USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > A History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, vol 3 > Part 9
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III) John Folger, son of Peter and Mary (Mor- rill) Folger, was born in 1659. He was a miller and a prosperous farmer. His home was in that part of Nantucket now called Polpis. He married Mary Barnard, daughter of Nathanicl and Mary (Bar- nard) Barnard. (See Barnard III).
(IV) Jethro Folger, son of John (2) and Mary (Barnard) Folger, was born in Nantucket, Massa- chusetts, 17th of 8th month, 1689. He was a large land owner, and a prominent citizen of Nantucket all his life. In October, 1710, he married Mary Starbuck, daughter of Nathaniel and Dinah (Coffin) Starbuck. (See Starbuck IV). Jethro Folger was a member of the Society of Friends.
(V) Anna Folger, daughter of Jethro and Mary (Starbuck) Folger, was born in Nantucket, Massa- chusetts, in 1720. In 1738, she married James Mitchell. (See Mitchell II).
(The Barnard Line).
The Barnard family in New England was found- ed by two brothers, Thomas and Robert Barnard, who arrived in the New World about 1630, and subsequently were identified prominently with the foundation and development of the settlement upon the Island of Nantucket. The ancestry hereinafter traced is derived through both of these brothers.
Arms-Argent. a bear rampant sable, muzzled or.
Cres :- Ont of a ducal coronet or, a demi-bear rampant sable, muzzled or.
Motto-Fer et perfer. (Bear and Forbear.)
Line of Thomas Barnard :
(I) Thomas Barnard, one of the founders of the Barnard family in America, was born in England about 1612. In the ycar 1640 he is found of residence in Salisbury, Massachusetts, and later he bought land on the west side of the Powow river (now in Amesbury) and removed thither. In 1659 he joined in one of the most historic transactions pre- served in New England history. In that year he entered with others in the purchase of the Island of Nantucket, and acquircd there large land hold- ings. Later, he transferred one-half of his Nan- tucket possessions to his brother, Robert Barnard. Previously, he had been prominent in the affairs of Salisbury and Amesbury. On May 1, 1654, when the "Articles of Agreement between the Inhabi- tants of the Old Town and Those of the New Town," were entered into, his signature, among others, was affixed thereto. In the division of land in 1654 he is among those mentioned, and in the "Amesbury Commoners" of 1667-68, Thomas Barnard, Sr. and Jr., appear. Thomas Barnard is also cited as one of the "Brethren of Ye Church." He received land in the first division at Salisbury and also in 1640 and 1643; in 1665, he was a grand juror at Amesbury; and his name appears on vari- ous lists as late as 1672. Whether he actually re-
moved to Nantucket and there resided does not definitely appear; the records of Nantucket simply state that "Thomas Barnard dicd abroad." This, however, would scem to indicate that he was a resident of Nantucket. A tragic fatc awaited hin, he being killed by the Indians in 1677. He married Elcanor She administered upon his estate in 1677, and the inventory was taken 21st of 6th month, 1677. She married (second) George Little, of Newbury, and died November 27, 1694. Thomas and Eleanor Barnard were the parents of nine children.
Line of Robert Barnard:
(I) Robert Barnard, other founder of the Bar- nard family in America, brother of Thomas Bar- nard, was a resident of Salisbury and Andover, and thence removed to Nantucket. From his brother Thomas he had acquired a considerable interest in Nantucket, whither he went in 1663, and where he died in 1862. He married Joanna Harvey, who survived him, and died in Nantucket, March 31, 1705. Their daughter, Mary Banard, married her cousin, Nathaniel Barnard, son of Thomas Bar- nard, and thus joined the two lines of Barnard.
