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JOHN BARKER (d. 1652)
ANN WILLIAMS (d. 1658), daughter of John Williams and Ann Unknown
John Barker died on 14 December 1652 in Plymouth Colony. He married Ann Williams.
Ann Williams was buried about 16 March 165[7?]/8. [1] She married second Abraham Blush. [2][1, "Hannah Barker"] He died on 16 February 1657. [3] He married first Anne Unknown. She was buried on 16 March 1651. [1] Abraham married third Alice Derby on 4 January 1658/[9?]. [1]
John was the brother of Robert Barker, ferryman and innkeeper of Plymouth, Marshfield and Duxbury. Robert was born by about 1616 and died between 18 February 1684 (will) and 14 March 1691/2 (land division). He married Lucy Unknown. [4]
John Barker was granted ten acres of upland on 5 November 1638. That day he also agreed to keep the ferry of Jones River (then in the town of Plymouth) and to have two pence for carrying a person until there was a bridge. He was also to be compensated for his labor if he built a passageway to the boat. [5, 1: 101]
William Barden had contracted to serve Thomas Boardman for seven years. On 10 January 1638/9 William and Thomas agreed to transfer the six-and-a-half years of William's term to John Barker. John was to teach him the trade of bricklaying and at the end of his term, John was to give William 20 bushels of Indian corn, two suits of apparel, and a ewe goat lamb. [5, 1: 110]
On 12 January 1641 Jonathan Brewster sold his 100-acre farm at North River, along with its ferry and ferry boats to Robert Barker, John Barker, Thomas Howell and Robert Chapman. [4] The North River is a stream that runs along the then boundary of Marshfield and Scituate. John must have moved to this farm, apparently in Marshfield.
John Barker of North River was fined for his misdemeanor on 7 March 1642/3. [5, 2: 54]
John is in the Marshfield section of the 1643 list of those between 16 and 60 able to bear arms in Plymouth Colony. [6]
On 24 January 1643/4 the town of Marshfield owned John six pounds for making the "chimny seller." [7, 61: 121]
John was chosen constable in Marshfield on 15 July 1644. [7, 62: 30]
On 19 August 1645 Mr. Edward Winslow was the moderator of a Marshfield town meeting concerning the serious danger of an Indian attack. Some houses on the South River had been designated safe houses. This had 2 happened for those on the North River and most of the men who lived there did 2 bother to turn up on time or at all. John Barker was one of several who were fined 18 pence for 2 showing up at all. [7, 62: 34]
John was on a grand inquest jury on 7 June 1648. [5, 2: 124] He was on a jury that indicted Alice Bishop for the murder of her young daughter Alice Clark. [5, 2: 134] John (or his son?) was propounded to take up his freedom on 5 June 1651 and 3 June 1652. [5, 2: 167; 3: 8]
On 8 November 1652 John was one of many who failed to turn up for a Marshfield town meeting. [7, 63: 115]
On 3 May 1653 a jury reported to the court that they had viewed the bodies of John Barker and John Rowing and decided that they met their death "by casualty of the sea, and by no other way" on 14 December 1652. [5, 3: 28]
Inventory was taken on his estate on 17 Dec 1652 in Marshfield on the oath of his widow Anna. It amounted to £131.11s. [8]
Administration on John's estate was granted to his widow Ann on 9 June 1653. She and John Williams, Jr. were to give an account and Ann's daughters Ann, Deborah and Mary were each to receive 20 pounds when they reached 20 years of age. John, Jr. was cleared of his responsibility and Abraham Blush stood in his stead. [5, 3: 37]
On 22 August 1653 Robert Barker gave "my brother John Barker" and his heirs half of three acres of marsh in consideration of the part of meadow John had lost by an agreement with John Phillips on 19 June 1645. [4]
Photo: Jones River
Children of John Barker and Ann Williams: Order uncertain.
The ages of the children is uncertain. If the daughters were underage in 1653, then they must have been been born after 1633. Deborah was a minor in 1659 so she must have been born after 1639. If Deborah married in 1660, she was probably born before 1642. If the daughters are listed by age in the estate papers, Ann might have born say 1640, Deborah might have been born say 1642.
i. Ann Barker was born say 1640. She was probably living on 27 April 1696. [9] She married John Pratt by 1664. [4] John, the son of Phineas Pratt and Mary Priest and grandson of Mayflower passenger Degory Priest, was born say 1635. [4]
Ann, the wife of John Pratt, is mentioned in her grandfather John Willliams, Sr.'s will. Her uncle John Williams left five pounds to his kinswoman Ann Pratt and each of her children.
