John French, of Ipswich & Topsfield

John French

• Birth: about 1637 - Ipswich, Massachusetts Bay Colony
• Death: 15 March 1706 or 25 January 1707 - Topsfield, Massachusetts
• Father: Thomas French1 b. 27 Nov 1608, d. 8 Aug 1680
• Mother: Mary1 b. c 1595, d. 6 May 1681
• Spouse: Phebe Keyes - married 29 FEB 1660 at Ipswich, Essex, MA

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Family

https://wc.rootsweb.com/trees/152726/I12696/john-french/individual

John French married Phebe Keyes, daughter of Robert Keyes and Sarah, on 29 FEB 1660 at Ipswich, Essex, MA [IGI]. She was born 17 Jun 1639 at Newbury. and died 14 May 1701 at Topsfield.

Children of John /French/ and Phebe /Keyes/ are:

1. Mary French was born ABT 1662 in Of Topsfield, Essex, MA [Carrie Edget, ref. 9], and died 27 SEP 1730 in Rowley, Essex, MA [Carrie Edget].
2. Sarah French was born 1 MAR 1665 in Topsfield, Essex, MA [3], and died 1 NOV 1761.
3. Martha French was born 9 AUG 1669 in Topsfield, Essex, MA [3].
4. John French was born 26 AUG 1671 in Topsfield, MA [Carrie C. Edget], and died 20 APR 1730 in Norwich, CT [9] [HDF].
5. Lydia French was born 17 MAY 1674 in Topsfield, Essex, MA [3], and died 31 MAY 1746.
6. Richard French was born 18 AUG 1676 in Topsfield, Essex, MA [Carrie Edget, ref. 9], and died 13 MAR 1757 in Enfield, CT [HDF] [Enfield Street cem. Enfield, CT. p. 38].
7. Hepzibah French was born 2 FEB 1679 in Topsfield, Essex, MA, and died AFT 1737 in of Topsfield, Essex, MA [9].
8. Patience French was born 23 AUG 1681 in Topsfield, Essex, MA [3], and died 4 DEC 1750 in Coventry, Tolland, CT.

Biography

French, in Davis, Walter Goodwin, Compiler, and Introduction by Gary Boyd Roberts. Massachusetts and Maine Families in the Ancestry of Walter Goodwin Davis (1885-1966): A Reprinting, in Alphabetical Order by Surname, of the Sixteen Multi-Ancestor Compendia (plus Thomas Haley of Winter Harbor and His Descendants). (Baltimore, Maryland, United States: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1996) 1:583.

"John (French); m. Phebe Keyes, daughter of Robert and Sarah Keyes, about 1660. She was born in Watertown June 17, 1639, Her mother m. Sergt John Gage of Ipswich in 1658, and when her estate was settled in 1681 the wife of John French is mentioned as one of her three daughters. John French, a tailor by trade, moved from Ipswich to Topsfield about the year 1664. Some ten years later he built the house which forms the nucleus of the French-Andrews house, so called, still standing near the Newburyport turnpike in Topsfield and well known to antiquaries. He was admitted a commoner of Topsfield in 1675/6 and took the oath of allegiance and fidelity in 1678. He was corporal and clerk of the local military company, served the county on grand and trial juries and the town in various minor offices, Phebe (Keyes) French committed suicide by drowning in May, 1701, and in December of that year John French deeded his home to his son John in return for the usual consideration of care in his old age. He d. about the year 1706, and his children divided his estate by agreement in August, 1707, his son John being the administrator."

