Notes for Joseph HUTCHINSON

The Descendants of Richard Hutchinson of Arnold, Nottinghamshire, England

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Notes for Joseph HUTCHINSON

Surname: Recorded as 'Huchenson' in Salem, Mass. VRs, (Search &
ReSearch CD), p. 1:455.

His deposition in Court is given at the same time, and is borne upon the
same instrument, as that of his father, in 1660, where he gives his age
as 27. He lived on the homestead, and acquired nearly all his property by
deed of gift from his father. May 10, 1666, he received a "dwelling
house, barne and land already broken up, which he hath now in his
possession, * * * with all his meddowes & two acres & a halfe of
meddow more or less within my son Nathanyell Putnam's field, the
meddow commonly caled Peases meddow with the meddow which he hath
at the meddow comonly caled Bishops meddow containing by estimation
five acres * * * & at ye river comonly caled ye great river [Ipswich
river] containing two acres and half," with another piece "lying at the S.
end of that medow, which formerly belonged to Capt. Price," containing 4
acres. In addition to the above, describing the bounds, he received two
parcels more, one containing 200 acres, and the other 100 acres, besides
"All the apple trees that are in my old orchard which lyes to the S. W.
from my now dwelling house and two apple trees that are in the orchard
behind the house." His homestead was situated and joined the site of the
first meeting house in Salem Vill., the said site being an acre of his own
land, he contributed to the proprietors to build upon. Recent
investigations have led to the conclusion that his dwelling house was
not far removed from this spot, standing in a field where traces of an
old cellar are yet visible. (Derby, p. 8).

In 1700, or thereabouts, the above church was taken down and erected
upon another spot near by, and the site reverted to him again. The
dimensions of the old meeting house were 34 feet in length, 29 feet and
16 feet between joints. "It is believed," says Upham, "that he removed
the frame to the other side of the road, and converted it into a barn, and
used as such, where it remained till within the memory of aged people
now living." (Derby, p. 8)

Mr. Hutchinson lived through the ever memorable period of the
Witchcraft delusion of 1692. Strong in his mind, and sensible as he was
on every other subject, yet he was not proof against the current of
thought which pervaded some of the noblest intellects of that age. He
was one of a number who entered a complaint against Tituba, an Indian
woman living in the family of Rev. Samuel Parris, Sarah, the wife of Wm.
Good, and Sarah, wife of Alex'r Osborn. (Derby, p. 8)

In his father's Will, it is expressed that the care of Sarah, his
mother-in-law, be devolved on him. But shortly after his decease, she
desired "to take her abode among her relations," which was just prior to
her marriage with Mr. Roots. In doing this some difficulty [page 9]
occurred in the settlement of her affairs, between herself and Joseph,
which appears in the following warrant taken from the Essex Co. Ct. Rec.
"Joseph Hutchinson to appear at Court at Ipswich to answer to Complaint
of Sarah Roots alias Hutchinson and Nathaniel Putnam for with holding a
debt of due for charge & Expense In suport & maintenance of said Sarah
dureing the time of their Administration on the estate of Richard
Hutchinson deceased. Mar. 12, 1683-4." (Derby, p. 8-9)

The following is her deposition. "Mar. 1684. Whereas I have signed to a
wrighting which was made by my son in law Joseph Hutchinson which I
understood was only a discharge for the goods that I carried away from
my husband hutchinson, his house, which said wrighting to my best
remembrance I never heard red, but was Ready to confide in my son in
lawes honesty for he told me I must give him a discharge for what I then
carried away which I thought was reason and therefore signed to the
said righting as a receit for which I then received and no other waies.
Sworne 22th of March 1683-4. Before Barth'w Gedney, Asst." (Derby, p.
9)

The testimony of Joseph Holten and others, show that the conversation
between Jos. Hutchinson and his mother-in-law, was conducted on the
most friendly terms, and the separation was perfectly amicable. The
following bill of costs produced against Nath'l Putnam is a curiosity in
its style. (Derby, p. 9)

"Joseph Hutchinson's Bill of Cost against Nathaniel putnam.
3 somensis taking out and sarving . . . . . 0 4 6
3 witnesis one day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 6 0
my going to get them sworn . . . . . . . . . . . 0 2 0
One day for getting a copy of my
fathers Will and the record . . . . . . . . . . 0 2 6
three dais atandons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 6 0
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ______
This bill of cost allowed by Court." . . . 1 1 0
(Derby, p. 9)

In 1658 he was chosen constable and tax gatherer, and his name appears
on the jury list for 1679; he was frequently chosen administrator and
overseer, and often was witness to wills, deeds and inventories. There
is no will or administration of his estate on record, he having during his
life time, distributed his large property among his children. To his son
Robert he gave his mansion house, barn, stock of cattle, and all his
movable estate not given to his other children by deed of gift, viz.:--A
lot of 25 acres where his house stands, 4 1/2 acres where the old
meeting house stood, 12 acres on Thorndike hill, and a lot on Ipswich
river, bearing date June 3, 1708. To son Joseph, 50 acres where he now
dwells, 4 acres on W. side of Ipswich river, and his rights in Cromwell's
and Price's meadows, being 7 acres, and a right in a piece of meadow on
Ipswich river, dated July 1, 1703; to his son John, 50 acres in 1694; to
son Samuel, in 1707, 30 acres; to his son [p. 10] Ambrose, 20 acres,
dated June 3, 1708; and in 1707, to son Richard, 30 acres near Beaver
dam; and to his son Benjamin, 30 acres. There is no other evidence
respecting the date of his decease, but that recorded in Reg. of Deeds, of
a deposition made June 26, 1716, by John Houlton, who takes oath at an
Inferior Ct. of Pleas, that he saw Joseph Hutchinson, Sen'r., late of
Salem, dec'd, sign a deed conveying 2 acres of land to Thomas Haines; and
as he was living Jan. 30, 1715-16, he certainly died between these two
dates, aged about 83 years. (Derby, p. 9-10)

