John SEVERANCE b. Abt 1612 England d. 9 Apr 1682 Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony: Gummer/Maurice/Proude/Keatinge History

Abt 1612 - 1682 (70 years)

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Name	John SEVERANCE
Birth	Abt 1612	England
Gender	Male
Also Known As	Severns, Severence
Reference Number	109828
Reference Number	122595
Reference Number	60
WWW	https://www.WikiTree.com/wiki/Severance-2
Death	9 Apr 1682	Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony
Person ID	I342	Gummer
Last Modified	1 Aug 2024

Family 1 Abigail KIMBALL, b. 5 Nov 1617, Rattlesden, Suffolk, England d. 17 Jun 1658, Salisbury, Norfolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony (Age 40 years)

Marriage 1635 England

Children

	1. Samuel SEVERENCE, b. 19 Sep 1637, Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts d. 1637, Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts
	2. Ebenezer SEVERENCE, b. 7 Mar 1639, Salisbury, Massachusetts Bay Colony d. Apr 1667, Salisbury, Norfolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony (Age 28 years)
	3. Abigail SEVERENCE, b. 7 Jan 1641, Amesbury, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony d. Abt Mar 1641, Amesbury, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony (Age 0 years)
	4. Abigail SEVERANCE, b. 25 May 1643, Salisbury, Essex, Province of Massachusetts Bay d. Aft 15 Aug 1683, Salisbury, Essex, Province of Massachusetts Bay (Age > 40 years)
+	5. Mary SEVERANCE, b. 5 Aug 1645, Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony d. 28 Jul 1720, Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony (Age 74 years)
	6. John SEVERANCE, Jr, b. 24 Nov 1647, Salisbury, Norfolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony d. Abt 1711, Bedford, Westchester, New York Colony (Age 63 years)
	7. Joseph SEVERENCE, b. 14 Feb 1649, Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts Bay, British Colonial America d. 1665, Charlestown, Suffolk, Massachusetts (Age 15 years)
	8. Joseph SEVERENCE, b. Abt 14 Feb 1649, Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts, British America d. Abt 1725, Harwich, Barnstable, Massachusetts, British America (Age 75 years)
	9. Elizabeth SEVERENCE, b. 8 Apr 1652, Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts d. 23 Jun 1658, Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts (Age 6 years)
	10. Benjamin SEVERENCE, b. 13 Jan 1654, Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts d. 22 May 1717, Newtown, Queens, New York Colony (Age 63 years)
	11. Ephraim SEVERANCE, b. 8 Apr 1656, Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America d. 24 Oct 1734, Kingston, Rockingham, Colony of New Hampshire, British Colonial America (Age 78 years)
	12. Elizabeth SEVERENCE, b. 17 Jun 1658, Salisbury, Norfolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony d. 5 Jul 1662, Salisbury, Norfolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony (Age 4 years)
	13. Unknown SEVERENCE, b. 17 Jun 1658, Salisbury, Norfolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony d. 23 Jun 1658, Salisbury, Norfolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony (Age 0 years)

Family ID F73 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Last Modified 1 Aug 2024

Family 2	Susanna UNKNOWN, b. Abt 1615 d. Aft 7 Apr 1682, Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony (Age > 67 years)
Marriage	2 Oct 1663	Massachusetts Bay Colony
Family ID	F316	Group Sheet \| Family Chart
Last Modified	1 Aug 2024

Photos		Old Burying Ground in Salisbury
		Beach at Salisbury-Marblehead in Background
		The Salt Marsh in Salisbury
		1927 Severance Genealogy
		1886 Historical Account
		Last Will for John Severans, 2 of 2
		7 Apr 1682 Will for John Severans (1 of 2)
		1665 Will for Ebenezer,2 (John,1) Severans
		Severance-186 and Severance-2 appear to represent the same person because: same name, 1st and 2nd marriage, same time frame, same location, near same birth date

Notes

[[Category:Salisbury, Massachusetts]]
{{Disputed Parents}}
{{Puritan Great Migration |GMD||301}}

