Joseph Langton (abt. 1627 - bef. 1665)

Born about 1627 in England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died before 27 Mar 1665 before about age 38 in Long Island, New York

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This person is an ancestor of President Millard Fillmore^[1]

Biography

Joseph Langton immigrated to New England as a child during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640).

Joseph Langton immigrated to New England between 1621 and 1640 and later departed for Long Island, New York

Joseph Langton, son of Roger and Jane (___) Langton, was probably born about 1627.^[2] (According to Felt, he appears as a "settler" of Ipswich in 1648, while his father had appeared as a settler in 1635. The 1648 date may reflect Joseph's becoming of age at that time.^[3])

Joseph, along with his mother and two sisters, is named in the will of William Nevill of Ipswich, singleman, dated "2nd month 15th day 1643" (15 April 1643). Joseph was bequeathed Nevill's fowling piece. Others named in the will include Mary Whipple "and the rest of my Master's children", Ann Whipple, William Robins, and William Gooderson. Joseph's father, Roger Langton, was the executor.^[4] The relationship of William Nevill and the Langton family is not known.

Joseph was not the most exemplary of citizens. He appeared in Court in March 1649/50 for stealing wine and excessive drinking;^[5] on 10 Oct 1650 he testified in Court to watching a companion steal apples, and on Mar 1651 he appeared in Court for lying.^[6]

Joseph married the widow Rachel (Varney) Cooke sometime in 1651 or early 1652, probably in Ipswich.^[7] (Rachel appeared in Court in December 1650 as Rachel Cooke to settle her deceased husband's estate; Joseph appeared in Court on 1 July 1652 as Rachel's husband.)

The marriage was not particularly successful. On 1 July 1652 Joseph was in Court for "evil usage" of his wife's child, and the child was given into the care of Rachel's parents.^[8] Joseph and Rachel did manage to have two children, Rachel (born perhaps 1652) and Mary (b. perhaps 1653), but at that point Joseph disappears from the records of Ipswich. He is almost certainly the Joseph Langton who appears living in Newtown, Long Island in 1656.^[9]

Joseph was still living on 22 May 1661 when his wife Rachel was granted a divorce in the Essex County, Massachusetts Courts.^[10]

Adultery was grounds for divorce at the time,^[11] and Joseph was apparently living "in adultery" with Hannah Bradish prior to his death.

Joseph died sometime before 27 Mar 1665, when Hannah Bradish of Flushing, New York who had been "living in Adultery with Joseph Langton, deceased", came to the notice of authorities for "selling and disposing of his estate and goods, to which she has no right, as the Just Title would belong to his wife and children."^[12][13]

Sources

1. ↑ Roberts, Ancestors of American Presidents, p. 38
2. ↑ Anderson, The Great Migration, Vol IV, p. 229
3. ↑ Felt, History of Ipswich, Essex, and Hamilton, p. 12
4. ↑ Estate of William Nevill of Ipswich, singleman, in Massachusetts, Probate Court (Essex County). The Probate Records of Essex County, Massachusetts. (Salem, Massachusetts: The Essex Institute, 1916, 1917, 1920), Vol. 1, p. 2
5. ↑ Records and files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts, Vol 1, p. 188
   Anderson, The Great Migration, Vol IV, p. 229
6. ↑ Records and files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts, Vol 1, pp. 224-225
7. ↑ Anderson, The Great Migration, Vol IV, p. 229
   Roberts, Ancestors of American Presidents, p. 38
   Barber, Kathleen Canney, and Janet Ireland Delorey. William Varney of Ipswich and Gloucester, Massachusetts. The American Genealogist. (Jul 2006)
8. ↑ Records and files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts, Vol 1, p. 258
   Anderson, The Great Migration, Vol IV, p. 229
9. ↑ Anderson, The Great Migration, Vol IV, p. 229
10. ↑ Shurtleff, Nathaniel B. (Nathaniel Bradstreet). Records of the governor and company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England: printed by order of the legislature. (Boston, Massachusetts: W. White, 1853-1854), Vol. 4, Part II, p. 8, 22 May 1661
    Anderson, The Great Migration, Vol IV, p. 229
11. ↑ Sheila McIntyre, “The Correspondence of John Cotton, Jr. (1640-1699)”, American Ancestors 11:2 (Spring 2010), pp. 39-42.
12. ↑ Harris, Gale Ion. "The Wives and Children of James2 Bradish of Newtown, Long Island, New York: With Notes on His Sister Hannah2 Bradish, Companion of Joseph Langton", The American Geneologist. Vol. 78 (2003):96-102
    Anderson, The Great Migration, Vol IV, p. 229
    Barber, Kathleen Canney, and Janet Ireland Delorey. "William Varney of Ipswich and Gloucester, Massachusetts". The American Genealogist. (Jul 2006)
13. ↑ O'Callaghan, E.B., Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New-York, Albany: Weed, Parsons, 1853-1887. Vol. 14, page 566.

• Anderson, Robert Charles; George F. Sanborn; and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635. (NEHGS, 1999-2011)

• Davis, Walter Goodwin. Massachusetts and Maine families : in the ancestry of Walter Goodwin Davis (1885-1966) : a reprinting, in alphabetical order by surname, of the sixteen multi-ancestor compendia : (plus Thomas Haley of Winter Harbor and his descendants). (Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Pub. Co., c1996 ), Vol. 3, p. 520

• Felt, Joseph B. History of Ipswich, Essex, and Hamilton. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Printed by C. Folsom, 1834)

• Massachusetts (Colony). Quarterly Courts (Essex County). Records and files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts. (Salem, Massachusetts: The Essex Institute, 1911-1925, 1975)

• Roberts, Gary Boyd; Ancestors of American Presidents. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009).

Acknowledgements

Mike Walton, Kathie Llewellyn, Chris Varney.