After immigrant William Bucknam, I am descended form three Joses Bucknams, followed by James, and then one more Joses before the surname drops off my family tree.

Today’s post is about the third Joses Bucknam and his wife, Phebe Tuttle.

Joses Bucknam was born 17 April 1692 in Charlestown, Suffolk, Massachusetts, the son of Joses Bucknam and Hannah Peabody. It might seem strange that this family kept jumping back and forth between Malden and Charlestown. Actually, the Mistik side of Charlestown, as it was called, was on the other side of the river and it was later named Malden. The Bucknams owned land on both sides of the water, so they didn’t really move very far!

Phebe Tuttle, was a bit older than her husband, having been born on 12 August 1690 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of Edward Tuttle and Abigail Floyd.

Joses Bucknam and Phebe Tuttle were married on 23 August 1713 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts.

Joses and Phebe were the parents of eleven children, although several of them didn’t live to adulthood.

Children:

1. Joses, born c1714; died before 11 October 1762 (Middlesex County Probate File #3394); married Mary Sprague, 8 June 1743, Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts.
2. Sarah, born 12 August 1715, Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts; married (1) Timothy Dexter, 22 March 1737/38, Mladen, Middlesex, Massachusetts (2) John Hopkinson, 28 June 1753, Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts.
3. David, born c1719; died 28 December 1749, Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts; married Esther Sprague, 4 March 1745/46, Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts.
4. John, born c1720
5. Mary, born c1722
6. James, born 3 January 1724/25, Charlestown, Suffolk, Massachusetts; died 10 October 1799, Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts; married Mary Goddard, 17 September 1747, Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts.
7. Jacob, born 27 March 1727, Charlestown, Suffolk, Massachusetts; married (1)? Lydia Carter, 23 June 1751 (2) Jerusha Barker, 22 August 1763, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts (3) Elizabeth Ridgeway, 27 January 1769, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts. I found marriage records for Jerusha and Elizabeth, but none to Lydia Carter.
8. Aaron, born 3 February 1728/29, Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts; died before 23 March 1776, probably Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts; married (1) Alice Skinner, 14 October 1750, Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts (2) Joanna Floyd, 1 May 1768, Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts.
9. Hannah, born 14 December 1730, Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts; married Peter Underwood (of Littleton), 23 November 1758, Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts.
10. Moses, born 10 October 1733, Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts; died 27 May 1796, Medford, Middlesex, Massachusetts; married Borradell Green, 18 January 1759, Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts.
11. Phebe, born 1 October 1736, Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts; she may be the Phebe who married John Bucknam of Medford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, 19 May 1776, Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts. She also may be the Phebe Bucknam who died in February 1817, Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts. In any case, it appears she had no children.

Unlike other family members who left wills, Joses Buckman died intestate in the summer of 1757. His son, Joses, was appointed as the administrator of his father’s estate. (Estate Administration of Joses Bucknam, 1757, Middlesex County, Massachusetts Court File #3394
Source: American Ancestors)

However, by 15 November 1762, Joses Jr. had died and his brother, Aaron Bucknam, took over the administrative duties.

Things continued to go downhill from there. Although Joses Bucknam Sr., deceased, was called “Esquire,” he had quite a list of debts against his estate.

In the end, no heirs received anything because his estate was declared insolvent. Widow Phebe Tuttle Bucknam received her widow’s thirds, but she died on 6 July 1767, also in Malden, before her husband’s estate had been settled.

The most interesting page in the file is a list of several of the children and what they had already received in the lifetime of their father:

File #3394, Image 24
Source: American Ancestors

The reason that this is my favorite page in the file is because of the signatures/marks of widow Phebe, and her sons Joses, John, James (my ancestor), Aaron and Moses.