John Abbe Sr.
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John Abbe Sr. |
John Abbe Sr. was born October 15, 1613, in Staverton, Northampston, England, and died 1689 Salem Village, Essex Co., MA, at about age 76. He was the son of Thomas Abbe of Staverton, Westhampden, England, and Elyzabeth Harberd of Staverton, Westhampden, England. Mary Loring was born about 1615 in England and died September 9, 1672, in Wenham, MA, at about age 57. She was the daughter of Unknown. John Abbe and Mary Loring were married about 1634 in probably England. John Abbe and Mary (Loring) Abbe had seven children:
After Mary died, John Abbe married Mary (Unknown) Goldsmith. Mary Unknown was born 1615 in England and died after 1683 in Unknown. Mary Unknown was first married to Richard Goldsmith: Born Unknown; Died by lightning about 1674. Richard Goldsmith was born Unknown and died by lightning about 1674. Richard Goldsmith and Mary Unknown were married Unknown. Richard Goldsmith and Mary (Unknown) Goldsmith had Unknown children. After Richard Goldsmith died, Mary (Unknown) Goldsmith married John Abbe. John Abbe and Mary (Unknown) Goldsmith were married November 25, 1674, in Wenham, Essex Co., MA. John Abbe and Mary (Unknown) (Goldsmith) Abbe had no children. TIMELINE John Abbe was born October 15, 1613, in Staverton, Northampston, England Mary Loring was born about 1615 in England. From Jeromey Ward's Web Site: Taken from "Abbe-Abbey Genealogy" by Cleveland Abbe and Josephine Nichols. John Abbe, born in England about 1613; died in Salem, Mass., about1689-90. The place of birth of John Abbe, the founder of the Abbe and Abbey families, is unknown, but every indication points to oneof the interior and central counties of England as the home of the ancestors of the emigrant. It is not improbable that he was connected with the Abbye family of Staverton, Northampton. The parish registers of Stoke Bruerne, Northampton, show that there were many marriages of Abbyes recorded there during the 16th and 17th centuries. A History of Staverton: However old the real history of Staverton parish may be , written records go back to the time of king Athelstan (925-940), who gave extensive lands to the monastery of St. Mary and St. Peter in Exeter, so that the income from the lands could support the work of the church. Falling on hard times however the monastery sold the manors. In 1050 Leofric became the Bishop of Exeter and regained all of the lands. Which had been given by Athelstan, and Staverton and Sparkwell returned to the church’s keeping. Later, in 1088, the Doomsday Book records the manor of Staverton as being worth £7 and Sparkwell as 15/- (shillings) a year. Over the centuries, boundaries have moved and manors split. By the 15th century, Sparkwell Manor consisted of Sparkwell, Beara and Blacker. Barkingdon and Kingston were separate manors. From Saxon times, the Wolston family was associated with the area, originally with Sparkwell and later with Blackler and Beara. Their name survives today in Wolston Green, a hamlet within the parish boundary. Sparkwell and Kingston were later owned by the Barnhouse family, and passed via Agnes Barnhouse to her husband John Rowe. Barkington was owned by the Worths until the 17th century. The boundaries of the manors were not always as now, but where filed names were recorded, it is easy to trace the historical boundaries of ownership. Some are still referred to as they were a thousand years ago. The manor of Staverton continued to provide income for the Chapter of Exeter. Changes to legal title were made in 1148 concerning the church at Staverton. The Chapter of Exeter was instructed to appoint an "upright man as Vicar and allow him sufficient maintenance." Some hamlets became independent of the church and changed hands frequently. Tradition has it that Pridhamsleigh was lost as a gambling debt by the Gould family, forebears of Sabine Barring-Gould. However , the Church retained much of the land and this is reflected today with the Church Commissioners still owning substantial areas of the parish. The River Dart forms one of the boundaries and appears to have caused some problems. For many years the riparian rights were leased by the Chapter in Exeter to Buckfast Abbey. The monks resented any use made of the river down-stream, lest it reduced their supply of salmon, and they would often resort to violence and intimidation of a most irreligious nature, which sometimes landed them in the Courts. The last such incident appears in the Court of the Star Chamber records, just before the Dissolution under Henry VIII. A mill, probably sited near the present bridge, was leased by the Abbot of Buckfast to one John Macy, and it appears that some of the monks had broken in and violently taken stock from the mill for no apparent reason. Fact and legend are intertwined in the history of Staverton Church. It is said that in Saxon times, after St Paul de Leon landed at Penzance and built his church at St Pol, he sailed along the coast of Devon and