JOHN MARSH

(ca. 1599 - 1674) - England & Salem, Essex co., MA

(First Generation - Marsh Family)

FATHER
MOTHER
NOT KNOWN
NOT KNOWN


BIRTH & DEATH John was born circa 1599 in England. This birth year is estimated from his given age of 34 when he took the Freeman Oath in 1634. John died on 16 November 1674; he was 75[1].
MIGRATION John came over on the Mary & John, Robert Saters, master, sailing from Southampton, England on 24 March 1633/4[5].
RESIDENCE He settled in Salem, Essex co., MA, where he received 20 acres in Salem on 2d:11m(January):1636/7.
FREEMAN & OATHS John was made Freeman on 4 March 1633 (now 34 years of age). John took the Oath of Fidelity before he set sail from England.
CHURCH MEMBERSHIP John was not just a church member at Salem, but was appointed by Governor Endicott to organize the first Puritan church in America at Salem on 30 July 1629.
ESTATE John's will was dated 28 March 1672, and probated 26 November 1674. It reads as follows:

"The Estate of John Marsh of Salem.

The last will and testament of John Marsh That I John Marsh of Salem. though. weake in body yet of perfect memory and vnderstandinge, doe thus dispose of my outward estate. Imprimis I giue vnto Susanna my wife my dwellinge house with the orchard and all the land therevnto belonginge for the teame of her natural life and at her decease to be disposed by her to which of my children, she shal think fit Item I giue vnto my wife all my mouable goods only to pay out of the same such legacyes as I shal dispose of to some of my children. Item. I giue vnto Zachary my Son. a part of my farme (viz) to haue on the south. end 25 poole downeward the whole breadth of my farme Item I giue vnto my two sons Samuel and jacob the remaynder of my farme to be equally devided betweene them: of which Diuision my son Samuel is to haue the choyce Item I giue unto my son Ezekiel fiue pounds to be payd by my Executors at the end of the tearme of thre yeares after my decease Item I giue vnto my son Benjamin ten pounds to be payd by my executors when he shall attayne the age of on & twenty yeares Item I giue vnto my Daughter Bethiah: thre pounds to be payd vnto her by my executors at the end of thre yeares after my decease. Item. mywil is that incase eyther of my Sons Samuel or Jacob should depart this life vnmaryed or childles then the land that I haue giuen them shal be devided betweene the surviver and my son Zachary and in case they bothe depart as is aboue sayd. the whole farme to fal to my Son Zachary Item. I appoynt my wife Susanna executrix of this my last wil and testament & Samuel my son to be ioyned with her Adiutor and my Louinge ffreinds Anthony Buxton & Nathaniel Felton ouerseers. Dated 28th of march. 1674

John Marsh [Seal]
Witness: Nathaniel Felton, Anthomy Buxton.
Proved in Salem court 26d:9m:1674 by the witnesses."[2]

"Inventory taken Nov. 23, 1674:
his dwelling house and orchard wth the land therevnto belonginge, £60;
50 acres of Vacant land, £40;
2 Cowes & 2 heifers, £10;
a horse £1 15s.;
10 sheepe & lambes, £4;
a fetherbed & boulster, 2 pillows, 3 sheets, 2 blankets & an old coverlet, £5;
An old bed 3 blankets & an old Rug, £2;
2 chests & an old table, 16s.;
1 ketle, 1 iron pot and a skillet, £1 5s.;
2 old platters & a tanker, 5s.;
old bookes, 9s.' 2 wheels & 2 payre of cards, 10s.;
a musket and sword, £1;
2 hakes, 2 iron wedges, a fryinge pan, 6s.;
shoemakers tooles and a tow Combe, 10s.;
In wool, 34 lb. £1 5s. 6d.;
A churne, 2 payles, wooden dishes & other vtensels, 15s.;
His wearinge Apparel, £3, __s.;
In mony, 13s.;
total, £135 4s. 6d.
Debter to Captayne George Corwine, £2 3-4d.; to Samll. Smal, £1, 5s.;
Total £3 5s. 1-4 d.

