Joshua Emerson Jr. (1709 - 1796)

Born 24 Mar 1709 in Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Bailey) Emerson — married about 1733 in Methuen, Essex, Massachusetts Bay

Husband of Mary (Sanders) Emerson — married 17 Nov 1757 in Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts Bay

Descendants

Died 11 Jun 1796 at age 87 in Methuen, Essex, Massachusetts Bay

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Biography

This profile is part of the Haverhill, Massachusetts One Place Study.

Joshua Emerson Jr was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts Bay on 24 March 1708/09, the son of Joshua Emerson and Mary Clark.^[1][2]

Joshua II married 1st Sarah, (perhaps but not proven to be Sarah Bailey) on about 1733, then, upon the death of the 1st wife Sarah, married 2nd Mary (Sanders) Chase on November 7, 1757.^[3] He and both wives were original (1740) members of the Second Church of Methuen, which became the First Church of Salem, N.H., when state and town lines changed in 1741 (Pope, p. 47). Joshua had as a result been dismissed from the Methuen First Church in 1740.^[4]

Lacking Joshua and Sarah's marriage record, there has been uncertainty about Sarah's maiden name. The naming of their first three children, mirroring Joshua's mother and Sarah Bailey's mother and father, lends credence to Sarah being Sarah Bailey, as indicated herein. Also it is interesting to note that Joshua Emerson and Mrs. Joshua Emerson were both dismissed from the Methuen First Church in 1740, at the same time John and Susannah Bailey (Sarah's probable parents) were dismissed to join the Methuen Second Church or North Parish (Salem, NH).^[5] In fact, Joshua Emerson (probably Sr. not Jr.) and Sarah Bailey's probable father John Bailey were two of the thirteen original signers of the convenant forming Methuen North Parish Church, on 16 Jan. 1740, so it is likely these families were quite close.^[6]

Children by Joshua's 1st marriage included:^[7]

1. Mary, b. 12 Oct. 1735; died young
2. John, b. 6 Dec. 1737; prob. died 1757 (unm.)
3. Susannah, b. 2 Mar. 1739/40; m. David Clement, 19 Mar. 1770
4. Sarah, b. 18 Oct. 1742; m. Daniel Messer; and
5. Joshua III, b. 19 July 1745; m1. Hannah Sanders, 25 Dec. 1766; m2. Mrs. Hannah (Maxfield) Emerson, 5 May 1795.

Joshua lost his wife Sarah in about 1757, and as mentioned he married Mary (Sanders) Chase in November of that year. Mary was the widow of Enoch Chase, whom she had married in 1747. The Charles Henry Pope book listed below has mis-identified Mary as the daughter of Abner Chase, being the only "Mary Chase" born in Haverhill of an appropriate age. But that Mary Chase married Capt. Ebenezer Colby. The proof that Joshua married Mary Sanders is contained in a deed in Dec. 1757, where Mary ("wife of Joshua Emerson") and her two sisters Judith (Clark) and Phebe Sanders (unm.) sold land in Haverhill they had inherited from their father Nathaniel Sanders' estate.^[8][9] Also, it is interesting that Mary named two children Avery Sanders Emerson after her brother Avery Sanders, and that her stepson Joshua Emerson III married her younger sister Hannah Sanders.

Children by his second marriage (b. or bpt. in Methuen):

1. Avery Sanders, b. 14 Aug. 1758 (died young)
2. Mary, bpt. 1762
3. John, bpt. 1764
4. Phebe, bpt. 1767, and
5. Avery Sanders (2), bpt. 1769.

There are two Joshua Emerson's recorded side by side on the Methuen census for 1790, probably this Joshua and his son (although he also had a nephew of that name living in Methuen in this era).^[10]

It is said that Joshua passed away (perhaps in Methuen) on June 11, 1796, but the death record is elusive, and the source of this date unknown. We do know that both Joshua and Mary were very much alive in October 1795, when they were part of a Land transaction dealing with the legacies of Mary's late step-mother, Anne (Kelly) Sanders.^[11]

Sources

1. ↑ Vital Records of Haverhill, Massachusetts: To the End of the Year 1849 (Topsfield Historical Society, 1910)| "Volume I, Births, Page 116"
2. ↑ Alfred Poor, (1858) Historical and genealogical researches and recorder of passing events of Merrimack Valley. "Notes and Queries." Haverhill, MA: Alfred Poor, | (p. 171, Person #9)
3. ↑ Vital Records of Haverhill, Massachusetts: To the End of the Year 1849 (Topsfield Historical Society, 1910)| "Haverhill Vital Records, Marriages and Deaths, Page 109"
4. ↑ A Short History of the First Church and Parish of Methuen, Massachusetts, by Frederick D. Hayward (1929)
5. ↑ A Short History of the First Church and Parish of Methuen, Massachusetts, by Frederick D. Hayward (1929), Page 29
6. ↑ History of Salem, N. H., Edgar Gilbert, 1907| Page 129
7. ↑ Methuen Town Book| Births, Children of Joshua and Sarah
8. ↑ The Haseltine Papers, Genealogies, Probate Records and Deeds of Palmer, Emerson, Eaton, Sawyer and Johnson Families| See Page 88 of 205
9. ↑ Massachusetts Land Records, Essex County, Volume 104| Page 203
10. ↑ 1790 United States Federal Census, State of Massachusetts, Essex County, Methuen, Page 394| 1790 US Census, "Joshua Emerson"
11. ↑ Massachusetts Land Records, Essex County, Volume 160| Page 243

See Also:

• Family Search | Joshua Emerson
• Methuen Town Book| Births, Children of Joshua and Sarah
• Pope, Charles Henry (comp.), The Haverhill Emersons: Part First. Boston: Murray and Emery Company, 1913, p. 13 - Michael (1); p. 30 - Joshua (2); p. 46 - Joshua (3); p. 80 - Joshua (4): | "Page 46-47"
• The Haseltine Papers, Genealogies, Probate Records and Deeds of Palmer, Emerson, Eaton, Sawyer and Johnson Families| See Page 51 of 205