==Biography==John Severans was born in England about 1612 (based on an assumed age of 25 at the birth of his first child).
He married Abigail Kimball, born 20 November 1617 in Hitcham, Suffolk County, England. Abigail was the daughter of Richard Kimball and Ursula Scott, "Colonial Families of the USA, 1607-1775", database with images,{{Ancestry Sharing|7703530|7b22746f6b656e223a226a723879475a385052447446696a7334574e56327a34486245746c35725062784a7662537668646e2b44733d222c22746f6b656e5f76657273696f6e223a225632227d}} (free access),(Ancestry {{Ancestry Image|61175|colonialfamiliesiv-002956_314}} : $, accessed 13 November 2023),Abigail Kimball,citing Colonial Families of the United States of America, Volume IV > Kimball Family > image 1 of 6, pg. 184. she died 19 June 1658 in Salisbury, Massachusetts Bay Colony two days after giving birth to a daughter named Elizabeth.
Other members of Abigail's family were passengers on the ''Elizabeth:'' her father, Richard Kimball, her brothers, Roger Kimball and Thomas Kimball who sailed with his wife and children. Several of the Munnings were also on the'' Elizabeth''.Hotten, John Camden (editor). ''The Original Lists of Persons of Quality: Emigrants, Religious Exiles, Political Rebels, Serving Men Sold for a Term of Years, Apprentices, Children Stolen, Maidens Pressed, and Others, who Went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700.'' London: John Camden Hotten, 1874. [https://archive.org/stream/originallistsofp00hottuoft#page/294/mode/2up pp 280-282] The Munnings were the great grandparents of Abigail.
John and Abigail Severance were not on the list sailing on the Elizabeth and it is believed they sailed laterDavis, Walter Goodwin, 1885-1966. The Ancestry of Phoebe Tilton, 1775-1847, Wife of Capt. Abel Lunt of Newburyport, Massachusetts. Portland, Me.: Anthoensen Press, 1947. [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89065996662;view=2up;seq=130 p. 112] but by 17 3m (May) 1637, when John Syverens became a freeman.Shurtleff, Nathaniel. ''[[Space:Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England|Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England]]'' Volume I 1628-1641 (William White, Boston, 1853) [https://archive.org/stream/recordsofgoverno01mass#page/372/mode/2up/search/Syverens p. 373]
After a stay of two years in Boston, John and Abigail settled in the Merrimac plantation, at what is now Salisbury Massachusetts. Of the settlements of New England, Salisbury ranks among the earliest. In 1638, just 18 years after the Pilgrims landed, 10 years after the organization of Salem, a plantation was begun on the north side of the Merrimac. In March, 1638, this strip of territory extended from the Merrimac River north a distance of nearly 10 miles. The Haverhill line was on its western border and on the east, the Atlantic ocean. The location of Salisbury, with the Powow River running through the center of the territory, and encircled by a chain of hills made it an attractive place for a settlement.
John Severance received land in the “first division” of the plantation in the year 1639 as well as in Later divisions in 1640 and 1654. He was the 11th person to receive property in the Merrimac Plantation.
It must be remembered that dwellings were clustered together as a means of protection. This to include land for the house, outhouse, a barn, garden plot and a barnyard. In addition, each owner was allowed upland for planting, and meadowland or pasture. The salt-marsh to the south of town was a “common” for the harvesting of hay, and other “commons” for the pasturing of oxen and sheep were established.
The first division includes land near what is now the square of modern Salisbury close to the Salisbury Public Library. In my visit of 2002 I discovered the old landmarks have disappeared from view. There are signs posted around the town designating the locations of the church and meeting house. Only the old burying ground, where John, Abigail, and their children who died early, survives. This burying ground is well kept but the early stones are missing or weathered and the inscriptions are unreadable.
