John Vinton

Biography

Caution

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Vinton-51

In this timeframe in England, there are lots of records online. But likewise there are lots of records not online and lots of records that do not exist. Civil birth, death, marriage records do not yet exist, so only church records (if one belonged) are available and many churches either didn't keep records or they have been lost.

We should not jump to conclusions from just one record. By the 1600's there are multiple families of Vintons in England. John and Anne are common names.

Hence, the two sets of parents listed below may both look like good candidates, but there is no proof and not enough circumstantial evidence to make a case.

Additionally a marriage took place between an Anne Moore and a John Vinton [prisoner] in 1646. This is perfect timing, but the place does not fit. [Marriage record from 1646 is from England, but he was in Massachusettts by then.] At this point there is just no proof.

John Vinton's Birth

We know that John was a skilled iron worker. The iron workers of England were a close knit group and probably spoke both French and English. Estimating from the birth of his first child in 1648 John was probably born say 1610-1628. The earlier date gives him time to become skilled in his craft.

Suggested parents:

• Blase and Eleanor (also the names of two of his children)
• Robert Vinton and Jane (Stone). John baptized: 24 Oct, 1619 in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England

Evidence needed to support birth of this John Vinton on about 1620 at Taunton, Somerset, England, son of Robert Vinton & Jane Vinton

Migration

John Winthrop Jr. began bringing persons to Massachusetts, for the ironworks, on the An Cleve in 1643. Production began in 1646. John's daughter was born in Massachusetts in 1648.

From Ironworks on the Saugus, a scholarly work by E.N. Hartley, Copyright 1957 Oklahoma University Perss

p 189 - "Ten men held forth mainly in the highly skilled work of the forge and the rolling and slitting mill. John Turner and John Vinton were apparently in charge of the fineries ..."

pp 280-286 A new ironworks was begun in New Haven between 1656 and about 1660. "It is doubtful in the extreme, however, if New Haven Furnace was in efrective production before 1663." p 284

p. 286 - "Eventually quite a large number of men who had previously been employed at Hammersmith and Braintree, and various members of their families, went to New Haven. Among them were ...John Vinton...

John Vinton and his wife died in New Haven Aug.3, 1684.

Family

John Vinton's wife was called Ann in the birth record of daughter Sara. She was called Elinor in the New Haven town records regarding the distribution of their estate. D. L. Jacobus believed that she was erroneously called Elinor in the town records.

Children, all born in Lynn, Massachusetts.[8][9]

1. Eleanor, b. May , 1648; m. Isaac Ramsdell, of Lynn, July 12, 1666.
2. John, b. March 2, 1650; m. Hannah Green, of Malden, Aug. 26, 1677.
3. William, b. last of April, 1652; m. dau. of Joseph Hills, of Maiden.
4. Blaise, b. April 22, 1654.
5. Ann, b. April 4, 1656.
6. Elizabeth, b. January 1657/8.
7. Sarah, b. Sept. 16, 1662, daughter of John and Ann

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Origins research & discussion

From https://www.geni.com/discussions/255705?msg=1591329 by wayne vinton, posted 10 October 2022:

Across different Geneology websites I have seen various theories about the origins of the John Vinton who arrived in the US in 1643. I wanted to add my own research to this.

The first John Vinton in the England came from the Pays de Bray, Normandy in 1519. He was a finer, a skilled worker in the making of wrought iron using a new process using a blast furnace and then a finery forge. Often referred to as the ‘Walloon Process’, it had first been mentioned in Namur around 1450 and skilled workers moved as quality iron ore and wood supplies (for charcoal) were exhausted or their prices became economically prohibitive.

I am researching which John Vinton left England in May 1643 and ventured to Massachusetts with other iron workers having had his passage paid by John Winthrop, Jr.

My belief is that the John Vinton who emigrated to Massachusetts likely did so from Sussex, England where successive generations of Vintons had worked as finers in what was then the centre of England’s iron and ordanance/armaments industries.

The original John (Vynton) Vinton in England was known to be working as a finer in the Mayfield area of Sussex, where several finery forges existed, until at least 1552 (Age 58). In 1540, his tax records note him living in Tottingworth, a few miles from the Mayfield forges. He had married an English woman.

I have identified several generations of Vintons living in the Mayfield area and indeed working as finers. John Vinton who emigrated to Massachusetts was employed as a finer at Saugus Ironworks.

Other emigres from Sussex to Braintree/Lynn included: Quinton Pray, a finer, (Mayfield/Frant-7 miles from Mayfield), John Hardman (Frant) and Nicholas Pinion (Warbleton-3 miles from Mayfield).

I think it is safe to assume word of mouth between workers or personal recommendations had some role in recruitment and that it only occurred throughout a limited area.Indeed Quiton Pray’s wife (Joan Vallance) was born in or around Mayfield and lived there until around 1630. She will no doubt have known several Vintons in a Parish of a few hundred people at most. Indeed, the Valyance’s had arrived in the 1550’s from France also. I am presently seeking to find birth details for a John Vinton born in Sussex 1600-1620.

Supporting data

https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LZKH-3KN/ann-moore-1619-1664

Ann Moore was born on 8 October 1619, in St George, Birmingham, West Midlands, England, United Kingdom. She married John L. Vinton on 20 July 1646, in Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 4 daughters. She died on 3 August 1664, in New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut, United States, at the age of 44.

