Allen line: John Lamb 1628-1690

Is it breaking the rules to call John Lamb an immigrant?  He was only two years old when he came to New England, so he had no say at all in whether to come.  Yet, not understanding the purpose of being uprooted and joining his parents on a small and dark ship, he shared the voyage and shared the wonder of arriving in a world totally unlike anything he knew in England.  From the eyes of a two year old, this would have been a big deal, and yes, I think we can call him an immigrant.  Besides, he's in the Allen line and I don't have many opportunities any more to write about this side of the family. 

It would be interesting to know how closely his parents, Thomas and Elizabeth Lamb, could follow the typical Puritan methods in raising children under the circumstances of sailing across the ocean.  Were they stern, were they relaxed?  Certainly they, especially Elizabeth, would have been watchful as there were many ways for little ones to get hurt, or worse, on a ship.  The other women on board would have helped, surely, but it wouldn't have been an easy job.  Actually, our ancestor John  had sibling Thomas with him, so at least there was someone to play with. 

John was born to Thomas and Elizabeth on or before August 1, 1628 at Barnardiston, Suffolk, England.  He would have been baptized in the local church, which had parts dating back to the twelfth century, so this was a very old village indeed.  Likely there was quite a bit of family in the area, as that is common for small villages, so again one wonders what the pioneer immigrants were thinking. 

John came with his parents to Roxbury, Massachusetts, where Thomas died in 1646.  Five years later, in 1651, John settled in Springfield, Massachusetts where he was made a freeman in 1654.  He was a wheelwright and perhaps an "East Indian trader".  That may mean he owned part of a ship that traveled to the East Indies, or it could have other meanings.  It gets a little dicey here because he is supposed to be living in Springfield and in Kittery, Maine at the same time.  I suspect there were two John Lambs, and they have been a bit intermingled in this part of the story. Perhaps the man in Kittery was the one who was engaged in trading.  More research needs to be done on this.  

In Springfield, he became an important part of the town.  He was a fence viewer, a surveyor of highways, a sealer of weights and measures, a sergeant of the Westfield Garrison during King Philip's War, and he  had the fifth seat in the church (seats were assigned according to wealth and piety as well as status in the town). 

John was married to Joanna Chapin, daughter of Samuel Chapin and Cicely Penny) about 1650, and they had eleven children, with the last being born in 1674.  Joanna died in 1683 and John died September 28,1690, just two or three years after he had married Lydia Wright Bliss Norton.  His estate was valued at a little over 421 pounds, which was respectable indeed.  He had more animals than many of his neighbors would have had, several good sized parcels of land, more tools and implements, and more household goods than would have been common.  John Lamb had done all right for himself. 

The line of descent is:

John Lamb-Joanna Chapin
Samuel Lamb-Rebecca Bird
Samuel Lamb-Martha Stebbins
Eunice Lamb-Martin Root
Martin Root-Ruth Noble
Ruth Root-Samuel Falley
Clarissa Falley-John Havens Starr
Harriet Starr-John Wilson Knott
Edith Knott-Edward Allen
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants