Lesson 7 - Readings for the Stebbins Family

The Stebbins Family

From The History of Deerfield, Vol. II, George Sheldon, 1895, pgs. 317 & 318

John, s.[son] of John, b.[born] 1647; carpenter; a sol.[soldier] under Capt. Lothrop and the only man known to have come out whole from the Bloody Brook massacre...He came to Dfd.[Deerfield] at the permanent sett.[settlement] and lived on lot No. 35, where his house was burned and his entire family cap.[captured], Feb. 29, 1704; of them all only himself, wife, and son John are known to have come back...He m. Dorothy, dau.[daughter] John Alexander of Newton; she was alive at Newton, 1733.

Ch.: John, [born] abt.[about] 1685
Abigail, [born] abt.[about] 1687; m.[married] Feb. 3, 1704...'James Denyo' [Jacques DeNoyon], one of the 'three Frenchmen from Canada' in Mr. Williams's list of captives...Abigail was taken with her husband; their son, Aaron, b.[born] in Canada, Dec. 14, 1704, came back to Dfd.[Deerfield]...was baptized at Montreal...1708, by the name Marguerite
Samuel, [born] Dec. 25, 1688; alive in Canada, 1723
Thankful, [born] Sept. 5, 1691; m.[married] a Frenchman in Canada
Ebenezer, [born] Dec. 5, 1694; in Canada 1723
Joseph, [born] Apr. 12, 1699

From New England Captives Carried to Canada, Vol. I, Emma L. Coleman, 1925, pgs. 118, 123-124

Stebbins, John, and His Family.

They were all captured; not one was killed, probably because John's daughter, Abigail, had married a Frenchman, Jacques de Noyon, who was of the household.

John was a carpenter and soldier...

Their children were, John, abt.[about] 19; Abigail, abt.[about] 17; Samuel, 16; Thankful, 12; Ebenezer, 9; and Joseph, 4. John, his wife and John, Jr. were redeemed [rescued].

In 1723 John Stebbins died. In his will he wrote: 'And as to my children in Canada, to wit [who are] Samuel, Ebenezer, Joseph, Abigail and Thankful my will is...That each of them have an eighth part of my lands provided they come and live in New England.'...'Those that will not live in New England shall have five shillings apiece and no more...[he went on to say that if Abigail never came home, her son Aaron (Rene), who was living in Deerfield with his grandparents, would get her one eighth share of the land] Aaron received the lands, but Abigail came and tarried [stayed] awhile; long enough to give birth to her thirteenth child and doubtless [most likely] to receive her five shillings.

From History of Deerfield, Vol. I, George Sheldon, 1895, pg. 347

'John Stebbins, who died in 1723, made provisions in his will for five children then in Canada, provided they returned and remained in New England. Samuel alone returned. Their ages ranged from four to seventeen.

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