John Roberts, of Roxbury

Evidence needed to support John Roberts, of Roxbury as son of Margery Roberts and Thomas Roberts, or his wife Elizabeth Roberts as daughter of Thomas Bragg.

Robert Charles Anderson’s “The Great Migration Begins” has no names for their parents.

Biography

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Roberts-3554

John was probably born about 1589 or earlier (based on an average age of 25 at marriage, and marriage by 1615, based on having 9 children at the time of immigration). Our John Roberts married Elizabeth ______.[1] His daughter Jennette was suppose to have been born in Wales. The date of her birth has been given as 'about' 1612 although other sources give the date as 'about' 1622. Additional research with sources in England may help confirm some of these dates.

John left Wales in 1635[2] or 1636[3] and arrived in Roxbury, Massachusetts Bay Colony in the same year. He traveled with his wife Elizabeth, his mother (only identified as Mother Roberts, a Welch woman), and nine children. His children have been given as Thomas, Edward, Elizabeth, Margery, Jenet, Alice, Lidea, Ruth, and Deborah.[4]

John became a Freeman 22 May 1639.[5]

"Under date, 1645, is read 'month 11, day 7, Old Mothr Roberts, a Welch woman, she had lived about nine years in this country & dyed the hundred and third yeare of her aige. She was above 90 years ould wn she left her native country.' This was under the caption 'Deaths:' '1651, month 9, day 27, John Roberts dyed of a dropsy.' (All of the above church records are transcribed from the printed copy, as the originals are in sealed packets in a safe . . . "[3] The first month of the year prior to 1752 was March. So the ninth month would be November. John Roberts died 27 November 1651.

Children

Sons:

1. Thomas
2. Edward

Daughters:

1. Elizabeth may have married Edward Bragg[6]
2. Margery
3. Jenet, m Robert Starkweather[3]
4. Alice
5. Lidea
6. Ruth,
7. Deborah

References

1. Directory. Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Directory: Immigrants to New England, 1620–1640: A Concise Compendium (Boston, Massachusetts : New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015), ___. Reports John's origins are unknown. Anderson placed him at Roxbury, 1638; works consulted as "RChR 84, 172, 175; MBCR 1:376; SPR 2:135; Pillsbury 835; Carlton Lee Starkweather, A Brief Genealogical History of Robert Starkweather of Roxbury and Ipswich, Massachusetts (Occoquan, Virginia, 1904) 11-16." See Sources used in the Great Migration series. < link >
2. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/UNKNOWN-120474 cites
   1. Torrey, Clarence Almon. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1985, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1997, 2004. [Copyright 1985, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA.], p 628. [Ancestry.com]
   2. Michigan Daughters of the American Revolution. Bible Records and Genealogical Notes. 1941, p 189. [Ancestry.com]
   3. Starkweather, Carlton Lee, M. D.. A Brief Genealogical History of Robert Starkweather of Roxbury and Ipswich, Massachusetts Who Was the Original American Ancestor of All Those Bearing the Name of Starkweather and of His Son John Starkweather of Ipswich, Mass. and Preston, Conn. and of His Descendants in Various Lines, 1640-1898. Auburn, NY: Knapp, Peck and Thomson, 1904. pp 11-16. [Digital copy available at Internet Archive.] < link >