Ancestral Glimpses » Capt. John Sanford (1633-1687)

Personal data Capt. John Sanford 

• He was born on June 4, 1633 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British America.
• (TITL) : Captain.
• He died on January 25, 1687 in East Greenwich, Washington County, Rhode Island, British America, he was 53 years old.
• A child of John Sanford and Elizabeth Webb
• This information was last updated on February 20, 2014.

Household of Capt. John Sanford

(1) He is married to Mary Gorton.

They got married on April 11, 1663, he was 29 years old.

Child(ren):

1. Mary Sanford  1664-1748 
2. Eliphalet Sanford  1666-????
3. John Sanford  1672-???? 
4. Samuel Sanford  1677-???? 

(2) He is married to Elizabeth Sparhurst.

They got married on August 8, 1654 at Portsmouth, Newport County, Rhode Island, British America, he was 21 years old.

Child(ren):

1. Elizabeth Sanford  1655-????
2. Mary Sanford  1656-????
3. Susanna Sanford  1658-????
4. Rebecca Sanford  1660-????

Notes about Capt. John Sanford

559. Vital Record of Rhode Island, 1636-1850. (Online database: NewEnglandAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2002), (Orig. Pub. Narragansett Historical Publishing Company Providence, RI. James N. Arnold, Vital records of Rhode Island 1636-1850: First Series: births, marriages and deaths: a family register for the people, 21 vols., 1891). (27 Apr 2003).

Source: http://www.gustafsonfam.com/genealogy/wc05/wc05_352.html
Found: 25-May-2003

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"John, b. 4 June; bapt. 26:4 mo:1633. [baptized at First Church in Boston]." [565]

He was also said to be christened 24 June 1632. [5]

"John, Portsbouth, R.I. eldest s. of the first John, m. 17 Apr. 1663, Mary, d. of Samuel Gorton, wid. of Peter Greene, as is thot. by wh. he had Mary, b. 3 March. foll.; Eliphal, 20 Feb/ 1656' Kpjm. 18 June 1670; and Samuel, 5 Oct. 1677; but he had been adm. freem. 1653, and m. 8 Aug. 1654, Eliz. eldest d. of Henry Spatchurst of Bermuda, wh. d. 6 Dec. 1660, and had, as the Portsmouth rec. tells, Eliz. b. 11 July 1655; Mary, 18 aug. 1656; Susanna, 31 July 1658; and Rebecca, 23 June 1660." [5]

"John Sanford Jr. was a large landowner and very prominent in the Portsmouth Colony. He was a large raiser of horses and sheep and shipped horses and wool to his brother Peleg in the Barbados. He was made a freeman 17 May 1653 and in 1655 was a juryman from Portsmouth to the Court of General Trials. On 4 June 1655 he became Chief Magistrate at Portsmouth and became General Treasurer of the Colony from 1655 to 1664, also Deputy from Portsmouth to the General Assembly. John Jr. was a Royalist and was appointed to Sir Edmund Andros' Council but never served. In his later years he moved to East Greenwich where he died intestate. He left a personal estate, exclusive of lands and housing of 90 pounds. An inventory of his estate is on file at the Mass. State Archives at the State House, Boston. John Sanford Jr. used an armorial seal which appears on Portsmouth documents.[155, pg. 2]

"A True Inventory of the Personal Estate of Capt John Sanford who Deceased the 25th of January 1686/7 Taken by us Whose hands are hereunto subscribed and valued According to New England money. [Full inventory to be entered] . . .The Above Written is a True Inventory of all the personall or moveable Estate of the abovesaid Deceased Capt John Sanford as was presented unto us by his Widow Mary Sanford and prised according to the best of our underStandinge as Wittness our hands The 19th Day of September: 1687:
Caleb Arnold
John Anthony
[Mass. Archives, Vol. 127: p. 115.]

