Holbrook line: John Hanchett 1679-1761

 John Hanchett is in one of those generations that seems to have disappeared from views.  We know he was the grandson of the immigrant Deacon Thomas Hanchett,  and we know that his parents were Deacon John and Ester Pritchard Hanchett.  We know he was probably born in Westfield, Massachusetts, although his parents were in the process of moving the year he was born and it's possible that he was born in Suffield, which was part of Massachusetts at the time but later became part of Connecticut.  I've seen both locations listed.

Whether or not he was actually born in Suffield, John spent his entire life (except possibly those first few weeks) in Suffield.  He was one of nine children, and the only surviving son when his father died in 1744.  By then, he had already been responsible for the maintenance of his father for eleven years, and as a reward, he was given the home in Suffield, except for a "fireroom" for his father's widow.  

John was married to Lydia Hayward, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Treadway Hayward of Waterown, Massachusetts on February 26, 1707.  (I'd love to know how this couple met.  One theory is that his father may have gone to the Boston area on business, and our John may have accompanied him.  However, that is pure speculation on my part.)  John and Lydia had property in Boston and it is probable that she had been left the property by her parents, although I don't know whether anyone has determined that for sure.

John and Lydia had at least 12 children together, all born at Suffield.  Sadly, some died before their parents, leaving grandchildren to be remembered in the estate.  We don't know much else about John's life.  He was usually either a fence-viewer or a tithing man when town elections were held, although there were several years in which he seems to be taking a year off from civic duties.  One year he was a surveyor of highways.  None of these were top level jobs, yet they required a certain amount of tact and understanding on the part of the office holder.  

His will and inventory are missing but we at least know that he owned several pieces of property, based on the distribution of his estate.  Some were grants from the town and some he seems to have purchased himself.  John died October 14, 1761 and his widow, Lydia, died in June of 1777.  The estate was settled soon after that date.  

There is much that we don't know about John.  We assume he was a church-goer because of his position as tithing man.  We don't know whether he participated in any of the colonial wars although his age indicates that there were several wars that he could have been involved in, including Queen Anne's and King William's wars.  We don't know for sure that he was literate, but suspect that he was because that's what the times required.  His father was a select man for several years and surely he would have seen to his son's education.  We also don'[t know what he did for a living, and how successful, or not, he was.  We can guess that he farmed but we don't know whether he did anything else.  

One thing we know: He had a daughter named Hannah, and she thus became part of our history.

The line of descent is:

John Hanchett-Lydia Hayward

Hannah Hanchett-John Stannard

Libbeus Stannard-Eunice Pomeroy

Libbeus Stanard-Euzebia (Luceba) Fay

Hiram Stanard-Susan Eddy

Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants