ANTHONY STODDARD OF
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ANTHONY STODDARD, born in (perhaps London), England, about 1614, died at Boston, Mass., 16 March 1686/7; married first, about 1639, MARY DOWNING, born in England, about 1620, died at Boston, 16 June 1647, daughter of Emanuel and Anne (Ware) Downing. Married second, soon after on 24 August 1647, BARBARA [CLAPP] WELD,, born [ ], died at Boston, 15 April 1655, niece of Edward Clapp,[probably daughter of Nicholas Clapp],and widow of Capt. Joseph Weld of Roxbury, Mass. Married third, 1655, CHRISTIAN [probably EYRE]. born about 1627, died by 1683. Probably daughter of Dr. Simon and Dorothy [Payne] Eyre. Married fourth, between 7 December 1683 and 10 April 1684, MARY [SYMMES] SAVAGE, born at Dunstable, co. Bedford, England, 9 April 1628, died at Boston, 18 Dec. 1710. Daughter of Rev. Zechariah and Sarah [Baker] Symmes, and the widow of Major Thomas Savage.
Anthony Stoddard transported goods on the "Endemion" of London 1639 and may well have come to New England on that ship. He arrived in Boston [Mass] 1639. On 26 August 1639, the Boston records show "there is leave granted to Mr. Anthony Stoddard, Lynning Draper, to become a Townsman." He was granted a lot of 100 acres, 27 January 1639/40. He was one of four chosen to trade with the Indians, 10 January 1641/2. He was Constable as early as 1641.
In 1641, among members of the Skinners Guild of London, in a Lay Subsidy Roll, are the names of "Anthony Stoddard in New England" and "William Stoddard in Ludgate". Charles E. Banks derives him from the parish of St. Michael le Quern in London. He is listed as a "Lining Draper and Shopkeeper".
In 1644 Anthony Stoddard was granted liberty "to open his shopwindow board
two foot into the street." He was Selectman, 1647-51; Town Recorder, 1651; and Commissioner at
various times between 1652 and 1681.
He was made freeman of Massachusetts Bay 13 May, 1640. It seems that as Constable of Boston he objected to serving the Governor's warrant against Francis Hutchinson, son of the noted Anne, and spoke his mind too plainly, in consequence of which, on 7 Sept., 1641, "Anthony Stoader, confessing his fault in an unfitting speach to the Governor in affronting of him, is fine 13 1/3 shillings." This contretemps perhaps kept him for a time in disfavor with the ruling caste, but nine years later, in May 1650, he was made one of a committee of four to audit the colony account, and in October, one of the Commissioners appointed to try minor cases in Boston. He was one of three appointed in May 1660 to the office of Surveyor General of Arms. He served Boston as Deputy longer than any other citizen has done.
His first wife Mary Downing's death was noted by Rev. John Eliot of Roxbury in telling of an epidemic of influenza in 1647, in which Mrs. Winthrop, the Governor's wife, died. "Also a lusty strong woman of Boston Mrs. Stodder; fondly eat greene peaches, which set her to so vyolent a vomiting as yet it burst her intrals, as its thought, & so she dyed" [Quoted verbatim with antique spelling.]
Sewall's "Diary" calls him at death "the ancientest shop-keeper in town."
His will dated 29 Dec. 1684, was proved 19 May 1687. He called himself Shopkeeper, mentioned his son, Simeon and daughter Grace, [children of his second marriage], and left his property to Soloman and Samson [children of his first marriage], Anthony, Christian, Lydia, Dorothy, Mary and Jane [children of his third wife]. Only ten of his seventeen children survived him. [See attached chart]
Published accounts of the Stoddard family being very defective, some search of Suffolk County Probate and Deeds was made which threw much light on the early history of the family.
REFERENCES:
"HALE, HOUSE AND RELATED FAMILIES - Mainly of the Connecticut River Valley"
by Donald Lines Jacobus and Edgar Francis Waterman, Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore 1978. pp 734-741.