[The above document discloses the hitherto unpublished date of death of Capt. John (2) Sanford, which occurred without doubt at Portsmouth, R.I., of which town he and the two appraisers named were all residents. Capt. John (2) Sanford, born June 4, 1633, at Boston, was son of John (1) Sanford by his first wife, Elizabeth Webb. John (1) Sanford married, second, Bridget Hutchinson and left Boston for Rhode Island as a result of the Ann Hutchinson controversy. The inventory is by itself in the Archives with no indication as to how it came to be placed there." [571]

His birth is also listed as 4 June 1632.[156]

"Freeman, May 17, 1653; General Treasurer 1655-'64, Commissioner 1656-'63, General Recorder 16 years between 1656-'86, Attorney General '63, '64, '70, '71; Deputy 16 years between '64 and '86, Assistant '64, '65 and '80. Aug. 10, '67, he enlisted a troop of horse. May 7, '73, on Committees to treat with the Indian Sachems; Apr. 4, '76, he and three others appointed to take the census of R.I., and on committee to have care of a barrel of powder for Portsmouth, and see tht two guns now in Yard of Wm. Brenton, deceased, be placed in Portsmouth, one on Ferry neck, and the other near the house of John Borden. Oct. 31, '77, he and 47 others were granted 5,000 acres, to be called East Greenwich, Dec 22, '86, apprized of his appointment by Sir Edmond Andros as member of his council."[156]

"He was named a freeman 17 May 1653, general treasurer 1655, and was appointed a member of the Council of Sir Edmund Andros by Andros himself."[149]

"Further confirmation of toleration came from John Sanford, clerk of the Rhode Island assembly, when he informed Governor John Endecott of Massachusetts and the Commissioners of the United Colonies in March 1658 that Rhode Island intended to continue to comply with charter provisions requiring freedom of conscience in the colony." [452]

"Captain John was a large landed proprietor at Portsmouth and was very prominent in the affairs of the Colony. The Sanford Papers show that he was a large raiser of orses and sheep and shipped horses and wool through his brother Peleg, the Newport merchant, to Barbados, and was a precurser of the famous Narragansett Planters of the next century. On 17 may 1653 he was made a Freeman of the Colony (Austin, op. cit.). On 5 May 1655 Mr. John Sanford was chosen a juryman from Portsmouth for the Court of General Trials at Providence (Portsmouth town Records, p. 67) and he was on the list of the Colony Freemen that year (Rhode Island Colony Records, vol. I, p. 300). On 4 June 1655 he was chosen Chief Magistrate at Portsmouth (Portsmouth Town Records, p. 68). On 9 may 1660 he was a member of the Portsmouth Town Council and again on 3 June 1661 (ib., pp. 93, 105). On 5 Jan. 1660/1 he was one of the Portsmouth men to runthe line between Portsmouth and Newport (ib., p. 99). On 24 June 1663 he was Moderator of the ortsmouth town Meeting (ib., p. 120). On 4 June 1666 Capt. John Sanford was again a member of the Portsmouth Town Council (ib., p. 134) and also on 6 June 1670 9ib., p. 152) and 5 June 1671 (ib., p. 161). On 3 June 1672 he was chosen the Town Clerk of Portsmouth (ib., p. 169), and was mentioned the previous year on 4 June 1671 as Town Clerk (ib., p. 163). He was frequently rate maker at Portsmouth, was constanting serving on the Town Council and in various town offices (ib. passim)." [565]

"His services to the Colony were of like importance. In Oct. 1664 he was appointed by the General Assembly on a Committee to revise the Colony Laws (Rhode Island Records, vol. II, p.64). from 1655-1664 he was General Treasurer and from 1656-1662-63 a Commissioner. He was General Recorder or Secretary of State, 1656-61, 1666-69, 1671-85. From 1663-64 and 1670-71 he was Attorney General and in 1664-66, 1668-74, 1677-78, 1681-83 and in 1686 he was the Deputy from Portsmouth to the General Assembly. In 1664-65 and 1680 he was a member of the Court of Assistants. On 10 Aug. 1667, at the time of the Dutch War, he enlisted and was Captein of a troop of horse. On 7 May 1673 he was on a Committee to treat with the Indian Sacems, Mawsup and ninecraft of the Narragansetts and Niantics, Philip of Mount Hope, Wetamo, Squaw Sachem of Pocaset and Awashunks of Sakonnet, to prevent drunkenness among the Indians. On 5 May 1674 he was chosen clerk of the General Assembly. On 4 April 1676, during Philip's War, he was appointed to take an account of the inhabitants of the Island and of the powder and shot available and to see to the placing of two great guns in Portsmouth. On 31 Oct. 1677 he and others were granted five thousand acres in the Narragansett Country to be called East Greenwich. (rhode Island Colonial Records, vol. II, passim.) He appears to have belonged to the royalist Party in the Colony, as, on the abrogation of the Charter and the appointment of Sir Edmund Andros aas governor General of New England, he was appointed on 22 Dec. 1686 a member of his Council, and summoned to a meeting in Boston (cf. Austin, op. cit.). He died soon after and the Inventory of his estate is on file among the Massachusetts State Archives at the State House in Boston. It was dated 19 Sept. 1687. It is there stated that he died (at East Greenwidh) on 25 Jan. 1686/7 (Register, vol. 56, p. 294). Capt. John Sanford used an armorial seal, which appears on Portsmouth documents, i.e. ermine on a chief gules two boars heads couped gold. These arms appear on tombstones of the family at Newport in the next century." [565]

