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This memorial is the correct and accurate record of Anthony Stoddard who is commonly known as "Anthony Stoddard of Boston."
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Son of Anthony Stoddard (May 1572 - circa 1636) and Alice Martin (née Tyro) m. February 16, 1603/4
Grandson of James Stoddard (circa 1534 - circa 1585) of Rushton, Staffordshire, England
Great-Grandson of William Stoddard (circa 1508 - circa 1558) of Rushton, Staffordshire, England
Anthony was born and his baptism was held circa 1606 in St. Michael le Querne, London, England.
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Some of the information for this biography comes from English researcher Jeanne "Jane" Stoddard from her book, "The Stoddards of Rushton Spencer: a short account of the ancestors of Anthony Stoddard of Boston, Massachusetts, who emigrated there in about 1638" published by the Rushton Spencer-Stoddard Memorial Fund in 1979. Additional source information comes from the book, "Family of Wells and Eunice Stoddard" written by researcher Sharlene Ida Stoddard and published in 1995. In her work, Sharlene diligently reconciled all previous Stoddard genealogies and corrected errors in making a more fact-based record for posterity. She also knew and communicated with Jeanne Stoddard and used her research in writing her own Anthony Stoddard genealogy account.
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Anthony and his family were members of the Skinners' Company which was originally founded in 1327 and was one of 12 merchant guilds in the City of London. The Skinners dealt in all kinds of goods, especially wool and fur. Anthony's uncle William was a wealthy merchant prominent in the Skinners' Company organization. He was the senior partner in business with his two brothers, Francis and Anthony (the father of Anthony of Boston). Anthony (of Boston) also had a brother, William, who was a member of the Skinners' Company. Their base of operation may have been in the parish of St. Michael le Querne which was located near Skinners' Hall. This brother William stayed behind in London and probably facilitated trade with his brother in Boston.
Anthony arrived at the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the spring of 1639 aboard the ship "Endemion" of London with Robert Knox as captain. Anthony's passage and that of his trading goods were booked on February 22, 1639 but the ship did not sail until after April 5th. He was admitted to citizenship on September 28, 1639 and took his oath of allegiance to the colony and became a freeman in May 1640. This gave him political rights and the rights to open a shop. His shop and home were located along King's Street (today State Street) near the present-day intersection of State and Congress Streets in front of the Old State House where the Boston Massacre occurred 130 years later. His shop was located at the corner of Kings Street and New Street as the streets were known at that time.
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Note: Henry Shrimpton also arrived in 1639, was admitted to the church, and has nearly an identical beginning in the colony as Anthony. Henry Shrimpton purchased "dwell-h. and garden" bounding "New-st. E." from Anthony Stoddard and Jonathan Leverit on Sept. 28, 1646. This property included what was known as "State Arms," a tavern located at the S.E. corner of King Street & New Street, later named State Street and Shrimpton Lane. State Arms was the "ordinary where magistrates used to diet." It was included in the appraisal of real property of Henry Shrimpton taken in July 1666 by Anthony Stoddard and others. The State Arms is assumed to be one of the first buildings erected in Boston. See: Book of Possessions, City Clerks Office, P. 118.
Henry's son was known as Col. Samuel Shrimpton and his son was Col. Samuel Shrimpton, jun.. Henry died in July 1666. You will find the Shrimpton name frequently associated with the Anthony Stoddard family. For more information on the Henry Shrimpton family, see: "A History of East Boston..." by William Hyslop Sumner, Boston, 1858
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Note: The book, "Biographical Sketches of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Vol. II" written by John Langdon Sibley, M.A., published in 1881, indicates that Anthony had five wives rather than four as other sources indicate. The sketch for Anthony's son Solomon (Class of 1662; M.A. 1665) talks of Solomon's mother as "the second of five wives of Anthony Stoddard, linen-draper." If this is true, it appears very likely that Anthony was married in London and that his wife died prior to his emigration to New England.
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Anthony first married Mary Downing, daughter of Emmanuel Downing and Anne Ware, the daughter of Sir James Ware, in November 1640. Mary Downing was born in Dublin, Ireland circa 1615. After the death of her mother Anne Ware in October 1621, Emmanuel Downing, then living in Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony, married Lucy Winthrop, sister of John Winthrop, in April 1622. Emmanuel and Lucy then had a son, George Downing, in 1623. Mary Downing then became the half-sister of George Downing and the niece of John Winthrop the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. So Anthony had married well.
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Note: George Downing graduated from the first class of Harvard College in 1642. He became known as Sir George Downing. 10 Downing Street in London, the home and office of the British prime minister, is named for him.
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Anthony and Mary had three children together:
Benjamin (Aug 12, 1640 - died young)
*Solomon (September 27, 1643 - February 11, 1729) Married widow Esther (Warham) Mather.
*Sampson (December 3, 1645 - November 4, 1698) Married Susanna Clarke.
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Note: Much is written about Rev. Solomon Stoddard. A short biography is not required. However, a short biography of his son, Col. John Stoddard (1681-1748), is warranted.
John Stoddard (1681-1748) married Prudence Chester. John Stoddard was one of the most influential military and political leaders in New England in his time, but this was the Colonial period and his loyalties were to the Crown. This must have rubbed-off on his sons. Col. John Stoddard's sons Solomon (1736-1827) and Israel (1742-1792) were graduates of Yale University (1756 and 1758 respectively). They were Loyalists at the beginning of the War for Independence. Both men were forced to flee their homes but returned and recanted and pledged an oath of loyalty. They were the rare political exception in a family of whigs. Solomon's son Rev. Elijah Woodward (E.W.) Stoddard published the genealogy book, "Anthony Stoddard of Boston, Mass., and his descendants : a genealogy" in 1865. This was a second edition after his cousin Charles Stoddard published "Genealogy of the Family of Anthony Stoddard of Boston" in 1849. Rev. E.W. Stoddard's huge grave marker is etched on the back with his ancestral lineage.
Sampson (typically spelled Samson) was a mariner. He is sometimes referred to as Capt. Sampson Stoddard. He later became constable of Boston and a selectman in 1696 and 1698 before his death in November 1698. His son Sampson (circa 1680-1740) was a 1701 graduate of Harvard College (along with his cousin John Stoddard, son of Solomon) and became the minister of Chelmsford, Massachusettson June 26, 1706. He was married to Elizabeth Davis by Benjamin Colman in Boston on February 2, 1707/8. When Elizabeth died in early January 1725/6, Sampson was married (at Boston, by Joseph Sewall) to Margaret Halkerston, widow of Dr. James Halkerston, in February of the next year. Rev. Sampson Stoddard suffered from poor mental health in his later years and died on August 23, 1740 at Chelmsford. He was found dead at the bottom of his well and it was unknown whether it was by accident or purposely. His daughter, Sarah Stoddard, married his successor, Ebenezer Bridge. Sampson's son, Sampson Stoddard, Jr., was also a Harvard College graduate (Class of 1730). Stoddard, New Hampshire is named for him although he never actually lived there. See: Sibley's Harvard Graduates...Vol. 5, 1701 - 1712, P.96-122 for an extensive biographical sketch of John Stoddard and a shorter one for Samson Stoddard.
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Mary Downing Stoddard died of influenza on May 16, 1647. Her burial location is unknown.
Anthony then married Barbara Clapp Weld, the widow of Captain Joseph Weld, in 1647. Their children included:
*Grace (Jul 16, 1648 - unknown)
Samuel (Jan 14, 1650 - died young)
*Simeon (May 1651 - October 15, 1730) Married first, Mary [unknown], second, Elizabeth (Roberts) Breeden Shrimpton on May 31, 1709. She died in 1713; third, Mehetable (Minot) Cooper Sargent.
Sarah (October 21, 1652 - before 1683)
Stephen (January 6, 1654 - died young)
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Note: Simeon and Mary Stoddard were the parents of eleven children. One, a son, Anthony, was born to them September 24, 1678. He was a 1697 graduate of Harvard College. He married Martha Belcher at Boston on May 24, 1705. He became a judge in Boston and is known as Judge Anthony Stoddard. He died in 1748. His cousin, Anthony Stoddard, son of Solomon, was also born in 1678 and also graduated from Harvard College in 1697. He became the minister of the congregational church in Woodbury, Connecticut. He is known as Reverend Anthony Stoddard. He died in 1760. Both men are listed in Sibley's "Biographical Sketches of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts" for 1697. There is a portrait included in these sketches for Anthony Stoddard, son of Simeon and Mary Stoddard. This portrait is commonly and erroneously attributed to Rev. Anthony Stoddard. There is no known portrait of Rev. Anthony Stoddard of Woodbury.
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After the death of his wife Mary in 1708, Simeon Stoddard married Elizabeth (Roberts) Breeden Shrimpton, the widow of Col. Samuel Shrimpton (the son of Henry Shrimpton) in 1709. Simeon's son, David Stoddard (1685-1723), a London and Boston merchant and a Shrimpton family agent at Boston, married Elizabeth (Richardson) Shrimpton, the widow of Col. Samuel Shrimpton, Jr., and the niece of his father's wife, on December 23, 1713. ( Does that sound confusing enough?) David and Elizabeth had three children: Mary m. David Chauncey d. 1783; Sarah m. Thomas Greenough d. 1778; and Mehetable m. William Hyslop 1750 d. 1792. David Stoddard's obituary was published in the Boston Weekly News-letter on March 15, 1723. His reputation, character and demeanor were said to be of the most elevated and laudable kind.
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Note: David and Elizabeth Stoddard's daughter, Mehetable Stoddard, married William Hyslop in 1750. William and Mehetable's only daughter, Elizabeth Hyslop, married Increase Sumner in 1779. Increase Sumner was appointed as an associate justice to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court by Gov. John Hancock in 1782. About this time, and just after his service during the American Revolution, Amos Stoddard of Lenox, Massachusetts (See: The Autobiography Manuscript of Major Amos Stoddard) began serving as a clerk assistant to Supreme Judicial Court Clerk Charles Cushing. In December 1790, Amos Stoddard took a break from his work for Charles Cushing at the Supreme Judicial Court and traveled to London to secure a family estate for his uncle, John Stoddard, of Watertown, Connecticut (from whom this editor descends). While in London, Amos wrote to William Hyslop on May 14-15, 1791 and apprised him of his legal efforts to secure the estate and solicited his advice. He also mentioned "Mr. Sumner" in this letter and suggests William Hyslop discuss the legal situation with him. Increase Sumner was the son-in-law of William Hyslop (father of Elizabeth Hyslop Sumner). William Hyslop died in 1796. His son-in-law, Increase Sumner, then became governor of Massachusetts in 1797. About this time, Amos Stoddard was admitted to the Bar of Massachusetts (1796) and removed himself to Hallowell, Massachusetts. In 1798, Amos Stoddard was commissioned a captain in the U.S. Regiment of Artillerists and Engineers. He was assigned command at Portland. In February 1799, he wrote to secretary of war James McHenry and proposed that the fort, which had been greatly improved, receive a name. On May 3rd, James McHenry then wrote to Major General Alexander Hamilton, to whom Capt. Amos Stoddard was reporting to at the time, and authorized the fort to be named "Fort Sumner" after the governor of Massachusetts, Increase Sumner. Governor Sumner then died on June 7, 1799. Nonetheless, the name change went ahead as authorized. On July 4th, 1799, Capt. Amos Stoddard announced the name of the fort to a gathering of several hundred spectators, including members of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. He also provided an oration which was printed and sold by E.A. Jenks, titled, "An Oration, Delivered Before The Citizens of Portland, And The Supreme Judicial Court In The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, On the Fourth Day of July 1799; Being the Anniversary of American Independence." On July 9th, Amos Stoddard wrote to Major General Alexander Hamilton the following: "Agreeably to your orders of the 14th communicated to me by Major Jackson, the fort at this place, on the 4th Instant, received the name of Sumner. The ceremony was passed in the presence of several hundred spectators; and I flatter myself, that the tribute of respect, so deservedly due to the memory and virtue of our late Governor, was not omitted on the occasion."