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• FRENCH, John
• b. FEB 1634/5 Ipswich, Essex, Mass.
• d. 25 JAN 1706/7 Ipswich, Essex, Mass.
• Parents:
• Father: FRENCH, Thomas
• Mother: SCUDAMORE, Mary (disputed)
• Family:
• Marriage: ABT 1660 Ipswich, Essex, Mass.
• Spouse: KEYES, Phebe
• b. 17 JUN 1639 Newbury, Essex, Mass.
• Parents:
• Father: KEYES, Robert
• Mother: Sarah,
• Children:
  • FRENCH, Mary
  • FRENCH, Sarah
  • FRENCH, Phebe
  • FRENCH, Martha b. 9 AUG 1669 Topsfield, Essex, Mass.
  • FRENCH, John
  • FRENCH, Lydia b. 17 MAY 1674 Topsfield, Essex, Mass.
  • FRENCH, Richard
  • FRENCH, Phebe b. 8 MAY 1677 Topsfield, Essex, Mass. d. 25 APR 1718
  • FRENCH, Hepzibah
  • FRENCH, Patience
  • FRENCH, Thomas
• From: http://www.genealogyofnewengland.com/f_21d.htm#70 _____________
• Specific Ancestral Lines of the Boaz, Paul, Welty & Fishel Families By Adrienne Boaz
• https://books.google.com/books?id=zzjxBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA528&lpg=PA528&d...
• Pg.309
• John French (Thomas, Mary) was born circa 1635 AN3 or 1637 LI3, BE6 in Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts BE7 and married Phoebe Keyes circa 1660 DA12 or 1662 BE7. Like his father, John was a tailor DA12, DO14. Robert Charles Anderson stated that he was the father of Thomas French, who was born in Ipswich on May 25, 1657 AN3, MA26, but there were other men named John French in the area at that time.
• His uncle, John French, the younger brother of his father, was baptized on May 26, 1622 in Assington, Suffolk, England, and settled in Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts, where he lived in 1648, probably until the summer of 1677 when he and his wife, Freedom, sold several parcels of land which were in Ipswich LI3. This uncle with the same name was also a tailor, and he removed to Northampton, Hampton County, Massachusetts, where he died in 1697 LI3. In 1667, a man named John French was the constable of Salisbury DO14, and because Salisbury is about sixteen miles away from Topsfield, this particular John French was probably not the John French
• Pg.310
• who married Phoebe Keyes. Further proof that the John French of Salisbury could not have also been the John French who married Phoebe Keyes was documented in 1679, for at a court session on November 11, 1679, "Jno. French of Salisbury was freed from training", but in April 1679, John French lived in Topsfield DO18. A man named John French resided in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, about sixty-eight miles southwest of Topsfield, who was the father of at least two children born in Rehoboth: Hannah, born in October 1679, and John, born in April 1681 SH16. There was also a Native American man named John French who was mentioned at the Salisbury Court in April 1677: "Upon motion of Capt. John Gillman of Exiter concerning an Indian servant called John French ...." DO17. Because multiple men who were named John French lived in the same region, certain early events of the life of John French, the subject of this biographical sketch, are difficult to definitively affix to one particular man, that is, until he moved to Topsfield.
• A record of a list of fines issued by Major Hathorne included a fine dated March 25, 1660 to John French, for stealing from the wife of John Gardner DO13. John, the subject of this biographical sketch, may have been this John who stole from Mrs. Gardner, and perhaps he was the John French who was made a freeman at the Ipswich Quarterly Court on March 27, 1660, and the "Jo. French" who was a juror at the Ipswich Court on September 25, 1660 CO13. He was called a tailor DA12 in 1661 DO14. At the Ipswich Court on March 25, 1662, John French was found guilty for withholding some cloth from Ossmond Dutch and for damaging Ossmond's coat and a suit which belonged to Ossmond's son DO13.
• He relocated from Ipswich to Topsfield in approximately the year 1664 DA12. He owed .... etc.
• Pages 313 to 314 are not shown in this preview.
• Pg.406
• Mary Scudamore (William, Margery) was born at Tedgewood, Upton Bishop, Hereford, England SK1 by the year 1598 or 1599, because her father died in December 1598 BE6. This indicates that she was at least ten years older than her husband, if the assumption that Thomas was baptized shortly after his birth is correct.
