Individual Details
John Eddy
( - 27 Nov 1695)
From the 1930 "Eddy Family in America" Compiled by Ruth Story Devereaux Eddy, A.B.,A.M.
JOHN EDDY OF TAUNTON AND HIS DESCENDANTS
9276 John Eddy
(Parentage not known), d. Nov. 27, 1695, at Taunton, Mass.; m. (1) Nov. 12, 1665, Susannah Paddock
of Dartmouth (Taunton, V.R.), who d. Mar 14, 16'70, at Taunton (V.R.). She was the dau. of Robert and Mary Paddock (Austin Gen. Reg., pp. 187-189). He m. (2) May 1, 1672, Deliverance Owen
of Braintree, Mass. (Taunton and East Bridgewater, V.R.). She was the dau. of William and Elizabeth (Davis) Owen (Austin, 16o Allied Fam.) and was b. Feb. 15, 1654. Another authority gives the wife of William Owen as a daughter of Charles and Margaret Grice. Deliverance married (2) Nathaniel Smith, who died before 1717. (Taunton Deeds, Vol. XII, p. 202). She died May 3, 1726 at Norton, Mass.
For years Miss Clara Avery, a descendant of John Eddy of Taunton, has searched both in Old England and New England for some clue to the parentage of this John Eddy, but with no success. The compiler also has studied most carefully the early records of Plymouth and of Taunton. Every reference to this john Eddy previous to 16'70 which has been discovered is hereafter recorded. Both Miss Avery and the compiler feel that there is a very close association between the family of John Eddy of Taunton and Samuel Eddy of Plymouth and that John at one time was either a member of Samuel's household or else a very close neighbor.
The first mention in the records of the John Eddy known later as John Eddy of Taunton, carpenter, is as a witness to a deed in which John Eddy of Plymouth, blacksmith, was the grantee. He purchased lands adjoining those of John Eddway (Eddy), carpenter. The deed follows:
1660 PRENCE GOUR A deed Appointed to bee Recorded
This prsent writing dated August 27 Anno Dom. 1660; between Aron Knapp of Taunton within the Gourment of New Plymouth husbandman on the one pty and John Eedey of Plymouth aforsaid blacksmith on the other pte, Witnesseth that the said Aron Knapp for and in Consideration of a valluable sume in hand payed; hath bargained sold given and granted: and doth by these prsents absolutely clearly and fully bargaine sell give and graunt unto the said John Eedey Ten acrees of land bee it more or lesse Scittuate and lying neare unto the land of Nicholas White in the plantation of Taunton aforsaid bounded by the land of John Eddway Carpenter on the Northwest side; by the Comons on the southeast side; and the Mill River on the end of it.
To have and to hold the said land withall that is properly theron To him the said John Eedey: to him and his heires and assignes forever: To the onely use and behoofe of the said John and of his heires and assignes forever: and the said Aron Knapp doth for him and his heires forever warrant the said land against all men to the said John and his heires.
In Witness whereof the said Aron Knapp hath hereunto sell his hand and seale the day and yeere above written
I John Eedey doe by these prsents make
allis X hoay over this my deed to Daniell Makenny 0f
John Eddway Taunton
The foregoing copy is from Plymouth Colony Records. Vol. 11, Pg. 37. John B. Washburn, Regr.
The Plymouth records have two other references to a John Eddy who is not the John Eddy, blacksmith, son of Samuel. John, the blacksmith, went to Marthas Vineyard in the late summer of 166o and remained there the rest of his life, so he cannot be the John of the following records. On July 23, 1661, a jury was summoned "to enquire into the sudden death of John Bond of Plymouth, a servant to George Watson" (Plym. Court Orders). John Eedey was one of the twelve to sign the verdict. Again on Oct. 4, 1664, "James Bell of Taunton was fined 3 sh. 4d. for striking John Eedey" (Court Orders).
These three references prove the presence of John Eddy, the carpenter, in Plymouth, previous to his settlement in Taunton, and his signature as a witness to the deed proves that he was at least an acquaintance, if not a relative, of John Eddy, the blacksmith. He may have been a brother of John, the blacksmith. At this period both in England and in New England, brothers bearing the same name are frequently found. He may have been a half-brother, a son of Samuel, by a wife before Elizabeth, or he may have been a son of that Eddy, who according to Pope (Pioneers of Massachusetts) came from Boxted, Eng., in 1639. It is known that Samuel had a younger brother, Zachariah Eddy, so it is possible that he was the immigrant Eddy of 1639 and John was his son. Perhaps this Eddy of 16.;9 made his home with Samuel or perhaps he did not live long and that is why no trace of him can be found in the records. In this event it is very easy to think of the carpenter, John, as a member of his uncle's family and so at hand when a witness for the deed was needed. It is known that Samuel and Elizabeth apprenticed their son John to Francis and Katherine Goulder and that John Eddy, son of Samuel, learned the trade of a blacksmith. It has always been supposed that the apprentice to the Goulders and the blacksmith were the same person, but if it could be proved that Francis Goulder was a carpenter, then it would follow that it was the other John who had been apprenticed and so the question of the parentage would be settled. Up to the present no record of the trade of Francis Goulder has been found.
