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THOMAS STEARNS (1665–1697), son of John Stearns and Mary Lothrop
REBECCA CHAMBERLAIN (b. 1663), daughter of William Chamberlain and Rebecca Unknown
Thomas, the son of John and Mary (Lothrop) Stearns, was born on 6 December 1665 in Woburn. [1] Thomas, the husband of Rebecca, died on 9 February 1696/7 in Billerica. [2, 397]
Rebecca the daughter of William and Rebecca Chamberlain was born on 25 February 1662/3 in Billerica. [1][2, 38] She married second George Farley on 14 July 1699 in Billerica. [2, 320] George was the son of Caleb and Lydia Farley, born on 30 June 1677. [1] He died before 14 August 1733, when his estate was inventoried. [1]
Thomas was apprenticed to his stepfather William French in 1675. [3]
Thomas Stearns made his will on 18 November 1696; it was proved on 22 March 1696/7. He named his wife Rebecca and his children, but not individually. He empowered his executors — his brother John Stearns and John Shed — to sell as much land as required to support his four daughters. [4]
Thomas's father John Stearns lived near Rebecca's father William Chamberlain in Billerica. John Stearns and George Farley's grandfather George lived near each other on land Deputy Governor Dudley sold to Thomas's supposed uncle Thomas Chamberlain. [5]
George and Rebecca received the house Thomas and Rebecca had lived in and four acres from Thomas's estate. George also had land that he inherited from his father. He inherited more from his mother Lydia and received some from the town. [1]
Children of Thomas Stearns and Rebecca Chamberlain: Births recorded in Billerica [2, 183–5]
i. Rebecca Stearns was born on 23 April 1689.
On 22 January 1711 Rebecca and Benjamin Frost and his wife Mary sold their title in the land of their father Thomas Stearns to their stepfather George Farley. [3]
ii. Mary Stearns was born on 18 June 1692. Mary, the wife of Benjamin, died in October 1725 in Billerica. [2, 365][3] She married Benjamin Frost on 21 December 1710 in Billerica. [2, 319] Benjamin, the son of James and Elizabeth (Foster) Frost, was born on 8 March 1687/8 in Billerica. [2, 87, 260][3] Perhaps he is the Benjamin who married the widow Hannah Richardson on 15 February 1725/6 in Billerica. [2, 260]
Benjamin and Mary had no children. [3]
iii. Sarah Stearns was born on 27 April 1694. She married Joshua Child.
iv. Hannah Stearns was born in August 1696.
Children of George Farley and Rebecca Chamberlain:
i. Lydia Farley was born by 29 April 1702 in Billerica. [1, twin of Anna][2, 71]
ii. Anna Farley was born on 29 April 1702 in Billerica. [1][2, 69]She probably married Hezekiah Kendall. [1] Hezekiah, the son of Jacob and Alice (Temple) Kendall, was born on 26 May 1701 in Woburn. [1]
iii. Enoch Farley was born on 23 July 1704 in Billerica. [1][2, 70] He died on 17 August 1723 in Billerica. [1][2, 358]
iv. Esther Farley was born on 31 May 1707 in Billerica. [1][2, 70] She married Jonathan Baldwin, Jr. on 19 January 1725/6 in Billerica. [2, 251] Jonathan, the son of Jonathan and Mary (French) Shed, was born on 21 February 1700/1. [1][5]
Jonathan and Esther lived east of the Shawshin River in the part of Billerica annexed by Wilmington in 1737. [5]
Endnotes:
1. Donna Valley Stuart, "Some Descendants of George Farley of Billerica, Massachusetts," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 136 (1982): 43–62.
2. Vital records of Billerica, Massachusetts to the Year 1850 (Boston: New England Historical Genealogical Society, 1908).
3. Avis Stearns van Wagenen, Genealogy and Memoirs of Isaac Stearns and his Descendants (Syracuse: Courier Print. Co., 1901).
4. "Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org, case 21337.
5. Henry A. Hazen, History of Billerica (Boston: A. Williams and Co., 1883).
© A. Buiter 2014
29-Sep-2023 6:27 PM