• She was the mother of a daughter named Mary, born September 1632 in Boston, but this child did not live very long AN3, BE6. She was also the mother of another daughter named Mary, sons, John, Thomas, Samuel, and Ephraim, and of Sarah French, who in September 1656 accused Hackaliah Bridges of impregnating her (AN3, AN6, BE6, DO13. Hackaliah Bridges was the son of Edmund Bridges (see page 495). In a deposition given by Thomas French on December 23, 1658, Thomas stated that he was twenty-two years old, and in another deposition dated December 30, 1658, Ephraim was said to have been about fifteen years old DO13. Her son, Thomas, may have been the Thomas French who served in King Philip's War under Captain Samuel Appleton; this Thomas was mentioned in lists of men, one of which was dated June 24, 1676, which included Jonathan Emery (see page 283) and Mosses Pengrie BO2.
• Brian J.L. Berry, in his work "Was Mary French a Scudamore?" and Warren Skidmore, in his work, "Mary Scudamore (ca 1598-1681), Wife of Thomas French of Ipswich, Massachusetts; An Old Debate Newly Resolved" present evidence for their argument that Mary French was the daughter of William Scudamore. A brief synopsis of these two articles follows, which together entail three key points, but a great portion of Brian Berry's rationale involves the interrelationship of individuals of several families, specifically with regard to property in Upton Bishop; a summation of his article is insufficient and for this reason should be read independently.
• Firstly the pedigree of William Scudamore V was documented by Thomas May in The Visitation of the County of Gloucester, 1682-1683, and this pedigree stated that the daughter of William Scudamore was "Mary wife of ____ French of Boston in New England" MA36.
• Secondly, Mary's brother, William Scudamore IV of Gloucester (who ws the father of the aforementioned William V), created his will on November 14, 1636 BE6, SK1, and in this will he mentioned his sister BE6:
  • I William Scudamore of The Citty of Gloucester... I doe give unto all the nowe children of Mary French my sister, to each of them five pounds apeace to be paid att their severall ages of one and twenty yeares.
• There were three men named Thomas French in the Boston area in the 1600s: two of them were the subjects of biographies in this book, and
• Pg.407
• another married a woman named Mary Button and relocated to Guilford, Connecticut BE6. Another man, Stephen French of Weymouth, Massachusetts, was married to a woman named Mary, but they had just begun to have children circa 1635 (their first child was said to have been born about that year) AN3. In his will, William Scudamore IV used the word "children", as opposed to "child", and so it is doubtful that Mary, the wife of Stephen French, was William's sister. This essentially leaves just Mary, the wife of Thomas French, who must have been the sister of William Scudamore IV BE6, SK1.
• Lastly, property transactions in Upton Bishop, England link William Scudamore III with Isabel Redverne in Ipswich, then to the Pengry brothers in both Ipswich and Gloucester, then later still to William Scudamore V, who owned the Manor of Bishop's Upton and purchased "Tedswood" in 1679/80 BE6. William Scudamore III purchased two farms in Upton Bishop, Herefordshire, England; one was called Tedgewood (also known as Testwood or Tedswood) and the other was called Thornes BE6. Later, at least part of Tedgewood was owned by Isabell Redverne of Ispwich, Massachusetts, and in her will created in 1650, she bestowed shares of the farms to Moses and Aaron Pengry BE6 (Pingry TH31), also of Ipswich BE6, TH31. These two Pengry brothers requested that their brother, Thomas (who lived in Gloucester, England), control the farm operations AS1:
  • .... etc.
• The argument that Mary French was the daughter of William Scudamore III, then, can be concluded in this fashion: the daughter of William Scudamore III was referred to as Mary French of Boston, and the sister of William Scudamore IV of Gloucester was referred to as Mary French, who had more than one child in 1636. Thomas and Mary French were acquainted with the Pengry brothers because the Pengry brothers and the French family resided in Ipswich, Massachusetts, Moses and Aaron Pengry had ties back to
• Pg.408
• Upton Bishop and Gloucester in England, and the Scudamore family had already been associated with those areas. Finally, Giles Lye was the cousin of William Scudamore V and the brother-in-law of Thomas Pengry, which firmly links those two families.
• Pg.489
