Person:Joshua Woodman (2)

Maine Historical and Genealogical Recorder, Vol. VI, 1889, No. 2, pp 317-322

This paper was read by S.M. Watson before the Maine Genealogical Society of which Cyrus Woodman (b. ~1818) Woodman was an honorary member.

Our late brother was descended from Edward Woodman and his wife Joanna, who come from England, and probably from the town of Corsham, a village in Wiltshire about eleven miles from Christian Malford in 1635, and settled in Newbury, Massachusetts. Of the ninety-one grantees who settled Newbury, fifteen were entitled to the appellation of Mr., and one of these was Edward Woodman.

He was a man of influence, decision and energy; a deputy to the General Court in 1636-7-9 and 43; one of three commissioners to end small causes in Newbury in i638-41-5 and 6; one of the first selectmen of Newbury, having been elected in 1636, and his name heads the list as we find it. Therefore for many years he was one of the leading men in town.

He and his wife Joanna were living in February, 1688; she was then 74. He died before 1694, his age not known to the writer.

Edward and Joanna had seven children, one of whom was Joshua2, and as his gravestone tells us, "was the first man child born In Newbury." He married Elizabeth, daughter of Capt. John Stevens, one of the first settlers of Andover. Joshua had ten children, one of whom was Benjamin2 born 1683 married in 1711 Elizabeth, daughter of William Longfel1ow and wife Anne Sewall, a sister of Judge Samuel Sewall....

Woodmans of Buxton, Maine, pp 5-8:

JOSHUA,2 the son of Edward,1 was, as his grave-stone tells us, the "first man child borne in Newbury." Took the oath of allegiance 1678. Then called 41.

He married Elizabeth, daughter of Capt. John Stevens, one of the first settlers of Andover, Jan. 22, 1665, probably 1665-6.

He seems to have lived both in Andover and Newbury, for the record of the births of the four first and three last of his children is recorded in Andover, and of the others in Newbury.

He owned land in Haverhill, and as he built a house there between 1660 and 1668, it is probable that he for a time resided there. [See Chase's History of Haverhill, p. 93.] I find nothing to indicate where his homestead was, nor what his occupation was. I find no evidence that he owned land in Andover, where he probably spent the most of his married life, nor that he owned any in Newbury, except twelve acres bought of Benjamin Lowle in 1698, in the tract called the freehold lots, in the upper woods, which was bounded "northerly by the highway upon Merrimack River." I do not suppose that this was his homestead. It was bought after he was sixty years old. After his death it was conveyed by his children to Thomas Williams. By his will he devised his land in Haverhill to three of his sons. It included a part (120 acres) of 220 acres which his father Edward1 bought of Stephen Kent, Nov. 21, 1662, and of which he gave or sold 100 acres to his son Edward2 and 120 acres to his son Joshua.2 I am informed that this land probably lies where the city of Lawrence now is. It was sold to Benjamin Stevens, of Andover, by Joshua's three sons, to whom it was given by will in 1705, and by Edward2 in 1711, each of these parties conveying their respective interests. It also appears, from the deed of the three brothers, that their father owned, and they by his will acquired, one quarter of 300 acres, "lying on ye west of the Township of Haverhill aforesaid & on ye North of Two Little Ponds," which land, it seems, "was granted by ye General Court to Ensign Samuel Green, of Cambridge and confirmed anno 1667." The lands above mentioned cover all that he owned, so far as I can discover.

He doubtless died in Byfield Parish, for there he was buried, and the witnesses to his will lived there. He was, perhaps, at the time of his death, living with his son Jonathan in Rowley, and in that part of it included within the limits of Byfield Parish. The meeting-house in that Parish stands on the line between Newbury and Rowley, with a graveyard adjoining. About fifty feet from the meeting-house are small slate stones, marking his grave and that of his son Joshua. Some years since I had four rough granite posts set, connected by iron chains, to enclose their graves.

The inscription on the grave-stone of Joshua,2 as given by Coffin in his History of Newbury, is as follows:

Here lies ye body of Mr
JOSHUA WOODMAN
Who died May ye 30th
1703, aged 67 years;
first man child borne
in Newbury,
& second inturid in
this place.

Joshua2's wife and their daughter Elizabeth were legatees in the will of Elizabeth Stevens, widow of Capt. John Stevens, of Andover. In her will (finished Sept. 1691) she calls them eldest daughter and granddaughter. It is thus apparent that all the descendants of Joshua2 are descendants of Capt. John Stevens

Will

WILL OF JOSHUA WOODMAN.

