John HUTCHINS

1615 - 1653  (37 years)

• Name	John HUTCHINS
  Born	13 Jul 1615	Devonshire, England
  Gender	Male
  Migration	May 1638	“Bevis”
  Occupation	Carpenter
  Will Notes	COPY OF WILL OF JOHN HUTCHINS John Hutchins, born 1604, executed his will 24th June 1674 and deceased 6th February, 1685. Essex County, Mass., Registry of Probate, v. 304 p. 164. Be known unto all men by these presents that I, John Hutchins of Haverhill, Mass., in the county of Norfolk, Mass., New England, being through God's mercy in indifferent health of body and of perfect memory considering mine age and mortality do here make my last will and testament, commending my soul in the hands of my blessed Redeemer And for my worldly goods I dispose as followeth: For my eldest son William Hutchins, I formerly gave him a parcell of land when he was married and therefore give him but twenty shillings. And to my son Joseph I also gave a parcell of land to; which he now posesseth and also give him but twenty shillings. And also I give my daughter Elizabeth Ayres (besides what she hath had already) twenty shillings, I also give to my daughter Love Sherburne, (besides what she hath had already) twenty shillings; And also I give to my son Benjamin Hutchins all the land he now possesseth, and which I formerly gave him and twenty shillings also. And further I give to my son Samuell Hutchins all the land I formerly gave to him and which he now possesseth and twenty shillings also. And I appoint Francis my wife to be the sole executrix of this my last will and testament, And my house and land that now I do possess and enjoy, both upland and meadow with goods and chattels and all my land undisposed I give to my said wife during her natural life, that if she see cause for her own necessity rather than to suffer she shall have liberty to sell for her comfortable livelihood, And at her decease to dispose of all at her discretion among my children, my debts and funeral being discharged. Witnesses:- Dated June 24, 1674 Anthony SomerbyJohn Hutchins William Titcombhis mark Anthony Somerby did on his oath testify that he saw John Hutchins sign, seal and declare the above written to be his last will & testament, & set his hand as a witness and also saw William Titcomb to set his hand as a witness. March 30, 1686 before me, John Woodbridge, authorized to take oaths in Newbury. In obedience to and pursuant of an order of Ipswich Court, March 30, 1686, requiring and empowering it, I did repair to Anthony Somerby who made oath that he did see John Hutchins sign, seal and declare this will (written on the other side) to be his last will and testament and that himself and William Titcomb did also sign it as witnesses the said Hutchins being than as he judged of a disposing mind. Sworn, April 8, 1686, before me, Robert Pike (assistant) For livelihood he resorted to diverse means. We know nothing of his life as a farmer. His principal activity seems to have been carpentry. On 27 Aug. 1657 the town of Portsmouth authorized a committee to proceed to build a meeting-house (15). John Hutchins helped construct the building but was forced to sue the Committee on 13 Oct. 1668 for £ 140. He sued Richard Cutt also for £ 61 for work done on the Moodie house and for the seats and canopy of the meeting house (16). The withdrawal of both suits suggests payment. Quite a bit earlier (on 25 Sept. 1658) the estate of the late Henry Fay of Newbury owed "Goodman Hutchins" 9 shillings and 8 pence for the coffin and a peck of corn. Robert Clements' will of 9 June 1658 mentions an indebtedness of "seavern" pounds for "repaireing the house and fencing the home loth". Little is known about his fishing enterprise. On 6 Mar. 1657 he was permitted to set a weir in the Merrimack River and to cure the fish on the island, with the condition that he sell the fish to the townspeople at a fair price. His next activity was notably unsuccessful. On 22 June 1658 Haverhill annulled all extant saw-mill privileges because of dissatisfaction and awarded a new privilege to Thomas Davis, John Hutchins, and Daniel Hendricks. John apparently owned one third of the enterprise but it involved him in frequent litigation with his partners and others. It may also have caused him to fall into indebtedness. Thomas Davis sued him on 12 Apr. 1664 at the Salisbury Court for beef, butter, cheese, bacon, and work. John admitted that he owed for two quarters of beef. Six months later (on 11 Oct. 1665) Thomas sued him at Hampton Court for the balance due on the mill. John and his wife released their third on 21 July 1665. On 26 Sept. 1665 Richard Dummer sued John for debt, a debt that he acknowledged. This indebtedness is hard to understand, despite the mill, by reas/o the statement that his property in Haverhill was valued at double that of others'. Despite this fault many facts indicate that John Hutchins was highly respected and very conscientious: 1.With others he swore on 9 Apr. 1657 in the Ipswich Court that their neighbor, William Titcomb, complained of, was honest and christian like in his conversation, and not a liar. 2.He was constable of Haverhill at least from 1661 to 1664. On 9 Dec. 1661 and in Feb. 1662 he served two writs in that capacity. 3. In 1665 and later he served on petit juries and on 28 Sept. 1668 on a grand jury. 4.In the Salem Court on 30 Nov. 1669, when his age was declared (by him or by the clerk) to be about 65, he deposed in favor of Ensign Pecker's sawmill dam, which had been con-demned as less firm than previously. 5.In 1669-70 he was a selectman of Haverhill. 6.On 8 Oct. 1672 he was on the Grand Jury at Hampton Court. 7. Having built the galleries of the Haverhill meeting-house, he was allowed in 1673 to sell the seats or privileges to them to any one. 8.In 1664 the Boston Court granted him remission of several pounds of corn that he had collected as taxes and that he had lost by fire. The Court also gave him twenty shillings as a reward for the apprehension of an Indian who had killed his squaw. Three other suits seem noteworthy for one reason or another: 1. On 25 Apr. 1656 John Houching, William Houching, and George Little witnessed at the Ipswich Court against John Tellis/o Newbury, whom the Court merely "admonished" for "abusing his wife on Sabbath morning in throwing a bowl of water upon her, she being sick in bed, and chaining her by the leg to the bed post with a plow chain, to keep her within doors". 2. John's wife Frances got into difficulties with the law twice. The first incident has been repeated ad nauseam in many books but must be included here. The general Court had passed a law around 1650 prohibiting the display of finery by persons "of meane condition," that is, by persons whose property was valued under £ 200. Frances was arrested on 17 Sept. 1653 for violation of that law in wearing a silk hood. So also her friend Mrs. Joseph Swett. But Frances was acquitted because she had been brought up above the ordinary rank, while Mrs. Swett had to pay ten shillings. 3. The statement has been made in several books, without substantiation, that Frances was arrested in 1692 for witchcraft, but the charge was not pressed because of her son Joseph and his wife's brother-in-law, Samuel Kingsbury, who posted sufficient bond to satisfy the accusers. Certain descendants infer from this accusation that she was unpopular among her neighbors. Mention should be made that regardless of John Hutchins' economic stresses at times, he had servants. One, Elizabeth Shaw, is reported as having drowned on 25 July 1661 (38). An Indian servant named Hopewell died on 3 May 1663. This is thought to be the earliest distinct reference to a servant in Haverhill. On 29 Apr. 1661 John and Frances conveyed to their son Joseph for £ 200 their house and several lots of land in Haverhill, as well as their live stock. An "Old Norfolk County record" is surprising and difficult to understand: John and Joseph Hutchins, yeomen, bond to William Huds/o Boston, vinter, conditioned to pay £ 93 14s 7d in the Castle Tavern in Boston. The bond was dated 26 May 1664 and acknowledged by John Hutchins at the Salisbury Court on 2 Apr. 1665. The bond was to be paid in different amounts in May 1665,1666, and 1667 and all payments were "well and truly made". Curiously contrasting with that large operation was John's claim against the Newbury militia in Feb. 1675 for a saddle damage of nine shillings and six pence (a saddle lent to the militia?). In 1685 John seems to have suffered a stroke, be it due to age, financial worries or other problems, for on 8 July of that year the Massachusetts Bay Colony Court recorded as follows: "This Court, being informed of the inability of John Hutchins of Haverhill, by reas/o his being dumbe, to mannage his estate, by impleading of his debtors & answering to any action that may be considered against him, doe grant power to Francis, his wife, to act those affaires in her own person, or by her substitute". John lived only about six months more. He died on 6 Feb. 1686 . His will, written on 24 June 1674, was probated on 30 Mar. 1686. The widow made two reservations with respect to the inventory: 1) Twenty of the 80 or 90 acres listed had already been given (though not deeded) by her husband and herself to son Benjamin; and 2) 120 acres of ye third division.. is my son William's, given to him by my husband and myself and delivered but no deed of it. On 21 Nov. 1686 Frances deeded (for a compensation) to her son Joseph all her lands except 20 acres laid out to son Benjamin and three to son Samuel, and except 10 acres reserved for her own use. On Christmas day, 1686 she deeded 10 acres to Johannah (Corliss) Hutchins, wife of Joseph Hutchins. She died on 5 Apr. l694 and a copy of her will, written 4 Mar. 1694, will be found in the Appendix. The "John Hutchins house of 1702" that was moved in 1937 from Haverhill to Pittsford, New York was certainly not built by John Hutchins. As for John Hutchins children, the Newbury vital records are unfortunately incomplete and the dates given are impossible: Benjamin, born 15 May 1641 Joseph, born 15 Nov. 1650 Joseph, born 10 Oct. 1641 Love, born 16 July 1647. We cannot be certain that Elizabeth and William were born in England or that Frances was their mother, though she names them in that order as her children in deeds mentioned above.
  Great Migration Study Project	Y
  Immigrant?	Y