A list of those owning land in Taunton in 1643 contains the names of Mr. John Browne, John Gilbert, Jr., Thomas Gilbert, Christopher Thresher, Richard Stacey, William Hailstone, John Macomber, John Browne, William Hodges, Thomas Harvey, Aron Knapp, William Wetherell, and a second list adds Thomas Lincon. There is no Eddy on the list.
How or when John Eddway, carpenter, came into possession of that tract of land in Taunton is not recorded. if a deed or grant of land could be found it might solve the problem of the parentage of John, the carpenter. There can be no question of the fact that there is a very close relationship between the carpenter John and the family of Samuel of Plymouth. The first names of the descendants of John of Taunton are almost identical in the first three or four generations with those of Samuel of Plymouth. Eleazar, Deliverance and Experience, of the Taunton line, do not appear in the Plymouth group, but Samuel, Obadiah, Zachariah, Ebenezer, Jonathan, Joseph, Asa, Nathan, Ephraim, Moses, and Joshua, are characteristic of both.
John Eddy, the carpenter, and Zachariah Eddy, son of Samuel, married sisters. After his marriage to Susannah Paddock, John Eddy went to Taunton and settled on his land there, not far from Scaddings Pond and its outlet, Mill River. He seems to have taken no active part in the town's affairs. In 1675 when a Census was taken to learn the fighting strength of the town at the outbreak of King Philip's War, John Eddy appears as the head of a family.
On Apr, 8, 1682 the military company of Taunton was divided ,,into four squadrons, for the "guidance of members in attendance of meeting on the Lord's Day." The "first Squadron is ordered to bring their arms to meeting the third Sabbath, which will be the sixteenth of this month and ye rest of ye squadron successively..." "the Court Order is that every souldier bring his armes fixed to meeting when it is his turn, with six charges of powder and shot and if any refuse or neglect to performe to be fined, two shillings for every such default and ten shillings if it appear to be in contempt . . . and if any stay from meeting because they will not bring their armes to meeting such to be summoned to court . . . ." In 1691 John Eddy was fined 6 sh. Once during King William's War his horse was impressed for the use of Uriah Leonard, who used it to travel to Little Comp ton, R. I., on an expedition. (NOTE. There is a possibility that John Eddy, son of Obadiah of Middleborough, is the John Eddy of these last two records, but the absence of the word Junior would seem to imply that it was the elder John Eddy who was thus mentioned.)
The Plymouth Records contain this interesting item concerning the pay o f soldiers. (Plym. Rec., Vol. V, p. 236). Constables of Taunton now in being are required by the court that when a p'sell of Iron shall be attached by them for the defraying the rate of the souldier's wages that they require Ensign Leonard or James Lincon to draw it forth into merchantable barrs.
All the other records concerning John Eddy of Taunton pertain to the purchase or sale of land, and to the division of his property after his death. In 166o he was in possession of land at Scadding Meadows, near Aaron Knapp's. On Oct. 13, 1668, he purchased from William Hailstone about 2o acres near the head of Babbit's Brook and bounded by the commons (Vol. 1, p. 276, Bristol Co. Deeds). Ten years later he purchased from William Wetherell more land near his home lying northerly of Scadding, on the west side of Mill River, bounded by Mill River on the east, land of Joseph Grey on the south, by Christopher Thresher on the west and land of Nicholas White on the north (Bristol Co. Deeds, Vol. I, p. 279) and again the same year he purchased from Increase Robinson, "meadow and upland, westerly from the meeting-house at a place called Rumford on the Three Mile River, the upland bounded by a branch of the Three Mile on the west, and land of Christopher Thresher on the north." Four years later on May 2, 1682 he purchased from Benjamin Leonard and wife Sarah more property in this same section, bounded by land of John Eddy on the south side and by John Macomber on the north. This was in the section known as Brown's farm and was the 13th lot in the Rumford Division (Vol. I, p. 277). The next year he added again to these lands by purchase from Thomas Gilbert. The lands adjoined those already in his possession at "Rumford" (Vol. I, p. 279). He purchased also from John Macomber, Sen'r, Mary Evans and Thomas Linkun.
