John Robinson, eldest s. of the immigrant Isaac Robinson and his first wife Margaret Hanford, bapt. by Rev. John Lothrop at Barnstable, Mass. Apr. 5, 1640. John represents the Massachusetts and Maine branch of the Isaac Robinson descendant family. A recently uncovered record proves that John was still alive at Falmouth, Mass. on Apr. 4, 1714.
In "about ye middle of May 1667," likely at Falmouth but recorded at Barnstable, John m. Elizabeth Weeks. She was the dau. of William Weeks Sr. and his unnamed first wife, b. about 1648, possibly in England. Nine children were b. of this marriage, eight reaching adulthood and married.
Several important points need to be made for descendants of John and Elizabeth (Weeks) Robinson.
First, according to the records of the Barnstable First Church, on Oct. 10, 1708 "John Robinson and Elisa(beth), his wife," along with fifteen others, had their church membership transferred to Falmouth, Mass., which is where they lived. This record proves that John and wife Elizabeth were still living on that date.
Second, the tradition first written by Amos Otis in 1860 states that sometime "after April 1714" John and wife Elizabeth moved to Conn. This was repeated by John Adams Vinton in 1864, in the 1925 Robinson Genealogy and was adopted by Richard M. Bayles in his History of Windham County, Connecticut (1889), latter which states:
• The Scotland settlers [referring to the Scotland Society at Windham] still maintained their connection with the church at Windham Green,...and in 1714, John Robinson, a descendant of Elder John Robinson, of Leyden, moved to Scotland.
Unfortunately, Amos Otis clearly did not do his homework nor did subsequent writers who adopted Otis' statement. In a deed dated in April 1714 on record at Willimantic, Conn., Jeremiah Fitch "of Windham in Hartford County, Colony of Connecticut in New England" sold land located in present Coventry, Conn. to John Robinson "of Newbury, County of Essex, in the Massachusetts Bay in New England." In 1714 Coventry was part of Windham County. This separate John Robinson and his associated family were not actually surnamed Robinson. They have their surname entered both as "Robinson" and "Robertson" in the Newbury, Mass. vital records and similarly at Coventry, Conn. The descendant family finally decided by the mid 1700s that its surname was Robertson, not Robinson.
However, in early April 1714 Judge Samuel Sewall of Boston was traveling through Falmouth on his way to inspect the condition of the Wampanoag Indians residing at Gay Head (present Aquinnah) in extreme southwest Martha's Vineyard. This is the same Samuel Sewall who in 1702 had encountered Isaac Robinson at Barnstable and provided the basis of when Isaac arrived in New England in 1630/31. In his diary Sewall wrote (Sewall Diary, 2:432):
• Second-day. April 5. 1714. We pass on to Fishe's by a brave Pond, where we bait our Horses. Then proceed to Falmouth, to Capt. Lothrop's. Got thither about Noon. William Basset was our Pilot. Din'd there on Bacon and Eggs. Mr. Metcalf with us...Went to the Ferry. Mr. Metcalf and Capt. Lothrop accompanied us, and our pilot. At Weeks' I saw Mr. John Robinson, who waits there for the calling of a sloop to take a family and him in to carry them to Conecticut. Is about 74 years old. I gave him my Ten Biskets and 5s.
In this diary entry Mr. Metcalf was Rev. Joseph Metcalf (1682-1723), pastor of the Falmouth Congregational Church. Capt. Lothrop was undoubtedly Hope Lothrop (who with wife Elizabeth and seven of their children would remove to and die in Connecticut). "At Weeks'..." undoubtedly refers to either William Weeks. Jr. or his younger brother John, both of Falmouth and John Robinson's brothers-in-law. Nonetheless, that Mr. John Robinson was "about 74 years old" can only refer to John, the eldest son of Isaac, bapt. by Capt. Hope Lothrop's grandfather, Rev. John Lothrop, at Barnstable on Apr. 5, 1640.
In April 1714 the only child of John and Elizabeth (Weeks) Robinson residing in Connecticut, at East Haddam, was the family of daughter Abigail (Robinson) Percival. And, in 1714 John Robinson's nephew, Lieut. Thomas Robinson (1666-1725), the only child of John's long deceased natural brother Isaac, was also a resident of East Haddam. By 1710 John's half-brother Peter Robinson had left Martha's Vineyard and was residing at or near Norwich, Connecticut.
Third, although the supposed order of birth of the first five children of the family is recorded in the Barnstable town records, the record claims the fourth and fifth child, both daughters, were Abigail on Mar. 20, 1674 [-75] and Fear on May 16, 1676. However, on Oct. 21, 1688 at the Barnstable Church, the eight living children of the family were presented for baptism, recorded in the following order, the sons first followed by the daus.: John, Isaac, Timothy, Joseph, Fear, Abigail, Mercy and Mary. The actual entry in the church baptism record states:
• Timothy, Joseph, Fear, Abigail, Mercy and Mary, of John Robinson, his 2 old(er) Sons were adults, yrfore not baptised.
