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John Thurston (1656–1711), son of Captain Thomas Thurston and Sarah Thaxter

Hannah Cary (1661–1718), daughter of John Cary and Elizabeth Godfrey


John, the son of Thomas and Sarah Thurston, was born on 4 March 1655/6 in Medfield, Norfolk County, Massachusetts. [1] He died on 24 November 1711 in Rehoboth, Bristol County, Massachusetts. [2]

Hannah, the child of John Cary, was born the " last of " April 1661 in Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts. [3] Hannah, widow, died on 5 July 1718 in Rehoboth. [2]

John Thurston and Hannah Carey, both of Kittery, York County, Maine were married on 15 August 1688 in Kittery. [4][5] Kittery—in the southeast corner of Maine—is roughly 100 miles from Rehoboth and 90 miles from Bridgewater.

The inventory of the estate of John Thurston of Rehoboth was taken on 14 January 1711/2. It included books, but no real estate, and amounted to £61-13-00. John's widow Hannah and his son David Thurston, along with [Hannah's brother] John Cary of Bristol and Philip Walker of Rehoboth, posted bond on 12 February 1711/2. Hannah and David took oath to the inventory on 1[?] April 1712. [6]

On 17 March 1718/9 John Carpenter and his wife Sarah and Bethiah Thurston, all of Rehoboth, acknowledged a 12 November 1718 deed by which they and John and Hannah Cary conveyed to David Thurston their 3/7 interest in Rehoboth real estate that John Thurston left his seven daughters. [7]

Children of John Thurston and Hannah Cary: Births, except for the first, recorded in Medfield as the children of John and Hannah. [1]

i. David Thurston is said (without reference) to have been born on 2 November 1689 in Kittery. David of Rehoboth married [his first cousin] Mercy Cary of Bridgewater on 28 on 28 April 1713 in Bridgewater. [2] Mercy, the daughter of James and Mary Cary, was born on 28 January 1686 in Bridgewater. [3] David of Bridgewater married [second] Hannah Carpenter of Rehoboth on 18 November 1725 in Rehoboth. [2]

ii. Sarah Thurston was born on 29 July 1691. Sarah of Rehoboth married John Carpenter of Rehoboth on 12 September 1717 in Rehoboth. [2] John, the son of Benjamin and Renew (Weeks) Carpenter of Swansea, Bristol County, was born on 25 March 1691 in Swansea. [7] He married second Sarah Hillard on 6 May 1722 in Tiverton, (now) Newport County, Rhode Island. [7] Sarah, the daughter of William and Deborah (Warren) Hillard, was born on 28 June 1692 in Little Compton, (now) Newport County and died on 24 October 1744, age 52, probably in Swansea. [7]

iii. Hannah Thurston was born on 8 June 1693 in Medfield. She died on 5 June 1780. She married John Cary.

iv. Bethiah Thurston was born on 29 May 1695. Bethiah of Rehoboth married Joseph Kent, Jr. of Rehoboth on 7 December 1721 in Rehoboth. [2]

v. Jabez Thurston was born on 23 June 1697. He died on 25 July 1697 in Medfield. [1]

vi. Rebecca Thurston was born on 19 August 1698.

vii. Mehitable Thurston was born on 18 June 1700. She married Nathaniel Huntington.

Nathaniel and Mehitable were the parents of Samuel Huntington (1731–1796). [8] Samuel was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, President of the Continental Congress from 1779 to 1781, President of the United States in Congress Assembled in 1781, chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court from 1784 to 1785, and Governor of Connecticut from 1786 to 1796.

viii. Phebe Thurston was born on 11 December 1702.

ix, Jane Thurston was born on 13 December 1704. Jane of Rehoboth married Stephen Carpenter of Rehoboth on 17 November 1725 in Rehoboth. [2]

References:

1. Vital Records of Medfield, Massachusetts: To the Year 1850 (Boston: New England History Genealogical Society, 1903), 96–97 (births), 177 (marriages), 237 (deaths).

2. James N. Arnold, Vital Records of Rehoboth (Providence, RI: Narragansett Historical Publishing Co., 1897), 363 (marriages), 881 (deaths).

3. Vital Records of Bridgewater, Massachusetts: To the Year 1850 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1916), vol. 1: 70 (Cary).

4. "Maine, York County, Probate Estate Files, 1690-1917." Images. FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89JS-L9ZC-6). Image of original record.

5. George A. Gordon, "Old York County (ME.) Records," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 49 (1895): 46.

6. "Bristol County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1686–1880," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org, case 25750. Source of signature.

7. Eugene Dole Zubrinkski, "Three John Carpenters: A Chain of Mistaken Identity," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 59 (2005): 43–53.

8. Gary Boyd Roberts, "Notable Kin," NEHGS NEXUS: New England Across the United States 3 (1986): 237.


15-Jan-2023