John Waterman was born 19 April
1642 in Marshfield, Mass. (Marshfield VR). He was the son of Robert 1 and
Elizabeth (Bourne) Waterman.
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| Map of Plymouth County |
John married Ann Sturtevant on
7 December 1665 in Plymouth. (Plymouth VR) Her birth was recorded as December 7
with no year recorded, but Mayflower Descendant lists it as probably
1647. She was the daughter of Samuel and Ann (____) Sturtevant. (Plymouth VR)
Her name is also seen as Anna.
Thomas Bourne, John’s maternal
grandfather, left John two pounds in cattle, corn or goods in his 2 June 1664
will, although he does not name him as a grandchild in the will. His brothers
Thomas, Joseph and Robert Waterman also received bequests.
On 29 July 1669, John Waterman
and Stephen Bryant were appointed in Plymouth to view land and report to the
town.
Samuel Sturtevant of Plymouth
wrote his will 1 August 1669. He names his son-in-law John Sturtevant,
bequesting him one half of his share of land he bought of Edward Gray called
Major’s Purchase, near Namassakeesett Pond. Namasakeesett was an early name for Duxbury.
Thomas Little’s 17 May 1671
will mentions Plymouth land he bought of John Waterman.
John Waterman was a witness to
the will of Thomas Little Sr., on 19 February 1675.
John witnessed a Marshfield
land transaction between his grandfather Thomas Bourne and Josiah Snow on 22
July 1687. He also witnessed a Dartmouth land transaction between John Cooke
(son of Francis) and Arthur Hathway on 24 March 1670 before Gov. Thomas Prence.
One 1 April 1689 Joseph
Waterman of Marshfield deeded land to Samuel Little, “Always excepting out of sd
fifty acres of land which I sold to John Waterman lying between the high way and
the sd brooke …and is now in the tenure and occupation of Samuel
Holmes.”
Ann and John had six children,
all births recorded Marshfield:
Samuel born 16 October
1666
Elizabeth born 15 January
1669
Anna born 18 October
1671
Lydia born 9 May
1678
Robert born 9 February
1681
John born 23 September
1685
I descend from their son Samuel
who married Mercy Ransome.
John was a Deacon in the
church. William Cutter wrote that he moved to Warwick, Rhode Island between
1685-1692. He gives them six more children born there, with the last born in
1703, but that seems unlikely that Ann would still be bearing children. I would
imagine this is another John Waterman.
On 19 December, 1687, "John
Waterman of Marshfeld," for £30, sold to "John Carver of Marshfeild .... all
that my Dwelling house barn upland & Marsh or meadow which I now have within
the Township of Marshfeild .... more perticulerly My house barn & field ....
bounded as followeth. viz Northward with the land of John Sawyer Eastward by a
brook of Water Southward with a marked birch tree standing by said brooke thence
Runing Eastward on a Straight line to a great oake Stump with a head of Stones
about it being the Southermost Corner of said field near the Town Road or high
way & bounded eastward by the said High Way & also that my two acres of
marsh or salt meadow .... in Said township & bounded Southward by a ditch
that adjoynes to the marsh of John Barker & westward by the upland of Said
barker & extends northward about twelve Rods or Perches according as the
same is taked forth & bounded & to extend eastward to a ditch there Cast
up or made. And also that my Small percell of Marsh which I had of
Thomas Tilden lying neare to a Certaine Island formerly Called Hatches Island
& is bounded easterly by the North River & northerly by the Middle of a
ditch & thence on [p. 66] On a straight line to a stake that is a Corner
bounds standing near the upland & westerly as it is staked forth being nine
Rods in width & Southerly by Certain stakes till it Come to said River &
is about twenty Rods in length"
The deed was signed by John
Waterman, and witnessed by Thomas Delano and Samuel Sprague.
On 10 February, 1688, John
Waterman acknowledged the deed, "And Ann his Wife Acknoleged her Consent to the
sale", before Nathaniel Thomas, Justice of the Peace, and Nathaniel Thomas,
Clerk of the Peace. It was recorded 14 February, 1688.
In 1688 and 1689, John Waterman
served on a grand jury. He served on a petit jury in 1698 and the regular jury
in 1700. In 1704 he was surety for Thankful Bearse, daughter of James, who was
found guilty of having a bastard child.
At a Plymouth church meeting in
1698, John and Anna Waterman were among a group of congregants dismissed from
the church. Perhaps this was to worship in Plympton?
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| First Congregational Church in Plympton, across from the cemetery |
John died 14 September 1718 at
Plympton. Plympton Vital Records list his death as: Deacon John Waterman deceast
Sept 14 1718 on Sabth at 12 o’clock at night (in the 77th year of his
age; buried near the northwest corner of the burying place at Plympton was added
to the transcription).
Ann is buried at Old Cemetery
in Plympton. Her stone reads: Here Lyes ye body of Anna Watterman, wife of
Deacon John Watterman, dc’d February ye 9, 1719/20, in the 71st yr
of her age. This isn’t an exact match with a 1647 birth year, but she may have
been born in 1648.
Sources Not Listed
Above:
Genealogical Dictionary of New
England by Savage
Davis' Genealogical Register of
Plymouth Families
William Richard Cutter, New
England Families, Genealogical and Memorial, Volume 2, 1913
Plymouth court, church and land
records
