33 acres of land joining to West Springfield line 59th Lot in the Division of the Mountain 94th do 98 do do do About 31⁄2 acres West of the mountain 495. . 126. 6. 96.31. 96. 3 24.50 The first wife of Capt. Joseph King was Mrs. Mary (Wilson) Jesse, widow of David Jesse, sister of Nathaniel Wilson (see New England Hist. and Gen. Register, Vol. 13, p. 143, and Hoadley's Conn. Col. Rec. Vol. 6, p. 59) and the daughter of Phineas Wilson, from Dublin, a wealthy merchant of Hartford, by his first wife, Mary Sandford, only daughter of Nathaniel and Susanna Sandford. She died Sept. 11, 1737. Capt. Joseph King married again at Suffield June 20, 1740, Hannah Devotion, born in Suffield April 24, 1716, daughter of Rev. Ebenezer3 Devotion, (John2, Edward1 of Roxbury and Brookline A. D. 1645) and Hannah (Breck) Devotion his wife, daughter of Capt. John Breck of Dorchester, Mass. Edward1 Devotion, the first representative of that family in America, was born about 1621 of French Huguenot parentage. It was evident that his name, so distinctively English in its orthography, must have undergone some transformation either in England before he came to America or after his arrival in New England, in the same manner as other well known names were Anglicised, such for instance as Delano for De la Noye, Truax for De Trieux, Bovie for Beaufils, etc. It was known that the Devotion family came originally from La Rochelle. Miss Emma C. King of Xenia, Ohio, while in Europe in 1895 traveled from Paris to La Rochelle for the sole purpose of obtaining information relative to the ancestors of the Devotion family, and obtained transcripts from official records which seem to leave no doubt that the name of Edward Devotion prior to his coming to New England was written "de Vaution" and was then changed only by Anglicising the spelling, the pronunciation remaining nearly the same. The transcripts in question are given in the Appendix to this book, where a brief history of the Devotion- de Vautionfamily is given, which will be found of interest to those descended from this branch of the King family. Rev. Ebenezer Devotion, the father of Mrs. Hannah King, wife of Capt. Joseph King, was for many years (1710-1741) the minister of the town of Suffield and greatly respected and loved. He was a graduate of Harvard College in 1707. He was buried at Suffield and on his tombstone appears the following epitaph: "Here lies the body of the Rev. Mr. Ebenezer Devotion, late minister of the Gospel in this Town, who died April the 11th, 1741, in the 31st year of his ministry. Aetat 57. He was a man of sound judgment, great Stability of Mind & singular Modesty and Humility, a True Friend and Faithful Minister, steady in his attendance upon the Altar, close and pungent in his preaching and very exemplary in his life, a Pattern of Industry and Resignation and of all Christian Graces. As while living he was greatly beloved, so his death was very much lamented." Rev. Ebenezer Devotion left a considerable estate to be divided among his three children, Ebenezer, Hannah and Mary. His son Ebenezer Devotion and Capt. Joseph King were the executors of his will and upon the latter devolved the principal care of the estate for a period of thirteen years until it was finally closed. A partial inventory of this estate may be of interest. "The Inventory of the Estate of the Reverend Mr. Ebenezer Devotion, Deceased, att Suffield was taken by us the subscribers appointed to prise the same, and began the 24th day of April A: N: que 1741. His great coat £10-10. A strait bodied blew coat £7. £ s.- d. 17—10— 0 6—15-0 A pair of black Calimanco briches 1-15-0 Leather Ditto-£2—15—2 pairs of brown Holland ditto 16/ 3-11-0 6 pairs buckels 4/6 neck bands 6/ Cain 20/ A pair of Knee buckels 3/ Three maps 5/ 1-10-06 080 The Library except a Concordance 60-18-08 Five quires of paper 13/9 An old Pannell 8/ I-1-09 Great Spinning Wheel 13/ old ditto 6/ Three little wheels £1-10. A clock wheel 5/ one ditto 1/6 An old great wheel 3/ Pair old Cards 2/ 9 yards of Woolen Cloth at 16/ per yd A pigeon net 15/ an old gun 10/ a churn 10/ Cow £11 One ditto 5-10. Two oxen One red A Lynd Cow 9-10. One Lynd Cow & Calf II-10 26—10—0 300 Philip, the Negro Man 30 Three Heifers 2 years old 13 Four yearling Calves 12 33 sheep & 6 lambs 33-A sow & pigs 5-10-three geese 12/ A Dray 2-10, 6 plows & irons I plow chain 1-5 (A further inventory of farming implements is omitted in this copy) Salmons Practice of Phissick 12/ Concordance 70/ About 30 acres of land upon Island in Connecticut About 63 acres of Land, called ye Slough Lot, A right of land at Number One between Westfield The half of eleven acres of land west of Serajah 25 392-0 7-17-06 4-02-0 900-0 150 0 283-10-0 40-00 85-0" £5000-11-3. It seems somewhat strange now to look back at this worthy old minister in Suffield, Connecticut, and find that he was a slave owner and to observe in the inventory of his estate "Two oxen £30. Philip, the negro man £30. Three Heifers 2 years old £13." The slave invoiced among the cattle! The services of Capt. Joseph King in handling the estate seem to have been appreciated, for attached to the "Reckoning" or settlement of the estate is the following paper: "Whereas Capt King one of the aforesaid Executors has. spent much Time and Care for thirteen Years past to settle the aforesaid Estate, and has omitted to take a particular and exact account of many the lesser Articles of Time and Charge, which cannot be come at I the said Devotion Co-executor with him Judge it Reasonable, and accordingly give my consent to abate of and allow, the sd Joseph King for such extraordinary Trouble 20 pounds which he owes to the Estate, and which has not been reckoned in the above Reckoning due to the Estate for the Improvement of the Slow Lot and 20 pounds out of his debt in the foregoing Page, and to give a quit claim of the beforenamed 3 acres and thirty four rod in the great Common, and my right in the undivided Land mentioned in the foregoing Page all amounting to near about 70 pounds Witness my hand this 25th Feb. 1755 Eb. Devotion We who have subscribed this Instrument consent to the same Witness our hands Don Smith, Kezia Smith, Jemima Devotion, Ezekiel Bissell, Mary Devotion, Ruth Bissell, John Devotion." Hannah (Devotion) King survived her husband Capt. Joseph King nearly fifty years and upon her devolved the task of bringing up and caring for their numerous children and managing the large and valuable estate left by Capt. Joseph. These duties she performed with singular skill and excellent judgment. She died May 4, 1805, at the advanced age of 89 years. A tombstone in the cemetery at Suffield points out the spot where lies "the body of Captain Joseph King," near which stands another, "Sacred to the Memory of Mrs. Hannah King, Relict of Capt. Joseph King." His children, two by his first wife and nine by his second wife, were born in Suffield. ISSUE: 30* 31 i. ABIGAIL*, b. Jany 9, 1719; d. Aug. 5, 1797; m. (1) Dr. Pelatiah Bliss, Oct. 2, 1746; (2) David Pixley, April, 1765. ii. JOSEPH, b. Oct. 1, 1722; d. Suf. Jany 27, 1724. 32* 33* iii. JOSEPH, (again), b. April 15, 1741; d. March 19, 1814; m. Mrs. Tryphena (Kendall) Bowker, Sept. 12, 1769. iv. ELIPHALET, b. Feby 6, 1743; d. Aug. 29, 1821; m. (1) Mary Remington, Nov. 3, 1768; (2) Silence Rumrill, Oct. 2, 1788. 34* V. HANNAH, b. Aug. 23, 1744; d. Oct. 28, 1821; m. 35 vi. EPAPHRAS, b. May 11, 1746; d. Suf. Feb 17, 1767; 36* unmarried. vii. ASHBEL, b. Jany 26, 1748; d. May 21, 1806; m. (1) Dec. 19, 1782, Jemima Burnham; (2) Mrs. Smith, widow of Jonathan Smith, March 19, 1804. 37* viii. THADDEUS, b. June 25, 1749; d. Jany 20, 1792; m. (1) Alice King, Dec. 29, 1774; (2) Lucy Johnson, Sept. 20, 1787. 38* 39* 40* ix. THEODORE, b. Dec. 21, 1750; d. Sept. 8, 1822; m. (1) Anne Mather, Jany 8, 1778; (2) Sibbel Hanchet, June 28, 1792. x. xi. MARY, b. July 22, 1752; d. June 30, 1836; m. Elijah ICHABOD, b. May 14, 1756; d. Marlboro, Vt., Dec. 18, 11 MARY KING, (James2, William1), born in Suffield, Conn., April 30, 1692; died in Suffield May 8, 1769; married in Suffield (1) Nov. 8, 1711, Victory3 Sikes (Victory2, Richard of Springfield), who died Sept., 1749 (2) John Harmon. Among her grandchildren was Henry A. Sikes, born in Suffield Sept. 22, 1810, died in Suffield Dec. 15, 1860, of whom there is a biographical sketch in "Bi-Centennial Anniversary of Suffield" Oct. 12, 1870, page 109. On the Registry or Voting List of the town of Suffield for 1903 there were fourteen persons bearing the name, Sikes. Her children were all by her first marriage and all born in Suffield. ISSUE: i. ELIZABETH SIKES, b. March 23, 1713. ii. MARY SIKES, b. Sept. 14, 1714; d. Aug. 9, 1715. iii. MARY SIKES, (again), b. Sept. 10, 1716. V. iv. SAMUEL SIKES, b. July 17, 1718; d. June 7, 1732. |