“Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists."
― Franklin D. Roosevelt
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."
Various spellings of Kimball:
Kemball, Kembolde, Kembold
Europeans who made the voyage to America faced a difficult journey of several months.
Abigail Kimball Severens was born before 1616 in Rattlesden, Suffolk County, England. Her parents were Richard Kimball and Ursula Scott.
She inherited 40 schillings from her grandfather, Henry Scott, which she would receive when she turned 21. He died in 1623.
Her parents immigrated to America in April, 1634 on the ship Elizabeth.
She married John Severens (Severance) in England. John was a planter, “victualler", and vinter. According to the History of Salisbury he was master of the ship George and brought a ship of emigrants to New England.
Their children included:
Samuel Severans (1637),
Ebenezer Severans (1639, married Sarah Grant),
Abigail Severans (1641, died young),
Abigail Severans (1643, married John Church),
Mary Severans (1645, married James Coffin),
John Severans (1647),
Joseph Severans (1649/50),
Elizabeth Severans (1652, died young),
Benjamin Severans (1654/55, married Elizabeth Lynch),
Ephraim Severans (1656, married Lydia Morrill),
unnamed daughter (1658), and
and Elizabeth Severans Eastman (1658 married Samuel Eastman).
They settled in Salisbury, Essex County, Massachusetts.
Their youngest child, Elizabeth Severans, married Samuel Eastman, of Salisbury in 1686. Her granddaughter, Abigail Eastman, was born on July 10, 1737, daughter of Thomas Eastman and Abigail French, married Ebenezer Webster, and was the mother of Daniel Webster, the statesman. (Genesis of the White Family, p. 216)
She died in Salisbury on June 17, 1675.
Her husband was remembered by her father in his will
To my son-in-law John Severns, I give ten pounds to be pay'd two yeares & halfe after my decease.
After she died John, married Susanna the widow of Henry Ambrose in 1663. John died on April 9, 1682.
Planter is an archaic term for a settler. Plantation was a method of colonization where settlers were "planted" abroad. A plantation is also the kind of large farm that was the economical basis of many American Colonies and owners of these farms were also called planters.
Rattlesden is a village in Suffolk in eastern England. St. Nicholas church dates from the 13th century. The village was a center of Puritanism in the 16th and 17th centuries.
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.
American colonists continued to use British monetary units, namely the pound, shilling and pence for which £1 (orli) equalled 20s and 1s equalled 12d. In 1792 the dollar was established as the basic unit of currency.
European and indiginous American fought fierce battles as the Europeans expanded their territory.
Lush forests in Colonial America allowed settlers to build wooden homes.
from Historic Homes and Places and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs, Volume 4
edited by William Richard Cutter
Samuel Eastman, son of Roger Eastman (i), was born in Salisbury, Massachusett, November 20, 1657, he died February 27, 1725. He married (first) Elizabeth Severance; (second), September 17, 1719, Sarah Fifield, who died August 3, 1726. He removed to Kingston, New Hampshire, where he had a grant of land in 1720.
Children, born in Salisbury:
i. Ruth, born March 5, 1687.
2. Elizabeth, December, 1689.
3. Mary, January 4, 1691.
4. Sarah, April 3, 1693.
5. Samuel, January 5, 1695.
6. Joseph, January, 1697.
7. Anna, May 22, 1700.
8. Ebenezer, January n, 1702.
9. Thomas, January 21, 1703,
10. Timothy, March 29, 1706.
11. Edward, March 30, 1708.
12. Benjamin, July 13, 1710.
from The History of Salisbury, New Hampshire by John Jacob Dearborn
John Severance married Abigail Kimball, at Ipswich, England. In 1635, as master of the ship George he brought over a load of emigrants for New England, and later settled at Salisbury, Mass.