Mill River is the outlet of Scadding Pond, flowing through Whittenton, Brittaniaville and Hopewell. It empties into the Taunton River at the Neck of Land.
In the allotment of lands in the South Purchase there was some trouble, for on Nov. 29, 1672, it is agreed that Joseph Willis, John Eddy and Thomas Armsbee are this day excepted to have a part in the land down the river-Capt. Southworth Purchase. In the list of three days previous, Nov. 26, 1672, John Eddys name was included among the 87 names. Again on Mar. 18, 1683 when another declaratory deed of the 87 men associated in 1672 was made, it is stated that ten men were omitted. One of the ten thus mentioned was John Eddy. (Plym. Col. Rec. Deeds, Vol. V, p. 302 and South Purchase Prop. Rec. Vol. I, p. 15.)
John Eddy died without a will. After his death his property was divided by the court. (See Eddy Bulletin No. 13, p. 184, for the full account.) Those who received shares were the widow, Deliverance Eddy, sons Ebenezer, Eleazer, Joseph, Jonathan, daughters Susannah Eddy, Patience Eddy, Mary Rude, eldest dau.; Mercy Fisher, second dau.; Hannah Eddy. (Bristol Co. Probate, Vol. II, p. 2o.) Another record in Taunton states that "Susannah Durffes, dau. of John Eddy Decd, and wife of John Durffes, relinquished to her mother Deliverance Smith, widow, their share in the homestead of John Eddy, Dec'd." (Deeds Vol. XII, p. 203.)
JOHN EDDY OF TAUNTON AND HIS DESCENDANTS
9276 John Eddy
(Parentage not known), d. Nov. 27, 1695, at Taunton, Mass.; m. (1) Nov. 12, 1665, Susannah Paddock
of Dartmouth (Taunton, V.R.), who d. Mar 14, 16'70, at Taunton (V.R.). She was the dau. of Robert and Mary Paddock (Austin Gen. Reg., pp. 187-189). He m. (2) May 1, 1672, Deliverance Owen
of Braintree, Mass. (Taunton and East Bridgewater, V.R.). She was the dau. of William and Elizabeth (Davis) Owen (Austin, 16o Allied Fam.) and was b. Feb. 15, 1654. Another authority gives the wife of William Owen as a daughter of Charles and Margaret Grice. Deliverance married (2) Nathaniel Smith, who died before 1717. (Taunton Deeds, Vol. XII, p. 202). She died May 3, 1726 at Norton, Mass.
For years Miss Clara Avery, a descendant of John Eddy of Taunton, has searched both in Old England and New England for some clue to the parentage of this John Eddy, but with no success. The compiler also has studied most carefully the early records of Plymouth and of Taunton. Every reference to this john Eddy previous to 16'70 which has been discovered is hereafter recorded. Both Miss Avery and the compiler feel that there is a very close association between the family of John Eddy of Taunton and Samuel Eddy of Plymouth and that John at one time was either a member of Samuel's household or else a very close neighbor.
The first mention in the records of the John Eddy known later as John Eddy of Taunton, carpenter, is as a witness to a deed in which John Eddy of Plymouth, blacksmith, was the grantee. He purchased lands adjoining those of John Eddway (Eddy), carpenter. The deed follows:
1660 PRENCE GOUR A deed Appointed to bee Recorded
This prsent writing dated August 27 Anno Dom. 1660; between Aron Knapp of Taunton within the Gourment of New Plymouth husbandman on the one pty and John Eedey of Plymouth aforsaid blacksmith on the other pte, Witnesseth that the said Aron Knapp for and in Consideration of a valluable sume in hand payed; hath bargained sold given and granted: and doth by these prsents absolutely clearly and fully bargaine sell give and graunt unto the said John Eedey Ten acrees of land bee it more or lesse Scittuate and lying neare unto the land of Nicholas White in the plantation of Taunton aforsaid bounded by the land of John Eddway Carpenter on the Northwest side; by the Comons on the southeast side; and the Mill River on the end of it.
To have and to hold the said land withall that is properly theron To him the said John Eedey: to him and his heires and assignes forever: To the onely use and behoofe of the said John and of his heires and assignes forever: and the said Aron Knapp doth for him and his heires forever warrant the said land against all men to the said John and his heires.
In Witness whereof the said Aron Knapp hath hereunto sell his hand and seale the day and yeere above written
I John Eedey doe by these prsents make
allis X hoay over this my deed to Daniell Makenny 0f
John Eddway Taunton
The foregoing copy is from Plymouth Colony Records. Vol. 11, Pg. 37. John B. Washburn, Regr.
