John Freeman, Jr.

concerns

Do not confuse this John with John Freeman, of Norfolk VA.

brief biography and family

John Freeman, son of John Freeman and Mercy Prence, was born December 1651 at Eastham in the Plymouth Colony, and died in Harwich, Barnstable County, Massachusetts Bay, on 27 July 1721.

His birth is given simply as "December 1651" in the most recent GSMD works (the 1935 claim of 2 December 1651 may no longer be accepted). He should not be confused with his earlier brother, John Freeman, who was born 2 Feb 1650, and died as an infant.

John was married twice.

1. Spouse #1: Sarah Merrick on 18 Dec 1672 in Eastham daughter[4] of Ens. William and Rebecca (Tracy?) Merrick
2. Spouse #2: Mercy (Hedge?) Watson between 21 April 1696 and 6 July 1698 perhaps daughter of Capt. William Hedge. She was Elkanah Watson‘s widow.

John settled in Harwich, now Brewster. He was one of the eight persons who constituted the original chruch in Harwich.184

On 18 Dec 1672 John first married Sarah Merrick, daughter of William Merrick (ca 1602-1688/9) & Rebecca Tracy (say 1625-), in Eastham, MA.148 Born on 1 Aug 1654 in Eastham, MA.62,148 Sarah died in Brewster, MA, on 21 Apr 1696; she was 41.184

Children of John and Sarah Freeman, born in Eastham, include at least:

• i. John Freeman, b. 3 Sep 1674 and died;
• ii. Sarah Freeman, b. Sep 1676;
• iii. John Freeman, b. Jul 1678;
• iv. Rebecca Freeman, b. 28 Jan 1680;
• v. Nathaniel Freeman, b. 17 Mar 1682/3;
• vi. Benjamin Freeman, b. Jul 1685; and
• vii. Marcy Freeman, b. 3 Aug 1687.148

"April the 21st in the year 1696 the wife of John ffreeman died haveing been sick long on a consumtion" at Eastham, Barnstable Massachusetts“

Bef 1698 John second married Mercy.148 Born ca 1658. Mercy died on 27 Sep 1721.184 Mercy first married Elkanah Watson, second John Freeman.

John Freeman and Mercy Hedge had just one child:

1. Elizabeth Freeman, b. 6 July 1698; married John Bacon[9]

Mrs. Marcy Freeman died in the 63rd year of her age on 27 Sep 1721 and is buried at the Old Burying Ground, Brewster, Barnstable, Massachusetts.[10]

Older sources and family tradition state that Mercy/Marcy married first Elkanah Watson and second John Freeman. In 1935 George Ernest Bowman demonstrated that the widow of Elkanah Watson did marry John Freeman, but he could find no evidence that she was Mercy Hedges. So her parent connection, and even her maiden name, may be in doubt.

---

From: History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts; edited by Simeon L. Deyo. 1890. New York: H. W. Blake & Co.; page 897:

"John Freeman, jr., born in 1651, was the son of Major John Freeman of Eastham, and settled on the east side of Sauquatuckett river upon his father's land. The precise spot where he built his house is not pointed out, but there is evidence that it was on the north side of the lower road, about north of the Freeman house, now occupied by Anthony F. Brier and near the cemetery. Mr. Freeman took but little interest in town affairs. He was a large landholder and a highly respected citizen. He was twice married, and had four sons and seven daughters. He was one of the eight who formed the first church in 1700. He died July 27, 1721. His first wife, Sarah, died April 21, 1696; his second wife, Mercy, died September 27, 1721, aged sixty-three. But few of the descendants of Mr. Freeman in the male line reside in the town."

notes

Great Grandson to Mayflower Passenger William Brewster. Source: Records of the Mayflower Society, Plymouth MA.

Mayflower Disclaimer

Before setting down this possible lineage I must include the following excerpt from the May, 1993 issue of The Journal of the Surry County Genealogical Association, page 26.

ATTENTION: RESEARCHERS OF THE BADGETT/ FREEMAN/ PRENCE/ BREWSTER LINES

In the SCGA Journal of November, 1992, page 23, a notation was printed regarding a Mayflower lineage. According to Caroline Lewis Kardell, Historian of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, the lineages cited are completely false. She says, "John Freeman and Mercy Prence and their descendants are completely covered in the Freeman Genealogy by Frederick Freeman, Boston, 1875 ...... John, Jr. did not have a son William. John Sr's son William remained on Cape Cod during his very short life. William's son William remained on Cape Cod and had a family of 11 children, all of whom married on Cape Cod, long after your supposed Freemans were in North Carolina. None of this family went to North Carolina."

In a letter written almost 50 years ago to an inquirer about the Freeman lineage, Mr. Axel Christensen, then Historian General of the Society of Mayflower Descendants, said .... "although our Society does not accept tradition, it is also true that in tracking them down one frequently finds that there is some basis for fact and a new line can be established." So let's keep searching!