(II) Nathaniel Barnard, son of Thomas and Eleanor Barnard, was born 15th of 11th month, 1642, in Salisbury, Massachusetts. Until about 1665, he continued to reside in Amesbury, but thereafter removed to Sherburn, on the Island of Nantucket, and remained there throughout his life. Hc is called a "planter" and was a prominent figure in the struggling settlement. By his marriage he joined the two lines of Barnard, his wife being a daughter of Robert Barnard, brother of Thomas Barnard, the two founders of the family in America. Nathaniel Barnard died in Nantucket, May 3, 1718. Hc married Mary Barnard, daughter of Robert and Joanna (Harvey ) Barnard. She died in Nantucket, March 7, 1717-18. They were the parents of seven children.
(II) Mary Barnard, daughter of Robert and Joanna (Harvey) Barnard, was born in Andover, Massachusetts, April 8, 1658. She died in Nan- tucket, March 7, 1717-18. She marricd Nathaniel Barnard, son of Thomas and Eleanor Barnard. Is- sue seven children.
(III) Mary Barnard, daughter of Nathaniel and Mary (Barnard) Barnard, was born in Nantucket. Massachusetts. She died 6th of 8th month, 1737 (O. S.), aged nearly seventy years. She married John Folger, son of Peter and Mary (Morrill) Fol- ger, the distinguished Nantucket family. (See Fol- ger III).
JAMES COFFIN-At Fallaise, a town in Nor- mandy, stands the old chateau of Courtitout, once the home of the Norman Coffin family; the name is now extinct in that vicinage, and the chateau is owned by Monsier Le Clere. who is the grandson of the last Mademoiselle Coffin, who married a Le Clere in 1796. Until her marriage the above men- tioncd chateau had always remained in the family name. (The above information came through Ad- miral Sir Isaac Coffin, who was born in Boston,
1
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FORTIS
IN FIDE ET IN BELLO
Tallman
Hazard .
FER ET PERFER Barnard
Holger
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VIRTUS DEPRESSA RESURGAT
Hussey
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Starbuck
Franklin
1642
TRISTRAM COFFIN, THE FIRST OF THE RACE THAT SETTLED IN AMERICA. FIRST CHIEF MAGISTRATE OF NANTUCKET, 1671. BE UNITED DO HONOR TO HIS NAME
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BIOGRAPHICAL
Massachusetts, May 16, 1759, became an English citizen, was raised to the baronetcy, and granted a coat-of-arms in 1804.) The family traces its an- cestry to Sir Richard Coffin, Knight, who accom- panied William the Conqueror to England in the year 1066, to whom the manor of Alwington in the County of Devon was assigned. There are various branches of the family in County Devon. The English records show the name Covin, whence it was changed to Cophin, Kophin, Coffyn. The sur- name signifies literally "the bald" and is derived originally from the French chauve, which means bald. Before 1254 the family was flourishing at Portledge-near-the-Sea, in the parish of Alwington, five miles from Biddeford, England. The name was early brought to Massachusetts, and has been borne by many leaders of the life and affairs of the Col- ony and Commonwealth. The Coffin family was not as conspicuous during the American Revolution as they undoubtedly would have been had their location been different. The Island of Nantucket, their home, was visited by British warships fre- quently, the inhabitants were intimidated and obliged to preserve an unwilling neutrality. Tris- tram Coffin, founder of the New England family of the name, was beyond doubt a descendant of Sir Richard Coffin of the Conqueror's train; the direct line, however, begins with Tristram Coffin, men- tioned below.
Coffin (Coffyn) Arms-Azure, four bezants between five crosses crosslet or.
Crest-A bird or, between two cinquefoils argent, stalked and leaved vert.
(I) Tristram Coffin, a descendant of Sir Rich- ard Coffin, married and lived in Brixton, Devon- shire, England. His will mentions Anne and John, children of his son, Nicholas Coffin; Richard and Joan, children of Lionel Coffin; Philip Coffin, and his son Tristram; and appointed Nicholas Coffin, of whom further, as his executor.
(II) Nicholas Coffin, son of . Tristram Coffin, lived in Butler's Parish, Devonshire, England, where he died in 1603. In his will, which was proved at Totness, in Devonshire, November 3, 1603, men- tion is made of his wife Joan, and five children, namely: 1. Peter, mentioned below. 2. Nicholas. 3. Tristram. 4. John. 5. Anne.