• Thomas French (Jacob, Susan) was born in 1584 TH31 or 1585 TH34 in Assington, Suffolk, England BA11, TH34, TH31 and was baptized on October 11, 1584 in Bures St. Mary, on the border of Suffolk and Essex in England TH34. Thomas married Susan Riddlesdale BA11, BE7, L13, TH31 on September 5, 1608 L13, CA12, BE7 in St. Edmund Parish BE7, Assington, Suffolk L13. He was probably the man named Thomas French who was mentioned in the will of John Gurdon, Esquire, of Assington, Suffolk, which was written on December 6, 1621 and proven on October 10, 1623 WA19. John Gurdon bequeathed several parcels of land to his grandson, also named John Gurdon, and one of these parcels was described as "the messuage or farm house wherein on Thomas French doth now inhabit, called Garland's, and lands belonging &c., which I did lately purchase of Sir William Waldgrave, knight, the elder, situate in Assington...." WA19.
• He, and the remaining members of his family who had not already left for the New World, sailed from England to Boston after 1633 AN3 or circa 1637 TH35, L13, BE6, TH31. The Winthrop Fleet of 1630 did not state the name of the ship which transported the French family, nor did it indicate in which year they traveled, but simply listed their names in "Appendix A; Alphabetical List of Passengers" BA11. He settled in Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts BE7, and owned land at Reedy Marsh in 1638 and 1639 BE6, SC4, which was a planting lot that he owned on or before July 25, 1638 DA12.
• He died in Ipswich in 1639 TH35, L13, BA11, and the administration of his estate was granted to his widow on November 5, 1639 SH17, TH35, DA12. The court record stated that, by the advice of the Ipswich magistrates, his land was to be sold "for the maintenance of his wife & education of his children, wch are not yet able to p[ro]vide for themselues" SH17.
• Susan Riddlesdale (John, Dorcas) was said to have been born in about 1587 TH31 or 1588 in England, but she was allegedly baptized on April 20, 1584 in Boxford, Suffolk TH34. Another baptismal record for a child named Susan Riddlesdale, whose father was John, ocurred in Lindsey, Suffolk, less than four miles northeast of Boxford, on September 6, 1584 EN4.
• Susan was mother of Thomas, Alice, Dorcas, Susan, Anne, Margaret, John, and Mary BE7, L13, DA12, although she may have had nine children TH34. Four of her children, Thomas, Alice, Dorcas, and Susan, sailed for the colonies prior to her own immigration AN3, DA12. All of her children baptized in Assington, Suffolk: Thomas on November 27, 1608, Alice on April 9, 1610, Dorcas on July 31, 1614, Susan on April 22, 1616, Anne on March 15, 1617, Margaret on March 12, 1619, John on May 26, 1622, and Mary on January 6, 1624 DA12.
• She was enumerated as "Widdow French" in a list of commoners in Ipswich on "the last day of the last month" in 1641 SC4, which would have been in February 1641. A Dorcas "Ridelsdell" was listed as a witness in a defamation case between Richard Smith and Joseph Fowlar in the Ipswich Court on March 30, 1647 CO12; this Dorcas may have been her niece, the daughter of her brother, Edward TH34. While Edward did not immigrate to
• Pg.490
• New England, his wife, Mary, died in Rowley, Essex County, Massachusetts, in 1683 TH34.
• Susan died in August 1658 in Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts BE7, L13, and her son, John, was granted the administration of her estate on September 28, 1658 DO13. The Ipswich record of her death simply stated, "Susan French, widdow dyed in August, 1658" MA26. A complete list of the items of her estate, which had a value of a mere twelve pounds, was inventoried on March 10, 1658/9 by Robert Lord and Phillip Fowler, and they have been transcribed below TH26:
  • .... etc.
• Pg.528
• John Riddlesdale (Henry, Joan) was baptized on September 26, 1557 in Boxford, Suffolk, England TH34. He married Dorcas circa 1583, probably in Assington, Suffolk TH34. John and Dorcas sold several acres of pasture land to John and Faith Gryme of Assington for 120 pounds on January 3, 1613 or 1614 TH34. He was buried adjacent to Dorcas on June 4, 1629 in Assington, Suffolk, England TH34.
• Dorcas "released her interest in land leased in June 1555 by John and Robert Gurdon for 500 years to John Vigorus the younger" on January 3, 1613 or 1614, and may have been a relative of John Vigorus, who was a clothier of Langham, Essex TH34. Dorcas was the mother of Susan, baptized on April 20, 1584, as well as Richard, Thomas, Joan and Dorcas, who may have been twins, Edward, and John, who were all born in the approximate years of 1586 through 1598, and finally Sarah, who was baptized at Assington on March 2, 1599/1600 TH34. Dorcas was buried on September 24, 1624 in Assington, Suffolk, England TH34. __________________ Birth: Feb., 1635 Ipswich Essex County Massachusetts, USA Death: Mar. 15, 1706 Topsfield Essex County Massachusetts, USA

