Person:John Jones (392)

He is buried in The Old Burying Ground in Fairfield, Connecticut. A newer gravestone has been erected at his grave by descendents. The inscription reads:

In Memory of
Rev. John Jones AB MA
Born in Northampton England in 1593
and was a graduate of
Queens College Cambridge
A Puritan divine of the
Church of England and he was
the first Pastor of the
First Church of Christ
in Fairfield
which he faithfully served
from 1644 until his death
in 1664
A Valliant Leader &
Christian Souldier
A Holy Man of God

Erected by a descendant

Life in Colonial Connecticut

One significant time in the history of Colonial Connecticut is the period of the witchcraft trials. This was not only happening in Connecticut, witch trials were being held in England, Scotland and, of course, Salem Massachusetts. It was during this time that Rebecca Jones Hull was called to testify, after the death of Goodwife Knapp in 1653, at a defamation lawsuit brought by Thomas Staplies (Staplyes, Staples) against Roger Ludlow. The proceedings of this suit at a magistrate's court held at New Haven [Conn.] the 29th of May, 1654, are preserved in the book titled, Witchcraft Delusion in Colonial Connecticut, 1647-1697, by John M. Taylor (Available online: https://play.google.com/books/reader?printsec=frontcover&output=reader&id=-tU0AAAAMAAJ&pg=GBS.PA133).

From the history and the testimony, it can be derived that Roger Ludlow, the Deputy Governor of Connecticut, had an ongoing dispute with Mary Staplyes. In 1651 Mr. Ludlow won a suit against Mary Stapyles for slander. During the trial of Goodwife Knapp in 1653, conviction and waiting for the sentence to be carried out, Mr. Ludlow had tried to convince Goodwife Knapp to identify Mary Stapyles as a witch. Mr. Ludlow later told friends, in confidence, that Goodwife Knapp had indeed named Goodwife Stapyles as a witch, at the last minute coming down from the ladder and whispering the accusation in his ear. Some of the friends and neighbors of the Stapyles testified on their behalf, accusing Ludlow of this false accusation. Others in the neighborhood testified against Mr. Ludlow, stating that Goodwife Knapp had not accused Mary Stapyles of witchcraft.

Reading the testimoney of Rebecca Jones Hull, by itself, is confusing. However, I believe what she was testifying to was that Goodwife Knapp refused to admit that Goodwife Staplyes was a witch, and refused to name anyone else in the town. The following is found on page 133:

"Rebecka Hull, wife of Cornelius Hull, being sworne & examined, deposeth & saith as followeth, that when goodwife Knapp was goeing to execution, Mr. Ludlow, and her father Mr Jones, pressing the said Knapp to confess that she was a witch, upon wch goodwife Staplies said, why should she, the said Knapp, confess that wch she was not, and after she, the said goodwife Staplyes, had said so, on that stood by, why should she say so, she the said Staplys replyed, she made no doubt if she the said Knapp were one, she would confess it."

At one point in Goodwife Gould's testimony..."Further this deponent saith, that Mr. Jones some time since that Knapps wife was condemned, did tell her, and that with a very cherefull countenance & blessing God for it, that Knapps wife had cleered one in ye towne, & said you know who I meane sister Staplyes, blessed be God for it."

Reading further in the book, there are other testimonies which place Rev. John Jones in the presence of Goodwife Knapp, asserting that he did, indeed, minister to her as she went through the trial and awaited her hanging. What a dreadful period of time for a Minister of the Gospel to go through.

--RWMeyer 20:40, 22 September 2015 (UTC)

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14} John Jones, in Anderson, Robert Charles; George F. Sanborn; and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635. (Boston, Massachusetts: NEHGS, 1999-2011)
   4:92-97.

   ORIGIN: St. Stephen Coleman Street, London [TAG 71:52-54].
   MIGRATION: 1635 on the Defence (on 18 July 1635, "Sara Jones," aged 34, "Sara Jones," aged 15, "Jo[hn] Jones," aged 11, "Ruth Jones," aged 7, "Theophilus Jones," aged 3, "Rebecca Jones," aged 2, and Eliz[abeth] Jones," aged ½, were enrolled as passengers for New England on the Defence [Hotten 106]).
   OCCUPATION: Minister. Rector at Abbot's Ripton, Huntingdon, 1619-1630 [Venn 2:486; TAG 71:52]. On 3 June 1630, John Jones was suspended as rector at Abbot's Ripton "for refusing to adhere to rites and ceremonies in the book of public prayers" [TAG 71:52, citing Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, of the Reign of Charles I, 4:275]. …
   EDUCATION: Matriculated at Cambridge from Queen's College, 1608, B.A. 1612-3, M.A. 1616 [Venn 2:486; Morison 385].

2.   John Jones, in Jacobus, Donald Lines. History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield. (New Haven, Conn.: The Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Company, 1930-1932)
   1:343-44.

   Jones, (Rev.) John. Born abt. 1593, co. Northampton; matriculated sizar from Queens College, Cambridge, Michaelmas 1608, as John "Johnes"; B.A., 1612/3; M.A., 1616; ordained deacon at Peterboro, 19 Dec. 1613; prob. Rector of Abbot's Ripton, co. Huntington, 1619-1630, when he was deprived. Sailed 1635 on Defence with [wife] Sarah ae. 34, and [children] Sarah 15, John 11, Ruth 7, Theophilus 3, Rebecca 2, Elizabeth 6 mos. Mather tells of a dangerous crossing, the ship springing a leak in the first storm. He settled at Concord, Mass., with Rev. Peter Bulkeley, after being entertained upon arrival by Gov. Winthrop in his Boston house. Ordained pastor at Concord, 6 Apr. 1637; removed with other Concord settlers to Fairfield, 1644. … Will 17 Jan. 1664 [1664/5]; wife Susanna, Exec'x, £50 he promised her; he owed the heirs of Capt. Cullick £7; children John Jones, Eliphalet Jones, Sarah Wilson, Widow, Ruth James, Rebecca Hull, Elizabeth Hill; Mr. Gold and Mr. Pell, overseers. Inv. 9 Feb. 1664 [1664/5].

3.   Hull, Robert E. (Robert Edwin). The ancestors and descendants of George Hull (ca. 1590-1659) and Thamzen Michell of Crewkerne, Somerset, England, Dorchester, Massachusetts, Windsor and Fairfield, Connecticut. (Baltimore [Maryland]: Gateway Press, 1994)
   44.

   He came to America on the ship "Defence" in 1635 and on 6 April 1637, was reordained and made pastor of the church at Concord, Massachusetts.
   In September 1644, he migrated with a considerable number of his Concord parishioners to Fairfield, Connecticut and became the first Pastor of the church at that place.
   
   The Fairfield Historical Society has a book of land records relative to the original town land that was assembled between 1936 and 1939 in time for the Tercentenary Celebration.
   * Parcels A, B and C of Block No. 3 "Burr Square" between Meeting House Green and the Burying Ground, along Beach Road were given to the Rev. John Jones.

4. ↑ Rev John Jones, in Find A Grave.
5.   Taylor, John M. (John Metcalf). The witchcraft delusion in colonial Connecticut, 1647-1697. (Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, 1989)
   133.

   Available on Google Play:
   https://play.google.com/books/reader?printsec=frontcover&output=reader&id=-tU0AAAAMAAJ&pg=GBS.PA133