Various spellings of Estey
Easte, Este, Estee, Estes, Estey, Esty
The settlement of New Meadows was incorporated as the Town of Topsfield in 1650. The church "gathered" on November 4, 1663. The third Meeting House was built in 1703 with Rev. Joseph Capen as pastor.
In 1688, during theGlorious Revolution, the Protestant king and queen,William and Mary, took the English throne from Catholic King James II. The bloodless revolution profoundly impacted the American colonies.
Joseph Estey was born February 5, 1657/58 in Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts. His parents were Isaac Estey and Mary Towne.
He married Jane Stewart on June 2, 1682. Anne was born in November, 1654. Her parents were Duncan Stewart and Anne Winehurst.
Joseph a was surveyor of highways in 1683.
Jane and Joseph's children were:
Isaac Estey (1683, died young),
Mary Estey (1684),
Joseph Estey (1688, married Experience Bennet),
Jacob Estey (1690, married Mehitable Porter),
Samuel Estey (1691, married Rebecca Hawes),
Elizabeth Estey Jackson (1692, married Samuel Jackson),
Edward Estey (1693, married Elizabeth Stearns),
Lydia Estey (1695),
John Estey (1697), and
Benjamin Estey (1701, married Sarah Chandler).
In 1692, his mother, Mary Towne Estey, became a victim of the Salem hysteria and was executed for witchcraft.
About 1705 the family moved to a new settlement in Dorchester, which is now known as Stoughton. He was one of the signers of the original covenant of the church where the Reverend John Davenport was minister. In 1706 he bought land from the indigenous people, some of which is now located in the town of Canton.
In 1712, when his father died, he only inherited half of his father's clothes because of
what I have already Done for him about building or in Cattle or in purchasing Land which hath been Considerable he shall have half of my wearing apparel at my Decease.
Joseph died on October 25, 1739 in Stoughton, Essex County, Massachusetts.
Old Style Calendar
Before 1752 the year began on Lady Day, March 25th,. Dates between January 1st and March 24th were at the end of the year. Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) are used to indicate whether the year has been adjusted. Often both dates are used.
Three daughters of William Towne and Joanna Blessing were wrongly accused of practicing witchcraft in Salem. Rebecca Towne Nurse, Mary Towne Estey, and Sarah Towne Bridges Cloyes were persecuted in 1692. The children of people in the line below are all descendants of Mary Estey.
Essex County, Massachusetts was created on May 10, 1643 by the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, when it ordered "that the whole plantation within this jurisdiction be divided into four sheires."
The town common (commons) was a small, open field at the center of the town which was jointly owned. It was used as a marketplace, a place for the militia to drill, or for grazing livestock.
