John Safford, Sr.

'http://minerdescent.wordpress.com/2010/08/24/thomas-safford/

John Safford Sr. was born about 1633, (his age was given in 1661 as about thirty).  Stories conflict about whether he was born in England or Ipswich, Mass., but he was most likely brought as a boy to Ipswich by his parents.  His parents were Thomas SAFFORD and Elizabeth SUTTON. He married Sarah LOW in 1661 in Ipswich, Mass. John died 16 Jun 1708 in Ipswich, Mass. Alternatively, John died 29 Aug 1701 in Ipswich,

Sarah Low was born about 1637 in Boxford, Suffolk, England.  Her parents were Thomas LOW and Margaret TODD. Sarah died after 1708 in Ipswich, Mass.

John Safford settled in Ipswich, Massachusetts. He was a blacksmith by trade and was interested in a small iron-works in Topsfield and Rowley village, being one of the the owners of the later in 1675.  He had a share of Plum Island. He gave land to his son Thomas for the maintenance of his wife and daughter by deed dated 5 Sep 1698.

John evidently lived on the farm of his father and was engaged in its cultivation probably in partnership with his brother Joseph, and before his death made provision similar to that made by his father, by which his wife, Sarah, and daughter were placed beyond danger of want in any contingency, by an annuity to be paid out of the product of the farm, and his wife joined him in the conveyance of the sixty-acre farm on such condition, the deed being signed by them September 5, 1665.

19 Jan 1661 – John bught a house and three acres in Ipswich on the north side of the river near the mill and bounded all about by highways from Anthony Potter.

1672 – In the September term of court, he sued Ensign John Gould for debt and lost the case, but in the November term his suit against Henry Leonard of the Topsfield iron-works for ten hundred-weight of bar iron was successful.

1675 – He saw service against the Indians in the Narragansett expedition during King Philip’s War

Children born in Ipswich:[1]

1. John, ca. 1662.
2. Sarah, b. 14 July 1664, d. 21 Jul 1712, age 47
3. Margaret, b. 28 Feb 1665; n.f.i.
4. Rebecca, b. ca. 30 Aug, 1667; m. 13 Jan 1689/90 Nathan Wheeler of Rowley
5. Mercy, b. 26 Feb 1668/9; n.f.i.
6. Elizabeth, b. 27 Feb 1670; m. 20 Jul 1697 Alexander Lovell
7. Thomas, b. 16 Oct 1672.
8. Joseph, b. 12 Mar 1674; n.f.i.
9. Mehitable, b.?; m.(1) 25 May 1702 John Hovey; m.(2) int. 07 Apr 1722, Ebenezer Browne of Rowley; m. (3) int. 24 Jul 1733 Lt. Jacob Perley of Boxford. Her brother Thomas deeded Hovey 1/4 acre out of his Ipswich houselot in 1708 .

Sources

• BIRTH: John is called a brother of Joseph Safford in Ipswich Quarterly Court rec, Sep 1667 (RECORDS AND FILES OF THE QUARTERLY COURTS OF ESSEX COUNTY, 9 vols. [Salem, MA, 1911-75], 3:448 [FHL #974.45 P2e]). Joseph is identifed as a son in the will of his father, Thomas Safford of Ipswich, 20 Feb 1666/7, proved 26 Mar 1667 (THE PROBATE RECORDS OF ESSEX COUNTY, 3 vols. [Salem, MA, 1916-20], 2:79-81 [FHL #974.45 P2p]). John's birth date is calculated from age "about thirty years" on Salem Quarterly Court rec, Nov 1661 (RECORDS AND FILES, 2:324).
• MAR: No mar rec found. Essex County deeds clearly show that John had a wife Sarah (Essex Co. Deeds, 32:161 [FHL #866028]). The will of Thomas Low of Ipswich, 20 Apr 1677, proved 6 Nov 1677, mentions a dau Sarah and a granddaughter Sarah Safford (THE PROBATE RECORDS OF ESSEX COUNTY, 3:175-76). The granddaughter Sarah is a proved dau of John Safford.
• DEATH: No death rec found. John was living in Ipswich as late as 5 Sep 1698 when he deeded land to his son Thomas (Essex Co. Deeds, 32:161 [FHL #866028]). John was dead before 16 Jun 1708 when his widow Sarah sold part of the homestead in Ipswich to Michael Farley (Ibid, 25:142 [FHL #866025]).
• OCC: Blacksmith

~LDS ORDINANCES BEP: IGI SEAL S: FGRA

Links

• http://www.ourgenerationsancestors.org/getperson.php?personID=I7854...
• Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal …, Volume 1 edited by Ellery Bicknell Crane
• http://www.magiccables.com/Family/n_a2.htm
• http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/gen/report/rr02/rr02_025.htm#P65236
• http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/12759687/person/11424870
• http://greenerpasture.com/Ancestors/Details/788
• http://www.ourgenerationsancestors.org/getperson.php?personID=I7854...

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From https://familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/15485448

New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 7 (1853), p. 83. ~.

Walter Lowe, Shorwell, Isle of Wight, County of South. Will dated 9-24-1578. Proved 4-30-1579. To be buried in Shorwell churchyard. To wife Annis best bed, &c. To John Lowe, eldest son of my son Henry Lowe, three sheepe &c. And to his yonger brother Thomas Lowe the two other shepe. To said John Lowe the cubbard in the hall, one heffer, &c. Rest to wife Annis and sonne Henry Lowe, executors. Supervisors brother-in-law Thomas Dapernell and neighbor John Terrell. Inventory, £16. 15s. - Archdeaconry of Winchester, Register, 2. Editor's note: This is probably the ancestor of Thomas Lowe, the pioneer of Chebacco, now Essex, but then part of Ipswich, MA, and possibly of John Lowe and other New England lines. Sarah, daughter of Thomas Lowe, married John, son of Thomas Safford, and in the early generations the New Englanders were apt to marry among their country folk in the mother land. The Saffords and Lowes seem thus to be neighbors in the Isle of Wight.