  Historical Notes	On [blank] February 1661[/2?], Thomas Davis, John Hutchins and Daniel Hendrick sold to James Pecker of Haverhill, carpenter, "2 acres of land purchased for the use of the saw-mill of Hugh Sharrat of Haverhill (being at first 3 acres, a part having been reserved for an intercourse to the saw-mill)" [Essex Ant 3:172, abstracting NLR 1:161]. On 21 July 1665, Thomas Davis and John Hutchins "settled accounts, John and his wife to release one-third of his saw mill in Haverhill, the account between James Pecker and the owner and Daniel Hendrick in relation to the mill not being included" [Essex Ant 6:44, abstracting NLR 2:70]. John Hutchins of Newbury and Haverhill, Massachusetts (1605/8-1686 ) Many facts about John Hutchins remain unknown: the date and place of his birth, his parentage, the date and place of his marriage, the surname of his wife, and even the birth-dates of some of his children. He was born about 1605 if it was he, rather than the Clerk, who stated at the Salem Court on 27 Nov. 1669 that the deponent was "about 65 years old." But if it was he who came on the "Bevis" in 1638, aged 30, he was born obviously about 1608. As to when he came to America there are several theories. The first is that he was the John Huchens, "carpenter's mate" on the "Friendship" of London, riding at anchor in the river Thames bound for Virginia in Mar. 1636. It seems doubtful that this man who deserted ship and crew was our John. The second theory, advanced by a descendant, Hazel (Mrs. Jerome) Wils/o Washington, D.C., is that he came over on a boat captained by Parker and landed up a river just outside Newbury. To be sure, the river is today called Parker and a monument there bears the names of the pioneers. The absence of John Hutchins' name is not significant, since long before the erection of the monument he had gone to Haverhill. Currier adds interesting details. The ship "Mary and John" brought Thomas Parker, James Noyes, John Spencer, Henry Short, Henry Lunt, John Bartlett, and many others, who ultimately settled in Newbury. They had first gone to Agawam (now Ipswich), where they stayed until 1635. Meanwhile, Sir Richard Saltonstall, Henry Sewall, Richard and Stephen Dummer, with others from Wiltshire, England, had organized a company to raise capital. They induced John Spencer, Henry Short, Richard Hunt, Thomas Parker and others to join the enterprise and establish a settlement on the river Quascacunquen, now Parker. On 6 May 1635 the court allowed the plantation, which was to be called "Newberry" and the men prepared to move from Ipswich. According to tradition they came via Plum Island Sound in open boats and landed on the north shore of what is now the river Parker and in a little cove about 100 rods below the bridge. The third theory has had the longest and most persuasive support, from 1860 to 1961. John Hutchinson (the "s" was often interpreted as "son"), carpenter, aged 30, came over on the "Bevis," 150 tons, Robert Batten, Master. The name following John's on the passenger list was ffrauncis Alcocke. Following her name appeared, not the usual "uxor" (wife), but the mysterious letters vizg. Savage, while thinking the word was virg. admits that its import is uncertain. One wonders if the scrawled word was viuda (widow). The "Bevis" sailed in 1638, probably in May. According to Banks, John and Francis (Frances was then spelled thus, even in court records) were servants of Stephen Dummer, who was from Bishopstoke, County Hampshire. Another servant was Richard Bayley, aged 15. Richard Dummer, born in Bishopstoke, had arrived in America in 1632. Possibly he had returned to England for carpenters and other skilled workmen. One of these was John Frye, a wheelwright, who was on the same "Bevis" sailing. The History of New London, N.H. (1899, p. 115) asserts positively that John and Francis, aged 30 and 26 respectively, left Southampton in the "Bevis" in May 1638. Pope repeats that John Hutchins(on) left on that sailing for Boston. The most convincing arguments are those of Mr. John G. Hunt. He is of the opinion that the associations between the Hutchinses, the Dummers, and the Clements cannot be ignored. He thinks that Frances Alcock may have been related to Lewis Alcock, rector of North Stoneham from 1593 until his death in 1607. This Lewis was mentioned in his brother Thomas's will of 1628 . Mr. Hunt adds that John Hutchins' father could well have been identical with, or related to, William Hutchins of Stockbridge, some ten miles northwest of North Stoneham. In America the name of John Hutchins first appears officially in the Ipswich Court record of (Dec. ?) 1641, when John Kent and he sued Ruben Guppy of Salem. The reason is not stated, but Guppy was a bad citizen, for many years later (on 29 Nov. 1655) he was "admonished" by the Court for stealing wood and for absenting himself from meeting. John Hutchins next sued (on 29 Mar. 1653) James Hayward and Hugh March for slander. They counter-sued the same day. Quoting from "The Proprietors' Book of Records," vol. I, folio 54, Cotton (in Newbury, 1855, p. 292) asserts that John Hutchins was one of the 91 original grantees of land in Newbury. On 7 Dec. 1652 "they were declared to be the sole free-holders and so entitled to proportionate right in all waste lands, common and rivers undisposed." Richard Dummer heads the list, while Stephen Dummer stands fourth. House and farm lots were laid out in the new settlement and assigned as early as 1645. John Hutchins was assigned lot #35. It is not known when John left Newbury for Haverhill. He was "of Newberry" in Sept. 1654 when he joined others in petitioning the Ipswich Court in favor of Robert Pike (13). On 23 Nov. 1655 he deeded his house and land at Newbury to his wife Frances and his cattle to his daughter Elizabeth and his son William.  [1]
  Cause of Death	Illness after stroke
  Died	7 Jun 1653	Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts
  Person ID	I4870	Main
  Last Modified	12 Dec 2023