(III) Peter Coffin, eldest son of Nicholas and Joan Coffin, was born on the Coffin estate in Brix- ton, England, about 1580, and died there in 1527-28. He married Joan or Joanna Thember, and their six children were born and baptized in the parish of Brixton, .Devonshire, in the following order: 1. Tristram mentioned below. 2. John, born about 1607; was a soldier and died in the service from a mortal wound received in battle during a four years' siege in the Civil War; died about 1642. 3. John, born about 1609, in England, probably died there. 4. Deborah, died probably in England. 5. Eunice, born in England, came to Massachusetts Bay Col- ony with her mother; married William Butler, and died in 1648. 6. Mary, married Alexander Adams, and died in 1677 or thereabouts.
The Widow Joan and her children, Tristram, Eunice and Mary, her sons-in-law, her daughter- in-law, Dionis, and five grandchildren, came to Sal- isbury in 1642. She died in Boston in May, 1661, aged seventy-seven years, and in the notice of her death it is quaintly stated that the Rev. Mr. Wilson, "embalmed her memory."
(IV) Tristram (2) Coffin, son of Peter and Joan (Thember) Coffin, was born in the parish of Brixton, Devonshire, England, probably in 1605. He was the heir of his father's estate in Brixton, and one of the landed gentry of Devonshire. He died at his home on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, October 2, 1681. It is a strange fact that the Christian name of the immigrant forefather of all the Coffins in America, Tristram, is repeated and multiplied in every generation, while the name of the ancestress, Dionis, is repeated but once in all the time since the founding of the family here. It is not known on which of the early ships convey- ing passengers to New England the Coffin family took passage. Tristram Coffin settled in Haverhill, Massachusetts, in 1642. The early settlers of Sal- isbury, which town was established October 7, 1640, commenced settlement at Pentucket the same year, and the Indian deed for this land was witnessed by Tristram Coffin in 1642, and in 1643 he removed to the place which was established as the town of Haverhill, Norfolk county, and here settled near Robert Clement. Tradition has it that Tristram Coffin was the first man to plow land in the town of Haverhill, and that he con- structed his own plow. He changed his residence to the "Rocks" in the following year, and in 1648- 49 removed to Newbury, where he kept an ordi- nary, sold wine and liquor and kept the Newbury side of Carr's Ferry. In September, 1643, his wife Dionis : was prosecuted for selling beer for two pence a quart, while the regular price was but one pence, but she proved that she had put six bushels of malt into the hogshead, while the law required only four, and she was discharged. He returned to Salisbury, and was commissioner of the town, and while living there purchased or planned the pur- chase of the Island of Nantucket, where he and his associates removed on account of religious per- secution. At least Thomas Macy, who was one of the pioneer settlers on Nantucket, "fled from the officers of the law and sold his property and home rather than submit to tyranny, which punished a man for being hospitable to strangers in the rain- storm even though the strangers be Quakers." Mr. Macy returned to Salisbury and resided there in 1644, and then he sold his house and lands, and so the story of his flight from persecution would seem to be spoiled, and history perhaps gives the true reason for his migration, the search for a milder climate and better opportunities for cultivat- ing the soil.
