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JOHN WHITCOMB (d. 1662)
FRANCES COGAN (d. 1671), daughter of Henry Cogan
John Whitcomb, Sr. died on 24 (7) 1662 in Lancaster. [MVRL]
Frances Whitcomb died on 17 (3) 1671 in Lancaster. [MVRL]
After John Crocker of Scituate punished his indentured servant Roger Glass in a "most extreme & barbarous" manner, the boy was taken from him and placed with John Whitcomb of Scituate to serve out his remaining nearly six years and John Whitcomb was to pay John Crocker three pounds, less five shillings for his charges. [NBS1]
John Whitcomb was propounded to be free on 5 June 1651. [NBS2]
John Whitcomb, Sr. and John Whitcomb, Jr. were two of the early signers of the articles of agreement of Lancaster on 20 (9) 1652. [ERLM] The town listed estates in 1654 for purposes of dividing land and they ranged from about 78 pounds for Henry Kerley to about 380 pounds for John White. John Whitcomb's estate amounted to about 241 pounds. [ERLM] He received about ten acres in the 1654 division of meadow. [ERLM] He is on on 9 (1) 1654 list of townsmen. [ERLM] John and his son John received lots in the 3 February 1659 division of meadowland. [ERLM]
Steven Gates charged that three sons of John killed of his pigs. On 2 April 1658 John was ordered to pay Steven 40 shillings, which he agreed to. He later appealed to the court, saying that he had only agreed to the 40 shillings because of his "age and weakness." He said that Gates had defamed him and his family by saying that his sons had stolen the pigs; he pointed out his "mean" estate. The court decided that he still had to pay the bill. [ERLM]
John and his sons John and Jonathan signed a 11 March 1675/6 petition describing the state of Lancaster after the Indian massacre. It said many had fled, but those left were encompassed by Indians in just two garrisons and unable to leave; they were running out of food. It requested a guard of men. [ERLM]
Children of :
i. John Whitcomb died on 6 April 1683 in Lancaster. [MVRL] He married Mary Unknown on 19 May 1669 in Lancaster. [MVRL] Mary may be the Mary Whitcomb of Lancaster who married John Moore of Lancaster on 23 August 1683 in Lancaster. [MVRL]
John's estate in 1654 amounted to 29 pounds. [ERLM] He received about an acre in the 1654 division of meadow. [ERLM] He is on on 9 (1) 1654 list of townsmen. [ERLM]
A 7 April 1683 jury of inquest was held to investigate the untimely death of John Whitcomb. It found that John and his brother Jonathan were bringing hay across the Pennecuk River in two canoes. The canoes sank and John fell into the river and drowned. [ERLM]
There is an second entry for a John Whitcomb marrying a Mary Unknown on 16 (1) 1670/1 in Lancaster. [MVRL]
ii. Jonathan Whitcomb died before 25 February 1691. He married Hannah Unknown on 25 November 1667 in Lancaster. [MVRL] Hannah, the widow of Jonathan, was killed, along with five members of the Joslin family, in an Indian massacre on 18 July 1692 in Lancaster. [ERLM]
The inventory on Jonathan's estate is dated 25 February 1691. [MVRL]
iii. Robert Whitcomb was baptized on 20 December 1629 in St. James, Taunton, county Somerset, England. He died by 18 January 1696/7. He married first Mary Cudworth. He married second Mary Unknown.
iv. Job Whitcomb
On 7 (1) 1658(9?) the town of Lancaster planned to lay out the bounds and Job Whitcomb and young Jacob Farrar were to carry the chain. [ERLM]
v. Josiah Whitcomb married Rebecca Waters.
vi. Katherine Whitcomb married Rodulphus Elmes on 25 December 1644 in Scituate. [MVRS]
References:
MVRL. Henry S. Nourse, Birth, Marriage and Death Register, Church Records and Epitaphs of Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1643–1850 (Clinton, MA, W. J. Coulter, Printer, 1890), 12 (John's death), 13 (John, Jr. and Jonathan's marriages), 14 (death of Frances, marriage of unknown John), 15 (marriage of Mary, death of John, Jr.), 20 (John Jr. inquest, Jonathan's inventory).
ERLM. Henry S. Nourse, The Earliest Records of Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1643–1725 (Lancaster: J. Coulter, 1884), 35 (covenant), 33–40 (land divisions), 41 (1654 list of townsmen), 63 (Gates' pigs), 64 (Job and the chain), 71–72 (division of meadowland), 108 (1676 petition), 121–2 (death of John, Jr.), 130 (death of Hannah, widow of Jonathan), 245 (map).
NBS1. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Records of the Colony of New Plymouth, vol. 1, Court Orders, 1633–1640 (Boston: William White, 1855).
NBS2. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Records of the Colony of New Plymouth, vol. 2, Court Orders, 1641–1651 (Boston: William White, 1855).
MVRS. Vital Records of Scituate, Massachusetts: To the Year 1850, 2 vols. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1909), vol. 2: 324 (marriage of Katherine).
Last revised: 14-Dec-2023