John took the oath of allegiance on 20 May 1671 in Kingstown, Rhode Island. [9] John and Ann moved to Oyster Bay, Long Island. In 1680 John was the keeper of (then) Hog Island in the harbor of Oyster Bay. [9]
ii. Deborah Barker was born say 1642. She married William Burden (Barden) in July 1660. [3]
On 3 May 1659 a complaint was made against [Deborah's uncle] John Williams of Scituate for the hard usage of a daughter of John Barker of Scituate, deceased. The Court 2ed that the girl was weak and infirm. It ordered that she should live temporarily with Thomas Bird and Thomas should try to find the means to cure her. Thomas was ordered to appear at the next Court to testify about what went on between John and his kinswoman. On 7 June 1659 Ensign John Williams was allowed six shillings for attending court for four days to answer the complain of [Deborah's uncle] Robert Barker on behalf of Deborah Barker. On 6 October 1659 John appeared in court. The Court did 2 find evidence to support Deborah's claims but it said she should 2 be returned to her uncle. Deborah chose Thomas Bird as her guardian and this was approved by the court. [5, 3:153, 160, 164, 171–2]
Deborah, the wife of William Burden, is mentioned in her grandfather John Williams, Sr.'s will. Her uncle John Williams left five pounds to his kinswoman Deborah Burden and each of her children.
On 1 March 1660 William Burden, heretofore of Concord, Massachusetts, and now of Duxbury, testified that he had received money from Abraham Blush in right of his wife Deborah, daughter of John Barker, deceased. [8]
iii. Mary Barker was born about 1647. She died between 15 May 1711 and May 1718. She married first Samuel Pratt. She married second Francis Coombs. She married third David Wood.
iv. John Barker was born about 1650. He died on 1 December 1729 in Scituate. He married first Desire Annable. He married second Hannah Cushing. He married third Hannah Unknown.
Children of Abraham Blush and Ann Williams:
i. Abraham Blush was born about 16 October 1654. [1] He died between 4 February 1734/[5?] and 8 March 1735. He married first Martha, the daughter of John and Martha Shaw. [10] He married second Susannah Tuttle. [10]
Captain John Williams left his nephew Abraham Blush his house and the land in Scituate that he inherited from his brother Edward Williams on the condition that Abraham pay ten pounds to his good friend Mr. Samuel Fuller of Middleboro, ten pounds to Sarah, the wife of Thomas Stetson, and forty pounds, equally divided, to Abraham's children.
On 10 November 1694 Abraham Blush, feltmaker of Boston, and his wife Martha, sold to John Barker, yeoman of Scituate, for 170 pounds all their rights in the estate of Captain John Williams and Edward Williams, both of Scituate, by reason of Captain John William's will. [11]
Abraham was one of the founders of the Brattle Square Church on 9 July 1717. [10]
Abraham wrote his will on 8 March 1734. He added a codicil on 4 February 1734/[5?]. It was proved on 8 March 1735. The inventory of his estate amounted to about 3,312 pounds. [10]
References:
1. "Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620–1850," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org > Barnstable, vol. 1, image 689.
2. "Notes," The Genealogical Advertiser 4 (1991): 31.
3. "First Settlers of Barnstable, Ms.," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 2 (1848): 65.
4. "The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620–1633, Volumes I-III," digitized book, AmericanAncestors.org, originally Published as: Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 volumes (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995).
5. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Records of Plymouth Colony: Court Orders, vol. 1, 1633–1640, vol. 2, 1641–1651, vol. 3, 1651–1661, vol. 4, 1661–1668 (Boston: William White, 1855).
6. Shurtleff, Nathaniel B., "List of Those Able to Bear Arms in the Colony of New Plymouth 1643," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 4 (1850): 259.
7. Jeremy D. Bangs, "The Seventeenth Century Town Records of Marshfield," Mayflower Descendant 61–63 (2012–2014).
9. Rodney Donough, "John and Ebenezer Pratt, of Oyster Bay, Long Island," Mayflower Descendant 3 (1901): 1–7.
8. "Abstracts of the Earliest Wills in the Probate Office, Plymouth," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 5 (1851): 259 (John); 7 (1853): 178 (William Burden).
10. "Boston, MA: Inhabitants and Estates of the Town of Boston, 1630–1822 (Thwing Collection)," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org > 3222.
11. "Plymouth County, Mass., Records of Deeds," Mayflower Descendant 49 (1998): 51.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Map: Kmusser, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons, portion.
©a. buiter
23-Dec-2023