Surname Saturday ~ Buxton of Salem, Massachusetts

BUXTON

Anthony Buxton owned 30 acres near the Ipswich River
in what is now Danvers, Massachusetts*

Anthony Buxton was born in England about 1610, and can be found in Salem, Massachusetts by around 1637 when he was given five acres.  It is believed that he came to Massachusetts with his relative, William Vincent and William’s mother.  Governor Roger Conant wrote that “Anthony Bucstone” was William’s kinsman.   William Vincent/Vinson is my 9x Great Grandfather who eventually settled in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

In 1644 Anthony Buxton was given 30 acres near the Ipswich River, which was eventually willed to his son John Buxton. 

Anthony’s brother Thomas Buxton was in Salem by 1648.  In the Town Records of Salem, I:59,221 Anthony had to administer the estate of his brother Thomas, who died in 1654, and he was directed by the court to pay his children who lived in England, see the Town Records of Salem, I: 59, 221 and I:357, 373.

 

Anthony Buxton appears in the town records as member of grand juries and as witness against Quakers.  He was tythingman in 1678, and member of various committees to mend roads and bridges.  He appears in records witnessing wills and administering estates.   In the vital records of 1662 he lost two children in six days and in 1676 three more children.

Anthony died in 1684 and his will was proved on 29 July 1684.  His wife Elizabeth was administrix of the estate, and received his land and dwelling house.  He left his daughter  Elizabeth Cooke the part of the land her husband Isaac had worked.  The will names all his living children.  The final inventory of his estate was 238 pounds.  See the Probate Records of Essex County, 1:288, 390, II:422.  Anthony Buxton’s will was witnessed by Nathaniel Felton (my 9x Great Grandfather), Robert Fuller and William Osborn (my 9x Great Grand Uncle).   

An Elizabeth Buxton signed a testimonial approving of Rebecca Nurse’s character during the witch trials in 1692, and she was probably the widow of Anthony Buxton.

------------------

My Buxton genealogy:

Generation 1:  Anthony Buxton, born about 1610 in England and died 1684 in Salem, Massachusetts; married Elizabeth Unknown. Twelve children:

1. Lydia Buxton

2. Mary Buxton

3. Sarah Buxton

4. John Buxton, born about 1645

5. Anthony Buxton, born 6 September 1653, died May 1676

6.  Samuel Buxton, born 14 August 1655, died 24 Feb 1675

7. James, born 8 August 1659, died 15 October 1662

8. Thomas, born 24 February 1662, died 20 October 1662

9. Joseph, born 17 July 1663, married Hester Southwick

10. Hannah, born 27 January 1666; married David Foster

11. Rachel, born 27 January 1666, died 24 February 1675

12. Elizabeth (see below)

Generation 2:  Elizabeth Buxton, born about 1641; married on 3 May 1664 in Salem to Isaac Cook, son of Henry Cooke and Judith Birdsall.

Generation 3. Elizabeth Cook m. Robert Wilson

Generation 4. Isaac Wilson m. Mary Stone

Generation 5. Robert Wilson m. Elizabeth Southwick

Generation 6. Robert Wilson m. Sarah Felton

Generation 7. Robert Wilson m. Mary Southwick

Generation 8. Mercy F. Southwick m. Aaron Wilkinson

Generation 9. Robert Wilson Wilkinson m. Phebe Cross Munroe

Generation 10. Albert Munroe Wilkinson m. Isabella Lyons Bill

Generation 11. Donald Munroe Wilkinson m. Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents)

Sources:

New England Historical and Genealogical Register. New England Historic Genealogical Society. Vol. 103, p. 223

New England Marriages Prior to 1700. by Charles Almon Torrey,  Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1990.

History of Salem by Sidney Perley, Volume I, pages 450 - 451

 Essex Probate, 302:74-75

See also The Descendants of Anthony Buxton by John Osborn Buxton, Salem, Mass: 1936, manuscript at the New England Historic Genealogical Society  Mss C 3070  and Volume II, The Buxton Family: Descendants of Anthony Buxton and Elizabeth of Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony, New England, 1637 compiled by Beatrice F. Buxton, Madison, WI, 1985 (a revision of the genealogy by John O. Buxton).

*The photo above of the Ipswich River is from Wikimedia Commons, by Fletcher6, 2007-10-21, "The Ipswich River from Bradley Palmer State Park, Massachusetts" 

--------------------

Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo