Holbrook line: John Paine 1658-1718

We have a lot of men named Stephen Paine in our line and I've written about the immigrant earlier.  I'll try to write about at least some of the succeeding generations later, if I'm able to find some information about them.  But first, we have John Paine.  I didn't find a lot of information about him, but he lived in interesting times and left us clues about his life, even if we don't have answers to all the questions we have about him.

John was born April 3, 1658 in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, the son of Stephen and Anne Chickering Paine.  He was their second son, one of a total of at least nine children.  John's grandfather had been a linen weaver and John's trade is listed as weaver. although we don't know what in particular he wove, or how much this was a livelihood and how much just added income to see his family over the tight spots.

John married, at the age of 22, Elizabeth Belcher, who was 20 and was the daughter of Josiah and Uranis Rainsford Belcher.  Elizabeth likely grew up hearing stories a little different than the Paine's did, for the Rainsford family was connected, far back, to royalty.  He inherited land from his grandfather as well as his father, and that may be why he moved to Swansea, Massachusetts Bay by 1683.  Rehoboth and Swansea are roughly 9 miles apart, so John didn't move far when he moved.  Both towns were burned during King Philip's War in 1675-76.  John would have been old enough to serve but I've not found his name listed a a soldier anywhere.  We can assume that he was either serving or staying at home to protect his younger siblings, during the war, or leading them to a "safer" town.  Surely a 17 or 18 year old young man would not have been doing nothing during this time period!

At this point it is interesting to speculate about the religion of John Paine.  I have seen on some trees that he was a Quaker, but after looking for evidence, I think it is more likely that his son or grandson of the same name was the Quaker.  The question for me is" was he a Baptist?  Both Rehoboth and Swansea had healthy Baptist populations and it seems possible that he was a Baptist also.  So far I've not found anything that leads me to be able to make a judgement one way or the other on that question.  Let's just say, for now, that it wouldn't surprise me.

John and Elizabeth had at least ten children together, before Elizabeth died prior to 1711.  John remarried soon after,, to Martha (last name not known) and this couple had four children.  About the time of the second marriage John moved his family to Providence, Rhode Island, which was about 11 miles.  John was a surveyor of highways and a representative in Swansea, so he was a respected man, whether or not he was Baptist, Quaker, or Congregationalist.

There is supposedly a will or administration for John but I've not found it on line.  He died September 26, 1718, at Providence.  His widow, Martha, was younger than he was and soon remarried, as she had four children of her own plus two or three of the younger children of Elizabeth to care for.

So John is a bit of a mystery in terms of religion, military service, and even the value of his estate.  We also don't know what kind of education he had.  However, like all of our ancestors, he contributed to the story of us, and that makes him important in my eyes.

The line of descent is

John Paine-Elizabeth Belcher
Stephen Paine-Sarah Vallett
Stephen Paine-Sarah Thornton
Nathan Paine-Lillis Winsor
Deborah Paine-Enos Eddy
Joseph Eddy-Susan Lamphire
Susan Eddy-Hiram Stanard
Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants