Phebe French

Phebe Keyes

• Birth: 17 June 1639 - Watertown, Massachusetts Bay Colony
• Death: 14 May 1701 - Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts
• Father Robert Keyes1 b. c 1610, d. 16 Jul 1647
• Mother Sarah Swett b. 1605, d. 7 Jul 1680

Phebe Keyes was born in 1639 in Watertown, Massachusetts, to Robert and Sarah Keyes. [1] [2] [3] Phebe passed away in May 1701, possibly from suicide by drowning. [1]

2 entries for her death are recorded according to the book, Essex Institute Historical Collections.

"John French his wife drown herself May 13, 1701." "Phebe French dyed on ye 14th of May 1701."

Family

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

John French, son of Thomas French and his wife Mary, 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, from county court records, 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.

Origins

"The daughter born at Watertown on 17 June 1639 is given in both the town and county copies of the vital records as Mary, but this may have been the record for the birth of Phebe. Note first that another Mary was the next child born to this family, and a date of death is given for her, but not for the earlier Mary. Robert and Sarah Keyes had a daughter Phebe who had married John French no later than 1664; unless she is an unrecorded daughter born in Newbury about 1647, there is no other spot to place her in the family. There may be some other resolution to this problem, but we suggest here that the Mary born 17 June 1639 was actually Phebe."

Notes

John French was a tailor by trade, but also served the town of Topsfield, Massachusetts as a surveyor of highways and fences, tythingman, grandjury man, and commissioner of special errands.[1] He took the town oath of allegiance and fidelity on December 18, 1679.[1] It appears that John also served in the military as a clerk, attaining at least the rank of corporal.[1] John deeded his Topsfield homestead to John French Jr. on December 2, 1701.[1]

• 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. [no - in Watertown]
• 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 Charels 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, whre 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. _____________

2 entries for her death are recorded according to the book, Essex Institute Historical Collections.

"John French his wife drown herself May 13, 1701." "Phebe French dyed on ye 14th of May 1701."

_________________________

Birth: Jun. 17, 1639 Watertown Middlesex County Massachusetts, USA Death: May 13, 1701 Topsfield Essex County Massachusetts, USA

Phoebe was the daugther of Robert & Sarah Keyes. She married John French. To this union, 9 children were born:

Sarah Mary Phoebe Richard Hepzibah Martha John Lidiah Patience

John & Pheobe were members of the Old Church in Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts.

It has been reported that Phoebe committed suicide.

Family links:

Parents:

 Robert Keyes (1610 - 1647)

 Sarah Bickford Keyes Gage (____ - 1681)

Spouse:

 John French (1635 - 1706)*

Children:

 Mary French Pearson (1663 - 1730)*

Siblings:

 Solomon Keyes (1628 - 1702)*

 Sarah Keyes Buswell (1633 - 1707)*

 Peter Keyes (1635 - ____)*

 Rebecca Keyes Smith (1637 - ____)*

 Phoebe Keyes French (1639 - 1701)

 Mary Keyes (1641 - 1641)*

 Elias Keyes (1643 - ____)*

 Mary Keyes Gage (1645 - 1668)*

*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# 40080853 https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=40080853

References

1. http://our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p5429.htm#... Citations
   1. [S11597] Ancestry.com, Submitted by JoanGardner1948.
   2. [S14] Unknown author, New England Marriages Prior to 1700, by Clarence Almon Torrey., p. 284, and 3rd Supplement, p. 104.
2. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Keyes-128 cites
   1. Carrie C. Edgett, George Francis Dow, editors. The Historical Collections of the Topsfield Historical Society, Volume 13, pp. 153-161 (Merrill Press, Copefield 1908). Copy available at https://archive.org/details/historicalcollec1314tops, children at page 157 < GoogleBooks >
   2. "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F465-Y62 : 5 November 2017), Phebe Keyes, 17 Apr 1639; citing Birth, Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States, , town clerk offices, Massachusetts; FHL microfilm 745,869.
   3. "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHLP-LZW : 10 February 2018), John French in entry for Phebe French, 08 May 1667; citing Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts, 14; FHL microfilm 877,468.
   4. New England Marriages to 1700. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. <https://www.americanancestors.org/DB1568/i/21174/580/426886436>
   5. "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHLP-LZW : 10 February 2018), John French in entry for Phebe French, 08 May 1667; citing Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts, 14; FHL microfilm 877,468.
   6. "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHLG-68H : 10 February 2018), John French in entry for John French, 26 Aug 1671; citing Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts, 156; FHL microfilm 877,468.
   7. West, Randy A. & Battle, Robert & Anderson, Robert Charles. The English Connection of Robert1 Keyes of Watertown and Newbury, Massachusetts, and John1 Swett of Newbury, NEHGR (NEHGS, Boston, 2022) Vol. 176, WN. 701, Page 13.
   8. Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633 (NEHGS, Boston, 1995) Vol. 2, Page 1129. < AmericanAncestors >
3. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LKKM-JCV
4. https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Phebe_Keyes_%281%29 cites
   1. Robert Keyes, in Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995) 2:1129. 'MARY [PHEBE], b. Watertown 17 June 1639 [WaVR ]; m. about 1664 John French of Topsfield (eldest child b. Topsfield 1 March 1664/5).'
   2. Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records, 1630-1851. (Microfilm of manuscript at Watertown Town Hall: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1970) 1:7. "1639 … phebe keyes the Daughter of Robert and Sary keyes borne - ye - 17e - 4m [June 17, 1639]"
   3. Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records of Topsfield, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849. (Topsfield, Massachusetts: Topsfield Historical Society, 1903, 1916) 1:221. "French, Phebe, [died] May 14, 1701 (church record.); "French, _____, w. John, 'drownd herself,' May 13, 1701 (church record.)"
5. https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Family:John_French_and_Phebe_Keyes_(1) cites
   1. Sanborn, Melinde Lutz. Third Supplement to Torrey's New England Marriages Prior to 1700. (Baltimore [Maryland]: Genealogical Pub. Co., c2003) page 166. 'FRENCH, John (c1635- ) & Phebe KEYES (1639- ); by 1657 Ipswich [GMB 1:705, 2:1129]'. [entry crossed out]
   2. Thomas French, in Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995) 1:705. "John (French) … m. by 1657 Phebe Keyes (son Thomas born Ipswich 25 May 1657), daughter of Robert Keyes." NOTE: There were two men named John French in Ipswich at the same time, this man, who married Phebe Keyes, and his uncle, John French, baptized 1622, who married Freedom Kingsley and removed to Northampton after the birth of all his children. The Thomas French born in 1657 was son of the elder John (who would have been known in Ipswich as John senior had not the younger John removed to Topsfield).
   3. entry for Robert Keyes, in Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995) 2:1129. "Mary [Phebe] … m. about 1664 John French of Topsfield (eldest child b. Topsfield 1 March 1664/5)." NOTE: This couple had a daughter Mary, whose birth was unrecorded, who married in 1684. She was likely born about 1663 since the first open slot in the list of children would have her born in 1669 and marrying at 15.