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Deacon John Bacon  (1683–1740), son of Jacob Bacon and Elizabeth Knight

Marcy Foster (d. 1716), parents unknown


John Bacon, the son of John Bacon and Elizabeth Knight, was born on 27 February 1683/4 in Watertown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. [1][2][3] Deacon John Bacon died on 19 February 1740/1 in Canterbury, Windham County, Connecticut. [2][3][4] He married first Marcy Foster on 23 May 1710 in Norwich, New London County, Connecticut. [2][5] He married second Hannah (Adams) Perkins on 25 December 1716 in Norwich. [2][5]

Marcy Bacon died on 9 March 1716—a few days after birth of her third child and probably due to complications from childbirth—in Norwich. [5]

John went to Connecticut by 1708, when he witnessed a deed of Daniel Bacon of Dedham. On 18 June 1713, John bought property in what is now Lisbon, on the road from Norwich to Canterbury, for 25 pounds from Joseph Buswell. On 15 April 1720, John bought 140 acres in Canterbury from Deacon Timothy Buswell. He bought adjoining property the next year. He was received as an inhabitant of Canterbury on 20 Dec 1720. [6]

Hannah, the wife of John, was admitted to the church in Norwich in 1717 or 1719. [7]

On 13 March 1728/9 the newly formed Congregational Church met at the house of John Bacon to choose a pastor. On 16 June 1737 John was chosen deacon. [8]

Hannah was a separatist in 1745 in Canterbury. [7]

John left an estate of 1,358 pounds. It was not finally settled until 3 June 1789. The heirs were his eldest son John Bacon; the heirs of his second son Jacob Bacon; the heirs of his third son Ebenezer Bacon; his fourth son Joseph Bacon; his eldest daughter Mary Bacon; the heirs of his second daughter Lucy Eaton; his youngest son Major Benjamin Bacon; his youngest daughter Rebecca Shepard. [6]

Children of John Bacon and Marcy Foster:

i. Lieutenant John Bacon was born on 29 April 1711 in Norwich. He was baptized on 14 September 1718 in Norwich. He died on 2 October 1790 in Canterbury. He married Ruth Spalding.

ii. Ensign Jacob Bacon was born on 20 April 1714 in Norwich. [5] He was baptized on 14 September 1718 in Norwich. [7] He is probably the Jacob who married Priscilla Richmond on 1 May 1748 [1741?] in Sharon, Connecticut. [2] She died there on 22 January 1746/7.

Jacob was an early settler of Sharon, coming there from Canaan in 1741. [9]

In October 1747 the General Assembly confirmed the appoint of Mr. Jacob Bacon as ensign of the south company in Sharon. [Ref]

iii. Ebenezer Bacon was born on 5 March 1716 in Norwich. [5] He was baptized on 14 September 1718 in Norwich. [7] He died in June 1780 in Suffield, Connecticut. [2] He married Margery Markham on 21 July 1737 in Canterbury. [2] Margery, the daughter of Daniel and Deborah (Meacham) Markham, died on 24 March 1798 in Suffield. [2]

Ebenezer was admitted to the church in Canterbury from another church on 7 April 1742. Margery was admitted to the church in Canterbury and owned the covenant on 27 May 1739. They were separatists in 1745. They signed the covenant on 25 September 1746. [7]

Children of John Bacon and Hannah (Adams) Perkins

iv. Joseph Bacon was born on 18 March 1717/8 in Norwich. [5] He was baptized on 14 September 1718 in Norwich. [7] He was living in 1789 and he "died in Bozrah, Conn., when on a visit to his daughter." [2] He married first Mary Fitch of Canterbury on 16 October 1745 in Groton. [2] She died on 21 March 1752 in Canterbury. [2] He married second Patience (Rudd) Parks on 2 November 1752 in Canterbury. [2] She was the daughter of Nathaniel and Abigail (Hartshorne) Rudd, born on 6 November 1723. [2] She married first Thomas Park[s]. [2]

