John Williams (1680 - 1742)

Born 17 Feb 1680 in Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Knowlton — married about 1712 in Norwichtown, New London, Connecticut [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 11 Jan 1742 at age 61 in Poquetanuck, Preston, New London County, Connecticut Colony

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Biography

John was born February 17, 1680 in Haverhill, Massachusetts Bay, the son of Joseph Williams and Mary Fuller. The Williams family is said to be of Welsh descent.

John married Mary Knowlton about 1712 probably in Norwich, Connecticut Colony.

They lived in Poquetanuck which was then a part of the township of Norwich but is now a village within the town of Preston, Connecticut. Capt. John, which was what he was usually called in all the records, was a very successful merchant who left a considerable estate at the time of his death in 1742.

Note: Many have questioned whether the year of John's birth on his birth record is in Old or New Style dating. The same question has been asked about his gravestone inscription which gives his year of death as 1741. Those questions are answered by an obituary that appeared contemporary with his death. A typescript of that obituary appears in the image at right. The obituary makes it clear that he died in 1742. From that we know that the age inscribed on his gravestone equates to a birth year of 1680.

Sources

• Massachusetts,Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988; https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHLG-577; Birth Record John William (old style dating)
• Find A Grave Memorial; https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18647812
• Genealogy of Some Descendants of Edward Fuller of the Mayflower; https://archive.org/details/genealogysomede00fullgoog/page/n48
• History of Norwich From It's Possession by the Indians to the Year 1866; https://archive.org/details/historyofnorwich1866caul/page/n259