John Tarbox (abt. 1615 - 1674)

Born about 1615 in England [uncertain]

Husband of Rebekah (Unknown) Tarbox — married 1643 in Lynn, Essex Co., Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died 26 May 1674 at about age 59 in Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts Bay

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree [send private message] and Christopher Childs [send private message]

John Tarbox migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 330) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

John Tarbox was born in England.

John Tarbox was likely born about 1615, in England. He had emigrated, and was in Lynn, Massachusetts, as early as 1638;^[1] he died there in 1674.^[2]

He was "sworn a freeman" in late June of 1659;^[3]Alonzo Lewis, in his 1829 History of Lynn, says of his passing fifteen years later,^[4]

"John Tarbox, one of the first farmers of Lynn, died 26 May, 1674. He had seven acres of upland on Water Hill, an orchard, three cows and nine sheep, at the time of his decease he was a small proprietor in the Iron Works."

Lewis^[4] notes that Tarbox came to Lynn in 1640, but Rev. Increase Tarbox, writing in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register in 1888, adjusts the year to 1639, citing an Essex Court Record:

"John Tarbox pl. agt Daniell Salmon in aco. of Debt. Jury find for pl. 27" damadgs and 11* costs. 25 th of 4th mo 1639."

Going a step further, he points out that the court action's taking place in June of 1639 does not allow enough time "in the previous months of that year for the formation of a debt which should have passed through all such stages as should bring it into court for collection", and that John Tarbox was thus presumably at Lynn even earlier (the NEHGS Great Migration study project, as noted above, evidently accepts this argument, dating Tarbox's arrival to 1638). He adds that John's character, and his reputation as a "substantial citizen", is testified to by a number of such early Lynn records as this:

"Geo Fraile 4 mo. 1664. Inventory of estate of George Fraile of Lynn who deceased 9th of lO mo. 1663, taken by Thos. Houghton Thos. Putnam, John Putnam and John Tarbox : Amount £184 14' 0. returned and allowed 29. Mar. 1664."^[2]

Increase Tarbox offers that John Tarbox's wife and widow was probably named Rebekah.^[2] His source for the claim is, however, unclear.

First Ironworks in America

In 1643 Governor John Winthrop, with Gen. Robert Sedgwick and a number of "influential citizens" of Lynn, founded there the first ironworks in America; by the end of the decade, its output was described as “8 tons per Week and their bar iron is as good as Spanish.” John Tarbox, as one of the proprietors, shared in its profits.^[5] Whether or not those profits were generous, the ironworks -- established so early in the life of Massachusetts Bay -- was potentially of significance, and the enterprise attracted men outside the borders of Lynn; Gen. Robert Charlestown, who afterwards returned to England and sided with Cromwell in the Puritans' uprising against Charles I, was among the proprietors.

Death

John Tarbox Sr. died May 26, 1674 at Lynn.^{[6] [7] [8]}

Will

The will of John Tarbox, made only a short time before his death, is on record in the Probate Office at Salem^[9][10]; it includes the following:

"I bequeath my house and housing with orchard and all my land and meadow, with a Greene rugg and a great Iron Kettell, and a round Joyned Table to my Sonne John Tarbox. I bequeath unto every one of my Sonn John Tarbox his children one ewe sheep apeece. I appoint my wife Executrix and my friends Capt. Marshall and Thomas Laughtou Sen. my over seers."

As noted above, the name of John Tarbox's wife, who evidently survived him as she is designated in his will as his executrix, may have been Rebekah -- though the will does not mention her by name.

Children of John and Rebekah Tarbox

1. Rebekah, born in England, seven or eight years old when she came over. She was the occasion of the curious record which we find on the books containing the doings of the Court of Quarter Sessions in Salem. " Sept. 11, 1649. Mathew Stanley was tried for winning the affection of John Tarbox's daughter, without the consent of her parents. He was fined £5. with 2s. 6*d. fees. The parents of the young woman were allowed 6s. for their attendance three days." That she was an only daughter is made probable by the above language, and we find traces of no other. She is not mentioned in her father's will in 1674, and may not have been then living. But she is mentioned in the will of Mrs. Thomas Axey (a neighbor and friend), made in 1670." Among many small legacies, she leaves one " to Rebekah Tarbox, wife of Goodman Gowing."^[2]
2. Jonathan, also born in England, died in 1654^[11]. A child Jonathan Tarbox died in Lynn about the same time^[12], probably father and son. It may be that Jonathan had been recently married, and this was his first born son. Both dying near the same time, this line was out short.^[2]
3. John, born 1645, m. July, 1667, Mary Haven, daughter of Richard and Susanna (Newhall) Haven, b. March 12, 1647.^{[2][13][14] [15]}
4. Samuel, born 1647; m (1st) Nov. 14, 1665, Rebekah, daughter of Godfrey Armitage, of Boston, and (2d) October 16, 1678, Experience Look.^{[2] [16][17]}

Research Notes

Disputed Parents: A prior version of this profile, without source, identified John Tarbox (abt.1586-) as his father. See Research Notes for discussion of his possible origins.

