DEACON EDWARD STEBBINS

• Birth Notes
  • b. 24 February 1594/95, 

• Death Notes
  •  d. between July 1668 and August 1668
    

• General Notes
  •     Deacon Edward Stebbins was baptized on 24 February 1594/95 in Sts. Peter & Paul's Church, Black Notley, co. Essex, England.1 He was the son of William Stebbins. He married Frances Tough (widow of Sampson Chester and Thomas Smith), daughter of Ralph Tough, circa 1629 in England.He died between July 1668 and August 1668 in Hartford, Hartford Co., Conn..
        
    Immigration: By March 1632 when he is found in Cambridge.5
    Freeman: on 14 May 1634 in Cambridge, Mass..
    Founder/Proprietor: Cambridge, 1632; Hartford, 1636.
    Public Office: Deputy to the Connecticut General Assembly at twenty-one sessions between 1639 and 1656; Constable of Hartford, 1638; Juror, 1639 and 1643; Selectman, 1647.
    Religion/Church: A Deacon in the First Church at Hartford.
    Education: Signed his name. Appointed commissioner for Hartford to collect money for "the maintenance of scholars at Cambridge College" (later Harvard) 25 October 1644.
    Occupation: A tanner by trade.5
    
         In 1632 Edward made the trip to New England, probably in the accompaniment of others of Braintree who were followers of the Reverend Thomas Hooker. It's possible that Frances and her two Stebbin's daughters stayed in England for a while and followed Edward at a later date. Frances's youngest Chester child, Abigail, was buried at Bermondsey in 1636, and perhaps Frances did not come to America until after that event.
         Our first record of Edward in New England is on 29 March 1632 when he is listed as a resident of Cambridge. His dwelling house in Cambridge was on the southwest corner of Water St. (later Dunster) and Braintree or Harvard St. (Later Massachusetts Ave.); that is, he lived on what is now Harvard Square. Mr. Hooker (who called Edward "my cousin Stebbings") arrived in Cambridge in 1633 and he and Edward took the oath of allegiance at the same time, and were made freeman on 14 May 1634. In 1635 Edward served as Deputy to the General Court of Massachusetts Bay. On 2 May 1636, he sold his house and some land to Nicholas Danforth, and in the summer of that year he migrated with Mr. Hooker to the new settlement at Hartford on the Connecticut River.
         Edward made his will in 1663, five years prior to his death. Although he had only two daughters, he was generous with his legacies. While he left most of his estate to his wife, he also bequeathed to "our beloved son John Chester" of London, who was actually the son of his wife by her first marriage. Besides his grandchildren, he also left legacies to the four Day children of his sister, Editha (Stebbins) (Day) (Maynard) Holyoke. Edward also left 20s to Richard Weller, having formerly delivered into his hand about £30. The meaning of this is unclear but it might indicate that Edward Stebbins was somehow related to Ann Wilson, the wife of Richard Weller who died in 1655 leaving Richard with six young children. The amount of £30 adds credence to the possibility that Richard Weller was more than just an acquaintance.
         Frances made her will in 1670 and signed with the mark "FS". She called herself a widow, "aged and weak of body." As her husband before her did, she also bequeathed to her son John Chester "now living in or neere unto London in old England" the amount of £24. To her daughter Cadwell [Elizabeth (Stebbins) (Wilson) Cadwell] she left all her wearing apparel. In 1673 Frances made a codicil to her will which she signed with her mark "X". She devised more land to her Cadwell grandchildren and reduced the legacy of her daughter Elizabeth from "all my wearing apparell." to "my wearing gown". Elizabeth was not favored by her parents and received little in their wills, although they provided generously to her Cadwell children.