Susanna (Unknown) Parkhurst (abt. 1610 - bef. 1684)

Born about 1610 in England

Wife of George Parkhurst — married about 1644 in Watertown, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died before 4 Jun 1684 before about age 74 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Colleen Morrison [send private message]

Biography

Susanna was widow of John Simson when she married her second husband, George Parkhurst about 1644, in Massachusetts. With George she had at least five children.^[1] Susanna Simson sold some of her first husband's land on 9 Nov 1643. George Parkhurst sold two acres of Simson's land on 16 Nov 1644. So they married sometime during that year. Parkhurst is then recorded in Boston in several deeds between 1645 and 1655.

Owing to financial difficulties, Susanna returned to England before 1655, taking all of her children except Benjamin Parkhurst. Susanna and her remaining children never returned to New England.

She was likely the Susannah Parkhurst buried at the Church of St. Lawrence, Ipswich, England, on 4 June 1684, where "Old George Parkhurst" was buried nine years earlier.^[2]

In a 1695 in a suit involving George Parkhurst’s son George and some land of John Simson's, there is an affadavit that says George was "about 67" in 1655, that his family was in destitute condition, that his wife had had seven sons and three daughters in America (including two sons with Simson) and that she had gone to London with six of those children. She had found her family unable to help and George apparently wanted to sell his remaining land to go to her aid. If he indeed returned to England with her, it makes sense that he is the "Old George Parkhurst" who is buried at St. Lawrence, near where he was married and had children by his first wife.^[3]

Early New York Families, Hudson-Mohawk Family Memoirs, Vo. III, page 1307 has an entry on George that mixes up several of the spouses:

"George Parkhurst, born in England about 1590, came to America about 1638 or 1640, and settled at Watertown, Massachusetts, where he was living in 1642. He removed to Boston, and is supposed to have died there as there is a record of the adminstration of his estate. He married (first) in England, Rebecca _______; (second) Susanna Simpson, widow of John Simpson of Watertown. Children: George jr. born 1618; Joseph; Benjamin; Phebe married Thomas Arnold; Deborah married John Smith; Elizabeth, married (first) Emanuel Hilliard, (second) Joseph Merr; Mary, married Joseph Merry."

The children Susanna took to England probably remained and grew up there, never to return to America, except Benjamin who, if he was taken back, apparently returned as a young man to his American brothers and sisters and then migrated to New Jersey. A letter of 25 Jun 1669 from George, Jr. To his cousin requesting payment to his brother Benjamin of £5 of the £20, which would be due him from his Aunt Dalton (his legacy), shows that Benjamin lived to maturity, had dealings with his brother, and was probably then in New England, further support to the identity of the Benjamin Parkhurst in New Jersey the next year.^[3]

Children of John Simson and Susanna

The children were born at Watertown, Massachusetts.^[4]

1. Simson, Sary, dau. John and Susan, b. 28: 3m: 1634. (Pg 3)
2. Simson, Hanna, dau. John and Susan, b. 25: 5m: 1636. (Pg 4)
3. Simson, John, son John and Susan, b. 1: 7m: 1638. (Pg 6)
4. Simson, Jonathan, son John and Susanna, b. 17: 10m: 1640. MCR (Pg 8)
5. Simson, Elisabeth, dau. John and Susan, b. 3: 1m: 1642. MCR (Pg 10)

Children of Susanna Simson and George Parkhurst

George and Susanna had five sons:

1. Benjamin, bc 1645-7, Watertown or Boston, MA; d bef inventory of estate taken 16 Feb 1683/4 at Elizabethtown, NJ; m (1) Martha, prob sister of Benj Homan or Oman who d a bachelor 1684, leaving bulk of his estate to her; c 1670 settled Woodbridge, NJ
2. -- (a son) Parkhurst, bc 1645-7, Watertown or Boston, MA; returned to England w/ mother
3. Daniel, bp 10 Jun 1649, 1st Church of Boston, ca 11 days old; returned to England
4. Joshua, bp 7 Mar 1649, 1st Church of Boston; returned to England w/ mother
5. Caleb, bp 26 Feb 1653/4; 1st Church of Boston; returned to England; prob the one with wife Sarah of St Giles, Cripplegate, London with 5 children bp there

Sources

1. ↑ William G. Parkhurst, The Parkhurst Family Journal, Jan. 1995; e-newsletter, archived (link no longer exists), page 4.
2. ↑ Parish register of St. Lawrence, Ipswich, England, in "National Burial Index For England & Wales," Findmypast database online $ [1].
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Threlfall, John B. Fifty Great Migration Colonists to New England & their Origins. (Madison, Wisconsin: J.B. Threlfall, 1990), 257-259.
4. ↑ Watertown Records, Pages 3 - 10

• Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration 1634-5, 7 vols. (Boston, Mass.: Great Migration Study Project, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1999-2011).
• Savage, James. A genealogical dictionary of the first settlers of New England, originally published at Boston, 1860-62 [Baltimore : Genealogical Publishing Co., 1965 reprint], four volumes.
• Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co, 1860-1862), 3:358.
• Parkhurst, Peter G. George. Parkhurst increasings for nine generations. (Los Altos Hills, California: P.G. Parkhurst, c1995), Vol. 1, p. 7
• Parkhurst, William G. The Parkhurst Family Journal, Jan. 1995; e-newsletter, archived (http://parkhurstfamily.org : accessed 11 June 2016), page 4.
• Edson Salisbury Jones, The Family of George Parkhurst of Watertown and Boston, Massachusetts, New England Historical and Genealogical Register, #68, p. 370, 1914.

Acknowledgements

• Sara V Mosher, Oct. 2019
• WikiTree profile UNKNOWN-172150 created through the import of DIANEWELDYTAVEGIA-10-90e0b0.ged on Oct 14, 2012 by Diane Tavegia.
• WikiTree profile Phillips-5787 created through the import of Anderson Family Tree_2012-10-16.ged on Oct 16, 2012 by Bruce Anderson.