John Briggs (abt. 1609 - bef. 1690)

Born about 1609 in England

Husband of Sarah (Cornell) Briggs — married about 1641 in Rhode Island

Husband of Constant (Mitchell) Briggs — married about 1662 in Portsmouth, Colony of Rhode Island [uncertain]

Descendants

Died before 17 Nov 1690 before about age 81 in Portsmouth, Rhode Island

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John Briggs migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 41) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

John Briggs was probably born about 1609 as suggested by his own testimony 20 Feb 1673, when he called himself "sixty-four years or thereabouts."^[1]. Therefore he was NOT John Briggs supposed christened 8 Apr 1618 in St. James, Clerkenwell, Essex, England. (Not clear which of parent sets above this date is associated with - Henry see image att.)

We would then expect him to have married by the mid 1630s. Therefore he may have had an earlier wife before Sarah Cornell whom he married about 1641.

He married second about 1662 Constant Mitchell widow of John Forbes.^[2]

He was one of the signers, in 1638, of the compact of the settlement of Aquidneck. He played a prominent part in the government of the town serving as juryman, constable, town councilor, surveyor of lands, special commissioner, and Deputy to the General Assembly. In 1662, John Dunham, one of the original 34 purchasers of Dartmouth, conveyed for 42 pounds, his whole share to John Briggs.^[3]

John was a Commissioner to the Rhode Island Court from 1654 to 1656, again in 1659, and from 1661 to 1663.

On 20 Feb 1673, he testified against his nephew Thomas Cornell, son of his sister (in-law) Rebecca.

"He had a dream and saw a woman at his bedside "whereat he was much affrighted and cryed out, in the name of God, what art thou!" The apparation answered 'I am your sister Cornell' and twice said 'see how I was burnt with fire!' To mention sentencing any man to be hanged on dream evidence would cause any lawyer of any subsequent period in U.S.A. to express amazing horror and unbelier of its happening. We therefore dismiss John Briggs."^[4]

He lived in Portsmouth, Rhode Island and had six children. Some of them lived in Portsmouth, Tiverton, Little Compton, Rhode Island and Dartmouth, Massachusetts.

Last Will & Testament

The will of John Briggs of Portsmouth, dated 19 Apr 1690, proved 17 Nov 1690, mentions wife Content Briggs; sons Enoch Briggs, John Briggs eldest, Thomas Briggs, William Briggs, and Job Briggs; and daughters Susannah Northway and ____ Momony.^{[citation needed]}

Research Notes

Disputed Origins

John Briggs-397 is a merged profile where the parents were in major conflict. The conflicting parents were removed before the profiles were merged. The speculative but unproven parent sets are below:

Parent Set I
Henrie Briggs-235, Mary Hinckes-2^{[citation needed]}

Parent Set II
John Briggs-414, Mary (Scott-745) Briggs^{[citation needed]}

Parent Set III
Williaml Briggs-395, Sarah Gore-54 (associated with a christening of 18 Nov 1610 in Braithwell, York, England^{[citation needed]})

Parent Set IV
Samuel Brigg, and Unknown^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ John Osborne Austin, The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island, Albany (1887), pgs 24-25
2. ↑ U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700 for John Briggs
3. ↑ The Howland Heirs, p. 37 - More details about this source are sought
4. ↑ Austin, op cit., page 25
5. ↑ Baptism: "West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1512-1812" West Yorkshire Archive Service; Wakefield, Yorkshire, England; Yorkshire Parish Records; New Reference Number: WDP53/1/1/4 Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 2256 #8920449 (accessed 23 March 2023) John Brigg baptism in Dec 1609, child of Samuel Brigg, in Halifax, St John the Baptist, Yorkshire, England.

See also:

• David Joyce cites Nellie M. C. Beaman, "Abstracts of various RI towns," Rhode Island Genealogical Register, various volumes 2-8, (1980-1985) as the source.
• David Joyce cites Justin Winsor, History of the Town of Duxbury, Massachusetts, with genealogical registers, Crosby & Nichols, Boston, 1849 as his source.
• Wilbour, Benjamin Franklin Little Compton Families, published 1967. Reference page 57