M. 6 Apr 1688 in Billerica, Massachusetts2
Wife: Lydia Fish
D. 28 Sep 1712 in Billerica, Massachusetts3
One day in 1697, three men presented themselves before the town council in Billerica, Massachusetts. Each showed they were in financial trouble, and they asked for public assistance. One of these men was John Jefts.
John had spent nearly his entire life in Billerica. Born in Woburn, Massachusetts to Henry Jefts and Hannah Births on March 11, 1651,1 the family was among the first settlers in Billerica when John was a small child. He had three younger sisters and one younger brother, but his mother died when he was about 10-years-old, and John’s father remarried in 1666.4 On April 6, 1688, John married Lydia Fish,2 a young woman who had been raped about ten years earlier. Their first child was born early the following year,5 and they went on to have six more by 1703.
Billerica, like all New England towns, had a strong sense of community. Each month, the men of the town met to organize the common efforts needed to run their everyday lives. There were men who rose to prominence at these meetings, serving as selectmen, surveyors or officers in the militia; their names appeared year after year in the town notes. But there were also others who were rarely mentioned. By the late-1690s, John seemed to only have been recognized twice: in 1687, he was paid a couple of shillings for having worked on a new road, and in September 1694, he was on a list of 10 men who were to have money paid to them for “work preparing staging for the meeting house and other works.” His payment was only 2 shillings, the smallest amount on the list.6
At a Billerica town meeting, John was assigned to dig holes for constructing the meetinghouse.
In January 1697, the Puritan leaders in Boston declared that the entire colony was to hold “a day of humiliation” as atonement for the Salem witch trials,7 which had condemned so many innocent people to death. On a day of humiliation, “people were expected to search themselves for sin and to repent in order to appease God's wrath. Everyone between the ages of sixteen and sixty was expected to spend the entire day in fasting, church attendance, listening to sermons of exhortation and meditating on their sin.”8
On Billerica’s observation of the day, the town leaders decided they needed to show concern for the poorer members of the community. The three men identified as being in need were John, Edmund Chamberlain, and Daniel Rogers.6 A collection was taken, and a total of 14 shillings and 6 pence was donated; this was divided equally among the three men. In addition, it was decided that each of them would get a bushel of “Indian corn” or grain, and arrangements were made to deliver it to their farms. But the town authorities also assigned three other men to make sure the recipients of the charity were being truthful about their hardship. The town notes stated that they each were to “see these persons be diligent and the persons contributed unto to give an account of their time weekly to them.”
Day of Humiliation in Billerica. (AI-generated image)
There was no follow-up about John and the others in Billerica’s meeting notes, so it’s presumed that the distribution of the town’s welfare went as planned. A couple of years later, John served as one of Billerica’s “fence viewers,” a job for which he received a small amount of pay in 1699, 1700 and 1701.6 This was a civic duty somewhat unique to New England; a fence viewer was to inspect fences and settle disputes regarding escaped livestock.
Then on October 14, 1700, a new incidence of John’s poverty came to light in the meeting notes: “…John Jefts was called to attend the selectmen who [were] informed that Jefts had been too slack in providing for the comfort of his wife and children. His apology was that he had been endeavoring what he could and had put some land upon the sale for his present relief, etc. He was advised speedily to provide otherwise than he had done, otherwise he must expect to be complained of unto authority.”6 It was an unusual act for a New England town to publicly shame a man for being down and out, and seemed to blame John for his own condition.
John wasn’t mentioned in the meeting notes again until March of 1711, when he was named as one of Billerica’s tithingmen.6 This had been a post frequently held by his younger brother Henry. Since Henry’s name returned the following year, replacing John’s, it suggests that he was a temporary substitute for his brother. John and his wife Lydia both died during September 1712, with Lydia passing away on the 8th and John on the 28th.9,3 Their youngest children were underage, so oldest son Henry was appointed as guardian to them.6
Children:
1. Henry Jefts — B. 16 Jan 1689, Billerica, Massachusetts;5 D. 19 Aug 1772, Billerica, Massachusetts;9 M. (1) Elizabeth Hayward (~1689-1735), 10 Jul 1716, Billerica, Massachusetts;10 (2) Dinah Brown (1706-1764), 13 Nov 1735, Billerica, Massachusetts11
2. Alice Jefts — B. 7 Sep 1691, Billerica, Massachusetts;12 M. Joseph Baker (1696-1761), 11 Dec 1716, Concord, Massachusetts13
3. Hannah Jefts — B. 18 Aug 1694, Billerica, Massachusetts;14 D. 2 Jul 1712, Billerica, Massachusetts15
4. John Jefts — B. 19 Dec 1696, Billerica, Massachusetts;16 D. 8 May 1725, Billerica, Massachusetts17
5. Nathaniel Jefts — B. 29 Mar 1699, Billerica, Massachusetts;18 after 28 Sep 171219
6. William Jefts — B. 17 Mar 1701, Billerica, Massachusetts;20 D. 30 Sep 1738, Billerica, Massachusetts21
7. Ebenezer Jefts — B. 28 Jan 1703, Billerica, Massachusetts;22 M. Elizabeth Farnsworth (1707-1781), 30 Dec 1729, Groton, Massachusetts23
Sources:
1 Birth record of John Jefts, Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001, FamilySearch.org
2 Marriage record of John Jefts and Lydia Fish, M., T. C., V. & T. R.
3 Death record of John Jefts, M., T. C., V. & T. R.
4 Marriage record of Henry Jefts and Mary Bird, M., T. C., V. & T. R.
5 Birth record of Henry Jefts, M., T. C., V. & T. R.
6 Town records 1685-1779 Billerica, Massachusetts Land Records, 1620-1986, FamilySearch.org
7 Days of humiliation and thanksgiving (Wikipedia article)
8 Death record of Lydia Jefts, M., T. C., V. & T. R.
9 Death record of Henry Jefts (younger), Vital Records of Billerica, MA, to the year 1850, 1908
10 Marriage record of Henry Jefts and Elizabeth Hayward, M., T. C., V. & T. R.
11 Marriage record of Henry Jefts and Dinah Brown, M., T. C., V. & T. R.
12 Birth record of Alice Jefts, M., T. C., V. & T. R.
13 Marriage record of Joseph Baker and Alice Jefts, M., T. C., V. & T. R.
14 Birth record of Hannah Jefts, M., T. C., V. & T. R.
15 Death record of Hannah Jefts, M., T. C., V. & T. R.
16 Birth record of John Jefts (younger), M., T. C., V. & T. R.
17 Death record of John Jefts (younger), M., T. C., V. & T. R.
18 Birth record of Nathaniel Jefts, M., T. C., V. & T. R.
19 Nathaniel wasn’t mentioned in the guardianship action after his father’s death
20 Birth record of William Jefts, M., T. C., V. & T. R.
21 Death record of William Jefts, M., T. C., V. & T. R.
22 Birth record of Ebenezer Jefts, M., T. C., V. & T. R.
23 Marriage record of Ebenezer Jefts and Elizabeth Farnsworth, M., T. C., V. & T. R.
