John Poore (1615 - 1684)

Born 1615 in England

Husband of Sarah (Unknown) Poore — married 1641 in Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 21 Nov 1684 at about age 69 in Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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John Poore migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

John Poore was born about 1615 probably in Hampshire or Wiltshire , England.

John Poore emigrated in 1635, the year after several families - who also settled in Newbury moved to Ipswich. According to depositions on file in the Office of the Essex County Court, he was born about 1615, consequently he was about twenty years old when he came to this country.

He settled upon the southerly side of Parker River in Newbury, Massachusetts, that part of the town being called the "Neck". The street leading over Parker River to Rowley was laid out as far as his house through the north part of his land, then it turned westward.

He married Sarah about 1641 in Newbury, Massachusetts. John & Sarah had at least 13 children: John, Hannah, Elizabeth, Hannah again, Henry, Mary, Joseph, Mary again, Sarah, Lydia, Edward, & Abigail.

The lot east of John Poore's was, from generation to generation, occupied by the Thurston family. Next east of Thurston's lot, and on the end of the Neck, was the homestead of the Plummer family. Through these estates is a street extending by the south side of Mr. Poore's house and the Thurston and Plummer houses, to the end of the Neck. The lot west of Poore's was owned by the Hale family; all of these lots extend across the Neck from Parker River to the Marshes, which lie between this upland and Plumb Island River. He had laid out to him by Rowley, in 1661, about thirty acres of upland, at a place in that town called "The Island beyond the Cow Bridge Meadow". The house which John built, together with additions, was torn down in 1890 and has been owned by the family, from father to son, until that time, eight generations having been born in it, the eighth and ninth generations now residing there.

Records of the county tell us that he was on the jury in the years 1654, 1658, 1661, 1664, 1665, 1670, 1674, 1678. He was attorney for Daniel Poore, of Andover, who, it is supposed, was his brother when said Daniel had a cause against Jo. Godfrey, March 26, 1667, and Walter Wright, March 1681.

In the Registry of Deeds, at Salem, there are lists of those who took the Oath of Allegiance. In 1678, his name appears - John Poore, aged 63.

He was chosen by the town to occupy various places of trust; for instance, in 1666 and 1669, he was on the board "to act the prudentially of the Town". When the seats in the meeting-house were assigned in 1668, it is recorded that "John Poor, sen to sit in the fore seat."

He had land given by the town from time to time, and bought other land; so, he owned in Newbury and Rowley probably over a hundred acres; but, the supposition is that it was conveyed to his sons before his decease, as we find the deeds of some of it on record, viz.: to his sons John and Henry, dated not long before his decease.

John died on 23 Nov 1684 in Newbury, Massachusetts. Sarah died eighteen years later on 3 Dec 1702 in Newbury, Massachusetts.

Name and Origins

The exact origins of John Poore are not known with certainty though there are reasons to believe he came from Hampshire or Wiltshire. It has been speculated that Daniel Poore, Samuel Poore, Thomas Poore and Alice Poore were siblings. Samuel Poore also settled in Newbury while Daniel and Thomas settled in Andover. Alice Poore, aged 20, Samuel Poore aged 18 and Daniel Poore, aged 14 immigrated together in 1638 aboard the Bevis, all as servants of Samuel Dummer. Samuel Sewell in a letter to his uncle Steven Dummer in Bishopstoke, Hampshire, England said, "We are in good health here in Boston, and so are our friends at Newbury are as far as I know. John Poor of the neck died the beginning of this winter." This letter along with the immigration record is taken to show a connection of all of these families. The Dummer family came from Bishopstoke, Hampshire near the Wiltshire border, and so it is presumed the Poore family did also.^[1][2][3]

Birth

Born: About 1615 (or 1617) in England.

Aged 63 when he took the Oath of Allegiance in 1678.^[4]

Deposed aged 46 in 1663.^[5][6]

Marriage and Children

Married: Sarah Unknown about 1641 as their first child was born in 1642.

Children of John and Sarah Poore:^[7]

All births recorded in Newbury, Massachusetts.^[8]