Except for one other similar contradiction known to the writer, in all other baptism records of the original Barnstable church when multiple children of one family were baptized on the same date, they were baptized in descending age order, either first by the oldest to youngest son followed by the oldest to youngest daughter, or from oldest to youngest child regardless of gender. On the foregoing baptism date third born son Timothy was seven days shy of his 17th birthday. The "two older sons" not baptized were first b. son John then age 20-1/2 and 2nd b. son Isaac then 19-1/2 years old.
Accordingly, the record of baptism directly contradicts the purported birth order of daughters Abigail and Fear in the Barnstable vital records. In the baptism record, in 1688 Fear was the oldest daughter of the family, not Abigail. This seems corroborated by Fear being the first daughter to marry, followed by Abigail shortly thereafter. The writer has more confidence that the named children appeared in person before the Barnstable Church pastor and church members for baptism versus the Barnstable vital record entries for the family, particularly since the John Robinson family never resided at Barnstable. The writer has adopted the assumption that Fear was the dau. b. March 20, 1674/5 and Abigail b. May 16, 1676.
Fourth, no record of death, probate or cemetery record has ever been uncovered for John Robinson and wife Elizabeth Weeks in Massachusetts or Connecticut. All recorded Barnstable County deeds were destroyed in a fire in the mid-1800s. In 1903 the two oldest known gravestones in the old Falmouth Burying Ground were of Desire (Chipman) Bourn, who died Mar. 28, 1705, and of Amy (Allen) Hatch, who died Feb. 24, 1709/10.
Sewall's cited April 1714 diary entry does not mean John Robinson actually traveled to Connecticut, that wife Elizabeth was still living, or that either one of them died in Connecticut. As such, there is no support for the notion that John Robinson and wife Elizabeth actually moved to Conn. For upwards of two centuries their descendants were scattered throughout greater Falmouth, Mass.; on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Island; and in the present state of Maine.
Finally, for solely practical purposes this memorial for John Robinson has been linked to the old Falmouth cemetery, but there is no guarantee he was interred there with a gravestone, and if so his gravestone, if he ever had one, did not exist in 1903.
The children of John Robinson and Elizabeth Weeks, all b. at Falmouth, Mass. and recorded in both the Barnstable and Falmouth town records, are:
• i. John Robinson, Jr., b. Mar. 20, 1668/9; m. Apr. 11, 1717 at Yarmouth, Mass., Mary Lumbert, dau. of Joshua Lumbert and Hopestill Bullock. He d. at Barnstable betw. Feb. 20, 1726/7 (date of will) and Apr. 20, 1727 (date of probate.) Although there is no recorded child of the marriage, the writer believes John and Mary had a son John who was raised at Tolland, Conn. His widow Mary m. 2) Oct. 27, 1731 at Tolland, Conn., John Abbott, and d. at Tolland Apr. 3, 1778.
• ii. Isaac Robinson, b. Jan. 16, 1669/70; m. Mar. 1, 1689/90 at Falmouth, Mass., Hannah Harper, dau. of Robert Harper and Prudence Butler, latter who were Quakers. Ten children of the family.
• iii. Timothy Robinson, b. Oct. 30, 1671; m. 1) May 3, 1699 at Falmouth, Mass. his 1st cousin Mehitable Weeks, dau. of William Weeks, Jr. and Mercy Robinson. Mehitable d. soon after giving birth to daughter Mehitable in Feb. 1700. Timothy m. 2) by May 1700 his wife's sister Experience Weeks. Seven additional children of the family.
• iv. Fear Robinson, b. Mar. 20, 1674/5; m. Dec. 2, 1695 at Falmouth, Mass., Thomas Blossom, s. of Peter Blossom and Sarah Bodfish. Five children of the family. Thomas Blossom's paternal aunt, Elizabeth Blossom, sister of Thomas Blossom's father, m. May 10, 1637 at Scituate, Mass., Edward Fitzrandolph. Elizabeth (Blossom) Fitzrandolph is the maternal ancestor of Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States.
• v. Abigail Robinson, b. May 16, 1676; m. Feb. 18, 1695/6 at Sandwich, Mass., James Percival, Jr. and removed by 1706 to East Haddam, Conn. Six children of the family.
• vi. Mercy Robinson, b. Mar. 31, 1679; m. Oct. 26, 1704 at Falmouth her 1st cousin Jonathan Weeks.
• vii. Joseph Robinson, b. after Sept. 16, 1679; m. 1) Oct. 22, 1700 at Falmouth, Bethia Gall, and 2) Dec. 7, 1704 at Falmouth, Bethia Lumbert. Ten children of the family.
• viii. An infant twin child, b. 12 Dec. 1683; d. four days later on Dec. 16, 1683.