John VINTON1 was born 1620 in Taunton, Hampshire, England1, and died August 03, 1664 in New Haven, New Haven County, Connecticut

Said in the Vinton Memorial (1858) by John Adams Vinton to be probably of French Huguenot extraction was at Lynn as early as 1648 where he was connected with the Iron Works County He and his wife Anne both died at New Haven Aug.3,1664. [Sprague #5243]

Sixteen years after the Puritans settled Boston, they built this impressive, large manufacturing complex [Lynn (Saugus) Ironworks]. At the time there were only a dozen such high-tech plants in all of Europe. Skilled metallurgists John Turner and John Vinton were brought in to manage the fineries. Unskilled laborers cut wood for making charcoal, and quarrying the bog ore and flux.

from: FindAGrave

Birth: 1620, England Death: 1663 New Haven New Haven County Connecticut, USA

Place of birth possibly England or France (rumored Huguenot heritage), year estimated 1620. Emigrated to New England possibly by 1643. Of Lynn, Massachusetts, by 1648 (birth of daughter).

Children (births recorded at Lynn):

• Ann d. Jo[h]n, 4 : 2 m : 1656. CT. R.
• Blaze, s. Jo[h]n, 22 : 2 m : 1654 CT. R.
• El[ea]nor, d. Jo[h]n, __ : 3 m : 1648 CT. R.
• Elizabeth, d. Jo[h]n, __ : 11 m : 1657
• John, s. Jo[h]n, 2 : 1 m : 1650 CT. R.
• Sara, d. John and Ann, 16 : 7 m : 1662 CT. R.

Will, s. Jo[h]n, "last" : 2 m : 1652 CT. R. (MAVR)

Sources:

Thanks to Find A Grave member Anne for providing information about John Vinton's dates and places of birth and death. Anne cites the Wereley-Savey family tree.

Massachusetts Vital Records (MAVR). Lynn - v 1, p 410. Via American Ancestors.org

The Vinton memorial: comprising a genealogy of the descendants of John Vinton of Lynn, 1648. John Adams Vinton (1858). Note: Use this work only for clues. Much information has been disproved or expanded by later researchers.

Family links:

Spouse: Ann Moore Vinton (1619 - 1664)

Children:

• John Vinton (1650 - 1727)*
• Blaze Vinton (1654 - 1716)*

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Hearth (left) and trip hammer (centre) in a finery forge. In the back room (right) is a large pile of charcoal. By William F. Durfee - "The Development of American Industries Since Columbus", The Popular Science Monthly, volume 38, page 171., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11875568

References

• http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/h/o/f/William-R-Hoffman/...
• http://books.google.ca/books?id=RQx39omkfOYC&printsec=titlepage&dq=... see page 229
• The Vinton Memorial, Comprising a Genealogy of the Descendants of John ... Author John Adams Vinton. Page 19 Archive.Org
• http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMG7MT_Saugus_Iron_Works_Saugus_MA
• 2000 Essex Genealogist Vol 20 - “Glimpses into the English and Continental Ancestry of Certain Braintree and Saugus Ironworkers of About 1650 Vinton Leonard, Pray, Pinion, Tyler and Russell.” See particularly the Afterward where it discusses John Vinton in more detail (along with others in more detail). “May 1598, married at St. Mary’s Handworth, near Birmingham, Warwick, Blasius Vyntam and Eleanor Knolles (Eleanor “fam. Henricus Barebon de Wynsdon green” parish of Birmingham and “Blasie Vyntam de pury forge, fyner” (forge at Perry Bar, nearby)”
• https://www.massmoments.org/moment-details/winthrop-buys-passage-fo...
• http://npshistory.com/publications/sair/hist-sketch.pdf
• Reference: FamilySearch Family Tree - SmartCopy: Dec 11 2016, 3:48:09 UTC
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Vinton-51 cites
  • 1. Bowman, Robert E. “Glimpses into the Englaish and Continental Ancestry of Certain Braintree and Saugus Ironworkers of About 1650 Vinton Leonard, Pray, Pinion, Tyler and Russell.” The Essex Genealogist. 20:63-77 (2000)(Online database. AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011.) https://www.americanancestors.org/DB396/i/12957/63/24670908
  • 2. Bowman cites. Westminster Denization Roll, 36 Hen. 8. Denization
  • 3. "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N1P3-YM6 : 11 February 2018, John, 24 Oct 1619 ); citing - 2:1N9XPC3, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 991,366.
  • 4. Jacobus, Donald Lines and Edgar Francis Waterman. Hale, House and Related Families Mainly of the Connecticut River Valley. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1978.) p. 262
  • 5. Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County Edited by George Francis Dow Transcribed and Abstracted from the Original Manuscript by Harriet S. Tapley. (Salem, Mass.: Essex Institute Vol. I- 1911 to Vol IX -1975.) Volume I p. 174, p. 192, p. 287, p. 425 Volume II 1 , 167, 210, 211 footnote
  • 7. Vital Records of New Haven 1649-1850 Part I. (Hartford: The Connecticut Society of the Order of the Founders and Patriots of America, 1917.) p. 18
  • 8. Dexter, Franklin Bowditch (editor) [Ancient Town Records Vol II. New Haven Town Records 1662-1684. (New Haven: New Haven Colony Historical Society, 1919.) p. 98, 99
  • 9. Vital records of Lynn, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849 ..Salem, Mass., The Essex institute, 1905 https://archive.org/stream/vitalrecordsofly00lynna#page/410
  • 10. Vinton, John Adams. Vinton Memorial, Comprising a Genealogy of the Descendants of John Vinton of Lynn, 1648 (S. K. Whipple and Co., Boston, 1858). Link at Google Books p. 14
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/65174768/john-vinton cites
  • "'New England Ancestors of Dana Converse Backus,' pgs 183-184, has the New Haven Town records related to John and Ann. It appears he was working for the East Haven iron works. The probate record indicates both John and Ann died 3 Aug 1664 in East Haven, New Haven County, CT. The inventory of their estate was supported by their daughter, Eleanor (even thought she was only 15 years old.) The only other child named was John Jr although the record indicates that all the children were present in court."