He md. 1st, probably a daughter of John Gedney. In the administration of
the estate of Joseph's daughter, Bethiah, mention is made of a legacy of
Ł13, 11s, 7d, given her by her grandfather Gedney. The latter had a son
Bartholomew, who had a dau. Bethiah; and as these names frequently
occur in different families afterwards, the supposition is quite
plausible. (Derby, p. 10)

-----
From _Massachusetts and Maine Families in the Ancestry of Walter
Goodwin Davis (1885-1966)_, by Walter Goodwin Davis with an
Introduction by Gary Boyd Roberts, Genealogical Publishing Co, Inc.,
Baltimore, Maryland, 1996, pp. 2:323-25:

Hutchinson's life was spent in Salem Village, farming his broad
inheritance. He was constable of Salem in 1677, on the county trial jury
in 1663, 1678, 1679 and 1681, and on the grand jury in 1661, 1662,
1668, 1669, 1674 and 1675. Although not a member of the church, he
gave the village the acre of land on which its first meetinghouse was
built in 1673 and was one of five who gave Mr. Bailey, its first and
unordained minister, twenty-eight acres of land "for his more
comfortable subsistence amongst us." Not much mention of him is found
in the county records. Several depositions giving his age indicate 1633
as the year of his birth, and he was a party to a few minor suits for
trespass and debt. He and his brother John had built a dam and a sawmill
on Beaver Dam brook by 1672, when Lieut. Thomas Putnam sued them for
flowing the common highway and making it unsafe for travelers, the jury
finding for Putnam and ordering the dam pulled down or mended.

After his father's death he was also involved in a suit with his
stepmother. Instead of remaining with Joseph, one of the alternatives
provided by her husband's will, Sarah Hutchinson elected to "take her
abode among her relations" as a preliminary to her immediate
remarriage. When she took away the articles which she had brought with
her to the Hutchinson house, Joseph presented a paper for her signature
which she signed without hearing it read, believing it, as she stated in
the resulting suit, to be a simple discharge. Although the matter is not
entirely clear, the paper apparently contained also an acknowledgment of
her indebtedness for support and maintenance, and she and nathaniel
Putnam, as administrators of Richard Hutchinson's estate, sued Joseph in
1684. Awarded costs, Joseph apparently was successful in his defense.
Witnesses testified that his separation from his "mother-in-law" was
entirely amicable.

During the greater part of its seventeenth-century existence Salem
Village was torn by internal and external dissension. There were fierce
boundary disputes with Topsfield, dissatisfaction with the village's
relationship to the mother town of Salem, quarrels between the parish
(political) and the church (spiritual) and personal controversies over the
choice of ministers, all culminating in the horrors of the witchcraft
delusion of 1692. Joseph Hutchinson seems to have kept fairly clear of
contention. He was, however, definitely of the parish party. In 1686 he
fenced off his loand surrounding the meetinghouse acre, leaving an
entrance on the end toward the road. The authorities sued him for so
doing and his answer is indicative of his character.

"Joseph Hutchinson his answer is as followeth:--First, as to the
covenant they spoke of, I conceive it is neither known of by me nor them,
as will appear by records from the farmer's book. Second, I conceive
they have no cause to complain of me for fencing in my own land; for I
am sure I fenced in none of theirs. I wish they would not pull down my
fences. I am loath to complain, though I have just cause. Third, for
blocking up the meetinghouse, it was they did it, and not I, in the time of
the Indian wars; and they made Salem pay for it. I wish they would bring
mye my rocks they took to do it with; for I want them to make fence
with.

"Thus hoping this honored Court will see that there was no just cause to
complain against me, and their cause will appear unjust in that they
would in an unjust way take away my land, I trust I shall have relief; so
I rest, your Honor's servant.,

(Nov. 27, 1686.) Joseph Hutchinson."

In the long controversy between the parish and the church resulting from
the personality and cupidity of Mr. Parris, Hutchinson was definitely
arrayed against that clergyman, and thus placed himself and his family
in grave danger when, in the frantic months of 1692, Parris practically
held powers of life and death in his control. This does not mean that
Hutchinson did not believe in the existence of witchcraft. He obviously
did, as in an emotional reaction to the accusations of the "afflicted"
children, he was one of the complainants who procured the warrants
against the first unfortunate women accused--Tituba, Mr. Parris's Indian
slave, Sarah Good and Sara Osburn. As the hysterical proceedings
advanced, however, he seems to have had stron doubts. He and his wife
were among the signers of the declaration as to the character of Rebecca
Nurse, and later the close questioning to which he subjected the child
Abigail Williams upon a casual meeting with her indicates grave
suspicion. He emerged safely from the crisis and in later years
continued to len support to Mr. Parris's opponents.

Hutchinson did not leave a will nor is there any administration of his
estate on file. He had given to his sons much of his real property during
his lifetime.

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