• ix. Mary, a twin, b. Dec. 12, 1683; m. Nov. 22, 1704 at Falmouth, Benjamin Davis. Ten children of the family. Benjamin m. 2) Apr. 27, 1726 at Falmouth, Mary Dimock, by whom he had three more children.
Revised 2/13/2019
In "about ye middle of May 1667," likely at Falmouth but recorded at Barnstable, John m. Elizabeth Weeks. She was the dau. of William Weeks Sr. and his unnamed first wife, b. about 1648, possibly in England. Nine children were b. of this marriage, eight reaching adulthood and married.
Several important points need to be made for descendants of John and Elizabeth (Weeks) Robinson.
First, according to the records of the Barnstable First Church, on Oct. 10, 1708 "John Robinson and Elisa(beth), his wife," along with fifteen others, had their church membership transferred to Falmouth, Mass., which is where they lived. This record proves that John and wife Elizabeth were still living on that date.
Second, the tradition first written by Amos Otis in 1860 states that sometime "after April 1714" John and wife Elizabeth moved to Conn. This was repeated by John Adams Vinton in 1864, in the 1925 Robinson Genealogy and was adopted by Richard M. Bayles in his History of Windham County, Connecticut (1889), latter which states:
• The Scotland settlers [referring to the Scotland Society at Windham] still maintained their connection with the church at Windham Green,...and in 1714, John Robinson, a descendant of Elder John Robinson, of Leyden, moved to Scotland.
Unfortunately, Amos Otis clearly did not do his homework nor did subsequent writers who adopted Otis' statement. In a deed dated in April 1714 on record at Willimantic, Conn., Jeremiah Fitch "of Windham in Hartford County, Colony of Connecticut in New England" sold land located in present Coventry, Conn. to John Robinson "of Newbury, County of Essex, in the Massachusetts Bay in New England." In 1714 Coventry was part of Windham County. This separate John Robinson and his associated family were not actually surnamed Robinson. They have their surname entered both as "Robinson" and "Robertson" in the Newbury, Mass. vital records and similarly at Coventry, Conn. The descendant family finally decided by the mid 1700s that its surname was Robertson, not Robinson.
However, in early April 1714 Judge Samuel Sewall of Boston was traveling through Falmouth on his way to inspect the condition of the Wampanoag Indians residing at Gay Head (present Aquinnah) in extreme southwest Martha's Vineyard. This is the same Samuel Sewall who in 1702 had encountered Isaac Robinson at Barnstable and provided the basis of when Isaac arrived in New England in 1630/31. In his diary Sewall wrote (Sewall Diary, 2:432):
• Second-day. April 5. 1714. We pass on to Fishe's by a brave Pond, where we bait our Horses. Then proceed to Falmouth, to Capt. Lothrop's. Got thither about Noon. William Basset was our Pilot. Din'd there on Bacon and Eggs. Mr. Metcalf with us...Went to the Ferry. Mr. Metcalf and Capt. Lothrop accompanied us, and our pilot. At Weeks' I saw Mr. John Robinson, who waits there for the calling of a sloop to take a family and him in to carry them to Conecticut. Is about 74 years old. I gave him my Ten Biskets and 5s.
In this diary entry Mr. Metcalf was Rev. Joseph Metcalf (1682-1723), pastor of the Falmouth Congregational Church. Capt. Lothrop was undoubtedly Hope Lothrop (who with wife Elizabeth and seven of their children would remove to and die in Connecticut). "At Weeks'..." undoubtedly refers to either William Weeks. Jr. or his younger brother John, both of Falmouth and John Robinson's brothers-in-law. Nonetheless, that Mr. John Robinson was "about 74 years old" can only refer to John, the eldest son of Isaac, bapt. by Capt. Hope Lothrop's grandfather, Rev. John Lothrop, at Barnstable on Apr. 5, 1640.
In April 1714 the only child of John and Elizabeth (Weeks) Robinson residing in Connecticut, at East Haddam, was the family of daughter Abigail (Robinson) Percival. And, in 1714 John Robinson's nephew, Lieut. Thomas Robinson (1666-1725), the only child of John's long deceased natural brother Isaac, was also a resident of East Haddam. By 1710 John's half-brother Peter Robinson had left Martha's Vineyard and was residing at or near Norwich, Connecticut.
Third, although the supposed order of birth of the first five children of the family is recorded in the Barnstable town records, the record claims the fourth and fifth child, both daughters, were Abigail on Mar. 20, 1674 [-75] and Fear on May 16, 1676. However, on Oct. 21, 1688 at the Barnstable Church, the eight living children of the family were presented for baptism, recorded in the following order, the sons first followed by the daus.: John, Isaac, Timothy, Joseph, Fear, Abigail, Mercy and Mary. The actual entry in the church baptism record states:
• Timothy, Joseph, Fear, Abigail, Mercy and Mary, of John Robinson, his 2 old(er) Sons were adults, yrfore not baptised.
