M. (1) 18 Nov 1656 in Northampton, Massachusetts
Wife: Sarah Holton
M. (2) Nov 1683
Wife: Sarah Whiting
D. 3 Dec 1703 in Northampton, Massachusetts
We don't usually imagine Puritans in New England as being politically corrupt, but John King of Northampton, Massachusetts once used questionable means to secure a top position in his community.
Born in about 1628, John's origins in England and his migration to America aren’t documented. Many have tried to tie him to specific places in the old county; one source even claims he came from Ireland, but nothing is verified. The earliest record of John King is from 1653. On October 3rd of that year, he attended a meeting, possibly in Hartford, Connecticut, where 21 men agreed to relocate upriver to a new settlement that would become Northampton.
By the following spring, John was assigned land in Northampton, a pair of 2-acre lots that were across the road from each other. He was said to have been the first one to live on the block, and that’s why the road was given the name King Street. It’s a name that survives today as part of Interstate 5 which bisects Northampton.
The bit of road in present-day Northampton that's named after John.
Not long after getting settled in Northampton, John married Sarah Holton, the daughter of another settler, William Holton. Their wedding was on November 18, 1656, and in July of the following year, their first child was born. Between 1660 and 1683, they had eleven more. Sadly, Sarah died shortly after the birth of their youngest child. John then married Sarah Whiting Mygatt, the widow of Joseph Mygatt.
John was said to have been a tanner, but didn’t operate his own business. During the 1660s, he and another man were given permission by the town leaders to build a saw mill. For some reason, they didn’t follow through on it, and in 1670, the authorization to build the mill was rescinded and awarded to other men.
Most of John’s involvement with the affairs of Northampton seem to have been in the local militia. By 1670, he was a sergeant, and later in that decade, he served in King Philip’s War. He was on a 3-man committee whose objective it was to raise money to build a fort for the town. John also took part in some of the fighting, and was among 22 men from Northampton who participated in the Turners Falls Massacre, which was an ambush of an Indian village.
After King Philip’s War ended, Northampton was fairly peaceful for over a decade. Then in 1688, relations with the Indians heated up again with the return of sporadic raids on Connecticut River valley towns. The following year, John was chosen as Northampton’s representative to the General Court.
That same year, three men were appointed by the General Court to head up Northampton’s militia, but John was said to have taken action denying their posts, so that he and two close friends received the positions instead. This caused one of the rejected militia leaders, a man named Aaron Cook, to write a scathing letter about John to the General Court. In the letter, after Cook told how John contrived to find reasons to deny himself and the others their officerships, he accused John of being a man who worked by “secret plots and acts,” and who was often drunk, which contributed to his “corrupt” behavior. He also said that John’s appointment to the General Court had gone to his head. A lot of John’s supporters were his relatives, with 32 men in Northampton being connected to him by blood or marriage. They formed a faction that took control of appointments and other civil matters.
The General Court, based on Aaron Cook’s arguments, ruled against John, and the three appointed men were reinstated. Things turned so badly against John that the leaders of Northampton refused to pay his expenses for traveling twice to Boston as the General Court representative. He tried to sue the town for compensation, then withdrew the lawsuit after he was berated for it, but he was still fined a small amount for court expenses.
John's signature and seal.
In the end, John did get his desired position as militia officer. Aaron Cook died in 1690 and another of the appointed officers withdrew, so in February 1691, he was chosen as lieutenant of the militia. During his time as officer of the militia, he oversaw the planning and building of a new fort. There was a need to widen the area enclosed by the fort because during the years of peace after King Philip’s War many new houses had been built.
Then in January 1692, John and another man named Samuel Partridge of Hatfield wrote to the colonial Committee of Militias to express concern over the ongoing trouble in western Massachusetts towns with the Indians. The Indians were supposed to be restricted to living near Albany and they were repeatedly coming into their area and causing trouble. This led to more military action, that may have involved John, though by this time he was getting advanced in age.
John also still got involved in non-military issues. During the 1690s, town leaders proposed that taxes be raised to support paying for a schoolmaster. But his name was first on a petition signed by 9 men who opposed the idea.
On December 3, 1703, John died in Northampton. His second wife Sarah passed away the following year. John was the ancestor of First Lady Lucy (Webb) Hayes.
Children:
1. John King — B. Jul 1657, Northampton, Massachusetts; D. 20 Mar 1719, Northampton, Massachusetts; M. Mehitable Pomeroy (1666-1755), 4 Nov 1686, Northampton, Massachusetts
2. William King — B. 28 Mar 1660, Northampton, Massachusetts; D. 20 Sep 1720; M. Elizabeth Denslow, Northampton, Massachusetts
3. Thomas King — B. 14 Jul 1662; D. 26 Dec 1711; D. 26 Dec 1711, Hartford, Connecticut; M. (1) Abigail Strong (1666-1689), 17 Nov 1683, Hartford, Connecticut; (2) Mary Webster (~1672-1706), 7 Nov 1690, Hartford, Connecticut; (3) Mary Spencer (~1675-1711)
4. Samuel King — B. 6 Jan 1665, Northampton, Massachusetts; M. Johanna Taylor(1665-1738), 1690, Northampton, Massachusetts
5. Eleazer King — B. 26 Mar 1667, Northampton, Massachusetts; D. 1698, Northampton, Massachusetts
6. Joseph King — B. 23 Mar 1669, Northampton, Massachusetts; D. 11 Jul 1670, Northampton, Massachusetts
7. Joseph King — B. 8 May 1673, Northampton, Massachusetts, D. 3 Dec 1734; M. Mindwell Pomeroy (1677-?), 3 Jun 1696
8. Sarah King — B. 3 May 1671, Northampton, Massachusetts; D. 5 Nov 1747, Northampton, Massachusetts; M. Ebenezer Pomeroy (1669-1754), 26 Dec 1692, Northampton, Massachusetts
9. Benjamin King — B. 1 Mar 1674, Northampton, Massachusetts; D. 20 Jan 1718, Northampton, Massachusetts; M. Mary James, 16 May 1700
10. David King — B. 1676, Northampton, Massachusetts; M. Abigail Sackett (1683-1743), 1701, Westfield, Massachusetts
11. Thankful King — B. Sep 1679, Northampton, Massachusetts; M. Samuel Clapp, 15 Sep 1704
12. Jonathan King — B. 25 Apr 1683, Northampton, Massachusetts; D. May 1727, Bolton, Connecticut
Sources:
History of Northampton, Massachusetts, From Its Settlement in 1654, Volume 1, James Russell Trumbull, Seth Pomeroy, 1898
Early Northampton, Massachusetts D.A.R., 1914
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