John Edgecombe Sr. (bef. 1648 - 1721)

Born before 12 Mar 1648 in Plymouth, Devon, England

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Stallyon) Edgecombe — married 9 Feb 1674 in New London, New London County, Connecticut Colony

Husband of Elizabeth (Larrabee) Edgecombe — married about 1692 in New London, New London County, Connecticut Colony

Descendants

Died 11 Apr 1721 after age 73 in New London, New London County, Connecticut Colony

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Biography

Parentage

John Edgecombe of New London, Connecticut was the the son of Nicholas Edgecombe of Plymouth, England and Joan (Unknown) Edgecombe.^[1][2][3] Although Caulkins suggests,^[4] and many family trees state, that John Edgecombe of New London was the same John Edgecombe who was the son of Nicholas Edgecombe and Wilmot (Randell) Edgecombe of Saco, Maine, research subsequent to Caulkins has disproven that relationship.^[1][2][3] The record of the marriage of John and Sarah Stallyon in New London town records definitively states that he was "ye sonn of Nicholas Edgecombe of Plymouth in old England."^[5]

Date and Place of Birth

John was baptized in St. Andrews church in Plymouth, England on March 12, 1647/8 and was probably born shortly before that date.^[6][1][3]

Early Life

John's father, Nicholas, died in 1649, when John was only one or two years old.^[1][7] John's mother, Joan, headed the household and continued to manage Nicholas's brewery business until 1666, when John's older brother, Nicholas Jr., took over as head of the business.^[1] Since it was intended that Nicholas Jr. was to inherit the brewing business, John was trained as a tanner.^[1]

Immigration to New England

John came to America and settled in New London, Connecticut about 1673.^[1][8]

First Marriage and Children

John married Sarah Stallyon in New London on February 9, 1673/4.^{[5][9][10][11]}

John and Sarah had the following children, all born in New London:

1. Margaret, bpt. November 8, 1674,^[12][10] no further record, d. probably before March 30, 1721 (since not mentioned in John's will)
2. John, b. November 14, 1675,^[10][3][4] m. February 28, 1699/1700 Hannah Hempstead in New London,^[10][3][4] d. March 19, 1731/2 in New London^[10]
3. Sarah, b. July 29, 1678,^[10][3][4] m. July 3, 1699 John Bolles in New London^[10][3][4]
4. Joanna/Johanna, b. March 3, 1679/80,^[10][3][4] m. April 14, 1716/7 Henry Delamore in New London^[10][3][4]
5. Nicholas, b. January 23, 1681/2^[10][3][4]
6. Samuel, b. 1690,^[3][4][10] m. November 24, 1719 Elisabeth Prentis,^[12][10] d. February 26, 1786 in New London^[10]

Although John and Sarah are often shown as having a son Ebenhaley, this was a misreading of the name Nicholas.^[10]

Sarah died sometime after son Samuel was born in 1690 and before December 1692, when, as discussed below, John was married to his second wife.

Second Marriage

John married, second, Elizabeth (Larrabee) Hempstead, the widow of Joshua Hempstead, Sr and the mother-in-law of his son, John.^[4][10][13] Voran's 1985 TAG article on the Edgecombs states that John married Elizabeth on January 4, 1703/4, but does not cite any evidence for that assertion.^[10] That date appears incorrect. Di Bonaventura, in her highly regarded 2014 "For Adam's Sake", cites a December 1691 petition and land sale record that refers to Elizabeth Hempstead, widow, and a December 1692 receipt by John Edgecombe in right of his wife Elizabeth Hempstead Edgecome, which means that John and Elizabeth were married sometime in December 1691-December 1692.^[13]

On April 1, 1704, as John was listed as Elizabeth's husband when she sold land that was part of her deceased husband's estate by a deed dated that date.^[10][3]

John and Elizabeth had the following child:

1. Thomas,^[10][3][4] probably by 1694 based on 1652 dates of mother Elizabeth, m. 1720 Catherine Copp in Norwich^[10]

Public Life

In October 1704, John Edgecombe was among 77 New London men named in a colony grant extending the town’s boundaries northward to include the Mohegan reservation, which had long been claimed by the town but had not been within its legal borders.^[14]

