Stoddard, Anthony, Boston, 1639, call. a linen draper, was rec. into our ch. 28 Sept. of that yr. freem. 13 May foll. by first w. Mary, d. of Emanuel Downing of Salem, niece of Gov. Winthrop, sis. of Sir George, absurd. call. Lord George in the fam. geneal. had Benjamin, bapt. 23 Aug. 1640, not nam. in the pr. geneal. that suplies but ill the deficiency of accuracy by its beauty; Solomon, H. C. 1662, bapt. 1 Oct. 1643, a. 4 days old, tho. most of the print. books say he was b. 4 Oct. and this error has been indecently interpol. into the town's copy of rec. of b. perhaps by the hand that made the geneal. perhaps by ano. confid. in the print. vol. and lightly regard. the sanctity of a public rec.; and Samson, b. 3, bapt. 7 Dec. 1645. His w. d. 16 June 1647, and he prob. m. the same yr. Barbara, wid. of Capt. Joseph Weld, of Roxbury, niece prob. of Edward Clap, of Dorchester, hav. made the contr. for m. so early as 24 Aug. and she being, in Dec. as his w. rec. on dism. from the ch. of R. by that of B. had Samuel, bapt. 20 Jan. 1650, a. 6 days old, but in the careless fam. gen. not nam.; Simeon, not ment. in the rec. of b. but bapt. 25 May 1651; tho. the fam. geneal. gives him to the first w. wh. had been d. more than 3 yrs.; Sarah, b. 21, bapt. 24 Oct. 1652; and Stephen, 6, bapt. 8 Jan. 1654; and this w. d. 15 Apr. 1655. By third w. Christian, tak. as was the custom, within a yr. of whose name, b. or d. we are ign. he had Anthony, b. 16, bapt. 22 June 1656; Christian, 22, bapt. 28 Mar. 1658; Lydia, 27 Mar. bapt. 1 Apr. 1660, tho. the fam. geneal. says b. 27 May; Joseph, 1, bapt. 8 Dec. 1661, d. at 5 mos.; John, 22, bapt. 16 Apr. 1663; Ebenezer, 1, bapt. 17 July 1664; Dorothy, 24, bapt. 26 Nov. 1665, by name Deborah, says ch. rec. wh. no doubt is erron.; Mary, 25 Mar. 1668, not found in the ch. rec. where is a vacation for 16 or 17 mos. a. this date; and Jane, 29 July bapt. 6 Aug. 1669; to wh. the geneal. presumptously adds to make ten by this w. a Grace, b. tw. with Jane, of wh. as neither town nor ch. rec. has notice and the other was bapt. 8 days aft. b. I doubt the exist. but many of these ch. d. young. Grace, call. d. in his will of 29 Dec. 1684, pro. 19 May 1687, to wh. he remits whatever she is indebt. was not otherwise entit. than as wid. of a dec. s. of wh. we kn. no more. He was a man of gr. influence, constable as early as 1641, of his scruple in that office to obey the Govr.'s warrant for tak. Francis Hutchinson into custody, and freedom of remark, call. insolence by the author, the story is giv. by Winth. II. 39. In 1650 he was chos. recorder of B. and a rep. also in 59 and 60, and nineteen yrs. succesiv. from 1665, no man hav. ever been so oft. chos. for Boston to our days. For a fourth w. he had Mary, wid. of Major Thomas Savage, d. of Rev. Zechariah Symmes, and he d. 16 Mar. 1687, "the ancientest shop-keeper in town," says Sewall in his Diary.
