M. (1) 10 Nov 1636 in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England
Wife: Hannah Whitlock
M. (2) about 1662 in (probably) Hadley, Massachusetts
Wife: Isabel Ward
M. (3) about 1676 in Hadley, Massachusetts
Wife: Elizabeth Hitchcock
D. 2 Nov 1684 in Hadley, Massachusetts
The story of Joseph Baldwin, a Puritan New England immigrant of the 17th-century, turned tragic a generation later with the slaughter of some of his kin at the infamous Deerfield Massacre.
Joseph Baldwin was born in Cholesbury, a village located in Buckinghamshire, England. His parents were Richard Baldwin and Isabel Harding, and he had at least 6 siblings. The exact date of Joseph's birth isn’t known, but it was sometime between 1609 and 1612. His father made out a will in 1630 that specified Joseph would receive a half-acre of land when he reached the age of 21. The will was proved on May 16, 1633.
On November 10, 1636, Joseph got married to Hannah Whitlock in High Wycombe, a town to the south of Cholesbury. Within two years, the couple joined a large migration of people from the area who had decided to move to America. It’s believed that Joseph and his wife sailed on the ship Martin in 1638, along with his older brothers Timothy and Nathaniel. Joseph and his brothers probably went from Boston to New Haven. A group of settlers set out from there during the fall of 1639 to form a new settlement at the mouth of the Housatonic River which they named Milford.
The land in Milford was divided up and assigned to the families settling there, with Joseph receiving two acres. The lots were long and narrow so that each man would have some of the marshy land nearest to the water which was desirable for planting hay. Joseph and Hannah had a child born during the first year they lived there, followed by eight more children born by 1653. The birth dates of the older children aren’t recorded because the Baldwins didn’t join the church until June 23, 1644, and they had their oldest four children baptized on the same day.
In April of 1661, Joseph’s wife Hannah died, and soon after, he decided to move away from Milford. The place he chose was Hadley, Massachusetts, a new settlement up the Connecticut River. He married a woman who had been widowed twice named Isabel Northam (her maiden name was Ward); Joseph’s daughter Mary married Isabel’s son, John Catlin, at about the same time. Isabel died roughly ten or twelve years later, and in 1677, Joseph married another widow, Elizabeth Warriner (her maiden name was Hitchcock).
1664 Hadley town meeting note assigning Joseph the job of constable.
On November 2, 1684, Joseph passed away in Hadley; his third wife survived him until 1696. Tragedy followed Joseph’s family when daughter Mary and son-in-law John Catlin were both victims of the Deerfield massacre. Four of their grown children, Joseph’s grandchildren, were also killed there, as well as another grandson by his daughter Martha. The event was a part of an ongoing war between the French and the English, and often the French were allied with Indigenous people who acted on their behalf. On February 29, 1704, a raiding party attacked and killed 47 settlers and took another 112 as captives.
Luckily, Joseph had many other children who lived safely away from Deerfield, and his progeny lived on. Some of his famous descendants include Thomas Edison, Lillian Gish and Jane Fonda.
The Deerfield Massacre of 1704.
Children (all by Hannah Whitlock):
1. Joseph Baldwin — B. about 1640, Milford, Connecticut; D. 21 Nov 1681, Hadley, Massachusetts; M. (1) Elizabeth, 1662, Hadley, Massachusetts; (2) Sarah Coley (1648-1689)
2. Benjamin Baldwin — B. about 1642, Milford, Connecticut; D. 19 Jun 1729, Newark, New Jersey; M. Hannah Sergeant (~1644-~1721)
3. Hannah Baldwin — B. Milford, Connecticut; D. Newark, New Jersey; M. Jeremiah Hull (~1636-1700), 6 May 1658, Milford, Connecticut
4. Mary Baldwin — B. Milford, Connecticut; D. 9 Apr 1704, Deerfield, Massachusetts; M. John Catlin (1643-1704), 23 Sep 1662, Wethersfield, Connecticut
5. Elizabeth Baldwin — B. about Mar 1645; D. 24 Apr 1687, Springfield, Massachusetts; M. James Warriner (1640-1727), 31 Mar 1664, Springfield, Massachusetts
6. Martha Baldwin — B. about 1646, Milford, Connecticut; D. 7 Jan 1676, Hadley, Massachusetts; M. John Hawks (1643-1722), 26 Dec 1667, Hadley, Massachusetts
7. Jonathan Baldwin — B. 15 Feb 1649, New Haven, Connecticut; D. 12 Dec 1739, Milford, Connecticut; M. (1) Hannah Ward (1658-1693), 2 Nov 1677, Milford, Connecticut; (2) Thankful Strong (1663-1726)
8. David Baldwin — B. 19 Oct 1651, Milford, Connecticut; D. Sep 1689, Milford, Connecticut; M. Mary Stream (1653-1712), 11 Nov 1674, Connecticut
9. Sarah Baldwin — B. 6 Nov 1653, Milford, Connecticut; D. 17 Jan 1717, Northampton, Massachusetts; M. Samuel Bartlett ~1639-1712), 1676, Northampton, Massachusetts
Sources:
History of Hadley: Including the Early History of Hatfield, South Hadley, Amherst and Granby, Massachusetts, Sylvester Judd and Lucius Manlius Boltwood, 1863
Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, Volume 2, John Woolf Jordan, Edgar Moore Greene, George Taylor Ettinger, 1905
Find-A-Grave
WikiTree
Famous Kin (website)
