Family:Joshua Hobart and Margaret Vassel (1)

There is an interesting footnote in Source:The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, p. 17:58, "The Vassalls of New England" by Edward Doubleday Harris: "There seems to be some uncertainty in regard to him [Joshua Hobart]. In the manuscript of President Styles, it is stated that Rev. Joshua Hobart, H.C. 1650, son of Peter, sailed for Barbadoes, July 16, 1655; married there April 16, 1656, Margaret Vassall; sailed from thence to London, where he arrived July 5, 1656; returned to New England, where he arrived September 5, 1669 and where his wife died "four days after." He was married second, to Mary Rainsford of Boston, and removed to Southold, Nassau Is., where he died in winter of 1716/17. By his wife Margaret he had three (?) children. How to reconcile this statement with the wording of the deed of sale of her father's Scituate estate [dated 1657, where he indicates his wife has deceased when he signed the deed], we are at a loss to know, and are content to relinquish the matter to some more persevering enquirer. Joshua Hubbard, the husband of Margaret Vassall, was evidently a different individual from the captain of the same name who acted attorney for the sale of William Vassall's estate."

The "Styles manuscript" is Source:Stiles, Ezra. Extracts from the Itineraries and Other Miscellanies of Ezra Stiles, D.D., LL.D., 1755-1794, p. 364, based on information sent to Dr. Stiles by Joshua's nephew Noah Hobart in 1772. The issues appear to be that the deed selling the Scituate holdings of William Vassall, which is dated 1657, mentions Joshua's late wife, but:

• the Stiles manuscript indicates his first wife did not die until 1669
• The power of attorney to sell the Scituate estate is signed by Capt. Joshua Hubbard of Hingham. [Just as there is confusion of Joshua and his brother Josiah over the birth of daughter Bethiah, could this be confusion with his brother, Capt. Josiah Hobart?]
• the second marriage (date was not specified above but 1671-2) fits with the Stiles manuscript describing the death of his first wife after returning to New England in 1669
• that three children are inconsistent with a death of his first wife less than a year after marrying [though this could be a confusion with the three children that came with his second wife, from her first marriage?]
• Source:Whitaker, Epher. History of Southold, L.I. : Its First Century offers the speculation that the deed was prepared in 1657, when Margaret was alive, to be signed upon her return to New England. Since she died 4 days after landing, it was signed not in 1657, but by her husband considerably later, with the troublesome annotation about his late wife creating all this confusion.
• Source:Moore, Charles B. Town of Southold, Long Island, Personal Index Prior to 1698, and Index of 1698 says the date of Joshua's return to New England is 5 Sep 1659, but no events are found for the intervening period to confirm this, and the Stiles manuscript says Joshua was persecuted for nonconformity in 166- in England, which should be possible to verify.

In the text, this same source says that Margaret Vassall is listed as a debtor to the estate of Comfort Starr in 1659. If this refers to the same person, this hints she was still alive, not married, and not in Barbadoes? Of course, this all could have been true when the debt was incurred and the executor did not know her current status.

1. ↑ Totten, John R. "Christophers Family", in The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. (New York, New York: New York Genealogical and Biographical Society)
   50:213.

   Joshua Hobart m. (1) Barbadoes 16 Apr 1656 Margaret Vassal, d/o William Vassal and Ann ---, b. England 1633, d. Barbadoes bef. 15 Jul 1657 when Joshua signed a deed "in behalf of his late wife" having to do with his father-in-law's estate.