  
  

  Family	Frances E. ALCOCK,   b. 1612, Hampshire, England ,   d. 5 Apr 1694, Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts  (Age 82 years)
  Married	Abt 1635	Hampshire, England
  Children	+ 1. Joseph HUTCHINS,   b. 10 Oct 1641, Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts ,   d. 19 Apr 1689, Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts  (Age 47 years) + 2. Enoch HUTCHINS,   b. Abt 1641, Devonshire, England ,   d. 9 May 1698, Kittery, York, Maine  (Age ~ 57 years)
  Last Modified	29 Nov 2020
  Family ID	F13147	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map		Born - 13 Jul 1615 - Devonshire, England Died - 7 Jun 1653 - Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Notes

  s/o William HUTCHINS —— Per DNA testing of brothers and father, from Towcester, England and a direct link to Enoch Hutchings II of Kittery, Maine. It is logical this was his father as both him and his brother John were in Maryland and was the right age and time to assist with moving his possessions to New Hampshire as historical journals relate. —— On 7 July 1675 Thomas Withers deed land on Spruce Creek [Kittery, Maine] to Enoch Hutchings [YLR 2:176] No further information from Great Migration Project. 7 Dec `648 - Served on an inquest jury to determine the cause of death of Thomas Smith. They determined that he had stopped by a well to take a piss, and accidentally fell in. He was known to have convulsions (epilepsy?). —— Southhampton. -- The list of the names of passengers intended to shipe themselves, in the Bevis of Hampton of CL. Tounes, Robert Batten Mr. for New England, and thus by virtue of the Lord Treasurer's warrant of the second of May which was after the restraint and they some days gone to sea before the Kings mates proclamation came onto Southhampton. John Hutchinson Carpenter age 30 ffruancis Alcocke vizg age 26 Listed as servants of the Dummer brothers. [2, 3, 4]

  
  

• Sources

  [S41] The Great Migration Study Project, Anderson, Robert Charles, II,C-F:311. [S151] WikiTree, https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hutchins-136. [S41] The Great Migration Study Project, Anderson, Robert Charles, Vols. I-III,2045. [S41] The Great Migration Study Project, Anderson, Robert Charles, VI,R-S:405.