John Odlin (abt. 1602 - 1685)

Born about 1602 in England

Descendants

Died 18 Dec 1685 at about age 83 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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John Odlin migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See Great Migration Begins, by R. C. Anderson, Vol. 2, p. 1347) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Disputed Origins

Disconnected: No sources have been named for the relationship of John Odlin to parents John Audley and Elizabeth Wilby.

Name

I have found a number of references to him as "Odlin", "Odlyn" "Audlin" or "Audlyn", but only the christening records for some of the children show him as "Audley." Anderson uses Odlin in GMB.

John Odlin, born about 1602, was the earliest person by the name Odlin in America. (Unless otherwise noted, the information in this biography comes from the The Great Migration Begins.^[1]) His birth year is based on testimony he gave on June 10, 1684, in which John stated that he was eighty-two years old, so his birth would have been about 1602 based on deposition of 1684 [ MHSC 2:4:202-03], but given the date of birth of his eldest child this may be an exaggeration. It is believed that he came from England. Anderson gives no source, but states that Odlin came to Massachusetts in 1632. This date may be based on that fact that John was the 139th member of the church in Boston in 1632. John "Odlyn" was made a freeman in Boston May 14, 1634.^[2] In 1637 he was disenfranchised because of his Antinomian beliefs. You can read more about this controversy in Wikipedia. John was later restored to church membership. John "Audlin" became a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in 1638,^[3] for which he was the armorer from 1644 until 1673. His occupation was that of armorer and cutler.

Judge Samuel Sewall noted John's death in his diary on Dec. 18. 1685: "Father John Odlin dies; one of the first inhabitants of Boston. The oldest save the Governour."^[4] John's wife Margaret, whose maiden name is not known, apparently predeceased him, probably in about 1667, but he was survived by three sons mentioned in his Will:

• Elisha, b. July 1, 1640^[5]; christened 5 July 1640^[6]; a tailor, d. Sept. 14, 1724.
• John, b. Feb. 3, 1641-2^[7]; christened 13 Feb 1641.^[8] He went by the name John Audley. He lived in Rhode Island and d. Dec. 13, 1711.
• Peter, born July 2, 1646 or (the town and church records disagree) August 2, 1646.^[9].

Other children were:

• John, b. and d. 1635.^[10]
• Hannah, b. 9 Feb 1637/38^[11], died soon.
• Daughter Hannah, b. 1643, christened 9 Oct 1643^[12]; d. about 1671 or 1672. John had a granddaughter Hannah Bumstead, who was mentioned in his Will and who is the daughter of Hannah.

In his will, dated 5 March 1684/5 and probated 11 January 1685/6, John Odlin bequeathed to son John Odlin a piece of land; to son Peter a piece of land, some furniture, and "my old great Bible"; to grandchild Hannah Bumsteed 10s.; and to son Elisha Odlin a piece of land, his cow commons and "my bible Jenevas translations and Calvins Institutions, the rest of my books to be divided amongst my three sons, and all my household stuff to be equally divided betwixt Elisha and Peter" [ SPR 6:513]. The three parcels of land appear to be a division of a single larger tract, in the town of Boston, presumably the two conjoined houselots listed in the Book of Possessions; John Odlin had apparently sold all his outlying land.

Biography

EDUCATION: On 12 August 1636 gave 4s. toward maintenance of school master with several other men, in April 1649 rented land on Long and Spectacle islands, the rents to go to the school [BTR 1:95]; signed several deeds; Bibles and other books bequeathed to sons in will. OFFICES: Fenceviewer 21 March 1635/6 [BTR 1:9]; clerk of the market 8 March 1657/8 [BTR 1:143]. ESTATE: On 8 January 1637/8 granted 84 acres, being great lot #15 at Rumney Marsh [BTR 1:28]; sold to Richard Tuttle on 19 July 1638 [BTR 1:36]. On 21 January 1638/9 "leave was granted to John Odlyn to make use of a piece of marsh ground at Muddy River, containing an acre, lying against the third lot there until the town shall see occasion for further disposing of it" [BTR 1:36]. On 27 April 1640 bought from the town nine acres of marsh [BTR 1:51, 53, 108]; and on 26 October 1640 another acre and a half adjoining [BTR 1:56]. In the Boston Book of Possessions John Odlin held one house with a garden [ BBOP 35]. On 10 October 1650 he purchased a houselot in Boston from John Bateman, adjacent to the houselot already in his possession [BBOP 35].

On 11 May 1667 "John Odlin of Boston ... cutler and Margaret his wife" sold to Edward Devotion of Muddy River, yeoman, for £39 two acres of marsh at Muddy River, and another parcel of eight acres; John Odlin added his signature, and Margaret made her mark; John Odlin alone acknowledged the deed 19 May 1677 [ SLR 10:217]. On 11 February 1667/8 "John Audlin of Boston ... armorer" sold to John Hull of Boston, goldsmith, for £20 eight acres at Muddy River [SLR 10:4]. On 21 November 1682 "John Odlin of Boston ... armorer" sold to Edward Devotion for £24 two and a half acres of marsh at Muddy River [SLR 12:305].

MARRIAGE AND CHILDREN

By 1635 Margaret _____; last seen on 11 May 1667 when she joined in a deed with her husband, and may have died soon after since she was not a party to a deed nine months later. She may be one of the otherwise unidentified Margarets who joined Boston church during the early years.

CHILDREN (all born and baptized Boston): ^[13]

1. JOHN, b. 30 [sic] June 1635 "and died soon after" [ BVR 3]; bp. 28 June 1635 [BChR 279].
2. HANNAH, b. 9 February 1637/8 "and died soon after" [BVR 5]; bp. 4 March 1637/8 [BChR 282].
3. ELISHA, b. 1 July 1640 [BTR 1:9]; bp. 5 July 1640 [BChR 285]; m. by 1666 Abigail Bright, daughter of HENRY BRIGHT.
4. JOHN, b. 3 February 1641/2 [BVR 11]; bp. 13 February 1641/2 "being about 7 days old" [BChR 289]; m. by about 1666 Martha Holmes, daughter of Obadiah Holmes (in his will of 9 April 1682 Obadiah Holmes made a bequest to daughter Martha Odlin [ Brady Anc 234]).
5. HANNAH, bp. 29 October 1643 "being about 8 days old" [BChR 294]; m. by 1664 Jeremiah Bumstead (see COMMENTS below).
6. PETER, b. 2 August [sic] 1646 [BVR 23]; bp. 12 July 1646 "about 9 days old" [BChR 303]; m. by 1672 Hannah Sharp (eldest child b. Boston 9 November 1672 [BVR 124]), daughter of SAMUEL SHARP [ Essex Ant 2:169-70, citing ELR 7:43].

COMMENTS

John Odlin was on the 20 November 1637 list of Boston men to be disarmed as adherents of Anne Hutchinson [MBCR 1:211]. Shortly afterward he signed a renunciation of the petition which he and many others had signed against the proceedings of the court in this matter [ WP 3:514].

On 10 June 1684 "John Odlin aged about eighty-two years" was one of four deponents who called themselves "ancient dwellers and inhabitants of the Town of Boston in New-england from the time of the first planting and settling thereof and continuing so at this day" and testified to the purchase of Mr. WILLIAM BLACKSTONE's land by the town in 1634 [MHSC 2:4:202-03].