Except for one other similar contradiction known to the writer, in all other baptism records of the original Barnstable church when multiple children of one family were baptized on the same date, they were baptized in descending age order, either first by the oldest to youngest son followed by the oldest to youngest daughter, or from oldest to youngest child regardless of gender. On the foregoing baptism date third born son Timothy was seven days shy of his 17th birthday. The "two older sons" not baptized were first b. son John then age 20-1/2 and 2nd b. son Isaac then 19-1/2 years old.
Accordingly, the record of baptism directly contradicts the purported birth order of daughters Abigail and Fear in the Barnstable vital records. In the baptism record, in 1688 Fear was the oldest daughter of the family, not Abigail. This seems corroborated by Fear being the first daughter to marry, followed by Abigail shortly thereafter. The writer has more confidence that the named children appeared in person before the Barnstable Church pastor and church members for baptism versus the Barnstable vital record entries for the family, particularly since the John Robinson family never resided at Barnstable. The writer has adopted the assumption that Fear was the dau. b. March 20, 1674/5 and Abigail b. May 16, 1676.
Fourth, no record of death, probate or cemetery record has ever been uncovered for John Robinson and wife Elizabeth Weeks in Massachusetts or Connecticut. All recorded Barnstable County deeds were destroyed in a fire in the mid-1800s. In 1903 the two oldest known gravestones in the old Falmouth Burying Ground were of Desire (Chipman) Bourn, who died Mar. 28, 1705, and of Amy (Allen) Hatch, who died Feb. 24, 1709/10.
Sewall's cited April 1714 diary entry does not mean John Robinson actually traveled to Connecticut, that wife Elizabeth was still living, or that either one of them died in Connecticut. As such, there is no support for the notion that John Robinson and wife Elizabeth actually moved to Conn. For upwards of two centuries their descendants were scattered throughout greater Falmouth, Mass.; on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Island; and in the present state of Maine.
Finally, for solely practical purposes this memorial for John Robinson has been linked to the old Falmouth cemetery, but there is no guarantee he was interred there with a gravestone, and if so his gravestone, if he ever had one, did not exist in 1903.
The children of John Robinson and Elizabeth Weeks, all b. at Falmouth, Mass. and recorded in both the Barnstable and Falmouth town records, are:
• i. John Robinson, Jr., b. Mar. 20, 1668/9; m. Apr. 11, 1717 at Yarmouth, Mass., Mary Lumbert, dau. of Joshua Lumbert and Hopestill Bullock. He d. at Barnstable betw. Feb. 20, 1726/7 (date of will) and Apr. 20, 1727 (date of probate.) Although there is no recorded child of the marriage, the writer believes John and Mary had a son John who was raised at Tolland, Conn. His widow Mary m. 2) Oct. 27, 1731 at Tolland, Conn., John Abbott, and d. at Tolland Apr. 3, 1778.
• ii. Isaac Robinson, b. Jan. 16, 1669/70; m. Mar. 1, 1689/90 at Falmouth, Mass., Hannah Harper, dau. of Robert Harper and Prudence Butler, latter who were Quakers. Ten children of the family.
• iii. Timothy Robinson, b. Oct. 30, 1671; m. 1) May 3, 1699 at Falmouth, Mass. his 1st cousin Mehitable Weeks, dau. of William Weeks, Jr. and Mercy Robinson. Mehitable d. soon after giving birth to daughter Mehitable in Feb. 1700. Timothy m. 2) by May 1700 his wife's sister Experience Weeks. Seven additional children of the family.
• iv. Fear Robinson, b. Mar. 20, 1674/5; m. Dec. 2, 1695 at Falmouth, Mass., Thomas Blossom, s. of Peter Blossom and Sarah Bodfish. Five children of the family. Thomas Blossom's paternal aunt, Elizabeth Blossom, sister of Thomas Blossom's father, m. May 10, 1637 at Scituate, Mass., Edward Fitzrandolph. Elizabeth (Blossom) Fitzrandolph is the maternal ancestor of Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States.
• v. Abigail Robinson, b. May 16, 1676; m. Feb. 18, 1695/6 at Sandwich, Mass., James Percival, Jr. and removed by 1706 to East Haddam, Conn. Six children of the family.
• vi. Mercy Robinson, b. Mar. 31, 1679; m. Oct. 26, 1704 at Falmouth her 1st cousin Jonathan Weeks.
• vii. Joseph Robinson, b. after Sept. 16, 1679; m. 1) Oct. 22, 1700 at Falmouth, Bethia Gall, and 2) Dec. 7, 1704 at Falmouth, Bethia Lumbert. Ten children of the family.
• viii. An infant twin child, b. 12 Dec. 1683; d. four days later on Dec. 16, 1683.
• ix. Mary, a twin, b. Dec. 12, 1683; m. Nov. 22, 1704 at Falmouth, Benjamin Davis. Ten children of the family. Benjamin m. 2) Apr. 27, 1726 at Falmouth, Mary Dimock, by whom he had three more children.
