GENERATION 11

GENERATION 10

Biography

JOSEPH was born in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, and baptized there Dec. 31, 1609.

JOSEPH and Maximilian, brothers, came to this country in 1638. They sailed from Hull, England on the ship John of London, with a colony under the leadership of Rev. Ezekiel Rogers. They arrived at Boston, Suffolk, MA on Dec. 31, 1638, spent the winter in Salem, Essex, MA, and in the spring of 1639 founded the town of Rowley, Essex MA. The town of Rowley was incorporated on Jul. 4, 1639, and was named after Rowley, England, where Rev. Rogers had been the minister.

On board the John of London on that eventful voyage from Hull to Boston was the first printing press to be set up in the colonies.

During the winter of 1638-39, Davenport and Eaton endeavored to persuade Rogers to settle in New Haven, where they had established a colony, and several members of Rogers company were sent there to examine the place. But not finding it to their satisfaction they decided to take a place between Ipswich and Newbury, and a tract of land was purchased there for eight hundred pounds.

The first fulling mill was built in Rowley about 1642-43, by John Pearson. Nearly all the local families made cloth in their homes and brought it to the Pearson Mill to be fulled, that is shrunken and dressed. Thus Rowley is the birthplace of the American woolen industry, and it was this industry that caused so much aggravation to England who wanted to be the sole supplier of spun wool to the Colonies. The defiance by the Colonists of the sanctions against buying Rowley-made wools was one of the seeds of dissension which led to the war for independemce.

JOSEPH and Maximilian probably did not come to this country as adventurers, nor seeking to improve conditions, as they were already well off. But rather sought a resting place from oppression, and a place where their children might enjoy freedom to worship God.

JOSEPH was married to MARY MALLINSON on Oct. 1, 1634, in Bradford, Yorkshire, England. She was buried in Rowley, Apr. 12, 1652. JOSEPH married for a second time in Boston on May 13, 1653 to Ann Allen, widow of Captain Bozoan Allen of Boston. JOSEPH and MARY had six children, the oldest, JEREMIAH, having come over with them from England. JOSEPH and Ann had three children, the first dying in infancy. Ann died in Rowley and was buried Feb. 8, 1660/61.

JOSEPH and MARY were among the early members of the First Church in Dorchester, near where they spent their first winter. He was admitted Freeman May 22, 1639, a year before Maximilian. He became a large land owner, and one of the leading men of Rowley. He was a representative to the General Court five times between 1651 and 1660, and was one of two stewards for each of those sessions. In 1656 he was referred to as a "clothier" and later "merchant", and was active in business affairs most of his life. As late as 1653 he and his sons were still using the English spelling "Jowett".

JOSEPH, who was perhaps the largest real estate owner among the Rowley settlers, as early as 1650 began to acquire land in Ipswich, and at the time of his death owned a large tract near the Rowley line on both sides of the Bay Road, comprising nearly all of what has been known for years as Ipswich Village. Although he was never a resident of the Village, his three sons lived there, and their children continued to live there. The grandson, ELEAZER, left there about 1698, to go to Connecticut, but continued to own the land he had inherited from his father, JEREMIAH. ELEAZER conveyed the land to his son, ELEAZER Jr., who sold it to Joseph Barker in 1742.

In 1650, JOSEPH purchased a house from the heirs of William Bellingham, a brother of the Governor. The house stood at the westerly corner of Main and Pleasant streets, "bounded by property of Ezekiel Northend to the S.W., a brook to the N.W., property of Henry Riley to the N.E., and the street to the S.E". JOSEPH was living in the house at the time of his death. Ownership passed on to his son, Nehemiah, and it was sold to Thomas Wood on Mar. 25, 1662, according to Essex County Probate records. In the records it was referred to as "Mansion House". Tragedy would later strike the house. On July 31, 1675, it was destroyed by fire. While helping her brother escape the flames, ten year old daughter, Voe Malum, perished.

See NEHGR, April 1940, pages 99-112 "Two Founders of Rowley, Mass" by Tracy Elliot Hazen for more facts about JOSEPH and MARY.

                          some of Joseph's land purchases

      Bradford Street             -   1     lot containing two acres.
      Bradford Street field       -   4-1/2 acres of upland.
      Batchelours meadow          -   1-1/4 acres of upland.
      Salt Marsh - 1st division   -   2     acres.
      Salt Marsh - 2nd division   -   2     acres.
      Fresh Marsh - 2nd division  -   1     acre.
      Fresh Marsh - 3rd division  -   1     acre.
      Upland - 2nd division       -   2     acres.
      Salt Marsh - 3rd division   -   2     acres.
      Upland in Batchelours plane -   8     acres.
      Upland in Satchells Ground  -   6     acres.
      Upland                      -   7-1/2 acres.
      Salt Marsh                  -         acres.
      in neck by Merrimack River  - 960     acres in exchange for 3,000 acres of Village land.
      parcel in Long Meadow       -  26     acres.
      parcel near Long Meadow     -   5     acres.
      parcel upland               -   9     acres.