Josiah Jackson (1730 - 1776)

Born 23 Apr 1730 in Newton, Middlesex, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Derby) Jackson — married 30 Jan 1755 in Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died 5 Feb 1776 at age 45 in Westminster, Worcester, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Carolyn Adams [send private message]

Biography

Private Josiah Jackson served with Worcester County Militia, Massachusetts Militia during the American Revolution.

Josiah Jackson is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A061187.

Birth

Josiah Jackson was born at Newton, Massachusetts, on 23 Apr 1730, the son of Isaac Jackson and Ruth (Greenwood) Jackson^[1]

Marriage

Josiah Jackson married Mary Derby at Lancaster, Massachusetts, on 30 Jan 1755.^[2] Both the bride and groom were called of "Nar[ragansett ]No. 2" (brackets in original). Narragansett No. 2 was the area of the original town of Lancaster that because the town of Westminster in 1759.

Residence

Josiah Jackson moved from Newton. Massachusetts, to the area that became Westminster, Massachusetts, by 1755, when he was married there.^[2] In 1759, he was living there on lot 92, which he occupied until his death, and on 16 Oct 1759 he attended a proprietors' meeting in Westminster.^[3] He was “a prosperous farmer and one of the largest landowners of his day at Westminster.”^[4] He was twice elected as a selectman for the town.^[5]

Revolutionary Service

Josiah Jackson was a Revolutionary War veteran, serving at the Lexington Alarm from Westminster,^[6]

Death

Josiah Jackson died at Westminster, Massachusetts, on 4 Feb 1776.^[7]

Burial

Josiah Jackson is buried at the Woodside Cemetery in Westminster, Massachusetts, where his tombstone says (incorrectly) that he died in his 46th year.^[8]

Probate

Josiah Jackson died intestate. On 2 Apr 1778, his widow Mary was granted administration on his estate.^[9] Josiah Jackson’s probate record includes a record dated 7 May 1823, 47 years after his death and three months after Mary’s, which distributes property that had been left to his widow. Mentioned are his daughters, Eunice Whitcomb, Lydia Keyes, Mary Chandler, Ruth Hapgood, and Sarah Richardson; his son, Isaac Jackson; and the heirs of his son, Oliver Jackson, deceased.^[10]

Research Notes

• Heywood, the author of the history of Westminster, says that it is not certain that “the oldest” of Josiah Jackson's children were born at Westminster, even though their births are recorded there.^[5] But both Josiah Jackson and Mary Derby were called of Narragansett No. 2 in their marriage record,^[2] and that is the area that later became the town of Westminster.
• The history of Westminster^[5] and the Greenwood genealogy^[4] both give Josiah and Mary (Derby) Jackson two daughters named Mary and say that the first died young and that the second was the wife of John Chandler. This is almost certainly not correct; see the Research Note on the profile of Mary (Jackson) Chandler for the evidence and argument that there was just one daughter named Mary.

Sources

1. ↑ Vital Records of Newton, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849 (Boston, 1905).116, http://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Middlesex/Newton/Images/Newton_B116.gif
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Nourse, Henry, The birth, marriage, and death register, church records and epitaphs of Lancaster, Massachusetts. 1643-1850 (Lancaster, Mass., 1890). 88, https://archive.org/details/birthmarriagedea1905lanc/page/88
3. ↑ Heywood, William Sweetzer, History of Westminster, Massachusetts (First Named Narragansett No. 2) From the Date of the Original Grant of the Township to the Present Time, 1728-1893, with A Biographic-Genealogical Register of Its Principal Families (Lowell, Mass., 1893), 723, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044025049917;view=1up;seq=271
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Greenwood, Frederick, Greenwood Genealogies, 1154-1914 (New York, 1914), 67, https://archive.org/details/greenwoodgenealo00gree/page/67
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Heywood, William Sweetzer, History of Westminster, Massachusetts (First Named Narragansett No. 2) From the Date of the Original Grant of the Township to the Present Time, 1728-1893, with A Biographic-Genealogical Register of Its Principal Families (Lowell, Mass., 1893), 724, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044025049917;view=1up;seq=272
6. ↑ DAR Genealogical Research Database, Josiah Jackson record, http://services.dar.org/public/dar_research/search_adb/?action=full&p_id=A061187, accessed on 13 Apr 2019
7. ↑ Vital Records of Westminster, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849 (Worcester, 1908), 232, http://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Worcester/Westminster/Images/Westminster_D232.shtml
8. ↑ Photo of gravestone of Josiah Jackson (Find A Grave: Memorial #86895716)
9. ↑ Worcester County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1731-1881. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.), 32791:21. https://www.americanancestors.org/DB1635/i/30221/32791-co21/52404773
10. ↑ Worcester County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1731-1881. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.), 32791:3, https://www.americanancestors.org/DB1635/i/30221/32791-co3/52404755

• https://books.google.com/books?id=c4VKAAAAMAAJ&lpg=PT49&ots=jaCQCJwQBA&dq=Josiah%20Jackson%201730%20Newton&pg=PT49#v=onepage&q&f=false

• "United States Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors, 1775-1783," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS3Q-C3NT-K?cc=2546162&wc=WD6Q-RM7%3A1588792207 : 24 January 2018), Massachusetts, vol 8, Hmelen, Thomas-Jypson, Joseph > image 680 of 1031; citing various published state rosters, United States.