B. about 1605 in England
M. (1) 13 Sep 1647 in Woburn, Massachusetts
Wife: Ann Stowers
M. (2) 21 May 1649 in Woburn, Massachusetts
Wife: Hannah Births
M. (3) 3 Oct 1666 in Billerica, Massachusetts
wife: Mary
M. (4) 5 May 1681 in Billerica, Massachusetts
Wife: Mary
D. 24 May 1700 in Billerica, Massachusetts
Henry Jefts was one of the founders of a town in colonial New England by virtue of being among the first to live there. He was born in England in about 1605, but all information on his parents and background is unproven.
Henry first appeared in records with a September 13, 1647 marriage to Ann Stowers in Woburn, Massachusetts, so he arrived in America sometime before that date, likely during the 1630s. Henry’s wife Ann seems to have died within a couple of years, and he married a woman named Hannah Births on May 21, 1649, also in Woburn. The only other person known to have the name “Births” was a woman who married another settler in Woburn named George Farley, and it’s likely the two were sisters. It’s been said they were from Sweden, though there’s nothing to document that. By 1653, Henry and Hannah had two children, and that year, they moved to a new settlement.
The early 1650s were a time when the Massachusetts colony was establishing new towns. A large tract of land that had been granted to Governor Thomas Dudley in the 1630s was made available for purchase in smaller tracts, and Henry became one of the new property owners. His land included 113 ares of upland and 12 acres of meadow, and he soon moved his family there. Several other families set up homes nearby and the place became known as Billerica. Henry’s baby daughter died there in May of 1653, and it was the first event in Billerica’s vital records. Early in 1655, another daughter was born who was noted as the first female birth in the town.
At a 1660 Billerica town meeting where some of the first civil appointments were made, Henry was chosen as surveyor along with Jonathan Danforth. He was later mentioned on November 5, 1663 as being assigned to lay out some common land that was owed to a few settlers; the other two men on the committee were Jonathan Danforth and his wife’s brother-in-law, George Farley. In another civic duty, Henry donated 300 bricks for the chimney on the new minister’s house in 1664.
Henry’s second wife Hannah died on September 15, 1662, and it wasn’t until October 3, 1666 that he remarried, this time to a widow, Mary Bird. By now he was nearing 60 years of age and the couple had no children. In May 1665, Henry was granted 4 acres of land at a place called Indian Hill, north of Indian Field. It was also said that during these years he and his wife moved to a place in Billerica “west of Long Street.”
On April 1, 1679, Henry’s third wife died and two years later, on May 5, 1681, he married again to another widow, Mary Baker. Henry wrote a will dated March 4, 1692. In it, he left property to his children, with specifications about his two daughters and their children, ordering that the property not be sold until the oldest grandchild was 14-years-old. Sadly both his daughter Joanna and her oldest daughter Mary were killed in an Indian attack later that year, along with Joanna’s baby son.
Henry lived a very long life and passed away at age 94 on May 24, 1700. His wife Mary survived him by three years; both were buried at the Old South Burying Ground in Billerica.
Children (all by Hannah Births):
1. John Jefts — B. 11 May 1651, Woburn, Massachusetts; D. 28 Sep 1712, Billerica, Massachusetts; M. Lydia Fish (?-1712), 6 Apr 1688, Billerica, Massachusetts
2. Hannah Jefts — B. about 1653, Massachusetts; D. May 1653, Billerica, Massachusetts
3. Hannah Jefts — B. 4 Feb 1655, Billerica, Massachusetts; D. 21 Jan 1730, Chelmsford, Massachusetts; M. Andrew Spaulding (1652-1718), 30 Apr 1674, Chelmsford, Massachusetts
4. Joanna Jefts — B. 24 May 1656, Billerica, Massachusetts; D. 1 Aug 1692, Billerica, Massachusetts; M. (1) John Dunkin (?-1690); (2) Benjamin Dutton, 1691
5. Henry Jefts — B. 21 Mar 1659, Billerica, Massachusetts; D. 20 May 1738, Billerica, Massachusetts; M. (1) Mary Baldwin (1663-1703), 13 Apr 1681; (2) Hannah Hill (1667-1713), 9 Nov 1704
Sources:
History of Billerica, Massachusetts With a Genealogical Register, Henry Allen Hazen, 1883
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