Person:John Eddy (4)

For years, Miss Clara Avery, a descendant of John Eddy of Taunton, has searched both in Old England and New England for some clue to the parentage of this John Eddy, but with no success. The compiler also has studied most carefully the early records of Plymouth and Taunton. Every reference to this John Eddy previous to 1670 which has been discovered is hereafter recorded. Both Miss Avery and the compiler feel that there is a very close association between the family of John Eddy of Taunton and Samuel Eddy of Plymouth and that John at one time was either a member of Samuel's household or else a very close neighbor. The first mention in the records of the John Eddy known later as John Eddy of Staunton, carpenter, is as a witness to a deed in which John Eddy of Plymouth, blacksmith, was the grantee. He purchased lands adjoining those of John Eddway (Eddy), carpenter. The Plymouth records have two other references to a John Eddy who is not the John Eddy, blacksmith, son of Samuel. John, the blacksmith, went to Martha's Vineyard in the late summer of 1660 and remained there the rest of his life, so he cannot be the John of the following records. On July 23, 1661, a jury was summoned "to enquire into the sudden death of John Bond of Plymouth, a servant to George Watson." (Plym. Court Orders) John Eedey was one of the twelve to sign the verdict. Again on Oct. 4, 1664, "James Bell of Taunton was fined 3 sh. 4d. for striking John Eedey" (Court Orders) These three references prove the presence of John Eddy, the carpenter, in Plymouth, previous to his settlement in Taunton, and his signature as a witness to the deed proves that he was at least an acquaintance, if not a relative, of John Eddy, the blacksmith. He may have been a brother of John, the blacksmith. At this period both in England and in New England, brothers bearing the same name are frequently found. He may have been a half-brother, a son of Samuel, by a wife before Elizabeth, or he may have been a son of that Eddy, who according to Pope (Pioneers of Massachusetts) came from Boxted, Eng. in 1639. It is known that Samuel had a younger brother, Zachariah Eddy, so it is possible that he was the immigrant Eddy of 1639 and John was his son. Perhaps this Eddy of 1639 made his home with Samuel or perhaps he did not live long and that is why no trace of him can be found in the records. In this event it is very easy to think of the carpenter, John, as a member of his uncle's family and so at hand when a witness of the deed was needed. It is known that Samuel and Elizabeth apprenticed their son John to Francis and Katherine Goulder and that John Eddy, son of Samuel, learned the trade of blacksmith. It has always been supposed that the apprentice to the Goulders and the blacksmith were the same person, but if it could be proved that Francis Goulder was a carpenter, then it would follow that it was the other John who had been apprenticed and so the question of the parentage would be settled. Up to the present no record of the trade of Francis Goulder had been found. John Eddy, the carpenter, and Zachariah Eddy, son of Samuel, married sisters. After his marriage to Susannah Paddock, John Eddy went to Taunton and settled on his land there, not far from Scaddins Pond and its outlet, Mill River. He seems to have taken no active part in the town's affairs. In 1675 when a census was taken to learn the fighting strength of the town at the outbreak of King Philip's War, John Eddy appears as the head of a family. On Apr. 8, 1682, the military company of Taunton was divided into four squadrons, for the "guidance of members in attendance of meeting on the Lord's Day." The "first Squadron is ordered to bring their arms to meeting the third Sabbath, which will be the sixteenth of this month and ye rest of ye squadron succesively..."the Court Order is that every souldier bring his armes fixed to meeting when it is his turn, with six charges of powder and shot and if any refuse or neglect to performe therein to be fined two shillings for every such default and ten shillings if it appear to be in contempt...and if any stay from meeting because they will not bring their armes to meeting such to be summoned to court..." In 1691 John Eddy was fined 6 sh. Once during King Wiliam's War his horse was impressed for the use of Uriah Leonard, who used it to travel to Little Compton, R.I. on an expedition. The Plymouth Records contain the interesting item concerning the pay of soldiers (Plym. Rec., Vol. V, p. 236). Constables of Taunton now in being are required by the court that when a p'sell of Iron shall be attached by them for the defraying the rate of the souldier's wages that they require Ensign Leonard or James Lincon to draw it forth into merchantable barrs. All the other records concerning John Eddy of Taunton pertain to the purchase or sale of land, and to the division of his property after his death. In 1660 he was in possession of land at Scadding Meadows, near Aaron Knapp's. On Oct. 13, 1668, he purchased from William Hailstone about 20 acres near the head of Babbit's Brook and bounded by the commons (Vol. I, p. 276, Bristol Co. Deeds). Ten years later he purchased from William Wetherell more land near his home lying northerly of Scadding, on the west side of Mill River, bounded by Mill River on the east, land of Joseph Grey on the south, by Christopher Thresher on the west and land of Nicholas White on the north (Bristol Co. Deeds, Vol. I, p. 275) and again the same year he purchased from Increase Robinson, "meadow and upland, westerly from this meeting-house at a place called Rumford on the Three Mile River, the upland bounded by a branch of the Three Mile on the west, and land of Christopher Thresher on the north." Four years later on May 2, 1682 he purchased from Benjamin Leonard and wife Sarah more property in this same section, bounded by land of John Eddy on the south side and by John Macomber on the north. This was in the section known as Brown's farm and was the 13th lot in the Rumford Division (Vol. I, p. 277). The next year he added again to these lands by purchase from Thomas Gilbert. The lands adjoined those already in his possession at "Rumford" (Vol. I, p. 279) He purchased also from John Macomber, Sen'r Mary Evans and Thomas Linkun. Mill River is the outlet of Scadding Pond, flowing through Whittenton, Brittaniaville and Hopewell. It empties into the Taunton River at the Neck of Land. The Three Mile River is formed by the junction of the Rumford and Wading Rivers in Norton and flows through Oakland, Westville, and North Dighton. In addition to the purchases of John Eddy, was granted land by the town for various reasons. These grants are found in the Proprietor's Records. In the allotment of lands in the South Purchase there was some trouble, for on Nov. 29, 1672, it is agreed that Joseph Willis, John Eddy and Thomas Armsbee are this day excepted to have a part in the land down the river--Capt. Southworth Purchase. In the list of three days previous, Nov. 26, 1672, John Eddy's name was included among the 87 names. Again on Mar. 18, 1683 when another declaratory deed of the 87 mean associated in 1672 was made, it is stated that ten men were omitted. One of the ten thus mentioned was John Eddy (Plym. Col. Rec. Deeds, Vol. V, p. 302 and South Purchase Prop. Rec. Vol. I, p. 15) John Eddy died without a will. After his death his property was divided by the court. (See Eddy Bulletin, No. 13, p. 184, for the full account) Those who received shares were his widow, Deliverance Eddy, sons Ebenezeer, Eleazer, Joseph, Jonathan, daughters Susannah Eddy, Patience Eddy, Mary Rude, eldes dau.; Mercy Fisher, second dau.; Hannah Eddy. (Bristol C. Probate, Vol. II, p. 20) Another record in Taunton states that "Susannah Durffes, dau. of John Eddy Dec'd and wife of John Durffes, relinqueshed to her mother Deliverance Smith, widow, their share in the homestead of John Eddy, Dec'd." (Deed Vol. XII, p. 203)