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Simeon and Mary's son, Judge Anthony Stoddard, married Martha Belcher. She died Feb.11, 1748. Judge Anthony died in March 1748. Judge Anthony and Martha had three children: 1. Simeon, baptized in November 1707 and later graduated at the head of his class at Harvard College in 1726. He later became mentally deranged and died intestate in January 1775. A cousin of his commented at the time of his death that his lunacy was at least partially due to his father's temper. Simeon died unmarried with no children; 2. Anthony Jr. died intestate in 1776 with no children; and daughter 3. Martha, who was married to 1.John Fitch 2. Ebenezer Holmes 3. John Stevens died before 1786.
It appears that Martha Stoddard, the daughter of Anthony Stoddard, the son of Simeon Stoddard, whose two brothers Anthony and Simeon died intestate and without heirs, inherited all of the property of Simeon Stoddard.Some of this property probably originally came from his father's (Anthony Stoddard of Boston) estate. Martha's "residence was in State Street, the house occupying the site near the post-office door in the Merchants' Exchange, a spot memorable for the Boston Massacre, 4th March 1770...and almost opposite, on the site located now occupied by the Merchants' Bank building, at the corner of Exchange Street, then called Shrimpton lane, stood the residence of Col. Shrimpton..." So, in other words, Martha's dwelling house was on the south side of State Street across from Shrimpton Lane. Merchants' Exchange is the present site of Exchange Place at 53 State Street. Merchants' Bank would be the present site of Bank America Financial Center at 60 State Street. This would also be the location on State Street where the Boston Massacre took place according to a map drawn my Paul Revere immediately after the event took place.
Simeon and Mary's other son, Simeon (1682-1706) was found barbarously murdered in Chelsea-Fields near London on May 14, 1706. See Diary of Samuel Sewall, Vol. II, P.169
William Stoddard (1693-1775), another son of Simeon and Mary, was a 1712 graduate of Harvard College. He first married Sarah Pitt. They had twelve children together. Sarah died about 1743 and he married Mercy (Bronsdon) Frizzell Wise on Jan. 18, 1745. William was a merchant and sold "...New Fashion Silks, Lately imported..." at his shop in Butler's Row in Boston. His son John (1734-1802) was also a graduate of Havard College (Class of 1753). He and his wife Lucretia spent most of their time abroad. John died in Dedham, MA in 1802.
For more information on the Simeon Stoddard line, and for a pedigree chart of the Anthony Stoddard of Boston family, see: "A History of East Boston..." by William Hyslop Sumner, Boston, 1858
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Barbara Clapp Weld Stoddard died circa 1655. Her burial location is unknown.
Anthony then married Christian Eyre circa 1655.
Their children included:
*Anthony (June 16, 1656 - after 1703)
*Christian (March 22, 1658 - October 25, 1711) Married first Nathaniel Peirce. Married second Samuel Bridge, Dec 3, 1690
*Lydia (March 27, 1660 - unknown) Married Samuel Turell
Joseph (December 1, 1661 - December 27, 1661)
John (April 22, 1663 - May 1, 1663)
Ebenezer (July 1, 1664 - died young)
*Dorothy (November 24, 1665 - after 1740) Married Stephen Totman
*Mary (March 25, 1668 - before 1741) Married Robert Wells Oct. 13, 1698
*Jane (July 1669 - after 1705) Living in Scituate, unmarried, in 1705
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Note: Little is known about Anthony II, son of Anthony and Christian. Most accounts suggest he died circa 1703. There are many entries in Samuel Sewall's diary long after 1703 regarding "Anthony Stoddard, Esq." but it is unclear which Anthony Stoddard this is...whether it refers to Simeon's brother Anthony II or they refer to Anthony the son of Simeon and Mary Stoddard and brother of David Stoddard. It is thought Anthony II, who was included in his father's Will, speculated in land and lost his inheritance. It is shown in the "History of East Boston..." by William Hyslop Sumner (Boston, 1858) on the Stoddard pedigree chart that Anthony II had a son Anthony III. However, this "Anthony III" may have been mistakenly referring to Anthony the son of Judge Anthony Stoddard (1678-1748) who was the son of Simeon Stoddard.
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Christian Eyre Stoddard was born circa 1627 and died before 1683. Her burial location is unknown.
Anthony's fourth wife was Mary Symmes Savage, the widow of Major Thomas Savage. They married sometime between December 7, 1683 and April 10, 1684. They had no children. When Mary Symmes Savage Stoddard died in 1710 she was buried with her first husband Major Thomas Savage at Kings Chapel Burying Ground, Section C, Row 11, Tomb 10. It is likely that Anthony is laid to rest nearby. See Major Thomas Savage Memorial #39204123.
Anthony then passed on March 16, 1687 at the age of 80 or 81.
The announcement of Anthony's death and burial come from the diary of Judge Samuel Sewall:
"March 16, 1686/7: About 1. aclock Mr. Anthony Stoddard dyes, was the ancientest shop-keeper in Town."
"Monday March 21. Mr Stoddard and Dr. Avery buried. Mr. Avery about 3, Stoddard between 5. and 6. aclock"
Dr. William Aveary, who died on March 18, 1686/7, is buried at Kings Chapel Burying Ground. This is clear evidence that Anthony Stoddard is also most definately buried at Kings Chapel Burying Ground in Boston.
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Judge Samuel Sewall was a 1671 graduate of Harvard College. Samuel was also close friends with Anthony's sons. Solomon Stoddard, who graduated Harvard College in 1665 and became the first librarian of Harvard College in 1667, then became the congregational minister at Northampton in 1670. Samuel Sewall made the following entry in his diary dated September 4, 1716, "Tuesday, went to Northampton. ...Staid 2 or 3 Hours with Mr. Stoddard, Din'd with him and Madam Stoddard, who is lame of the Sciatica, and yet spins at the Linen-wheel." Judge Samuel Sewall made significant enteries in his diary mentioning Solomon Stoddard, Simeon Stoddard, Esq. and Anthony Stoddard, Esq. Solomon and Simeon were the sons of Anthony Soddard of Boston; Anthony Stoddard Esq. refers to Simeon Stoddard's son, Judge Anthony Stoddard. The relationships were close. Simeon Stoddard was even a pallbearer at Judge Samuel Sewall's wife's burial in 1717.
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Note: In speaking with Kelly Thomas, Director of Boston's Historic Burial Grounds, she informs me that in the 19th century many of the headstones at Kings Chapel Burying Ground were moved and re-oranized into rows for a more orderly appearance and to make grounds caretaking easier. Therefore, not all the headstones are actually located above their original burial plot. She also stated that the oldest headstone at Kings Chapel Burying Ground only dates back to 1652 so there are many headstones that are missing (or never existed). Finally, she indicated that many people were buried without headstones in the 17th century for religious belief considerations. Since there are no headstones found for any of Anthony's first three wives, or for any of his children who died young, or for nearly all of Anthony's children who lived full lives, it is possible Anthony Stoddard did not believe in marking the burial site with a headstone…and this piety might have been shared by his children…or that all the ancient headstones for them were lost, deteriorated or destroyed. However, it is most likely that Anthony's children and wives who died before him are likely buried at Kings Chapel Burying Ground.
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* = Named in: Last Will and Testament of Anthony Stoddard of Boston:
ANTHONY STODDARD OF BOSTON
I, Anthony Stoddard Senior of Boston, New England. Shop-keeper: being in some measure of good health of body and of sound, disposeing minde and memory, praysed be God for the same, yet having lived to be full of dayes and senceable of some the intirmities attending old age, which put me in remembrance of my approaching dissolution, not knowing how soon my change may come. Do hereby revoke all other wills by me at any time heretofore made, and declare or ordain this my last will and Testament concerning the disposall of my temporal Estate in manner and forme following. Videlt.
Im'prs. my just debts and funeral expense (omitting those usual & costly ceremonies of scarves and gloves. other than what my Executors shall see meet to bestow upon my bearers, and in the mourning Apparrell for themselves and their children) being in the first place paid and discharged and my engagement made to my presnt wife upon marriage with her being performed or duely provided for. I will that all my whole remaining Estate be kept intire and improved for the maintenance and education of my children who are undisposed of until my youngest Childe come of full age or be married (if she live so long) and to that end, I will that my son Anthony remain in my house and Shop and have the management of my Estate: onely as any of my children y't are undisposed of arrival to full age or be married I will that such Child and Children shall have the sum of Two hundred punds apiece advanced and delivered to them out of my Estate in such Species as the Estate doth affoard, and that they be charged debitor for the same as I have already done by my other Children, to be abated out of their division.
Item. I will that the debt oweing to me from my Son Simeon by my Booke be demanded of him and gathered in.
Item. I remit and forgive unto my daughter Grace, whatsoever she is indebted unto me.
Item. My will is, That when my Children are all come of full age or be married that then my whole Estate both real and personal be equally divided amongst these my Eight Children Viz't. Solomon, Sampson, Anthony, Christian, Lydia, Dorothy, Mary and Jane, and if any of my s'd Eight Children be departed this life before the s'd time of division, leaving lawful issue of their body's behind them, the Childe or Children of such deceased parents shall receive their parents part in equall divison among them as they come to age to be secured for them in meane time: And that none of my said Children may be deprived of their equal proportion of my Estate. my will is that all my Shopgoods (except such as be brayed and old Shop-keepers) be apprized as I sell them for money.
It. I do hereby nominate, make and Ordein my above named Eight children, Solomon, Sampson, Anthony, Christian, Lydia, Dorothy, Mary and Jane, the joint Executors of this my last will and Testament.
In Witness whereof, I have hereunto put my hand and affixed my Seale this twenty ninth day of December Ann'o. Dom'i. One Thousand Six Hundred Eighty Four.
Anthony Stoddard. Seal
Signed, Sealed and published by mr. Anthony Stoddard to be hus last will in the presence of
Ben'ja. Davis. Penn. Townsend. Is'a Addington
Capt. Benj'a Davis, Capt. Penn Townsend, and Mr. Asa Addington made Oath that they were Present and Saw Mr. Anthony Stoddard Signe, Seale, and publish this Instrumt as his Last Will and Testament, and that when he so did, he was of Sound mind and memory to their best understanding.
J. Dudley, Esq.
Jurat Corum, Boston, 19 May, 1687.
Attest, Tho. Dudley, Cler.
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This transcript was sourced from the appendix of "Some of the Ancestors of Rodman Stoddard of Woodbury, Conn. and Detroit, Michigan" by Edward Deacon, 1893
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Anthony's Will, dated December 29, 1684, left his property to his eight living children as joint executors, but leaving out his son Simeon from any inheritance and making a demand for repayment of debt that he owed to him.
Two days after Anthony's death, his children prepared a deed which was signed by all the heirs of the will. In this deed they addressed the fact that Simeon was not treated as an equal to his other brothers and sisters. The following is quoted from this record:
"Whereas our said Father by his Last Will and Testament on December Anno 1684 hath passed over and omitted the taking Notice of our Brother Simeon Stoddard bequeathing any Legacy unto him. But on the Contrary Ordered that he should repay such Estate as he was pleased formerly to deliver unto him upon his Marriage towards his assistance in Setting up for himself. The reason whereof as several of us understood from our said Father proceeded from some disciplinary he had Conceived against Our said Brother, at the time of making his said Last Will being upwards of Two years before his decease; But was afterwards Fully reconciled to and in Charity with him again and, (as himself declared) purposed and resolved to alter his said Will, and to manifest his Fatherly Love and affection to the said Simeon alike as to other of his children, but was prevented of his said purpose by Death; Wherefore for the avoiding of contention and difference, and for the maintaining of Love and peace amongst us, being fully Satisfied of the good inclination and Favour of our said Father unto our said Brother Simeon, and that it was his full purpose and real intention to have him given a Childs portion of his Estate equal with any of our Selves. Wee do quitclaim unto our said Brother Simeon Stoddard of all and every Debt and Sums of money which we might ask of him due unto the Estate of Our said Father and do mutually agree to admit the said Simeon to be a partaker and sharer with us in the said Estate.