Indeed, we are sorry we quoted apparently erroneous information. We apologize for any inconveniences this may have caused anyone.

sources and links (to be split apart)

• Mayflower desc. v.34 p.70; 110. Foster gen. p.561. Brewster, Mass., v.r. p.70,4, 16 Spouse Mary (Polly) Foster. General Society of Mayflower Descendants Membership Applications, 1620-1920. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2020). https://www.americanancestors.org/DB2731/i/60044/3876-co1/1430521462
• http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=51252114
• Plymouth & Cape Cod, MA Genealogy Entries: 14133 Updated: 2015-05-03 19:41:05 UTC (Sun) Contact: Harry Hadaway ID: I2741 Name: John Freeman Sex: M Birth: DEC 1651 in Eastham, Barnstable, MA 1 2 Reference Number: 2969 LDS Baptism: 03 JUN 1933 3 CONL: 03 JUN 1933 Endowment: 31 AUG 1933 SLAKE 3 Sealing Child: 30 APR 1971 LOGAN 3 Death: 27 JUL 1721 in Harwich, Barnstable, MA 2
• Title: Mayflower Marriages from the files of George Ernest Boman at the Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Decendants by Susan E
• Title: Mayflower Births & Deaths, Volume II, By Susan Roser Author
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Title: Ordinance Index (TM) Repository: Name: Family History Library84150 USA
• In MyHeritage Family Trees John Freeman 1651 - 1721 Birth: Dec 1651 Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, USA Marriage: Marriage to: Sarah Freeman (born Merrick) Dec 18 1672 Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, USA Death: July 27 1721 Harwich, Barnstable, Massachusetts, USA Burial: Old Burying Ground Brewster Massachustts Family members Parents: John (Major) Freeman 1627 - 1719 Mercy Brerwster Freeman (born Prence) 1631 - 1711 Wife: Sarah Freeman (born Merrick) 1654 - 1696 Siblings: Mercy Knowles (born Freeman) 1651 - 1745 Edmund Freeman 1657 - 1719 Prince Freeman 1665 - 1666 Bennett Paine (born Freeman) 1671 - 1716 Thomas (Deacon) Freeman 1653 - 1716 Hannah Mayo (born Freeman) 1664 - 1744 Nathaniel Freeman, Sr. 1669 - 1760 Children: William Freeman 1673 - 1736 Sarah Snow (born Freeman) 1676 - 1739 Benjamin Freeman 1678 - 1767 Patience Crosby (born Freeman) 1682 - 1731 Mercy (Marcy) Foster (born Freeman) 1687 - 1720 Mary Berry (born Freeman) 1693 - 1719 John Freeman 1674 - ? John Nathaniel Freeman III 1678 - 1767 Rebecca Freeman 1680 - 1721 Nathaniel Freeman 1683 - 1735 Susannah Mayo (born Freeman) 1691 - 1736
• The Descendants of Elder William Brewster, Part 1, Generations 1 through 4, Barbara Lambert Merrick, General Society of Mayflower Descendants, Plymouth MA, 2014, p. 156
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/51252114/john-freeman
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/54286204/sarah-freeman
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/35900289/marcy-watson_freeman
• https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~carrollrogers/family/ps29/ps29_022.htm
• https://mathcs.clarku.edu/~djoyce/gen/report/rr03/rr03_189.html
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Freeman-1376 Cites

1. Barbara Lambert Merrick, Mayflower Families through Five Generations, Vol 24 Part 1, The Descendants of Elder William Brewster, General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 2014. "The Silver Book" Page 283
2. The Mayflower Descendant, Pilgrim Genealogy, History and Biography, Volume VIII, The Mayflower Society [5]
3. Town records, 1654-1863 [Eastham, Massachusetts], database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G979-QNYN : 27 September 2022), , FHL microfilm 007009743, image 330, Eastham, Massachusetts, Volume 2, Transcribed by order of the Town in 1856 by, H. Doane 2d, Town Clerk, Marriages, Births, & Deaths, 1654-1797, Page 3.
4. Bowman, George Ernest. "John Freeman of Eastham and Harwich His Wives, His Children, His Will and His Widow's Estate." The Mayflower Descendant 33 (1935): 100-05. Accessed May 8, 2016. https://books.google.com/books?id=sJpLe16SzSYC.
5. Findagrave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=51252114
6. Merrick, Barbara Lambert (compiler). Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, Descendants of the Pilgrims Who Landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in December 1620. Volume Twenty-Four. The Descendants of Elder William Brewster, Part 1, Generations 1 through 4. Plymouth, MA: General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 2014. xxiv+446. Pages 156, 283-288.
7. Births, marriages, deaths, 1649-ca.1840; intentions of marriage, 1700-ca.1905, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-8979-9XHR : 27 September 2022), FHL microfilm 007009735, image 109, Eastham, Massachusetts, Volume 2, Births, & Deaths, 1654-1797, Page 11.
8. (Published by the Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, Boston, 1906, page 34): http://books.google.com/ebooks/reader?id=uYhHAAAAYAAJ&printsec=fron...

GEDCOM Note

Parents:
John Freeman 1627-1719
Mercy Prence 1631-1711

Great Grandson to Mayflower Passenger William Brewster. Source: Records of the Mayflower Society, Plymouth MA.