Descendants of John Shaw at Lakenham

Graves at Lakenham of Benoni and Lydia (Waterman) Shaw

Descendants of John Shaw of Plymouth

As Found at Lakenham Cemetery, North Carver, Massachusetts

John Shaw is an interesting though "obscure" figure in the history of Plymouth Colony. Although his name appears in the Plymouth records overs fifty times from 1626 to 1664, we do not know where and when he was born, exactly when he arrived in Plymouth Colony, where he married, and whether he had more than one wife. We do not even know the birth dates and birth places of his children John, James, Abigail and Jonathan.

Most of what has been previously written about John Shaw is unsupported by references to primary records. That great chronicler of our Lakenham families, Benjamin Shurtleff, produced his work on "John Shaw of Plymouth, Massachusetts," which although a pioneering effort and valuable work particularly for the later generations, has basic errors in the account of the immigrant and his wife. Other authors such as Charles Henry Pope in his "Pioneers of Massachusetts" have confused him with his son John Jr. The most accurate account of John Shaw's life is a brief sketch in Eugene Stratton's "Plymouth Colony: Its History & people, 1620-1691:"

Arriving in Plymouth between 1623, when he was not named in the division of land, and 1626, when he was a Purchaser, John Shaw became the leader of one of the companies in the 1627 cattle division, and he was on the 1633 freeman list. It is likely that he had one or more children born in England, though any family would have arrived after the 1627 list, for he was alone at that time. He was later known to have a wife Alice, surname unknown, and it is not known if she came from England, or if he may have had an earlier wife in England. Shaw engaged in a number of land transactions, was a leader of the group that cut the passage between Green's Harbor and the bay in 1633 (PCR 1:13-14), and was a highway surveyor for Plymouth in 1643 and 1644 (PCR 2:53, 72). In 1653 John and Alice Shaw agreed to raise Benjamin Savory, son of Thomas and Annis Savory, and if they died before Benjamin reached twenty-one, Jonathan Shaw, John's son, was to do it, and was also to teach Benjamin reading and writing (MD 5:90). On 26 March 1658 John Shaw of Plymouth, planter, gave his son, Sgt. James Shaw, one-half of his land at Cushena, but another son, John Shaw, would get half of the land given James if he came before 1 March 1661/62 (MD 10:34). On 30 January 1663/64 John Shaw, Sr. gave his son-in-law Stephen Bryant land at Namassakett and Rehoboth, and he gave one-half of his land at Cushena to his son James, and one-fourth of the same land each to his son Jonathan Shaw and his son-in-law Stephen Bryant; he gave his daughter Abigail Bryant his furniture after his death (MD 10:35). On 22 March 1663/64 George Watson and John Shaw, Sr. were granted a lot on Punkateesett Necke (Ply. Town Recs. 1:67). Benjamin Shurtleff wrote an undocumented history of his family, "John Shaw of Plymouth, Massachusetts (Kenilworth, Ill.).

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Jonathan³ Shaw, son of Jonathan and Mehitable Shaw

(Left) Benoni & Lydia (Waterman) Shaw (Below) Jonathan & Mary (Darling) Shaw

Benjamin & Mary (Atwood) Shaw

Nathaniel & Hannah (Perkins) Shaw

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All Pictures on these pages ©2005 by Paul Stanton Bumpus psbumppo@hotmail.com

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