This memorial is the correct and accurate record of Anthony Stoddard who is commonly known as "Anthony Stoddard of Boston."
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Son of Anthony Stoddard (May 1572 - circa 1636) and Alice Martin (née Tyro) m. February 16, 1603/4
Grandson of James Stoddard (circa 1534 - circa 1585) of Rushton, Staffordshire, England
Great-Grandson of William Stoddard (circa 1508 - circa 1558) of Rushton, Staffordshire, England
Anthony was born and his baptism was held circa 1606 in St. Michael le Querne, London, England.
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Some of the information for this biography comes from English researcher Jeanne "Jane" Stoddard from her book, "The Stoddards of Rushton Spencer: a short account of the ancestors of Anthony Stoddard of Boston, Massachusetts, who emigrated there in about 1638" published by the Rushton Spencer-Stoddard Memorial Fund in 1979. Additional source information comes from the book, "Family of Wells and Eunice Stoddard" written by researcher Sharlene Ida Stoddard and published in 1995. In her work, Sharlene diligently reconciled all previous Stoddard genealogies and corrected errors in making a more fact-based record for posterity. She also knew and communicated with Jeanne Stoddard and used her research in writing her own Anthony Stoddard genealogy account.
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Anthony and his family were members of the Skinners' Company which was originally founded in 1327 and was one of 12 merchant guilds in the City of London. The Skinners dealt in all kinds of goods, especially wool and fur. Anthony's uncle William was a wealthy merchant prominent in the Skinners' Company organization. He was the senior partner in business with his two brothers, Francis and Anthony (the father of Anthony of Boston). Anthony (of Boston) also had a brother, William, who was a member of the Skinners' Company. Their base of operation may have been in the parish of St. Michael le Querne which was located near Skinners' Hall. This brother William stayed behind in London and probably facilitated trade with his brother in Boston.
Anthony arrived at the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the spring of 1639 aboard the ship "Endemion" of London with Robert Knox as captain. Anthony's passage and that of his trading goods were booked on February 22, 1639 but the ship did not sail until after April 5th. He was admitted to citizenship on September 28, 1639 and took his oath of allegiance to the colony and became a freeman in May 1640. This gave him political rights and the rights to open a shop. His shop and home were located along King's Street (today State Street) near the present-day intersection of State and Congress Streets in front of the Old State House where the Boston Massacre occurred 130 years later. His shop was located at the corner of Kings Street and New Street as the streets were known at that time.
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Note: Henry Shrimpton also arrived in 1639, was admitted to the church, and has nearly an identical beginning in the colony as Anthony. Henry Shrimpton purchased "dwell-h. and garden" bounding "New-st. E." from Anthony Stoddard and Jonathan Leverit on Sept. 28, 1646. This property included what was known as "State Arms," a tavern located at the S.E. corner of King Street & New Street, later named State Street and Shrimpton Lane. State Arms was the "ordinary where magistrates used to diet." It was included in the appraisal of real property of Henry Shrimpton taken in July 1666 by Anthony Stoddard and others. The State Arms is assumed to be one of the first buildings erected in Boston. See: Book of Possessions, City Clerks Office, P. 118.
Henry's son was known as Col. Samuel Shrimpton and his son was Col. Samuel Shrimpton, jun.. Henry died in July 1666. You will find the Shrimpton name frequently associated with the Anthony Stoddard family. For more information on the Henry Shrimpton family, see: "A History of East Boston..." by William Hyslop Sumner, Boston, 1858
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Note: The book, "Biographical Sketches of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Vol. II" written by John Langdon Sibley, M.A., published in 1881, indicates that Anthony had five wives rather than four as other sources indicate. The sketch for Anthony's son Solomon (Class of 1662; M.A. 1665) talks of Solomon's mother as "the second of five wives of Anthony Stoddard, linen-draper." If this is true, it appears very likely that Anthony was married in London and that his wife died prior to his emigration to New England.
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Anthony first married Mary Downing, daughter of Emmanuel Downing and Anne Ware, the daughter of Sir James Ware, in November 1640. Mary Downing was born in Dublin, Ireland circa 1615. After the death of her mother Anne Ware in October 1621, Emmanuel Downing, then living in Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony, married Lucy Winthrop, sister of John Winthrop, in April 1622. Emmanuel and Lucy then had a son, George Downing, in 1623. Mary Downing then became the half-sister of George Downing and the niece of John Winthrop the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. So Anthony had married well.
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Note: George Downing graduated from the first class of Harvard College in 1642. He became known as Sir George Downing. 10 Downing Street in London, the home and office of the British prime minister, is named for him.
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Anthony and Mary had three children together:
Benjamin (Aug 12, 1640 - died young)
*Solomon (September 27, 1643 - February 11, 1729) Married widow Esther (Warham) Mather.
*Sampson (December 3, 1645 - November 4, 1698) Married Susanna Clarke.
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Note: Much is written about Rev. Solomon Stoddard. A short biography is not required. However, a short biography of his son, Col. John Stoddard (1681-1748), is warranted.
John Stoddard (1681-1748) married Prudence Chester. John Stoddard was one of the most influential military and political leaders in New England in his time, but this was the Colonial period and his loyalties were to the Crown. This must have rubbed-off on his sons. Col. John Stoddard's sons Solomon (1736-1827) and Israel (1742-1792) were graduates of Yale University (1756 and 1758 respectively). They were Loyalists at the beginning of the War for Independence. Both men were forced to flee their homes but returned and recanted and pledged an oath of loyalty. They were the rare political exception in a family of whigs. Solomon's son Rev. Elijah Woodward (E.W.) Stoddard published the genealogy book, "Anthony Stoddard of Boston, Mass., and his descendants : a genealogy" in 1865. This was a second edition after his cousin Charles Stoddard published "Genealogy of the Family of Anthony Stoddard of Boston" in 1849. Rev. E.W. Stoddard's huge grave marker is etched on the back with his ancestral lineage.
Sampson (typically spelled Samson) was a mariner. He is sometimes referred to as Capt. Sampson Stoddard. He later became constable of Boston and a selectman in 1696 and 1698 before his death in November 1698. His son Sampson (circa 1680-1740) was a 1701 graduate of Harvard College (along with his cousin John Stoddard, son of Solomon) and became the minister of Chelmsford, Massachusettson June 26, 1706. He was married to Elizabeth Davis by Benjamin Colman in Boston on February 2, 1707/8. When Elizabeth died in early January 1725/6, Sampson was married (at Boston, by Joseph Sewall) to Margaret Halkerston, widow of Dr. James Halkerston, in February of the next year. Rev. Sampson Stoddard suffered from poor mental health in his later years and died on August 23, 1740 at Chelmsford. He was found dead at the bottom of his well and it was unknown whether it was by accident or purposely. His daughter, Sarah Stoddard, married his successor, Ebenezer Bridge. Sampson's son, Sampson Stoddard, Jr., was also a Harvard College graduate (Class of 1730). Stoddard, New Hampshire is named for him although he never actually lived there. See: Sibley's Harvard Graduates...Vol. 5, 1701 - 1712, P.96-122 for an extensive biographical sketch of John Stoddard and a shorter one for Samson Stoddard.
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Mary Downing Stoddard died of influenza on May 16, 1647. Her burial location is unknown.
Anthony then married Barbara Clapp Weld, the widow of Captain Joseph Weld, in 1647. Their children included:
*Grace (Jul 16, 1648 - unknown)
Samuel (Jan 14, 1650 - died young)
*Simeon (May 1651 - October 15, 1730) Married first, Mary [unknown], second, Elizabeth (Roberts) Breeden Shrimpton on May 31, 1709. She died in 1713; third, Mehetable (Minot) Cooper Sargent.
Sarah (October 21, 1652 - before 1683)
Stephen (January 6, 1654 - died young)
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Note: Simeon and Mary Stoddard were the parents of eleven children. One, a son, Anthony, was born to them September 24, 1678. He was a 1697 graduate of Harvard College. He married Martha Belcher at Boston on May 24, 1705. He became a judge in Boston and is known as Judge Anthony Stoddard. He died in 1748. His cousin, Anthony Stoddard, son of Solomon, was also born in 1678 and also graduated from Harvard College in 1697. He became the minister of the congregational church in Woodbury, Connecticut. He is known as Reverend Anthony Stoddard. He died in 1760. Both men are listed in Sibley's "Biographical Sketches of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts" for 1697. There is a portrait included in these sketches for Anthony Stoddard, son of Simeon and Mary Stoddard. This portrait is commonly and erroneously attributed to Rev. Anthony Stoddard. There is no known portrait of Rev. Anthony Stoddard of Woodbury.
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After the death of his wife Mary in 1708, Simeon Stoddard married Elizabeth (Roberts) Breeden Shrimpton, the widow of Col. Samuel Shrimpton (the son of Henry Shrimpton) in 1709. Simeon's son, David Stoddard (1685-1723), a London and Boston merchant and a Shrimpton family agent at Boston, married Elizabeth (Richardson) Shrimpton, the widow of Col. Samuel Shrimpton, Jr., and the niece of his father's wife, on December 23, 1713. ( Does that sound confusing enough?) David and Elizabeth had three children: Mary m. David Chauncey d. 1783; Sarah m. Thomas Greenough d. 1778; and Mehetable m. William Hyslop 1750 d. 1792. David Stoddard's obituary was published in the Boston Weekly News-letter on March 15, 1723. His reputation, character and demeanor were said to be of the most elevated and laudable kind.
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Note: David and Elizabeth Stoddard's daughter, Mehetable Stoddard, married William Hyslop in 1750. William and Mehetable's only daughter, Elizabeth Hyslop, married Increase Sumner in 1779. Increase Sumner was appointed as an associate justice to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court by Gov. John Hancock in 1782. About this time, and just after his service during the American Revolution, Amos Stoddard of Lenox, Massachusetts (See: The Autobiography Manuscript of Major Amos Stoddard) began serving as a clerk assistant to Supreme Judicial Court Clerk Charles Cushing. In December 1790, Amos Stoddard took a break from his work for Charles Cushing at the Supreme Judicial Court and traveled to London to secure a family estate for his uncle, John Stoddard, of Watertown, Connecticut (from whom this editor descends). While in London, Amos wrote to William Hyslop on May 14-15, 1791 and apprised him of his legal efforts to secure the estate and solicited his advice. He also mentioned "Mr. Sumner" in this letter and suggests William Hyslop discuss the legal situation with him. Increase Sumner was the son-in-law of William Hyslop (father of Elizabeth Hyslop Sumner). William Hyslop died in 1796. His son-in-law, Increase Sumner, then became governor of Massachusetts in 1797. About this time, Amos Stoddard was admitted to the Bar of Massachusetts (1796) and removed himself to Hallowell, Massachusetts. In 1798, Amos Stoddard was commissioned a captain in the U.S. Regiment of Artillerists and Engineers. He was assigned command at Portland. In February 1799, he wrote to secretary of war James McHenry and proposed that the fort, which had been greatly improved, receive a name. On May 3rd, James McHenry then wrote to Major General Alexander Hamilton, to whom Capt. Amos Stoddard was reporting to at the time, and authorized the fort to be named "Fort Sumner" after the governor of Massachusetts, Increase Sumner. Governor Sumner then died on June 7, 1799. Nonetheless, the name change went ahead as authorized. On July 4th, 1799, Capt. Amos Stoddard announced the name of the fort to a gathering of several hundred spectators, including members of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. He also provided an oration which was printed and sold by E.A. Jenks, titled, "An Oration, Delivered Before The Citizens of Portland, And The Supreme Judicial Court In The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, On the Fourth Day of July 1799; Being the Anniversary of American Independence." On July 9th, Amos Stoddard wrote to Major General Alexander Hamilton the following: "Agreeably to your orders of the 14th communicated to me by Major Jackson, the fort at this place, on the 4th Instant, received the name of Sumner. The ceremony was passed in the presence of several hundred spectators; and I flatter myself, that the tribute of respect, so deservedly due to the memory and virtue of our late Governor, was not omitted on the occasion."
