John is a descendant of Mayflower passenger William Brewster. His birth is given simply as "December 1651" in the most recent GSMD works (the 1935 claim of 2 December 1651 may no longer be accepted). He should not be confused with his earlier brother, John Freeman, who was born 2 Feb 1650, and died as an infant. [3]
daughter[4] of Ens. William and Rebecca (Tracy?) Merrick
Spouse #2:
Mercy (Hedge?) Watson between 21 April 1696 and 6 July 1698
perhaps daughter of Capt. William Hedge
Sources
Barbara Lambert Merrick, Mayflower Families through Five Generations, Vol 24 Part 1, The Descendants of Elder William Brewster, General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 2014. "The Silver Book" Page 283
The Mayflower Descendant, Pilgrim Genealogy, History and Biography, Volume VIII, The Mayflower Society [5]
Town records, 1654-1863 [Eastham, Massachusetts], database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G979-QNYN : 27 September 2022), , FHL microfilm 007009743, image 330, Eastham, Massachusetts, Volume 2, Transcribed by order of the Town in 1856 by, H. Doane 2d, Town Clerk, Marriages, Births, & Deaths, 1654-1797, Page 3.
↑ Bowman, George Ernest. "John Freeman of Eastham and Harwich His Wives, His Children, His Will and His Widow's Estate." The Mayflower Descendant 33 (1935): 100-05. Accessed May 8, 2016. https://books.google.com/books?id=sJpLe16SzSYC.
↑ Merrick, Barbara Lambert (compiler). Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, Descendants of the Pilgrims Who Landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in December 1620. Volume Twenty-Four. The Descendants of Elder William Brewster, Part 1, Generations 1 through 4. Plymouth, MA: General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 2014. xxiv+446. Pages 156, 283-288.
DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with John by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA.
Y-chromosome DNA test-takers in his direct paternal line on WikiTree:
The Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, vol. 24 (Brewster), from 2014, provides sourced information (pp.283-288). I am updating this record and citing it, accordingly. There was an earlier brother John Freeman who died young (b. 2 Feb., 1650; p.156), as well.
added to John of Virginia's profile as support for John of Mass. information:
Mayflower Births and Deaths, Vol. 1 and 2
Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970. Louisville, Kentucky: National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Microfilm, 508 rolls. Patriot 12090
birth location (leaving Dec. 1751) was given as Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States
death info was 1721-07-27, Harwich, Barnstable, MASS
Freeman-594 and Freeman-1376 do not represent the same person because: Freeman-594 should remain as Bridges' son. Bridges Freeman had a son named John, and Freeman-594 had been created to be his son. He just had the Massachusetts death location. Since the Mass. Freemans already have a profile for son John, I restored Freeman-594 to be Bridges son.
Freeman-4428 and Freeman-1376 appear to represent the same person because: same person, death date on Freeman-4428 is incorrect this is actually a marriage date for Sarah and John.
birth location (leaving Dec. 1751) was given as Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States
death info was 1721-07-27, Harwich, Barnstable, MASS