Generation 1

WILLIAM LOVEJOY of Caversham

Parents: Unknown

That John Lovejoy's father was named William seems likely. However, when Henderson [Ref] examined the parish registers of Caversham and Sonning it was clear that there were at least two Williams having their children baptised between 1613 and 1620 and it is not clear which belong to which family. Henderson [Ref] also located two relevant marriage records. A William Lovejoy married Anne White on 24 Feb 1611/2 at Caversham and a "Willim Louejoy" married "Margret Suat" at nearby St. Giles, Reading, Berkshire on 28 Aug 1620. He was unable to locate any relevant wills or other records that would link William to the Lovejoy families found in the vicinity of Caversham and Sonning since at least the middle of the 16th century.

Children of William Lovejoy:

1. Grace Lovejoy was baptised on 9 Apr 1620 in Sonning. She died on 27 Apr 1694 in Andover. [Ref] It is reasonably likely that she married William Ballard.
2. John Lovejoy was baptised on 14 Jul 1622 in Caversham. He died on 7 Nov 1690 in Andover. He married Mary Osgood.

Generation 2

GRACE LOVEJOY (bp. 1620 - 1690) of Andover

Parents: William Lovejoy

Grace Lovejoy was baptised on 9 Apr 1620 in Sonning. [Ref] Grace, the wife of William Ballard, died on 27 Apr 1694 in Andover. [Ref] It is reasonably likely that she married William Ballard.

Grace came to New England on the Confidence in 1638 with her brother John. [Ref] [See his entry.]

Henderson [Ref] presents strong circumstantial evidence that Grace, the wife of William Ballard, was Grace Lovejoy. He argues that there were few wives named Grace in towns in Essex county or in nearby towns in Middlesex county who might have married William and that, of these, only Grace Ballard had associations with the Lovejoy family. He says that in an ancient list of settlers of Andover, in the order that they came to town, John Lovejoy's name follows immediately after William Ballard's name. In a 1658 petition their names are again listed sequentially and they testified in the same case on two different occassions. They also owned adjacent property.

JOHN LOVEJOY (bp. 1622 - 1690) of Andover

Parents: William Lovejoy

John Lovejoy was baptised on 14 Jul 1622 in Caversham. He died on 7 Nov 1690 in Andover. [Ref] He married first Mary Osgood. [Ref] Mary, the daughter of Christopher and Mary (Everett) Osgood, was born on 17 Mar 1633 in Marlboro, Wiltshire, England. [Ref] She died on 15 Jul 1675. [Ref] John married second the widow Hannah Pritchard on 12 Feb 1676. [Ref] Hannah died of throat cancer on 1 Aug 1705. [Ref] She was the widow of William Pritchard, who was killed on 2 Aug 1675 in King Philip's War. [Ref]

Henderson's [Ref] search of the parish registers around Caversham found only one child named John Lovejoy baptised between 1609 and 1627: John Lovejoy, son of William, who was baptised on 14 July 1622 in Caversham. A William Lovejoy had a daughter Grace, who was baptised on 9 Apr 1620 in the neighbouring parish of Sonning. [Ref]

John arrived on the Confidence in 1638 as a 16-year-old servant of John Stephens, a husbandman of Caversham, Oxfordshire. He was accompanied by Grace Lovejoy. Their last name is spelled "Lowgie". [Ref][Ref]

Children of John Lovejoy:

1. Nathaniel Lovejoy was born on 29 May 1667 in Andover. He died on 7 Mar 1752. He married first Dorothy Hoyt. He married second Elizabeth Wilson.

Generation 3

NATHANIEL LOVEJOY (1667-1752) of Andover

Parents: John Lovejoy and Mary Osgood [Ref]

Nathaniel Lovejoy was born on 29 May 1667 in Andover. [Ref] He died on 7 Mar 1752 [Ref], age 85, in Andover. [Ref] He married first Dorothy Hoyt [Ref] on 21 Mar 1693/4 in Andover. [Ref] Dorothy, the daughter of Sgt. John and Mary (Barnes) Hoyt, was born on 29 Jan 1674. [Ref] She died on 17 May 1714 in Andover [Ref], age about 40. [Ref] Nathaniel married second Elizabeth Wilson, who was perhaps a widow, on 16 Aug 1716 in Andover. [Ref]

Nathaniel was a cordwainer.

Children of Nathaniel Lovejoy and Dorothy Hoyt:

1. Dorothy Lovejoy was born on 24 May 1697 in Andover. [Ref][Ref] She died on 27 May 1747 in Andover. [Ref] She married Solomon Martin on 25 Dec 1722 in Andover. [Ref] Solomon, the son of Samuel and Abigail (Norton) Martin, was born in 1695 in Andover and died on 1 Apr 1754 in Andover. [Ref]
2. Ens. Nathaniel Lovejoy was born on 7 Feb 1698/9 in Andover. [Ref][Ref says 25 Feb] He died on 25 Aug 1768 [Ref], age 69 y. 6 m. "in an apoplectic fit" in Andover. [Ref] He married Elizabeth Swan of Hampton in Hampton. [Ref] Elizabeth, the daughter of Robert and Hannah Swan, was born in Haverhill in 1709 or 1710. [Ref] She died on 21 Jun 1770 [Ref] in Andover. [Ref]
3. Timothy Lovejoy (twin) was born on 5 May 1701 in Andover. [Ref, month missing][Ref] He married Mary Curnell on 20 Aug 1730 in Andover. [Ref][Ref] Perhaps she is the widow Mary who died of old age and was buried on 11 Jul 1795 in Andover, age 98 y. 2 m. [Ref]
4. Dorcas Lovejoy (twin) was born on 5 May 1701 in Andover. She married John Shackford.
5. Deborah Lovejoy was born in 1703 or 1704 in Andover. [Ref] She died about 1750 in Metheun. [Ref] She married John Bailey on 13 Dec 1732 in Andover. [Ref] John was born on 26 Nov 1691 in Bradford. [Ref]
6. Ezekiel Lovejoy was born in 1705, probably in Nov, in Andover. [Ref] He died on 13 Apr 1742 in Andover. [Ref][Ref] He married Elizabeth Wilson on 9 Jan 1727 in Andover. [Ref]
7. Daniel Lovejoy was born in 1710 in Andover. [Ref][Ref] He married Mary Holt on 29 Oct 1745 [Ref] in Andover. [Ref]

Generation 4

DORCAS LOVEJOY (1687-1759)

Parents: Nathaniel Lovejoy and Dorothy Hoyt [Ref]

Dorcas Lovejoy was born on 5 May 1701 in Andover. [Ref, month missing][Ref] She married John Shackford on 22 Oct 1727 in Portsmouth. [Ref][Ref says 25 Oct]

References

Farlow, Charles Frederic, comp. and Charles Henry Pope, Ed., Ballard Genealogy: William Ballard (1603 - 1639) of Lynn, Massachusetts and William Ballard (1617 - 1689) of Andover, Massachusetts and Their Descendants, Boston, Charles H. Pope, 1911.

Henderson, James R., "English Origins of John Lovejoy of Andover, Massachusetts," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 163, 2009, 27-32.

Lovejoy, Clarence E., The Lovejoy Genealogy with Biographies and History, 1460-1930, New York, Lovejoy, 1930.

Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850, (Online Database: NewEnglandAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2007)

No author, "Passengers for New England, 1638," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 2, 1848, 108-110.

Pierce, Joshua, "A Record of Births, Marriages and Deaths in Portsmouth, NH from 1706-1742," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 24, 1870, 357-360.