"FOUNDERS OF EARLY AMERICAN FAMILIES", Cleveland 1985. p 298
"RICHARD EDWARDS AND CATHERINE POND MAY", 1931 p 26
Nancy Underwood 1980
REV. SOLOMAN STODDARD
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
REV.SOLOMAN STODDARD, son of Anthony Stoddard and first wife MARY DOWNING, born at Boston, Mass., 27 Sept. 1643, died at Northampton, Mass., 11 Feb. 1728/9; married at Northampton, 8 Mar. 1669/70, ESTHER [WARHAM] MATHER, baptized at Windsor, Conn., 8 Dec. 1644, died at Northampton, Mass., 10 Feb. 1735/6, daughter of Rev. John and Jane [?Dabinott][Newberryl Warham, and the widow of Rev. Eleazer Mather.
He went to school in Cambridge to the famous Master Corlet.He was graduated at Harvard College in 1662, and was chosen Tutor of the College, 25 Nov. 1666. He is the first Librarian of the College on record. His health becoming impaired by too close application to his studies, he went to Barbados as Chaplain to Governor Serle. There he preached to the Dissenters.
In 1669 he was planning a voyage to England and was to embark on the following day, when a request came from the church in Northampton, Mass., which caused him to change his plans and to go thither. On 4 Mar. 1669/70, the town voted him 100 lb annually if he settled with them but he did not formally accept for nearly two years, and was ordained 11 Sept. 1672. Soon after coming to Northampton, he married the young widow of Rev. Eleazer Mather, his predecessor in the pastorate.
He was skilled in the learned languages and had a great reputation as a scholar. As a minister he was remarkably successful in gaining converts and in retaining the respect of his congregation. He was above the average in height, with good features and a venerable presence. He had a strong constitution, was seldom ill and was a constant preacher for sixty years.
A considerable number of his writing were published. "The Doctrine of Instituted Churches" in 1700 maintains that the Lord's table should be accessible to all persons who are not immoral. This brought him into conflict with the conservative Mathers, and as late as 1709 the subject was discussed in pamphleted sermons on either side of the controversy. The subject was ably treated by Stoddard, and his influence on the churches of Connecticut and of the river towns of central Massachusetts is seen in their adoption of the "Half-Way Covenant," which permitted the baptism of children of baptized but "unconverted" parents who were not full church members.
In his old age, his grandson JONATHAN EDWARDS became his colleague and eventually his successor in the pastorate of the Northampton church. Oddly enough, it was the turning of Edwards from his grandfather's liberal doctrine towards a stricter Calvinism which caused the Northampton church to dismiss him.
See attached chart for the children of Rev. Soloman Stoddard and Esther Mather.
REFERENCE:
"HALE, HOUSE AND RELATED FAMILIES" 1978, pp 741-46
ADDITIONAL DATA ON THE CHILDREN OF REV. SOLOMAN STODDARD AND ESTHER MATHER
1. MARY, b. 9 Jan. 1670; d. at Wethersfield, Conn., 11 Aug. 1734 ae 63;
m. 1 Dec. 1696, Rev. Stephen Mix, b. at New Haven, 1 Nov. 1672,
d. at Wethersfield, 28 Aug. 1738 in 66th yr., son of Thomas and
Rebecca [Turner] Mix. He was graduated at Harvard Coll. 1690 and was minister at Wethersfield, 1694-1738. 6 children.
2. ESTHER, b. 2 June 1672; d. at East Windsor, Conn, 19 Jan. 1770; m.
at Northampton, 6 Nov. 1694, REV. TIMOTHY EDWARDS, b. at Hartford, Conn, 14 May 1669, d. at Windsor [East Parish], 27 Jan. 1758, son of RICHARD and ELIZABETH [TUTTLE] EDWARDS. 11 children, only son, JONATHAN EDWARDS.
3. SAMUEL, b. 5 Feb. 1673/4; d. 22 Mar. 1673/4
4. ANTHONY, b. 6 June 1675; d. 7 June 1675
5. AARON [Twin], b. and d. 23 Aug. 1676
6. CHRISTIAN [Twin], b. 23 Aug. 1676; d. at Hatfield, Mass. 23 Apr. 1764
ae 87; m. 9 Aug. 1699, as his second wife, Rev. William Williams, grad. Harvard Coll.1683, b. at Newton, Mass, 2 Feb. 1665/6, d. at Hatfield 29 Aug. 1741, in 76th yr., son of Isaac and Martha [Parke] Williams. 4 children.
