Person:Josiah Hobbs (1)

Josiah Hobbs
b.Abt 1650 England
  • HJosiah HobbsAbt 1650 - 1741
  • W.  Mary (add)
m. Bef 1685
  1. Josiah Hobbs1685 - 1779
  2. Mary Hobbs1687 - 1760
  3. Susanna Hobbs1688 - Bef 1700
m. Est 1695
  1. Tabitha Hobbs1699 - 1767
  2. Matthew Hobbs1700 -
  3. Susanna Hobbs1700 -
  • HJosiah HobbsAbt 1650 - 1741
  • W.  Mary (add)
m. Bef 1720
Facts and Events
Name[2] Josiah Hobbs
Gender Male
Birth[1] Abt 1650 England
Marriage Bef 1685 Based on birth of eldest known child
to Mary (add)
Marriage Est 1695 to Tabitha Unknown
Marriage Bef 1720 to Mary (add)
Death[1] 30 May 1741 Lexington, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States

There is much confusing information about Josiah Hobbs. Savage[5] describes the tension between records and family tradition (as communicated in an NEHGR article[3]) in the first part of his life, and Hudson[2] exposes some more information about the later portion of his life. Further, it appears that some of the children attributed by some of the sources to Josiah actually belonged to his son.

Per the records, Josiah and Mary had children in Woburn in the 1680s. Josiah and Tabitha had children in Lexington in the 1690s and early 1700s. Then by 1720, Josiah again had a wife named Mary as they deeded for lifetime support with their son-in-law.

It looks like all these might be one man based on the following items: the age at death of the only known son Josiah appears to correlate with the birth recorded in Woburn. The Mary mentioned in 1720 is called Josiah's "now wife", indicating he had a different wife earlier. These appear to make unlikely a scenario of two men named Josiah Hobbs, one with a wife Mary, and one with a wife Tabitha. Even though the literature seems to accept that this was all a single Josiah Hobbs, the literature doesn't seem to get things right, and three wives are required to properly account for the names of wives found in the records. Further, Lexington VRs record the death of Tabitha on 30 Dec 1723 that raises questions, since it appears the wife Tabitha died before 1720, that the daughter Tabitha married 1715-6 Thomas Nelson, and that the granddaughter Tabitha married 1730 Samuel Jones, and later, William Munroe. Having an unaccounted for death record raises the possibility that there were indeed two families. The following description of the son Josiah, taken from Hudson, would be very typical of cases where two different people were being conflated into one: "lived at Lexington until about 1714, and then returned to Boston, and lived there many years, and later moved with this family to the town of Weston." There appears to be no probate for any Josiah Hobbs in Middlesex county records, but this is not surprising, as both appear to have deeded property in exchange for lifetime support according to Hudson.

References
  1. 1.0 1.1 Lexington, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. Record of births, marriages, and deaths to January 1, 1898. (Boston, Massachusetts: Wright and Potter Printing, 1898)
    p. 181.

    Hobbs.
    [37] Josiah, Mr., in his 92d year, [died] May 30, 1741.
    [Age 91, birth about 1650.]

  2. 2.0 2.1 Hudson, Charles, and Lexington Historical Society (Massachusetts). History of the town of Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1868. (Boston, Massachusetts, United States: Houghton Mifflin, 1913)
    vol. 2, p. 304.

    Josiah Hobbs came to this country in 1671 in the ship Arabella, and to Lexington after 1690, d. 30 May 1741, m. (1) Tabitha ---, m. (2) Mary ---. Children: Josiah, Tabitha, Mary, Matthew, Susanna.

  3. Hobbs, George. "Genealogy of the Hobbs Family, of Massachusetts", in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society)
    vol. 9, p. 255.

    Joisah Hobbs b. England in 1649, came to this country in the ship Arabella, left Gravesend 27 May 1671, arrived Boston July. Resided in Boston until 1690 when he moved to Lexington. 17 Sep 1699 baptized Josiah, Tabitha and Mary. Oct 1700 baptized Matthew and Susanna. 8 Jan 1710 baptized Ebenezer. 13 Apr 1712 baptized Tabitha. Only son Josiah lived to have families according to the record. The father d. Lexington 30 May 1741, age 92 years.

  4.   "Passengers for New England", in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society)
    Vol. 2, p. 407.

    1671. A List of the Name of the Passengers on board the Ship Arabella Richard Sprague Master for New England, May ye 27th 1671.
    ...
    Josiah Hobbs.

  5. Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co, 1860-1862)
    Vol. 2, p. 436.

    JOSIAH, came to Boston in the Arabella, 1671, a passeng. from London, liv. at Woburn, by w. Mary had Josiah, b. 6 Aug 1685; Mary, 16 Mar. 1687; Susanna, 24 Nov. 1688; but the fam. tradit. in Geneal. Reg. IX. 255, makes the eldest s. Josiah, b. in Boston 1684, and the f. there to have liv. first eighteen yrs. after coming. In 1690, says the geneal. he rem. to Lexington, then call. Cambridge Farms, and with w. Tabitha join. the ch. there Aug 1699, had Josiah, Tabitha, and Mary, bapt. 17 Sept. 1699; Matthew, and Susanna, Oct. 1700; Ebenezer, 8 Jan. 1710; and Tabitha, again, 13 Apr. 1712; and he d. 30 May 1741, aged 92 yrs.