Obadiah Eddy was born about 1645, probably in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the son of Samuel and Elizabeth (maiden name unknown) Eddy. I wrote about Samuel here. His name is often spelled Eedey or Eeddy in records. He was at Sandwich, Barnstable, Massachusetts, as a teenager where he likely was apprenticed in the shoemaking trade. Obadiah is my 10th great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis Davis' side of the family.
He married Bennet Ellis by 1669, probably in Sandwich. Bennet (sometimes spelled Bennett) was born 27 February 1648/49 to John and Elizabeth (Freeman) Ellis of Sandwich.
Their children, order uncertain:
- John born 22 March 1669 (Plymouth Colony VRs 18: 70)
- Hazadiah/Hassadiah/Assadiah born 10 April 1672 (Plymouth Colony VRs 18: 70)
- Samuel (Middleborough Vital Records state he lived and died in Middleborough)
- Jabez (a Jake is named as a brother of Samuel in Middleborough Vital Records)
- Joel
- Benjamin (named as a brother of Samuel in Middleborough Vital Records)
- Elizabeth
- Bennet
- Hannah
Obadiah names his nine children in his 1722 will, although some had predeceased him and he named their children. I descend from Hazadiah who married Samuel Samson.
Zachariah Eddy in “Capt. Joshua Eddy,” also gives Obadiah and Bennet daughters Mary and Mercy but I haven’t found a source for this.
The Middleborough Vital Records, Vol 1, p 351, put together at a later date for this era since original records were destroyed by fire during King Philip’s War, state the “Obadiah Eddy son of the said Samuel he flourished in Middleborough in the year 1674 & on to 1686.” Also mentioned is Obadiah’s son Samuel Eddy who lived and died in Middleborough aged 77 years 63 years age [not sure why two different ages, perhaps a transcription error] and that he had two brothers Jabez and Benjamin.
Obadiah and Bennet likely moved to Middleborough (often spelled Middleboro) after their marriage and raised their family there. He first appears in records there when he served on a Grand Inquest in 1673. He was on a Grand Inquest again in 1679 and 1681, was Surveyor of Highways in 1679, 1681, 1683, and 1689, served on a grand jury in September 1687, was Constable in 1690, and Selectman in 1694. I need to do more research, but I believe the area he lived in is in current day Halifax near Winnetuxet River in a neighborhood aptly called Eddyville.
Some land transactions Obadiah was involved in:
On 24 March 1662 Samuel Eedey Senior of Plymouth, tailor, granted land to his two sons Zachariah and Obadiah all the land he was granted by the court the past June lying near Namassakett to be equally divided between them, reserving six acres of land for his own use to winter his cows, which would become Zachariah and Obadiah’s upon Samuel’s death. If Caleb Eedey should want a quarter of this land, he would have it.
On 29 April 1663 Obadiah “Eedey,” shoemaker, deeded land near Namaskett to his brother Zachariah of Plymouth, one half of the land their father Samuel gave them. At court on 7 July 1674 Obadiah and Zachariah nullified and voided bargain by mutual consent.
On 6 January 1686/87 Obadiah Eedy of Middleborough purchased four acres of meadow abutting Winnetuxet River in Plymouth for four pounds five shillings to Nathaniel Southworth of Plymouth.
On 5 June 1690, Nathaniel Warren of Middleborough sold for 10 pounds to Obadiah Eddy of Middleborough, lot of land in Bridgewater numbered fourth lot of about 100 acres.
On 9 January 1693/94 Obadiah Eedey of Middleborough sold for 19 pounds one share of Bridgewater land to Charles alias Pompmaet of Tittecutt.
On 17 December 1695 Zachariah Eddy of Swansea deeded Middleborough land, both meadow and swampland, for six pounds to “my brother Obadiah Eeddy” that belonged to “my honored father Saml Eeddy” and plus land that Obadiah’s house was standing on by Mehutable Brooke and Peter Tinkham’s meadow.
When King Philip’s War broke out in 1675, he was one of 21 homeowners in Middleborough, all of whom had their houses burned. His family had taken refuge in the fort and then went to Plymouth until the trouble was over. He returned to Middleborough at the end of the war to rebuild.
The First Church of Middleborough was organized in 1694, where Obadiah was a member for the remainder of his life.
Bennet died about 1702. Obadiah died between 17 December 1726, when he wrote a codicil to his will, and 6 November 1727 when three men made oath they witnessed his signing the codicil.
He wrote his will 18 May 1722 and left bequests to his son Samuel (a steer and calf, besides what he already gave him); son Benjamin (mare, saddle, hoops for cart wheels, draught chain, plow irons, grindstone, horse chains, iron dog, three hogs, tackling for a yoke, iron kettle, washing tube, beside what already gave him); to Samuel and Benjamin to share log chain, crosscut saw, and hatchet; daughter Elisabeth Delano (cow that she has as well as what he had already given her); granddaughter Sarah Eddy the daughter of son Joel (bed, bedding, two pewter platters, quart pot, warming pan, brass skillet, pewter basin, iron pot, pot hooks, iron trammel, pint pot, and also pewter porringer and frying pan that were her mother’s; granddaughter Mehitabel Eddy, daughter of son John, a cow; daughter Malatiah Eddy wife of son Samuel, all household stuff left at house of son Samuel Eddy except that given to Sarah; son John, son Jabez, daughter Hazadiah Samson [word deceased inserted], daughter Bennet Woodward, daughter Hannah Clark, their full part and portion of the estate. Loving friend Captain Jacob Tomson named executor. Signed by his mark. There is a codicil dated 17 December 1726, which named his son Samuel Eddy executor because Jacob Tomson had died. On 6 November 1727 Joel Ellis, Thomas Darling, and Joseph Bates made oath that they saw Obadiah sign the codicil.
There is an Eddy Family Association that maintains an historic home in Middleboro: https://www.eddyfamilyassociation.com/
Sources:
Clarence Almon Torrey, New England Marriages Prior to 1700
Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins, 1995
Zacheriah Eddy (communicated by), “Capt. Joshua Eddy,” Register, 8: 202-203 (July 1854)
Plymouth Colony Deeds 2:5; 1:239; 1:246
Editor abstracts, “Plymouth County, Mass., Records of Deeds,” The Mayflower Descendant. 4: 30 (1937)
Obadiah Eddy’s will: “Pilgrim Notes and Queries,” MSMD 5:104-05; citing Plymouth County Probate File, page 7086:3
Thomas Weston, History of Middleboro, 1906
Ruth Story Devereux Eddy, The Eddy Family in America, 1930
For Bennet’s identity as Bennet Ellis see: Lydia B. Brownson and Maclean W. McLean, “Lt. John and Elizabeth (Freeman) Ellis of Sandwich, Mass.” Register, 119 (1965) 161-173, 260-75.