Attested 26d:9m:1674 by the executrix" [3,4]

MARRIAGE #1 By 1635-1637 when John was 36, he first married in Salem, Essex co., MA[1,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15]. We know nothing of this woman, who is the matriarch of this particular Marsh line. Unfortunately, I had done considerable research on Susanna SKELTON's family before discovering the existence of this first wife and mother of Zachary. If anyone needs research on the SKELTONs, please contact me and I shall pass it along.

CHILDREN 2. i. Zachary MARSH Please see his own page.
3. ii. John MARSH John was born in 1639 in Salem, Essex co., MA and baptized in Salem, Essex co., MA on 19d:3m:1639[20].
4. iii. Ruth MARSH Ruth was born in 1641 in Salem, Essex co., MA and baptized in Salem, Essex co., MA on 5d:3m:1641[20].

MARRIAGE #2 By 1646 when John was 47, he second married Susanna SKELTON, daughter of Reverend Samuel SKELTON & Susanna TRAVIS, in Salem, Essex co., MA[1,16]. Susanna was born in 1625 in Tattershall, Lincolnshire, England. Susanna was baptized in Tattershall, Lincolnshire, England on 3 April 1625[16,17,18].

In her will of 3 November 1685 "Susannah, the relict of Thomas Rix late of Salem deceased, and formerly the relict of John Marsh deceased of Salem," bequeathed land given to her "by the last will and testament of the said John Marsh my first husband"[16,19].


CHILDREN 5. i. Elizabeth MARSH Elizabeth was born on 8d:5m:1646 in Salem, Essex co., MA[31].
6. ii. Ezekiell MARSH Ezekiell was born in 1648 in Salem, Essex co., MA and baptized in Salem, Essex co., MA on 29d:8m:1648[20].
7. iii. Bethiah MARSH Bethiah was born in 1650 in Salem, Essex co., MA and baptized in Salem, Essex co., MA on 1d:7m:1650[32].
8. iv. Samuell MARSH Samuell was born in 1652 in Salem, Essex co., MA and baptized in Salem, Essex co., MA on 2d:8m:1652[20]. As "Samuel Marsh and Prescilla his wife", he and his spouse also signed the petition supporting John & Elizabeth [Bassett] Proctor during the Salem Witch Hysteria.
9. v. Susana MARSH Susannah was born on 22d:3m:1654 in Salem, Essex co., MA[33].
10. vi. Mary MARSH Mary was born in 1656 in Salem, Essex co., MA and baptized in Salem, Essex co., MA on 14d:7m:1656[34].
11. vii. Jacob MARSH Jacob was born in 1658 in Salem, Essex co., MA and baptized in Salem, Essex co., MA on 6d:6m:1658[33].
12. ix. Benjamin MARSH Benjamin was born circa 1661 in Salem, Essex co., MA.




GENERATION Great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great (G8) Grandfather
FAMILY NUMBER 1966
SOURCES 1. Torrey, Charles, New England Marriages Prior to 1700., (Boston: New England Historic and Genealogical Society). [Torrey].

2. The Probate Records of Essex County, [EssexProb or EPR], II:422.

3. Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts, 1636-1686, 9 volumes, (Salem 1911-1975), [EQC], 22:122,123.

4. [EssexProb or EPR], II:422-423.

5. Mary & John, vols. 1+, (Toledo, OH: Mary & John Clearinghouse), [MaryJohn], ??:79, citing ³Planters of the Commonealth² by Charles E. Banks (1930).

6. Randall, Frank Alfred, Randall and Allied Families, (Chicago: Raveret-Weber Print. Co., 1943), [Randall Anc], 433, 437.

7. Snow, Nora Emma, The Snow-Estes Ancestry, 2 vols., (Hillburn, N.Y.: privately printed, 1939), [Snow-Estes], 2:203, 214.

8. Essex Institute Historical Collections, vol. 1+, (Salem, Mass., 1859+), [EIHC], 13:152; 17:265.

9. Paine, Ruth Felton (Ward), Paine Genealogy and Allied Lines: ancestors of William Alfred Paine, (Rutland, Vt.: The Tuttle Pub. Co. Inc., 1936), [Paine Anc. (1936)], 66.

10. Jacobus, Donald Lines, The Granberry Family and Allied Families, (Hartford, Conn.: E. F. Waterman, 1945), [Granberry], 274, 312, 313.

11. Marsh, Lucius B., The Genealogy of John Marsh of Salem and His Descendants 1633-1888, (Amherst, Mass.: C. William, 1888), [J. Marsh (1888)], 7.

