Notes
Note N3 Index
ES [op. cit.], 5). Then, in 1725, he received another 50 acres of land from the Town (Bell, HISTORY OF EXETER [op. cit.], 141-143). At the same time (12 April 1725), his sons John, Jr., Joseph, Edward and Samuel received grants of land from the Town. As a result of these land purchases, John owned about 200 acres in Kingston, and another large holding of land (which, in his will, he called "My Swamp or Meadow Ground Laying upon the South Side of Exeter River").
We learn the names of John and Elizabeth's children (at least, those who were living on 2 March 1735/36) from John's will. In the will he speaks of sons John, Edward, Samuel and Joseph (whom he named as Executor, leading us to suspect that Joseph was the oldest), and daughters Elizabeth Moody, Mary Gadon [Gordon], Abigail Young, Susanna Mudget and Sarah Moody.
John and his son John Jr. are mentioned as part-purchasers of King's Falls Saw Mill in Exeter on 7 August 1723, along with Nathaniel Glidden, Henry Wadleigh, Daniel Ladd and others (N. H. Provincial Deeds, 14:179, quoted by G. W. Chamberlain in his book, THE DESCENDANTS OF CHARLES GLIDDEN OF PORTSMOUTH AND EXETER, NEW HAMPSHIRE [op. cit.], 77).
Of much interest is the fact that John and his siblings chose to change their name from Scriven to Scribner. While we have no recorded explanation of this name-change, we might advance some possible reasons, as follows:
One possibility is that, by continuing to be known as Scrivens, they would forever be linked to the legacy of the disgraced King Charles I, to whom their grandfather, Thomas, had given his loyalty and for whom he had given his life. Add to this the hatred they must have felt toward King Charles' son, Charles II, who was ruler of England when their brother, Edward, was taken from them and impressed into the English Navy, never to be heard from again.
Another possibility is that they did not want to be mistaken for the family of the Rev. William Scriven (1629-1713). Rev. Scriven (of no relation to John, that we know about) was a well-known Baptist minister in New England, especially Boston and Kittery, Maine. The prominent (indeed, state-sponsored) form of religion was Congregationalism, of which John and family were adherents. Therefore, Rev. Scriven and his followers left New England and moved to South Carolina, where they exercised an incredible formative influence upon Southern Baptists (Noyes, GENEALOGICAL DICTIONARY OF MAINE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE [op.cit.], 615).
Yet another possibility is that they strongly felt the need to establish a new identity in this new land of Colonial America.
Notes
Note N5 Index
It appears likely that Elizabeth died prior to 3 December 1724, which is when Samuel prepared his will. There is no mention of Elizabeth in it.
A question exists as to whether Samuel re-married following the death of Elizabeth. Even the chronicler of the Eastman Family, Guy S. Rix of Concord, New Hampshire, states (in his HISTORY AND GENEALOGY OF THE EASTMAN FAMILY IN AMERICA [Concord: The author, 1901],13) that Samuel's second marriage, on 17 September 1719, was to Sarah Fifield, who died in Kingston, NH, 3 August 1726. However, there are compelling reasons as to the inaccuracy of that assumption. First, Rix is confusing Shuah Fifield (the woman in question) with her mother, Sarah. Second, Samuel was born in 1657. Shuah Fifield was born in Kingston on 13 March 1702/03, the daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Sherburne) Fifield (Kingston Town Records, quoted by Kathleen Hosier in KINGSTON, NEW HAMPSHIRE, EARLY FAMILIES, PATRIOTS & SOLDIERS [op. cit.], 65). That makes Samuel 46 years older than Shuah. Third, Kingston Town Records record the marriage on 17 September 1719 of Shuah Fifield (who died 3 August 1726) and Samuel's son, Samuel Eastman, Jr. This is corroborated by David W. Hoyt in THE OLD FAMILIES OF SALISBURY AND AMESBURY, MASSACHUSETTS,1[op. cit.], 146. A fourth reason would be that, in his will, Samuel makes no mention of Shuah.
Notes
Note N6 Index
Thomas was a land owner, churchman and civil official who was highly regarded in each town where they lived. They were among the first settlers of Kingston. Following Thomas' death, Hannah married Charles Hunt of Kingston in 1729 (Noyes, GENEALOGICAL DICTIONARY OF MAINE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE [op. cit.], 363).
Notes
Note N7 Index
ELIZABETH'S PARENTS:
Her father, John, was born 26 August 1638 in Watertown, Massachusetts, the son of John and Abigail Cloyes (WATERTOWN RECORDS, 1 [Watertown, MA: The Historical Society of Watertown, 1984] 6). He was still a youngster when the family moved to Falmouth (Portland), Maine (William Willis, THE HISTORY OF PORTLAND FROM 1632 TO 1864 [Portland: Bailey & Noyes, 1865], 140). Other interesting information about the Cloyes family in Portland is found on page 173-174 of Willis' book. After a few years there, they then moved on to Charlestown, Massachusetts.
John Cloyes married (1) Mary Long in 1664 in Charlestown (Savage, A GENEALOGICAL DICTIONARY OF THE FIRST SETTLERS OF NEW ENGLAND, 1 [op.cit.], 412). She was born 24 February 1646/47 in Newbury, Massachusetts, the daughter of Deacon Robert and Alice (Stevens) Long (VITAL RECORDS OF NEWBURY, MASSACHUSETTS, 1 [op.cit.], 286; Savage, 3 [op.cit.], 109); Torrey, NEW ENGLAND MARRIAGES PRIOR TO 1700 [op.cit.], 471).
In 1681, John (then living in Wells, Maine, and apparently divorced from Mary Long) married his second wife, Mary Mills of Saco, Maine. She was born abt. 1652 in Wells, the daughter of Thomas and Mary (Wadleigh) Mills (Noyes, GENEALOGICAL DICTIONARY OF MAINE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE [op.cit.], 152, 483; Torrey [op.cit.], 163, 511). That same year, Thomas Mills deeded land to both John and his brother, Nathaniel (who had married Mary's sister, Sarah), referring to each one as his "beloved sonn in law" (YORK DEEDS, Book III [Portland, ME: John T. Hall and B. Thurston & Co., 1888], Folio 105).
It seems that Mary (Long) Cloyes married her second husband, Jonathan Griffin of Newbury, Massachusetts, 25 October 1676 (VITAL RECORDS OF SUDBURY, MASSACHUSETTS, TO 1850 [Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1903], 231).
John Cloyes was a ship's captain, sailing up and down the Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts coats, carrying cargo and passengers.