PUFFER, Capt. Jabez

Other Events and Attributes:

• Ref#: 17
• _COLOR: 11
• Arrival: 1712, Sudbury, MA
• Confirmation: 12 Jul 1727, Sudbury, MA

Notes:

He went to Sudbury with his father, and became a substantial citizen. He served in the French and Indian Wars, as private in Capt. Josiah Brown's Co., in 1739 and as ensign in Capt. Josiah Richardson's Co., in 1757. Later he was captain of a Sudbury company. He was on a town committee to widen the causeway at Ironworks meadow in 1771. He lived in the house, built by his father, enlarged by himself, and still standing in 1900. He and his brother Ephraim of Sudbury deeded to Ephraim Keith of Bridgewater land at Petersham, July 21, 1738 (W.D. 10-526) and also land bought of Thomas Baldwin at Petersham (Nichewaug) March 5, 1743-4 (W.D. 2 9-355). He deeded land to his son Jacob at Templeton, April 13,1764 (W .D. 55-379).

His gravestone is in the burying ground at Sudbury Center. In his will dated April 8, 1785, he bequeaths to his wife Sarah: children James, Jacob, Daniel, Reuben, Rebecca Gibson and grandchildren Nahum and Reuben Rice.

Will of Capt. Jabez Puffer

"The following was one of the five wills made by Capt. Jabez Puffer and w as not the one offered for probate: "In the name of God Amen! This eighteenth Day of March Anno Domini One Thousand Seven Hundred and seventy Nine and in the third year of American Independence, I Jabez Puffer of Sudbury, in the county of Middlesex and state of the MA Bay, New England, Gentleman, being indisposed in Body, but of good and perfect mind and memory (thanks to Almighty God) and calling to remembrance the uncertain state of this transitory Life, and that all flesh must yield to death when it shall please God to call; do make and declare this my last will and Testament in manner and form following: -- Being penitent and sorry for all my sins, and most humbly imploring forgiveness for the same I commend my soul unto Almighty God my saviour and Redeemer in whom and by whose merits i trust and believe assuredly to be saved, to receive a full remission of all my sins, and inherit the Kingdom of God; and my body I commit to the Earth to be decently interred at the discretion of my Executor hereafter named: and for the settleing of my temporal estate, and such Goods, Chattels and Debts as shall be found at m y decease, all lawful demands on the same being satisfied, I appoint an d order to be done in the following manner: -- First-- I give and bequeath to my well beloved wife Sarah Puffer, the income of all my Lande lying in Sudbury, she being at the charge of all the Labor for said income. Also I give her a good steady Horse and Chaise to use at her election; also the use of that part of the dwelling house and Sellar which I now possess, together with the free use of all other buildings on the Premises; also I bequeath unto her my loving wife two Cows, and all the Household furniture she brought with her, to dispose of as she shall think proper, the income of said Lands, and the use of Horse, Chiase, House, Sellar and other buildings to be hers so long as she remains my widow .
Also I give and bequeath to my four dutiful and well beloved sons (viz) James puffer, whom I have settled in Sudbury, Josiah Puffer whom I have settled in Westminster in the county of Worcester, Jacob Puffer whom I have settled in Ashby in the county of Middlesex and Daniel Puffer whom I have settled with myself in Sudbury, to them and each of them five shillings to be paid to them by my Executor in one year after my decease.
To each of them I have give good farms or settlements and my son Daniel Puffer is to have the refusal of my Homestead at the appraisal after my Decease if he pleases and agrees with his mother in law (stepmother), an d pays at, otherwise it shat be free for the purchase of any other person.
Also I give and bequeath to my dutiful and well beloved son Reuben Puffer having already given him an education at Harvard College twenty six Pounds thirteen shillings and four pence to be paid him by my Executor in one year after the beginning to settle my estate. Also I give to the s aid Reuben Puffer a Bed, with the furniture thereto."
(Charles Nutt has another will dated Feb. 21, 1774.)
Epitaph: "Here rests in hope of a resurrected life the mortal part of Capt. Jabez Puffer who departed this life June 21 A.D. 1789 in the 85th y ear of his age.
"My flesh shall slumber in the ground
Till the last trumpet's joyful sound
Then burst the chains without surprise
And in my Saviour's image rise."