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Simeon and Mary's son, Judge Anthony Stoddard, married Martha Belcher. She died Feb.11, 1748. Judge Anthony died in March 1748. Judge Anthony and Martha had three children: 1. Simeon, baptized in November 1707 and later graduated at the head of his class at Harvard College in 1726. He later became mentally deranged and died intestate in January 1775. A cousin of his commented at the time of his death that his lunacy was at least partially due to his father's temper. Simeon died unmarried with no children; 2. Anthony Jr. died intestate in 1776 with no children; and daughter 3. Martha, who was married to 1.John Fitch 2. Ebenezer Holmes 3. John Stevens died before 1786.
It appears that Martha Stoddard, the daughter of Anthony Stoddard, the son of Simeon Stoddard, whose two brothers Anthony and Simeon died intestate and without heirs, inherited all of the property of Simeon Stoddard.Some of this property probably originally came from his father's (Anthony Stoddard of Boston) estate. Martha's "residence was in State Street, the house occupying the site near the post-office door in the Merchants' Exchange, a spot memorable for the Boston Massacre, 4th March 1770...and almost opposite, on the site located now occupied by the Merchants' Bank building, at the corner of Exchange Street, then called Shrimpton lane, stood the residence of Col. Shrimpton..." So, in other words, Martha's dwelling house was on the south side of State Street across from Shrimpton Lane. Merchants' Exchange is the present site of Exchange Place at 53 State Street. Merchants' Bank would be the present site of Bank America Financial Center at 60 State Street. This would also be the location on State Street where the Boston Massacre took place according to a map drawn my Paul Revere immediately after the event took place.
Simeon and Mary's other son, Simeon (1682-1706) was found barbarously murdered in Chelsea-Fields near London on May 14, 1706. See Diary of Samuel Sewall, Vol. II, P.169
William Stoddard (1693-1775), another son of Simeon and Mary, was a 1712 graduate of Harvard College. He first married Sarah Pitt. They had twelve children together. Sarah died about 1743 and he married Mercy (Bronsdon) Frizzell Wise on Jan. 18, 1745. William was a merchant and sold "...New Fashion Silks, Lately imported..." at his shop in Butler's Row in Boston. His son John (1734-1802) was also a graduate of Havard College (Class of 1753). He and his wife Lucretia spent most of their time abroad. John died in Dedham, MA in 1802.
For more information on the Simeon Stoddard line, and for a pedigree chart of the Anthony Stoddard of Boston family, see: "A History of East Boston..." by William Hyslop Sumner, Boston, 1858
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Barbara Clapp Weld Stoddard died circa 1655. Her burial location is unknown.
Anthony then married Christian Eyre circa 1655.
Their children included:
*Anthony (June 16, 1656 - after 1703)
*Christian (March 22, 1658 - October 25, 1711) Married first Nathaniel Peirce. Married second Samuel Bridge, Dec 3, 1690
*Lydia (March 27, 1660 - unknown) Married Samuel Turell
Joseph (December 1, 1661 - December 27, 1661)
John (April 22, 1663 - May 1, 1663)
Ebenezer (July 1, 1664 - died young)
*Dorothy (November 24, 1665 - after 1740) Married Stephen Totman
*Mary (March 25, 1668 - before 1741) Married Robert Wells Oct. 13, 1698
*Jane (July 1669 - after 1705) Living in Scituate, unmarried, in 1705
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Note: Little is known about Anthony II, son of Anthony and Christian. Most accounts suggest he died circa 1703. There are many entries in Samuel Sewall's diary long after 1703 regarding "Anthony Stoddard, Esq." but it is unclear which Anthony Stoddard this is...whether it refers to Simeon's brother Anthony II or they refer to Anthony the son of Simeon and Mary Stoddard and brother of David Stoddard. It is thought Anthony II, who was included in his father's Will, speculated in land and lost his inheritance. It is shown in the "History of East Boston..." by William Hyslop Sumner (Boston, 1858) on the Stoddard pedigree chart that Anthony II had a son Anthony III. However, this "Anthony III" may have been mistakenly referring to Anthony the son of Judge Anthony Stoddard (1678-1748) who was the son of Simeon Stoddard.
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Christian Eyre Stoddard was born circa 1627 and died before 1683. Her burial location is unknown.
Anthony's fourth wife was Mary Symmes Savage, the widow of Major Thomas Savage. They married sometime between December 7, 1683 and April 10, 1684. They had no children. When Mary Symmes Savage Stoddard died in 1710 she was buried with her first husband Major Thomas Savage at Kings Chapel Burying Ground, Section C, Row 11, Tomb 10. It is likely that Anthony is laid to rest nearby. See Major Thomas Savage Memorial #39204123.
Anthony then passed on March 16, 1687 at the age of 80 or 81.
The announcement of Anthony's death and burial come from the diary of Judge Samuel Sewall:
"March 16, 1686/7: About 1. aclock Mr. Anthony Stoddard dyes, was the ancientest shop-keeper in Town."
"Monday March 21. Mr Stoddard and Dr. Avery buried. Mr. Avery about 3, Stoddard between 5. and 6. aclock"
Dr. William Aveary, who died on March 18, 1686/7, is buried at Kings Chapel Burying Ground. This is clear evidence that Anthony Stoddard is also most definately buried at Kings Chapel Burying Ground in Boston.
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Judge Samuel Sewall was a 1671 graduate of Harvard College. Samuel was also close friends with Anthony's sons. Solomon Stoddard, who graduated Harvard College in 1665 and became the first librarian of Harvard College in 1667, then became the congregational minister at Northampton in 1670. Samuel Sewall made the following entry in his diary dated September 4, 1716, "Tuesday, went to Northampton. ...Staid 2 or 3 Hours with Mr. Stoddard, Din'd with him and Madam Stoddard, who is lame of the Sciatica, and yet spins at the Linen-wheel." Judge Samuel Sewall made significant enteries in his diary mentioning Solomon Stoddard, Simeon Stoddard, Esq. and Anthony Stoddard, Esq. Solomon and Simeon were the sons of Anthony Soddard of Boston; Anthony Stoddard Esq. refers to Simeon Stoddard's son, Judge Anthony Stoddard. The relationships were close. Simeon Stoddard was even a pallbearer at Judge Samuel Sewall's wife's burial in 1717.
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Note: In speaking with Kelly Thomas, Director of Boston's Historic Burial Grounds, she informs me that in the 19th century many of the headstones at Kings Chapel Burying Ground were moved and re-oranized into rows for a more orderly appearance and to make grounds caretaking easier. Therefore, not all the headstones are actually located above their original burial plot. She also stated that the oldest headstone at Kings Chapel Burying Ground only dates back to 1652 so there are many headstones that are missing (or never existed). Finally, she indicated that many people were buried without headstones in the 17th century for religious belief considerations. Since there are no headstones found for any of Anthony's first three wives, or for any of his children who died young, or for nearly all of Anthony's children who lived full lives, it is possible Anthony Stoddard did not believe in marking the burial site with a headstone…and this piety might have been shared by his children…or that all the ancient headstones for them were lost, deteriorated or destroyed. However, it is most likely that Anthony's children and wives who died before him are likely buried at Kings Chapel Burying Ground.
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* = Named in: Last Will and Testament of Anthony Stoddard of Boston:
ANTHONY STODDARD OF BOSTON
I, Anthony Stoddard Senior of Boston, New England. Shop-keeper: being in some measure of good health of body and of sound, disposeing minde and memory, praysed be God for the same, yet having lived to be full of dayes and senceable of some the intirmities attending old age, which put me in remembrance of my approaching dissolution, not knowing how soon my change may come. Do hereby revoke all other wills by me at any time heretofore made, and declare or ordain this my last will and Testament concerning the disposall of my temporal Estate in manner and forme following. Videlt.
Im'prs. my just debts and funeral expense (omitting those usual & costly ceremonies of scarves and gloves. other than what my Executors shall see meet to bestow upon my bearers, and in the mourning Apparrell for themselves and their children) being in the first place paid and discharged and my engagement made to my presnt wife upon marriage with her being performed or duely provided for. I will that all my whole remaining Estate be kept intire and improved for the maintenance and education of my children who are undisposed of until my youngest Childe come of full age or be married (if she live so long) and to that end, I will that my son Anthony remain in my house and Shop and have the management of my Estate: onely as any of my children y't are undisposed of arrival to full age or be married I will that such Child and Children shall have the sum of Two hundred punds apiece advanced and delivered to them out of my Estate in such Species as the Estate doth affoard, and that they be charged debitor for the same as I have already done by my other Children, to be abated out of their division.
Item. I will that the debt oweing to me from my Son Simeon by my Booke be demanded of him and gathered in.
Item. I remit and forgive unto my daughter Grace, whatsoever she is indebted unto me.
Item. My will is, That when my Children are all come of full age or be married that then my whole Estate both real and personal be equally divided amongst these my Eight Children Viz't. Solomon, Sampson, Anthony, Christian, Lydia, Dorothy, Mary and Jane, and if any of my s'd Eight Children be departed this life before the s'd time of division, leaving lawful issue of their body's behind them, the Childe or Children of such deceased parents shall receive their parents part in equall divison among them as they come to age to be secured for them in meane time: And that none of my said Children may be deprived of their equal proportion of my Estate. my will is that all my Shopgoods (except such as be brayed and old Shop-keepers) be apprized as I sell them for money.
It. I do hereby nominate, make and Ordein my above named Eight children, Solomon, Sampson, Anthony, Christian, Lydia, Dorothy, Mary and Jane, the joint Executors of this my last will and Testament.
In Witness whereof, I have hereunto put my hand and affixed my Seale this twenty ninth day of December Ann'o. Dom'i. One Thousand Six Hundred Eighty Four.
Anthony Stoddard. Seal
Signed, Sealed and published by mr. Anthony Stoddard to be hus last will in the presence of
Ben'ja. Davis. Penn. Townsend. Is'a Addington
Capt. Benj'a Davis, Capt. Penn Townsend, and Mr. Asa Addington made Oath that they were Present and Saw Mr. Anthony Stoddard Signe, Seale, and publish this Instrumt as his Last Will and Testament, and that when he so did, he was of Sound mind and memory to their best understanding.
J. Dudley, Esq.
Jurat Corum, Boston, 19 May, 1687.
Attest, Tho. Dudley, Cler.
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This transcript was sourced from the appendix of "Some of the Ancestors of Rodman Stoddard of Woodbury, Conn. and Detroit, Michigan" by Edward Deacon, 1893
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Anthony's Will, dated December 29, 1684, left his property to his eight living children as joint executors, but leaving out his son Simeon from any inheritance and making a demand for repayment of debt that he owed to him.
Two days after Anthony's death, his children prepared a deed which was signed by all the heirs of the will. In this deed they addressed the fact that Simeon was not treated as an equal to his other brothers and sisters. The following is quoted from this record:
"Whereas our said Father by his Last Will and Testament on December Anno 1684 hath passed over and omitted the taking Notice of our Brother Simeon Stoddard bequeathing any Legacy unto him. But on the Contrary Ordered that he should repay such Estate as he was pleased formerly to deliver unto him upon his Marriage towards his assistance in Setting up for himself. The reason whereof as several of us understood from our said Father proceeded from some disciplinary he had Conceived against Our said Brother, at the time of making his said Last Will being upwards of Two years before his decease; But was afterwards Fully reconciled to and in Charity with him again and, (as himself declared) purposed and resolved to alter his said Will, and to manifest his Fatherly Love and affection to the said Simeon alike as to other of his children, but was prevented of his said purpose by Death; Wherefore for the avoiding of contention and difference, and for the maintaining of Love and peace amongst us, being fully Satisfied of the good inclination and Favour of our said Father unto our said Brother Simeon, and that it was his full purpose and real intention to have him given a Childs portion of his Estate equal with any of our Selves. Wee do quitclaim unto our said Brother Simeon Stoddard of all and every Debt and Sums of money which we might ask of him due unto the Estate of Our said Father and do mutually agree to admit the said Simeon to be a partaker and sharer with us in the said Estate.
