Joseph Grafton Sr (bef. 1604 - 1682)

Born before 23 Sep 1604 in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Moore) Grafton — married 30 Aug 1631 in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England

Husband of Bethia (Rea) Goodhue — married after Nov 1674 in Massachusetts Bay, British America

Descendants

Died 24 Jun 1682 after age 77 in Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Jay Byrne [send private message] and Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree [send private message]

Joseph Grafton Sr migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 137) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Joseph Grafton was baptized 23 September 1604 at St. Nicholas, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk as son of William and Katherine "Garton".^[1] Many of these baptismal records are not indexed for searching so it requires a manual search of parish records; this also applies to his siblings listed below. However, Joseph is actually indexed under "Garton" as was the apparent baptism of his father William at the same place in 1564.

His name was written as Joseph "Garton" but with parents William and "Kattern", just as her name is written for her other children's baptisms, and given that no other Grafton records appear in this parish except for those of William and Katherine and that the only other "Garton" couple found having children at this time were Anthony Garton and Sarah Wood and Sara was buried as Sara Garton (the only time the name appears in the register so it does not seem to be a young daughter) on 15 Jan 1603/04^[2] almost exactly 9 months before Joseph was baptized (burial incorrectly indexed on findympast as 15 Dec 1603 but the original parish register image at that site clearly shows 15 Jan 1603/04), these are certainly his parents.

His parents William Grafton and Katherine Nymons were married there on 15 September 1596.^[3] This couple had several children baptized at Great Yarmouth St. Nicholas starting in 1597 (John, Elizabeth & Abigail in 1597, 99 and 1601, William on 2 Nov 1606 who was presumably the one buried on 24 Dec 1607^[4]), Job on 13 Nov 1608 and this is definitely not "Jos", William on 23 May 1610). A visual review of the parish baptismal records uncovered no other "Grafton" couples having children at St. Nicholas Great Yarmouth during this decade.

Katherine (as widow Rabey having outlived both William Grafton and Robert Rabey who she married at St. Nicholas on 2 August 1613^[5][6]) traveled from Great Yarmouth to Salem, Massachusetts in 1637, explaining to the passenger licensing official that she was traveling to New England to be with her son.^[7] She was listed as a member of the Church of Salem in 1642 as Katherine Rabbe but no futher record of her is yet found.

This baptismal record made him 27 at his 1631 marriage to Mary Henfield/Howfield (who may have been Mary Moore, previously married, see below).

Previously the unsourced, gedcom-import Joseph Grafton and Ann Grafton were attached as his parents without any support; they have been severed.

Emigration from England

Absent from the Easter communion in 1635 at Great Yarmouth, England and noted to be "in New England," included, among others Joseph Grafton and his wife Mary. They were in New England by the spring of 1635, settling in Salem with others from Great Yarmouth. The vital records of Great Yarmouth show that Joseph Grafton, singleman, was married there to Mary Howfield, widow, in August, 1631, and their daughter, Abigail, was baptized in June 1632. One Katheryn Raby, widow, was also included in the group of migrants; she was probably the Katheryn Grafton w ho m. Robert Raby in 1613 in Great Yarmouth, and mother of Joseph Grafton. She may also have been the mother of Ann Scarlet, whose surname is found in the Great Yarmouth records, and who describe jjoseph Grafton as "brother" in her 1642 Salem will.^[7] Again note that MacAllan cited here transcribed Mary's name as "Howfield" while transcribers for findmypast transcribe it as as either "Henfield" or "Henfeild" (given inconsistencies in spelling at the time). This researcher leans towards "Henfield".

Joseph was proven to be in New England by 17 May 1637 when he was listed as a freeman of the colony.^[8] (p. 373 of the source)

Marriage

Joseph's marriage to Mary Henfield (also transcribed as Howfield) is found in the St. Nicholas parish register on 30 August 1631 (Joseph transcribed as "Graston") again giving equal credence to "Henfield" and "Howfield".^[9]Norfolk : Great Yarmouth : St Nicholas : Parish Register : "Parish Register" database, FreeREG (https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_records/58183376e93790eb7f5b1118 : viewed 14 Aug 2022) marriage Joseph Grafton to Mary Henfeild 30 Aug 1631

Henry Belknap in his "Grafton Family" book asserts that Joseph's wife Mary was in fact Mary Moore of nearby Southwold, Suffolk, the daughter of Thomas and Anne Moore who also emigrated to Massachusetts. While Belknap found no primary records supporting this and in fact seemed to have no records from Great Yarmouth at all, his book seems to be very well sourced by New England records and he did perform detailed analysis of the property transactions between Anne Moore and her son Thomas and Joseph Grafton and his son Nathaniel to support this relationship.^[10] Belknap cites a Salem 25 June 1638 town record referring to "Joseph Grafton's mother in law" which proves that, whether she was Anne Moore, she was in Salem and alive on that date.

