Tombstone Tuesday ~ Rev. John Fiske, founder, buried in Chelmsford, Massachusetts

This tombstone was photographed at the Forefather's Burial Ground in Chelmsford, Massachusetts

THIS CENOTAPH IS ERECTED

BY THE FISKE FAMILY

OF CHELMSFORD

TO THE MEMORY OF THE 

REV. JOHN FISKE

FIRST PASTOR OF CHELMSFORD

HE WAS BORN AT SOUTH 

ELMHAM, SUFFOLK CO, ENLGNAD

ABOUT THE YEAR 1606

IN 1637

HE CAME TO NEW ENGLAND

IN 1644 HE GATHERED A

CHURCH AT WENHAM, MASS

AND CONTINUED AS ITS PASTOR

UNITL 1656 WHEN HE REMOVED WITH

THE GREATER PART OF HIS CHURCH TO

CHELMSFORD

WHERE HE MINISTERED BOTH AS

PASTOR AND PHYSICIAN

GREATLY RESPECTED AND BELOVED

UNTIL HIS DEATH

JANUARY 14, 1676

AT THE AGE OF 70 YEARS

FISKE

Reverend John Fiske, son of John Fiske and Anne Lawter, was baptized on 20 March 1608 at St. James church in South Elmham, Suffolk, England.  He received a diploma in medicine from King's College at Cambridge in 1625.  He came to New England aboard the Mary Ann in 1637 with his wife, two sisters, mother and his brother William Fiske.  His first three children were born in Salem, and then he removed to nearby Wenham where he was ordained and became the first minister in 1644.  His daughter, Ann, my 8th great grandmother, was the first child baptized in Wenham in 1646.  Later, he removed to Chelmsford to be the first minister and founder of this new community.  

No other FISKEs are buried at the Forefather's Burial Ground in Chelmsford.

PDF file of a guide to Forefather's Burial Ground by Catherine Goodwin, http://www.chelmsfordgov.com/CHCwebsite/CHC_files/ForefathersCatherineGoodwin.pdf

My recent "Surname Saturday" post on FISKE and Rev. John Fiske:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/07/surname-saturday-fiske-of-salem-wenham.html

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday ~  Rev. John Fiske, founder, buried in Chelmsford, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 13, 2016,  (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/09/tombstone-tuesday-rev-john-fiske.html:  accessed [access date]).