John Barstow

Evidence needed to support as son of Isabella Barstow & Matthew Barstow, II

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1. John Barstow d. Feb. 13, 1657/8. At age 33 he drowned coming from Dedham, in the night after falling through the ice near Mr. Parker's farm. Widow: unknown name. 3 sons - Michael b. 1653 at Watertown, m. Rebecca Traine, died 1698, had 1 daughter Hannah; John; Jeremiah, perhaps the one whom Deane (History of Scituate, p. 218) attributes to his brother William.

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https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Barstow-4

Disputed Origins

"Bond found the baptism at Shelf, Halifax, Yorkshire, 17 Nov 1600, of Michael Barstow, son of Matthew Barstow [Bond 677]; Matthew Wood found the baptism at Halifax, 6 Jan 1600/1, of Michael Barstow, son of Michael Barstow of Northowram [NYGBR 121:98]. Given the size of this parish and the multiplicity of Barstow families therein, further research needs to be undertaken before we can identify the parents of Michael Barstow and his brothers.)[1][2] There are also baptisms of Michaels (son of Michael) on 17 Feb 1599 and 18 Jan 1600 at St. john the Baptist in Halifax.

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http://www.islandregister.com/beairsto.html
JOHN ["USUALLY WRIT. BAISTOE"]5 BARSTOW (MATTHEW4, MATHEW3, JOHN2, WILLIAM1) was born 1625 in Parish Shelf, Near Halifax, County York, Yorkshire, England. He came to America with his brothers William, George, and Michael on the "Truelove" in 1635. They settled first in Boston and Charlestown, and later in Scituate, MA.

He married HANNAH/ANNA AGNESA YAROSLAVA KIEV 29 Jan 1649 in France.

Children of JOHN BARSTOW and HANNAH/ANNA KIEV are:

i. JOHN6 BARSTOW, b. 1650; d. Aft. 1713.

28. ii. JEREMIAH BARSTOW, b. Abt. 1652, Scituate, Massachusetts Bay Colony, New England [Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA, USA]; d. 26 Mar 1676, killed by Indians with Captain Michael Pierce at Rehoboth, Massachusetts Bay Colony, New England (Pawtucket Falls, Bristol Co., MA, USA).

29. iii. MICHAEL BARSTOW, b. 1653; d. 02 Dec 1698.

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https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/122181767/john-barstow
"Barstow-Bestor Genealogy: Descendants of John Barstow and George Barstow, including families named Basto, Bastow, Bestow, Beairsto." Radasch, Arthur H. (Arthur Hitchcock) (Main Author). Publication:1964. xi, 283 p. Came to America with brother Michael in 1635. Fell Through the ice in the Charles River between Dedham and Watertown and drowned near Mr. Parker’s farm coming from Dedham in the night on 13 Feb 1658.

"The McTavish Family of Rothschild, WI". (Cathy McTavish: 16 April 2004) Name: John Barstow (m); aka John /Baistoe/. Birth: 1625 in Parish Shelf, ear Halifax, Yorkshire, England. Death: 13 February 1657/58 in Dedham, MA, USA Note: John died while crossing the Charles River on the ice.

Marriage 1 Hannah Unknown (born between 1613 and 1635).

Married: "Barstow, John (-1658); married 1653; Hannah _____"; Torrey, Clarence A. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004.

Parents: Original memorial stated John's father was Mathew Barstow born 25 March 1590 in Parish Shelf, near Halifax, Yorkshire, England. And his mother was Isobel Hill born about 1592 in Parish Shelf, near. Halifax, Yorkshire, England.

Children

• 1. Michael Barstow, born about 1649.
• 2. John Barstow, born about 1651.
• 3. Jeremiah Barstow, born about 1653.

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From "A Historical Sketch of the Town of Hanover, Mass., with Family Genealogies ..."

By John Stetson Barry

John, although not expressly called so, was, we have no doubt, was the

brother of George and Michael, and resided in Cambridge, where he died in

1657, the Inv. of his Est. being entered the 20 d. 12 mo. 1657, 3 and

consisting chiefly of farming utensils. In this Inv., mention is made

of a widow, who appeared before the governor, Feb. 25, 1657-8

and testified to that being a true Inv. of the Est. of her hush. &c

As no will exists, we find no ch. named ; but if he be the one

alluded to in the will of Michael, above, he had 3 sons, Michael,

John, and Jeremiah ; — and if this Michael be the one who testified

in the case of a complaint vs. Susanna Woodward et. al. 1671, 3, 6,4

where he is called Michael, jr., and said to be ae. ab. 17, he was

b. ab. 1654. We find that John, the father, instituted a suit vs.

1 Middlesex Court Files, pasaim. * Mid. Prob. Rcc. 4. 168.

Ann Hibbins, Relict and Exec, of Wm.Hibbins, desc'd., in 1656, 3,

29,' which was but about a year before his decease. The name of

hi? w5d. we have not learned. Michael, the son, m. Rebecca

Thaire or Thayer, Jan. 12, 1676, and d. Dec. 2, 1698, leaving

an only da. Hannah.' He owned " a homestall containing 6 acres

of upland and meadow, with a mantion house, and barn, orchards

and cyder mill, &c."

The history of the other sons, — John and Jeremiah, — is involved

in a little obscurity. There was a JvJm Barstow in Scit. in 1678i

who is called by Dcane a son of Wm., formerly of Dedham, and

who, he says, was prob. b. in Dedham. There was also a Jeremiah

in Scit., who was " killed by the Indians in 1676," and whose wid.

