John Richards (bef. 1625 - 1694)

Born before 13 Feb 1625 in Pitminster, Somerset, England

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Hawkins) Richards — married 3 May 1654 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts

Died 2 Apr 1694 after age 69 in Weymouth, Suffolk, Province of Massachusetts Bay

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Biography

John Richards immigrated to New England as a child during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640).

John Richards was involved in the Salem Witch Trials

Early Life

John Richards was baptized at Pitminster, Somerset, England on 12 February 1624/5, son of Thomas Richards and his wife Welthian (Loring) Richards.^[1][2][3]

He migrated with his parents and siblings to New England in 1633 as part of the first major wave of migration to the Massachusetts Bay Colony and settled at Dorchester, where his father was granted land. Later they moved to Weymouth.^[4]

In 1644 Richards was enrolled in the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, which he would remain involved with for the rest of his life. A resident of Dorchester for most of his life, he operated a mill, and frequently served as on the colony's general court (as its assembly was known). The colony did not have a residency requirement, and he usually represented communities (such as Hadley that were distant from Boston, where the assembly met. In 1679 and 1680, however, he was chosen to represent Boston, and was elected speaker in 1680. From 1680-84 he served as one of the colony's assistants, whose council served as the upper body of the assembly and as the colony's highest court. In 1681 Richards was appointed along with Joseph Dudley to represent the colony in London in an attempt to address royal concerns over the colony's administration. King Charles II had, upon his restoration, insisted that the colony exhibit more religious tolerance and adhere more closely to the Navigation Acts, both of which the colony's hardline administration had resisted doing. Richards and Dudley were unsuccessful in their negotiations with the Lords of Trade, because the colonial government had specifically denied them authority to agree to changes in the colonial charter. Richards was of the opinion that the colonial government should acquiesce to the crown demands, and was consequently voted from office in 1684. That year, the colonial charter was revoked.^[5]

John was listed as one of the children in his father's will dated December 17, 1650 and proved January 28, 1650/1. "...my son John shall have no more than one of the rest because I have been at greater charge with him than with any of the others..."^[6][7]

He married (1st) on May 3, 1654 at Boston to Elizabeth (Hawkins) (Long) Winthrop.^[8] (2nd) he married on September 1, 1692 to Ann Winthrop.^[9][10]

Salem Witch Trials

During the Salem Witch Trials, John Richards was appointed as a magistrate on the Court of Oyer and Terminer (1692), which convicted and executed nineteen individuals for witchcraft.^[11]

John Richards; Salem Witch Trials

Death

John Richards died in Weymouth, Suffolk, Province of Massachusetts Bay, 2 April 1694.^[15]

Research Notes

Anderson's Great Migration Begins, featured article on father: makes no mention of the death of John Richards.

Marriage Husband John Richards. Wife Elizabeth Hawkins. Marriage 03 MAR 1654. Boston, Lynn, Massachusetts.

Sources

1. ↑ Clifford L. Stott, "Humphrey Blake and His Descendants...," in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 163 (2009):278-295+ at 294; digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.
2. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N19W-CJG : 19 July 2021), John Richards, 1624.
3. ↑ Ancestry, "Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1531-1812," database with images (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/60856/images/engl78030_d-p-pit-2-1-1_m_00028 : accessed 26 Nov 2022); citing Somerset Parish Records, 1538-1914; Ref No: D\P\PITC/2/1/1. Ancestry Sharing Link (right side, 6-7 lines from bottom page).
4. ↑ Ancestry.com. U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2010.
5. ↑ Zachariah G. Whitman, The history of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, from its formation in 1637 and charter in 1638, to the present time; comprising the biographies of the distinguished civil, literary, religious, and military men of the colony, province, and commonwealth (Boston, MA: John H. Eastburn, Printer, 1842), 139-140; digital images, GoogleBooks.
6. ↑ Goerge Ernest Bowman, "The Wills of Thomas and Welthian Richards," Mayflower Descendant, 9 (1907):89-91; digital images, Hathi Trust.
7. ↑ Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Probate Records, New Series 1:64
8. ↑ Richards-Winthrop 1654 marriage, Boston Births, Baptisms, Marriages, and Deaths, 1630-1699 [Document 130-1883] in City of Boston Report of the Record Commissioners multiple vols. (Boston : Rockwell and Churchill, 1876-?1909), 9:48 (1654-Town); digital images, InternetArchive or Hathi Trust, "John Richards & Elizabeth Winthrop widow were married 3rd--3rd month [1654] by William Hibbins."
9. ↑ Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vos, paginated consecutively (Boston, MA: NEHGS, 1995), 1575-1579 (Thomas Richards), at 1577; digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.
10. ↑ Zachariah G. Whitman, The history of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, from its formation in 1637 and charter in 1638, to the present time; comprising the biographies of the distinguished civil, literary, religious, and military men of the colony, province, and commonwealth (Boston, MA: John H. Eastburn, Printer, 1842), 139.
11. ↑ Rev. Abner Morse, A Genealogical Register of the Descendants of Several Ancient Puritans, v. 3: the Richards Family (Boston: H.W. Dutton, 1861), 8; digital images, Hathi Trust.
12. ↑ Massachusetts Archives Collections, Governor's Council Executive Records, Vol. 2, 1692, pages 176–177. Certified copy from the original records at Her Majestie's State Paper Office, London, September 16, 1846.
13. ↑ Oliver Ayer Roberts, History of the Military Company of the Massachusetts Now Called the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts: 1637-1888, vol. 1 (Boston, MA: Alfred Mudge & Son, 1895), p. 143.
14. ↑ Records of the Massachusetts Supreme Court of Judicature, 1692/3, Page 1. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Judicial Archives
15. ↑ Maude Pinney Kuhns, Mary and John, Rutland, VT; Tuttle Publishing Co., Inc. (1943), p. 65: John, abt. 1615-Apr. 2, 1694; m. 1654, Elizabeth, dau. of Thomas Hawkins, and widow of Adam Winthrop; m.(2) Sept. 1, 1692, Ann, dau. of Gov. John Winthrop, the younger.d

See also:

• Mary & John Clearing House, Search for the Passengers of the Mary & John 1630, Toledo, OH: Burton W. Spear, 1990
• Wilcox, Wayne H.M., Captain Thomas Hawkins, Shipwright, of London and Dorchester, Massachusetts, and Three Generations of His Descendants, The New England Historical & Genealogical Register (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 1997) Vol. 151, Page 201-3.

• "John Richards, was b. in England ca. 1625 and d. suddenly at Boston 2 April 1694, son of Thomas and Welthian (Loring?) Richards."

• Rev. Abner Morse , Genealogical Register of the Descendants of Several Ancient Puritans, Volume 3; H.W. Dutton, Boston, MA, 1861 pp. 8.