John Hunting

Abt 1601 - 1688  (~ 87 years)

• Name	John Hunting  [1, 2]
  Born	Abt 1601	England
  Gender	Male
  Baptism	24 Jan 1601/02	Thrandeston, County Suffolk, England
  Anecdote	John brought his family over from England and was the first ruling elder of the Dedham church. According to Anderson: John and Hester first lived in Hoxne, where their children Mary and Margaret were baptized. The family next appears in the neighboring parish of Oakley, with baptisms of children in 1631, 1634, and 1636. (Although Hoxne and Oakley are adjacent parishes, they are divided by several jurisdictional boundaries; Hoxne fell within Hoxne Hundred and the archdeaconry of Suffolk, Oakley within Hartismere Hundred and the archdeaconry of Sudbury. The northern boundary of each of these parishes was also the border between Suffolk and Norfolk.) The dominant family in Hartismere Hundred was the Comwallises, staunch Catholics and ancestors of Lord Cornwallis of Yorktown. At Oakley, this family held the advowson (the right to recommend appointments to the pulpit); and in 1628 or 1629, despite their Catholic leanings, they nominated a vigorous Puritan, William Greenhill. The Reverend Greenhill served this living for almost a decade, until silenced in 1638. Perhaps John Hunting was attracted by the preaching of Greenhill, moved from Hoxne to Oakley to benefit from his teaching, and then in 1638—being deprived of this religious nurturing—decided to join the migration to New England. Upon his arrival in the colonies, Hunting wasted little time in settling at Dedham. On 28 August 1638, the town agreed that he could be "enterteyned to purchase John Coolidge his Lott." According to his contemporary, Reverend John Allin: Towards the end of summer we having some experience of Jo. Hunting who came unto us that summer from England & some of us knowing him before & having very good testimony of him from others we agreed to make trial whether he might not be found meet for this work & be willing thereto; in both which we found that incouragement that he also came in amongst us into society. Thus, John Hunting became one of the eight "pillars" of the church at Dedham, admitted before the congregation formally organized. The Dedham church entered into covenant on 8 November 1638 and soon grew beyond those eight pillars. Its eighteenth member was "the wife of John Hunting who notwithstanding some scruples a while sticking in some of the church yet at length gave good satisfaction & was received.'" Shortly after this, the church proceeded to the selection of a ruling elder, the principal assistant to the minister. Four candidates were proposed; after lengthy consideration, John Hunting was chosen for the position and held it for the rest of his life. He also served Dedham in its secular affairs—being a feoffee (trustee) of the first free school in New England and a selectman on several occasions. Hester Hunting died at Dedham on 4 May 1676, having made a will on 4 January 1675/76 with the consent of her husband. In this document, which was not actually proved until 12 February 1684/85, Hester noted that £45 had been given her in the will of her brother Francis, but that it had not yet been received from England. She bequeathed £20 of this to her son John Hunting and £10 to her son Samuel Hunting, "liveing in Charlestown" [Massachusetts]. To Hannah, the wife of her son Samuel, she gave a pair of sheets and her best tablecloth; to her grandchild Samuel Hunting, the eldest son of son Samuel, she left six napkins. Hester then requested that the £15 remaining from her brother's bequest be divided into four equal parts and distributed as follows: one-fourth part (along with a coat) to her daughter Mary Buckner of Boston; one-fourth part to be divided equally among the children of her deceased "daughter Ware"; one-fourth part (and her best gown) to her daughter Hesther Fisher of Dedham; and one-fourth part (and other clothing) to Hesther Peck, the daughter of her son-in-law John Peck of Rehoboth. Finally, Hester made bequests of clothing to her maidservant Mary Wood and to Elizabeth Hunting, wife of her oldest son John. She then named sons John and Samuel as executors. John Hunting, Senior, of Dedham made his will on 15 December 1684; he was nearly eighty-three years old but had more than four years yet to live. John began by confirming the bequests made by his wife Hester. He then gave 20s. to his son Samuel, living in Charlestown; this, added to the sum already given Samuel, was to make up that son's full portion. The remainder of John's estate was to be divided into six parts. Two parts (a double portion) were to go to his eldest son, John of Dedham. One part was assigned to his widowed daughter Mary Buckner of Boston and her daughter Mary White; the mother was to have two thirds of their share, the daughter one. Another part was to go to a Dedham son-in-law, Robert Ware, Senior, in right of Robert's wife (Hunting's daughter) Margaret. A fifth part was bequeathed to Hunting's daughter Heasther Fisher of Dedham. The final part was left to his son-in-law John Peck of Rehoboth and Peck's eldest daughter Hesther (in right of Peck's first wife Elizabeth, Hunting's daughter); the Peck share was to be divided equally between Peck and the young Hesther. Executors were to be his Dedham friends, Sergeant Richard Ellis and Thomas Battelle, and his son John, Junior. Although Hunting died on 12 April 1689 and the inventory was taken on 11 June of that year, the will was not proved until 26 March 1691. This delay in probate may have been a reflection of the political upheaval consequent upon the 1689 overthrow of the administration of Sir Edmund Andros, governor-general of New England. In any event, John's estate was appraised at £153 3s. 11d., which £129 10s. represented eight different parcels of land. Of the three generations for which records have been found, the senior male representatives of the Hunting family of Palgrave, county Suffolk, had successfully maintained and improved their economic status. The father, grandfather, and great-grandfather of the immigrant had each left a substantial estate to the next generation; and each successor to the family property had added more lands. The father of the immigrant John Hunting had already provided for his eldest son and was, at death, building a second fortune. John, by his decision to sail for New England, had foregone a landed inheritance in England that would have made him one of the wealthiest men in his community; yet, by the time he died in Dedham in 1689, his estate was probably greater than those of any of the brothers he had left behind.
  Immigration	Massachusetts
  Died	12 Apr 1688	Dedham, Massachusetts
  Person ID	I2093	Our Family
  Last Modified	27 Sep 2016

  
  

  Father	William Hunting,   b. Abt 1570,   d. 1638, Hoxne, County Suffolk, England  (Age ~ 68 years)
  Mother	Margaret Randolf,   b. Abt 1579,   d. 1648, Hoxne, County Suffolk, England  (Age ~ 69 years)
  Married	22 Sep 1599	Topcroft, County Norfolk, England
  Family ID	F812	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Esther (Hester) Seaborn,   b. England ,   d. Abt 1684
  Married	28 Jun 1624	Wramplingham, County Norfolk, England
  Children	1. Margaret Hunting,   b. Abt 1628, Hoxne, County Suffolk, England ,   d. 26 Aug 1670, Dedham, Massachusetts  (Age ~ 42 years)   2. Mary Hunting,   b. Hoxne, County Suffolk, England ,   d. Aft 1684   3. Esther Hunting,   b. County Suffolk, England   4. Elizabeth Hunting,   b. County Suffolk, England ,   bur. 9 Dec 1657, Rehoboth, Massachusetts   5. John Hunting,   b. County Suffolk, England ,   d. 19 Sep 1718, Dedham, Massachusetts   6. Samuel Hunting,   b. 22 Jul 1640, Dedham, Massachusetts ,   d. 19 Aug 1701, Charlestown, Massachusetts  (Age 61 years)   7. Nathaniel Hunting,   b. Dedham, Massachusetts ,   d. 1 Jan 1643/44, Dedham
  Last Modified	18 Dec 2016
  Family ID	F722	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map		Born - Abt 1601 - England Immigration - - Massachusetts Died - 12 Apr 1688 - Dedham, Massachusetts  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Sources

  [S299] Hunting, John. [S290] Ware Genealogy.