Melatiah Everett Dwight Kirbys of New England

Annotation

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. Another circumstance suggesting relationship between John and Richard Kirby is the fact that the former was at Plymouth Mass., in 1643, being then enrolled there as able to bear arms. At this time he was about twenty-one years of age, and supposing that he had accompanied Richard Kirby to Sandwich in 1637 as a member of the latter's family, he might naturally be found in 1643 at Plymouth, the principal town of the Old Colony. Since family names are sometimes family guides, it may be added that both Richard of Sandwich and John of Middletown had daugh ters named Sarah, and that their youngest daughters were named Abigail. Again, Richard had only two sons, one of whom was named after himself and the other received the Puritan name'of Recompense, but Richard, Jr., named his eldest son John, per haps after John of Middletown, whom, if indeed his uncle, he must have remembered, since Richard, Jr., was born before his father's removal to Sandwich. It is easy to give the reins to the imagination where one wishes to believe; and we should like to believe that John Kirby, the passenger of the Hopewell, aged 12 years, was brought by William Wood to his brother Richard Kirby of Lynn, where he became a member of Richard's family; that he removed with the same to Sandwich, where he resided until about 1643, when he removed to Plymouth, and shortly afterward sought his brother Joseph and the fertile lands of the Connecticut Valley at Hartford, Ct.