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This memorial is the correct and accurate record of Anthony Stoddard who is commonly known as "Anthony Stoddard of Boston."
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Son of Anthony Stoddard (May 1572 - circa 1636) and Alice Martin (née Tyro) m. February 16, 1603/4
Grandson of James Stoddard (circa 1534 - circa 1585) of Rushton, Staffordshire, England
Great-Grandson of William Stoddard (circa 1508 - circa 1558) of Rushton, Staffordshire, England
Anthony was born and his baptism was held circa 1606 in St. Michael le Querne, London, England.
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Some of the information for this biography comes from English researcher Jeanne "Jane" Stoddard from her book, "The Stoddards of Rushton Spencer: a short account of the ancestors of Anthony Stoddard of Boston, Massachusetts, who emigrated there in about 1638" published by the Rushton Spencer-Stoddard Memorial Fund in 1979. Additional source information comes from the book, "Family of Wells and Eunice Stoddard" written by researcher Sharlene Ida Stoddard and published in 1995. In her work, Sharlene diligently reconciled all previous Stoddard genealogies and corrected errors in making a more fact-based record for posterity. She also knew and communicated with Jeanne Stoddard and used her research in writing her own Anthony Stoddard genealogy account.
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Anthony and his family were members of the Skinners' Company which was originally founded in 1327 and was one of 12 merchant guilds in the City of London. The Skinners dealt in all kinds of goods, especially wool and fur. Anthony's uncle William was a wealthy merchant prominent in the Skinners' Company organization. He was the senior partner in business with his two brothers, Francis and Anthony (the father of Anthony of Boston). Anthony (of Boston) also had a brother, William, who was a member of the Skinners' Company. Their base of operation may have been in the parish of St. Michael le Querne which was located near Skinners' Hall. This brother William stayed behind in London and probably facilitated trade with his brother in Boston.
Anthony arrived at the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the spring of 1639 aboard the ship "Endemion" of London with Robert Knox as captain. Anthony's passage and that of his trading goods were booked on February 22, 1639 but the ship did not sail until after April 5th. He was admitted to citizenship on September 28, 1639 and took his oath of allegiance to the colony and became a freeman in May 1640. This gave him political rights and the rights to open a shop. His shop and home were located along King's Street (today State Street) near the present-day intersection of State and Congress Streets in front of the Old State House where the Boston Massacre occurred 130 years later. His shop was located at the corner of Kings Street and New Street as the streets were known at that time.
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Note: Henry Shrimpton also arrived in 1639, was admitted to the church, and has nearly an identical beginning in the colony as Anthony. Henry Shrimpton purchased "dwell-h. and garden" bounding "New-st. E." from Anthony Stoddard and Jonathan Leverit on Sept. 28, 1646. This property included what was known as "State Arms," a tavern located at the S.E. corner of King Street & New Street, later named State Street and Shrimpton Lane. State Arms was the "ordinary where magistrates used to diet." It was included in the appraisal of real property of Henry Shrimpton taken in July 1666 by Anthony Stoddard and others. The State Arms is assumed to be one of the first buildings erected in Boston. See: Book of Possessions, City Clerks Office, P. 118.
Henry's son was known as Col. Samuel Shrimpton and his son was Col. Samuel Shrimpton, jun.. Henry died in July 1666. You will find the Shrimpton name frequently associated with the Anthony Stoddard family. For more information on the Henry Shrimpton family, see: "A History of East Boston..." by William Hyslop Sumner, Boston, 1858
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Note: The book, "Biographical Sketches of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Vol. II" written by John Langdon Sibley, M.A., published in 1881, indicates that Anthony had five wives rather than four as other sources indicate. The sketch for Anthony's son Solomon (Class of 1662; M.A. 1665) talks of Solomon's mother as "the second of five wives of Anthony Stoddard, linen-draper." If this is true, it appears very likely that Anthony was married in London and that his wife died prior to his emigration to New England.
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Anthony first married Mary Downing, daughter of Emmanuel Downing and Anne Ware, the daughter of Sir James Ware, in November 1640. Mary Downing was born in Dublin, Ireland circa 1615. After the death of her mother Anne Ware in October 1621, Emmanuel Downing, then living in Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony, married Lucy Winthrop, sister of John Winthrop, in April 1622. Emmanuel and Lucy then had a son, George Downing, in 1623. Mary Downing then became the half-sister of George Downing and the niece of John Winthrop the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. So Anthony had married well.
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Note: George Downing graduated from the first class of Harvard College in 1642. He became known as Sir George Downing. 10 Downing Street in London, the home and office of the British prime minister, is named for him.
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Anthony and Mary had three children together:
Benjamin (Aug 12, 1640 - died young)
*Solomon (September 27, 1643 - February 11, 1729) Married widow Esther (Warham) Mather.
*Sampson (December 3, 1645 - November 4, 1698) Married Susanna Clarke.
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Note: Much is written about Rev. Solomon Stoddard. A short biography is not required. However, a short biography of his son, Col. John Stoddard (1681-1748), is warranted.
John Stoddard (1681-1748) married Prudence Chester. John Stoddard was one of the most influential military and political leaders in New England in his time, but this was the Colonial period and his loyalties were to the Crown. This must have rubbed-off on his sons. Col. John Stoddard's sons Solomon (1736-1827) and Israel (1742-1792) were graduates of Yale University (1756 and 1758 respectively). They were Loyalists at the beginning of the War for Independence. Both men were forced to flee their homes but returned and recanted and pledged an oath of loyalty. They were the rare political exception in a family of whigs. Solomon's son Rev. Elijah Woodward (E.W.) Stoddard published the genealogy book, "Anthony Stoddard of Boston, Mass., and his descendants : a genealogy" in 1865. This was a second edition after his cousin Charles Stoddard published "Genealogy of the Family of Anthony Stoddard of Boston" in 1849. Rev. E.W. Stoddard's huge grave marker is etched on the back with his ancestral lineage.
Sampson (typically spelled Samson) was a mariner. He is sometimes referred to as Capt. Sampson Stoddard. He later became constable of Boston and a selectman in 1696 and 1698 before his death in November 1698. His son Sampson (circa 1680-1740) was a 1701 graduate of Harvard College (along with his cousin John Stoddard, son of Solomon) and became the minister of Chelmsford, Massachusettson June 26, 1706. He was married to Elizabeth Davis by Benjamin Colman in Boston on February 2, 1707/8. When Elizabeth died in early January 1725/6, Sampson was married (at Boston, by Joseph Sewall) to Margaret Halkerston, widow of Dr. James Halkerston, in February of the next year. Rev. Sampson Stoddard suffered from poor mental health in his later years and died on August 23, 1740 at Chelmsford. He was found dead at the bottom of his well and it was unknown whether it was by accident or purposely. His daughter, Sarah Stoddard, married his successor, Ebenezer Bridge. Sampson's son, Sampson Stoddard, Jr., was also a Harvard College graduate (Class of 1730). Stoddard, New Hampshire is named for him although he never actually lived there. See: Sibley's Harvard Graduates...Vol. 5, 1701 - 1712, P.96-122 for an extensive biographical sketch of John Stoddard and a shorter one for Samson Stoddard.
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Mary Downing Stoddard died of influenza on May 16, 1647. Her burial location is unknown.
Anthony then married Barbara Clapp Weld, the widow of Captain Joseph Weld, in 1647. Their children included:
*Grace (Jul 16, 1648 - unknown)
Samuel (Jan 14, 1650 - died young)
*Simeon (May 1651 - October 15, 1730) Married first, Mary [unknown], second, Elizabeth (Roberts) Breeden Shrimpton on May 31, 1709. She died in 1713; third, Mehetable (Minot) Cooper Sargent.
Sarah (October 21, 1652 - before 1683)
Stephen (January 6, 1654 - died young)
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Note: Simeon and Mary Stoddard were the parents of eleven children. One, a son, Anthony, was born to them September 24, 1678. He was a 1697 graduate of Harvard College. He married Martha Belcher at Boston on May 24, 1705. He became a judge in Boston and is known as Judge Anthony Stoddard. He died in 1748. His cousin, Anthony Stoddard, son of Solomon, was also born in 1678 and also graduated from Harvard College in 1697. He became the minister of the congregational church in Woodbury, Connecticut. He is known as Reverend Anthony Stoddard. He died in 1760. Both men are listed in Sibley's "Biographical Sketches of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts" for 1697. There is a portrait included in these sketches for Anthony Stoddard, son of Simeon and Mary Stoddard. This portrait is commonly and erroneously attributed to Rev. Anthony Stoddard. There is no known portrait of Rev. Anthony Stoddard of Woodbury.
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After the death of his wife Mary in 1708, Simeon Stoddard married Elizabeth (Roberts) Breeden Shrimpton, the widow of Col. Samuel Shrimpton (the son of Henry Shrimpton) in 1709. Simeon's son, David Stoddard (1685-1723), a London and Boston merchant and a Shrimpton family agent at Boston, married Elizabeth (Richardson) Shrimpton, the widow of Col. Samuel Shrimpton, Jr., and the niece of his father's wife, on December 23, 1713. ( Does that sound confusing enough?) David and Elizabeth had three children: Mary m. David Chauncey d. 1783; Sarah m. Thomas Greenough d. 1778; and Mehetable m. William Hyslop 1750 d. 1792. David Stoddard's obituary was published in the Boston Weekly News-letter on March 15, 1723. His reputation, character and demeanor were said to be of the most elevated and laudable kind.
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Note: David and Elizabeth Stoddard's daughter, Mehetable Stoddard, married William Hyslop in 1750. William and Mehetable's only daughter, Elizabeth Hyslop, married Increase Sumner in 1779. Increase Sumner was appointed as an associate justice to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court by Gov. John Hancock in 1782. About this time, and just after his service during the American Revolution, Amos Stoddard of Lenox, Massachusetts (See: The Autobiography Manuscript of Major Amos Stoddard) began serving as a clerk assistant to Supreme Judicial Court Clerk Charles Cushing. In December 1790, Amos Stoddard took a break from his work for Charles Cushing at the Supreme Judicial Court and traveled to London to secure a family estate for his uncle, John Stoddard, of Watertown, Connecticut (from whom this editor descends). While in London, Amos wrote to William Hyslop on May 14-15, 1791 and apprised him of his legal efforts to secure the estate and solicited his advice. He also mentioned "Mr. Sumner" in this letter and suggests William Hyslop discuss the legal situation with him. Increase Sumner was the son-in-law of William Hyslop (father of Elizabeth Hyslop Sumner). William Hyslop died in 1796. His son-in-law, Increase Sumner, then became governor of Massachusetts in 1797. About this time, Amos Stoddard was admitted to the Bar of Massachusetts (1796) and removed himself to Hallowell, Massachusetts. In 1798, Amos Stoddard was commissioned a captain in the U.S. Regiment of Artillerists and Engineers. He was assigned command at Portland. In February 1799, he wrote to secretary of war James McHenry and proposed that the fort, which had been greatly improved, receive a name. On May 3rd, James McHenry then wrote to Major General Alexander Hamilton, to whom Capt. Amos Stoddard was reporting to at the time, and authorized the fort to be named "Fort Sumner" after the governor of Massachusetts, Increase Sumner. Governor Sumner then died on June 7, 1799. Nonetheless, the name change went ahead as authorized. On July 4th, 1799, Capt. Amos Stoddard announced the name of the fort to a gathering of several hundred spectators, including members of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. He also provided an oration which was printed and sold by E.A. Jenks, titled, "An Oration, Delivered Before The Citizens of Portland, And The Supreme Judicial Court In The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, On the Fourth Day of July 1799; Being the Anniversary of American Independence." On July 9th, Amos Stoddard wrote to Major General Alexander Hamilton the following: "Agreeably to your orders of the 14th communicated to me by Major Jackson, the fort at this place, on the 4th Instant, received the name of Sumner. The ceremony was passed in the presence of several hundred spectators; and I flatter myself, that the tribute of respect, so deservedly due to the memory and virtue of our late Governor, was not omitted on the occasion."