Joseph was admitted to the church in Canterbury on 7 April 1742. He was a separatist in 1745. He signed the covenant on 25 September 1746. [7]

v. Mary Bacon was born on 30 January 1720/1 in Canterbury. [4] She died on 15 January 1793, age 72, and was buried in the Cleaveland Cemetery in Canterbury with her husband. [2] She married Timothy Backus, Jr. on 14 November 1739 in Canterbury. [4] Timothy, the son of Timothy and Sarah (Post) Backus, was born on 18 November 1717 in Canterbury and died there on 5 March 1790, age 72. [2]

Mary owned the covenant at the church in Canterbury on 25 September 1746. [7]

Mary, the daughter of Deacon Bacon, was admitted to the Congregational Church in Canterbury on 30 April 1737. [RCCC, 45]

vi. Lucy Bacon was born on 27 December 1723 in Canterbury. [4] She was baptized on 1 December 1723 [!] in Canterbury. [7] She died on 31 July 1787, age 63, in Plainfield. [2] She married Joseph Eaton on 4 March 1750 in Canterbury. [7] Joseph, the son of Jonas and Mehitable (Gould) Eaton, died on 9 July 1785, age 68, in Plainfield. [2]

vii. Colonel Benjamin Bacon was born on 17 December 1726 in Canterbury. [4] He was baptized on 11 December 1726 [!] in Canterbury. [7] He died on 14 July 1807, age 80, and is buried in the Cleaveland Cemetery in Canterbury with his wife. [2] He married Deborah Adams on 14 December 1749 in Canterbury. [4][7] She may have been the Deborah, daughter of Solomon and Abigail Adams, born on 7 March 1733/4 in Canterbury. [4] She died on 28 May 1797, age 71 , in Canterbury. [2]

Benjamin was referred as "Colonel." [6]

viii. Elizabeth Bacon was born on 8 November 1728 in Canterbury. [4] She was baptized on 2 December 1728 in Canterbury. [7] She died on 2 November 1736 in Canterbury. [4]

ix. Rebecca Bacon was baptized on 7 November 1731 in Canterbury. [7] She died on 24 September 1825, age 93, and was buried in the Cleaveland Cemetery. [2] She married Josiah Shepard on 1 November 1753 in Plainfield. [2] Josiah, the son of Samuel and Mary (Spalding) Shepard, was born on 1 December 1731 in Plainfield and died after 1778. [2] Rebecca and Josiah were divorced in or after 1778. [2]

References:

1. Watertown Historical Society, Watertown Records (Watertown: Fred G. Barker, 1894, 1900): vol. 1: 53 (birth of John;, vol. 2

2. Gale Ion Harris, "The Estate of Martha Harris and Early Bacon Families of Eastern Connecticut," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 167 (2012): 23–34.

3. Kendall P. Hayward, “Richard Adams of Sudbury, Mass.; Plainfield and Norwich, Conn.,” The American Genealogist 23 (1946): 141–9.

4. "Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630–1870," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org > Canterbury, 1–11 (Adams), 18–20 (Bacon).

5. Vital Records of Norwich, 1659–1848 (Hartford: Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Connecticut, 1913), 1–27.

6. Thomas Williams Bacon, Bacon Genealogy: Michael Bacon of Dedham, 1640 and His Descendants (Cambridge, MA: unknown, 1915).

7. "Connecticut, U.S., Church Record Abstracts, 1630–1920, database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3032) > Volume 15 Canterbury, First Congregational Church, images 9–10; Volume 84 Norwich, images 33–34.

8. Records of the Congregational Church in Canterbury, Connecticut, 1711–1844 (Hartford: Connecticut Historical Society and the Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of Connecticut, 1932).

9. History of Litchfield County, Connecticut (Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis L& Co., 1881), 575.

10. Charles J. Hoadley, The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, vol. 9 (Hartford: Press of the Case, Lockwood and Brainard Co., 1876), 322.


10-Jan-2023