Zachariah EDDY

Notes:

Name:
Grandson of
Vicar William Eddye, (1560 - 1616),
VICAR WILLIAM EDDYE, 1592 - 1616
ST. DUNSTAN'S PARISH CHURCH CRANBROOK, KENT, ENGLAND,
Vicar William Eddye's wife was Mary (Fosten) Eddye (1568 - 1611).

Zachariah was married May 7, 1663 in East Bridgewater, Plymouth, Ma.


Inscription:
To Honor and Perpetuate the Memory of Zachariah Eddy 1639-1718

One of the purchasers of Swansea Dec. 29, 1696. He set aside this spot, which is to lye and remain as a burying place for the families of said Eddy's and for such of their neighbors as the said Eddy's shall admit forever.

"To mark the resting place of his parents:

Samuel Eddy born in 1608, son of Rev. William Eddy, Viscar of St. Dunstan's Church, in Cranbook Co., Kent, England, and came on the "Handmaid" in 1630 to Plymouth, where he resided for fifty years. He died in Swansea, Nov. 12, 1687. Elizabeth died here on May 24, 1689, in her 82nd Year."

"To Record the names of his children:

Zachariah, John, Elizabeth, Samuel, Ebenezer, Caleb, Joshua, and Obediah.

This tablet erected by the Eddy Family Association, Inc. 1948."


Note: The cemetery is located on the old Eddy Farm once owned by Samuel.


Zachariah was bound out at the age of seven years to Mr. John Browne of Rehoboth. this Mr. John Browne was a man of importance in Plymouth, being the Governor's Assistant from 1636-1655. He was one of the original settlers and proprietors of Taunton and also of Rehoboth. A large tract of land called Wannamoisett was granted to him for his services to the government of Plymouth (Hist. of Taunton, p. 32.) Mr. John Browne died in 1662, but in a deed dated Dec. 29, 1661, he left to "Zacariah Eedey now resident in my family" 1/3 of 150 acres in Narragansett betwixt Quidniset and trading house of Richard Smith (Plymouth Col. Deeds, p. 103.)

On Jan. 4, 1661 "Zachariah bought of Thomas Savery a piece of land lying near Whetstones Vineyard in Major's Purchase bounded on or near where Eddy lives" (Plymouth Co. deeds 3, 81.)

On March 24, 1662 he received from his father Samuel, land near "Namamkeet" (Plymouth Col. Records, p. 116)....

From these records it appears that upon completing his apprenticeship Zachariah went to Middleboro and settled there, remaining for about eight years. His house stood on the twelve acres, granted him by the court, near what was later known as Eddy's furnace, just south of the present Eddyville. In 1666 his bounds were laid out by Ephraim Tinkham and Henry Wood (Court Orders, 4, p. 128)......

Soon after the incorporation of Swansea, Zachariah Eddy was made Freeman of Swansea on May 29, 1670. the following year on May 11th, he was chosen waywarden and on June 5th, he was elected surveyor of highways. In 1675 when King Philip's War broke out it is likely that Zachariah and his family took refuge in Plymouth for a few years. While there on June 5, 1677 he was summoned by the court of Plymouth to serve on the Grand Inquest. Some time in June of this same year, 1677, those who had formerly lived in Middleboro previous to the outbreak of the war, together with some who owned property within the borders of Middleboro,sixty-eight persons in all, met and agreed to resettle the town. The list of the names of "The Proprietors of the liberties of the township of Middleberry taken at Plimouth" contains the iten,--"Sachariah Edey, Samuell Edey, 1 porpriation." When Samuel Eddy became a proprietor of the town of Middleboro, he thereby obtained the privilege of being a participant in all futher divisions of the undivided lands belonging to the township. This right was passed on to the sons when they received from him the lands at Namassakett. When the land was sold by them the proprietor's rights went with the land......

After King Philip's War, when all danger from hostile Indians was over, probably about the spring of 1678, Zachariah and his family returned to Swansea. He was established there on Oct. 21, 1679, when he purchased a piece of land from Thomas Barnes, and by this purchase obtained rights as a "second ranch man"; that is in any division of lands he would receive twice as much as a man of the "third ranch" ( or third rank as it is more often written). The third rank man received one unit of a division, a second rank man, two units, and a first rank man, three units.....