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John was the son of Thomas French Sr. & Mary Scudamore. He married Phoebe Keyes. To this union, 9 children were born:

Sarah Mary Phoebe Richard Hepzibah Martha John Lidiah Patience

He was a tailor, moved to Topsfield, MA, about 1664, and was admitted a commoner there in 1675. He took the oath of allegiance and fidelity 1678. Served as a corporal and clerk of lite local military company. He served as a grand juror and also on trial juries of the town. He was chosen surveyor of highways, or fences, or both, seven times, tythingman, three times, on jury at Ipswich, three times, grand juryman, three times, and commissioner on special errands to the"sheare Towne," twice. He built a one story house about 1675, which before 1798 was raised to two stories and enlarged. This is still standing, and is known as the "French-Andrews" house, located on Howlett St., near the Dry Bridge.

A few years before his death he deeded his homestead to his son John, by the following instrument, dated Dec. 2, 1701 ... quoted in article...

John French and his wife were both members of the church in Topsfield, in a list dated 1684. There are two stories of her death: "John French his wife drown herself May 13, 1701. " Phebe French dyed on ye 14th of May 1701." Frenchline, vol 4, no. 1, p. 20 1: The French-Andrews house, The oldest House owned by a French in the US. As far as we know, this is the oldest house still standing that was built or occupied by a French. This house, built by John French in 1675, stands near the Topsfield, MA, town common. John French was the son of Thomas French of Ipswich, the first person inthe US with the name French ..... This house is now owned and being restored by Peter Clemsey, who is keeping as much original as possible.

Family links:

Spouse:

• Phoebe Keyes French (1639 - 1701)

Children:

• Mary French Pearson (1663 - 1730)*
• Calculated relationship

Burial: Unknown

Edit Virtual Cemetery info [?]

Maintained by: Sandy Vandertol Originally Created by: Beca Record added: Jul 30, 2009 Find A Grave Memorial# 40080647 https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=french&GSfn=...

Origins

Children of Thomas French and Mary:

1. Mary, bp Boston 23 Sep 1632; d soon
2. Mary, bp Boston 2 Mar 1633/4; m by 1657 Robert Smith
3. John, b abt 1635; m by 1657 Phebe Keyes, dau of Robert Keyes
4. Thomas, b abt 1636; m Ipswich 29 Feb 1659/60 Mary Adams
5. Sarah, b abt 1638; on 30 Sep 1656 "Hackaliah Bridges, accused by Sarah French of his getting her with child..." if she was a dau of Thomas French, she apparently died without issue prior to 1680 as she is not named in his will.
6. Samuel, b abt 1641; convicted for fornication 26 Mar 1667; d Ipswich 1688, apparently unmarried.
7. Ephraim, b abt 1643; d Enfield CT Sept 1716, unmarried.

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References

1. “Thomas French” in the New England, The Great Migration and The Great Migration Begins, 1620-1635. Page 703 - < AncestryImage >; Page 709 (Family) < AncestrySharing >
2. French Family Association: The Official Website of the Surname French. Chart #1, Thomas French, 1584, Assington, Suffolk, England. Ipswich, Essex Co., MA. < link >
3. “Three French Daughters and Their Husbands: Three Unrecorded Marriages from Early Ipswich, Massachusetts. Amy (French) Gage, Susan (French) Kingsbury, and Anne (French) Hardy.” Melinde Lutz Byrne and John Edward Hardy. NEHGR, 2021. (document attached)
4. http://our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p5429.htm#... cites
5. [S11597] Ancestry.com, Submitted by JoanGardner1948.
   1. [S14] Unknown author, New England Marriages Prior to 1700, by Clarence Almon Torrey., p. 284, and 3rd Supplement, p. 104.
6. jacob11 -- FFA Chart 1 Descendants of Thomas French (and several other French charts for research purposes) < Rootsweb database >