An American Family History

Rebecca Stanhope Hemenway was born on October 29, 1670 in Sudbury, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Her parents were Ensign Jonathan Stanhope, Sr. and Susannah Ayres.  

She married Deacon Joshua Hemenway on October 29, 1670 in Sudbury. Joshua was born on September 15, 1668 in Roxbury, Massachusetts. His parents were Joshua Hemenway and Joanna Evans.

Rebecca was Joshua's second wife. His children with his first wife, Margaret, were Beulah Hemenway (1691), Hephzibah Hemenway (1691), Benoni Hemenway (1694), and Beulah Hemenway (1694).  Margaret died on May 12, 1694.

Rebecca and Joshua’s children were Joshua Hemenway (April 2, 1697), Ralph Hemenway (October 7, 1699), Huldah Hemenway (September 30, 1708), Rebeckah Hemenway (1704), Phineas Hemenway (April 26, 1706), Ebenezer Hemenway (May 31, 1706), Ebenezer Hemenway (May 31, 1710), and Jonathan Hemenway (August 22, 1712). 

Joshua was one of the founders of the Second Church of Framingham and was in sympathy with the "Great Awakening." The First Great Awakening began in the 1730s and was an ecumenical movement where pastoral styles changed to elicit an emotional response from the congregation.

He died on May 20, 1760 in Framingham, Massachusetts during the Great Sickness along with Joshua, Jr. The great sickness epidemic of 1754 in Framingham may have been an outbreak of diptheria.

The Descendants of Major Samuel Lawrence of Groton, Massachusetts with Some Mention of Allied Families: With Some Mention of Allied Families by Robert Means Lawrence published by Riverside Press, 1904

[Hemenway] Joshua, who was baptized April 9, 1643, and who d. at Roxbury in 1716. Joshua m. (first), in 1668, Joanna Evans. He m. (second) Mary, who died in 1703, and his third wife was Elizabeth Weeks, who survived until 1737.

Their son Joshua was born Sept. 15, 1668. His first wife, Margaret, d. in 1694, and his second wife was Rebecca, by whom were most of his children. Joshua Hemenway, Jr., removed from Roxbury to Framingham in 1693. He was for many years a prominent man in the affairs of the church and town. His interest in religion led him to sympathize with the "Great Awakening," and he was one of the founders of the Second Church of Framingham.