52 Ancestors: #42, John Washburn, Plymouth Colonist

John Washburn, my tenth great grandfather, was born in Bengeworth (later annexed to Evesham), Worcestershire, England, to John and Martha (Timbrell) (Stephens) Washburn.¹ He was baptized on 2 July 1597. On 23 November 1618, at Bengeworth, he married Margery Moore, the daughter of Robert and Ellen (Taylor) Moore.²

John and Margery had four children, all born at Bengeworth:

1. Mary, b. 1619, probably died young³
2. John Jr., b. 1620, married Elizabeth Mitchell⁴
3. Phillip, b. and d. June 1622⁵
4. Phillip, b. ca 1624, married Elizabeth Irish⁶

John migrated to the Plymouth Colony in New England about 1632, with his family remaining in England until he was established in the colony. The earliest mention of him in colony records is on 2 January 1632/3, when he sued a man for stealing a hog from him (he lost).⁷

When the Elizabeth & Ann set sail from London on 13 April 1635 bound for New England, her passengers included Margery Washborn and her sons, John Jr. and Phillip.⁸ (Mary did not accompany them, so it is assumed she probably died young, though possibly she had married by then.) Once joined by his family, John acquired land in Duxbury and made his home there. He took the oath of fidelity there and was admitted as a freeman on 2 June 1648. A tailor by trade, John served Plymouth Colony and the town of Duxbury in various capacities – among others, on a grand jury, viewing boundaries, and as surveyor of highways.⁹

In 1645, both John and John Jr. were among the 54 original proprietors of the plantation of Bridgewater when it was granted to Duxbury. (The land wasn't actually purchased by Miles Standish from the sachem Ousamequin, also called Massasoit, until 1649.)¹⁰

On 26 May 1666, he deeded his property at Duxbury to his son Phillip, and moved to Bridgewater, where he died probably soon after 22 May 1671.¹¹

My descent from John Washburn:

• John Washburn Sr. + Margery Moore
• John Washburn Jr. + Elizabeth Mitchell
• Samuel Washburn + Deborah Packard
• Noah Washburn + Elizabeth Shaw
• Noah Washburn + Mary Staples
• Nehemiah Washburn + Ruth Egerton
• Jeremiah Washburn + Hannah Orcutt
• Samuel Orcutt Washburn + Mary Palmateer
• Mary Washburn + Uriah Sawyer Woodward
• Eva May Woodward + Peter Louis Rabideau
• Glenna Marie Rabideau + William George Murphy (my maternal grandparents)

(Note: This post is in response to Amy Johnson Crow's "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" challenge at No Story Too Small.)

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SOURCES

1. "The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III," database and digital images, New England Historic Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (http://www.americanancestors.org : accessed 9 October 2014), pp. 1937-39, sketch of John Washburn; citing Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 1995.
2. "Plymouth Colony, History and People," database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 October 2014), search results for "John Washburn"; citing Eugene Aubrey Stratton, Plymouth Colony: Its History and People 1620-1691 (Salt Lake City, Utah: Ancestry Incorporated, 1986); search results on this database present sections of text with general headings, which do not include page numbers from Stratton.
3. James Davenport, The Washbourne Family of Little Washbourne and Wichenford in the County of Worcester (London: Methuen & Co., 1907), pp. 35-58; digital images, Google Books (http://books.google.com/books : accessed 10 Oct 2014). 
4. "The Great Migration Begins," pp. 1937-39.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
8. "Plymouth Colony, History and People," search results for "John Washburn."
9. "The Great Migration Begins," pp. 1937-39.
10. Nahum Mitchell, History of the Early Settlement of Bridgewater, in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Including an Extensive Family Register (Boston: the author, 1840), pp. 10-11, 338; facsimile reprint as Mitchell's History of Bridgewater, Massachusetts (Bridgewater: Edward Alden, 1897); digital images, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/historyofearlyset00mitcch : accessed 10 Oct 2014).
11. "The Great Migration Begins," pp. 1937-39.