John Severance was first recorded in plantation records as a planter in 1637 and later as a Vintner and Victualar.
Townsmen recognized the need for a place where they could meet, eat and drink, and conduct town business in November of 1641. At that time they freed John Harrison from taxes on the condition that he would keep a tavern for 2 years. How it came to be that John Severance became the tavern keeper is unknown. It is known that John Harrison, a ropemaker, removed to Boston and was there in 1643.
John Severance was recruited as a member of The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts in the years 1641-2.
The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts was an organization founded in 1637 by a group of prominent merchants and magistrates in clear imitation of a like named organization in London. The organization trained in military fashion and was armed to defend, remember that the Massachusetts Bay Colony was still a part of England.
The matchlock musket was the state of the art military weapon, though the saber was still carried, undoubtedly to defend oneself during that vulnerable period after discharging the musket and reloading was complete. There was a social aspect to the artillery company. Members met to eat, drink and compete in shooting, and perhaps, swordmanship. Once a year they paraded in uniform. The company was active in Boston. It may or may not have had activities in Salisbury. There are reports that John and his son, also named John, were licensed to keep a tavern in Boston and Beverly as well as Salisbury. Indications are that he kept a residence and maintained the tavern in both Salisbury and Boston, only a 30 odd miles apart,
For those with an interest in The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts there is an Internet Web Site. The organization is open to membership for those who can trace ancestry to one of the original members which would include John Severance.
Court records of the colony of Massachusetts Bay indicate that John Severance, Tristram Coffyn, Philip Chalice and others petitioned the court for the right to form a troop of horse cavalry in 1656. The petition was approved. Transcripts of the town records for Salisbury first mention Cornet Severans when he is assigned to a building committee for a new meeting house with Captain Pike and Captain Bradbury in 1662.
A Cornet is an officer rank in the Horse Cavalry, so named for the Cornet or Trumpet like instrument which he carries. Essentially this rank is the equivalent of an Ensign, or flag-bearer, in the infantry. As the ensign is the rallying or parley point for the infantry, the cornet is the source of orders for the cavalry, blowing the charge, parley, or retreat, the instrument replacing the flag of the infantry which is difficult to carry while mounted on a horse.
John was a respected member of the community. Town records reflect that he was elected as one of the seven men, or selectmen, a governing committee, following Biblical tradition, along with Mr Batt, Thomas Macy, Mr John Hall, Robert Pike, John Sanders, and Thomas Bradbury.
He was also elected to several committees to set the town boundaries, survey roads, and build a meeting house. He was a regular member of the prudentialmen, another governing body, which I believe was responsible for the finances of the town.
Minutes of the town meetings and town activities are recorded in The History of Essex County, authored by W. H. B Currier.
John also served in some capacity in the administration and financial process of this cavalry, for the Court records of the Colony of Massachusetts contain the following:

