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John Thurston (c. 1606–1685)
Margaret Unknown (c. 1604–1662)
John Thurston, Sr. was born about 1606. He was probably the son of Thomas and Grace (Utting), baptized as Thomas Thurston on 23 January 1610/1 in Wrentham, county Suffolk. [1] He died on 1 November 1685 in Medfield, now in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. [2] He married Margaret ___ about 1631.
Margaret, the wife of John Sr., was born about 1604. She died on 9 May 1662 in Medfield. [2]
English Family of Thomas alias John Thurston [1]
Thomas Thurston was born say 1580. He was buried on 1 April 1626 in Wrentham, co. Suffolk. He married Grace Utting on 8 October 1607 in Wrentham. She was buried on 13 February 1638 in Wrentham.
Children of Thomas Thurston and Grace Utting: Baptisms and burials in Wrentham:
i. Margaret Thurston was baptized on 5 February 1608/9 and buried on 3 March 1619/20.
ii. Thomas Thurston was baptized on 13 January 1610/1.
iii. Frances Thurston was baptized on 23 May 1613 and buried on 14 January 1629/30.
iv. Mary Thurston was baptized on 19 March 1619/20.
v. John Thurston was baptized on 19 March 1619/20;
vi. Samuel Thurston was baptized on 9 March 1622/3.
On 10 May 1637 John Thurston of Wrentom [Wrentham] in Suffolk, carpenter, age 30, and Margaret, his wife, age 32, were examined before leaving on the Mary Anne of Yarmouth for New England. They were traveling with their children Thomas and John. [3]
Richardson argues that that John and Margaret must have been the Thomas and Margaret who had two children, Thomas and John, baptized in 1632 and 1635 in Wrentham. He suggests Thomas might have changed his name when he left England. [1]
Children of John Thurston and Margaret Unknown:
i. Captain Thomas Thurston was baptized on 4 August 1632 in Wrentham. He died on 20 May 1704 in Medfield. He married Sarah Thaxter.
ii. Deacon John Thurston was born about 1634. He was baptized on 13 September 1635 in Wrentham. He died on 2 March 1711/2 in Medfield. [2, husband of Mary] He married Mary Wood on 4 October 1660 in Medfield. [2] Mary, the widow of John, died on 23 November 1726 in Medfield. [2]
John Thurston, Sr. of Medfield, being about 72, made his will on 10 January 1706/7. He asked his son John to care for him and his wife Mary during their lifetimes. He named his five daughters Mary, Mehitable, Hannah, Bethiah, and Hester. [4]
iii. Mary Thurston married Seth Smith on 27 December 1660 in Medfield. [2]
iv. Daniel Thurston died on 23 July 1683 in Medfield. [2]
v. Judith Thurston married Jonathan Treadway on 1 March 1665/6 in Medfield. [2]
vi. Hannah Thurston married Joseph Cheney on 12 March 1667/8 in Medfield. [2]
References:
1. Douglas Richardson, "English Origins of the Thurston Family of Dedham," The American Genealogist 54 (1978): 176–7.
2. Vital Records of Medfield, Massachusetts: To the Year 1850 (Boston: New England History Genealogical Society, 1903), 96–97 (births), 177 (marriages), 237 (deaths).
3. John Camden Hotten, The Original Lists of Persons of Quality ... who Went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600–1700, reprinted (New York: Empire State Book Co., n.d.), 293.
4. "Massachusetts, U.S. Wills and Probate Records, 1635–1991," database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/9069) > Suffolk > Probate Records, vol. 17–18, 1709–1715, image 232.
24-Oct-2023