Nathan Fiske, of South Elham & Watertown

Nathan Fiske

• b.Abt 1601 South Elmham-St. James, Suffolk, England
• d.21 Jun 1676 Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts
• Parents: Geoffrey Fiske, Mary Cooke
• wife: Susanna Porter - married 1642 in Watertown

Children

1. Lt. Nathan Fiske, Jr. 1642 - 1694
2. John Fiske 1647 - Aft 1679
3. Daniel Fiske 1650 - 1694
4. David Fiske 1650 -
5. Nathaniel Fiske 1653 - 1735
6. Sarah Fiske Abt 1656 - 1728

Notes

Nathan settled in Watertown as early as 1642, but his name is not on the list of proprietors of that year. He was admitted freeman 10 May 1643, and was Selectman 1673. Nathan’s sister, Martha Underwood, testified that he ‘was very crazy in his memory’ before he died. [1]

Research Note

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Porter-21176

This profile previously stated the following: "Susannah Browne was born to John & Alice (Unknown) Browne, and baptized on 4 Sep 1617, in Aldringham, (on the west-side of the North Sea) Suffolk, England.[3]." However there is nothing to connect this Susanna with the Susanna Brown in the baptism record, and infact there is strong evidence that Susanna's Maiden name was Porter and she was the daughter of Roger Porter.

Roger Porter died on 3 Feb 1654 in Watertown, aged about 71[6]. Roger Porter's probate was settled in 1654[7]. The claimants listed in his estate were his widow, Grace, and Daniel Smith (husband of his stepdaughter, Elizabeth Rogers) & John Waterbury (husband of his daughter Rose) & Nathan Fiske (husband of his daughter Susanna), Thomas Dogget (husband of his daughter Joan & John Dunham (husband of his daughter Mary), claiming for their wives and children.

Comments

Listed in the Candler Manuscript (used to compile the 1934 Fiske article[1]) as “Nathan Fiske whose children went all to New England.” His sister Martha Underwood lived with him late in life.

In his will, dated 19 June 1676 and proved 10 July 1676, he named his sons Nathan, John (executor), David, and Nathaniel, and his daughter Sarah Gale.[1]

Because of Nathan’s age when the children in Watertown were born, there is some speculation that Nathan and his sister Martha were grandchildren of Geoffrey and Mary Fiske, based on the Candler manuscript saying that Nathan’s children went to New England, not specifically Nathan. However, this supposition is contradicted by several facts (Martha and her husband are both explicitly named as daughter and son-in-law in her father's 1629 will, and Martha's age at death of 82 in 1684 agrees with the baptism in 1602 of Geoffrey's daughter Martha[1]. And since Martha lived with Nathan, and testified he was her brother when she testified that he "was very crazy in his memory", that would make Nathan also a child of Geoffrey's and rule out any intermediate generation.

What is more likely is that the estimate of Nathan's birth is off. The only evidence for Nathan's birth is that he is listed in the Candler manuscript after Samuel (the eldest son, b. about 1586[1]%29 and before David, and all we can say for sure about David is that he was old enough to be co-executor of his father's will in 1629, so born by 1608, though his birth is usually estimated earlier, around 1601[1].

References

• Moriarty, G. Andrews, “Genealogical Research in England: The Fiske Family”, in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society), 88:269. "Children of Geoffrey Fiske, probably all born at St. James, South Elmham, order uncertain: 4) Nathan, b. abt. 1592, d. probably Watertown, Massachusetts, 21 Jun 1676, m. prob. in England Susanna ---."
• Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co, 1860-1862), 2:166. "NATHAN, Watertown, prob. br. of the first David, was of an honor. fam. in Co. Suff. bearing coat of arms so early as the days of Hen. VI., as appears on rec. freem. 10 May 1643, by w. Susanna had Nathan, b. 17 Oct. 1642; John, 25 Aug. 1647; David, 29 Apr. 1650; Nathaniel, 12 July 1653; and Sarah, wh. m. Abraham Gale. He d. 21 June 1676, made his will two days bef. nam. s. John excor. but of that s. we hear no more from Bond. Perhaps he d. unm. or rem."
• http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Nathan_Fiske_%281%29
• http://trees.wmgs.org/getperson.php?personID=I18292&tree=Schirado
  • 1. Henry Bond.
• http://www.anamericanfamilyhistory.com/Fiske%20Watertown/FiskeNatha...
• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Oct 4 2018, 21:55:46 UTC