The WOODEN Family Send comments and corrections to anneb0704@yahoo.co.uk
JOHN WOODEN (d. bef. 1721) of Haverhill, Hampton, Salisbury, Newbury and Rowley
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DORCAS WOODEN (b. 1671) m. Anthony Coombs

Generation 1

JOHN WOODEN (d. bef. 1721) of Haverhill, Hampton, Salisbury, Newbury and Rowley

Parents:

John Wooden died by 1721. He married Mary Unknown. [Ref, p. 1402]

John was a brickmaker. [Ref, p. 1402] He was a soldier in King Philip's War under Capt. Samuel Brocklebank of Rowley on 24 Mar 1675/6. [Ref]

John was in Hampton 1642 - 1650. [Ref, p. 1402] He was a landowner at Haverhill. [Ref, p. 1402] He worked for John Cutts in 1660 in Portsmouth. [Ref, p. 1402] He was in Newbury in 1669 and Rowley in 1671. [Ref, p. 1402]

Administration on his estate was granted to the husband of his daughter Bethia in 1721. [Ref, p. 1402]

Children of John Wooden:

Martha, b. at Hampt. 12 Feb. 1654-5, wit. at Ipsw. 1674. One Martha -Wadin-, unkn. to Babson, m. Nathl. Bray at Glouc. 22 Jan. 1684. Sarah, b. last day of Feb. 1656-7, John, b. 7 Oct. 1659, both at Salisb. Samuel, Wenham, adm. 1685. Ithamar, Wells Mar. 1688-9 (tr.j.). Wife Bethia. Ch: Bethia, Samuel, Ithamar, John, bp. at Beverly 1685-1692; Nathan at Ipsw. 1693. Hannah, b. at Newb. 20 Oct. 1669, m. at Wells James Frost(4). Dorcas, b. at Rowley 10 Feb. 1671, m. at Wells Anthony Coombs(3). Peter, b. at Rowley 13 Mar. 1674, m. at Bev. 15 Oct. 1696 Elizabeth Mallett(1). Ch. rec: Elizabeth, Mary, Sarah, Lydia, two Bethias, at Bev. 1697-1711, and Hosea at Rochester 1713, where one Peter d. 17 May 1717 and 3 of the daus. married (see John Coombs 3).
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Mary Wooden and Laurence Clinton

  1. Mary Wooden was born on 6 Mar 1652/3 in Haverhill. [Ref, p. 1402] She died in Newport. She married Lawrence Clinton of Ipswich on 9 Feb 1680/1 in Providence. [Ref, p. 1402]
  2. Martha Wooden was born on 12 Feb 1654 in Hampton. [Ref, p. 1402] She may have been the Martha Wooden who married Nathaniel Bray on 22 Jan 1684 in Gloucester. [Ref, p. 1402]
  3. Sarah Wooden was born on 28 Feb 1656/7 in Salisbury. [Ref, p. 1402]
  4. John Wooden was born on 7 Oct 1659 in Salisbury. [Ref, p. 1402]
  5. Samuel Wooden [Ref, p. 1402]
  6. Ithamar Wooden married Bethia Unknown. [Ref, p. 1402]
  7. Bethia Wooden married Samuel Gaskill, Jr. [Ref]
  8. Hannah Wooden was born on 20 Oct 1669 in Newbury. [Ref, p. 1402][Ref] She married James Frost in Wells, ME. [Ref, p. 1402]
  9. Dorcas Wooden was born on 10 Feb 1671 in Rowley. She married Anthony Coombs.
  10. Peter Wooden was born on 13 Mar 1674 in Rowley. [Ref][Ref, p. 1402] He died on 17 May 1717 in Rochester. [Ref, p. 1402] He married Elizabeth Mallett on 15 Oct 1696 in Beverly. [Ref, p. 1402]
  

Lawrence Clinton, a servant of Robert Cross, was in Ipswich in 1665 or a bit earlier. Lawrence, who was about 22, formed an attachment to an older woman, 36-year-old Rachel Haffield. Lawrence and Rachel married after Rachel bought out the remainder of Lawrence's time with Robert Cross. There were lengthy legal proceedings over whether or not the money used belonged to Rachel or to her mother and at one point Rachel -- who appears to have been a rather disturbed individual -- appeared to get cold feet about the marriage. Rachel fared badly in an inheritance battle and was left destitute. Lawrence was presented to the court in the summer of 1670 for attempting to abuse or ravish Mary Knowles and ordered to support and live with his wife. In 1671 Rachel complained of lack of support and Lawrence was ordered to support her or go to jail and Rachel was ordered to act as a wife to Lawrence. In Sept 1676 Mary Greeley, a maid servant, was convicted of fornication with Lawrence and subsequently gave birth to an illegitimate child. Lawrence was then accused of fornicating with Mary Wooden and both were sentenced to be severely whipped. In 1678 Mary and Lawrence had an illegitimate son Lawrence. Mary and Lawrence wed in Providence in Feb 1681 - even though Lawrence was still married to Rachel. The court granted Rachel a divorce in Oct 1681 and Mary and Lawrence moved to Newport, where Mary had a daughter and died. Rachel was later accused of witchcraft and imprisoned for several months. Released in 1693 she supposedly lived out the rest of her life in a hut on Hog Island near Ipswich harbour.

This story is told in more detail in John Demos's fascinating book, Entertaining Satan: Witchcraft and the Culture of Early New England. [Ref]

Generation 2

DORCAS WOODEN (b. 1671)

Parents: John Wooden and Mary Unknown

Dorcas Wooden was born on 10 Feb 1671 in Rowley. [Ref][Ref, p. 1402] She married Anthony Coombs on 5 Sep 1688 in Wells, York, Maine. [Ref does not give the town][Ref does not give the date]

References

Court Files

Dow, George Francis, Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Essex Institute, 1911.

Encyclopedias

Libby, Charles Thornton, Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, Portland, ME, Southward Press, 1928.

Family Genealogies

Snow, Nora Emma, The Snow-Estes Ancestry, Hillburn, NY, Snow, 1939.

History

Demos, John Putnam, Entertaining Satan: Witchcraft and the Culture of Early New England, New York, Oxford University Press, 1982.

Public Records

Bodge, George, "Soldiers in King Philip's War," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, many volumes.

Vital Records

Herrick, N. J., "Marriages in the County of York, ME, 1686-1699," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 28, 1874, 117-119.

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