 Bef 1622 - Aft 1679 (> 57 years)
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| Name |
Elizabeth GRAFTON |
| Birth |
Bef 25 Sep 1622 |
Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England  |
| Gender |
Female |
| Also Known As |
Saunders, Henfield |
| Reference Number |
1297105 |
| Reference Number |
1320340 |
| Reference Number |
60 |
| WWW |
https://www.WikiTree.com/wiki/Grafton-12 |
| Death |
Aft 3 Mar 1679 |
Salem, Essex, Massachusetts |
| Person ID |
I537 |
Gummer |
| Last Modified |
1 Aug 2024 |
| Father |
Edmund HENFIELD, b. Abt 1595, England d. Bef 12 Jan 1626, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England (Age < 31 years) |
| Mother |
Mary MOORE, b. 1600, Southwold, Suffolk, England d. Nov 1674, Salem, Essex, Massachusetts Bay (Age 74 years) |
| Marriage |
1620 |
England |
| Family ID |
F120 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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-
| Notes |
- [[Category: Salem, Massachusetts]]
{{Puritan Great Migration}}
== Biography ==
=== Birth and Migration ===Elizabeth Grafton was the daughter of [[Henfield-7|Edmund Henfield of Great Yarmouth]] and his wife [[Moore-4343|Mary MOORE]] although there is dispute about Mary's last name at birth. Elizabeth was baptized at Great Yarmouth St. Nicholas, Norfolk, England on 25 September 1622 with both Edmund and Mary listed in the parish register.[Elizabeth Henfeild in 1622 Norfolk Baptisms Great Yarmouth, St Nicholas with St Peter, St John, St Andrew, St James, St Paul & St Luke, Norfolk, England [https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=GBPRS%2FNORFOLK%2FBAP%2F001921943 $subscription required]][Norfolk : Great Yarmouth : St Nicholas : Parish Register : "Parish Register" database, FreeREG (https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_records/5818f777e93790ec8b82c631 : viewed 14 Aug 2022) baptism Eliz Henfeild 25 Sep 1622] Her siblings Robert, Mary and Edmund "Jr" were baptized at the same place.
Elizabeth was incorrectly assigned as the daughter of Joseph Grafton's "first wife" in the "Grafton Family" book by Henry Belknap. This book is extremely well sourced as to New England records and analysis but the author cited no sources for his asserted facts in England. He went into great detail on land transactions between Ann (Unknown) Moore, her son Thomas and Joseph Grafton and his son Nathaniel in and around Salem to help establish that Mary's last name at birth was "Moore" and that Ann (Unknown) Moore was the mother-in-law of Joseph Grafton.[ ''The Grafton Family of Salem''], by Belknap, Henry Wyckoff, database online at Internet Archive, (Salem, Massachusetts, Essex Institute, 1928) [https://archive.org/stream/graftonfamilyofs00belk#page/n7/mode/2up pages 1 - 12]] However, he did not have or was unaware of the records at St. Nicholas proving that Joseph was unmarried before his 1631 marriage to Mary, and proving that Mary was a widow named "Henfield" at that marriage. Belknap saw the 12 year gap betwee the 1622 birth of Elizabeth and the 1634 birth of next known child Priscilla and naturally enough assumed Joseph had been married more than once. See also Barbara MacAllan's NEHGR 154:216[Barbara MacAllan, "The Great Yarmouth Company of Migrant Families," in ''NEHGR,'' 154 (2000):[https://www.americanancestors.org/databases/new-england-historical-and-genealogical-register/image/?volumeId=11634&pageName=216&rId=143498391 215-216 $subscription required]] article describing this family briefly in England. So Belknap "might" be right that Mary's surname was originally, but it is supported by good circumstantial evidence and deductive reasoning, not by primary records. Regardless of Mary's original surname, Elizabeth was the daughter of Edmund Henfield, not of Joseph Grafton.
Her father Edmund was buried at St. Nicholas on 12 Jan 1625/26[Edmund Henfeild in 1625 Norfolk Burials Great Yarmouth, St Nicholas with St Peter, St John, St Andrew, St James, St Paul & St Luke, Norfolk, England [https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=GBPRS%2FNORFOLK%2FBUR%2F001732239 $subscription required]]. The transcription on findmypast.co.uk simply says 1625 but the orignal image linked to the record clearly shows 1625/26 about 3 months before his last child was born. Her mother Mary remarried to Joseph Grafton at St. Nicholas on 30 August 1631[Mary Henfeild in 1631 Norfolk Banns And Marriages Great Yarmouth, St Nicholas with St Peter, St John, St Andrew, St James, St Paul & St Luke, Norfolk, England [https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=GBPRS%2FNORFOLK%2FMAR%2F000637285%2F2 $subscription required]] The register shows "Y S" by his name and "Y W" by hers meaning that he was a singleman (first marriage) and she was a widow. This proves that Belknap was incorrect in asserting that Joseph Grafton had a prior wife as discussed above.
The simplest explanation then is that the 15-year old Elizabeth Henfield/Grafton came with her mother and step-father to New England when the emigrated by 1637.[Anderson, Robert Charles. Great Migration Directory (The). Immigrants to New England, 1620-1640. A Concise Compendium. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015.) p. 137 Text: Joseph Grafton, from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, first record 1636; settled in Salem.]
Elizabeth testified 1 Nov 1675, that she was 53 years old thus confirming a c. 1622 birth and again proving that Joseph Grafton was not her biological father.[Belknap, Henry Wyckoff. "The Grafton Family of Salem." Essex Institute Historical Collections. Vol 64. Salem, Mass., Essex Institute (1628) [https://archive.org/details/essexinstitutehi64esse/page/n67 p. 49] [https://archive.org/details/essexinstitutehi64esse/page/60 Elizabeth p. 60]]
=== Marriages ===Although primary records have not been found, John Sanders/Saunders called Joseph Grafton "father" in his own will, helping prove that John's wife Elizabeth was the daughter (now known to be step-daughter) of Grafton.[The history of Salem, Massachusetts, by Sidney Perley 1858-1928. Published: Salem, Mass., S. Perley, 1924-28 [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x000920352&view=1up&seq=487&skin=2021 Vol. 1 p. 435]] Belknap gives this marriage as "no later than early 1640". Presumably this was based on the birth of John Saunders (Sanders), the son of John Saunders, on 1 November 1640 (9th month old style).[Essex Institute, ''Vital records of Salem, Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849'' (Salem, MA: Essex Institute, 1916-1925), [https://archive.org/details/vitalrecordsofsa00salemas/page/267/mode/1up Vol. II, Births M-Z, p. 267]]
John Saunders wrote his will on 28 October 1643 and it was proved on 28 December of that same year.
Elizabeth then married John Kitchen possibly before the 20 April 1645 baptism of John's son Joseph Kitchen (Kitchin)[Essex Institute, ''VRs of Salem,'' [https://archive.org/details/vitalrecordsofsa01sale/page/496/mode/1up Vol. 1, Births A-L, p. 496]][''The records of the First Church in Salem, Massachusetts, 1629-1736'' by First Church (Salem, Mass.) Publication date 1974 Publisher Salem, Mass. Essex Institute [https://archive.org/details/recordsoffirstch00firs_0/page/20/mode/2up p. 20]]. Although the exact date of death of his first wife is not known, Belknap and other writers about this family credit this 1645 child to Elizabeth. However, a worthwhile analysis of wills on the profile of Elizabeth's husband John makes the case that they may have married later and that the 3rd and fourth children of John Kitchin (i.e. Joseph 1645 and John 1646) may have also been from his first wife.
=== Children ===The following list comes from Belknap and are supported by Salem Vital Records entries:
#John baptized 1 Nov 1640 (with Saunders) married Hannah Pickman
#Joseph baptized 20 Apr 1645 (maybe, with Kitchin)
#John baptized 12 ___ 1646 (maybe, with Kitchin)#Mary baptized 23 Apr 1648 (here onwards with Kitchin), married Timothy Robison
#Robert baptized 16 Apr 1655 married Bethiah Weld
#Benjamin born 28 Aug 1660, died 15 Sep 1660
=== Life ===Elizabeth Sanders was admitted to the First Church of Salem 10 3rd month (May) 1640. A footnote added later said whe was excommunicated and that John Kitchen married c. 1643 Elizabeth (Grafton) Saunders, widow of John Saunders (citing Cf. Perley II 135. [The Records of the First Church in Salem 1629-1736. John p. 6; Elizabeth p. 9; John Jr. p 18 :[https://archive.org/details/recordsoffirstch00firs_0/page/8/mode/2up? SChR 6, 9]]
Belknap and others write more extensively about Elizabeth and John's life and their conversion to the Quaker religion.
=== Death ===The main source on Elizabeth (Belknap) asserts no death other than "after 1 November 1675" when she deposed in court. Her last recorded appearance seems to be in Essex Deeds on 3 March 1678/9 when she signed a receipt acquitting John "Robison" of debts owed to her former husband John Kitchin.["Massachusetts Land Records, 1620-1986," images, FamilySearch [https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99ZZ-B14X?cc=2106411&wc=MCBG-S38%3A361613201%2C361853901 Vol. 8 Deed #129] Essex > Deeds 1687-1694 vol 8-9 > image 240 of 721]
== Sources ==
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