Marblehead in the 1600's

In this blog we are going to go back to Marblehead life in the 1600's and we will learn about my 9th great-grandfather, John Devereaux (Devereux). Last Thursday evening I had the pleasure of attending a talk at the Marblehead Museum and Historical Society where Mr. Standley Goodwin, from an old Marblehead family, told us what Marblehead was like in the 1600's.  He has done some extensive research on this subject and has disproved some myths about the town history. I had done some research on the Devereux family but this shed some more light on just how prominent a man my ancestor was.  

It is believed that John was born about 1615 in Stoke-by-Nyland in Suffolk, England and was from royalty,although I have yet to prove this. Documents from the Winthrop Society show a John Devereux coming to the Massachusetts Bay Colony from England on the Winthrop Fleet in the 1630's. www.winthropsociety.com/settlers.php. The immigrants first came to Salem and later to Marblehead which was a part of Salem until 1648. When arriving here, Marblehead was a barren wilderness inhabited by the Naumkeag Indians.  John purchased 350 acres of land for 100 pounds in 1659 which came to be known as the Devereux's farm, in the area of Devereux Beach.  He was also the owner of the windmill on top ofTraining Field Hill where Abbot Hall now stands.

John married Ann who was born about 1620 in England. I have found two different last names for her, Knollys and Humphrey; I again have not been able to prove either one. John and Ann had seven children - Hannah, Ann, Bethia, John, Humphrey, Emma, Robert and Joseph.  From these offspring John Devereux became the grandfather of some very well known Marblehead families. His daughter Hannah was married three times to a Knott, Greenfield and Swett; Bethia married a Bartlett; and Emma married a Peach.  His grandchildren married into the Martin, Hooper and Lee families.

John was a prominent man in Marblehead serving the town for over fifty nine years.  When he first arrived there were only about forty families in town  and the men wore various hats. John was a selectman, constable, juryman for both petty and grand juries, a boundary runner and a fence viewer. His name shows up many times in the Essex County Quarterly Court records either for being sued, suing others,mostly having to do with his fishing business, or being a witness in complaints.  If you have never read excerpts from the ECQ it is worth perusing, perhaps finding some of your famly members and their escapades. http://www.massachusetts-genealogy.com/Essex-County-Genealogy.cfm

Even though John was a prominent citizen it appears he could have had a quick temper. In one record he was fined forty shillings for striking Mr. Henry Stacey in his own house. In a court hearing of 1644 he and several other men were fined for drinking wine.  It seems that John and Thomas Gray harbored some bad feelings as in a court record of July, 1646, Thomas Gray sued John Devereux for debt of merchantable fish and of refuse fish. Then in early 1647 John was fined for fighting with Thomas Gray.  In 1651, John sued Peter Pitford for defamation in which John complained that Peter Pitford of Marblehead threatened him, whereby he went in fear of him.  Pitford was bound for good behavior. Finally in 1655, John sued Samuel Yew for killing his cow by the falling of a tree in the common. John's sons followed in their father's footsteps as they were fined or whipped for being part of a group of boys that met at night and committed petty theft.

John died in 1684 and his wife Ann in 1708.  John's will was dated September 4, 1693 and proved May 20, 1695. http://essexcountyma.net/Wills/devereuj.html  His estate was divided among his heirs, the sons dividing the cattle, horses, dwellings and land; while his daughters were given cash. Evidently he was not fond of his son Humphrey's wife. Henry had died before his father and John's estate was given to his grandsons - John, Humphrey and Ralph, with the stipulation that "Elizabeth Devereux, mother of these three sons, shall have nothing to do with the housing or lands, to come upon it or to dwell with them at any time whatsoever."

There are still many places in town with the reference to Devereux family. Devereux Beach, which according to his will, all future owners of this land must keep the name "Devereux" for it. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow visited the Devereux homestead in 1849 and was inspired to write his poem, "The Fire of Driftwood." http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/hwlongfellow/bl-hwl-fire.htm

There are still a few with the Devereux name listed in the phone book as living in Marblehead, whether they are related to John, I have yet to answer that question.