John Otis (abt. 1581 - 1657)

Born about 1581 in Glastonbury, Somerset, England

Ancestors

Husband of Margaret (Unknown) Otis — married 1604 in England

Husband of Elizabeth (Whitman) Otis — married after Jul 1653 in Weymouth, Massachusetts Bay

Descendants

Died 31 May 1657 at about age 76 in Weymouth, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay

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

John Otis migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Great Migration (Series 2), by R. C. Anderson, vol. 5, p. 322) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

John Otis, the immigrant ancestor was the son of Richard Otis. He was born in 1581 in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. It is thought that he might have lived for a time in Hingham, Norfolk, England, before embarking for America in the latter part of 1630. The first record of him in this country is found in Hingham, Plymouth, Massachusetts, where he drew lots for a house lot on June 1, 1631. He took the oath and was made a freeman of the Colony of Massachusetts on March 3, 1635. He built a house on what was subsequently called Otis Hill, southwest of the harbor. The house burned on March 15, 1646, but was soon rebuilt, and John lived there until the death of his wife, Margaret on April 28, 1653. He then moved to Weymouth, where he married Elizabeth Streame, and lived four more years, dying on May 31, 1657.

John was born in 1581 in Glastonbury, Somerset County. The parish records of Glastonbury only go back as far as 1602, as a result there is no record of his baptism. Several of his children's baptisms were recorded, however. The first baptism recorded of a child of John was in 1604. Based on this information one can assume that he was married about 1603, when 22 years old. This was some twenty-five years before he left England, but little more is known about this marriage, beyond the fact that this wife’s name was Margaret, that she came with her husband and their family to America.

He left England to escape religious persecution, arriving first in Massachusetts Bay.^[1]

John came from Hingham, Norfolk, England as did most of the settlers of Hingham, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay. It is presumed that John left his native Glastonbury and lived for a time in Hingham, Norfolk, England prior to embarking for the new world. He probably left shortly after his son John was born in 1621, as recorded in the parish baptisms.^[2]

It is not known with certainty when he landed in America, or in whose company he came, but most probably the date was in the latter part of 1630. This was the year after the great charter was granted the colony by Charles I, and a generally more enlightened political action inaugurated by the English government. In 1630, about three hundred of the best Puritan families in the kingdom came to New England.

At one time it was supposed that John arrived with the Rev. Peter Hobart in 1635, since the early searchers of the records found his name in that company when they drew lots on the 18th of September, 1635. It is evident, however, that he settled at Hingham at least as early as 1631, since in a division of lands in that town, a lot granted to him bears date June 11, 1631, while the last of several grants is dated March 5, 1647. Among the grants recorded are the following:--‘June, 1635, John Otise is to have five acres of the meadow called the Home Meadow next to the cove.’ ^[3]

But to his descendants one of the most interesting of these grants was that of June 1, 1636, ‘ten acres for planting ground’ on a hill. ‘The remembrance of the original Glastonbury home of John was most curiously kept alive and perpetuated by him in the quaint home he gave to this ground--Weary-All-Hill. Possibly its shape or location, or some other feature of his new possession, reminded him of one well-known and loved hill in his boyhood home, for its name certainly was no newly invented one, with a more local significance, as some historians would say, but assuredly goes back to England and to Glastonbury town.’

This hill, which is 129 ft. high, is now bare, and generally would not be considered interesting, except for the view from its summit, which is however, certainly delightful. Lincoln^[4] says, “We skirt the foot of Otis Hill--very steep upon its western slope--and from this cause, known to early settlers in their quaintly expressive nomenclature as Weary-All-Hill, the view from this hill is exquisite, lie at one’s feet, and to the northeast and east is the deep blue expanse of the Ocean. Daniel Webster greatly admired Otis Hill, with its view, and often visited it on his way to Marshfield. It is said that he had a great desire to buy it, and make his home there, but feared that is was so near the city, he could not hope for the seclusion which a more distant spot would afford.’

John appears to have been prominent among the Colonists, judging from the rather frequent appearance of his name and the events mentioned in its connection. According to the Plymouth Colony records, it appears that ‘John Ottis’ took the oath and was made a freeman of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay on March 3, 1635. His place of residence at Hingham was at Otis Hill, southwest of the harbor, being a beautiful slope of land, then covered by a heavy growth of forest trees. On March 15, 1646, his house was burned to the ground, ‘being the Sabath day in the morning.’ but it was soon rebuilt, and he continued to live here until the death of his wife.

After his first wife’s death, he moved shortly to Weymouth, where he married again, his bride being Elizabeth Streame. He lived at Weymouth until the time of his death, May 31, 1657, which is recorded in Hobart’s journal with the statement that he was seventy-six years old, thus corroborating the year of his birth as 1581.