Early in 1654 Tristram Coffin took Peter Folger, grandfather of Benjamin Franklin, then living at the Vineyard, as an interpreter of the Indian lan- guage, and proceeded to Nantucket to ascertain the "temper and disposition of the Indians, and the
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BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS
capability of the island, that he might report to the citizens of Salisbury what inducements were of- fered to emigrants." A grant of the island had been given to Thomas Mayhew by William Earl, of Sterling, and recorded in the secretary's office in New York, July 2, 1659. Thomas Mayhew deeded the island to Tristram Coffin, Stephen Green- leaf, William Pike, Thomas Macy, Thomas Bar- nard, Christopher Hussey, John Swain, retaining an interest of one-twentieth for himself, the con- sideration being "thirty pounds and two beaver hats, one for myself and one for my wife." Later the same parties purchased from one Manackmanak, head sachem of Nantucket, a large part of their lands, consideration forty pounds. James Coffin accompanied Thomas Macy and family,, Edward Starbuck and Isaac Coleman to the island later in the same year, and they all took up their resi- dence thcre. The Coffin family that settled in Nan- tucket included Tristram, Sr., James, Mary, John and Stephen, each the head of a family. Tristram Coffin was thirty-seven years old at the time of his removal to Nantucket. During the first year of his residence there he was the richest proprietor on the island. The property of his son Peter is said soon to have exceeded that of his father, the family together owning about one-fourth of the island, and all of Tuckernock. On June 29, 1671, Francis Lovelace, governor of New York, granted a commissiion to Tristram Coffin to be chief mag- istrate on and over the island of Nantucket and Tuckanyckett (Deeds III., secretary's office, Albany, New York). At the same time Thomas Mayhew was appointed the chief magistrate of Martha's Vineyard through commissions signed by . Governor Lovelace of New York, bearing date June 29, 1671, and the two chicf magistrates, with two assistants for each island, constituted a general court, with appellative jurisdiction over both islands. The ap- pointment was made by Governor Francis Love- lace. Tristram Coffin's second commission, dated September 16, 1677, was signed by Sir Edward An- dros, governor-general of the province of New York. On his death in 1681, he was survived by his widow Dionis, seven children, sixty grandchildren, and a number of great grandchildren. In 1728 one thousand one hundred and twenty-eight of his descendants, which numbered one thousand five hundred and eighty-two, were living.
Tristram Coffin married Dionis Stevens (the di- minutive for Dionysia and afterwards Dionys), daughter of Robert Stevens, of Brixton, England. Their children, the first five of whom were born in England, were: 1. Hon. Peter, born in 1631, died in Exeter, New Hampshire, March 2, 1715. 2. Tristram, born in 1632, died in Newbury, Feb- ruary 4, 1704. 3. Elizabeth, married, in Newbury, November 13, 1651, Captain Stephen Greenleaf, and died November 29, 1678. 4. James, mentioned be- low. 5. John, died in Haverhill, October 20, 1642. 6. Deborah, born November 15, 1643, died December 8th following. 7. Mary, mentioned below. 8. John, born October 8, 1647, died September 5, 1711. 9.
Stephen, born May 11, 1652, in Newbury, died in Nantucket, May 18, 1734.
(V) James Coffin, son of Tristram (2) and Dionis (Stevens) Coffin, was born in 1640 in England, and died at Nantucket, July 28, 1729, aged eighty years. He came to Nantucket with the first settlers, but subsequently removed to Dover, New Hampshire, where he resided in 1668, being a member of the church there in 1671. On May 31, 1671, he was made a freeman in Dover, but soon after this date he returned to Nantucket, and made his home there until his death. He was one of the associate proprietors of Nantucket and filled several important public offices on the island, among them that of judge of the Probate Court, to which he was the first to be appointed (1680).
From James Coffin have descended the most notable representatives of the Coffin family, as doubtless the most numerous and generally scat- tered. This branch furnished the family that re- mained on the side of Great Britain during the Revolution. Sir Isaac Coffin, brother of General John Coffin (who rendered active service against the Colonies) did not take active part in the War of the Revolution. He was in the British navy at the breaking out of the war, and at his own re- quest was assigned to the Mediterranean, that he might not have to fight against his own kindred. Although the highest honors had been conferred on him in the Spanish navy, and he had been made a member of Parliament, he cherished a regard for his native land. In 1826 he visited Boston, and Nantucket, and was honorably received. Har- vard University conferred on him the honorary degree of Master of Arts. At Nantucket he founded a school, chiefly in the interest of the Coffin family. The land on which the school stands was given by Gorham Coffin, who was one of the trustees. The school is still in existence, and at the present time is a Mechanical Training School for the in- habitants of the island. One of the most distin- guished women which America has produced, Lu- cretia Mott, was also descended from this line. James Coffin married, December 4, 1663, Mary Sev- erance, daughter of John and Abigail Severance, of Salisbury, Massachusetts. They were the par- ents of fourteen children.
