Deacon John Abbott, Jr.

Deacon John Abbott also lived on the homestead of his fathers. He was also a selectman and a Deacon of the church for thirty-four years.

There is a discrepancy regarding the date of marriage. "Genealogical Register of Descendants of George Abbot" gives the date as 1701, but Massachusetts vital statistics lists the date as 1702/03 (this dating used to account for the differences in calendar years still creating conflicts in years in the first three months of the year).

https://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Essex/Andover/aBirthsA.shtml "(ABBOT (Abbet, Abbett, Abbott, Abbut, Abbutt, Abett)) John, s. John and Sarah (Barker), Nov. 2, 1674."

https://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Essex/Andover/aMarriagesA.shtml "(ABBOTT (Abbet, Abbett, Abbot)) John, and Elizabeth Harndine, Jan. 6, 1702-3."

https://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Essex/Andover/aDeathsA.shtml "(ABBOTT (Abbet, Abbett, Abbot)) John, Dea., h. Elizabeth (Harnden), s. John and Sarah (Barker), Jan. 1, 1754, in his 80th y."

Andover VR has John & Elizabeth with these children:

• John, s. John and Elizabeth, ––– ––, 1703. died Sept. 10, 1703.
• –––––, ch. ––––– and Elizabeth, Aug. 3, 1704. This is John who married Phebe Fisk, Sept. 28, 1732.
• Elizabeth, d. John and Elizabeth, bp. Oct. 28, 1711. married Asa Foster Oct. 26, 1732
• [Abiel, s. CR2] John and Elizabeth, Jan. 7, 1715-16. died May 18, 1739, a. 23 y. 4 m. 11 d.
• Joseph, s. John and Elizabeth, Apr. 24, 1719. married Hannah Abbott, Nov. 12, 1741.

Note - the birth of Barachias is not recorded in Andover. However, his marriage to Hannah Holt in 1733 and the name of Elizabeth's brother is Barachias leads one to believe that Barachias Abbott is the son of John & Elizabeth.

Barachias is verified by his father's will.

John Abbot wrote his will 12 August 1747 and it was proved 21 January 1754. His will included bequests to the following persons: “Elizabeth, my dear and well-beloved wife” who received a fairly typical widow’s bequest of the use of the west end of the house and a detailed list of requirements for her son to meet for her continued maintenance; eldest and well-beloved son John received all the homestead lands and some other property and livestock including “one-quarter part of my stock of brute creatures”; second and well-beloved son Barachias received the full deed to the land on which he currently lived; “well-beloved and only daughter Elizabeth” received another quarter of the brute stock and a bequest of money which is to offset a bill of credit that she owes to her father; and youngest and well-beloved son Joseph gets the last quarter of the brute stock and the deed to land on which he has been living. John made additional dispositions of his silver money, paper money, and bills of credit among his wife and his four children. (Essex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1638-1881. Probate of John Abbot, 21 Jan 1754, Case number 67.)

Son Abiel Abbot graduated from Harvard in 1737. However, he died just two years later cutting short a promising career as a minister. The Reverend J. Barnard delivered a sermon at the funeral of Abiel lamenting the loss of a young life. [Harvard University, Quinquennial Catalogue, 119; William B. Sprague, Annals of the American Pulpit, Volume 1. (New York: Robert Carter, 1859).]