Cornwall and then up the River Dart, until he reached the ford at Staverton. He felt that God had guided him to this place, and desired him to build a church. The site he chose was possibly near Wolston Green, and he gathered all the materials together ready to begin building. However, when he awoke the next morning the materials had disappeared. Patiently, he repeated his preparations but by the next morning the materials had again disappeared. When this happened for the third time, St Paul concluded that God was displeased with the site. He therefore chose the present location, which appears to have met with Divine approval, for a place of worship has remained there throughout the intervening ten centuries. The church built by St Paul was the first of three churches on the site, and would have been a wattle, clay and wooden structure with a thatched roof. The second building was of stone, built in Norman style, and it was much smaller than the present one, the knave being only 16ft 12ft. A fascinating anecdote is that the timbers from the roof of this Norman church have since been discovered as supporting timbers in the roof of a local farmhouse. It appears that the benefits of recycling are not after all, a discovery of the 20th Century! It would seem however, that the parishioners did not look after their church too well, as in 1314 Bishop Stapeldon, on a visit to the parish noted several defects and ordered a new church to be built by the people of Staverton. The present building dates from that time, and tradition has it that the villages built such a large church to spite the censorious Bishop. The yew tree survived the rebuilding , and is now over a thousand years old. A report dated around 1750 quotes the story that a family vault belonging to the Worths was opened in the order to drain it. An oak coffin was found, which must have been that of Simon Worth who died in 1669. When the workmen opened the coffin they found the body not only intact, but quite supple, as if buried only the day before. The body had not been embalmed and although the coffin was left open for several weeks the body did not decay. A surgeon opened the body and found all the organs intact. The vault used to fill with water in the winter, but dried out in the summer, and this coffin was held down with a stone. In 1877, Staverton Church was "restore in true Victorian style. Sabine Barring Gould, who had a living near London at the time, was contacted as his ancestors were about to be entombed in concrete . He rushed down and removed their memorials to Lewtrenchard Church. The Gould family had lived at Pridhamsleigh (presumably until they lost it in the gambling debt), and Coombe, and were the founders of several Parish Charities. Their name survives today in Goulds, a house near Staverton Station. The history of the bridges in the parish is
not easy to trace and the dates when they were first built are not known. Their
existence only comes to light when they were officially recorded for some
reason. Before the 14th Century, people and packhorses had to cross the Dart at
the ford. The first bridge in the parish was Austin’s bridge, originally 7’ 6’
it was widened in 1809. Dart bridge was built in 1356, and Staverton bridge
appears to have been rebuilt after the previous wooden structure, was in danger
of collapse in 1413. The present fine stone bridge features on
the Parish Council Chairman’s badge is believed to date from this time. Repairs
and alterations have however, been carried out during the bridges long history.
Twenty years later, other incidents took place involving John Murry, the Bailiff of Haytor Hundred, who should have been maintaining the peace, but instead appears to have behaved suspiciously like a highwayman, relieving travellers of horses, harnesses and baggage. It would have been an ideal place for waylaying and trapping victims. The parish seems to have a long tradition of education, as early in the 19th Century, there were four small schools within its boundaries. The location of these is not known and it is likely that they were Dame Schools, the most common form of education prior to the 1870 Education Act. Reference is also made to teachers in the parish since the 17th Century. Landscove School was built in 1855, and was originally designed for 50 children. It was enlarged in 1897. The school and school house was financed by Miss Champernowne, as was Landscove Church and vicarage. Staverton School was built in 1875 at a cost of £900. It was designed to provide education for 70 children. During the five years from 1870, when education became compulsory, children were taught in the Court Room. The headmistress however, had to wait until 1878 for a house to be provided. The earliest records of the slate quarries
is 1338, when Penn slate was used by John Holland, a half brother of Richard II,
for roofing Dartington Hall. However, they later fell into disuse. Their revival
in the 19th Century had a major influence in the development of the parish.