Converse speculated that John Edgecombe came to New England to look out for the family's interests in the region. In 1637, Sir Richard Edgecombe had been granted land in Maine (a large portion of the current town of Bowdoinham) by Sir Ferninando Gorges. Because of conflicting claims, the Edgecombe's rights to these lands were disputed for many years. In 1713, John Edgecombe appeared before a commission in Massachusetts on behalf of Sir Richard Edgecombe's heirs to assert their rights to the lands. The issue was not finally resolved, however, until 1769, almost 50 years after John Edgecombe's death, when a court in Portland, Maine found in favor of the conflicting claim of James Bowdoin who had acquired his rights from the Kennebec Company.^[3] John Edgecombe's claim on behalf of the heirs of Sir Richard Edgecombe can be seen in the Book of Eastern Claims.^[15]

Will; Death; Estate

John made his will on March 30, 1721. In his will, he described himself as "of New London. He made bequests to wife Elizabeth, sons John, Thomas and Samuel and daughters Sarah and Johanna. Son Samuel and Christopher Christophers were named as executors.^[10]

John Edgecombe died in New London on April 11, 1721^[10][3][4] and his will was probated on April 14, 1721.^[10]

The inventory of his estate was taken on May 29, 1721.^[10] His estate was valued at £681 and consisted of his home in the town plot and two large farms.^[4]

^{[13] [6] [10] [12] [5] [1] [2] [3] [4] [7] [8] [9] [11] [14] [15]}

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7} Alan Taylor, "Some Merchants at Plymouth"
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Edgecombe DNA Family Tree
3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15} Converse, Charles Allen. Edgecombe of Devonshire, England and Connecticut, New England. 1907. Link to document at archive.org.
4. ↑ ^{4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13} Caulkins, Francis Manwaring. History of New London, Connecticut. H.D. Utley, 1895. p. 366. Link to page at archive.org.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Copy of the First Book of Births, Marriages and Deaths of the Town of New London Made by the Authority of the Court of Common Council. 1896. p. 9. Link to page at familysearch.org.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Parish register of St. Andrew, Plymouth, Devon, England. Plymouth & West Devon Record Office, Archive Ref # 358/2, page 249. Available on findmypast.com. See image attached to this profile.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Ancestry.com. UK, Extracted Probate Records, 1269-1975 (database on-line). Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} Caulkins, Francis Manwaring. History of New London, Connecticut. H.D. Utley, 1895. p. 264. Link to page at archive.org.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} White, Lorraine Cook, ed. The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records. New London 1646-1854. Genealogical Publishing Company, 2010. p. 405. Link to page at ancestry.com.
10. ↑ ^{10.00 10.01 10.02 10.03 10.04 10.05 10.06 10.07 10.08 10.09 10.10 10.11 10.12 10.13 10.14 10.15 10.16 10.17 10.18 10.19 10.20 10.21 10.22 10.23} Voran, Judith T. "The Edgecombs of Allen County OH and New Hartford CT." The American Genealogist. Vol 61 (1985). pp. 150-157. Link to pages at americanancestors.org.
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Clemens, William Montgomery. American Marriage Records Before 1699. Pompton Lakes, NJ, USA: Biblio Co., 1926.
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1 12.2} Connecticut, Church Records. Index. New London First Congregational Church. 1670-1888. Connecticut State Library, 1949. p. 161. Link to page at ancestry.com.
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1 13.2} di Bonaventura, Allegra, "For Adam's Sake: a family saga in colonial New England", Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2014. pp. 357-8.
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1} Caulkins, Francis Manwaring. History of New London, Connecticut. H.D. Utley, 1895. pp. 259-262. Link to pages at archive.org.
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1} "Book of Eastern Claims," pp 30, reprinted from Maine Historical and Genealogical Recorder, v. 4-8, S.M. Watson, 1887-1895, pp 200-201

See also:

• Alan J C Taylor, "Edgecombes at New London," Edgecombe Family History Genealogy and History, edited by Alan Taylor, 30 October 1997, pp 799-817
• For a discussion of all the Edgecombes in America prior to the Revolutionary War, see Alan Taylor's article Edgecombes of Early Colonial America.