Family:Nathaniel Joslin and Sarah King (1)

"NATHANIEL, Hingham, s. of Thomas, b. in Eng. rem. 1654 to Lancaster, freem. 1673, m. Sarah, d. of Thomas King of Marlborough, wh. d. 2 July 1706, had Elizabeth b. 7 June 1657, d. next mo.; Nathaniel, 21 June 1658, d. in 9 yrs.; Sarah, 16 July 1660; Dorothy, 4 Mar. 1663; Peter, 22 Feb. 1666; and Rebecca, 14 May 1672, beside ano. Nathaniel, ano. Elizabeth and Martha, all liv. 3 Mar. 1694, the date of his will. After destruct. of L. he rem. to Marlborough, there d. 8 Apr. 1694"

The reference in Savage to "ano. Nathaniel, ano. Elizabeth", both justified, may be both incorrect.

Regarding Nathaniel: The reason for thinking there were two Nathaniels is a death record (Source:Nourse, Henry Stedman. Birth, Marriage, and Death Register, Church Records and Epitaphs of Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1643-1850, p. 13) that says: "Nathaniel sonne of Nath. Josline died. June 8, 1667." So Savage must propose a second Nathaniel, who would be born around 1668, since Thomas named a son Nathaniel in his will of 1694. But right after the cited entry for Nathaniel the father, Savage goes onto to say "Nathaniel, Marlborough, s. of the preced. freem. 1690, m. 8 Apr 1682, Esther Morse, had Esther, b. 20 May 1683 ... he d. 5 Mar. 1727". These facts, all supported by Marlborough records, means he married at 14 and had a child when he was 15. According to Source:Wessler, Edith S. Jocelyn--Joslin--Joslyn--Josselyn Family, p. 92, a deed from Nathaniel in 1709 gave land from Thomas King to his son-in-law James Newton (who married Nathaniel and Hester's daughter Mary), confirming it was a son of Nathaniel and Sarah (King) Joslin who married Hester Morse. There is no explanation for the incorrect death record. Perhaps the town clerk accidentally used the father's name for the child's name, though all known children of Nathaniel and Sarah can apparently be ruled out as possible subjects of this record.

Regarding Elizabeth: the birth is printed as "Eiizabeth daughter of Nathaniel & Sarah Joselin borne, June 7, 1657 [67?]" just a few lines before the death record of Nathaniel (ibid, p. 12). All the surrounding births are from the 1660's. The records appear to be ordered as they were recorded, not strictly in chronological order, but somewhat so. Nathaniel reported his son Peter's birth in Feb 1665/66 which means there would have been previous opportunities to report a birth in 1657. So it appears that perhaps the interpretation of the year as 1667 is the correct one. Perhaps the record is faded, causing the 67 to look like 57, the way it apparently made the "l" in Elizabeth look like an "i" (or that could be a typesetting error).

There is a death date that says "A Child of Nathaniel Joslin & Sarah his wife died. 16. 5. 1657" [16 Jul 1657] so it does appear that an infant died, but it was probably an unbaptised child, hence unnamed, and not a first Elizabeth. While it is natural to pair a birth in Jun 1657 with a death in Jul 1657, especially if dealing with the complication of a Nathaniel surmised to be born in 1668 (which might crowd a birth of Elizabeth in 1667), it seems more in line with other facts to say that an unnamed infant died in Jul 1657, that the Nathaniel in this family was born 1658, and that the Elizabeth who was born in 1667 was probably the first Elizabeth born in this family.