The town of Ipswich was established on August 5, 1634, from common land called Agawam. On October 18, 1648, that portion called the "Village" at the New Meadows was set off as Topsfield. The boundary line between Ipswich and Topsfield was established, February 28, 1694.
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."
Moses Kimball was born in September, 1672 in Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts. He was the son of John and Mary Kimball. Reseachers differ on whether it was Mary Bradstreet or Mary Jordan. He was a tailor.
On March 28, 1696 his father sold him a house and orchard and an acre of land in Ipswich when he married Susannah. He was also given the
right to pasture three cows in the pasture of Richard Kimball, that was his father John's.
Their children included:
Moses Kimball (1697, married his cousin Mary, daughter of Joseph Kimball),
Ebenezer Kimball (1699, died age 22),
Susanna Kimball (1701, married William Sutton),
Ezekiel Kimball (1705),
Katherine Kimball (1706, married John Pindar),
Mary Kimball (married Daniel Smith),
John Kimball (about 1710, married Jane Beady),
Sarah Kimball (1713, married John Leatherland),
Joseph Kimball (1715, died age 15),
and Aaron Kimball (1718, married Sarah Rindge).
In 1721 their son, Ebenezer, died of smallpox during the severe outbreak that year.
He died suddenly in his tailor shop on January 23, 1749/50 when he was 77 years old.
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.
The Massachusetts Bay Company was a trading company chartered in 1629 to settle an English colony in New England. Puritan leaders saw it as a religious and political refuge. About 900 colonists arrived in 1630.
In 1721, Boston had a terrible smallpox epidemic. Citizens fled the city and spread the disease to the other colonies. Inoculation was introduced during this epidemic by Zabdiel Boylston and Cotton Mather.
Smallpox is caused by of two viruses: Variola major and Variola minor. Symptoms include a rash and blisters. The mortality rate for V. major is 30–35% and for V. minor is about 1%. Long-term complications include scars, blindness, and limb deformities.
from Genealogical and Personal Memoirs by William Richard Cutter
Moses Kimball, fifth son and eleventh child of John and Mary (Jordan) Kimball, was born in Ipswich, September, 1672, died suddenly in his shop, January 23, 1750.
He married, 1696, Susanna Goodhue, sister of his brother John's wife, and March 28, 1696, his father gave him,
in consideration of his marriage with Susanna Goodhue, the right to pasture three cows in the pasture of Richard Kimball, that was his father John's.
His father also gave him in 1696 a certain house, orchard and one acre of land on the road to Topsfield. By occupation Moses Kimball was a tailor, and lived in Ipswich where the railroad station at present stands. He dealt largely in real estate, and many transfers to and from him are recorded on the Salem records. Administration on his estate was granted to his son Moses, May 7, 1750.
His children, born in Ipswich, were:
1. Moses, born January 6, 1696-7, died July 29, 1793.
2. Ebenezer, born March 20, 1698-9, died December
3, 1721, of smallpox.
3. Susanna, born June 10, 1701 ; married, January 8, 1725, William Sutton.
4. Ezekiel, baptized July 1, 1705.
5. Katherine, born October 30, 1706; married, June 17, 1729, John Pindar.
6. Mary, married, October 4, 1729. Daniel Smith, of Exeter.
7. Sarah, baptized April 26, 1715; married, January 8, 1732, John Leatherland.
8. Joseph, born September 11, 1715, died December 30, l730.
9. John, marriage intention published October 12, 1745, Jane Beady.
10. Aaron
First printed in Boston 1745
The New England Meetinghouse was the only municipal building in a town. Both worship and civil meetings were held there. It was customary for men and women to sit separately and the town chose a committee once a year to assign seats according to what was paid, age, and dignity.
The rod or perch or pole is a surveyor's tool equal to 5 1⁄2 yards.
from Ipswich in the Massachusetts Bay Colony by Thomas Franklin Waters, Sarah Goodhue, John Wise, Ipswich Historical Society
John Kimball sold [a house lot] to Moses, his fourth son, on the occasion of his marriage with Susannah Goodhue, his house and orchard and an acre of land, March 28, 1696 (12: 8). It continued in the Kimball family. . . .Moses Kimball sold to his son, Moses, Jr., a small lot, about six and one half rods, abutting on Col. Appleton's line, May 1, 1728 (51: 62).