Ebenezer Redding (abt. 1678 - 1751)

Born about 1678 in Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Mercy (Miller) Redding — married 28 Feb 1705 in Middleboro, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Husband of Joanna (Morton) Redding — married 10 Sep 1728 in Middleboro, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Descendants

Died 5 Mar 1751 at about age 73 in Middleborough, Plymouth, Province of Massachusetts Bay

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Biography

Birth

Ebenezer was born in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1678.^{[citation needed]} His possible daughter Mercy was born in 1708.^[1]

The earliest document found that likely mentions Ebenezer is the adult baptism of a man with that name at the First Church at Cambridge on 15 September 1700. (1) This year may be significant given that his death record points to a birth year of 1679. If so, he came of age in 1700. He is generally thought to have been the son of John Redding and Mary Bassett. They married and had a daughter in Sandwich whose birth is recorded in 1677. The family supposedly moved to Weymouth, Massachusetts, in 1679 and Wells, Maine, in 1680. (York Deeds show John was there in 1690 to 1693. It was then on to Ipswich by 1698, then Gloucester. John deposed in Boston on 17 November 1683 that he was about 30, formerly of Casco Bay and that he had been a fisherman with his father at "Mair Point" in Gloucester before the war. Thomas Redding, the presumed father of John, was named as a former owner of a piece of land at "Mair Point Neck" in Gloucester in an Essex County deed. John's first wife Mary died, and he married a woman named Jane by the time they were in Gloucester. John died there on 17 November 1716. Obviously, their life at sea led them to live in various ports. Ebenezer was not a seaman, but how and why did he end up in Cambridge when his family was in Essex County? There are no other Redding families to stand as alternatives to that of John and Mary to which Ebenezer may have been attached. As an adult he was free to live where he wished, provided he wasn't at risk of needing public support. - This portion of the Bio provided by Douglas Sinclair-see sources below.

NOTE: Please see a few of his appointments by his local selectmen within the images with descriptions of some notable folks who knew Ebenezer Redding such as Isaac Winslow, Esq. as they traveled to the same town meetings and went to the funeral of Seth Howland (see abt Seth Howland's estate administered by Mr. Nathaniel Southworth* of 1684, a selectman of Middleborough in the images, Ichabod of 1711 is his son who also elected Ebenezer), other noted families of association are the Miller Family, the Morton Family and the Vaughan family and Tinkham family and the Howland, and the Southworth Family -evidence images provided by Leia-475, a gen granddaughter.

Middleborough was Formerly called Namassakett. It had been an Indian village, and still had a high population of Indians during the time of our three generations of ancestors: Ebenezer, William, and Moses

Property

On 7/16/1706, Ebenezer bought 50 acres of land from Nathanial Bunn.

Marriage

On 28 Feb 1705 Ebenezer and [Miller-39607|Mercy Miller] were married in Middleborough, Plymouth, Province of Massachusetts Bay.^[2]Their children were William, Mercy, Hannah, Ebenezer, Margaret, Moses, John, Deborah, Lydia and Thomas Redding

Death

Ebenezer died on 5 Mar 1751 and was buried in the Cemetery at The Green in Middleboro.^[3]

Probate

His will is dated 29 April 1751 and proved on 3 June 1751 in Plymouth. He mentions his wife Joanna, and his children, William, Thomas, Ebenezer, Moses, Mercy Hatch, Margaret Cain (Keen), Deborah Williamson, Lydia Core, the heirs of Hannah White, decd., his granddaughter, Silence Redding, and his grandson David White.^[4]

His inventory was recorded in Plymouth in July 1751.^[5]

Surname Origin: Recorded as Reading, Readings, Redding, Reddin, Reddings, Reddinges and others, this is an English surname. It is either topographical from residence in a clearing, from the pre 7th Century word ryding, or a locational name from the parish and town of Reading in Berkshire. This is recorded as Readingum in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of 872 A.D. and as Reddinges in the famous Domesday Book of 1086. The town was named from the Readingas, a tribe who had auburn hair and a ruddy complexion and were probably Anglo-Saxons.

Read more: https://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Redding#ixzz6jtwtJ1GM

Research Notes

• There is an article in The Genealogist 3:2:161-171, "Redding Grandson's of Thomas Redding", by Fred Q. Bowman which names Ebenezer as the "probable" son of John and Mary (Bassett) Redding. Also, New Englanders in Nova Scotia. Pail Bumpus

Sources

1. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch : 16 March 2022), Ebenezer Reddin in entry for Mercy Reddin, 1708.
2. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001", database with images, FamilySearch: 3 November 2017, Ebenezer Reddin and Mercy Miller, 28 Feb 1705; citing Marriage, Middleborough, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States, , town clerk offices, Massachusetts; FHL microfilm 945,015.
3. ↑ "Find A Grave Memorial 142697923, database, FamilySearch: 15 December 2015, Ebenezer Redding, 1751; Burial, Middleboro, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States of America, Cemetery at The Green; citing record ID 142697923, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com
4. ↑ "Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records, 1633-1967," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L97D-FX9N : 20 May 2014), Probate records 1749-1752 and 1848-1853 vol 12-12C > image 108 of 596; State Archives, Boston.
5. ↑ "Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records, 1633-1967," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L97D-F6RD?cc=2018320&wc=M6BX-3NT%3A337796401 : 20 May 2014), Probate records 1749-1752 and 1848-1853 vol 12-12C > image 153 of 596; State Archives, Boston.

See also:

• Vital records sources: Ebenezer's first marriage is recorded in "Middleborough, Mass., Births, Marriages and Deaths," in The Mayflower Descendant, Vol. 2 (1900), p. 157. The second marriage is in Vol. 5 (1903), p. 40, by "Peter Thacher." Joanna was the widow of Elisha Vaughn. Ebenezer's death appears in First Church of Middleborough, Massachusetts; Mr. Putnam's Century and Half Discourses (etc.), p. 83, "aged ab't 72."

• 1. Records of the Church of Christ at Cambridge in New England, 1632-1830, p. 59.
• 2. The births of their children are recorded in the Middleborough vital records cited above (William in Vol. 2, p. 105; Mercy, Hannah, Ebenezer in Vol. 3, p. 85; Margaret and those after her in Vol. 7, p. 241, not all have days of the month given).
• 3. Massachusetts Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, names wives in images.

• The Mayflower Descendant: Volume 21 1919, pg 184-mentions Ebenezer Redding and Elizabeth Howland mentioned in Seth Howlands estate (image)
• Top portion of Bio with citations provided by-The douglassinclairarchives: http://www.dougsinclairsarchives.com/redding/ebenezerredding1.htm

• History of the Town of Middleboro, Massachusetts, pg. 198, 199 By Thomas Weston

• For the Case of Parentage probabilities see research notes:https://wc.rootsweb.com/trees/216657/I249/-/individual