The Plymouth records have two other references to a John Eddy who is not the John Eddy, blacksmith, son of Samuel. John, the blacksmith, went to Marthas Vineyard in the late summer of 166o and remained there the rest of his life, so he cannot be the John of the following records. On July 23, 1661, a jury was summoned "to enquire into the sudden death of John Bond of Plymouth, a servant to George Watson" (Plym. Court Orders). John Eedey was one of the twelve to sign the verdict. Again on Oct. 4, 1664, "James Bell of Taunton was fined 3 sh. 4d. for striking John Eedey" (Court Orders).
These three references prove the presence of John Eddy, the carpenter, in Plymouth, previous to his settlement in Taunton, and his signature as a witness to the deed proves that he was at least an acquaintance, if not a relative, of John Eddy, the blacksmith. He may have been a brother of John, the blacksmith. At this period both in England and in New England, brothers bearing the same name are frequently found. He may have been a half-brother, a son of Samuel, by a wife before Elizabeth, or he may have been a son of that Eddy, who according to Pope (Pioneers of Massachusetts) came from Boxted, Eng., in 1639. It is known that Samuel had a younger brother, Zachariah Eddy, so it is possible that he was the immigrant Eddy of 1639 and John was his son. Perhaps this Eddy of 16.;9 made his home with Samuel or perhaps he did not live long and that is why no trace of him can be found in the records. In this event it is very easy to think of the carpenter, John, as a member of his uncle's family and so at hand when a witness for the deed was needed. It is known that Samuel and Elizabeth apprenticed their son John to Francis and Katherine Goulder and that John Eddy, son of Samuel, learned the trade of a blacksmith. It has always been supposed that the apprentice to the Goulders and the blacksmith were the same person, but if it could be proved that Francis Goulder was a carpenter, then it would follow that it was the other John who had been apprenticed and so the question of the parentage would be settled. Up to the present no record of the trade of Francis Goulder has been found.
A list of those owning land in Taunton in 1643 contains the names of Mr. John Browne, John Gilbert, Jr., Thomas Gilbert, Christopher Thresher, Richard Stacey, William Hailstone, John Macomber, John Browne, William Hodges, Thomas Harvey, Aron Knapp, William Wetherell, and a second list adds Thomas Lincon. There is no Eddy on the list.
How or when John Eddway, carpenter, came into possession of that tract of land in Taunton is not recorded. if a deed or grant of land could be found it might solve the problem of the parentage of John, the carpenter. There can be no question of the fact that there is a very close relationship between the carpenter John and the family of Samuel of Plymouth. The first names of the descendants of John of Taunton are almost identical in the first three or four generations with those of Samuel of Plymouth. Eleazar, Deliverance and Experience, of the Taunton line, do not appear in the Plymouth group, but Samuel, Obadiah, Zachariah, Ebenezer, Jonathan, Joseph, Asa, Nathan, Ephraim, Moses, and Joshua, are characteristic of both.
John Eddy, the carpenter, and Zachariah Eddy, son of Samuel, married sisters. After his marriage to Susannah Paddock, John Eddy went to Taunton and settled on his land there, not far from Scaddings Pond and its outlet, Mill River. He seems to have taken no active part in the town's affairs. In 1675 when a Census was taken to learn the fighting strength of the town at the outbreak of King Philip's War, John Eddy appears as the head of a family.
On Apr, 8, 1682 the military company of Taunton was divided ,,into four squadrons, for the "guidance of members in attendance of meeting on the Lord's Day." The "first Squadron is ordered to bring their arms to meeting the third Sabbath, which will be the sixteenth of this month and ye rest of ye squadron successively..." "the Court Order is that every souldier bring his armes fixed to meeting when it is his turn, with six charges of powder and shot and if any refuse or neglect to performe to be fined, two shillings for every such default and ten shillings if it appear to be in contempt . . . and if any stay from meeting because they will not bring their armes to meeting such to be summoned to court . . . ." In 1691 John Eddy was fined 6 sh. Once during King William's War his horse was impressed for the use of Uriah Leonard, who used it to travel to Little Comp ton, R. I., on an expedition. (NOTE. There is a possibility that John Eddy, son of Obadiah of Middleborough, is the John Eddy of these last two records, but the absence of the word Junior would seem to imply that it was the elder John Eddy who was thus mentioned.)
The Plymouth Records contain this interesting item concerning the pay o f soldiers. (Plym. Rec., Vol. V, p. 236). Constables of Taunton now in being are required by the court that when a p'sell of Iron shall be attached by them for the defraying the rate of the souldier's wages that they require Ensign Leonard or James Lincon to draw it forth into merchantable barrs.