Although this profile previously showed a birthdate of "about 1602" in Hertfordshire in the data fields for John Tarbox (which, as was pointed out in the Comments below, was a mismatch for the "about 1610" shown in the Biography), the Great Migration Directory entry for him lists his origins as "Unknown".^[18] While there is indeed a Tarbox family highly evident at Ippollitts, Hertfordshire in the approximate time period, including a John Tarbox married there to Mary Overall in 1633,^[19] no actual birth or baptismal record has been found for him; a reasonable estimate of his birth year, assuming he was of approximately average marrying age at the time of the union, would be about 1608. To identify him, even circumstantially, as the immigrant to Lynn, Massachusetts Bay, by 1638 requires a) that the death of, or divorce from, wife Mary be shown to have occurred prior to his marriage, at Lynn (estimated to have taken place by 1643 based on the birth of a child in 1645), to a second wife thought to have likely been named Rebekah (no such record has been found); and b) no record of him be found at Ippollitts later than his emigration year of 1638. In fact, this couple are shown evidently having a son John christened as late as 31 December 1637^[20]... and a daughter Elizabeth christened on 28 October 1641.^[21] Therefore, John Tarbox of Lynn cannot be the same man found thus recorded at Ippollitts. (This runs counter to the 2000 claim, in The Essex Genealogist, that the two John Tarboxes were one and the same;^[22] this would require either that the man found in Lynn as early as 1638 returned to England and fathered a daughter about 1641, or that the daughter's christening was delayed by at least some three years even though a brother had been baptized on the final day of 1637.)

For this reason, a somewhat liberally estimated birth year of "about 1615", and a simplified location of "England", have been entered in the data fields above while additional research continues; the year is based on the combined assumptions that John was of at least average age, or slightly above it, when married at Lynn, and that he is likely to have been age 21 or above at the time of his emigration.

Among the candidates found in available online records for the John Tarbox of this profile is the Johannes Tarbox, son of Johannis and Maria, born at or near Bromyard, Herefordshire, and christened there on 15 January of 1619.^[23] This Johannes/John would be about age 24 at the time the John of this profile is believed to have married -- very close to the average age of grooms of the period. While he may be the John Tarbox whose burial was recorded at Bromyard on 9 April 1682, that may well be the record of his like-named father.^[24] Further research appears warranted. An additional candidate might seem to be the John Tarbox, son of John, christened on 12 January 1614 at St. Clement Danes, Westminster, in London^[25], but he appears to be the child whose burial was recorded there on the 16th of October following^[26].

The identification of John Tarbox's spouse as Rebekah Andrews may or may not stand up to scrutiny; it may date from a 1994 inquiry -- from a gentleman named Chester H. Darr, of Torrington, Connecticut -- in the "Queries and Answers" section of the New England Historic and Genealogical Society's NEHGS Nexus, positing the marriage of "John TARBOX, b. 'Appolitts', England... ca. 1643 [to] Wid. ANDREWS, d. after 1 July 1674". Mr. Darr did not, unfortunately, offer the source behind this apparent connection. It may have been a typewritten manuscript dated to 1863, mentioned elsewhere in 2000 as held by the Lynn Historical Society, and compiled by George Edward Tarbox, Jr.;^[27] that manuscript evidently also posits a (second) marriage of John Tarbox to a widow Andrews.

