Capt. Stephen Otis, of Scituate

Capt. Stephen Otis was born in 1661 in Hingham, MA. [223] Stephen died on 26 Aug 1733 in Scituate, MA. [116] and is buried in Firsh Parish Cem., Scituate Harbor. He was a tanner.

Parents: John Otis, "The Immigrant" (1621-1684) and Mary Jacob (ca 1632- aft. 1699).

Married:

1. On 16 Jun 1685 [fn1] in Scituate, MA. [85] to Hannah Ensign, daughter of John Ensign (ca 1642-26 Mar 1676) & Elizabeth [Ensign]. She was born ca 1667 in Scituate, MA and was baptized in the Second Church of Scituate, on 29 May 1670. [116] Hannah died on 1 May 1729 in Scituate, MA and is buried in Firsh Parish Cem., Scituate Harbor. Hannah was John Ensign’s only child. She was the ultimate heiress of the greater part of her grandfather Ensign’s estate plus whatever may have accrued to her father. [176]

Children include:

1. Hannah Otis (16 May 1686-bef 16 Oct 1739)
2. Mary Otis (Died young) (7 Jul 1689-)
3. Lieut. Ensign Otis (29 Jan 1691-Nov 1774)
4. John Otis (7 Apr 1694-)
5. Stephen Otis (Died unmarried) (3 Nov 1697-20 Sep 1756)
6. Dr. Isaac Otis (1699-11 Nov 1777)
7. Thankful Otis (ca 1702-4 Aug 1739)
8. Joseph Otis (Died soon) (ca 1707-)
9. Joseph Otis (16 Mar 1709/10-11 Sep 1788)
10. Joshua Otis (1711-1802)

Notes

• From the Briggs genealogy: [7]
  

Stephen was born in 1661 in Hingham, the year his father moved to Scituate. He went to Barnstable with the family when he was 17, and returned with them to Scituate about 21. He was Commander of the militia of the town, an office of considerable importance in the early days. As Captain of the Grenadiers at the outbreak of the War with the French and Indians, Stephen Otis was given command of an expedition to L’Acadie 23 Apr 1707, for which he was ordered to enlist forty or fifty Indians. Stephen inherited considerable property in Scituate from his father and from his brother James, and after his marriage to Hannah Ensign his possessions in Scituate were increased by her inheritance from her father and grandmother. He resided in the Ensign house north of Satuit Brook. In 1697 he purchased land for a new house ‘north of Job Otis’ warehouse.’ This house built in 1697 was standing until 1927 when it was demolished. It was known as the Capt. James Little anad the William Paley Allen house, and stood on Front Street at the Harbor Villiage, just south of the Jesse Dunbar ‘Mansion House.’ It was the first Young’s Tavern, and in this house in 1767 the last meeting of the Conihassett Partners was held.

• From Deane’s History of Scituate: [6]
  

"Capt. Stephen Otis's will dated 1729, gives 'To son Ensigh the homestead, with all the upland and meadow on each side of the way, with the Tan house and Tan vats--to John, Hannah, Mary, Isaac, Stephen, Joseph, Josua, out lands, &c.'"

• From the Otis genealogy: [223]
  

Capt. Stephen’s “monument is in the old burying ground near the harbor, the inscription being still legible in 1907; his wife being also buried in the old graveyard on Meeting House Lane.”
“In June 1689 he took the Oath of Fidelity. At that time he was living in Scituate, in which town he was Commander of the Militia, an office of considerable importance in those times.
“He bought some of the Conihasset lands of Wm. James. ‘Captain Stephen Otis’s new house’ is mentioned in the records of 1691. This house was still standing in 1831, when it was known as ‘Young’s Tavern.’ Three of the same name as his sone, Ensign Otis, in succeeding generations have occupied the original Ensign house.”

Sources

• http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/gen/report/rr06/rr06_210.htm#P13

Citations

• 223. William A. Otis, A Memoir of the Otis Family, Winnetka, Ill, 1924.
• 116. Vital Records of Scituate, Massachusetts to the Year 1850, NEHGS, Boston, 1909, two volumes.
• 7. L. Vernon Briggs, History and Genealogy of the Briggs Family, 1254-1937, 1938, Three volumes.
• 6. Samuel Deane, History of Scituate, Massachusetts, from Its First Settlement to 1831.
• 85. “Scituate Births, marriages, and deaths,” transcribed by George Ernest Bowman, Mayflower Descendant, various volumes.
• 176. Robert E. Bowman, “Ensigns revisited,” TAG 292 (1998), 241-255.

Footnotes

1. “Steven Oatice married to Hanah Ensine th 16 day of Janne — 1685”.