Joseph Sewall (1688 - 1769)

Born 15 Aug 1688 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Walley) Sewall — married 29 Oct 1713 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay, British Colonial America

Descendants

Died 27 Jun 1769 at age 80 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay

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Biography

Rev. Dr. Joseph Sewall was born on Aug. 15, 1688 in Boston. He was the son of Chief Justice Samuel E. Sewall and Hannah Hull^[1]. Joseph Sewall was baptised on Aug. 19, 1688 by Mr. Willard in the Old South Meeting House.

He graduated from Harvard college, A.B., 1707, A.M., 1710; was ordained to the Congregational ministry, Sep. 16, 1713, and was pastor of the South Church, Boston, Mass., 1713-69, being only the fourth minister of the church.

He declined the presidency of Harvard college tendered him in 1724; (another report has him appointed President, May 11, 1724 in preference to Cotton Mather). He was a fellow of the college, 1728-65; and presented many volumes to the college, when the library burned in 1764.

He was a member of the commission appointed for the propagation of the Gospel in New England, and corresponding member of the Scottish Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. The honourary degree of D.D. was conferred on him by the University of Glasgow in 1731. Many of his sermons were published.

He married Elizabeth Walley, daughter of Major General John Walley and Sarah Blossom, Oct. 29, 1713 in Boston, Massachusetts^[2]. Mr. Ebenezer Pemberton officiated. He is known to have a son, Samuel Sewall (1715-1771), live to an adult age.

Rev. Sewall readily supported the patriot cause and permitted his meeting house to become a shrine of the American cause. In Charles Chauncy's words, Sewall "was a strenuous asserter of our civil and ecclesiastical charter-rights and priviledges. . . . He knew they were the purchase of our forefathers at the expence of much labor, blood, and treasire [sic]. He could not bear the thought of their being wrested out of our hands. He esteemed it our duty, in all wise, reasonable, and legal ways, to endeavour the preservation of them. . ." (Chauncy, Discourse Occasioned by the Death of . . . Joseph Sewall [Boston, 1769], p. 26).

Rev. Dr. Joseph Sewall died on July 4, 1769 in Boston at the age of 80.

He was buried, July 1769, in the Hull-Sewall tomb, in the Granary Burying Ground.

- Graduated Harvard in 1707. Minister at the Old South Church, where he preached into his eighties. Declined the presidency of Harvard in 1724. Preached the artillery sermon in 1714. Preached the election sermon in 1724. Awarded a D.D. by the University of Glasgow in 1731.

Name

Name: Joseph /Sewall/

Source: #S65

Page: Database online.

Data:

Text: Record for Elizabeth Walley

Birth

Birth:

Date: 15 AUG 1688

Place: Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA

Source: #S65

Page: Database online.

Data:

Text: Record for Elizabeth Walley

Death

Death:

Date: 27 JUN 1769

Place: Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA

Source: #S65

Page: Database online.

Data:

Text: Record for Elizabeth Walley

Marriage

Husband: Joseph Sewall

Wife: Elizabeth Walley

Child: Samuel Sewall

Relationship to Father: Natural

Relationship to Mother: Natural

Marriage:

Date: 29 OCT 1713

Place: Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA

Source: #S65

Page: Database online.

Data:

Text: Record for Elizabeth Walley

Sources

• http://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk/biography/?id=WH24349&type=P

• http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=102926423

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quincy_political_family

1. ↑ “Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:DCTX-HXW2 : 10 November 2020), Joseph Sewall, 15 Aug 1688; citing Birth, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 004329324.
2. ↑ “Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG1K-238H : 29 November 2018), Joseph Sewall and Elizabeth Walley, 1713; citing Marriage, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007011047.

Acknowledgments

This person was created through the import of fitzmaster032511.ged on 27 March 2011. The following data was included in the gedcom. You may wish to edit it for readability.