According to Horatio N. Otis^[5] was also buried there, but he also states that while the old cemetery there (at North Weymouth or Weymouth Heights) indeed contains stones dated as far back as 1672 (although possibly erected by descendants some time after burials), yet there is, however, nothing in memory of John.

In this connection it is interesting to call attention to a modern granite monument to this John Otis and certain of his descendants. This was erected probably about 1908, not at Weymouth, but in the Ancient Cemetery in Meeting House Lane, Scituate. The Monument stands about seven feet high.

On one side is the inscription: John Otis / Born in the year 1581 at / Barnstable, England / Founded in America a Family / Whose early members at / Hingham / Scituate / and Barnstable / Lived Lives of / Usefulness and Honor. On the other side is the inscription: In Memory of / John Otis / Born in the year 1581 at / Barnstable, England / his son / John Otis / and their descendants / Stephen Otis / Isaac Otis / Stephen Otis / William Otis.

Margaret and John had several children, the first seven of whom were born in Glastonbury. Their names and dates are as follows:

1. Alice born in 1604;
2. Joan (Joanna), born in 1610, baptized St. John Glastonbury, Somerset, 15 Dec. 1610; buried there 23 Dec 1611.
3. Joan (Joannn) born in 1612, baptized St. John Glastonbury, Somerset, 1 Dec. 1612; buried there 21 Dec. 1612.
4. Elizabeth, born in 1614, baptized St. John Glastonbury, Somerset, 12 Nov. 1614; buried. there 31 March 1615.
5. Richard, born and died in 1614; (baptized St. John Glastonbury, Somerset, 27 Feb. 1615/16; no further record.)
6. Hannah, born in 1618; baptized St. John Glastonbury, Somerset, 16 Aug. 1618; married by 1643 to Thomas Gill
7. John, born in 1621, baptized St. John Glastonbury, Somerset 14 January 1620/21 married on or about 10 May 1649 to Mary Jacob, daughter of Richard Jacob of Watertown.
8. Margaret, was possibly born in Hingham, England, about 1623; married by 1641 Thomas Burton
9. Anna Otis, b. say 1625; named in her father's will of 30 May 1657; no further record.
10. Alice Otis, b. about 1627; named in father's will of 30 May 1657; no further record.

John married second, Elizabeth (Whitman), widow of Thomas Stream, after 1653, in Hingham/Scituate, Massachusetts.^[6]

In John's will, which is dated the day before his death, his name is spelled Ottis. His widow in various court records after his death spells it Oates. This lack of consensus over the spelling of the name lasts well into the next century. In his will, John leaves bequests to his daughters, Allice and Ann, who seem to have never married; to his daughters, Margaret Burton and Hannah Gile, and to his son and executor John Ottis.

Research Notes

From Anderson's Great Migration 1634-1635, Vol. 5 (M-P), pp. 322-26:

birth: about 1585 (based on estimated date of marriage.)

marriage: by 1610, name unknown. "John Oattis wife died" at Hingham on June 28, 1653. Married (2nd) after 1653 Elizabeth (___) Streame, widow. She died between 22 Sep. 1672 (date of will) and 17 July 1676 (probate of will.)

migration: 1635 (based on 1 June 1635 land grant at Hingham.

residence: Hingham then Weymouth by 1657.

occupation: Planter

freeman: 3 March 1635/6

office: Hingham selectman, 20 March 1642/3; 14 Feb. 1647/8

land: owned several partials of land. (detailed account in GM)

death: 31 May 1657 at Weymouth

Comment section: "Many secondary sources give his first wife's name as Margaret and his age at death as seventy-six. Both of these statements are possible, but neither has been supported in contemporary documents."

Sources

1. ↑ Otis, William, A., A genealogical and historical memoir of the Otis family in America, 1924, Schulkins, Chicago, Illinois, p. 39-43
2. ↑ Tudor, W. (1823). The life of James Otis of Massachusetts.
3. ↑ Hingham Records, Folio XII, Vol. I, pg. 10.
4. ↑ History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts (The Town of Hingham, Massachusetts, 1893): Vol I, p.177
5. ↑ ^{[citation needed]}
6. ↑ Torrey's New England Marriages to 1700, Volume 2, page 1119

See also:

• North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000: The Fales Family of Rhode Island : Ancestry of Haliburton Fales of New York
• Otis Family - The First Six Generations
• Great Migration 1634-1635, M-P. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010. Originally published as: The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume V, M-P, by Robert Charles Anderson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2007. p. 322-326. (Subscription)