Revised 2/13/2019
John Robinson, eldest s. of the immigrant Isaac Robinson and his first wife Margaret Hanford, bapt. by Rev. John Lothrop at Barnstable, Mass. Apr. 5, 1640. John represents the Massachusetts and Maine branch of the Isaac Robinson descendant family. A recently uncovered record proves that John was still alive at Falmouth, Mass. on Apr. 4, 1714.
In "about ye middle of May 1667," likely at Falmouth but recorded at Barnstable, John m. Elizabeth Weeks. She was the dau. of William Weeks Sr. and his unnamed first wife, b. about 1648, possibly in England. Nine children were b. of this marriage, eight reaching adulthood and married.
Several important points need to be made for descendants of John and Elizabeth (Weeks) Robinson.
First, according to the records of the Barnstable First Church, on Oct. 10, 1708 "John Robinson and Elisa(beth), his wife," along with fifteen others, had their church membership transferred to Falmouth, Mass., which is where they lived. This record proves that John and wife Elizabeth were still living on that date.
Second, the tradition first written by Amos Otis in 1860 states that sometime "after April 1714" John and wife Elizabeth moved to Conn. This was repeated by John Adams Vinton in 1864, in the 1925 Robinson Genealogy and was adopted by Richard M. Bayles in his History of Windham County, Connecticut (1889), latter which states:
• The Scotland settlers [referring to the Scotland Society at Windham] still maintained their connection with the church at Windham Green,...and in 1714, John Robinson, a descendant of Elder John Robinson, of Leyden, moved to Scotland.
Unfortunately, Amos Otis clearly did not do his homework nor did subsequent writers who adopted Otis' statement. In a deed dated in April 1714 on record at Willimantic, Conn., Jeremiah Fitch "of Windham in Hartford County, Colony of Connecticut in New England" sold land located in present Coventry, Conn. to John Robinson "of Newbury, County of Essex, in the Massachusetts Bay in New England." In 1714 Coventry was part of Windham County. This separate John Robinson and his associated family were not actually surnamed Robinson. They have their surname entered both as "Robinson" and "Robertson" in the Newbury, Mass. vital records and similarly at Coventry, Conn. The descendant family finally decided by the mid 1700s that its surname was Robertson, not Robinson.
However, in early April 1714 Judge Samuel Sewall of Boston was traveling through Falmouth on his way to inspect the condition of the Wampanoag Indians residing at Gay Head (present Aquinnah) in extreme southwest Martha's Vineyard. This is the same Samuel Sewall who in 1702 had encountered Isaac Robinson at Barnstable and provided the basis of when Isaac arrived in New England in 1630/31. In his diary Sewall wrote (Sewall Diary, 2:432):
• Second-day. April 5. 1714. We pass on to Fishe's by a brave Pond, where we bait our Horses. Then proceed to Falmouth, to Capt. Lothrop's. Got thither about Noon. William Basset was our Pilot. Din'd there on Bacon and Eggs. Mr. Metcalf with us...Went to the Ferry. Mr. Metcalf and Capt. Lothrop accompanied us, and our pilot. At Weeks' I saw Mr. John Robinson, who waits there for the calling of a sloop to take a family and him in to carry them to Conecticut. Is about 74 years old. I gave him my Ten Biskets and 5s.
In this diary entry Mr. Metcalf was Rev. Joseph Metcalf (1682-1723), pastor of the Falmouth Congregational Church. Capt. Lothrop was undoubtedly Hope Lothrop (who with wife Elizabeth and seven of their children would remove to and die in Connecticut). "At Weeks'..." undoubtedly refers to either William Weeks. Jr. or his younger brother John, both of Falmouth and John Robinson's brothers-in-law. Nonetheless, that Mr. John Robinson was "about 74 years old" can only refer to John, the eldest son of Isaac, bapt. by Capt. Hope Lothrop's grandfather, Rev. John Lothrop, at Barnstable on Apr. 5, 1640.
In April 1714 the only child of John and Elizabeth (Weeks) Robinson residing in Connecticut, at East Haddam, was the family of daughter Abigail (Robinson) Percival. And, in 1714 John Robinson's nephew, Lieut. Thomas Robinson (1666-1725), the only child of John's long deceased natural brother Isaac, was also a resident of East Haddam. By 1710 John's half-brother Peter Robinson had left Martha's Vineyard and was residing at or near Norwich, Connecticut.
Third, although the supposed order of birth of the first five children of the family is recorded in the Barnstable town records, the record claims the fourth and fifth child, both daughters, were Abigail on Mar. 20, 1674 [-75] and Fear on May 16, 1676. However, on Oct. 21, 1688 at the Barnstable Church, the eight living children of the family were presented for baptism, recorded in the following order, the sons first followed by the daus.: John, Isaac, Timothy, Joseph, Fear, Abigail, Mercy and Mary. The actual entry in the church baptism record states:
• Timothy, Joseph, Fear, Abigail, Mercy and Mary, of John Robinson, his 2 old(er) Sons were adults, yrfore not baptised.
