Multiple Generations Repeating an Unusual Name
Joses Bucknam: 1641-1694
My eighth-great-grandfather Joses Bucknam had a rather
unusual first name. It was so unusual that many transcriptions of 17th
century records “correct” it to the far more common “Joseph”. Despite, or
perhaps because, of its distinctiveness, it was passed down through multiple
generations of Bucknam descendants.
Joses Bucknam was the first son of his father William
Bucknam’s second marriage. Joses’ mother, Sarah Knower, may have chosen the
name, which appears in certain translations of the Bible. Sarah Knower arrived
as part of the “Great Migration”, a fleet of eleven ships under the leadership
of Gov. Winthrop that brought hundreds of colonists to Massachusetts in 1630.
Sarah was aboard the same ship as the Rev. Jose or Joses Glover, who died on
the voyage. According to one family historian, “it is probable that it was
through this companionship, or possible relationship, that her son should bear
the singular name of Joses, which has been carried down through seven or more
generations.”
As soon as I read that passage, I had to see if I could find
those seven generations. I made it to the sixth generation, and consider that a
victory—each man I found carried both the Joses first name and the surname
Bucknam. There may be additional descendants who have the first name Joses but
have different surnames, being children of female descendants, but I chose not
to investigate this possibility. I simply followed the lineage down from the
original Joses Bucknam. Here’s what I found:
Generation 1:
Joses Bucknam 1641-1694. Eighth-Great-Grandfather
Joses Bucknam was born July 3, 1641 in Charlestown,
Massachusetts. His father, a carpenter and farmer, bought several parcels of
land and built up a successful farm business. Joses inherited part of this
property at his father’s death in 1679.
By that time, Joses had married two women. His first wife
was his cousin Hannah Knower. They had four children, including Joses Bucknam
Junior, born in 1666. Following Hannah’s death around 1672, Joses married
Judith Worth, who was twelve years his junior. They had an additional six
children.
Joses was known as Lt. Bucknam due to his service in King
Philip’s War in 1676. He was also a successful farmer who was able to leave his
numerous children healthy inheritances upon his death in August 1694. He was
only 53 years old at the time of his death.
Generation 2:
Joses Bucknam 1666-1741 Eighth-Great Uncle.
The first Joses' eldest son Joses Bucknam married Hannah Peabody of
Boxford, Massachusetts. In addition to farming, this second Joses became a
weaver and built a mill to weave cloth. The Malden mill was operated by three generations
of the family. He and Hannah had at least twelve children.
Generation 3: Joses
Bucknam 1692-1757. First Cousin 8x Removed
The eldest of those twelve children, a boy also named Joses
Bucknam, was born April 17, 1692. According to family records, he lived on an “estate”
inherited from his great-grandfather Knower, and was a deacon of the church and
a weaver like his father. He married Phebe Tuttle in 1713. They had ten
children, the eldest was a son named, of course, Joses. One of their daughters,
Sarah, also had a son she named Joses.
Generation 4:
Joses Bucknam 1714-1762. Second Cousin 7x Removed
Joses Bucknam the fourth was born in 1714. He apparently
married a Mary Sprague in 1743 in Malden. His death date is recorded as 1762,
but there is no further information. I can find no evidence that he had a son
named Joses.
Fifth Generation:
Joses Bucknam 1761-1835. 3rd Cousin 6x removed.
Fortunately, the son-less Joses had a brother named James
Bucknam, born 1725, who carried on the family tradition. James married Mary
Goddard. Their third son, born March 6, 1761, was named Joses Bucknam.
This Joses went on to serve in the American Revolution.
After serving as a soldier for four years, he had the misfortune to re-enlist
as a sailor. In 1781, he was aboard a 26-gun ship that was captured by the
British. He was hauled back to Britain and locked up in the Old Mill Prison,
where he spent the next year. He was released in a prisoner swap arranged by
Ben Franklin. Quite the exciting life. Thanks to the author of the Empty
Branches blog for her extensive research on this Joses’ fascinating war record.
Joses returned to his family, and a few years later he
married his distant cousin Abigail “Nabby” Hay (see family tree chart below,
also from Empty Branches blog) , and their first son, born February 16, 1793,
was named Joses Bucknam.
Sixth Generation:
Joses Bucknam 1793-approx. 1850. 4th Cousin 5x Removed
I found few records attached to the final Joses Bucknam.
He married Eliza Low on August 22, 1816 in Boston, Massachusetts. They
apparently had at least one daughter, Sarah, who married in Norfolk, Virginia.
There is no death record for Joses, although it appears he died prior to the
year 1850, and may have been living in Virginia. I found no evidence that he
had a son and was able to pass down his unique name to yet another generation.
Sources:
Genealogy and History
of the Representative Citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, by
George Lambert Gould. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/21584/images/dvm
Peabody Genealogy,
North American Family Histories 1500-2000, Ancestry.com
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