12. Cooke, Harriet Ruth, The Driver Family: a Genealogical Memoir of the Descendants of Robert and Phebe Driver, of Lynn, Mass., With an Appendix, Containing Twenty-Three Allied Families, (New York: J. Wilson & Son, 1889), [Driver], 469.

13. Paul, Edward Joy, The Ancestry of Katharine Choate Paul, Now Mrs. William J. Young Jr., (Milwaukee: Burdich & Allen, 1914), [Paul Anc.], 193-4.

14. Emmerton, James A., A Genealogical Account of Henry Silsbee and Some of His Descendants, (Salem: Essex Institute, 1880), [Silsbee], 11.

15. The Genealogical Magazine, (Salem, Mass.: Salem Press, 1890+), [GenMag or Putnam's Mag.], 6:316.

16. Anderson, Robert Charles, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633., (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society), [GreatMig.], III:1686.

18. New England Historic and Genealogical Register. Vols. 1+, (Boston: New England Historic and Genealogical Register, 1845+), [NEHGR], 52:353.

18. Felton, E. C., "Samuel Skelton, M.A., First Minister Minister of the First Church at Salem, Mass.", New England Historic and Genealogy Register, (Boston), [Skelton-Felton], ??:258.

19. [Snow-Estes], 2:207.

20. Salem, Essex co., MA Vital Records. [SalemVR], II:56 [C.R. 1].

21. Perley, Sidney, The History of Salem, Massachusetts, 3 vols., (Salem: Sidney Perley, 1924), [Salem], 2:70,383.

22. [Silsbee], 4,11.

23. Cutler, Nahum Sawin, A Cutler Memorial and Genealogical History: Containing the Names of a Large Proportion of the Cutlers in the U.S. and Canada, and a Record of Many Individual Members of the Family, with an Account also of Other Families Allied to the Cutlers by Marriage, (Greenfield, Mass.: E.A. Hall & Co., 1889), [Cutler], 324.

24. [Driver], 469.

25. [Paul Anc.], 194,219.

26. [EIHC], 17:258,265.

27. [Snow-Estes], 2:185,208,217.

28. [J. Marsh (1888)], 8,21.

29. [Randall Anc], 433.

30. [SalemVR], IV:64 [Ct. R.].

31. Ibid. II:55 [Ct. R.].

32. Ibid. II:55 [C.R. 1].

33. Ibid. II:56 [Ct. R.].

34. Ibid. II:56 [C. R. 1].

35. Ibid. II:55 [Ct. R. and C.R. 1].

36. Ibid. II:120 and IV:70.

37. [Snow-Estes], 2:209.

38. [Salem], 1:253.

39. [J. Marsh (1888)], 26.

40. [Paul Anc.], 195.

41. The Essex Antiquarian, (13 vols.)(n.p., 1897-1909), [EssexAnt], 10:190.

42. [GenMag or Putnam's Mag.], 6:213.

43. [SalemVR], I:100 [Ct. R.].

44. The Salem Witchcraft Trials: A Documentary History of 1692, (Salem, MA: The Nova Anglia Company, 2001), [SalemWitch], 98.

45. Essex County Archives, Salem Witchcraft, Vol. 2 Page 43.

46. [SalemVR], II:55 [C.R. 1].

47. Ibid. II:61 [Ct. R.].

48. Danvers, Essex co., MA Vital Records, [DanversVR], II:406.

49. [SalemVR], III:385 and IV:63.

50. Ibid. I:324 [C.R.1].

51. Danvers, Essex co., MA Vital Records, [DanversVR], II:362 [G.R.18].

52. Ibid. II:83 and II:177.

53. Lexington, Meddlesex co., MA Vital Records, [LexVR], p. 21, # 27.


Return to the Marsh Index page.
Return to the Family Index page. Return to the Surname Index page.
Return to the Maddison Side Tree page.




email comments, suggestions, fixes and general mischievious mayhem to the web diva.

all the content on this page is copyrighted ©1992-2002 by Kristin C. Hall.
please drop me a line, if you wish to use it or link to it.

many thanks!

SPECIAL THANKS TO kattyb.com for the nifty background! Check our her sites, they are terrific!