Except for one other similar contradiction known to the writer, in all other baptism records of the original Barnstable church when multiple children of one family were baptized on the same date, they were baptized in descending age order, either first by the oldest to youngest son followed by the oldest to youngest daughter, or from oldest to youngest child regardless of gender. On the foregoing baptism date third born son Timothy was seven days shy of his 17th birthday. The "two older sons" not baptized were first b. son John then age 20-1/2 and 2nd b. son Isaac then 19-1/2 years old.
Accordingly, the record of baptism directly contradicts the purported birth order of daughters Abigail and Fear in the Barnstable vital records. In the baptism record, in 1688 Fear was the oldest daughter of the family, not Abigail. This seems corroborated by Fear being the first daughter to marry, followed by Abigail shortly thereafter. The writer has more confidence that the named children appeared in person before the Barnstable Church pastor and church members for baptism versus the Barnstable vital record entries for the family, particularly since the John Robinson family never resided at Barnstable. The writer has adopted the assumption that Fear was the dau. b. March 20, 1674/5 and Abigail b. May 16, 1676.
Fourth, no record of death, probate or cemetery record has ever been uncovered for John Robinson and wife Elizabeth Weeks in Massachusetts or Connecticut. All recorded Barnstable County deeds were destroyed in a fire in the mid-1800s. In 1903 the two oldest known gravestones in the old Falmouth Burying Ground were of Desire (Chipman) Bourn, who died Mar. 28, 1705, and of Amy (Allen) Hatch, who died Feb. 24, 1709/10.
Sewall's cited April 1714 diary entry does not mean John Robinson actually traveled to Connecticut, that wife Elizabeth was still living, or that either one of them died in Connecticut. As such, there is no support for the notion that John Robinson and wife Elizabeth actually moved to Conn. For upwards of two centuries their descendants were scattered throughout greater Falmouth, Mass.; on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Island; and in the present state of Maine.
Finally, for solely practical purposes this memorial for John Robinson has been linked to the old Falmouth cemetery, but there is no guarantee he was interred there with a gravestone, and if so his gravestone, if he ever had one, did not exist in 1903.
The children of John Robinson and Elizabeth Weeks, all b. at Falmouth, Mass. and recorded in both the Barnstable and Falmouth town records, are:
• i. John Robinson, Jr., b. Mar. 20, 1668/9; m. Apr. 11, 1717 at Yarmouth, Mass., Mary Lumbert, dau. of Joshua Lumbert and Hopestill Bullock. He d. at Barnstable betw. Feb. 20, 1726/7 (date of will) and Apr. 20, 1727 (date of probate.) Although there is no recorded child of the marriage, the writer believes John and Mary had a son John who was raised at Tolland, Conn. His widow Mary m. 2) Oct. 27, 1731 at Tolland, Conn., John Abbott, and d. at Tolland Apr. 3, 1778.
• ii. Isaac Robinson, b. Jan. 16, 1669/70; m. Mar. 1, 1689/90 at Falmouth, Mass., Hannah Harper, dau. of Robert Harper and Prudence Butler, latter who were Quakers. Ten children of the family.
• iii. Timothy Robinson, b. Oct. 30, 1671; m. 1) May 3, 1699 at Falmouth, Mass. his 1st cousin Mehitable Weeks, dau. of William Weeks, Jr. and Mercy Robinson. Mehitable d. soon after giving birth to daughter Mehitable in Feb. 1700. Timothy m. 2) by May 1700 his wife's sister Experience Weeks. Seven additional children of the family.
• iv. Fear Robinson, b. Mar. 20, 1674/5; m. Dec. 2, 1695 at Falmouth, Mass., Thomas Blossom, s. of Peter Blossom and Sarah Bodfish. Five children of the family. Thomas Blossom's paternal aunt, Elizabeth Blossom, sister of Thomas Blossom's father, m. May 10, 1637 at Scituate, Mass., Edward Fitzrandolph. Elizabeth (Blossom) Fitzrandolph is the maternal ancestor of Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States.
• v. Abigail Robinson, b. May 16, 1676; m. Feb. 18, 1695/6 at Sandwich, Mass., James Percival, Jr. and removed by 1706 to East Haddam, Conn. Six children of the family.
• vi. Mercy Robinson, b. Mar. 31, 1679; m. Oct. 26, 1704 at Falmouth her 1st cousin Jonathan Weeks.
• vii. Joseph Robinson, b. after Sept. 16, 1679; m. 1) Oct. 22, 1700 at Falmouth, Bethia Gall, and 2) Dec. 7, 1704 at Falmouth, Bethia Lumbert. Ten children of the family.
• viii. An infant twin child, b. 12 Dec. 1683; d. four days later on Dec. 16, 1683.