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Simeon and Mary's son, Judge Anthony Stoddard, married Martha Belcher. She died Feb.11, 1748. Judge Anthony died in March 1748. Judge Anthony and Martha had three children: 1. Simeon, baptized in November 1707 and later graduated at the head of his class at Harvard College in 1726. He later became mentally deranged and died intestate in January 1775. A cousin of his commented at the time of his death that his lunacy was at least partially due to his father's temper. Simeon died unmarried with no children; 2. Anthony Jr. died intestate in 1776 with no children; and daughter 3. Martha, who was married to 1.John Fitch 2. Ebenezer Holmes 3. John Stevens died before 1786.
It appears that Martha Stoddard, the daughter of Anthony Stoddard, the son of Simeon Stoddard, whose two brothers Anthony and Simeon died intestate and without heirs, inherited all of the property of Simeon Stoddard.Some of this property probably originally came from his father's (Anthony Stoddard of Boston) estate. Martha's "residence was in State Street, the house occupying the site near the post-office door in the Merchants' Exchange, a spot memorable for the Boston Massacre, 4th March 1770...and almost opposite, on the site located now occupied by the Merchants' Bank building, at the corner of Exchange Street, then called Shrimpton lane, stood the residence of Col. Shrimpton..." So, in other words, Martha's dwelling house was on the south side of State Street across from Shrimpton Lane. Merchants' Exchange is the present site of Exchange Place at 53 State Street. Merchants' Bank would be the present site of Bank America Financial Center at 60 State Street. This would also be the location on State Street where the Boston Massacre took place according to a map drawn my Paul Revere immediately after the event took place.
Simeon and Mary's other son, Simeon (1682-1706) was found barbarously murdered in Chelsea-Fields near London on May 14, 1706. See Diary of Samuel Sewall, Vol. II, P.169
William Stoddard (1693-1775), another son of Simeon and Mary, was a 1712 graduate of Harvard College. He first married Sarah Pitt. They had twelve children together. Sarah died about 1743 and he married Mercy (Bronsdon) Frizzell Wise on Jan. 18, 1745. William was a merchant and sold "...New Fashion Silks, Lately imported..." at his shop in Butler's Row in Boston. His son John (1734-1802) was also a graduate of Havard College (Class of 1753). He and his wife Lucretia spent most of their time abroad. John died in Dedham, MA in 1802.
For more information on the Simeon Stoddard line, and for a pedigree chart of the Anthony Stoddard of Boston family, see: "A History of East Boston..." by William Hyslop Sumner, Boston, 1858
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Barbara Clapp Weld Stoddard died circa 1655. Her burial location is unknown.
Anthony then married Christian Eyre circa 1655.
Their children included:
*Anthony (June 16, 1656 - after 1703)
*Christian (March 22, 1658 - October 25, 1711) Married first Nathaniel Peirce. Married second Samuel Bridge, Dec 3, 1690
*Lydia (March 27, 1660 - unknown) Married Samuel Turell
Joseph (December 1, 1661 - December 27, 1661)
John (April 22, 1663 - May 1, 1663)
Ebenezer (July 1, 1664 - died young)
*Dorothy (November 24, 1665 - after 1740) Married Stephen Totman
*Mary (March 25, 1668 - before 1741) Married Robert Wells Oct. 13, 1698
*Jane (July 1669 - after 1705) Living in Scituate, unmarried, in 1705
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Note: Little is known about Anthony II, son of Anthony and Christian. Most accounts suggest he died circa 1703. There are many entries in Samuel Sewall's diary long after 1703 regarding "Anthony Stoddard, Esq." but it is unclear which Anthony Stoddard this is...whether it refers to Simeon's brother Anthony II or they refer to Anthony the son of Simeon and Mary Stoddard and brother of David Stoddard. It is thought Anthony II, who was included in his father's Will, speculated in land and lost his inheritance. It is shown in the "History of East Boston..." by William Hyslop Sumner (Boston, 1858) on the Stoddard pedigree chart that Anthony II had a son Anthony III. However, this "Anthony III" may have been mistakenly referring to Anthony the son of Judge Anthony Stoddard (1678-1748) who was the son of Simeon Stoddard.
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Christian Eyre Stoddard was born circa 1627 and died before 1683. Her burial location is unknown.
Anthony's fourth wife was Mary Symmes Savage, the widow of Major Thomas Savage. They married sometime between December 7, 1683 and April 10, 1684. They had no children. When Mary Symmes Savage Stoddard died in 1710 she was buried with her first husband Major Thomas Savage at Kings Chapel Burying Ground, Section C, Row 11, Tomb 10. It is likely that Anthony is laid to rest nearby. See Major Thomas Savage Memorial #39204123.
Anthony then passed on March 16, 1687 at the age of 80 or 81.
The announcement of Anthony's death and burial come from the diary of Judge Samuel Sewall:
"March 16, 1686/7: About 1. aclock Mr. Anthony Stoddard dyes, was the ancientest shop-keeper in Town."
"Monday March 21. Mr Stoddard and Dr. Avery buried. Mr. Avery about 3, Stoddard between 5. and 6. aclock"
Dr. William Aveary, who died on March 18, 1686/7, is buried at Kings Chapel Burying Ground. This is clear evidence that Anthony Stoddard is also most definately buried at Kings Chapel Burying Ground in Boston.
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Judge Samuel Sewall was a 1671 graduate of Harvard College. Samuel was also close friends with Anthony's sons. Solomon Stoddard, who graduated Harvard College in 1665 and became the first librarian of Harvard College in 1667, then became the congregational minister at Northampton in 1670. Samuel Sewall made the following entry in his diary dated September 4, 1716, "Tuesday, went to Northampton. ...Staid 2 or 3 Hours with Mr. Stoddard, Din'd with him and Madam Stoddard, who is lame of the Sciatica, and yet spins at the Linen-wheel." Judge Samuel Sewall made significant enteries in his diary mentioning Solomon Stoddard, Simeon Stoddard, Esq. and Anthony Stoddard, Esq. Solomon and Simeon were the sons of Anthony Soddard of Boston; Anthony Stoddard Esq. refers to Simeon Stoddard's son, Judge Anthony Stoddard. The relationships were close. Simeon Stoddard was even a pallbearer at Judge Samuel Sewall's wife's burial in 1717.
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Note: In speaking with Kelly Thomas, Director of Boston's Historic Burial Grounds, she informs me that in the 19th century many of the headstones at Kings Chapel Burying Ground were moved and re-oranized into rows for a more orderly appearance and to make grounds caretaking easier. Therefore, not all the headstones are actually located above their original burial plot. She also stated that the oldest headstone at Kings Chapel Burying Ground only dates back to 1652 so there are many headstones that are missing (or never existed). Finally, she indicated that many people were buried without headstones in the 17th century for religious belief considerations. Since there are no headstones found for any of Anthony's first three wives, or for any of his children who died young, or for nearly all of Anthony's children who lived full lives, it is possible Anthony Stoddard did not believe in marking the burial site with a headstone…and this piety might have been shared by his children…or that all the ancient headstones for them were lost, deteriorated or destroyed. However, it is most likely that Anthony's children and wives who died before him are likely buried at Kings Chapel Burying Ground.
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* = Named in: Last Will and Testament of Anthony Stoddard of Boston:
ANTHONY STODDARD OF BOSTON
I, Anthony Stoddard Senior of Boston, New England. Shop-keeper: being in some measure of good health of body and of sound, disposeing minde and memory, praysed be God for the same, yet having lived to be full of dayes and senceable of some the intirmities attending old age, which put me in remembrance of my approaching dissolution, not knowing how soon my change may come. Do hereby revoke all other wills by me at any time heretofore made, and declare or ordain this my last will and Testament concerning the disposall of my temporal Estate in manner and forme following. Videlt.
Im'prs. my just debts and funeral expense (omitting those usual & costly ceremonies of scarves and gloves. other than what my Executors shall see meet to bestow upon my bearers, and in the mourning Apparrell for themselves and their children) being in the first place paid and discharged and my engagement made to my presnt wife upon marriage with her being performed or duely provided for. I will that all my whole remaining Estate be kept intire and improved for the maintenance and education of my children who are undisposed of until my youngest Childe come of full age or be married (if she live so long) and to that end, I will that my son Anthony remain in my house and Shop and have the management of my Estate: onely as any of my children y't are undisposed of arrival to full age or be married I will that such Child and Children shall have the sum of Two hundred punds apiece advanced and delivered to them out of my Estate in such Species as the Estate doth affoard, and that they be charged debitor for the same as I have already done by my other Children, to be abated out of their division.
Item. I will that the debt oweing to me from my Son Simeon by my Booke be demanded of him and gathered in.
Item. I remit and forgive unto my daughter Grace, whatsoever she is indebted unto me.
Item. My will is, That when my Children are all come of full age or be married that then my whole Estate both real and personal be equally divided amongst these my Eight Children Viz't. Solomon, Sampson, Anthony, Christian, Lydia, Dorothy, Mary and Jane, and if any of my s'd Eight Children be departed this life before the s'd time of division, leaving lawful issue of their body's behind them, the Childe or Children of such deceased parents shall receive their parents part in equall divison among them as they come to age to be secured for them in meane time: And that none of my said Children may be deprived of their equal proportion of my Estate. my will is that all my Shopgoods (except such as be brayed and old Shop-keepers) be apprized as I sell them for money.
It. I do hereby nominate, make and Ordein my above named Eight children, Solomon, Sampson, Anthony, Christian, Lydia, Dorothy, Mary and Jane, the joint Executors of this my last will and Testament.
In Witness whereof, I have hereunto put my hand and affixed my Seale this twenty ninth day of December Ann'o. Dom'i. One Thousand Six Hundred Eighty Four.
Anthony Stoddard. Seal
Signed, Sealed and published by mr. Anthony Stoddard to be hus last will in the presence of
Ben'ja. Davis. Penn. Townsend. Is'a Addington
Capt. Benj'a Davis, Capt. Penn Townsend, and Mr. Asa Addington made Oath that they were Present and Saw Mr. Anthony Stoddard Signe, Seale, and publish this Instrumt as his Last Will and Testament, and that when he so did, he was of Sound mind and memory to their best understanding.
J. Dudley, Esq.
Jurat Corum, Boston, 19 May, 1687.
Attest, Tho. Dudley, Cler.
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This transcript was sourced from the appendix of "Some of the Ancestors of Rodman Stoddard of Woodbury, Conn. and Detroit, Michigan" by Edward Deacon, 1893
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Anthony's Will, dated December 29, 1684, left his property to his eight living children as joint executors, but leaving out his son Simeon from any inheritance and making a demand for repayment of debt that he owed to him.
Two days after Anthony's death, his children prepared a deed which was signed by all the heirs of the will. In this deed they addressed the fact that Simeon was not treated as an equal to his other brothers and sisters. The following is quoted from this record:
"Whereas our said Father by his Last Will and Testament on December Anno 1684 hath passed over and omitted the taking Notice of our Brother Simeon Stoddard bequeathing any Legacy unto him. But on the Contrary Ordered that he should repay such Estate as he was pleased formerly to deliver unto him upon his Marriage towards his assistance in Setting up for himself. The reason whereof as several of us understood from our said Father proceeded from some disciplinary he had Conceived against Our said Brother, at the time of making his said Last Will being upwards of Two years before his decease; But was afterwards Fully reconciled to and in Charity with him again and, (as himself declared) purposed and resolved to alter his said Will, and to manifest his Fatherly Love and affection to the said Simeon alike as to other of his children, but was prevented of his said purpose by Death; Wherefore for the avoiding of contention and difference, and for the maintaining of Love and peace amongst us, being fully Satisfied of the good inclination and Favour of our said Father unto our said Brother Simeon, and that it was his full purpose and real intention to have him given a Childs portion of his Estate equal with any of our Selves. Wee do quitclaim unto our said Brother Simeon Stoddard of all and every Debt and Sums of money which we might ask of him due unto the Estate of Our said Father and do mutually agree to admit the said Simeon to be a partaker and sharer with us in the said Estate.