Belknap also asserts that Joseph had a wife before Mary who was the mother of the Elizabeth born about 1622. Although this is reasonable based on the gap between births of Elizabeth and Priscilla, Belknap did not have the St. NIcholas parish register of the 1631 marriage of Joseph Grafton which stated "Y S" by his name meaning "Ye Singleman" i.e. his first marriage. Mary's name showed "Y W" meaning "Ye Widow" i.e. the widow of Edmund Henfield.

In fact, it seems that Elizabeth was born in 1622 as daughter of Edmund Henfield (transcribed as "Howfield" by MacAllan) and after Edmund died in 1626 and Mary remarried to Joseph Grafton in 1631, Elizabeth came along with the family to New England. A fuller explanation is on the profile of Mary "Moore" Henfield Grafton.

It must be noted that Joseph bequeathed to a William and Edmond "Henfield" in his will. Reviewing the original image of his 1631 marriage in the Great Yarmouth parish register, it is very easy to see her name as "Henfield", not "Howfield" as asserted in the NEHGR article cited here.

After Mary died in November 1674^[11] and before 1680 Joseph married Bethia Rea/Ray, widow of Thomas Lathrop.^[12] After Joseph's death she married Captain William Goodhure on 26 July 1682 at Ipswich and then died herself on 6 December 1686.^[10]

Children

With Mary "Moore"^[10] (p. 11, 12 of the source) although interestingly and presumably by mistake Belknap notes that children from Priscilla on were by his "second wife" but there is no mention of any wife but Mary until 1674 in the book:

1. Priscilla Grafton by about 1634 – 1717 (Belknap asserts no birth date and says she died by 1683 based on the language of her father Joseph Grafton's probate. This bequeathed as follows:"John Gardner shall have for his children by Priscilla his wife who now is"; her profile says without source that she died about 1717 (apparently based on a publication about Tristram Coffin, see John Gardner's profile for details and sources). This language about "wife who now is" would seem more to imply that Priscilla was not the first wife of John Gardner but no other source seems to claim a prior wife for him.
2. Joseph Grafton bap. 24 Jan 1636/37 at Salem,<^[13] died Feb 1670 at Barbados
3. John Grafton bap. 28 Apr 1639 at Salem,^[13] died 24 Nov 1715 age 77
4. Nathaniel Grafton bap. 24 April or 1 May at Salem,^[14] died 11 Feb 1670/71 at Barbados.

In addition, Joseph had step-daughter Elizabeth Henfield. Elizabeth was baptized 25 September 1622 as Elizabeth Henfield, daughter of Edmund Henfield and Mary Unknown/Moore, Mary to become wife of Joseph in 1631 after Edmund died in 1626.^[15]

Some internet trees show a son Joshua. However, no such son of Joseph and Mary appears in Salem Vital Records. An 1832 copy of town records of Hingham (Plymouth colony, about 45 miles from Salem) lists a son Joshua Grafton born to Joseph and Hannah Grafton on August 30th.^[16] But of what year? The image looks like '1643' but obviously impossible if this was a son of Joseph Junior and wife Hannah Hobart who married in Hingham in 1657. The record appears in searches on familysearch.org as '1663', also impossible since Hannah died on 17 May 1660 according to the "History of Hingham".^[17] This book gives the date of birth of Joshua as 9 April 1660 while familysearch searches also give 30 August 1660 as his birth date. Whenever this Joshua was born, he was clearly not a son of the Joseph and Mary of Salem. Further, the will and probate of Joseph the immigrant, fully given in Belknap, lists no son Joshua.

Possible Brother Joshua

Belknap points out that the Joshua Grafton who was granted land in Salem on 30 May 1649 was very likely Joseph's brother but does not claim to have proved this assertion and notes that there seems to be no further trace of Joshua after this point.^[10] (p. 4 of the source).

Colonial Life

He is not profiled in the Great Migration or Great Migration Begins, but is mentioned in the Great Migration Directory.

On 22 May 1639, Joseph Grafton and other well-known names (Winthrop Jr, son of the governor; Endicott and others) were granted the right to lay out the boundaries of the fishing plantation at Cape Ann at the northern end of Massachusetts Bay.^[8]

Death & Estate

Belknap gives his death as "on or about 24 June 1682". Salem Vital Records for "Joseph Sr." estimates 1683 with no details. Joseph's estate was probated 28 November 1682 with the inventory taken 19 July 1682.^[10] (p. 10 of the source, citing Essex County Probate Records, vol. 302, p. 26). Joseph apparently left a partially written will dated 7 June 1681 but this was deemed "imperfect" by the probate court so a detailed disposal of the estate was included in the probate records. Beneficiaries included Bethia Grafton alias Bethia Goodhue (having remarried by this time), son John Grafton, Gardner grandchildren by John Gardner and his wife Priscilla (Grafton), "the two sons of Joseph Grafton Jr, now deceased", the three daughters of (son) Nathaniel Grafton, Mary Meade, William & Edmond Henfield (relationship not stated), Robert Kitchin, Mary Fox, Elizabeth "Collyer", Samuel Gardner Jr (overseer of the will).^[18]