• ix. Mary, a twin, b. Dec. 12, 1683; m. Nov. 22, 1704 at Falmouth, Benjamin Davis. Ten children of the family. Benjamin m. 2) Apr. 27, 1726 at Falmouth, Mary Dimock, by whom he had three more children.
Revised 2/13/2019
In "about ye middle of May 1667," likely at Falmouth but recorded at Barnstable, John m. Elizabeth Weeks. She was the dau. of William Weeks Sr. and his unnamed first wife, b. about 1648, possibly in England. Nine children were b. of this marriage, eight reaching adulthood and married.
Several important points need to be made for descendants of John and Elizabeth (Weeks) Robinson.
First, according to the records of the Barnstable First Church, on Oct. 10, 1708 "John Robinson and Elisa(beth), his wife," along with fifteen others, had their church membership transferred to Falmouth, Mass., which is where they lived. This record proves that John and wife Elizabeth were still living on that date.
Second, the tradition first written by Amos Otis in 1860 states that sometime "after April 1714" John and wife Elizabeth moved to Conn. This was repeated by John Adams Vinton in 1864, in the 1925 Robinson Genealogy and was adopted by Richard M. Bayles in his History of Windham County, Connecticut (1889), latter which states:
• The Scotland settlers [referring to the Scotland Society at Windham] still maintained their connection with the church at Windham Green,...and in 1714, John Robinson, a descendant of Elder John Robinson, of Leyden, moved to Scotland.
Unfortunately, Amos Otis clearly did not do his homework nor did subsequent writers who adopted Otis' statement. In a deed dated in April 1714 on record at Willimantic, Conn., Jeremiah Fitch "of Windham in Hartford County, Colony of Connecticut in New England" sold land located in present Coventry, Conn. to John Robinson "of Newbury, County of Essex, in the Massachusetts Bay in New England." In 1714 Coventry was part of Windham County. This separate John Robinson and his associated family were not actually surnamed Robinson. They have their surname entered both as "Robinson" and "Robertson" in the Newbury, Mass. vital records and similarly at Coventry, Conn. The descendant family finally decided by the mid 1700s that its surname was Robertson, not Robinson.
However, in early April 1714 Judge Samuel Sewall of Boston was traveling through Falmouth on his way to inspect the condition of the Wampanoag Indians residing at Gay Head (present Aquinnah) in extreme southwest Martha's Vineyard. This is the same Samuel Sewall who in 1702 had encountered Isaac Robinson at Barnstable and provided the basis of when Isaac arrived in New England in 1630/31. In his diary Sewall wrote (Sewall Diary, 2:432):
• Second-day. April 5. 1714. We pass on to Fishe's by a brave Pond, where we bait our Horses. Then proceed to Falmouth, to Capt. Lothrop's. Got thither about Noon. William Basset was our Pilot. Din'd there on Bacon and Eggs. Mr. Metcalf with us...Went to the Ferry. Mr. Metcalf and Capt. Lothrop accompanied us, and our pilot. At Weeks' I saw Mr. John Robinson, who waits there for the calling of a sloop to take a family and him in to carry them to Conecticut. Is about 74 years old. I gave him my Ten Biskets and 5s.
In this diary entry Mr. Metcalf was Rev. Joseph Metcalf (1682-1723), pastor of the Falmouth Congregational Church. Capt. Lothrop was undoubtedly Hope Lothrop (who with wife Elizabeth and seven of their children would remove to and die in Connecticut). "At Weeks'..." undoubtedly refers to either William Weeks. Jr. or his younger brother John, both of Falmouth and John Robinson's brothers-in-law. Nonetheless, that Mr. John Robinson was "about 74 years old" can only refer to John, the eldest son of Isaac, bapt. by Capt. Hope Lothrop's grandfather, Rev. John Lothrop, at Barnstable on Apr. 5, 1640.
In April 1714 the only child of John and Elizabeth (Weeks) Robinson residing in Connecticut, at East Haddam, was the family of daughter Abigail (Robinson) Percival. And, in 1714 John Robinson's nephew, Lieut. Thomas Robinson (1666-1725), the only child of John's long deceased natural brother Isaac, was also a resident of East Haddam. By 1710 John's half-brother Peter Robinson had left Martha's Vineyard and was residing at or near Norwich, Connecticut.
Third, although the supposed order of birth of the first five children of the family is recorded in the Barnstable town records, the record claims the fourth and fifth child, both daughters, were Abigail on Mar. 20, 1674 [-75] and Fear on May 16, 1676. However, on Oct. 21, 1688 at the Barnstable Church, the eight living children of the family were presented for baptism, recorded in the following order, the sons first followed by the daus.: John, Isaac, Timothy, Joseph, Fear, Abigail, Mercy and Mary. The actual entry in the church baptism record states:
• Timothy, Joseph, Fear, Abigail, Mercy and Mary, of John Robinson, his 2 old(er) Sons were adults, yrfore not baptised.