In the name of God & by his assistance I Joshua Woodman Senyr of Newbury in the County of Essex in the province of the Masschtt, New England Doe humbly comitt my Soul, Body & Spirritt Into the Everlasting Armes of God all sufficient my heavenly ffather & unto Jesus Christ my only Savior & Blessed Redeemer thro' the power & presence of his Eternall Spiritt, My Body to ye Earth Whence it was taken, In hopes of a happy and Glorious Resurrection In ye Great Day of the Man Christ Jesus. To Him be Glory both now & Ever amen. And for my Worldly Goods I Doe Dispose as is here after Expressed.

Imprimus to Elizabeth my Dear & Loving Wife I give all my stock and moveable Goods for her comfortable maintenance During her naturall Life & in her Life or at her death to be divided or Disposed of according to her Discretion. And in case my Wife Elizabeth shall Dye without disposeing any or all of this my above mentioned estate, What remains undisposed of shall be Equally Divided among my three Daughters Elisabeth, Sarah and Mary--after my son Jonathan shall have Received out of it fourscore pounds with what he hath already had being about fiftye Six pounds Eight Shillings as also after my Daughtr Mehetabells portion Shall be Equalized wth my Three Daughters above mentiond Shee haveing Already Receivd about Seventee pounds.

I forbear to mention my Dear & Loving Daughtr Dorothy in this my Last Will Because Shee hath allready Receivd her full portion.

Item. To my Sons Joshua Woodman, David Woodman & Benjamin Woodman, I give all my Lands both upland & Meadow With all the priviledges thereunto belonging Lyeing on the north side of Merrimack River to be Equally Divided amongst them haveing Respect to Quantity & Quality in sd. division: but they shall not any of them Come to the actuall possession of it, but by and with ye Consent of their mother during her Life being now left for her use and advantage.

All the rest of my Estate both Reall & prsonall whether Debts due to mee by Bill Bond Book or otherwise or whatsoever in Time to Come shall appear to be mine or belonging to me I Give to my said Wife during her naturall Life. ffurther I doe appoint Elizabeth my Dear & Loveing Wife & Benja my Loveing Son to Execute this my Last Will and Testament--my Debts & ffunerall Charges to be by them Discharged.

In Witness of this my Last Will & Testament I have hereunto sett my hand & Seale This Twenty Seventh day of March Seventeen hundd & Three & In the second year of her Mages Reign.

JOSHUA WOODMANS |SEAL.|

Signed sealed and declared by Mr. |
Joshua Woodman in presence of us |
William Moody | Essex ss. Before the
Thomas Colman | Honble John Appleton Esq
Moses Hale. | Judge of Probate of Wills, &c.
in said County att Ipswich July 12. 1703 Mr. William Moody and Mr. Moses Hale appeared and made Oath that they were present and did see Mr. Joshua Woodman Senyr Late of Newbury Decd Signe & Seale and heard him publish & declare the within Instrument to be his Last Will & Testament & they then sett to there hand as Witness In his presence & when he so did he was of a disposing mind to the best of their understanding--and yt they then Saw Thomas Colman sett to his hand as a Witness. Upon which this Will is proved approvd & allowed being presented by Eliza Woodman one of the Executs named In said will who accepted said Trust. The other Executor being a minor.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Woodman, Cyrus. The Woodmans of Buxton, Maine: a list of the children, and of the grandchildren bearing the Woodman name; of Joseph, Joshua and Nathan Woodman, who settled in Narraganset no. 1, now Buxton, Maine; preceded by a list and some account of the families of Benjamin, Joshua and Edward, from whom they were descended. (Boston, Massachusetts: David Clapp, 1874)
   pp 5-8.
2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co, 1860-1862)
   p 640-1.

   JOSHUA, Newbury, elder br. of Jonathan, m. 22 Jan. 1666, Elizabeth Stevens, perhaps d. of John of Andover, where the m. was, had Mehitable, b. 20 Sept. 1677; and Jonathan; but as Coffin gives not the date of the last, nor any more ch. we may suppose that he rem. to Andover, where Farmer says he liv. yet Newbury can show his gr.-st. with inscript. that he d. 30 May 1703.

3. ↑ .

   Footnote: Weis, Magna Charta Sureties, 4th edition _FOOT: Weis, Magna Charta Sureties, 4th edition