BIOGRAPHY: First, John1 Eddy of Taunton and John Eddy of Martha's Vineyard (son of Samuel) are definitely two discrete individuals, living roughly at the same time, each married different wives over their lifetimes (John of Taunton md twice) and each having large families. The evidence that John2 Eddy, son of Samuel, is Samuel's son comes from the agreement between the children of Sam as to how to handle his estate, because he died intestate. This agreement is in the Plymouth County Registry of Deeds, Book 7, p. 177, and proves that John of Martha's Vineyard is the son of Samuel. I don't know where you are getting that he moved to Bristol Co. He lived and died in Martha's Vineyard, having gone there from his father's home in Plymouth. He is buried in the West Tisbury Cemetery on Martha's Vineyard. (Most of this material from The Ancestors and Descendants of F. A. Marsh & Ivy Crites, by William Marsh. M. D. 1990). John1 Eddy of Taunton is shown as an ancestor of President Fillmore by Gary Boyd Roberts in Ancestors of American Presidents, 1995, with unknown parents. John2 Eddy's wife, (Sam's son, of Martha's vineyard), Hepzibah Daggett or Doggett, is identified from her father's will. She is identified as a daughter by name in that will. He selected "my loving friends Isaac Robinson and Jon Edy, my son-in-law" overseers. John Eddy signed quitclaim deeds re their rights in land near the Neck to Joseph Dagget (apparently his wife's interest in her dad's property to his brother-in-law). John1 Eddy's (of Taunton) marriages are solid marriages, were recorded in vital records, and are in Torrey. His date of birth is not known, but is estimated to be 1640, simply based on the time-line of a father of the children attributed to him. (I've seen kids attributed to him from 1667-1696.) John2 Eddy of Watertown was likely an incompetent and never married (TGMB). His brother, Samuel2 Eddy (son of Eddy1 of Watertown), provided in his 1702 will that directed his sons "to take the full care to provide and maintain my brother John Eddi during his natural life." NOTE: The John Eddy of Taunton died in 1695 and therefore could NOT have been this John. There simply is no evidence to give proof to the assertion that John Eddy of Taunton is this John, though it is tempting to jump to that conclusion as they were contemporaries. The 1702 provision for the John2 (son of John) by his brother rules out that John as being the same as the John Eddy of Taunton, who died in 1695. The ancestral lines of John Eddy of Watertown and Samuel, of Plymouth and Swansea, back to England, as well as descendants forward, are as clear as about any set of immigrants we have. John Eddy of Taunton is a mystery man, and may likely stay that way, unless some English research uncovers an answer. If he is a son of the equally mysterious Zacharias Eddy, baptized Mar, 1610, to William and Mary, brother of John of Watertown and Samuel, we may never know, as most American resources for research have been exhausted. I don't know if English research has followed this man from the "cradle to the grave" to know if he had a son named John, or if a "cradle to grave" accounting for such a possible son of Zachariah has been done. He simply may just be a stray Eddy that came floating into the New World from another part of England and have no relationship to the Eddy brothers.

1.   Compiled by Ruth Story Devereax EDDY. Eddy Family in America, The. (The Eddy Family Assoc., Boston, 1930).
2. ↑ Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900. (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004.Original data - This unique collection of records was extracted from a variety of sources including family group sheets and electronic databases. Originally, the information was deriv)
   Source number: 318.000; Source type: Electronic Database; Number of Pages: 1; Submitter Code: LMM.

   Name: John Eddy
   Birth Date: 1637
   Birth Place: MA