♂John Blanchard

John Blanchard (died 10 March 1733) was a resident of Weymouth, Massachusetts, recorded there as “John Sr.” at his death. He was the seventh great-grandfather of Nancy Jane Blanchard (1929–2006) by two separate lines of descent, both through his son John Blanchard (1691–1752).

Early life

He was probably the John born at Weymouth on 27 March 1660, son of Nathaniel and Susan Blancher, alongside siblings Nathaniel (1665), Edward (1668), and Mercy (1674); he was the only man of that name born at Weymouth in his generation. No record, however, has been found joining the John who later married Abigail to this birth, and the identification rests on name and date alone. Nathaniel’s 1679 administration has been found but names none of his children, so the link stays an inference; a 1685 deed in which John Blancher of Weymouth sold land “formerly Nathaniel Blanchards pasture”, bounded by his own land, is circumstantial support only. He is said to have taken the oath of allegiance before Joseph Dudley^W in 1678 or 1679.

Marriage and family

He married Abigail, whose surname is unknown, in about 1684; no record of the marriage survives among the Weymouth town records. The births of seven of their children were recorded at Weymouth between 1686 and 1711: Sarah, Mary, John, Samuel, Nathaniel, Jonathan and Abigail. Two more sons, Nicholas and Thomas, have no recorded births. Their son John lived to become a deacon of the town and died in 1752 “in his 61st year.” Abigail, his wife, died on 19 September 1724, entered in the town record as “Abigail, w. John.” Their son Nicholas died as a grown man on 19 January 1733, recorded as “Nicholas, s. John and Abigail”, with an estate of his own.

Death and estate

In 1709 the town most likely granted him land. He died at Weymouth on 10 March 1733, entered in the town’s death record as “John Sr.” His estate was not settled by a will. On 25 April 1733 five of his sons, John, Thomas, Samuel, Nathaniel and Jonathan, “Bretheren belonging to Weymouth … being Heirs to the Estate of our Father John Blancher Deced and to the Estate of our Brother Nicholas Blancher Deced”, divided the lands of their father and of their brother between themselves. They recorded the agreement in the Suffolk County probate records. Because it was a division of land among the brothers, it does not mention the daughters.

Lines of descent

Both lines pass through his son John (1691–1752), his grandson Nicholas (1736–1801) and his great-grandson Nicholas (1766–1849), and divide between that Nicholas’s sons Noah (1797–1875) and Alexander (1799–1850). They meet again in Wesley Blanchard (1844–1908), whose parents, Joseph Knapp Blanchard (1820–1885) and Elizabeth Trueworthy Blanchard (1825–1884), were first cousins and both descendants of this John in the fifth generation.

Notes

His birth on 27 March 1660 and his parents, Nathaniel and Susan Blancher, are an inference from name and date alone; no record names him as their son.

Oath and land grant

The oath of allegiance (1678 or 1679) and the town’s grant of land (1709) are given by a compiled history, History of Weymouth, Massachusetts, vols. 1-2 (Weymouth Historical Society), vol. I p.203 and vol. II p.541. The original town entries are not cited there.

Marriage

The marriage year, about 1684, comes only from George Walter Chamberlain’s compiled History of Weymouth, vol. 3, which gives “near 1684”. Her surname is not established.