1661, and was chosen bailiff responsible for clearing cattle and swine from public meadows. On April 18, 1661, he signed a covenant organizing the church of Northampton.

In 1672-3, he was one of the contributors to the Harvard College.

Note regarding his death:

John was also keeper of the sawmill, the place where he eventually died on March 7, 1678 or 1679. He was apparently killed by some runaway logs, but the suddenness of his death seemed suspicious to some of his neighbors. A twelve man jury of inquest rendered a verdict, which, while it did not directly charge witchcraft, showed that they more than half believed it had something to do with his death. Two examinations were of the remains and two reports were made to the court. In the first one, they declared that there was a "warmth and heate in his body that dead persons are not usual to have"; they reported that there were "fewer places upon his breast it seemed to have been pintched, though the doctor informed him that in his lifetime there was a swelling between the Pintches"; his neck was as flexible as that of a living person. Upon his body were found "several hundred of spots" that looked as if "they had been shott with small shott" and when they were scraped there were holes under them. On the second examination, which must have been made soon after the first one, they found, as would very naturally follow, "the body somewhat more cold yn before, his joints were more limber," and several bruises on different parts of his person which they had not previously discovered. The jury reported to the County Court in April, and Samuel Bartlett, brother-in-law to Stebbins, and who seems to have been the witch finder in general for the town, brought in all the testimony he could obtain. This evidence, which cannot be found now, was sent to the Court of Assistants at Boston, but no further action was taken.

Short Summary on John Stebbins

Name: John Stebbins

Birth: 26 June 1626, Bocking, Co. Essex, England

Marriage: Married twice.

• 1st marriage: widowed Anne (Munson) Munden on May 14, 1646, in Springfield, Hamshire Co. (now Hampden Co.), Massachusetts.
• 2nd marriage: Miss Abigail Bartlett, on December 17, 1657.

Death: 7 Mar 1678/1679 Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts

Sources

1. ↑ Benjamin W. Dwight, The History of the Descendants of Elder John Strong of Northampton, Massachusetts, pages 769-771, link

See also:

• Genealogy of the Stebbins Family: including kindred lines of Swetland, Wilcox and Cheney families. Willis Merrill Stebbins. Brown Printing Service, Lincoln Nebraska, 1940.

• The Stebbins Genealogy. Ralph Stebbins Greenlee and Robert Lemuel Greenlee. Chicago, 1904. Volume 1 Volume 2.

• A Family History, recording the ancestors of Russell Snow Hitchcock. This includes the ancestral lines of Hitchcock, Andrews, Snow, Russell, Bardwll, Warriner, Pepper, and their allied lines (Rowland Stebbins is mentioned here). Pg 19. (Note: Many ancestral lines are listed, see the table of contents, it has 243 pages).

• Shirley Amacher Robinson (Researcher) 1002 South Brown Street, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan 48858.

• New England Marriages Prior to 1700, by Clarence Almon Torrey (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, 2011) Vol. II, p. 1439. STEBBINS, John (ca 1626--1679 & 1/wf Anne (MUNSON) MUNDEN, w. Abraham (-1656); 14 May 1646; Springfield/Northampton. STEBBINS, John (ca 1626-1679) & 2/wf Abigail BARTLETT, m/2 Jedediah STRONG 1681; 17 Dec 1657; Northampton.

• Find A Grave: Memorial #5642542