Ancestors

John French

Farmer of Billerica, corporal in the town militia, and father of the Mary French who married Nathan Shed. He was born at Cambridge about 1635, the eldest son of Lieutenant William French, and came out to the new plantation on the Shawshin as a young man when his father took a share of the Dudley farm there.

He lived south of Fox hill, on the east road. Hazen's register says plainly that he was often in the town's service, which in a Massachusetts frontier town of that period meant everything from fence viewing to marching.

He buried three wives. Abigail Coggan of Barnstable, married in 1659, died in 1662 at about twenty four. Hannah Burridge of Charlestown, married three months later, died in 1667 at twenty three. Mary Rogers, married in January 1667/8, was the mother of his daughter Mary and died in June 1677. His fourth wife, Mary Kittredge, a widow he married seven months after that, outlived him by seven years. Four marriages, four households, and children spread across nearly thirty years of the Billerica birth register. He died in October 1712.

If John French is in your family, start your own tree.

Cite: Heirology, "John French (1635-1712)", https://heirology.com/ancestors/john-french-1635-1712-afc11c.