Bartholomew Gedney (bef. 1640 - 1698)

Born before 14 Jun 1640 in Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Husband of Hannah (Clarke) Gedney — married 22 Dec 1662 (to 6 Jan 1696) in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died 28 Feb 1698 after age 57 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Biography

Bartholomew Gedney was involved in witch trials

Bartholomew was baptized 14 Jun 1640 In Salem. He was the son of John and Sarah Gedney.^[1][2]

He married Hannah Clarke in 1662.^[3] At the time of their marriage they were step brother and step sister.

Batholomew was a merchant, physician, military officer, and native of Salem, Massachusetts. He is best known as one of the magistrates in the Salem witchcraft trials... Gedney was present at several of the examinations and later served as a member of the Court of Oyer and Terminer."^[4]

In 1674, while a resident of Yarmouth, Maine, he went into business with Englishman Henry Sayward. They built the town's first grist mill at the First Falls. He also built two sawmills.

Gedney was present at several of the examinations and later served as a member of the Court of Oyer and Terminer. He was present at the examination of his friend John Alden on May 31, 1692, in Salem Village. When Gedney saw how the afflicted girls cried out that Alden tormented them, he told Alden that he had "always look'd upon him to be an honest Man, but now he did see cause to alter his judgment.". Alden generously replied that he was sorry for that and hoped in time to recover Gedney's good opinion; the following year Alden, who had escaped from prison and fled the country, was declared innocent by proclamation.

He died in 1698.^[5] He is buried at Burying Point Cemetery, Salem.^[6]

Descendants

The American War of Independence was particularly hard on relatives of the Gedney family. Bartholomew Gedney (1640 – 1698) of Massachusetts, a magistrate at the Salem Witch Trials, was a great grandfather of Bryan Fairfax, the 8th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, and great-great grandfather of Thomas Fairfax (1762 – 1846), 9th Lord Fairfax of Cameron. Thomas Fairfax (1732 – 1802), 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, was forced to forfeit his land in what is now Fairfax, Virginia. Ironically, the 6th Lord Fairfax's father had hired George Washington to survey this land (giving the general a familiarity with the area that must have proven useful during the war if not in the disposition of the spoils after the war).^[7]

Bartholomew Gedney's granddaughter Deborah Gedney Clarke Fairfax married Col. William Fairfax, cousin of Thomas, 6th Lord Fairfax. William was hired by his cousin to manage the 5 million acres the Lord "inherited" from the crown (these lands were of course, had been inhabited by Algonquian peoples for centuries). William and Deborah's stepdaughter (with his second wife Sarah Walker Fairfax, dear friend of Deborah) married Lawrence Washington, brother of George. Lawrence built Mount Vernon for her. William and Deborah's youngest daughter Hannah married Col. Warner Washington, a cousin of George Washington.

The land of Joshua Gedney, in Dutchess County along the Hudson River, was similarly seized and auctioned, eventually ended up in the hands of the Vanderbilts and President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Today it forms part of the Vanderbilt-Roosevelt Historic Park. Joshua Gedney and his brother Joseph were forced to change their names to Gidney and to flee from New York to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in 1783.^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VQDQ-6ZX : 15 January 2020), Bartholomew Gedney, 1640.
2. ↑ Butler, James Davie. The Butler Family, The New England Historical & Genealogical Register, (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Mass., 1847) Vol. 1, Page 169
3. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG1V-R5B6 : 18 October 2022), Bartholomew Gedney and Hana Cleark, 22 Oct 1662; citing Marriage, , Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007011200.
4. ↑ Wikidata: Item Q4865251, en:Wikipedia
5. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG1K-C5JG : 18 October 2022), Cole Barth Gedney, 28 Feb 1697; citing Death, , Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007011200.
6. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/16883842/bartholomew-gedney: accessed 25 December 2022), memorial page for Bartholomew Gedney (14 Jun 1640–28 Feb 1697), Find A Grave: Memorial #16883842, citing Burying Point Cemetery, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA; Maintained by Alyssa Richelle (contributor 46872290).
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Wikidata: Item Q5529717, en:Wikipedia

See also:

• FamilySearch Person: LZ1C-GR4

• Prince, Roger A., The English Origin of John Gedney of Salem, Massachusetts, and His Three Wives, The New England Historical & Genealogical Register (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., Winter 2020) Vol. 174, WN 693, Page 35.