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Monday, November 02, 2015

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2015 WEEK 43: HENRY JEFTS OF BILLERICA, MA.

The first name of my 8x great grandfather Edward Spaulding's wife is known to be Rachel but
her maiden name is unknown. Some believe she was Rachel Needham but that is in dispute.
So I'll begin my posts about families of the Spaulding wives with the next generation, 7x great grandmother Hannah Jefts.

Hannah's father was Henry Jefts/Jefes/Jifes, one of the first settlers of Billerica, Ma. While
there wasn't much written about him on line, I was able to find this short sketch in History of Billerica, Massachusetts, with a Genealogical register by Henry Allen Hazen



History of Billerica, Massachusetts, with a Genealogical register, A. Williams & Co, 1883,Boston, Ma.


Several things stand out for me in that: Hannah was named the first female child born in Billerica,
while her older sister, also named Hannah, had been the first death there. Another entry of interest
is that her brother in law John Dunkin was killed by Indians in 1692, which would place it after King Phillip's War. Finally there is the question of which of his first two wives, Ann Stowers or Hannah
Births, was the mother of his children?

I've found Henry Jeft's will over on AmericanAncestors.org. In it, he leaves property to both
of his daughters, and I'll discuss that in another post.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Henry Jefts and Hannah Births were married 21 May 1649.

Anonymous said...

John Dunkin died of small pox in December 1690. It was his widow Johanna (by then remarried to Benjamin Dutton) who, along with two of her and John's children, was slain by Indians, August 1, 1692.

Anonymous said...

And Hannah Births was the mother of Henry Jeffs/Jefts/Jeiffs children.