1. John Poore. Born 21 June 1642 in Newbury, Massachusetts. He married Mary Titcomb. He died 15 February 1700/1.
2. Hannah Poore. Born on 14 October 1645. Died young before 1649 when another daughter was named Hannah.
3. Elizabeth Poore. Born on 3 November 1647. She married John Jackson on 27 April 1669. She died in the spring of 1675.^[9] Neither she nor her young son were named in the administration of her father's estate.
4. Hannah Poore. Born on 25 March 1649. She Married Elisha Ilsley on 14 March 1667.
5. Henry Poore. Born on 13 December 1650. He married Abigail Hail. Henry died after 2 April 1741 in Rowley, Massachusetts at over 90 years old.^[10]
6. Mary Poore. Born on 6 March 1652. She died on 8 September 1652.
7. Joseph Poore. Born on 4 October 1653. He married Mary Wallingford on 6 August 1680 and had 10 children.
8. Mary Poore. Born on 12 December 1654. She married John Clarke on 10 January 1672 and had 10 children.
9. Sarah Poore. Born on 5 June 1655. She married John Sawyer on 18 February 1675. She was last known living on 15 November 1697.
10. Lydia Poore. Born on 5 December 1656. She married Pennel Titcomb, brother to her brother John's wife. She was living when her husband made his will on 5 February 1718.
11. Edward Poore. Born on 5 April 1658. He was not named in the settlement of his father's estate in 1685.
12. Abigail Poore. Born on 26 March 1660. She died in April 1660.
13. Abigail Poore. Born on 5 August 1661. She married Isaac Ilsley, a brother to her sister Hannah's husband, and had 8 children.

Death

Died: About 24 November 1684 in Newbury, Massachusetts.

An inquest held into his death describes the probable cause and date: "November 24th, Inquest on the body of John Poore, senior. We judge that being in the woods and following his game, he was bewildered, and lost himself, and in his pursuit plucked off his clothes, and scattered them some good distance, one part from another till he had left nothing on save his waistcoat and drawers and breeches and hose and shoes."

He left no known will, however, the administration of his estate survives.^[11] It was administered by his wife Sarah and his eldest son John. The estate was split equally between his widow and his children, except the eldest son was to have a double portion. The estate amounted to £90. 10s. 0d. with £30 withheld to pay for debts. The remainder was split among:

- Sarah, his wife, £6. 9s.

- John Poore, eldest son, £12. 18s.

- Henry Poore, £6. 9s.

- Joseph Poore, £6. 9s.

- Hanah Ilsly, £6. 9s.

- Sarah Poore, £6. 9s.

- Mary Clarke, £6. 9s.

- Ledia Titcum, £6. 9s.

- Abigail Ilsly, £6. 9s.

Research Notes

Sources to check from Torrey's marriages: POOR, John1 (-1684) & Sarah ____ (-1702); by 1642; Newbury {Newell Anc. 203; Wallingford (ms) 6; Pillsbury Anc. 793; Titcomb 202; NYGBR 49:307; Snow-Estes 1:141}

Sources

Footnotes and citations:

1. ↑ Poor. A Memoir and Genealogy of John Poore. (1881): pages iii-iv.
2. ↑ NEHGR, vol. 9 (July 1855): page 287, Letters of Chief Justice Sewell.
3. ↑ New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 160 (October 2006): pages 273-279. The English Ancestry of Alice (Archer) Dummer, wife of Stephen¹ Dummer and mother of Jane (Dummer) Sewell, by Eben W. Graves. For some discussion of the connection between the Dummer and Poore families and their origins.
4. ↑ NEHGR vol. 7 no. 4 (October 1853): page 349.
5. ↑ Holman. Ancestry of Charles Stinson Pillsbury. (1938): page 794.
6. ↑ Essex County Courts. Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex ... vol. 3: 1662-1667. (Salem: The Essex Institute, 1913): pages 22-23.
7. ↑ Poor. A Memoir and Genealogy of John Poore. (1881): pages 7-8.
8. ↑ Newbury. Vital Records of Newbury, vol. 1 Births (1911): page 428.
9. ↑ Holman. Ancestry of Charles Stinson Pillsbury. (1938): page 796.
10. ↑ Holman. Ancestry of Charles Stinson Pillsbury. (1938): page 796.
11. ↑ Essex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1638-1881. (AmericanAncestors.com online database). Probate #22351, administration of the estate of John Poore of Newbury (d. 1684).

Source list:

• Essex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1638-1881. (AmericanAncestors.com online database). Probate #22351, administration of the estate of John Poore of Newbury (d. 1684).

• New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 160 (October 2006): pages 273-279. The English Ancestry of Alice (Archer) Dummer, wife of Stephen¹ Dummer and mother of Jane (Dummer) Sewell, by Eben W. Graves. For some discussion of the connection between the Dummer and Poore families and their origins.

• Newbury. Vital Records of Newbury Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849, vol. 1: Births. (Salem, MA: The Essex Institute, 1911).
  Archive.org LINK Books.Google.com HathiTrust.org LINK

• "'Richard Clarke of Royley, Massachusetts and his Descendants..' pp 7 Thomas Bellows Peck David Clapp & Sons 1905"

• Poor, Alfred. A Memoir and Genealogy of John Poore: ten generations, 1615-1880. (Salem, 1881): pages 5-8.

• Holman, Mary Lovering. Ancestry of Charles Stinson Pillsbury and John Sargent Pillsbury. (Concord, New Hampshire: Privately Printed at The Rumford Press, 1938): vol. II page 793. Available on ancestry.com