John Freeman

John, a son of Edmund Freeman of Sandwich, came over as a boy of eight on the Abigail, married Mercy, daughter of Gov. Thomas Prence, and became Major John Freeman of Eastham: deputy, selectman, Assistant from 1666, judge of Common Pleas 1692. His father-in-law's codicil of 28 Mar 1673 left him "Speeds Cronicle and Wilson's Dictionary and the abridgement; and Simpsons History of the Church and Newmans Concordance" (DG 2:360). In July 1674 the Indian Hoken, "a notoriouse theife," broke prison, stole a horse and "lyeth sherking and lurking about," and the Court ordered "Leiftenant Freeman or any other magistrate that can light off the said Hoken" to have him "sold or sent to Barbadoes."

King Philip's War. He had been lieutenant of the colony's troop of horse from 1659 until it was disbanded "by a general order June 1, 1675" (Soldiers in King Philip's War, p. 457). In the first summer of the war he led a Cape company to Taunton as its captain, and wrote to Gov. Winslow: "This morning three of our men are slain close by one of our courts of guard, (two of them, Samuel Atkins and John Knowles, of Eastham); houses are burned in our sight; our men are picked off at every bush. ... Eastham has, I think, not twenty good arms in it" (Freeman, History of Cape Cod 2:366-367n). In March 1676/7 two Wampanoag men tried for those killings were found "very suspisious" and sent "out of the country" (Records of the Colony of New Plymouth 5:224; see Joseph Bartlett), and in June 1678 Taunton was ordered to make a rate for "billetting Captaine Freemen and his men and theire horses ... and likewise to pay for beefe which was disposed off when Cap[t] Freeman was att youer towne ... for the releiffe of some of youer poor, whoe were in extreamyty" (PCR 5:263-264).

He was then "of the Colonial Council of War" (HCC 2:366n), and so perhaps among those who in August and September 1675 sent 112 people brought in to Plymouth, and 57 who had "come in to Sandwich in a submissiue way," into "servitude" by sale (PCR 5:173-174). On 4 Oct 1675 the General Court named "Generall Cudworth, Mr Constant Sonthworth, Capt Freeman, Mr Laythorp, and Mr Chettenden" a committee "to take an accoumpt of the charges arising by this p[re]sent warr" (PCR 5:175), with Isaac Chittenden of Scituate. On 29 Feb 1675/6 the council of war put him and Mark Snow on Eastham's council of war (PCR 5:186), the same order that named his brother Edmund Freeman Jr. for Sandwich and his brother-in-law Jeremiah Howes for Yarmouth. Among the colony's debts of about 1675/6 is "By Capt Freeman, for a gun, 01:00:00" (PCR 8:145). In March 1676/7 he distributed Eastham's share of "the contribution made by diuers Christians in Ireland" for those impoverished by the war: "Captaine Freeman" (PCR 5:222; Dawes-Gates 2:356-361). In 1733 a "John Freeman," probably he, was among the Eastham men granted land in Narragansett Township No. 7 (Gorham, Maine) for service in the war, with John Knowles and Samuel Atkins, killed at Taunton, and John Walker, killed with Pierce (Bodge p. 440).

Mercy died on 28 Sept 1711 "in the 81st year." His will (1716) freed "his negroes 'Tobye' and Bess, with the added gifts of four acres of land, a horse and a cow" (Dawes-Gates; Freeman Genealogy p. 29), and he died at Eastham on 28 Oct 1719.

Children (Dawes-Gates; NEHGR 20): John (d. young); John (1651-1721); Thomas (1653-1715/16); Patience; Hannah (m. John Mayo); Edmond (1657-1717); Mercy; William (c. 1660-1686/7); Prince (d. young); Nathaniel (1669-1760); Bennett.

Open questions

• The date of his letter from Taunton, printed "3 d., 4 mo., 1675": the original is in the Winslow papers.
• Whether the John Freeman of the 1733 grant was he or his son John.