Allen line: John Root 1672-1731

I'm not sure why I could not find much on-line information about this John.  Yes, the earlier John Roots have more information, and there are a confusing number of John Roots to "root" through, to find our ancestor.  Yes, he had only one child with our ancestor, and those are all good reasons.  But yet...he was a person of some standing in his town.  Though he didn't leave as many foot prints as his father and grandfather did, there is enough to fill my minimum requirement of five paragraphs, I think. 

John Root was born December 28, 1672 in Westfield, Massachusetts Bay Colony, one of eight children of John and Mary Ashley Root.  He spent his childhood in Westfield, grew to be a man in Westfield, married twice and raised his family in Westfield, and died in Westfield.  The only hint we have that he may have ever left Westfield is that in his will and inventory papers, he is often referred to as "Lieutenant" John Root.  (This was important, as it differentiated him from his father and from other John Roots who lived in the same town). 

He is also referred to as a husbandman, which is roughly translated as farmer, and surely he farmed.  Everyone in Westfield did.  He also attended church regularly.  Everyone did.  Not everyone, however, had the title of "Deacon", which is another name I have seen assigned to his name.  I haven't yet found the documentation for that.  His pastor's name, for most of John's life, was Edward Taylor.  He was a brilliant man, an Englishman, and seems to have been loved by the whole town.  If John was indeed a deacon, he had a good man leading him. 

John married Sarah Stebbins, daughter of Edward and Sarah Graves Stebbins, on January 8, 1701 in Westfield.  She was from Springfield, but Westfield was actually part of Springfield at one time, so the two would have known each other, probably well, before their marriage.  They had just one child together, a daughter named Sarah.  who was born in March of 1702.  Perhaps there were difficulties with her birth, but for whatever reason, Sarah Root had no more known children before she died.  We don't have a death date for her, except that it was prior to September of 1713, when John married the widow Elizabeth Sackett.  I would certainly like to find a death date for our Sarah!  John and Elizabeth had at least four children, two of whom died very young.  There was much sadness for this couple to overcome, each having lost spouses, and then to lose the babies, too, must have been overwhelming. 

I would also like to know about John's military service.  Why was he referred to as lieutenant?  He was too young for King Philip's War, except that he would have gone to the garrison house with his family when attack was feared, and probably lived there for several months.  There were various military expeditions and wars he could have participated in, but one that seems most likely would be after the native American attacks on Deerfield, Massachusetts in 1704.  Deerfield was just 37 miles north of Westfield, and family members lived there.  Other possibilities include Queen Anne's war or King William's war.  Regardless, John was recognized as a leader of men and was prepared to go into battle with them. 
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John died May 1, 1731.  He left 300 pounds to his daughter Sarah and a small mount of land plus  team with its tackle to his son Moses.  There is no mention of wife Elizabeth, or of son Stephen.  Elizabeth was alive, because the paperwork for her to be the guardian of Moses is included in the estate papers.  However, John died owing money to almost everyone in town, it seems.  There is nothing in the papers that indicates how the estate was settled, and whether daughter Sarah got her bequest or son Moses got his land and his team.  It appears unlikely.  

So there's another mystery.  Why did John, who appears to have been a well respected member of his society, die with so much debt and such a small estate?  Were there crop failures? Did he spend too much time in military service to accumulate any wealth?  Was Elizabeth a spendthrift?  We simply can't tell from the little we can learn about him, but we can wonder.

Certainly I want to learn more about his story, and about what kind of man he was.  But at least here are a few paragraphs to honor our ancestor.

The line of descent is:

John Root-Sarah Stebbins
Sarah Root-Thomas Noble
Stephen Noble-Ruth Church
Ruth Noble-Martin Root
Ruth Root-Samuel Falley
Clarissa Falley-John Havens Starr
Harriet Starr-John Wilson Knott
Edith Knott-Edward Allen
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants