Surname Saturday ~ Parkhurst of Boston and Watertown, Massachusetts

Parkhurst / Parkis / Parkes / Parkisse / P’rust

Not all immigrants to the New World stayed here. Many went back and forth.  My ancestor Isaac Allerton  (1586 – 1659)made as many as five voyages back and forth to England.  Another ancestor, Rev. Thomas Mayhew (1621 – 1657), died on a trip back to England when his ship disappeared and he was never seen again. Another ancestor, Rev. Stephen Bachiler, went back to England to escape an unfaithful wife, and died there in 1656. The subject of this post, George Parkhurst (1588 – 1675), my 10^th great grandfather, also returned to England after living here in New England for more than 10 years.

No one knows exactly when George Parkhurst arrived in Massachusetts.  We don’t even know if his first wife, Pheobe, immigrated to Massachusetts.   His first record of owning property was 1642 in Watertown, when a highway was laid out near his house. In 1644 he married a second wife, Susanna, widow of John Stimson of Watertown.   

George had nine children with his first wife, Pheobe, and five more with his second wife.  Of his children,  Deborah, my 10^th great grandmother, married John Smith of Watertown and went to Martha’s Vineyard,  and Elizabeth, my 9^th great grandmother, married Emanuel Hilliard and lived in New Hampshire and then married second to Joseph Merry and went to Martha’s Vineyard, too.   The names of all the children were puzzled out by William H. Whitmore in an article in the NEHGS Register, Volume 27, pages 364-369 “The Dalton and Batcheller Pedigree”. 

On 23 May 1655 George petitioned the General Court for permission to return to England.  His second wife, Susanna had already gone back to England with six of her children (five from George).  George wanted to go back to aid his elderly wife.  He was about 67 years old.  A few weeks later, a deed was recorded on 13 June 1655 when he sold his land, his last record in New England.

It is thought that the “Old George Parkhurst” buried 18 June 1675 in Ipswich, England is my 10^th great grandfather.  He was probably living with his cousin Nathaniel Parkhurst, who was taxed there in 1674.

Some resources for George Parkhurst information:

Fifty Great Migration Colonists to New England & Their Origins, by John Brooks Threlfall, 1990, pages 256-288.

The New England Ancestry of Alice Everett Johnson, 1899 – 1986, by Willard Marshall Bollenback, Jr. , 2003, pages 275-276.

"The Family of George Parkhurst of Watertown and Boston, Mass.", by Edson Salisbury Jones, NEHGS Register, Volume 68, page 370 - 375.

Also,  The History of Martha’s Vineyard by Dr. Charles E. Banks, Volume II, pages 111 – 113.  You can also use the Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, and The Ancestry of Margaret Brooks Threfall, by John Threlfall, 1985.

My PARKHURST lineages:

Generation 1:  George Parkhurst, born about 1588 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England and died about 1675 in Ipswich, England;  married first about 1612 in England to Pheobe Leete; married second about 1644 in Watertown, Massachusetts to Susanna, widow of John Stimson.  Eleven children with Phoebe, five more with Susanna.  I descend from two daughters of Phoebe, Deborah and Elizabeth.

Lineage A:

Generation 2:  Deborah, born 1 August 1619 in Ipswich, England, died about 1686 on the island of Martha’s Vineyard; married about 1638 in Watertown to John Smith.  He was born about 1616 and died before 16 June 1674 in Edgartown, Massachusetts on the island of Martha’s Vineyard.  Five children.

Generation 3:  Deborah Smith m. Nathaniel Batchelder

Linage A1:

Generation 4: Nathaniel Batchelder m. Elizabeth Foss

Generation 5: Josiah Batchelder m. Sarah Page

Generation 6: David Batchelder m. Elizabeth Swett

Generation 7: Elisha Batchelder m. Sarah Lane

Generation 8: Jonathan Batchelder m. Nancy Thompson

Generation 9: George E. Batchelder m. Abigail M. Locke

Generation 10: George E. Batchelder m. Mary Katharine Emerson

Generation 11: Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 12: Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

Lineage A2:

Generation 4: Abigail Batchelder m. John Dearborn

Generation 5: Elizabeth Dearborn m. John Garland

Generation 6: Elizabeth Garland m. Richard Locke

Generation 7: Simon Locke m. Abigail Mace

Generation 8: Richard Locke m. Margaret Welch

Generation 9: Abigail M. Locke m. George E. Batchelder (see above)

Lineage B:

Generation 2: Elizabeth, born 18 May 1628 in Ipswich, England, died 6 October 1727 in Edgartown on the island of Martha’s Vineyard; married first to Emanuel Hilliard on 10 April 1640 in Watertown and had four children;  married second on 14 December 1659 in Hampton, New Hampshire to Joseph Merry. Four children.

Generation 3: Elizabeth Hilliard m. John Mayhew (son of Rev. Thomas Mayhew mentioned above)

Generation 4: John Mayhew m. Mehitable Higgins

Generation 5: John Mayhew m. Ruth Davis

Generation 6: Mary Mayhew m. Caleb Rand

Generation 7: Mary Rand m. Asahel Bill

Generation 8: Reverend Ingraham Ebenezer Bill m. Caleb Rand Bill

Generation 9: Isabella Lyons Bill m. Albert Munroe Wilkinson

Generation 10: Donald Munroe Wilkinson m. Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents)

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Published under a Creative Commons License
Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ Parkhurst of Boston and Watertown, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted October 31, 2015 ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/10/surname-saturday-parkhurst-of-boston.html : accessed [access date]).