John Burr is among those of our ancestors who I am beginning to call the "Silent Generation". Actually, there are several "silent" ancestors in many generations. To explain my terminology, it means I have been unable to find more than bare bones information about the person and sometimes not even that.
At least for John Burr, we know who his parents are, and we know the vitals about birth, marriage, and death. If it wasn't for his will, that information is all that we we would have. Also, we do know a little about the town he lived and died in, and we know a little of the history of his time. So we can pull this silent man just a little bit out of the shadows, and start to see a little of his life.
John Burr was born January 6, 1659 in Hingham, Massachusetts. His parents, Simon and Hester Burr, were the immigrants here. I should stop a moment to explain that John's mother is variously seen as Hester Rose, Rose Hester, and Hester Sparhawk. Whatever her name, her parentage has not yet been established, to the best of my current knowledge.
Hingham was a small village on the Massachusetts coast line, what is known as the South Shore. It is about 20 miles from Boston. At the time John lived, it probably supported both fisherman and coastal mariners as well as farmers and tradesmen. Our John was a farmer. He is described using that word, rather than husbandman or yeoman, which is a bit unusual. The only record of town service that we have was that he was a constable in 1698.
His father, Simon, served in King Philip's War and it is probable that John at least served at home. He would have been just 16 when the war broke out, and would have trained for only a few days with the local training band. He likely could shoot, but probably couldn't yet perform military maneuvers well. Hingham wasn't directly affected by the war, and probably the village didn't evacuate as so many towns did. It is also possible that John served in some of the campaigns that Massachusetts men were involved in during King William's War, particularly the battles in what became Maine and Nova Scotia. If he wasn't there, he at least would have known all about it from stories from other citizens of the town.
John married Mary Warren, daughter of John and Deborah Wilson Warren, on December 24, 1685 in Hingham. He and Mary had 10 children together. John's financial position would have been improved when Simon died in 1691. His older brother Simon got about 60% of the estate and he got about 40%, but it was still enough to help, with eventually 10 children to raise. Presumably the two men supported their mother until her death by suicide in 1693.
The only other information we have about John is his will. His estate totaled almost 922 pounds, which was a pretty good sum for a farmer. He owned 9 different plots of land, which made up the bulk of the estate, plus various farm animals and household furnishings. His "arms and ammunition" were valued at 1 pound, and his books at two pounds. His house had at least four rooms, or chambers, with furniture in each. John has several dates of death attributed to him, but they are all between September 17 and December 7, 1716. His youngest son was just 13 when John died. Mary lived as a widow until July 26, 1742.
This is the little we know of John Burr, and I'd like to know more. Wouldn't you?
The line of descent is
John Burr-Mary Warren
Mary Burr-Thomas Marsh
Deborah Marsh-Isaac Lazell
Deborah Lazell-Levi Rockwood
Susanna Rockwood-Nahum Holbrook
Joseph Holbrook-Mary Elizabeth Whittemore
Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants
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