John Bishop (1610 - 1694)

Born 3 May 1610 in Cattistock, Dorset, England

Ancestors

Husband of Rebecca (Goodyear) Bishop — married 1647 in Stamford, Connecticut

Husband of Joanna (Boyse) Bishop — married after 25 Oct 1674 in Connecticut

Descendants

Died 16 Nov 1694 at age 84 in Stamford, Fairfield, Connecticut Colony

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Biography

Reverend John Bishop was born May 3, 1610, in Dorset England. He immigrated to Taunton, Massachusetts, between 1635 and 1640. Reverend Bishop died November 16, 1694, in Stamford, Fairfield county, Connecticut. He is buried in the churchyard of Saint John's and Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church in Stamford. ^[1]

Researcher's Notes

From World Family Tree Pedigree #475 John Bishop, born and baptized at Cattistock, May 3, 1610 (7th son of William and Alice) received his B. A. degree at age 20 from Balliol College, Oxford, and June 1632. His M.A. degree was received 15 April, 1635. As a young man, he decided to migrate to New England and settled in Taunton, Massachusetts where he was a schoolmaster and owned his own land, in 1640. He went to Stamford, Connecticut in 1644 to serve as minister of the First Church there, when a delegation from the Church persuaded him to go with them. They walked the long distance through the wilderness to Stamford. This seems unlikely as boats were often running between Boston and Stamford. It seems that he had completed his studies for the ministry before his calling there. John Bishop, pastor of the church, married Rebecca Goodyear in Stamford, and had eight sons and two daughters. He served the First Congregational church for fifty years through many difficult and trying times in the Colonies. He died in 1694 at the age of 84, a much respected and beloved clergyman. Four sons survived along with his two daughters. Their names were; Stephen, Joseph, Ebenezer, Benjamin, Mary and Rebecca. Stephen's grandson, Joseph, and along with his family, decided to move south to St. Clair Bottom, Virginia in 1773. From this branch of the family have descended the majority of the contributors of this memorial brass plaque: "The Families of old Fairfield"

Bishop, (Rev.) John. The first minister at Stamford. He m. (1 Rebecca [Goodyear]; m. (2) Joanna, widow of Capt. Thomas Willet and previously of rev. Peter Prudden of Milford, and dau. of Rev. John Boyse of Halifax, co. York, Eng. Will 16 Nov. 1694, proved 12 Mar. 1694/5; to be buried between his two wives Rebecca and Joanna who [he says with comfortable assurance] are fallen asleep in Jesus and gone to Heaven before me; I feel the gospel is going from New England for the neglect and contempt it hath found here; sons Stephen, Joseph, Ebenezer, Benjamin; dau. Whiting. Joseph Bishop, Execr of father's will, set out land, 18 Oct. 1695, to Mr. Joseph Whiting of Southampton, in consideration of legacy due him from will of my father Bishop. Children by first wife:

Stephen Rebecca, Daughter, m. Mr. Joseph Whiting, of Southampton, L. I. He was b. at Lynn, 6 Apr. 1641; grad. Harvard 1661; minister at Southampton from 1682 until his death, 7 Apr. 1723.

Joseph

Mary, d. 25 July 1658.

Ebenezer, b. abt. 1666.

Benjamin, b. abt. 1668.

None of his sons followed him into the ministry.

Possible child #7 (of 11) of William and Alice (Dunning) Bishop. Bap. May 3, 1610, Cattistock, Dorset, ENG recorded in Hutchin's History of Dorset. Lower Holway, the principle manor, consisted of eight messauges, eight orchards, eight gardens, and 359 acres of land. Granted to William Bishop and John Law Jr. and their heirs at an unknown date. At least four generations of Bishops lived in Holway. He received his BA degree at age 20 from Balliol College, Oxford and his MA on April 15, 1635.

He was in Taunton, Ma in 1640 according to Savage's Genealogical Dictionary of New ENG and was known as the Taunton Schoolmaster. He moved to Stamford, CT in 1644 to serve as minister of the First Congregational Church. He served for 50 years.

From the book 'Stamford from Puritan to Patriot - The Shaping of a CT Community 1641-1774' by Estelle Feinstein, P. 38 states "One of our few sources of primary materials on Stamford, other than official documents, is a series of letters that the Rev. John Bishop wrote to the Rev. Increase Mather, President of Harvard College, that were delivered in the vessels of a wealthy local merchant, Capt. Jonathan Selleck and have been preserved in the Collections of the MA historical Society."

John Bishop to Increase Mather, Stamford 5 m. 11 d. 1678

• "Reverend Sr. & Dear Brother, Yours of 3 mo. 28, '78, I received; and as touching reports you enquire (though in great haste, by reason of the vessels hastening away) I canot but make a short returne. There have been, doubtles things of a prodigious nre. among vs, by which we should be awakened; but it is to (be) bewailed, that the awful workes of God are so variously & uncertainly spoken of; as many times I find that we know not what to beleeve, nor how to be affected as we should with what we heave. ... As touching the Earthquake lately in these parts, I can speak to that as being sensible thereof, & many others in this Town, & other Townes also preceived the same; though more westward of vs it was more preceived, & eastward, lesse. It was on an evening after the Sabbath viz. 12 m 3. 77. Likewise on 4 m. 20, 78, a like noise was heard here by myself & many others, who took it to be an Earthquake, rhater than thunder, considering circumstances, though the terraemocon not so perceptible. On the last day, same month, here was a violent storme of hail in several plantacons, one west & others east of vs, that did much damage as its said, & I do verily beleeve, though I forbear to mention the quantity of that hail & the effects of it, because I canot fully beleeve all thats said of it. At Stamford it was only a storme of wind & rain, & that but short. This 5 m. 6 & 7 dayes, it pleased the Lord, after a great & threatning drought, to send a plentifull, sober & soaking rain, that sweetly refreshed the earth & revived its dying product."

Sources

1. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/50504127/john-bishop

• The History of Connecticut, From the First Settlement of the Colony to the Adoption of the Present Constitution, by Gideon Hollister, Vol. 1 Case, Tiffany & Company, publishers, Hartford, Connecticut, 1857, pages 497-498, digitized here: https://archive.org/stream/historyofconne01holl#page/497
• Early Settlement of Stamford, CT 1641-1700, by Jeanne Majdalany
• http://person.ancestry.com/tree/5357069/person/390000212645/facts
• Bishop, Nathaniel Holmes. Rev. John Bishop. of the Massachusetts and Connecticut Colonies, 1640-1695, NYGBR (NYGBS, 1897) Vol. 28, Page 89-92 & Page 129-31.