7. ANTHONY, b. 9 Aug. 1678, d. at Woodbury, Conn., 6 Sept. 1760 in 83rd yr.;
m. [1] in March, 1701, Prudence Welles, b. abt. 1682 at Woodbury, May 1714, dau. of Capt. Robert and Elizabeth [Goodrich] Welles. m. [2] 15 Jan. 1715/16, Mary Sherman, bapt. at Woodbury, 20 Mar. 1691/2, d. there 12 Jan. 1720, dau. of Deacon John and Elizabeth Sherman; m. [3] Hannah [ ], who d. 26 Nov. 1747. He was grad. Harvard Coll. 1697 and became minister in Woodbury 1700. 8 children by first wife, 3 children by second wife.
8. SARAH, b. 1 Apr. 1680; d. at Farmington, Conn, 10 Sept. 1758 in 79th yr.
m. 19 Mar. 1706/7, Rev. Samuel Whitman, Harvard Coll 1696, b. at Hull, Mass, abt. 1676, d. at Farmington, 31 July 1751 in 75th yr., son of Rev. Zechariah and Sarah [Alcock] Whitman. He was minister at Farmington, and was a Trustee of Yale Coll. 1724-46. 7 children.
9. JOHN, b. 17 Feb. 1681/2, d. at Northampton, 19 June 1748; m. 13 Dec. 1731,
Prudence Chester, b. at Wethersfield, 4 Mar. 1698/9, d. at Northampton, 11 Sept. 1780, dau. of Major John and Hannah [Talcott] Chester. He was graduated at Harvard Coll. 1701. He was Representative and a member of the Provincial Council; Justice of the Hampshire County Court, Judge of Probate; Colonel. His Journal of the negotiations in 1713 between himself and John Williams representing Massachusetts and the Marquis de Vaudreuil, Governor-General of Canada, was published in "New England Hist. and Gen. Register" 5:26-42. 5 children.
10. ISRAEL, b. 10 Apr. 1684; d. of fever 1703, a prisoner at Brest, France.
11. REBECCA, b. in l686; d. at Northampton, 2 Jan. 1766 in 81st yr.; m. 16 Nov.
1722, Lieut. Joseph Hawley, b. 1682, d. 1 June 1735, son of Capt. Joseph and Lydia [Marshall] Hawley, and brother of Rev. Thomas Hawley of Ridgefield, Conn. 2 children.
12. HANNAH, b. 21 Spr. 1688; d. at Weston, Mass. 29 Dec. 1745 ae 58; m. 6
July 1710, Rev. William Williams, b. at Hatfield, Mass, 11 May 1688, d. at Weston, Mass., 6 Mar. 1760 ae 72, son of Rev. William and Elizabeth [Cotton] Williams, and stepson of her sister Christian [Stoddard] Williams. No children given.
REV. JOHN WARHAM OF
DORCHESTER
Rev. John Warham came to New England in 1630 with a company of Puritans on the ship "Mary and John", and settled at Dorchester.
He was made a Freeman may 18, 1631. On the arrival of the company he was made "Junior" pastor of the Dorchester church. Four years later he went with a colony to Windsor, Connecticut.
He is said to have been the minister who introduced into England the practice of preaching from notes. For thirty years he was pastor at Windsor.
It is indicative of the strange mysticism and conscientiousness of the times that, although he was highly honored as a man of piety and as a minister administered the Lord's supper for many years, he himself, from religious scruples, refrained from partaking of the sacrament.
He died April 1, 1670. His wife was Jane [?Dabinott] Newberry, a widow. Their daughter Esther Warham, widow of Rev. Eleazer Mather, married Rev. Soloman Stoddard in 1670.
REFERENCE:
"RICHARD EDWARDS AND CATHERINE POND MAY", 1931 p 27