Research notes

• Directory.Entry from Great Migration Directory: Grafton, Joseph: Great Yarmouth, Norfolk; 1636; Salem [MBCR 1:373; SChR 16; STR 1:21, 51; WJ 1:400; WP 3:452, 4:107; EIHC 64:49-60; NEHGR 154:216].
• Who were Edmund & William Henfield listed in Joseph's will? Were they related to Joseph's step-daughter Elizabeth Henfield? A Robert Henfield is found in the Great Migration Directory but only in a June 1641 court appearance in Salem where he was a witness in a defamation suit and a 1650 appearance as a creditor of the estate of Robert Button, no further record and no indication if he was related to Edmund and/or William. The 1641 appearance was not likely the son of Mary & Edmund as he would have been only 19 years old, but it is a possibility. A Robert Henfield married an Alice Wranham at Great Yarmouth in 1617, perhaps he emigrated to New England from there along with the Graftons. He may have been the "Goodman Henfield" of Milford listed as a creditor in another 1654 probate. The only record found for Edmund in this time period so far is a military service record of 24 August 1679 with no other details than "Walderne" possibly indicating the commander of his unit. William may have been the man who married Elizabeth Preston in Salem on 12 July 1671 (Torrey V1. p. 423) and who had an estate probated there on 17 Dec 1694 (Essex Co. Probate case 13076). His origins are not known; his estate paperwork said he died in the West Indies with no estate administrator so likely intestate and his widow Elizabeth was called into court to explain what had happened to his estate since his death. No further light was shed upon his family members.

Sources

1. ↑ Joseph Garton in 1604 Norfolk Baptisms Great Yarmouth, St Nicholas with St Peter, St John, St Andrew, St James, St Paul & St Luke, Norfolk, England 1604 baptism of Joseph Garton/Grafton $subscription required
2. ↑ Norfolk : Great Yarmouth : St Nicholas : Parish Register : "Parish Register" database, FreeREG (https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_records/58188a9be93790ec754c4dcd : viewed 16 Aug 2022) burial Sara Garton 15 Jan 1603/4
3. ↑ Norfolk Parish Registers for St. Nicholas, Great Yarmouth 1596 marriage of William Grafton, Katherine Nymons unindexed image, $subscription required
4. ↑ 1607 burial of William Grafton https://search.findmypast.co.uk/record/browse?id=gbprs%2fnorfolk%2fpd_28-1%2f00748
5. ↑ Catherine Grafton in 1613 England, Boyd's Marriage Indexes, 1538-1850 Norfolk, England $subscription required
6. ↑ Norfolk : Great Yarmouth : St Nicholas : Parish Register : "Parish Register" database, FreeREG (https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_records/58183359e93790eb7f5aea6b : viewed 13 Aug 2022) marriage Robert Rabey to Katteren Grafton 02 Aug 1613
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Barbara MacAllan, "The Great Yarmouth Company of Migrant Families," in NEHGR, 154 (2000):215-216 $subscription required
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} Records of the governor and company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England Date 1854 Author Shurtleff, Nathaniel B. (Nathaniel Bradstreet), 1810-1874. Publisher William White, Printer to the Commonwealth Vol. 1 p. 256
9. ↑ Mary Henfeild in 1631 Norfolk Banns And Marriages Great Yarmouth, St Nicholas with St Peter, St John, St Andrew, St James, St Paul & St Luke, Norfolk, England $subscription required
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4} The Grafton family of Salem by Belknap, Henry Wyckoff, 1860- Publication date 1928 Publisher Salem, Mass., Essex Institute p. 1
11. ↑ Essex Institute, Vital records of Salem, Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849 (Salem, MA: Essex Institute, 1916-1925), Vol. 5, Deaths A-L, p. 292
12. ↑ New England Marriages to 1700. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. Vol. 1 p. 644 $subscription required
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1} Salem VRs, Vol. 1:377
14. ↑ Salem VRs, Vol. 1:378
15. ↑ Elizabeth Henfeild in 1622 Norfolk Baptisms Great Yarmouth, St Nicholas with St Peter, St John, St Andrew, St James, St Paul & St Luke, Norfolk, England $subscription required
16. ↑ Hingham, MA: Vital Records, 1637-1845. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2016. Vital Records of Hingham, Massachusetts, ca. 1639-1844. Hersey, Reuben. Mss 901. R. Stanton Avery Special Collections Department, New England Historic Genealogical Society.) $subscription required
17. ↑ History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts by Hingham (Mass .), Thomas Tracy Bouvé , Edward Tracy Bouvé , John Davis Long , Walter Lincoln Bouvé , Francis Henry Lincoln , George Lincoln , Edmund Hersey , Fearing Burr , Charles Winfield Scott Seymour Publication date 1893 Publisher Pub. by the town Vol. 2 p. 278
18. ↑ Essex County, Massachusetts, Probate Records, vol 302, pages 22-23. FamilySearch

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