John Phinney emigrated to New England between Jul 1637 and Dec 1638. He was assigned land at Webb's Field in Plymouth on 12 Dec 1639, the grant confirmed on 6 Jun 1640. On 16 Sep 1641 John and his brother Robert were each granted 6 acres of upland abutting the brook that comes from Fresh Lake, and John received another grant of 50 acres at Pausatuke Neck on 5 Jun 1666. The court confirmed the grant at Gassuntaguanumcke Neck on South Sea 7 Jul 1668.
John was admitted freeman of the colony on 20 Aug 1644. He held many positions of trust, beginning with appointment as constable at Plymouth on 7 Mar 1642. The following year he was included on a list of those able to bear arms from the town of Plymouth. He was collector of the excise at Plymouth 1646 -1648 and was 3 times appointed surveyor of the highways in 1646, 1654 and 1668. On 24 Feb 1652 he was chosen to lay out the highway from Plymouth to Sandwich with 12 other men.
John Phinney removed to Barnstable before 29 Aug 1652 when he was admitted to Rev John Lathrop's church. In Barnstable he was appointed excise man in 1661, inspector of the ordinaries in 1671 and constable in 1675. John was frequently a juryman in Plymouth and Barnstable.
On 1 Mar 1658/59 Isaac Robinson and Gyles Rickard complained to the court on behalf of 2 children of Henry Coggins, deceased who were living in the home of John Phinney at Barnstable, being the children of his second wife, Abigail. The complaint was recorded 3 days after the death of Thomas Coggins, one of Henry Coggins' sons. The exact nature of the complaint is not stated, but it was claimed that the Coggins' children had suffered wrong in sundry respects. The case was referred to the May session of court. In the mean while, John was ordered to keep his stepson, John Coggins, in school all the time excepting 6 days, and to prepare an account of the children's estate. John Coggins was eventually placed under guardianship of Capt James Cudworth and Isaac Robinson, and on 7 Jun 1659 John Phinney surrendered all of Henry Coggins' lands at Barnstable to the guardians.
Late in life, John Phinney became interested in the Mount Hope lands, now Bristol, Rhode Island. John and sons, Jonathan and Jeremiah were original grantees of Bristol on 1 Sep 1681. The last mention of him is in a deed dated 7 Feb 1682 in which he disposed of his house and 30 acres of land in Bristol on the Swansea River to his son, Jonathan.
{Note: Sources included]
