John Briggs, Sr.

1635- Emigrated to America on the ship "Blessing", age 20.

1640, April 16- Deeded 7 1/2 acres of land at Sandwich, MA.

1641, June 1- Administration of estate.

John was a follower of Anne Hutchenson. This sect became so much in disfavor in Boston, that John and the others purchased Aquidneck Island from the Indians. This island plus other lands were called Rhode Island.

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"John Briggs, 1609, England —April 19, 1690, Portsmouth, R. Is., came to New England, 1635, with his wife Sarah Cornell, lived at Newport, then Portsmouth, R. Is., as devote Quakers. His older sister, Rebecca, 1600-72, married Thomas Cornell and with him came to New England in 1638. John and Rebecca's father William, son of William, son of William Watts Briggs of Cork, England… Both Cornells and Briggs were "separatist freethinkers before they reached these shores". They came "hoping to find refuge and freedom of conscience in the new land but they found little tolerance for religious deviants until they moved to the Island of Newport where they "bought a large tract on the west side… These Cornell-Briggs families have a long history of birthright Quakers..." Jane Betsy Welling, They Were Here Too (Greenwich, NY: Washington Co. Historical Society, 1965)

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Briggs John, Sr., b. 1609, Clerkenwell Prsh, London, Essex, England , d. 1690, Portsmouth, Newport, Rhode Island

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John came to New England in 1635 on the Blessing, living for a short time in Boston before coming to Rhode Island. He was a follower of Anne Hutchinson, who advocated a personal relationshiop with God in guiding one's own conduct, instead of reliance on the Church and State for guidance. The leaders of the Massachusetts Colony were so opposed to this teaching that it became unsafe for Mrs. Hutchinson's followers to remain there. Upon the advice of Roger Williams, John Briggs with some others fled from Massachusetts and purchased Aquidneck Island from the Indians.

John moved first to Newport, then to Portsmouth where he established a family home, living there until the death of his first wife, Sarah Cornell, in 1661. The parentage of Sarah Cornell is not known, though she too was probably born in co. Essex, England. It is quite certain that she is a sister to Thomas Cornell of Portsmouth, whose wife Rebecca, called John Briggs 'brother.'

In 1662 John Briggs purchased a share (140 acres) in Dartmouth, MA, and soon after, married there, Constant (Mitchell) Fobes, Widow. He lived there only a short time, moving back to Portsmouth about the time of his daughter Susannah's marriage to William Palmer in 1663 and spent the remainder of his life there.

John Briggs was a prominent citizen and active in civic and political affairs. He served at various times as juryman, Assistant Commissioner and Deputy to the General Assembly. He died in Portsmouth between 19 April 1690 (date of his will and 16 November 1690 (date of probate). His second wife may have died before he left Dartmouth, as she was not mentioned after that, nor in his will. All his children were by his first wife, Sarah.

John was in Newport 1638, or Portsmouth 1650, freeman 1655.27

Will of John Briggs of Portsmouth, dated 19 Apr 1690, proved 17 Nov 1690, mentions wife Content Briggs; sons Enoch Briggs, John Briggs eldest, Thomas Briggs, William Briggs, and Job Briggs; and daughters Susannah Northway and ____ Momony.

Source: http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/gen/report/rr02/rr02_295.html#P8125

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Immigrated to Massachusetts then on to Rhode Island in 1935 on a ship called, Blessing.

Notes

From http://www.jobschildren.com/2015/05/the-family-of-susannah-briggs.h...

One of the most striking notes on the life of John Briggs was the testimony of him in the case of the death of his sister, Rebecca Briggs Cornell, who had married the brother, Thomas of John Briggs wife Sarah. It was not uncommon in those days for sibling of one family to marry siblings of another.

Rhode Island was a haven of sorts, for the Puritans who were not quite so Puritan, or who did not exactly go with the teachings of the most devout in Massachusetts. John Briggs was one of those and in 1656 had converted to Quakerism.

John Briggs' testimony in part, led to the conviction and hanging of Thomas Cornell II, his nephew, for the death of Rebecca Briggs Cornell, sister of John and mother of the doomed Thomas. A book has been written on the murder, called "Killed Strangely: The Death of Rebecca Cornell", by Elaine Forman Crane. According to the Puritan records, John Briggs, 64 years of age at this time, testified that he had seen a spirit in a dream of Rebecca, who told him how she had burned.

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Link to grave http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=76546395

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birth and death places mentioned in son's records
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/103794764/job-briggs