Now that the Witham branch of the family tree has been corrected, it is time to add on to the Stanwood side of the family.
John Stanwood as born on 26 September 1681 in Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts, the son of John Stanwood and Lydia Messer/Mercer.
Deborah Robinson was born 112 October 1688, also in Gloucester, the daughter of Abraham Robinson and Mary Harraden.
John and Deborah married on 16 June 1707, also in Gloucester, where they raised their family.
All events were in Gloucester unless otherwise noted. I’ve also come to the conclusion that the town clerk or clerks in the second half of the 1700s were very irregular in recording deaths in the town records. Most of the Witham family have no dates, nor do the Stanwoods. All of these people didn’t move away from Gloucester.
Children:
- John, born 28 September 1709; married Hannah Clark, 25 February 1733/34
- Deborah, born 23 September 1714; married Samuel Witham, 3 July 1732.
- Sarah, born 31 October 1716; married William Gardner, 6 January 1736
- Stephen, born 25 February 1719/20; married Mary Stanwood, 16 November 1745
- Lydia, born 4 October 1721; married Daniel Sargent, 17 January 1744
- Mary, born 25 May 1723; married Daniel Elwell, 23 January 1739/40
- Naomi, born 7 October 1725; married Benjamin Clark, 24 November 1750
- Charles, born 27 August 1727; married Mary Woodbury, 20 November 1750
I have no evidence as to the occupation of these Stanwood men, but in the mid 1700s, many Gloucester residents were fishermen and/or mariners. With the lack of land ownership, I tend to believe that the Stanwoods also followed the sea.
Lazy clerks have much to answer for!! Just like the English clerics who can’t even be bothered to give the mother’s name in the register when a child is baptized…like said child just arrived without her efforts.