Sources

1. ↑ “Tarbox, John: Unknown; 1638; Massachusetts Bay [EQC 1:11; NEHGR 42:27-29; TEG 20:132-33]; excerpt From: Robert Charles Anderson, FASG. The Great Migration Directory. iBooks.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6} Author: Rev. Increase N. Tarbox. Title: John Tarbox of Lynn and his Descendants for Five Generations. David Clapp & Son, Printers. Boston. Jan. 1888. The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2018.), p. 27 (by subscription); https://www.americanancestors.org/DB202/i/11656/27/0 INTarbox]
3. ↑ "Salem Court Records and Files", The Essex Antiquarian, Vol. 13 (1909), p. 90, Salem, MA: The Essex Antiquarian, 13 vols. 1897-1909. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2006.); https://www.americanancestors.org/DB96/i/7531/90/22211441 (by subscription)
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} The history of Lynn, by Alonzo Lewis.1794-1861, Published: Boston, Press of J. H. Eastburn, 1829.
5. ↑ Colonial families of America, ed. by Ruth Lawrence, National Americana Society; v. 01, p. 119
6. ↑ Essex Institute, Vital Records of Lynn, Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849 (Salem, MA: Newcomb & Gauss, 1906) Vol. 2: 601.
7. ↑ NEHGS, which states Tarbox, John, sr., May 26, 1674
8. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG1V-13KR : 29 November 2018), John Tarbox, 26 May 1674; citing Death, Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, United States, , town clerk offices, Massachusetts; FHL microfilm .
9. ↑ Volume 2, page 410 Essex County, MA: Early Probate Records, 1635-1681.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015.
10. ↑ “Old Series: Probate records, vols. 301-303, Book 1-3, 1671-1694” database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9YY-KL8N  : 29 March 2024), Film# 007704242, Essex, Massachusetts, image 37-38, Vol 1, Page 49-51.
11. ↑ [NOTE: "16 Apr 1654" is an erroneous interpretation of the Old Style date "16 : 4 : 54", which equates to _16 June 1654_ New Style; see image of handwritten record] "Massachusetts Deaths and Burials, 1795-1910," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FH1R-M4R : 10 February 2018), Jonathan Tarbox, 16 Apr 1654; citing Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts, reference v 1 p 146; FHL microfilm 877,447. Image of handwritten index entry is #300 of 670 (bottom left; shows death year only); image of handwritten transcript is #447 of 670 (register p. 146-7)
12. ↑ "Massachusetts Deaths and Burials, 1795-1910," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FCMR-GWY : 10 February 2018), Jonathan, 16 Jun 1654; citing Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, reference ; FHL microfilm 877,468. Image of handwritten original record is #324 of 814.
13. ↑ Essex Institute, Vital Records of Lynn, Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849 (Salem, MA: Newcomb & Gauss, 1906) Vol. 2:367.
14. ↑ NEHGS, and shows Tarbox, John, and Mary Haven, July 4, 1667.
15. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q29G-GHMV : 5 November 2017), John Tarbox and Mary Haven, 04 Jul 1667; citing Marriage, Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, United States, , town clerk offices, Massachusetts; FHL microfilm 877,468.
16. ↑ Essex Institute, Vital Records of Lynn, Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849 (Salem, MA: Newcomb & Gauss, 1906) Vol. 2: 368; also AmericanAncestors.org. Tarbox, Samuell, and Rebeka Armitage, Nov. 14, 1665.
17. ↑ "Massachusetts Marriages, 1695-1910," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V589-YGJ : 9 February 2018), Samuell Tarbox and Robeka Armitage, 14 Nov 1665; citing reference ; FHL microfilm 547,549, 878,650, 877,737, 877,738, 877,736.
18. ↑ “Tarbox, John: Unknown; 1638; Massachusetts Bay [EQC 1:11; NEHGR 42:27-29; TEG 20:132-33]; excerpt From: Robert Charles Anderson, FASG. The Great Migration Directory. iBooks.
19. ↑ "England Marriages, 1538–1973 ", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NLS8-245 : 13 March 2020), John Tarbox, 1633.
20. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J3KJ-GZL : 18 September 2020), John Tarbox in entry for John Tarbox, 1637.
21. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NRW1-GZX : 18 September 2020), John Tarboxe in entry for Elizabeth Tarboxe, 1641.
22. ↑ "Research in Progress", The Essex Genealogist, Vol. 20 (2000), p. 132. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2018.); https://www.americanancestors.org/DB396/i/12957/132/0 (by subscription)
23. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J327-P61 : 19 March 2020), Johannes Tarboxe, 1619.
24. ↑ "England, Herefordshire Bishop's Transcripts, 1583-1898", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:8YQ4-W16Z : 25 August 2020), John Tarbox, 1682.
25. ↑ Ancestry.com. England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: England, Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013; https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/105520957:9841?tid=&pid=&queryId=a48f2dacfd7085dece2bed164d3fa99f&_phsrc=BIy1132&_phstart=successSource (by subscription)
26. ↑ Anglican Parish Registers, City of Westminster Archives Centre; London, England; Westminster Church of England Parish Registers; Reference: STC/PR/1/1; https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/285271:61865?tid=&pid=&queryId=8723204a400c5348e89620ed6a0b732e&_phsrc=25k-448259&_phstart=successSource (by subscription)
27. ↑ "The Lineage of George Edward Tarbox, Jr.", The Essex Genealogist, Vol. 20 (2000), p. 146; (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2018.); https://www.americanancestors.org/DB396/i/12957/146/24670991 (by subscription)

See also:

• John Tarbox and His Descendants by Rev. Increase Tarbox, published in Volume 42, pages 27-39 of The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, also available on NEHGS

• Torrey's New England Marriages to 1700 Volume 3, page 1489 (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015, which shows the following sources: TARBOX, John (-1674) & [Rebecca?] ____ (no evidence Samuel had wf Rebecca); by 1633?, left 2/wf; Lynn {Lynn Hist. 190, 225; Davis-Bancroft 40; Smith-Hale 95; Reg. 42:29, 84:355; Dewey-French 12; Putnam's Mag. 6:181}

• Tarbox-102: What I found on Family Search and may not be the same person; John Tarbox II - L89L-8S9; Birth - 1608 at Hertfordshire, England; Death - 26 May 1674 at Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts, United States; Parents: John Tarbox and Julia Clarkson; Spouse - Mary Overall