This memorial is the correct and accurate record of Anthony Stoddard who is commonly known as "Anthony Stoddard of Boston."
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Son of Anthony Stoddard (May 1572 - circa 1636) and Alice Martin (née Tyro) m. February 16, 1603/4
Grandson of James Stoddard (circa 1534 - circa 1585) of Rushton, Staffordshire, England
Great-Grandson of William Stoddard (circa 1508 - circa 1558) of Rushton, Staffordshire, England
Anthony was born and his baptism was held circa 1606 in St. Michael le Querne, London, England.
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Some of the information for this biography comes from English researcher Jeanne "Jane" Stoddard from her book, "The Stoddards of Rushton Spencer: a short account of the ancestors of Anthony Stoddard of Boston, Massachusetts, who emigrated there in about 1638" published by the Rushton Spencer-Stoddard Memorial Fund in 1979. Additional source information comes from the book, "Family of Wells and Eunice Stoddard" written by researcher Sharlene Ida Stoddard and published in 1995. In her work, Sharlene diligently reconciled all previous Stoddard genealogies and corrected errors in making a more fact-based record for posterity. She also knew and communicated with Jeanne Stoddard and used her research in writing her own Anthony Stoddard genealogy account.
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Anthony and his family were members of the Skinners' Company which was originally founded in 1327 and was one of 12 merchant guilds in the City of London. The Skinners dealt in all kinds of goods, especially wool and fur. Anthony's uncle William was a wealthy merchant prominent in the Skinners' Company organization. He was the senior partner in business with his two brothers, Francis and Anthony (the father of Anthony of Boston). Anthony (of Boston) also had a brother, William, who was a member of the Skinners' Company. Their base of operation may have been in the parish of St. Michael le Querne which was located near Skinners' Hall. This brother William stayed behind in London and probably facilitated trade with his brother in Boston.
Anthony arrived at the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the spring of 1639 aboard the ship "Endemion" of London with Robert Knox as captain. Anthony's passage and that of his trading goods were booked on February 22, 1639 but the ship did not sail until after April 5th. He was admitted to citizenship on September 28, 1639 and took his oath of allegiance to the colony and became a freeman in May 1640. This gave him political rights and the rights to open a shop. His shop and home were located along King's Street (today State Street) near the present-day intersection of State and Congress Streets in front of the Old State House where the Boston Massacre occurred 130 years later. His shop was located at the corner of Kings Street and New Street as the streets were known at that time.
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Note: Henry Shrimpton also arrived in 1639, was admitted to the church, and has nearly an identical beginning in the colony as Anthony. Henry Shrimpton purchased "dwell-h. and garden" bounding "New-st. E." from Anthony Stoddard and Jonathan Leverit on Sept. 28, 1646. This property included what was known as "State Arms," a tavern located at the S.E. corner of King Street & New Street, later named State Street and Shrimpton Lane. State Arms was the "ordinary where magistrates used to diet." It was included in the appraisal of real property of Henry Shrimpton taken in July 1666 by Anthony Stoddard and others. The State Arms is assumed to be one of the first buildings erected in Boston. See: Book of Possessions, City Clerks Office, P. 118.
Henry's son was known as Col. Samuel Shrimpton and his son was Col. Samuel Shrimpton, jun.. Henry died in July 1666. You will find the Shrimpton name frequently associated with the Anthony Stoddard family. For more information on the Henry Shrimpton family, see: "A History of East Boston..." by William Hyslop Sumner, Boston, 1858
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Note: The book, "Biographical Sketches of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Vol. II" written by John Langdon Sibley, M.A., published in 1881, indicates that Anthony had five wives rather than four as other sources indicate. The sketch for Anthony's son Solomon (Class of 1662; M.A. 1665) talks of Solomon's mother as "the second of five wives of Anthony Stoddard, linen-draper." If this is true, it appears very likely that Anthony was married in London and that his wife died prior to his emigration to New England.
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Anthony first married Mary Downing, daughter of Emmanuel Downing and Anne Ware, the daughter of Sir James Ware, in November 1640. Mary Downing was born in Dublin, Ireland circa 1615. After the death of her mother Anne Ware in October 1621, Emmanuel Downing, then living in Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony, married Lucy Winthrop, sister of John Winthrop, in April 1622. Emmanuel and Lucy then had a son, George Downing, in 1623. Mary Downing then became the half-sister of George Downing and the niece of John Winthrop the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. So Anthony had married well.
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Note: George Downing graduated from the first class of Harvard College in 1642. He became known as Sir George Downing. 10 Downing Street in London, the home and office of the British prime minister, is named for him.
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Anthony and Mary had three children together:
Benjamin (Aug 12, 1640 - died young)
*Solomon (September 27, 1643 - February 11, 1729) Married widow Esther (Warham) Mather.
*Sampson (December 3, 1645 - November 4, 1698) Married Susanna Clarke.
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Note: Much is written about Rev. Solomon Stoddard. A short biography is not required. However, a short biography of his son, Col. John Stoddard (1681-1748), is warranted.
John Stoddard (1681-1748) married Prudence Chester. John Stoddard was one of the most influential military and political leaders in New England in his time, but this was the Colonial period and his loyalties were to the Crown. This must have rubbed-off on his sons. Col. John Stoddard's sons Solomon (1736-1827) and Israel (1742-1792) were graduates of Yale University (1756 and 1758 respectively). They were Loyalists at the beginning of the War for Independence. Both men were forced to flee their homes but returned and recanted and pledged an oath of loyalty. They were the rare political exception in a family of whigs. Solomon's son Rev. Elijah Woodward (E.W.) Stoddard published the genealogy book, "Anthony Stoddard of Boston, Mass., and his descendants : a genealogy" in 1865. This was a second edition after his cousin Charles Stoddard published "Genealogy of the Family of Anthony Stoddard of Boston" in 1849. Rev. E.W. Stoddard's huge grave marker is etched on the back with his ancestral lineage.
Sampson (typically spelled Samson) was a mariner. He is sometimes referred to as Capt. Sampson Stoddard. He later became constable of Boston and a selectman in 1696 and 1698 before his death in November 1698. His son Sampson (circa 1680-1740) was a 1701 graduate of Harvard College (along with his cousin John Stoddard, son of Solomon) and became the minister of Chelmsford, Massachusettson June 26, 1706. He was married to Elizabeth Davis by Benjamin Colman in Boston on February 2, 1707/8. When Elizabeth died in early January 1725/6, Sampson was married (at Boston, by Joseph Sewall) to Margaret Halkerston, widow of Dr. James Halkerston, in February of the next year. Rev. Sampson Stoddard suffered from poor mental health in his later years and died on August 23, 1740 at Chelmsford. He was found dead at the bottom of his well and it was unknown whether it was by accident or purposely. His daughter, Sarah Stoddard, married his successor, Ebenezer Bridge. Sampson's son, Sampson Stoddard, Jr., was also a Harvard College graduate (Class of 1730). Stoddard, New Hampshire is named for him although he never actually lived there. See: Sibley's Harvard Graduates...Vol. 5, 1701 - 1712, P.96-122 for an extensive biographical sketch of John Stoddard and a shorter one for Samson Stoddard.
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Mary Downing Stoddard died of influenza on May 16, 1647. Her burial location is unknown.
Anthony then married Barbara Clapp Weld, the widow of Captain Joseph Weld, in 1647. Their children included:
*Grace (Jul 16, 1648 - unknown)
Samuel (Jan 14, 1650 - died young)
*Simeon (May 1651 - October 15, 1730) Married first, Mary [unknown], second, Elizabeth (Roberts) Breeden Shrimpton on May 31, 1709. She died in 1713; third, Mehetable (Minot) Cooper Sargent.
Sarah (October 21, 1652 - before 1683)
Stephen (January 6, 1654 - died young)
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Note: Simeon and Mary Stoddard were the parents of eleven children. One, a son, Anthony, was born to them September 24, 1678. He was a 1697 graduate of Harvard College. He married Martha Belcher at Boston on May 24, 1705. He became a judge in Boston and is known as Judge Anthony Stoddard. He died in 1748. His cousin, Anthony Stoddard, son of Solomon, was also born in 1678 and also graduated from Harvard College in 1697. He became the minister of the congregational church in Woodbury, Connecticut. He is known as Reverend Anthony Stoddard. He died in 1760. Both men are listed in Sibley's "Biographical Sketches of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts" for 1697. There is a portrait included in these sketches for Anthony Stoddard, son of Simeon and Mary Stoddard. This portrait is commonly and erroneously attributed to Rev. Anthony Stoddard. There is no known portrait of Rev. Anthony Stoddard of Woodbury.
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After the death of his wife Mary in 1708, Simeon Stoddard married Elizabeth (Roberts) Breeden Shrimpton, the widow of Col. Samuel Shrimpton (the son of Henry Shrimpton) in 1709. Simeon's son, David Stoddard (1685-1723), a London and Boston merchant and a Shrimpton family agent at Boston, married Elizabeth (Richardson) Shrimpton, the widow of Col. Samuel Shrimpton, Jr., and the niece of his father's wife, on December 23, 1713. ( Does that sound confusing enough?) David and Elizabeth had three children: Mary m. David Chauncey d. 1783; Sarah m. Thomas Greenough d. 1778; and Mehetable m. William Hyslop 1750 d. 1792. David Stoddard's obituary was published in the Boston Weekly News-letter on March 15, 1723. His reputation, character and demeanor were said to be of the most elevated and laudable kind.
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Note: David and Elizabeth Stoddard's daughter, Mehetable Stoddard, married William Hyslop in 1750. William and Mehetable's only daughter, Elizabeth Hyslop, married Increase Sumner in 1779. Increase Sumner was appointed as an associate justice to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court by Gov. John Hancock in 1782. About this time, and just after his service during the American Revolution, Amos Stoddard of Lenox, Massachusetts (See: The Autobiography Manuscript of Major Amos Stoddard) began serving as a clerk assistant to Supreme Judicial Court Clerk Charles Cushing. In December 1790, Amos Stoddard took a break from his work for Charles Cushing at the Supreme Judicial Court and traveled to London to secure a family estate for his uncle, John Stoddard, of Watertown, Connecticut (from whom this editor descends). While in London, Amos wrote to William Hyslop on May 14-15, 1791 and apprised him of his legal efforts to secure the estate and solicited his advice. He also mentioned "Mr. Sumner" in this letter and suggests William Hyslop discuss the legal situation with him. Increase Sumner was the son-in-law of William Hyslop (father of Elizabeth Hyslop Sumner). William Hyslop died in 1796. His son-in-law, Increase Sumner, then became governor of Massachusetts in 1797. About this time, Amos Stoddard was admitted to the Bar of Massachusetts (1796) and removed himself to Hallowell, Massachusetts. In 1798, Amos Stoddard was commissioned a captain in the U.S. Regiment of Artillerists and Engineers. He was assigned command at Portland. In February 1799, he wrote to secretary of war James McHenry and proposed that the fort, which had been greatly improved, receive a name. On May 3rd, James McHenry then wrote to Major General Alexander Hamilton, to whom Capt. Amos Stoddard was reporting to at the time, and authorized the fort to be named "Fort Sumner" after the governor of Massachusetts, Increase Sumner. Governor Sumner then died on June 7, 1799. Nonetheless, the name change went ahead as authorized. On July 4th, 1799, Capt. Amos Stoddard announced the name of the fort to a gathering of several hundred spectators, including members of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. He also provided an oration which was printed and sold by E.A. Jenks, titled, "An Oration, Delivered Before The Citizens of Portland, And The Supreme Judicial Court In The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, On the Fourth Day of July 1799; Being the Anniversary of American Independence." On July 9th, Amos Stoddard wrote to Major General Alexander Hamilton the following: "Agreeably to your orders of the 14th communicated to me by Major Jackson, the fort at this place, on the 4th Instant, received the name of Sumner. The ceremony was passed in the presence of several hundred spectators; and I flatter myself, that the tribute of respect, so deservedly due to the memory and virtue of our late Governor, was not omitted on the occasion."