"At a Meetinge of the ffree inhabitants of portsmoth Aprill the 25th 1666 . .
Deputies yt day Chosen . .
mr John Sanford" [781]

"Vpon A day of Election of Officers for ye Towne of Portsmoth June the fforth 1666 . .
The towne Counsell Chosen for yt yeare . .
Capt John Sanford second" [781]

"Vpon A day of Election of Officers for ye Towne of Portsmoth June the fforth 1666 . .
Seruayors of Cattell . . .
Capt John Sanford . . .Chosen Seruaiors for that yeare" [781]

Portsmouth: "Augvst ye 27th 1666 . . .
Deputies Chosen . . .
1 mr John Sanford" [781]

"At a Meetinge of the free inhabitants of portsmoth october ye 19th 1666 . . .
Deputeies Chosen for ye Genrall Court . . .
2 Capt John Sanford" [781]

"At a Meetinge of ye free inhabitants of the Towne of portsmoth Aprill ye 23d 1667 . . .
Deputies Chosen for searues in ye Genorall assembly . . .
that mr John Sanford william Wodell Lefftenant John Albro Thomas Cooke Senyor John tripp Senyor mr william Almy william Hall which seuen men and some others that these 7 men may advise with all to Consider of a way to preuent the distruction of wood and timbar in the Comons of this towneship and to Rip [ ] a way of edres and to present there thoughts to ye Next towne meetings." [781]

"Att a Meetinge of ye ffree inhabittants of ye Towne of portsmoth Jun ye 3d 1667 . . .
The Towne Counsell Cosen
for ye yeare inshuinge . . .
Capt John Sanford - Ingaged all . . .
mr John Sanford
mr John Tripp Senyor are Chosen Suruayors of Chattell for yt yeare inshuinge . . . " [781]

"At a Meetinge of the free inhabitants of the Towne of Portsmoth aprill ye 28th 1668 . .
Deputies Chozen . . .
4 Capt John Sanford . . . Deputies for the Next Genrall Court" [781]

"At A Meetinge of the ffree Inhabitants of the Towne of portsmouth, Held the 26 of Aprill 1671 . . .
John Sanford Chossen Deputies to Serve at the next Genrl Asemblies to be held at Newport on the 2 & 3 daies of May next." [781]

At a Meetinge of the ffree-Inhabitants of the Towne of portsmo on their Election Day beinge munday June the 3d 1672 . .
John Sanford Chossen Towne Clerke. Engaged. . .
John Sanford Chosen Survayers for Catle." [781]

'To the Honble Thomas Hutchinson Esqr. Lieut. Govr. of the Province of the Massachussets Bay in Boston.
Newport Decemr. the 22nd. 1769
Sr.
Soon after I sent my Letter to the Post office last Fryday Mr. Irish returned and informed me that he had been up where the Book was lodg'd And that the People told him it was some Time before carried over to Little Compton by one of the Sanford Famil. He has since got the Book and brought it to me And I have examined it . . in the Beginning of the Book in a List of the first John Sanfords Children a copy of which is on the other Side of this half sheet. Next to the List is a Copy of the first John Sanfords Will & Inventory of his Estate & then a Geneoligy or List of the Descendants of the second John Sanford down to the year 1711. His grandson John Sanford (who is his Heir at Law) is nowliving at Bristoll about 75 years of Age whose Daughter Mr. Irish Married. . .
Your very humble servt.
Josias Lyndon."[571]

"The Honble Thomas Hutchinson Esqr.
A true Copy of the Days of the Birth of my self and my Brothers and Sisters taken from my fathers own Register.
John Sanford born the 4 of June 1633 Boston. . .
The List of which the above is a Copy is in the above named John Sanfords own Hand Writing I am well acquainted with his Hand Writing as he was General Recorder of this Colony or some years and [there is] a great deal of his Writing in our Records.
Yrs
J.L.

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Timeline Capt. John Sanford

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