(V) Mary Coffin, daughter of Tristram (2) and 'Dionis (Stevens) Coffin, was born February 20, 1645, in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and died on the Island of Nantucket, September 13, 1717. She be- came the wife of Nathaniel Starbuck, of Nantucket (see Starbuck II), and was the mother of the first White child born on the island.
(VI) Dinah Coffin, daughter of James and Mary (Severance) Coffin, became the wife of Nathaniel (2) Starbuck, and was the great-great-great-great- grandmother of Mrs. Caroline E. (Slade) Brayton, of Fall River. (See Starbuck III).
(The Starbuck Line).
The surname Starbuck, according to Lower, quot- ing Ferguson partially, is derived from the Old
TOUTE
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LIBERTE
ENTIERE
+ +
+
ARMORIAL ENSIGN OF amton
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BIOGRAPHICAL
Norse, with the following explanation: "In the Old Norse, bokki means vir grandis, corpore et animo. Hence Stórbocki, from stór, great, vir imperiosus." The name means, literally, great man or leader, and is first found in English records in the poll tax for the West Riding of Yorkshire, in the year 1379.
The American Starbucks, one of the foremost families of the Island of Nantucket for over two and a half centuries, comprise the progeny of Ed- ward Starbuck, an Englishman of substance, who was among the earliest and most influential settlers of Nantucket.
(I) Edward Starbuck, immigrant ancestor and founder, was born in 1604, and came to America about 1635, from Derbyshire, England, bringing with him his wife Katharine. He settled in Dover, New Hampshire, where he is first mentioned, June 30, 1643, when he received a grant of forty acres of land on each side of the Fresh river at Cutche- choe, and also one plat of marsh above Cutchechoe Great Marsh, "that the brook that runs out of the river runs through, first discovered by Richard Walderne, Edward Colcord, Edward Starbuck, and William Furber." He received other grants of land at different times, including one of Marsh in Great Bay in 1643, one of the mill privilege at Cutche- choe 2nd Falls (with Thomas Wiggins), and one of timber to "accommodate" in 1650, and various others. He was one of the foremost settlers of Dover, a representative of the town in 1643 and 1646, and undoubtedly would have lived com- fortably there until his death, honored and re- spected by his fellow-townsmen, had he not em- braced the Baptist faith. He was the owner of ex- tensive properties, and was in all probability a man of substance as to possessions, as tradition says he was in body. Despite this he fell into disre- pute for daring to believe different from the in- tolerant, bigoted Puritans of his day. In "Provin- cial Papers of the New Hampshire Historical So- ciety," we find the following:
October 18, 1648 .- The Court being informed of great mis- demeanor Committed by Edward Starbuck of Dover with pro- fession of Ababaptism for which he is to be proceeded against at the next Court of Assistants if evidence can be prepared by that time & it being very farre for witnesses to travill to Boston at that season of the year, It is therefore ordered bt this Court that the Secretary shall give Commission to Capt. Thomas Wiggan & Mr. Edw. Smyth to send for such per- sons as they shall have notice of which are able to testify in the sd. cause & to take their testimony uppon oath & certifie the same to the secretary as soon as may be, that further proceedings may be therein, if the cause shall so require.
It is not to be wondered at that Edward Star- buck was quite ready to leave Dover, despite his advanced age, and his interests in and around the town. He was fifty-five years of age when he joined Thomas Macy in his voyage from Salisbury to Nantucket. They arrived at Nantucket in the autumn of 1659, and remained during the winter at the outskirts of the island, removing later to a more central location, now called Cambridge. In the spring of 1660, Edward Starbuck returned to Dover for his family, all of whom returned with him except his daughters, Sarah Austin and Abi-
gail Coffin. On his return to Nantucket he at once became active in official affairs, and was at one time magistrate. He died at Nantucket, April 12, 1690. His wife was Katharine (Reynolds) Star- buck, a woman of Welsh parentage.