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Jabez married HAYNES, Thankful on 24 Jul 1731 in Sudbury, MA. Thankful (daughter of HAYNES, Deacon James and NOYES, Sarah) was born on 22 Apr 1708 in Sudbury, MA; died on 11 Jun 1737 in Sudbury, MA; was buried in Sudbury, MA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. PUFFER, Lt. James was born on 11 Aug 1734 in Sudbury, MA; died in 1810 in Sudbury, MA; was buried in Sudbury, MA.
2. PUFFER, Josiah was born on 21 Mar 1735 in Sudbury, MA; died on 9 Jul 1806 in Westminster, MA; was buried in Westminster, MA.

Jabez married TREADWAY, Hannah on 18 Oct 1738 in Framingham, MA. Hannah (daughter of TREADWAY, Benjamin and MAYNARD, Mary) was born on 19 Mar 1714; died on 28 Jul 1777 in Sudbury, MA; was buried in Sudbury, MA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. PUFFER, Thankful was born on 2 Sep 1739 in Farmington, MA; died about 1740 in MA.
2. PUFFER, Thankful was born in Oct 1741 in Sudbury, MA; was christened on 25 Oct 1741 in Sudbury, MA; died before 1841.
3. PUFFER, Jacob was born on 10 Apr 1743 in Sudbury, MA; died on 20 Apr 1777 in Ashby, MA; was buried in Ashby, MA.
4. PUFFER, Daniel was born on 2 Jan 1745/6 in Sudbury, MA; died on 13 Mar 1829 in Sudbury, MA; was buried in Sudbury, MA.
5. PUFFER, Rebecca was born on 21 Feb 1747 in Sudbury, MA; died on 7 Oct 1815; was buried in Ashby, MA.
6. PUFFER, Sarah was born before 11 Nov 1750; was christened on 11 Nov 1750 in Sudbury, MA; died before 1850.
7. PUFFER, Rev. Reuben D. D. was born on 5 Jan 1756 in Sudbury, MA; died on 9 Apr 1829 in Berlin, MA; was buried in Berlin, MA.

Jabez married PERRY, Sarah on 22 Jul 1778 in Sudbury, MA. Sarah was born about 1708 in Braintree, MA; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Ref#: 6
• _COLOR: 11
• Confirmation: 21 May 1704, Braintree, MA
• Residence: 1712, Sudbury, MA

Notes:

Baptized in Sudbury Feb 22, 1673-4. He and his wife joined the Braintree church, May 21, 1704. He was a boatman, resided at Ship Cove, now Quincy Neck. "Jabez Puffer, boatman, for L 20 7s, sold to John Ruggles 4 acres of upland and meadow called the "great fence field" near the house of Ruggles. Bounded westerly on land of Samuel Newcome, deceased, easterly and northwesterly on land of Ruggles, southerly on the creek called Sheep Cove." In 1712, he bought land in Sudbury and came with his brother James to settle there. He was captain of the Sudbury company (militia). His farm was in the northeast part of Sudbury in what is now Maynard, near Puffer's Pond, which took it's name from the family.

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Jabez married GLAZIER, Mary on 3 Dec 1702 in Braintree, MA. Mary (daughter of GLAZIER, John and GEORGE, Elizabeth) was born on 6 Oct 1682 in Sudbury, MA; died on 2 Jan 1749 in Braintree, MA; was buried in Wayland, MA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• _COLOR: 11

Notes:

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Other Events and Attributes:

• Ref#: 2
• _COLOR: 11

Notes:

Born about 1624, probably in England. He succeeded his father's homestead in Braintree and lived there to the end of his life. His farm was at Ship's Cove, now called Quincy Neck, and he also owned land in what is now the town of Randolph. Though he followed farming, he is also described as a boatman. He was elected constable in place of John Bass, Mch 1679-80. He died at Braintree, July 25, 1692, aged about sixty-eight years. He married at Braintree, February 14, 1656, Mary Ludden, who was born at Weymouth, December 17, 1636, daughter of James Ludden, a pioneer of the town of Weymouth, corporal of the military company and town officer. She died at Braintree, July 22, 1700.

(References" Prince's Chronology, p. 407; Winthrop's New England, p. 92 , Vol. I; Drakes Boston, pp. 145-6.)

In the will of John Saunders of Braintree, 1684, he describes his land as "Next the sea" adjoining James Puffer's. (Suffolk, XVI, p. 207.)

