Shurtleff, Abiel & Lydia Barnes

My 7th-great-grandfather, Abiel Shurtleff, son of William & Elizabeth (Lettice) Shurtleff, was born 23 June 1666 in Marshfield, Massachusetts, and died 28 October 1732 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. He married 14 January 1696 in Plymouth, Lydia Barnes, who was born there 4 July 1674, and died 10 September 1727 in Plympton, Massachusetts, daughter of Jonathan & Elizabeth (Hedges) Barnes.

The following is from Descendants of William Shurtleff of Plymouth and Marshfield, Massachusetts, Vol. I, by Benjamin Shurtleff:

Abiel Shurtleff was born soon after the untimely death of his father and there was a considerable debate as to what his name should be. By some it was thought that he should be called after Boanerges (Children of Thunder), as mentioned in the New Testament; but the difficulty of converting the plural name into the singular number fortunately prevailed against the infliction of an appellation which was far from being euphonious. The scriptural name Abiel, which interpreted into English from the Hebrew, signifies ‘God, my father,’ was adopted as the most satisfactory, since it was sufficiently indicative of his posthumous birth.

Mr. Shurtleff was a very noted ‘housewright,’ as was his father, and built ‘all the meeting houses in his time.’ He dwelt during the greater part of his life at Plymouth, living in the ‘Tim Goodwin’ house and in the one next to it, which he also owned. Perhaps there were the two adjoining houses which were once one house owned by Mr. Shurtleff and in which all of his children were born. He was a useful man in his town, holding various offices, and was one of the selectmen there in 1715, ’16, ’17, ’18, ’19 and 1720. Late in life he removed with his family to that part of Plympton which is now called Carver and built him a house, the cellar of which may still be seen in the ‘Old Will’ field, about 110 rods from the house now standing on his old estate, but is nearly filled in with earth and looks like a mere depression in the ground. Near it is an apple tree which Mr. Shurtleff set out. The trunk of this tree is hollow with one side entirely gone, and is so covered with a sucker growth that at a distance it looks like a young, unpruned tree. His estate here consisted of some six hundred acres and was located between ‘Barne’s Bridge’ over the Weweantitt River, and Pope’s Point. On one occasion his brother William came to spend the evening with him, leaving his horse in charge of a nephew, who turned him loose in the field. About 9 or 10 o’clock this nephew, Benjamin, when he went to catch the horse, found a wildcat in a trap which he had set for that purpose. Upon moving to Plympton Abiel Shurtleff gave his house in Plymouth to his son James and the ‘Tim Goodwin’ house to his youngest son, Abiel. He was a paralytic for many years previous to his death, and when about fifty years of age had a shock of the palsy and kept his bed much of the time. After six years’ residence in the new home he lost his wife, and he survived her but five years. This house was afterwards cut in two and one part moved away by his grandson, Daniel Vaughan, and the remainder was taken down by his son, David Shurtleff.

Lydia & Abiel lie buried in Lakenham Cemetery in Carver, Massachusetts.

Abiel & Lydia were the parents of ten children:

1. James Shurtleff, born 16 November 1696 in Plymouth, died there 17 September 1766. He married (as his first wife) 14 August 1734 in Plympton, Faith Jackson, who was born 24 November 1715 in Boston, Massachusetts, and died 28 March 1744 in Plymouth, daughter of Jeremiah & Hannah (Rider) Jackson.
James married (as his second wife and as her second husband) 17 May 1744 in Plymouth, Joanna (Gibbs) Tupper, who was born 16 July 1719 in Sandwich, Massachusetts, and died 4 June 1779 in Plymouth, daughter of Thomas & Joanna (Swift) Gibbs, and widow of Medad Tupper.

2. Elizabeth Shurtleff, born 6 December 1698 in Plymouth, died c. 1760. She married (as her first husband) 28 January 1720 in Plymouth, Josiah Vaughan, who was born 2 February 1699 in Middleborough, Massachusetts, and died there 13 February 1724, son of Joseph & Joanna (Thomas) Vaughan.
Elizabeth married (as her second husband and as his second wife) 7 April 1736 in Plympton, Jonathan Shaw, who was born 1 April 1689 in Plymouth, and died c. 1760, son of Jonathan & Mehitable (Pratt) Shaw, and widower of Elizabeth (Atwood) Shaw.

3. Lydia Shurtleff (my 7th-great-grandmother), born 28 February 1701 in Plymouth, died 20 January 1784 in Plympton. She married 28 February 1723 in Plympton, Barnabas Atwood, who was born 1 January 1698 in Plymouth, and died 2 February 1785 in Carver, son of Nathaniel & Mary (—) Atwood.

4. David Shurtleff, born 1 June 1703 in Plymouth, died 4 April 1784 in Plympton. He married 14 October 1731 in Plympton, Bethia Lucas, who was born 27 May 1704 in Plymouth, and died 26 July 1762 in Plympton, daughter of Benoni & Repentance (Harlow) Lucas.

5. Hannah Shurtleff, born 31 July 1705 in Plymouth, died 14 November 1789 in Kingston, Massachusetts. She married 4 March 1725 in Plympton, Lt. Caleb Cook, who was born c. 1695, and died 19 August 1762 in Kingston, son of Francis & Elizabeth (Latham) Cook.

6. John Shurtleff, born 8 November 1707 in Plymouth, died c. 1743. He married 18 April 1734 in Plympton, Abigail Fuller.

7. Benjamin Shurtleff, born 17 April 1710 in Plymouth, died 23 November 1788 in Carver. He married (as his first wife) 21 October 1736 in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, Hannah Dimon, who was born c. 1715, and died 29 January 1740 in Carver.
Benjamin married (as his second wife) 24 March 1745 in Carver, Susanna Cushman, who was born there 24 May 1715, and died there 6 February 1756, daughter of Josiah & Susanna (Shurtleff) Cushman.

8. William Shurtleff (my 6th-great-grandfather), born 8 September 1713 in Plymouth, died 15 December 1802 in Carver. He married 2 April 1734 in Plympton, Deborah Ransom, who was born there 3 May 1714, and died 2 April 1798 in Carver, daughter of Robert & Anne (Waterman) Ransom.

9. Joseph Shurtleff, born 22 January 1716 in Plymouth, died before 2 October 1755 at sea. He married (as her second husband) 9 December 1742 in Plymouth, Sarah (Nelson) Cobb, who was born there 28 March 1716, and died 31 March 1809 in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, daughter of Samuel & Bathsheba (Nichols) Nelson, and widow of Capt. Seth Cobb.

10. Abiel Shurtleff, born 23 October 1717 in Plymouth, died c. 1784. He married 24 March 1740 in Plymouth, Lucy Clark, who was born there 30 April 1719, and died c. 1759, daughter of Samuel & Mary (Phinney) Clark.

Last Revised: 17 October 2024