All the other records concerning John Eddy of Taunton pertain to the purchase or sale of land, and to the division of his property after his death. In 166o he was in possession of land at Scadding Meadows, near Aaron Knapp's. On Oct. 13, 1668, he purchased from William Hailstone about 2o acres near the head of Babbit's Brook and bounded by the commons (Vol. 1, p. 276, Bristol Co. Deeds). Ten years later he purchased from William Wetherell more land near his home lying northerly of Scadding, on the west side of Mill River, bounded by Mill River on the east, land of Joseph Grey on the south, by Christopher Thresher on the west and land of Nicholas White on the north (Bristol Co. Deeds, Vol. I, p. 279) and again the same year he purchased from Increase Robinson, "meadow and upland, westerly from the meeting-house at a place called Rumford on the Three Mile River, the upland bounded by a branch of the Three Mile on the west, and land of Christopher Thresher on the north." Four years later on May 2, 1682 he purchased from Benjamin Leonard and wife Sarah more property in this same section, bounded by land of John Eddy on the south side and by John Macomber on the north. This was in the section known as Brown's farm and was the 13th lot in the Rumford Division (Vol. I, p. 277). The next year he added again to these lands by purchase from Thomas Gilbert. The lands adjoined those already in his possession at "Rumford" (Vol. I, p. 279). He purchased also from John Macomber, Sen'r, Mary Evans and Thomas Linkun.
Mill River is the outlet of Scadding Pond, flowing through Whittenton, Brittaniaville and Hopewell. It empties into the Taunton River at the Neck of Land.
In the allotment of lands in the South Purchase there was some trouble, for on Nov. 29, 1672, it is agreed that Joseph Willis, John Eddy and Thomas Armsbee are this day excepted to have a part in the land down the river-Capt. Southworth Purchase. In the list of three days previous, Nov. 26, 1672, John Eddys name was included among the 87 names. Again on Mar. 18, 1683 when another declaratory deed of the 87 men associated in 1672 was made, it is stated that ten men were omitted. One of the ten thus mentioned was John Eddy. (Plym. Col. Rec. Deeds, Vol. V, p. 302 and South Purchase Prop. Rec. Vol. I, p. 15.)
John Eddy died without a will. After his death his property was divided by the court. (See Eddy Bulletin No. 13, p. 184, for the full account.) Those who received shares were the widow, Deliverance Eddy, sons Ebenezer, Eleazer, Joseph, Jonathan, daughters Susannah Eddy, Patience Eddy, Mary Rude, eldest dau.; Mercy Fisher, second dau.; Hannah Eddy. (Bristol Co. Probate, Vol. II, p. 2o.) Another record in Taunton states that "Susannah Durffes, dau. of John Eddy Decd, and wife of John Durffes, relinquished to her mother Deliverance Smith, widow, their share in the homestead of John Eddy, Dec'd." (Deeds Vol. XII, p. 203.)
Events
| Marriage | 12 Nov 1665 | Susannah Paddock |  | ||
| Marriage | 1 May 1672 | Deliverance Owen | |||
| Death | 27 Nov 1695 | Taunton, Bristol, Massachusetts Bay, British America | | ||
| Birth | |
Families
| Spouse | Deliverance Owen (1653 - 1726) |
| Child | Marcy Eddy (1673 - 1750) |
| Child | Hannah Eddy (1676 - 1750) |
| Child | Ebenezer Eddy (1679 - 1756) |
| Child | Eleazer Eddy (1681 - 1739) |
| Child | Joseph Eddy (1683 - ) |
| Child | Jonathan Eddy (1689 - ) |
| Child | Susana Eddy (1692 - ) |
| Child | Patience Eddy (1696 - ) |
| Spouse | Susannah Paddock ( - 1670) |
| Child | Mary Eddy (1665 - ) |
| Child | John Eddy (1670 - ) |
Endnotes
1. Charles Eddy, M. D., Genealogy of the Eddy family (Brooklyn, NY: Nolan Brothers, , 1881), 8; digital images, American Libraries Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/genealogyofeddyf00eddy : accessed 20 December 2014.
2. "Massachusetts, Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch, (https://familysearch.org: accessed 5 September 2016), John Eddy, 19 Jan 1670; citing TAUNTON,BRISTOL,MASSACHUSETTS, ; FHL microfilm 0844826 IT 1-3..
3. Cutter, William Richard, Genealogical and family history of western New York : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the building of a nation (New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co., 1912, 1708 pgs. ), p. 21.
4. Cutter, William Richard, Genealogical and family history of western New York : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the building of a nation (New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co., 1912, 1708 pgs. ), p. 21.