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Simeon and Mary's son, Judge Anthony Stoddard, married Martha Belcher. She died Feb.11, 1748. Judge Anthony died in March 1748. Judge Anthony and Martha had three children: 1. Simeon, baptized in November 1707 and later graduated at the head of his class at Harvard College in 1726. He later became mentally deranged and died intestate in January 1775. A cousin of his commented at the time of his death that his lunacy was at least partially due to his father's temper. Simeon died unmarried with no children; 2. Anthony Jr. died intestate in 1776 with no children; and daughter 3. Martha, who was married to 1.John Fitch 2. Ebenezer Holmes 3. John Stevens died before 1786.
It appears that Martha Stoddard, the daughter of Anthony Stoddard, the son of Simeon Stoddard, whose two brothers Anthony and Simeon died intestate and without heirs, inherited all of the property of Simeon Stoddard.Some of this property probably originally came from his father's (Anthony Stoddard of Boston) estate. Martha's "residence was in State Street, the house occupying the site near the post-office door in the Merchants' Exchange, a spot memorable for the Boston Massacre, 4th March 1770...and almost opposite, on the site located now occupied by the Merchants' Bank building, at the corner of Exchange Street, then called Shrimpton lane, stood the residence of Col. Shrimpton..." So, in other words, Martha's dwelling house was on the south side of State Street across from Shrimpton Lane. Merchants' Exchange is the present site of Exchange Place at 53 State Street. Merchants' Bank would be the present site of Bank America Financial Center at 60 State Street. This would also be the location on State Street where the Boston Massacre took place according to a map drawn my Paul Revere immediately after the event took place.
Simeon and Mary's other son, Simeon (1682-1706) was found barbarously murdered in Chelsea-Fields near London on May 14, 1706. See Diary of Samuel Sewall, Vol. II, P.169
William Stoddard (1693-1775), another son of Simeon and Mary, was a 1712 graduate of Harvard College. He first married Sarah Pitt. They had twelve children together. Sarah died about 1743 and he married Mercy (Bronsdon) Frizzell Wise on Jan. 18, 1745. William was a merchant and sold "...New Fashion Silks, Lately imported..." at his shop in Butler's Row in Boston. His son John (1734-1802) was also a graduate of Havard College (Class of 1753). He and his wife Lucretia spent most of their time abroad. John died in Dedham, MA in 1802.
For more information on the Simeon Stoddard line, and for a pedigree chart of the Anthony Stoddard of Boston family, see: "A History of East Boston..." by William Hyslop Sumner, Boston, 1858
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Barbara Clapp Weld Stoddard died circa 1655. Her burial location is unknown.
Anthony then married Christian Eyre circa 1655.
Their children included:
*Anthony (June 16, 1656 - after 1703)
*Christian (March 22, 1658 - October 25, 1711) Married first Nathaniel Peirce. Married second Samuel Bridge, Dec 3, 1690
*Lydia (March 27, 1660 - unknown) Married Samuel Turell
Joseph (December 1, 1661 - December 27, 1661)
John (April 22, 1663 - May 1, 1663)
Ebenezer (July 1, 1664 - died young)
*Dorothy (November 24, 1665 - after 1740) Married Stephen Totman
*Mary (March 25, 1668 - before 1741) Married Robert Wells Oct. 13, 1698
*Jane (July 1669 - after 1705) Living in Scituate, unmarried, in 1705
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Note: Little is known about Anthony II, son of Anthony and Christian. Most accounts suggest he died circa 1703. There are many entries in Samuel Sewall's diary long after 1703 regarding "Anthony Stoddard, Esq." but it is unclear which Anthony Stoddard this is...whether it refers to Simeon's brother Anthony II or they refer to Anthony the son of Simeon and Mary Stoddard and brother of David Stoddard. It is thought Anthony II, who was included in his father's Will, speculated in land and lost his inheritance. It is shown in the "History of East Boston..." by William Hyslop Sumner (Boston, 1858) on the Stoddard pedigree chart that Anthony II had a son Anthony III. However, this "Anthony III" may have been mistakenly referring to Anthony the son of Judge Anthony Stoddard (1678-1748) who was the son of Simeon Stoddard.
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Christian Eyre Stoddard was born circa 1627 and died before 1683. Her burial location is unknown.
Anthony's fourth wife was Mary Symmes Savage, the widow of Major Thomas Savage. They married sometime between December 7, 1683 and April 10, 1684. They had no children. When Mary Symmes Savage Stoddard died in 1710 she was buried with her first husband Major Thomas Savage at Kings Chapel Burying Ground, Section C, Row 11, Tomb 10. It is likely that Anthony is laid to rest nearby. See Major Thomas Savage Memorial #39204123.
Anthony then passed on March 16, 1687 at the age of 80 or 81.
The announcement of Anthony's death and burial come from the diary of Judge Samuel Sewall:
"March 16, 1686/7: About 1. aclock Mr. Anthony Stoddard dyes, was the ancientest shop-keeper in Town."
"Monday March 21. Mr Stoddard and Dr. Avery buried. Mr. Avery about 3, Stoddard between 5. and 6. aclock"
Dr. William Aveary, who died on March 18, 1686/7, is buried at Kings Chapel Burying Ground. This is clear evidence that Anthony Stoddard is also most definately buried at Kings Chapel Burying Ground in Boston.
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Judge Samuel Sewall was a 1671 graduate of Harvard College. Samuel was also close friends with Anthony's sons. Solomon Stoddard, who graduated Harvard College in 1665 and became the first librarian of Harvard College in 1667, then became the congregational minister at Northampton in 1670. Samuel Sewall made the following entry in his diary dated September 4, 1716, "Tuesday, went to Northampton. ...Staid 2 or 3 Hours with Mr. Stoddard, Din'd with him and Madam Stoddard, who is lame of the Sciatica, and yet spins at the Linen-wheel." Judge Samuel Sewall made significant enteries in his diary mentioning Solomon Stoddard, Simeon Stoddard, Esq. and Anthony Stoddard, Esq. Solomon and Simeon were the sons of Anthony Soddard of Boston; Anthony Stoddard Esq. refers to Simeon Stoddard's son, Judge Anthony Stoddard. The relationships were close. Simeon Stoddard was even a pallbearer at Judge Samuel Sewall's wife's burial in 1717.
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Note: In speaking with Kelly Thomas, Director of Boston's Historic Burial Grounds, she informs me that in the 19th century many of the headstones at Kings Chapel Burying Ground were moved and re-oranized into rows for a more orderly appearance and to make grounds caretaking easier. Therefore, not all the headstones are actually located above their original burial plot. She also stated that the oldest headstone at Kings Chapel Burying Ground only dates back to 1652 so there are many headstones that are missing (or never existed). Finally, she indicated that many people were buried without headstones in the 17th century for religious belief considerations. Since there are no headstones found for any of Anthony's first three wives, or for any of his children who died young, or for nearly all of Anthony's children who lived full lives, it is possible Anthony Stoddard did not believe in marking the burial site with a headstone…and this piety might have been shared by his children…or that all the ancient headstones for them were lost, deteriorated or destroyed. However, it is most likely that Anthony's children and wives who died before him are likely buried at Kings Chapel Burying Ground.
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* = Named in: Last Will and Testament of Anthony Stoddard of Boston:
ANTHONY STODDARD OF BOSTON
I, Anthony Stoddard Senior of Boston, New England. Shop-keeper: being in some measure of good health of body and of sound, disposeing minde and memory, praysed be God for the same, yet having lived to be full of dayes and senceable of some the intirmities attending old age, which put me in remembrance of my approaching dissolution, not knowing how soon my change may come. Do hereby revoke all other wills by me at any time heretofore made, and declare or ordain this my last will and Testament concerning the disposall of my temporal Estate in manner and forme following. Videlt.
Im'prs. my just debts and funeral expense (omitting those usual & costly ceremonies of scarves and gloves. other than what my Executors shall see meet to bestow upon my bearers, and in the mourning Apparrell for themselves and their children) being in the first place paid and discharged and my engagement made to my presnt wife upon marriage with her being performed or duely provided for. I will that all my whole remaining Estate be kept intire and improved for the maintenance and education of my children who are undisposed of until my youngest Childe come of full age or be married (if she live so long) and to that end, I will that my son Anthony remain in my house and Shop and have the management of my Estate: onely as any of my children y't are undisposed of arrival to full age or be married I will that such Child and Children shall have the sum of Two hundred punds apiece advanced and delivered to them out of my Estate in such Species as the Estate doth affoard, and that they be charged debitor for the same as I have already done by my other Children, to be abated out of their division.
Item. I will that the debt oweing to me from my Son Simeon by my Booke be demanded of him and gathered in.
Item. I remit and forgive unto my daughter Grace, whatsoever she is indebted unto me.
Item. My will is, That when my Children are all come of full age or be married that then my whole Estate both real and personal be equally divided amongst these my Eight Children Viz't. Solomon, Sampson, Anthony, Christian, Lydia, Dorothy, Mary and Jane, and if any of my s'd Eight Children be departed this life before the s'd time of division, leaving lawful issue of their body's behind them, the Childe or Children of such deceased parents shall receive their parents part in equall divison among them as they come to age to be secured for them in meane time: And that none of my said Children may be deprived of their equal proportion of my Estate. my will is that all my Shopgoods (except such as be brayed and old Shop-keepers) be apprized as I sell them for money.
It. I do hereby nominate, make and Ordein my above named Eight children, Solomon, Sampson, Anthony, Christian, Lydia, Dorothy, Mary and Jane, the joint Executors of this my last will and Testament.
In Witness whereof, I have hereunto put my hand and affixed my Seale this twenty ninth day of December Ann'o. Dom'i. One Thousand Six Hundred Eighty Four.
Anthony Stoddard. Seal
Signed, Sealed and published by mr. Anthony Stoddard to be hus last will in the presence of
Ben'ja. Davis. Penn. Townsend. Is'a Addington
Capt. Benj'a Davis, Capt. Penn Townsend, and Mr. Asa Addington made Oath that they were Present and Saw Mr. Anthony Stoddard Signe, Seale, and publish this Instrumt as his Last Will and Testament, and that when he so did, he was of Sound mind and memory to their best understanding.
J. Dudley, Esq.
Jurat Corum, Boston, 19 May, 1687.
Attest, Tho. Dudley, Cler.
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This transcript was sourced from the appendix of "Some of the Ancestors of Rodman Stoddard of Woodbury, Conn. and Detroit, Michigan" by Edward Deacon, 1893
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Anthony's Will, dated December 29, 1684, left his property to his eight living children as joint executors, but leaving out his son Simeon from any inheritance and making a demand for repayment of debt that he owed to him.
Two days after Anthony's death, his children prepared a deed which was signed by all the heirs of the will. In this deed they addressed the fact that Simeon was not treated as an equal to his other brothers and sisters. The following is quoted from this record:
"Whereas our said Father by his Last Will and Testament on December Anno 1684 hath passed over and omitted the taking Notice of our Brother Simeon Stoddard bequeathing any Legacy unto him. But on the Contrary Ordered that he should repay such Estate as he was pleased formerly to deliver unto him upon his Marriage towards his assistance in Setting up for himself. The reason whereof as several of us understood from our said Father proceeded from some disciplinary he had Conceived against Our said Brother, at the time of making his said Last Will being upwards of Two years before his decease; But was afterwards Fully reconciled to and in Charity with him again and, (as himself declared) purposed and resolved to alter his said Will, and to manifest his Fatherly Love and affection to the said Simeon alike as to other of his children, but was prevented of his said purpose by Death; Wherefore for the avoiding of contention and difference, and for the maintaining of Love and peace amongst us, being fully Satisfied of the good inclination and Favour of our said Father unto our said Brother Simeon, and that it was his full purpose and real intention to have him given a Childs portion of his Estate equal with any of our Selves. Wee do quitclaim unto our said Brother Simeon Stoddard of all and every Debt and Sums of money which we might ask of him due unto the Estate of Our said Father and do mutually agree to admit the said Simeon to be a partaker and sharer with us in the said Estate.
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