(II) Nathaniel Starbuck, son of Edward and Kath- arine (Reynolds) Starbuck, was born in Dover, New Hampshire, February 20, 1645. He was the only son who lived to perpetuate the name. He was a wealthy landowner, and a man of no mean abilities, yet he seems to have been eclipsed by the exceptional brilliancy of his wife, Mary (Coffin) Starbuck.
Mary (Coffin) Starbuck was born in Haverhill, Mas- sachusetts, February 20, 1645, daughter of Tristram (2) and Dionis (Stevens) Coffin. (See Coffin V). At the age of seventeen years she was married to Na- thaniel Starbuck. She had been baptized by Peter Folger in Waiputquat pond, but years afterward be- came converted to the principles of the Friends, and their meetings were held at her house. She became a preacher in the Society, as were also several of her children, her grandsons, Elihu and Nathaniel Coleman, and her granddaughter, Priscilla Bunker. On account of her superior judgment, she was often consulted in town affairs, taking an active part in debates, and usually prefacing her remarks with "My husband and I, having considered the subject, think, etc." She was a remarkable woman, anticipating by two centuries the advanced views of women of today. She took an active part in practically every phase of the early life of the town. Mary Starbuck was "as distinguished in her domestic economy as she was celebrated as a preacher."
Nathaniel Starbuck died June 6, 1719. His wife died September 13, 1717, and was buried in the Friends' Burying Ground.
(III) Nathaniel (2) Starbuck, son of Nathaniel (1) Mary (Coffin) Starbuck, was born in Nantucket, Au- gust 9, 1668. He married Dinah Coffin, daughter of James and Mary (Severance) Coffin. (See Coffin VI).
(IV) Mary Starbuck, daughter of Nathaniel (2) and Dinah (Coffin) Starbuck, became the wife of Jethro Folger, in October, 1710. (See Folger IV).
DR. WILLIAM LAWTON-The Lawton family is a lineage of historic Cheshire, England, founded since the age of the Conqueror, when the Norman pro- genitor of the family acquired large landed estates and bestowed his name on the territory. A long and an- cient pedigree of the family exists since the reign of Henry VI., when Hugh de Lawton, of Lawton, Che- shire, is found in possession of the Manor of Lawton in that county, his inheritance from his early century ancestors.
Arms-Argent, on a fesse between three crosses crosslet fitchée sable as many cinquefoils of the field. breast gules.
Crest-A demi-wolf salient reguardant argent, vulned in the breast gules.
Motto-Liberte toute entiere. (Liberty unfettered.)
(I) Hugh de Lawton, of Lawton, Cheshire, living temp. Henry VI., married Isabella Kernys, daughter of John Madoc, and widow of Bekyn Kernys. Isabella was the heiress of John Madoc, whose only son Wil-
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liam died without heirs, and she inherited the whole of her father's large estate.
(II) John de Lawton, surviving son of Hugh and Isabella (Madoc-Kernys) de Lawton, died in the life- time of his father, having previously married, and left an only surviving son.
(III) Richard Lawton, Esq., of Lawton, son of John de Lawton, and grandson and heir of Hugh de Lawton, of Lawton, and also heir of his grandmother Isabella, married and left a son.
(IV) James Lawton, Esq., of Lawton, son of Rich- ard Lawton, of Lawton, married Eleanora More, daugh- ter of Matthew More, Esq., of The Hall-o'-th'-Heath (otherwise called "Hallowheath"), Cheshire, and had issue.
(V) William Lawton, Esq., of Lawton, son of James and Eleanora (More) Lawton, married Katherine Bel- lot, daughter of Thomas Bellot, Esq., of Moreton, County Chester, and died 28th December in the 5th year of King Edward VI .; left surviving among other children :
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