Page 327

Answer of the Court to Cornet John Severans Petition

Warrants issued accordingly, 15 December 1681
In answer to the petition of Cornet John Severans, it is ordered, for a fynall issue of the matter, that the secretary issue out his Warrant directed to the Constables of Salisbury, Haverhill, and Amesbury, requiring them forthwith to collect and gather out of the several towns their just proportions of what is due from them as their share, ie, four pounds and eight pence from Salisbury, from Haverhill three pounds and fourteen shillings, and from Amesbury one pound seventeen shillings and four pence, and deliver the same to John Severans in full satisfaction of all his claimes, the Treasurer of the County having satisfied him all the county was to pay him.
This was the resolution of an earlier petition by John Severance to recover amounts due from several towns in the vicinity in support of the Cavalry. Apparently, non-payment was due to continued boundary disputes between the towns, some tax payers billed by more than one jurisdiction refused to pay either.
Henry Ambrose was a carpenter who bought land in Salisbury in 1649. He died there in 1658. Abigail Severance died that same year giving birth to a daughter named Elizabeth.
Susanna, the Widow of Henry Ambrose, and John Severance were married 2 October 1663. John appears to have had Inns in both Boston and Beverly and spent time in both locations until removing to Salisbury where he died 9 April 1682. 1682 Death for John Severns in "Massachusetts Deaths and Burials, 1795-1910", , FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FCMR-TMP : 17 January 2020), Jno. Severans, 1682., 1682 Death for John Severns, Sr. in "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHRS-TMX : Wed Oct 25 11:44:43 UTC 2023), Entry for Jno. Sr. Severans, 9 Apr 1682.
John's will, written 7 April 1682 (not proved), named his wife, Susanna, son John, the rest of my children (unspecified), grandchild Jonathan Church, son in law James Coffyn, son Ephraim Severans (executor). 1682 Will for John Severence in "Essex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1638-1881.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.) [https://www.americanancestors.org/DB515/i/13855/25069-co6/31476987 NEHGS Record] See details on Image tab.
John and Abigail Severans were the parents of thirteen known children. Widower Severans was survived by six children. Living children of John Severans in !867 in "The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2018.) [Subscription] [https://www.americanancestors.org/DB202/rd/11670/162/242002477 NEHGR Record 8:162], 1637 to 1682 Vital Record Images [275-280] for Family of John Severance (1609-1682) in "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch [https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-8979-45FF?cc=2061550&wc=Q4DH-FM3%3A353349401%2C353591501%2C353591502 Select Image 275-280]
=== Children ===
#Samuel 19 7 37; d. young
#Eben 7 1 39; d. 1667 unm
#Abigail 7 11 41; d. 7 1 41
#Abigail 25 3 43; m. John Church 29 9 64
#Mary 5 6 45; m. James Coffin 3 dec 63
#John (24 Sep 1647-1711), m. 1672 Mary Unknown
#Joseph 14 12 49
#Elizabeth 8 2 52; d. 5 12 62
#Benjamin 11 mo 54
#Ephraim 8 2 56
#Elizabeth 17 4 58; daughter d. 22 4 58

== Research Notes =='''Disputed Parents:''' [[Severns-7|John (Severns) Severence (1559-1660)]] and [[Langley-290|Mary (Langley) Severence (abt.1580-1675)]] were previously attached as parents, citing ''John Severance (1609-1682) His Life in the New World'' by C W Severance (unless otherwise noted) John Severance in "His Life in the New World'' by C W Severance," geni.com, online, [https://www.geni.com/people/John-Severance-Sr/5590237225880085958] a source which could not be identified or corroborated. ''The Great Migration Directory'' lists his origins as unknown.Anderson, Robert C. ''[[Space:The_Great_Migration_Directory|The Great Migration Directory: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1640: A Concise Compendium]]'' (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Great Migration Study Project, Boston, 2015):, Page 521 If evidence comes to light provinge the relationship, they can always be reconnected.

'''Miscellaneous'''* primary source vital records for John's English birth and/or scholarly research for the names of his parents have yet to be discovered, e.g. primary source records such as govermental, church, Genealogical Society (e.g. NEHGS, The American Genealogist, and others). I.e., proof of parentage has yet to be found.
* The following entries provide contectual information pertaining to John Severans, his life, times and places of interest. They are not primary sources, rather these research entries include published but not peer reviewed family genealogies which suggest family origin and members. In John's case, John and Mary (Langley) Severns (Severence) are posited within as his parents.
* John Severans in "The Severans : genealogical history," by Severance, John F. (John Franklin), b. 1817, comp, pub. 1893 John Severans in "The Severans : genealogical history," by Severance, John F.", archive.org, text online [https://archive.org/details/severansgenealog00seve/page/n12/mode/1up?q=John+ Internet Archive]* "The Severances : an American odyssey, from Puritan Massachusetts to Ohio's Western Reserve, and beyond," by Tittle, Diana, 1950- John Severance in "The Severances: an American odyssey," archive.org, text online [https://archive.org/details/severancesameric0000titt/page/11/mode/1up?q=John Free login and borrow]* Mary Severence in Coffin, Allen, 1881. "The Coffin Family: the life of Tristram Coffyn, of Nantucket, Mass., founder of the family line in America,". Hussey & Robinson, publishers, Nantucket, Mass.[https://archive.org/details/coffinfamilylife00coff/page/55 Internet Archive]* History of Amesbury including the first seventeen years of Salisbury By Joseph Merrill, Haverhill Press of Franklin P Stiles, 1880 [https://archive.org/details/historyamesbury00merrgoog/page/n8/mode/2up]
== Sources ==