Lydia m. Richard Standlake, 1677. This Jeremiah is also called

by Deane a son of Wm. of Dedham. But as there is no actual

record of the birth of such sons to Wm., we think there is room to

doubt the correctness of Deane's suggestion. It is certain that John

of Camb., had sons Jno. and Jere., but not certain that Wm. had

such. We think it most probable, therefore, that John and Jeremiah

settled in Scituate, and were sons of John, who d. at Camb., and

not of Wm. of Dedham.

Of their history, and descendants, we shall speak hereafter.

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https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/barstow/333/
The immigrant Barstow siblings were four brothers (Michael, William, George, and John) and two sisters (Elizabeth and Susan).The relationship of these individuals is clearly established by the will of Michael Barstow and other court records.In his “Historical Sketch of Hanover, Mass”, 1853, J. S. Barry wrote that this family is of English origin from West Riding of Yorkshire.In “Barstow – Bestor Genealogy”, 1964, by Arthur Hitchcock Radasch, the author reinforced this belief that the family had come from Yorkshire.However, in “The William Barstow Family”, 1966, also by Radasch, additional data is produced which casts serious doubt over this conclusion.I will quote excerpts from that work.

“A handwritten notebook in the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston states …’After the History of the town of Hanover and its inhabitants by Barry was published, opportunity was presented in 1854 to engage the services of Mr. H. G. Somerby (who was about to sail for England for the purpose of making historical research) to embrace every opportunity that presented to collect facts relating to the family previous to 1635 – that being the time of their arrival in New England.He was fortunate in obtaining extracts from the Prerogation Office of the Archbishop of York and from the Parish Register of Halifax in Yorkshire – copy of which is hereto annexed – Providence, Feb. 11, 1864.’”

“The records were apparently kept at first on loose slips of paper, and soon after copied into the present volumes, so it is very possible that some were mislaid and omitted.From the fact that the mother’s names are not given in connection with baptisms, and from the similarity of the Christian names of the fathers, it is extremely difficult to trace a perfect pedigree.”

“Since William Barstow was born in 1612, and his brother George in 1614, as shown by their ages when they embarked on the Truelove in 1635, and since their brother John was born in 1624 or 1625, as shown by his age at death, this compiler examined the copies made by Mr. Somerby of Baptisms in the parish of Halifax, but could not find among them records that these three were brothers and had the same father.Thus, doubt is cast on the presumption that these Barstow brothers came from around Halifax.”

“The author of this notebook (and sponsor of Mr. Somerby) did not include his name, but he was probably Mr. John Barstow (1791-1864) of Providence, RI.A letter written November 27, 1868 stated, ‘The late John Barstow of Providence, RI, left an account of the family in MA, which has never been printed.’Neither the New England Historic Genealogical Society nor the Rhode Island Historical Society has a manuscript account of the family of John Barstow; the letter must refer to this notebook, or to other papers that did not find their way to a genealogical library.”

“Other evidence of the origin of the family has been found in the ‘Topographical Dictionary of 2885 English Emigrants to New England, 1620-1650’ by Charles E. Banks, 1937.This book lists George Barstow and William Barstow as emigrants from the parish of Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire.The source is the Banks Manuscript in the ‘Library of C. E. Banks’ in the Library of Congress.Others from Buckinghamshire also sailed on the Truelove with the Barstow brothers; William Preston, his wife and four daughters from Chesham Parish (about 10 miles from Princes Risborough), and Richard Hawes, his wife and two children from Mussenden Great.Thus, although there were many Barstows in Yorkshire around the year 1600, the evidence obtained by Mr. Banks shows that William Barstow and his brother George came from Buckinghamshire, not Yorkshire.”

You questioned whether the immigrants William and George were the sons of Matthew, Matthew II, or Thomas.These men were from Yorkshire, so the evidence presented by the late Arthur Radasch indicates that none of them were the father of the immigrant Barstows.

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http://www.bestor.org/history.htm
The earliest authenticated records known to exist of the Bestor family date back to the ship's manifest of the September 20, 1635 voyage of the English ship called the "TRUELOVE" which sailed to Massachusetts from London, England on that date. Listed on that ship's manifest are the names of William Berestow (Barstow), age 23, George Berestow (Barstow), aged 21, and their brothers Michael and John, who came to America on this very ship on Sept. 20, 1635, with John Gibbs as the ship's Master (Captain). The brother's names were hand written as "Beresto" on the ship's list (Reg. 14:323). The ship's logs established 1612 as the year of William's birth, and 1614 as the year of George's birth. Two sisters of these brothers also came to America on this trip. One sister, Elizabeth, later married William Randall in Scituate, MA, in 1640, and the other sister, Susan, married William Perry of Marshfield. These early ancestors of ours became some of the earliest settlers of the Massachusett's Bay Colony.

It is unknown at this time as to the reason why our ancestors decided to leave their homes in England to sail across the vast waters of the Atlantic Ocean in a tiny wooden ship only to later endure the many hardships of the New World. Perhaps William, his brothers and sisters were adventurous souls, or like so many others, were seeking freedom from the religious persecution of England's King James at this time. Perhaps the opportunity to better themselves and stake claims to their own land was their motivation. Perhaps the name change was not really an accident, but intentional, and the brothers were hiding from authorities. Whatever the reason, the last name of many of William Barstow's descendants became permanently changed to Bestor.