Return to main Barnes file
Send comments and corrections to anneb0704@yahoo.co.uk
JONATHAN FAIRBANKS (pr. 1593/7–1668)
GRACE SMITH (d. 1673/6)
Joseph and Landberg [1] argue that Jonathan Fairbank(s) was the son of John Fairbank (born say 1560, presumably in Sowerby in Halifax, Yorkshire) and the nephew of the George Fairbank who was baptized on 2 August 1562 in Halifax. He was either born about 1592 to John's first wife—or more likely—between 1593 and 1597 to John's second wife. He died on 5 December 1668 in Dedham, Norfolk County, Massachusetts. [2] He married Grace Smith on 20 May 1617 in Halifax in the West Riding of Yorkshire. [1]
Grace died on 28 December 1673 or 19 May 1676. [2]
At the time of her marriage, Grace was living in Warley in Halifax. [1]
Jonathan was in Dedham by 23 March 1636/7, when he subscribed to the covenant of the newly established town. [1] He quickly began building what is now probably the oldest surviving timber-frame house in New England. [3]
English Ancestry of Jonathan Fairbanks [1]
Generation 1
William Fairbank transferred land in Sowerby to his son John in 1506/7.
Generation 2
John Fairbank transferred land in Sowerby to his son Gilbert in 1526.
Generation 3
Gilbert Fairbank and John Fairbank transfered land in Sowerby to Gilbert's son George and his daughter Sibyl Wade on 14 April 1551.
Generation 4
George Fairbank, Sr. of Sowerby was born say 1530. He was "almost certainly" the George buried on 29 March 1610 in Halifax. [1] He married first Sybil Wade on 10 May 1551 in Halifax. She died in childbirth and was buried on 21 May 1573. He married second Jenet or Johanna (Mawd) Broadley, the widow of John Broadley on 15 February 1573/4.
Children of George Fairbank and Sybil Wade (among others):
i. John Fairbank was born say 1560.
ii.
George Fairbank was baptized on 2 August 1562 in Halifax. He married first Isabel Bannister. He married second Susan Bentley. He married third Hester Denton.
Generation 5
John Fairbank was born say 1560, presumably in Sowerby. He was buried on 7 August 1625 in Thornton in Craven, Yorkshire. He married an unknown first wife. He married second Isabella Staincliffe on 6 August 1593 in Halifax. She was buried there on 9 July 1597. He married third Ellen Parker, probably the daughter of George Parker, after August 1598 (license). She was buried on 18 October 1643 in Colne, Lincolnshire.
Children of John Fairbank (among others):
i. John Fairbank(s) was probably born between 1593 and 1597.
Jonathan made his will on 4 June 1668. He left his movable estate to his wife Grace. He made small bequests to his second son George; his daughter Mary, wife of Christopher Smith; Jonas; Jonathan; Sarah, the eldest daughter of his son John; his son-in-law Ralph Daye; Ralph's four children. He left his real estate to his eldest son John and made him the sole executor. [2]
John inherited the house built by his father and he and his descendants lived in it continuously until July 1892. [2]
Children of Jonathan Fairbanks and Grace Unknown: Baptisms of the first four recorded in Halifax. [1]
i. John Fairbanks was baptized on 8 February 1617/8. He died on 13 November 1684. [2] He married Sarah Fiske on 16 March 1641. [2] She died on 26 November 1683. [2]
John was admitted a townsman of Dedham as early as 1642. [2]
ii. Captain George Fairbanks was baptized on 28 November 1619. He drowned on 10 January 1682. [2] He married Mary Adams of Dedham on 26 October 1646. [2] She died on 11 August 1711 in Mendon, Worcester County, Massachusetts. [2]
George was admitted a townsman of Dedham about 1651. [2] He moved to the southern part of Sherborn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts (now Medway, Norfolk County, Massachusetts) about 1657. [2]
He was a selectman in Medway and a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. [2]
iii. Mary Fairbanks was born on 3 February 1621/2 in Halifax. She was baptized there on 18 April 1622. She died on 12 February 1672[/3?] in Dedham. She married first Michael Metcalf. She married second Christopher Smith.
According to Fairbanks, a Metcalf descendant said that Mary was born on 18 April 1622. [2]
iv. Jonas Fairbanks was baptized on 6 March 1624/5. [2] He was killed in the 10 February 1676 Indian raid on Lancaster, Worcester County, Massachusetts. [2] He married Lydia Prescott on 28 March or May 1658 in Lancaster. [4] She was born on 15 August 1641 in Watertown, Middlesex. [4] She married second Ellis Barron about 1678. [2]
Jonathan moved to Lancaster about 1657. [2]
v. Susan Fairbanks might have baptized on 10 December 1627 in Craven, Yorkshire. [1] She died on 8 July 1659. [2] She married Ralph Daye of Dedham on 12 October 1647. [2] He died on 28 November 1677. [2] Ralph married second Abigail Crafts on 15 November 1659. [2]
Joseph and Landberg say the Susan's possible baptismal record is hard to read. [1]
Ralph was a mason. [2]
vi. Jonathan Fairbanks died on 28 January 1711/2. [2] he married Deborah, the daughter of Edward Shepard of Cambridge. [2] She died on 7 September 1705(?). [2]
Jonathan was admitted a townsman of Dedham in 1654. [2]
Jonathan was a soldier in King Philip's War. [2]
References:
1. Ruth Fairbanks Joseph and James Swan Landberg, "Jonathan Fairbank of Dedham, Massachusetts, and His Family in the West Riding of Yorkshire," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 166 (2012): 165–87.
2. Lorenzo Sayles Fairbanks, Fairbanks Family in America (Boston: American Printing and Engraving Company, 1897).
3. David L. Greene, Review of The Fairbanks House: A History of the Oldest Timber-Frame Building in New England by Abbott Lowell Cummings, The American Genealogist 78 (2003): 318–9.
4. "New England Marriages to 1700," digitized books, AmericanAncestors, originally published as Clarence Almon Torrey, New England Marriages Prior to 1700 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015), 1: 525 (Jonas).
Photo: "Ye Olde Jonathan Fairbanks House, Dedham, Mass," PICRYL (https://picryl.com/media/ye-olde-jonathan-fairbanks-house-dedham-mass-2f6f25). Photo in the public domain.
Last revised: 16-Dec-2023