During this period , Penn slate was used for the roof of the Houses of
Parliament. Sadly however, the only thing worth preserving from the quarries
long history is the chimney on the road from Penn to Parkfield. The land was given by the Dean and Chapter of Exeter, and the building was generously funded by Miss Champernowne a former owner of Dartington Hall. The cost of the building work is reputed to have been £3000. The architect, John Loughbrough Pearson also later designed Truro Cathedral. The vicarage, now Hill House, was also funded by Miss Champernowne, and date from around this time. The slate quarries, which finally closed in 1908, also had an influence on the development on the roads of the parish. In the 19th Century, the road system was very different from now, and the main road from Ashburton to Totnes ran through Five Lanes , on through High Beara to Bumpston Cross, passing about six hundred yards from the adit at Lower Coombe making it easier for the transport of the slate to either town. The South Devon Railway Company opened Totnes Station in 1847 and proper services appear to have begun in 1848. The line to Ashburton was opened on 1st May 1872. The original Act of Parliament of 1845 for the Plymouth, Devonport and Exeter Railway, to join the Bristol and Exeter railway at Exeter, granted permission for a line passing through Buckfastleigh and Ashburton. (All new railway lines have to be passed by an Act of Parliament.) In the same year, a proposal was made for the Ashburton, Newton and South Devon Junction railway to run from Newton to Ashburton. (Newton Abbot was just "Newton" at this time.) Also in 1845, a public meeting held in the Totnes Guildhall agreed that Totnes should be connected to Buckfastleigh and Ashburton. This did not become an Act until July 1848. The line was to be designed by Brunel and would have been broad gauge. On completion, it was to be operated by the South Devon Railway. By the end of all these negotiations however, the country was in recession and all plans were shelved. But by 1862, it was decided that the area needed the railway to boost trade and the Buckfastleigh, Totnes and South Devon Railway Company Act was passed in 1864. In 1865 another Act extended the line to Ashburton. It was of course, broad gauge, converted to standard gauge in 1892. The principal traffic was always freight, with passengers a poor second, mainly workman and children attending school in Totnes. Apart from the usual pick-up goods, the main traffic into Staverton was agricultural feeds, timber for the joinery, and over 20 wagons of coal a week. Outgoing traffic was cider from Whiteways at Stretchford and from Hill’s at Barkingdon and furniture from Staverton joinery. Interestingly, until the end of the Century, the woollen mills of Buckfastleigh provided the railway with more traffic than Newton Abbot. The branch was closed to all traffic on 10th September 1962, the last passenger train having run in 1958. The line had fallen victim, like so many others, to Dr. Beeching’s cuts. The Great Western Society restored the line and it was re-opened in 1968. Like many rural settlements, the population of the parish has been in steady decline since the mid-19th Century. Population statistics are scanty prior to 1801, when the first Census was carried out. However, a report of around 1750 said that as many hogsheads of cider were made each year as there were men and women in the parish, and this was about 2,000 hogsheads. The 1801 Census shows a population of 1053, 473 males and 580 females. The highest recorded population in the 19th Century was in 1851 with the total of 1152, 562 males and 590 females. This was when production in the slate quarries was at its peak, but a sharp fall occurred by 1861, with only 949 people in the parish. The Census report notes that this was due to the decline in employment in the slate quarries. The1881 report also comments that agriculture remained the main source of employment in the parish despite the relatively large numbers employed in the quarries. From 1861 onwards, the population of Staverton has continued to fall slowly, the lowest figure being in 1971, with 551 people living in the parish. By 1981, this had increased to 627. The fact that Staverton village alone at one time could support three public houses, bears testimony to a once larger population. In 1850, the Landlord of the Ring O’ Bells Inn, whose name survives in Ring O’ Bells hill was the aptly named Robert Beer! The other two pubs at the time were the Church House Inn (now the Sea Trout Inn) and the Union Inn. The exact location of the latter is not known but was possibly in the Sherwell Close area. In addition, there was also the Live and Let Live at Wolston Green which still exists today. This has been only a brief glimpse at some of the more notable events and developments which have taken place over the centuries. It is hoped however, that it helps to put the parish into it's historical context and links us with the men and women who played their part in shaping the parish which we know today. John Abbe, from the age given approximately
