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Lieutenant John Bacon (1711–1790), son of Deacon John Bacon and Marcy Foster
Ruth Spalding (1710–1790), daughter of Lieutenant Edward Spalding and Mary Adams
Lieutenant John Bacon, the son of John (Jacob, Daniel, Michael) Bacon and his first wife Marcy Foster, was born on 28 or 29 April 1711 in Norwich. [1][2] He was baptized on 14 September 1718 in Norwich. [3] He died on 2 October 1790 in Canterbury. [2][4] He married Ruth Spalding on 24 September 1734 in Canterbury. [2][4]
Ruth, the daughter of Edward and Mary Spalding, was born on 28 September 1710 in Canterbury. [2, October][4] She died on 18 September 1782. [2]
Ruth is referred to as Ruth Bacon in her mother's will of 2 July 1754.
John was known as Lieutenant John Bacon. He was deacon of the Congregational church and town clerk. [5]
Children of John Bacon and Ruth Spalding, probably all born in Canterbury:
i. Captain Asa Bacon was born on 21 November 1735. He died on 15 October 1819. He married Abigail Whitney.
ii. John Bacon, the son of John and Ruth, was born on 9 April 1738. [2][4] He was baptized on 9 April 1738 in Canterbury. [3] He died on 25 October 1820 in Stockbridge, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. [2] He married the widow of Mr. [Alexander] Cumming and the daughter of Ezekiel Goldthwait, the Register of Deeds of Suffolk. [6]
The Reverend John Bacon was a distinguished clergyman. He graduated from Princeton in 1765. He was president of the Massachusetts Senate, a congressman from Massachusetts and chief justice of the state's court of common pleas. [2]
John was installed as the minister of the Old South Church in Boston on 25 September 1771; he was dismissed on 8 February 1775. [7]
[The] pulpit ... remained vacant for nearly two years, when John Hunt and John Bacon, young men of talent and promise were settled together. Hunt was of sensitive and delicate nature, of affectionate and winning manners, and a persuasive teacher. Bacon was of a disputatious and somewhat overbearing temper, and fell into difficulties with his congregation over the doctrines of atonement and imputation. The ministry of both came to an end in 1775, — that of the former by his early death, the latter by dismissal. [8]
His style of preaching was argumentative; his manner approaching severe. [6]
He had a strong mind, was fond of debate and tenacious of his opinions, but decided in prosecuting what he esteemed his duty. [9]
[H]e would not have been called to the Old South if he had not had conspicuous talents and a very considerable reputation ... he would not have been broken up after a four years settlement had there not developed uncommon grounds of difference between him and his people. [9]
After leaving the ministry, John rose rapidly in civil life. [9] He was admitted to the bar and practiced law. He was on the committee of correspondence, inspection and safety in 1777. He was a member of the state constitutional convention in 1779 and 1780. He was a member of the Massachusetts house of representatives in 1780, 1783, 1784, 1786, 1789 - 1791 and 1793. He was a member of the State senate in 1781, 1782, 1794 - 1796, 1798 and 1803 - 1806. He served as president of the State senate in 1806. He was a member of Congress in 1801 - 1803. He was presidential elector on the ticket of Jefferson and Clinton in 1804. He was a presiding judge of the court of common pleas. He was chief justice of the State supreme court in 1809. [10]
Portrait: Mrs. Alexander Cumming, née Elizabeth Goldthwaite, later Mrs. John Bacon, by John Singleton Copley, Brooklyn Museum
iii. Elizabeth Bacon was born on 31 May 1740. [2, 30 May][4] She was baptized on 1 June 1740 in Canterbury. [3] She died on 28 June 1740 in Canterbury. [CVR]
iv. Benjamin Bacon was born on 17 August 1744. [2] He died on 14 July 1749 in Canterbury. [4]
v. Olive Bacon was born on 24 June 1747. [2] She apparently died young.
vi. Mary Bacon was born on 19 August 1749. [2, 17 August 1748][4] She married as his second wife Thomas Buswell, Jr. on 10 June 1772 in Canterbury. [2][4]
vii. Olive Bacon was born on 6 June 1753. [4] She was baptized on 10 June 1753 in Canterbury. [3] She died on 26 September 1754 in Canterbury. [4]
References:
1. "Norwich, CT: Vital Records of Norwich, 1659–1848," database with images , AmericanAncestors.org, 1: 27.
2. David W. Dumas, ed., "Bacon - Adams - Whitney - Kingsbury Family Record," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 138 (1984), 32–38. Records compiled by John Bacon (1774–1846), record of John Bacon, son of Captain Asa Bacon and Abigail Whitney.
3. "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.
4. "Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630–1870," database with images, AmericanAncestors, 18–20 (Bacon), 148–9 (Spalding).
5. Thomas Williams Bacon, Bacon Genealogy: Michael Bacon of Dedham, 1640 and His Descendants (Cambridge, MA: unknown, 1915).
6. Thomas Bridgman, The Pilgrims of Boston and their Descendants: With an Introduction (New York: D. Appleton and Co., Phillips, Sampson & Co., 1856), 60.
7. James C. Odiorne, "A Complete List of the Ministers of Boston of All Denominations from 1630 to 1842, Arranged in Order of Their Settlement," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 1;134–6.
8. Justin Winsor, The Memorial History of Boston: including Suffolk County, Massachusetts, 1630-1880 (Boston: James R. Osgood and Co., 1881-1883), vol. 3, 126.
9. Arthur Latham Perry, Williamstown and Williams College: A History (n.p.: The author, 1904), 176–7.
10. Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1949: The Continental Congress September 5, 1774, to October 21, 1788 and The Congress of the United States From the First to the Eightieth Congress March 4, 1789 to January 3, 1949, Inclusive (Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1950), 801.
02-Jan-2023