Allen line: John Finch 1657-172?

John is believed to be the son of John and possibly Hannah Marsh Finch, and is supposed to have been born about 1657.  A John Finch died in 1657 in Stamford, Connecticut (there is documentation for that) and it is possible that this was John Finch's grandfather.  If this line is correct, then the grandmother would have been Martha Brett, and John the father was born about 1634 and died in 1685 in Huntington, Suffolk, Long Island. This puts our John born about 1657 within a good geographic area to have married in New York. 

Our John, the one born  in 1657 or thereabouts, is said to have been born in Stamford but town records don't confirm that.  A more likely location is somewhere in Westchester County, NY.  He is believed to have married Hester Davis in 1693 there.  Her parents were Samuel and Mary Mather Davis.  The couple is said to have had two sons, another John and James, and some also  give them daughters or possibly these were John's stepdaughters from his (second) marriage to Elizabeth Elleson.

Margaret Key of New York, widow, left to the two children of Captain John Finch, merchant, named Ann and Sarah, all of her estate.  Since she doesn't mention the sons of John, either this is the wrong John Finch or Margaret's connection was with the daughters only.  Captain John Finch was named executor.  This will was written September 11, 1713 and proved in July of 1714.  A year later, John was named as a witness in the will of John Price, of Turtle Bay, near the city of New York.

I've seen this John described as a mariner, which would explain the "Captain" designation, and as a merchant.  Those two descriptions aren't mutually exclusive.  He apparently spent most of his life in New York but is said to have tied in Stamford, Connecticut in 1726.  Again, I'm finding no death record or will there, nor am I locating anything in New York after his witnessing of the will in 1715.

John lived in interesting times, as the city of New Amsterdam became the city of New York.  There were several small wars he may have been involved in, King William's War and Queen Anne's War, but we don't have any records to indicate that.  It is intriguing to wonder where he went, if indeed he went to sea or even just sailed along the coastline of New England.  I have so many questions about this ancestor!  

The line of descent is:

John Finch-Hester Davis

John Finch-Sarah

Nathaniel Finch-Hannah Scofield

Jesse Finch-Hannah

Hannah Finch-John Bell

Hannah Bell-Thomas Knott

John Wilson Knott-Harriet Starr

Edith Knott-Edward Allen

Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook

Their descendants