Except for one other similar contradiction known to the writer, in all other baptism records of the original Barnstable church when multiple children of one family were baptized on the same date, they were baptized in descending age order, either first by the oldest to youngest son followed by the oldest to youngest daughter, or from oldest to youngest child regardless of gender. On the foregoing baptism date third born son Timothy was seven days shy of his 17th birthday. The "two older sons" not baptized were first b. son John then age 20-1/2 and 2nd b. son Isaac then 19-1/2 years old.
Accordingly, the record of baptism directly contradicts the purported birth order of daughters Abigail and Fear in the Barnstable vital records. In the baptism record, in 1688 Fear was the oldest daughter of the family, not Abigail. This seems corroborated by Fear being the first daughter to marry, followed by Abigail shortly thereafter. The writer has more confidence that the named children appeared in person before the Barnstable Church pastor and church members for baptism versus the Barnstable vital record entries for the family, particularly since the John Robinson family never resided at Barnstable. The writer has adopted the assumption that Fear was the dau. b. March 20, 1674/5 and Abigail b. May 16, 1676.
Fourth, no record of death, probate or cemetery record has ever been uncovered for John Robinson and wife Elizabeth Weeks in Massachusetts or Connecticut. All recorded Barnstable County deeds were destroyed in a fire in the mid-1800s. In 1903 the two oldest known gravestones in the old Falmouth Burying Ground were of Desire (Chipman) Bourn, who died Mar. 28, 1705, and of Amy (Allen) Hatch, who died Feb. 24, 1709/10.
Sewall's cited April 1714 diary entry does not mean John Robinson actually traveled to Connecticut, that wife Elizabeth was still living, or that either one of them died in Connecticut. As such, there is no support for the notion that John Robinson and wife Elizabeth actually moved to Conn. For upwards of two centuries their descendants were scattered throughout greater Falmouth, Mass.; on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Island; and in the present state of Maine.
Finally, for solely practical purposes this memorial for John Robinson has been linked to the old Falmouth cemetery, but there is no guarantee he was interred there with a gravestone, and if so his gravestone, if he ever had one, did not exist in 1903.
The children of John Robinson and Elizabeth Weeks, all b. at Falmouth, Mass. and recorded in both the Barnstable and Falmouth town records, are:
• i. John Robinson, Jr., b. Mar. 20, 1668/9; m. Apr. 11, 1717 at Yarmouth, Mass., Mary Lumbert, dau. of Joshua Lumbert and Hopestill Bullock. He d. at Barnstable betw. Feb. 20, 1726/7 (date of will) and Apr. 20, 1727 (date of probate.) Although there is no recorded child of the marriage, the writer believes John and Mary had a son John who was raised at Tolland, Conn. His widow Mary m. 2) Oct. 27, 1731 at Tolland, Conn., John Abbott, and d. at Tolland Apr. 3, 1778.
• ii. Isaac Robinson, b. Jan. 16, 1669/70; m. Mar. 1, 1689/90 at Falmouth, Mass., Hannah Harper, dau. of Robert Harper and Prudence Butler, latter who were Quakers. Ten children of the family.
• iii. Timothy Robinson, b. Oct. 30, 1671; m. 1) May 3, 1699 at Falmouth, Mass. his 1st cousin Mehitable Weeks, dau. of William Weeks, Jr. and Mercy Robinson. Mehitable d. soon after giving birth to daughter Mehitable in Feb. 1700. Timothy m. 2) by May 1700 his wife's sister Experience Weeks. Seven additional children of the family.
• iv. Fear Robinson, b. Mar. 20, 1674/5; m. Dec. 2, 1695 at Falmouth, Mass., Thomas Blossom, s. of Peter Blossom and Sarah Bodfish. Five children of the family. Thomas Blossom's paternal aunt, Elizabeth Blossom, sister of Thomas Blossom's father, m. May 10, 1637 at Scituate, Mass., Edward Fitzrandolph. Elizabeth (Blossom) Fitzrandolph is the maternal ancestor of Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States.
• v. Abigail Robinson, b. May 16, 1676; m. Feb. 18, 1695/6 at Sandwich, Mass., James Percival, Jr. and removed by 1706 to East Haddam, Conn. Six children of the family.
• vi. Mercy Robinson, b. Mar. 31, 1679; m. Oct. 26, 1704 at Falmouth her 1st cousin Jonathan Weeks.
• vii. Joseph Robinson, b. after Sept. 16, 1679; m. 1) Oct. 22, 1700 at Falmouth, Bethia Gall, and 2) Dec. 7, 1704 at Falmouth, Bethia Lumbert. Ten children of the family.
• viii. An infant twin child, b. 12 Dec. 1683; d. four days later on Dec. 16, 1683.
• ix. Mary, a twin, b. Dec. 12, 1683; m. Nov. 22, 1704 at Falmouth, Benjamin Davis. Ten children of the family. Benjamin m. 2) Apr. 27, 1726 at Falmouth, Mary Dimock, by whom he had three more children.
Revised 2/13/2019