Having thus disposed of most of his possessions to his sons during his lifetime, Zachariah had but little to leave to his children as an inheritance. His will, dated Nov. 4, 1718, mentions his wife Abigail and all of his sons, to whom he states that he has given to them the land which he considers their share. It mentions also his daughter Elizabeth Whipple, who is deceased and his son-in-law, Samuel Whipple; his grandson ?ward Eddy; and his wife's son, Timothy Smith. To his son Joshua he left his great Bible (Bristol Co. Prob., 3.488). His wife Abigail left a will, dated Jan 2, 1720, which mentions daughters, Abigail hatch, Bethia Eddy, hannah Simmons; son-in-law, Remembrance Simmons; daughter Hopestill Kelley; and granddaughters, Ann, Abigail, and Amy, daughters of Caleb Eddy, whom she called her son-in-law (Bristol Co. Prob., 3, 693).

Zachariah married Alice PADDOCK on 7 May 1663. Alice (daughter of Robert PADDOCK and Mary UNKNOWN) was born on 7 Mar 1640 in Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusett; died on 24 Oct 1692 in Swansea, Bristol County, Massachusetts; was buried in Eddy Burial Ground, Swansea, Bristol Co., Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Abigail ?. Abigail died on 13 Sep 1720. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name:
Soon after Samuel's death the records state that Samuel Eddy's share in the 26 Men's Purchase was then in the hands of Obadiah Eddy. In 1695 when a new survey was made Samuel's share is called the 9th lot, which consisted of a little more than 8 acres near Ravin Brook.

So far as is known Samuel Eddy held no public office. This was due probably to his youth and inexperience with conditions in a colony which had been established for ten years when he joined it, and as time went on the care of his family occupied his entire attention.

Just how many children Samuel and Elizabeth had is not known. Three times in deeds Samuel is called Samuel Eddy, Sen'r (July 21, 1660, Mar. 24, 1662, and Dec 1681). In 1681, Both Zachariah and Caleb had small boys named Samuel, but at the time of the first two deeds so far as is known, there was no other Samuel Eddy in Plymouth. It is therefore possible to suppose that Samuel had another son, who was named Samuel Eddy and of such an age in 1660 that; it was considered necessary to distinguish the father as Samuel Eddy, Sen'r. Likewise Elizabeth also appears on a record as Elizabeth Eddy, Sen'r so it is possible to adda a daughter Elizabeth to the list of the children. But since neither Samuel nor Elizabeth left a will, no way has been found, up to the present, to prove the truth of falsity of these suppositions.

As both Samuel and Elizabeth were elderly people at the time of their deaths and they both died in Swansea, it seems likely that they were living with either their son Zachariah or their son Caleb, both of whom resided in swansea. It was the custom in early New England to bury the dead on the day following the death and in a plot near the house, so it would be natural for Samuel and Elizabeth to be buried near the home of one of these Swansea sons. It happens that in December of 1696, just nine years after the death of Samuel and seven years after the death of Elizabeth, Zachariah Eddy sold to his son, Zachariah Eddy, twenty acres in Swansea, lying in a place "Commonly known by the name of Matapoysett, bounded northerly with the highway, easterly with the fence and Spring Brook to the Salt Water, southerly to the land of Ralph Chapman and bounded westerly with the highway which leade to the land of Ralph Chapman....excepting and reserving the Burying Place on the premises which is to lye and remain as a burying place for and to the families of the said Eddys & for such of their neighbors as the said Eddys shall admit of forever." Thus it is known that preious to 1696 Zachariah had already buried some members of his family near his home. Since the only Eddys who died besides his wife Alice were his father and mother, it seems almost certain that Samuel and Elizabeth lie in the Eddy Cemetery in Swansea Village, perhaps in two of those graves whose locations are marked by stones which bear no inscriptions. This cemetery lies on a hill-top, overlooking the cove of salt water, just south of the main road through the village. It adjoins the estate of Mrs. Frank Stevens and is east of the Swansea Dye Works. This plot was used by the descendants of Zachariah as a burial place for over a hundred years.

Samuel married Elizabeth SAVERY. Elizabeth was born about 1607; died on 24 May 1689. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]