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JOHN SHAW (say 1596–1664/1669)
John Shaw was probably born in southern England say 1596. [1] He died in the town of Plymouth between 22 March 1663/4 and 15 February 1668/9. [1] He married Alice Unknown before 3 November 1653. [1] She was probably not the mother of his children and she died on 6 March 1654/5. [1]
John was a planter.
He arrived in Plymouth Colony between 1623 and 1626. [1][3, 350] In the 1627 Plymouth cattle division, where he was the first person in the sixth company. [2] He was one of 27 men who signed an agreement to allow privileges to the eight Undertakers in return for their assuming the debt. [3, 36]
On 8 July 1630 John bought land from John Winslow. On 14 January 1636/7 he was allowed to enlarge his lot at Black Brook. On 2 October 1637 he was allowed additional land at Plain Dealing. On 2 April 1640 he sold two and a half acres of meadow to William Kemp of Duxbury. On 17 October 1642 he received four acres of meadow at Jones River. [2]
On 1 July 1633 "Mr. [William] Gilson, John Shaw, the rest" agreed to cut a boat passage between Green's Harbor and Duxbury Bay. This was the first canal in the United States and remnants of it exist today. [1]
John was on juries 11 times between 4 September 1638 and 29 October 1649. He was a surveyor of highways in Plymouth on 7 March 1642/3 and 5 June 1644. [2]
John, followed in order by James Shaw, John Shaw, and Stephen Bryant, is in the Plymouth section of the 1643 list of men between 16 and 60 able to bear arms in Plymouth Colony. [2]
In November 1653 Thomas and Anne Savory put out their nine-year-old son Benjamin to John and Alice Shaw until he reached 21. The Shaws were to pay Thomas 30 shillings and Benjamin was to be taught how to read and write. When his term ended, he was to get five pounds or a cow. [3, 182] If John or Alice died before Benjamin finished his term, Benjamin was to continue with Jonathan Shaw, who was to teach him a trade and reading and writing and give him two suits of apparel. After Alice's death, it was mutually agreed that Jonathan was cleared. [2]
On 28 December 1653 John bought two acres of marsh at Green's harbor from Mr. John Winslow. [2]
On 31 December 1656 John Shaw, Sr. of Plymouth deeded his son Jonathan Shaw his house and about 25 aces in Plymouth. He reserved a life right in his orchard and to plant some tobacco. He also gave Jonathan the meadow he bought from John Winslow and his land at Jones River. [2] On 26 March 1658, John Shaw, Sr. of Plymouth, planter, deeded half his land at Cushena to his son Sargeant James Shaw unless his son John Shaw "shall come within the term of four years beginning from the first of March 1657[8?]." Then John Shaw, Jr. was to have half of James's allotment. [2] On 30 January 1663/4 John Shaw, Sr. of Plymouth deeded to "my son-in-law Stephen Bryant of Plymouth" all his land at Namassakett [Middleborough] and land at Rehoboth. He gave James half of his land at Cushena and the other two halves to James and Stephen Bryant. He gave Abigail Bryant his household goods after his decease." [2]
Jonathan Shaw provides a detailed account of John's life. [1]
Children of John Shaw:
i. John Shaw was born say 1622 in England. [1]
John returned to England after 9 June 1651 and there is no record of a wife or children. [1]
The (above) deed of 26 March 1658 suggests that John had left Plymouth Colony. The deed of 30 January 1663/4 suggests that he had not returned by then.
ii. Sergeant James Shaw was born say 1624 in England. [1] He died on 1 June 1675. [1] He married Mary, the daughter of Experience Mitchell, on 24 December 1652 in Plymouth. [1] She married second John Jenney on 17 November 1699. [1]
iii. Abigail Shaw was born say 1626. [1] She died on 24 October 1694. [1] She married Stephen Bryant. [1]
iv. Jonathan Shaw was born say 1629, probably in Plymouth Colony. He probably died in July 1701 in Lakenham, then in the town of Plymouth. He married first Phebe Watson. He married second Persis (Dunham) Pratt.
References:
1. Jonathan A. Shaw, "John Shaw of Plymouth Colony, Purchaser and Canal Builder," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 151 (1997): 259–85, 417–37, specifically 259–273.
2. "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), 1659–62.
3. Eugene Aubrey Stratton, Plymouth Colony: Its History and People 1620–1691 ( Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1986)
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26-Dec-2022