"Jeremiah & Anna Bumsteed" had daughter (and apparently first child) Hannah born in Boston 21 November 1664 [BVR 92]. This couple had three more children, in 1666, 1668 and 1670 [BVR 99, 106, 113], and then in 1673 Jeremiah had the first of several children with wife Sarah [BVR 131]. Hannah Bumstead born in 1664 is the only candidate to be John Odlin's grandchild, and Jeremiah's first wife Anna (certainly Hannah Odlin born 1643) must have died about 1671 or 1672, thus predeceasing her father. Why John Odlin did not name his other Bumstead grandchildren is not known. (A recent article identifying the second wife of Jeremiah Bumstead as Sarah Blanchard reports a late-recorded deed in which John Odlin deeded land to Jeremiah and Hannah Bumstead "for the love and affection of my son Jeremiah Bumstead" [ NEHGR 140:312, citing SLR 21:230].) Various genealogists have claimed that John Odlin's daughter Hannah was Anne, the wife of Jeremiah Clarke of Newport [Clarke-Dungan 51; Noyes-Gilman 105; NEHGR 74:134; TAG 26:228]. No evidence for this is given, but these authors were apparently persuaded to make this guess on the basis of the presence in Newport of John Odlin's son John, and the use by Jeremiah's son Samuel of the unusual given name of Audley when naming one of his sons. This is certainly not sufficient to displace Jeremiah Bumstead as the husband of Hannah Odlin. (Noyes-Gilman also claims that Hannah married Jonathan Davol [Noyes-Gilman 105], which has even less validity than the Jeremiah Clarke claim, and which has been refuted by Leo H. Garman [TAG 65:148].)

Research notes

AUDLEY, (Odlin) John Boston Probably from London. Member church 1630, No. 139. 'One of the very first inhabitants of Boston' (Sewall), but he was not a freeman until 1634. Armorer and cutler. Died 1685, aged 82 years (G.R., VI, 727).

Source: http://genealogytrails.com/mass/winthrop_passengers.html

Sources

1. ↑ Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633 (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, 1995).
2. ↑ Massachusetts (Colony). Records of the governor and company of the Massachusetts bay in New England. Vol. 1. Boston: W. White, printer to the commonwealth, 1853. Page 368.
3. ↑ Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts. Roll of members of the Military company of the Massachusetts, now called the Ancient and honorable artillery company of Massachusetts. Boston: [Press of A. Mudge & son], 1895. Page 1.
4. ↑ "Samuel Sewal's Diary". New England Historic and Genealogical Register, . New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vol 6 (Jan 1852) Page 72.
5. ↑ "Massachusetts, Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FCWG-QXC : accessed 28 February 2015), John Odlin in entry for Elisha Odlin, 01 Jul 1640; citing BOSTON,SUFFOLK,MASSACHUSETTS, ; FHL microfilm 397,042.
6. ↑ "Massachusetts, Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FCWG-35T : accessed 28 February 2015), John Audlyn in entry for Elisha Audlyn, ; citing , ; FHL microfilm 397,042.
7. ↑ "Massachusetts, Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FCWL-T9L : accessed 28 February 2015), John Odlin in entry for John Odlin, 03 Feb 1641; citing BOSTON,SUFFOLK,MASSACHUSETTS, ; FHL microfilm 397,042.
8. ↑ "Massachusetts, Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FCWL-JJQ : accessed 28 February 2015), John Audlyn in entry for John Audlyn; citing , ; FHL microfilm 397,042.
9. ↑ "Massachusetts, Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FCWG-JKM : accessed 28 February 2015), John Odlin in entry for Peter Odlin, 02 Aug 1646; citing BOSTON,SUFFOLK,MASSACHUSETTS, ; FHL microfilm 397,042.
10. ↑ "Massachusetts, Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FCWL-T9V : accessed 28 February 2015), John Odlin in entry for John Odlin, 30 Jun 1635; citing BOSTON, SUFFOLK, MASSACHUSETTS, ; FHL microfilm 397,042.
11. ↑ "Massachusetts, Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FCW2-TCS : accessed 28 February 2015), John Odlin in entry for Hannah Odlin, 09 Feb 1637; citing BOSTON,SUFFOLK,MASSACHUSETTS, ; FHL microfilm 397,042.
12. ↑ "Massachusetts, Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FCW2-G2L : accessed 28 February 2015), John Audlyn in entry for Hannah Audlyn, ; citing , ; FHL microfilm 397,042.
13. ↑ John Taylor Perry. The Odlin Family. Boston, Mass: David Clapp & Son, 1887. Open Library, a reprint from the New England Historic and Genealogical Register, NEHGR 41 (July 1887): NEHGR.

See Also:

• Wilbour, Benjamin Franklin; Little Compton Families, Volume I and Volume II. Baltimore, Maryland: Clearfield Company, Inc. by Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc., 2003.
• Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633 (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, 1995).