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JAMES BARKER (d. 1678)
GRACE UNKNOWN (d. 1665)
James Barker was buried on 7 September 1678 in Rowley, Essex county, Massachusetts. [1][2] He married first Grace Unknown. He married second as her third husband Mary Wyatt, the widow of Edward Riddlesdale and John Wyatt, on 22 May 1666 in Rowley. [1][3] She was probably the Mary who died on 10 April 1683 or 12 April 1684 in Rowley. [1]
Grace, the wife of James, was buried on 27 February 1665/6 in Rowley. [1]
James was a tailor; he was probably literate.
James was a freeman on 10 September 1640. [4]
James was on the trial jury at the March 1649, March 1650, March 1653, September 1656, March 1657, September 1658, March 1659, and September 1660 quarterly courts in Ipswich. [5, 1: 161, 186, 276; 2: 1, 11, 111, 138, 225] He was on the grand jury at the September 1651, September 1653, September 1654, September 1655, September 1657, September 1659, September 1668, September 1669, September 1670, March 1671, and September 1671 courts in Ipswich. [5, 1: 232, 289, 362, 396; 2: 51, 168; 4: 46, 175, 278, 326, 419]
At a Rowley town meeting on 12 December 1654, James was appointed to a committee to judge the defects of those fined for missing town meetings. He was a judge of delinquents from 1660 to 1667. [2]
James Barker was freed from ordinary training by the April 1657 court at Ipswich. He was to pay five shillings a year for the use of the company. [5, 2: 42]
James was on a coroner's enquest that returned a verdict on 26 January 1670 that William Scales died when the limb of a tree fell on him, breaking his skull. [5, 4: 320]
James was appointed to a committee to see that the Sabbath was observed on 2 November 1677. [6] He was a tythingman in November 1677. [4]
James Barker of Rowley, "Borne at Stragewell in Low Suffolk in Old England," made his will on 3 September 1678; it was proved on 24 September 1678. He left his wife Mary what she brought to the marriage, the use of the room she lived in, ready cut fire wood from time to time, her rent at Ipswich, and an annuity of 20 shillings. He left his son Barzillai—who had apparently already been given a farm—more land. He also left land to his sons James Barker and Nathaniel Barker and his daughters Eunice and Grace.
In return, Barzillai and Nathaniel were to pay his obligations to his wife and Barzillai was to pay her twenty shillings a year in work. Barzillai was also to pay twenty shillings in corn, yearly, to his sister Grace until she married. Nathaniel was to keep Grace's cow for her and provide Grace with firewood while she was single. Nathaniel and Grace (while single) could live in his house with his wife. After Grace married and his wife died, Nathaniel could have it if he had kept it in good repair. He left his movable goods to his daughters Eunice and Grace; his husbandry tools to Nathaniel; his apparel to Barzillai and his son-in-law John Watson. He appointed Barzillai and Nathaniel his executors and his friends John Trumble and Nehemiah Jewett to be his overseers. The inventory of James's estate was presented on 12 September 1678. It amounted to £411-11-04 and included books, cotton, wool, and linen cloth, and tools for a tailor's trade. [7]
Suffolk is a low-lying county, located on the east coast of England, south of Norfolk and north of Essex. It is not clear what place "Stragewell" refers to.
On 24 September 1678 Elizabeth Stickney, age about 70, and Samuel Stickney, age about 45, deposed that James Barker, Sr. had not lived up to the promises that he made on condition of James Barker Jr.'s marriage to Mary, the daughter of William Stickney. On 28 September 1680 the court ordered the overseers of James's will to see what provision had been made for Mary. [7]
The September 1680 court at Ipswich ordered Nehemiah Jewett and Mr. Wilson, overseers of the deceased husband of Widow Barker of Rowley's will to call the executors of James Barker to see what provision had been made for the widow in his will and to see she had enough for comfortable subsistence and the future. [5, 8: 17]
Mary, the second wife of James, was cared for in what appears to have been a long and disabled old age by her stepson Nathaniel and his wife Mary. In her will of 10 February 1682, testified to on 20 September 1684, she said that "the trouble I am to them is not sufficiently by my estate likely to be rewarded." She left 20 shillings to Samuel Phillips, "for what he has bestowed on me," and twenty shillings each to Barzillai and Grace. The rest she left to Nathaniel. Inventory of her estate was taken on 10 September 1684; it amounted to £23-16-00 and included three books. [8]
James had a possible brother Thomas who was buried on 30 November 1649 in Rowley. [1] He married Mary Unknown. She married second Ezekiel Rogers on 16 July 1651 in Rowley. [1] Thomas left bequests in his will to his pastor Reverend Ezekiel Rogers, his "Deare Sister" Jane Lambert, Thomas Leaver and his wife, John Johnson, Elizabeth Johnson, Thomas Lambert, his "well beloved wife Mary Barker," the brothers and sister of Thomas Lambert if Thomas were to die before reaching 21 and his "beloved Brethern" Thomas Mighill and Mathew Boyes. The will is not dated, inventory was taken on 11 December 1650 and probate was on 25 March 1651/2. [7]
Children of James Barker and Grace Unknown:
i. Barzillai Barker was the eldest child. He was born in 1635. [4] He died on 16 November 1694 in Rowley. [1] He married Anna, the daughter of Maximilian and Ann Jewett on 5 December 1666 in Rowley. [1] Anna was born on 26 February 1644/5 in Rowley. [1]
Barzillai was a member of the first church in Rowley on 22 March 1666; his wife was a member on 29 March 1669. [9, 82]
Anna Barker, the widow of Barzillai, late of Rowley, was granted administration on the estate of her late husband. Inventory was taken on 20 May 1695—it amounted to about 227 pounds—and Anna posted a bond on 22 May 1695. She presented the account of her administration on 29 March 1697. [8]
ii. James Barker was born in 1641. [4] He died on 31 January 1723. [4] He married Mary Stickney, the daughter of William Stickney, on 10 or 11 May 1667 in Rowley. [1]
iii. Eunice Barker was born on 2 June 1642 in Rowley. [1] She was buried in May 1645 in Rowley. [1]
iv. Nathaniel Barker was born on 15 October 1644 in Rowley. He married Mary Kilbourne.
v. Eunice Barker was born on 11 February 1646. [4] She married John Watson.
vi. Henry Barker died on 12 December 1653. [4]
vii. Grace Barker was born on 1 April 1650 in Rowley. [1] She died a widow on 19 February 1723 in Rowley. [1] She married James Cannadie on 3 November 1680 in Rowley. [1]
viii. Tamar Barker was born on 15 December 1652 in Rowley. [1] She was buried on 13[!] December 1652 in Rowley. [1]
ix. Steven Barker was born in September 1653 in Rowley. [1] He was buried in December 1653 in Rowley. [1]
Endnotes:
1. Vital Records of Rowley, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849, vol. 1, vol. 2 (Salem: Essex Institute, 1928, 1931).
BARKER 1: 19 Eunice (Barkar), d. James and Eun[ice], 11:12m:1645. 1: 246 Berzilla, and Anna Jewit, d. Maxemillian, 5 :10m: 1666.* |
1: 441 Barzilliah, Nov. 16, 1694. CANADY 2: 9 Grace, wid., Feb. 19, 1723. JEWITT 1: 107 Anna (Jewet), d. Maximilian and Ann, 26: "the last m": 1644. |
2. Benjamin P. Mighill and George B. Blodgette, Early Records of the Town of Rowley (Rowley: the town, 1894).
3. John Brooks Threlfall, "John Wyatt of Ipswich, Massachusetts and his wife Mary (___) Riddlesdale," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 143 (1989): 215–21, 363–4.
4. Elizabeth Frye Barker, Barker Genealogy (New York: Frye Publishing Co., 1927).
5. George Francis Dow, ed., and Harriet S. Tapley, trans., Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, 9 vols., digitized books, Salem Witch Trials: Documentary Archive and Transcription Project (http://salem.lib.virginia.edu).
6. Thomas Gage, The History of Rowley, Anciently including Bradford, Boxford, and Georgetown, From the year 1639 to the Present Time (Boston: F. Andrews, 1840).
7. George Francis Dow, The Probate Records of Essex County, Massachusetts, vol. 1, vol. 2, vol. 3 (Salem: Essex Institute, 1916, 1917, 1920), 1: 128 (Thomas); 3: 246 (James)
8. "Essex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1638–1881," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org, case 1645 (Barzillai), case 1690 (Mary).
9. George B. Blodgette, Early Records of Rowley, Mass: First Records of the First Church (Salem: Salem Press, 1898).
© A. Buiter 2014
20-Nov-2023 2:32 PM