James married LUDDEN, Mary Swalden on 14 Feb 1656 in Braintree, MA. Mary (daughter of LUDDEN, Capt. Cpl. James and JOHNSON, Mary) was born on 17 Dec 1636 in Weymouth, MA; died on 22 Jul 1700 in Braintree, MA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• _COLOR: 11

Notes:

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Other Events and Attributes:

• _COLOR: 11

Notes:

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GRID=181912407

John married GEORGE, Elizabeth in 1661 in Charleston, MA. Elizabeth (daughter of GEORGE, John and Elizabeth) was born in 1640 in Charleston, MA; died on 7 Apr 1691 in Lancaster, MA; was buried in Lancaster, MA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• _COLOR: 11

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GRID=181912689

Other Events and Attributes:

• Ref#: 1
• _COLOR: 3
• Arrival: 1639, MA

Notes:

The first of the family in this country, and the pioneer ancestor, lived but a few years after coming to New England, and we know very little about him. He was one of the residents of Boston to whom land was granted at Mount Wollaston, which was afterwards the town of Braintree, now the city of Quincy. The record shows that he was granted twenty acres and that there were five in his family, indicating that he had three children. February 24, 1639. His homestead was located about two miles east of the railroad station of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad (formerly the Old Colony Railroad) at Quincy. It is the site of the present Fore River shipyards. In the early records the name is often spelled Poffer. The Widow Puffer died at Braintree, February 18, 1676. He was born as early as 1600, died at Braintree, Sept. 27, 1639, (See Pother in records.) (J.W. Porter, Bangor, Me., 1882.)

(ED NOTE: I can find no listing of him or his supposed wife (Elizabeth Sedley) or her family on any manifests of ships arriving in the general area of Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1620-1640. Since he was married in the Massachusetts Colony and his son Matthias was born in 1635 there, it is assumed he arrived before that time. One possibility is that he came over in the "Higginson Fleet" so called, ca 1629. Some 350 men, women and children arrived in that fleet, but I am unable to find lists of passengers at this date 5/6/13.)

(Ed. Note: A cousin has, supposedly, found the ship that George and his family came over on. "The Recovery" of London, 1633/34. It sailed from London and arrived in Dorchester, MA. Captain Gabriel Cornish. There is a "George Puffer" listed in the The Topographical Dictionary of 2885 English Emigrants to New England, 1620-1650 on page 233. However, there is no further information about him. 12/21/17 DMC)

There is no evidence whatsoever that George was married to Elizabeth Sedley. I include her here as a possibility, not a certainty.

He had sons James and Matthias. The records show that Matthias married Rachel Farnsworth. According to the Farnsworth genealogy and public records, Ruth Farnsworth, born June 3, 1642, married William Puffer. In his account of the Puffer family, Mr. Appleton, finds no further trace of William Puffer, and the compiler of this work has also failed. A Thomas Puttne of R.I. died in Wrentham, July 11, 1702. This name was printed "Puffer" in the Register, owning to an error in transcribing. Mary Puffer, who died at Braintree, July 22, 1700, was probably the widow of James. It may still be questioned whether George had a son William.

George married Elizabeth. Elizabeth (daughter of SEDLEY, James and Sarah) was born in CA 1620 in Weymouth, MA; died on 18 Feb 1676 in Braintree, MA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Elizabeth Sedley
• _COLOR: 6

Notes:

It is unproven if Elizabeth Sedley was the wife of George Puffer. Some modern genealogies put her here and I have included her just on that possibility. There is some speculation that her husband George may have been an indentured servant of her father, James Sedley. Again, there is no historical proof that this is so. In fact, there are no records at all of any Sedley's arriving in the colonies from 1620-1640.
We do know that the wife of George Puffer "died at Braintree, February 18, 1676". DMC

Other Events and Attributes:

• _COLOR: 3

Notes:

A pioneer of the town of Weymouth, corporal of the military company and town officer.

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James married JOHNSON, Mary on 18 Feb 1635 in Weymouth, MA. Mary (daughter of JOHNSON, David and Elizabeth) was born in 1614 in England; died on 10 Mar 1656 in Weymouth, MA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• _COLOR: 3

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• _COLOR: 3

John married Elizabeth. Elizabeth was born about 1619 in England; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• _COLOR: 3