Person:John Kendall (47)

Controversy over Parents

"Kendall Family of Woburn, Mass." by William R. Cutter in NEHGR, p. 39:18, identifies the John Kendall who married Deborah Richardson as the son of John Kendall and Elizabeth Comy, b. 7 Oct 1684. This does not agree with the calculated birth date, and would make John 34 at the time of his first marriage, a little old to then be having 10 children.

Richardson Memorial, p. 57, identifies him as the youngest son of John Kendall and Elizabeth Comey, b. 8 Jul 1699. The birth recorded in Woburn for that family on that date is for a daughter named Hannah, not a son John. Both John and Hannah are named in their father's will of 1726 (proved 1735) so it seems unlikely this birthdate corresponds to John. Further, a John b. 1699 would not be of legal age in time to marry in 1718.

Source:Nason, Elias. History of the Town of Dunstable, Massachusetts : From Its Earliest Settlement to the Year of Our Lord, 1873, p. 77, identifies John as the son of John Kendall of Woburn, b. 19 Jan 1696. This birth date clearly comes from the age at death, since the only recorded birth near that date in Woburn has Jacob as the father which this source could not have seen, since it claimed the father was John. Of course, this leaves us wondering why this source decided his father was John?

There is a birth of a John Kendall in Woburn on 19 Jan 1696/97 to Jacob Kendall and 2nd wife Alice Temple, and several sources identify this as the one who married Deborah Richardson (e.g., Source:Crane, Ellery Bicknell. Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County Massachusetts, p. 4:44). However, Woburn Records, p. 2:104, gives the death of "John, s. of Jacob and Alice, Oct. 17, 1697", raising serious questions about what would otherwise be an excellent fit.As indicated in the source citation above, Source:Weis, Frederick Lewis. Early Generations of the Kendall Family of Massachusetts, p. 58, points out the fact that John named a son "Temple" strongly suggests these are the correct parents. The explanation for the misleading death record may be that the town clerk recorded his brother Ebenezer's death under John's name in error.

The resolution to this controversy is found in John's will, wherein he names his brother "Abram" as a co-executor, thus showing he was, indeed, the son of Jacob Kendall and Alice Temple. No other Abraham Kendall is apparent in the records. Since Abraham was John's youngest brother, and the most likely to outlive John, he was a natural choice to be executor, and help the family deal with settling the estate.

1. ↑ Dunstable, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records of Dunstable, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849. (Salem, Mass.: Essex Institute, 1913)
   221.

   Kendall, John, Lt., July 27, 1759, a. 63 y. 6 m. 8 d. GR1
   [Birth calculates to about 19 Jan 1696. GR1=Meeting House Hill Cemetery]

2. ↑ Vol. 1, p. 139, in Johnson, Edward F. Woburn Records of Births, Deaths, and Marriages . (Woburn, Massachusetts: Andrews, Cutler & Co., 1890-1919).

   KENDALL, John, s. of Jacob and Alice, [born] Jan. 19, 1697.
   [Since this is followed by a record dated 31 Mar 1697, this is assumed to be 19 Jan 1696/97. This also allows time for sister Sarah's birth in July 1698.]

3. ↑ Weis, Frederick Lewis. Early Generations of the Kendall Family of Massachusetts: Especially in the Line of Lieutenant Samuel Kendall, Gentleman, 1682-1764, of Woburn, Lancaster and Athol. (Lancaster, MA, 1939)
   p. 57.

   That this is the son of Jacob and Alice, even though there is a death record for him dated 17 Oct 1697, is based on two main facts: his death date in Dunstable gives an age that matches this birth date, and he named a son Temple Kendall. [As suggested on Person:Ebenezer Kendall (2), perhaps the death record was meant to apply to his older brother Ebenezer who did die, since another brother named Ebenezer was born in 1710.]

4. ↑ Film 416783 Files 13005-13100, in Massachusetts. Probate Court (Middlesex County). Probate records, 1648-1924. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1964-1967)
   File 13082: John Kendall 1759.

   Will of "John Kendall of Dunstable ... Gentleman", dated 2 Feb 1759, proved 27 Aug 1759, names wife Susanah; son John and his son Zebedee; son Pelatiah Whitemore & his wife and their children; son John Wright & Wife; son Daniel Pike & his wife; son Ebenezer Wesson & his wife; daughter Lucy; sons John Jacob, Temple & Edward; Grand Daughter Susanna Whitemore "provided she Lives with Her Grandmother my Wife Susanah untill She is eighteen Years of Age"; brother Abram Kendall and son Jacob executors.
   14 Aug 1759: Petition of heirs consenting to will: Susanna Kendall, John Kendall, John Wright, Daniel Pike, Edward Kendall, Temple Kendall, Debroah Whittemore, Lucy Kendall, Ebenez'r Weston, Pelatiah Whittemor.
   27 Aug 1759: Bond of Abraham Kendall Husbandman and Jacob Kendall Husbandman all of Dunstable as executors of John Kendall late of Dunstable.