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Hubbard, Edmund
b. 1 JAN 1573 Snoring Magna Parish, England
d. 8 MAR 1646 Hingham, MA
Parents:
Father: Hubbard, Thomas
Mother: Winsofer, Hellena
Family:
Marriage:7 SEP 1600 Hingham, England
Spouse: Dewe, Margaret
b. 1574 Wymondham, England
d. 16 SEP 1632 Hingham, England
Family History:
Hingham Parish Registry:
1600 "Edmund Hubberte and Margaret Dewe married 7th Sept."
1603 "Edmund Hubert, s. of Edmund Hubbert was baptized ye 21 day of January."
1604 "Peter Hubbert, s. of Edmund Hubbert baptized xxii day of October."
1614 "Joshua ye son of Edmund Hubord was baptized ye twenty of October."
1626 "Robert Turner and Nazareth Hubard were married the nynth of November."

The Parish Registries for prior to 1600 have been lost. Consequently, it is not possible to definately state that Margaret was Robert's sister, but this is probable and these events are also recorded:
Robert Dewe and Margaret Stasye married 15 February 1601
Margaret Dewe daughter of Robert baptized 24 August 1606
Robert Dewe son of Robert baptized 25 September 1608

In May of 1633 Edmund and his three yougest children immigrated to Charlestown, MA. Edmund Jr and Benjamin were also in Charlestown at this time. In June 1633 "Edmond Hubbert Sr. and his sons Edmond & Joshua Hubert" were admitted as inhabitants at Charlestown. On 9 January 1634 they appear on lists of inhabitants in Charlestown. Anne and her husband joined them in 1634. On March 4, 1634 Edmund was admitted freeman at Charlestown, MA. On August 9, 1634 he was admitted to full communion in the First Church of Christ in Boston, MA. On October 13, 1634, Edmund, Sr was one of ten citizens who agreed that only desirable persons should be allowed to "sit downe and dwell in the towne". He was Constable of Charlestown in 1635. Peter arrived in 1635 and "was but little over thirty yers of age, in the full vigor of manhood, possessed of great activity of mind, and distinguished for independence of character. As a scholar he was eminent for intellectual acumen, indefatigable industy and various acquirements." He united with the Church in Charlestown August 30th, and his wife and children remained there through the winter. He soon received invitations from several towns to come and reside among them as their Minister. But he declined all, preferring to establish a new home at Bare Cove with his relatives and friends. Peter established the "Old Hingham Church of Puritan Faith" and Joshua negotiated with the Indians and purchased the land, changing the name to Hingham, MA. Peter was admitted freeman, Sept 2, 1635, and later in the same month, he was settled as the pastor of the Church. In January 1636 Edmond appears on lists of inhabitants in Charlestown. On September 6, 1638 Edmond was made commissioner of the Hingham First Church, permitting him to officiate at marriage ceremonies, a privilege denied to ministers at the time. On 5 June 1638, "Edmond Hubberd, Sr. was fined 40s for leaving a pit open in which a child was drowned" 30s of this fine was remitted in the general amnesty of 6 September 1638. In the fall of 1639 Thomas Hamond sued Edmund Hubbard for trespass "in his Indian corn since planting time till now to the value of 50s..." He was Deputy to Plymouth General Court in 1639 through 1642, and was generally spoken of as "Edmund Hubbard the Elder." Edmund and Sarah "were eminent for piety, and feared God above many." Peter was an independent and spirited clergyman and espoused somewhat too warmly his late sovereigns cause and English customs generally, which occassionally brought him up before the general court to answer for his outspoken opinions. In 1646 he was fined £20 for "seditious practices and derogation of and contempt for authority" and was "bound to his good behaviours". It is known that his salary in 1648, was £70, and the same for each of the two following years. In 1651, the town voted that he should have "five score pounds a year," and that appears to have been his regular salary for many years thereafter. The last eight years of his life appear to have been especially devoted to the care of the youth of his congregation, whose salvation he earnestly ought. In 1678, he became too feeble to preach, though he administered the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. "His heart was knit in sincere and earnest love to all pious men; he admired the grace of God in all the good, though they were of sentiments contrary to his own." The family was politically and religiously active and had several disagreements with the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Their history and contributions are well documented in "The History of Hingham, MA".
March 1645/46
8 father Hubbeard dyed
June 1649
23 Mother Hobart dyed in the
evening being Saturday buried
on the sabbath

Children:

Family:
Marriage:10 OCT 1634
Spouse: Oakeley, Sarah Ann [aka: Widow Lyford]
d. 23 JUN 1649 Hingham, MA
Family History:
LYFORD, JOHN, Plymouth 1624, came that yr. prob. in the Charity with Edard Winslow, bring. w. and ch. prob. four, soon bred disturbance, and was forced to leave; went to preach to the fishermen at Nantasket, and next at Cape Ann, and thence, Felt thinks, he accomp. Conant, 1626, to Naumkeag; but a. 1627 rem. with some adherens to Virg. and there d. soon, it is thot. A reasona. conject. is, that he had w. Ann and ch. Ruth and Mordecai left at Nantasket, and that his wid. Ann, wh. d. July 1639, had m. Edmund Hobart of Hingham. Ruth, in 1641, and Mordecai, next yr. give to him discharge, as their stepfather, of certain tobacco and other chattels, in the will of their f. John, giv. to them. Ruth m. 19 Apr. 1643, [p.134] James Bates. THE PIONEERS OF MASSACHUSETTS, Rev. John LYFORD, went from Eng. to Ireland about 1620; came to Plymouth in 1624. Proved wicked and treasonable. Rem. to Nantasket, then to Cape Ann with Conant, [Hub.] thence to Virginia; d. before Oct. 10, 1634, when his worthy widow Sarah m. Edmund Hubbard, Sen. of Hingham. His ch. Ruth and Mordecai receipted in 1641-2 for legacies left them in the will of their father. Ruth m. April 19, 1643, James Bate. [B.] [Suff. De. I, 27.] His son Obediah, clerk, d. in Ireland, and Mr. Hubbard was chosen guardian 6 Aug., 1639, of Mordecai, then 14 yrs. old, who was to receive property which Obediah had left. Their mother Sarah, "widow of John Lyford, clerk," dec., and wife of Edmund Hubbard, planter, ae. about 53 years," testified. [L.] Plymouth Colony: Its History and People 1620-1691 Bradford (Ford) 1:392-94, gives Bradford's summary of points from Lyford's letters, which indicate that Lyford wanted to stop immigration of more Separatists from Leiden, give the vote to those on their "particular" as men likely to follow him, outvote Bradford's followers, and, choose a new captain in place of Standish. Letter from Altham to James Sherley in Three Visitors, 42. Bradford (Ford) 1:419 shows Bradford noting that in 1625 "The Company of Adventurers broak in peeces here upon [the Lyford affair], and the greatest parte wholy deserted the colony in regarde of any further supply, or care of their subsistence." In 1624 two of the newer settlers, the Reverend John Lyford, who favored the Church of England and was an opportunist, and John Oldham, an adventurer in the modern sense of the word, brought to a head a number of complaints against the colony's government. Lyford sent letters with passing ships to various people in England in an attempt to alienate influential supporters from the colony's leaders. Bradford got word of this, and, going aboard one of the ships, he seized some letters and copied them, letting the originals go. Bradford then had a confrontation with Lyford and Oldham with the entire colony present. At first Lyford denied the accusations. When Bradford produced copies of his letters, Lyford excused himself by saying that he had merely been repeating what others were complaining about, mentioning John Billington, a rather undisciplined "stranger" who had come on the Mayflower, and some others whom Bradford did not identify. Billington and the others denied Lyford's accusations, saying that they might sometimes have gone to Lyford's meetings, but would not have consented to his proposals. Most likely Billington and the other dissidents had gone much further in supporting Lyford than they would admit, and many of the others are assumed to be among those who departed the colony in the next year or so. Bradford wrote to Robert Cushman on 9 June 1625, "We have rid ourselves of the company of those, who have been so troublesome unto us." Oldham and Lyford were expelled from Plymouth; Oldham left immediately, but Lyford was allowed to stay for six months. Both later were involved in other adventures in New England. Billington remained at Plymouth, though, as will be told, he eventually came to a tragic end. Bradford's decisive action undoubtedly strengthened the Separatist government for some time, but newer settlers were arriving at various times, and the population of Plymouth was becoming more diversified. Robert Cushman's letter in appendix five of Bradford (Morison), 373-74, clearly shows that their associates in England entertained the possibility of Lyford being accepted as the colony's minister, but the colonists made no attempt to so engage him. The Separatists had but two sacraments, baptism and administering the Lord's Last Supper. Their spiritual mentor in Holland, John Robinson, specifically replied in a letter to Brewster dated 20 December 1623, "Now, touching the question propounded by you, I judg it not lawfull for you…to administer them [sacraments], nor convenient [that is, proper] if it were lawfull," and one of Lyford's complaints in 1624 was the lack of sacraments in Plymouth (Bradford [Ford] 1:371, 363). Biographical Sketches Lyford, John In a letter to Bradford dated 24 January 1623/24, Robert Cushman informed him that the Adventurers were sending over a preacher, "an honest plaine man, though none of the most eminente and rare," whom the colonists could chose as their pastor at their discretion. Cushman said that he and Winslow "gave way" to sending Lyford "to give contente to some hear, and we see no hurt in it, but only his great charge [expense] of children" (Bradford [Ford] 1:357-58). That there was in fact some hurt in it can be seen from the text. After being expelled from Plymouth, Lyford went to Nantasket, then Cape Ann, and finally moved to Virginia, where he died. An English minister who had also lived in Ireland, Lyford apparently wanted to practice Anglican rites at Plymouth, and one of the marks the Plymouth authorities had against him was his baptism of the child of William Hilton, who was not a member of the Plymouth Church (Hubbard, General History, p. 92-94, 102, 107; Bradford [Ford] 1:416-23). After Lyford's death, his widow Sarah married Edmond Hubbard of Hingham. Savage gave Lyford four children, but only three are known, Ruth, who married James Bate (Suffolk Deeds, 1:27); Obadiah, a clergyman who died a young man in Ireland; and Mordecai, who at the age of about fourteen in 1639 chose his stepfather Edmond Hubbard as his guardian. Edmond Hubbard, his wife Sarah and Mordecai Lyford were involved in legal matters regarding lands that John Lyford left in Ireland, and Sarah Hubbard, sometime wife of John Lyford, was described as age about fifty-three in 1639 (Lechford's Notebook, p. 140-42). Morton in New Englands Memoriall, p. 53-61, gives additional details on Lyford's objectionable activities at Plymouth, including an assertion that Lyford's wife, fearing God's judgment, related to the Plymouth colonists that Lyford had had a bastard child by another woman, and following another similar incident he had been forced to leave Ireland, and so came to New England. There are several sources which purport that the fourth child of John and Sarah Lyford was Martha who married Samuel Lincoln. However; no birth records have been found proving that John and Sarah had a daughter named Martha, nor any records which specify the surname of Samuel's wife, nor any records appointing Edmund as guardian of Martha. The fact that Martha was not specified in John's will, which does mention the other three children, substantial undermines the probability that this relationship existed, but is probably motivated by the fact that President Abraham Lincoln was a descendant of that couple.

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Copyright 2001 Richard Joseph Bucknum