It’s been quite a while since I reviewed my Shepley ancestral line, which begins with John Shepley and his wife, Anne, who first settled in Salem, Massachusetts by 1636.
The above Salem town record, dated 1636, records near the top of page 34 that “John Shepley and his wyfe now must be inhabitants.”
There was a second mention in 1638:
Near the bottom of page 95: “Graunted that John Shepley shall haue 4 acres neere his twentie acres in exchange for 4 acres of the 20 whereby hee may wth more ease plant his corne.”
John and Anne lived in the section of Salem that was set off as the town of Wenham and sold their Wenham land to William Fiske on the 28th day of the 2nd month of 1655.
The Shepley family moved 30 miles west to Chelmsford. where John purchased land in 1656:
The fourth entry on page 42: “it is ordered that John Shepley Senr shall have that five acres of Land formerly Laid out to Thomas Adams Lying net his own Lott on the plain upon Merimack in Consideration of which Thomas Adams is to Chose five acres elsewhere: where it may be most Convenient for him: both which are to go onwards of there Ten acre Division.”
The children of John Shepley were baptized in 1656 in Chelmsford in their teen years:
Since there is little documentation about John’s and Anne’s children, the following 1659 court record was of interest:
The last entry dated 14 March 1658/59 on the above page: Chelmsford. 2 Jurors. James Parker Daniel Bloghead Town to answer for want of a pair of Stocks. Jno & Nath Shipley sonnes of Jno Shipley for lying and Jno Jr for breaking the Hinksman’s House.
Here is proof that John Shepley had at least two sons – John Jr. and Nath(aniel) living on 14 March 1658/59 in Chelmsford. They were about 21 and 19 years old, respectively, when they ran afoul of the law.
John and Anne also had one daughter, Lydia, who married John Perham on 15 December 1664 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts. She was the youngest child, born c1641, based on her age at baptism.
What became of Nathaniel Shepley is not known, but he appears to have died as a young unmarried man as he is not found in any records after his court appearance.
Lydia (Shepley) Perham lived a full life in Chelmsford. She and John were the parents of about nine children so John and Anne have many descendants today through the Perham line.
John Shepley Jr. came to a sad end as he, his wife (Susannah Wheeler) and young children were killed in the Groton, Massachusetts Indian attack on 27 July 1694. Only his son, John (born c1676) survived. He was carried off by the Indians and returned years later to marry and raise a family in Groton. He died there on 14 September 1736. I am descended from this surviving son John as are the male Shepleys in this family.
There was one last surprise about John Shepley, the immigrant. I have to take the information with a grain of salt since the ages of elderly people were often exaggerated.
The second entry from the bottom of the above page notes that John Shepley was excused from (militia) training due to his age of 86 years.
Wow! That would place his birth c1587. Unfortunately, his age at death was not recorded, but if this is accurate, John either had a first marriage in England or else he married at a very late age. I would have estimated his birth year as c1610.
Needless to say, with the Shepley/Shipley name being fairly common in England and no ancestral origin clues found in Massachusetts records, the English origins of John and Anne (MNU) Shepley are unknown. His place of marriage is even uncertain. He possibly might have married in Salem with the record lost or never created or he and Anne might have married in England prior to sailing for the colonies.