at his death, was born about 1613. The first mention which seems to be of this
John Abbe is on a register of the names all of all ye passengers which passed
from ye Porte of London for a whole yeare endinge at Xmas 1635 - Those
underwritten areto be transported to Virginia imbarqued in ye Mercht bonaventure
James Ricrofte Mr bound thither have taken ye oath of allegeance - Jo: Abby
yeares 22 Although this statement says bound for Virginia, it is awell-known
fact that many of the early ships destined for Virginia landedmany or all of
their passengers at other ports, even in New England, andrecords of the name
John Abbe begin in New England about that time. Theabove Jo: Abby does not
appear in the records of Virginia, nor in theHead Rights for lower Norfolk from
1637 to 1666. The abbreviation Jo:sometimes stood for Joseph, but there are
proven instances where it wasused for John. John Abbey Senjr ded acknowledg this
writing above written to be his act & deed August ye 3d: 1683 before On the outside of the above document is the
inscription: Administration on the Estate of John Abbey
senjr of Wenham. John Appleton Esqr. Comissionated by his Excellency Joseph
Dudley Capt.Generll and Governr in Cheif in & over her Majess Province of
yeMassachtt Bay in New England, with the advice and Consent of her Majestes
Counsell of said province for the Probate of Wills and Granting Lettersof
adminstro. Within the said County of Essex &c. To Thomas Abbey ofEnfield in ye
County of Hampshire son to John Abbey senjr of Wenham-Deceased Know All men by these presents, That We
Thomas Abbey of Enfield inye County of hampshire as principle and Waltar
ffairfeild Senj & Thomas Edwards both of Wenham as sureties within His Majesties
Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England are holden and stand firmly
bound and obliged unto John Appleton Esqr Judge of the Probate of Wills and
granting Administration within the said County of Essex in the full sum of Two
hundred Pounds Currant Money in New England. To be paid unto thesaid John
Appleton Esquire his This Inventory of the Estate of John Abee
Senor formerly of Wenham decesed about thirten yere since Intestate we whos
names are her vnto subscribed on this twentey-fovrth of febuary in the yere of
our lord 17did at the Request of thomas Abee one of the sons of the decesed and
Administrator of his fathers estat or by his order vallew and aprise the said
decesed his house and land in Wenham on which to our certain knowleghe lived for
many yers and dyed seased of the same as his owne Estat of Inheritance as we
ever understod we being his nere neighbors for manyyers the sayd decesed his
homsted being about twenty and three acers of vpland and medow together with the
housing and fences ther on theapertenances ther onto belonging together with his
Right in the Comon allwhich we vallewed at ninety and two pounds £92-s00-d00. We
also being Informed that the sayd decesed in his lifetime did to acomodate his
son Obadiah acording to his desire with a trad for his futer benifett when the
sayd Obadiah was eighten yers old give to Richard Goldsmith threeyers sarvit of
his said son Obadiah and vntill he was one and twentey yers ould to learne him
to be a shoemaker and all the sayd time his saydfather did find his sayd son
meat and drink and Clothes washing and Lodging which we doe Judg to be worth
thirtey pounds. the acount was settled betwen thomas Abee and his fathers Estat
by the Children of the sayd decesed in our presents as witness our hands this 24
of the 12thmonth 1703/2 John Abbe married (1) MARY -. She was born
in England about 161520, and died in Wenham, Mass., September 6, 1672. "Mary,
the wife of John Abbey, senr. dyed the 9 Sept. 1672"; Wenham records. She was
doubtless the mother of all of his children. Her name is given as Mary Loring,
by Frederick Orr Woodruff, who says that the name was found on Enfield records
by one who made researches for him there. John Abbe married (2)November 25,
1674, MRS. MARY GOLDSMITH, widow of Richard Goldsmith, whowas killed by
lightning, May 18, John married Mary about 1634 in Probably England. Mary was born about 1615 in England. She died on Sep 9 1672 in Wenham, Massachusetts. |