Holbrook line: John Stebbins 1626-1678

I wrote in December 2015 about Rowland Stebbins, and then in June of 2017 about his son Thomas, who is our Stebbins ancestor in our Allen line.  Now I'd like to write about John Stebbins, who is also a son of Rowland Stebbins, but is in our Holbrook line.  This is one example I've found that shows both Allen and Holbrook ancestors descending from the same couple.  I believe there are more examples but they don't come to mind right now. 

John Stebbins came on the ship Francis in 1634, aged eight years old.  His brother Thomas, 14, and his sisters Sarah, 11, and Elizabeth, 8, were with him.  Also along for the ride were their parents, Rowland and Sarah Whiting Stebbins, and a servant, Mary Winch.  The ship left from Ipswich, Suffolk, England, but it's believed the family was from Bocking, Essex, England. 

Rowland seems to have stayed at Roxbury, Massachusetts Bay Colony, for some time before moving on to Springfield, Massachusetts, in the Connecticut River valley.  The family may have been there as early as 1639. 

John married Ann Munden in Springfield on May 14, 1646 in Springfield, the same year he purchased land there.  He purchased a house in 1651 but it's not clear whether the young family had lived elsewhere for five years, perhaps with her family (or his), or whether they were moving to better quarters.  Ann died in 1656 in Springfield.  John then married Abigail Bartlett on December 17, 1657.  She was just 21 years old but was old enough to care for John's two children born by Ann, as well as the eleven children they eventually had together.  1656 was also the year that he moved to Northampton, Massachusetts, or at least the year he bought land there.  He may have traveled back and forth between the two towns until he was married, and then brought his bride to that town. 

He was a man of some wealth, or at least he was comfortably well off.  He owned a sawmill, and was active in town affairs.  I've seen him referred to as "Deacon John" which means he was active in church.  He is also described as a carpenter, surveyor, bailiff, and as town selectman in 1675 and 1676.  One source says that he was a soldier, and I've found his name on a list of soldiers in King Philip's War, but he would have been 50 years old or so, right at the division point for active service, then, so it may be that it was his son John Munden or Munson Stebbins who was the soldier then.  That of course doesn't mean our John was not a soldier.  There were constant skirmishes prior to the outbreak of King Philip's War, and John would have been expected to do his part in the training band or militia. 

The manner of John's death was officially undetermined.  It likely was a sawmill accident, or possibly a case of some sort of rapid fever, but at least two groups of women were allowed to examine the body before it was buried, to examine it for signs of witchcraft.  A report detailing their suspicions was sent to the Court at Boston but there was no follow up done.  Since John died in March of 1678, it's possible that the Court was still busy with the fall out from King Philip's War and had little time to devote to a full investigation.  Still, even to know that someone thought his death was suspicious and that the local jury felt obliged to pass the information upwards, means that Northampton was not always a nice and friendly place in which to live.  It was also a suspicious place. 

John Stebbins was accused of what was basically abuse of his aged father, but was not found guilty.  Another time, he accused a neighbor of harassing his wife.  He served on at least two juries.  As a reader of "Colonial Justice in Western Massachusetts 1639-1702" can easily determine, this community did not believe in "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone."  The entire community seemed to feel that it was a good idea to file court cases for the least little problem (such as animals getting out of their enclosures and "running amok").

I regret that my eyesight prevents me from giving an account of the settling of John's estate.  It can be found on www.americancenturies.mass.edu/collection, in the Digital Collections.  The settlement is dated September 30, 1679.  It appears, if I'm seeing correctly, that he owned land in several locations and that his estate was valued at over 500 pounds.  His widow, Abigail, lived until 1710 and presumably benefited from her widow's thirds, if not more. 

So that's the short version of John's life.  I'd love to know more about him and how he acquired the business sense he must have had.  I'd like to know if he was literate.  And I'd like to know how he kept his sanity, raising that many children! 

The line of descent is:

John Stebbins-Abigail Bartlett
Sarah Stebbins-William Southwell
Ebenezer Southwell-Elizabeth Judd
Eunice Southwell-Medad Pomeroy Jr.
Eunice Pomeroy-Libbeus Stanard
Libbeus Stanard-Euzebia (Luceba) Fay
Hiram Stanard-Susan Eddy
Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants