John Kneeland
A founder of the Scots' Charitable Society of Boston in 1657, whose subscribers gave "for the relief of ourselves, being Scottish men"; he was almost certainly born in Scotland, but his parents are unknown. Probably married by 1659 to Mary Hawkins, he had six children recorded at Boston between 1659 and 1673, among them John (b. 1668), who married Mary Green.
Life
- c. 1632Bornc. 2 Aug 1632
From the gravestone, "Aged 59 years & 9 days." Mollie's "in New England" is almost certainly wrong.
- by 1659Married Mary Hawkinsby 1659
Torrey, "Mary [HAWKINS], dau James; by 1659," at Boston.
compiledprobable - 1691Died
- —BuriedEliot Burying Ground, Roxbury, Massachusetts
Plot B79 (Find a Grave 53853652, via WikiTree Kneeland-163). Kneeland 1897 puts the stone "In the old burial ground at Roxbury."
Family
- Parents
- Spouse
- Mary Hawkinscompiledprobable
Pedigree
Notes
A founder of the Scots’ Charitable Society of Boston, 6 Jan 1657, whose subscribers gave “for the relief of ourselves, being Scottish men, or for any of the Scottish nation.” He was almost certainly born in Scotland, not in New England as Mollie has it. That he came as a prisoner from Dunbar (1650) or Worcester (1651) is possible but unproved; he is not in the OCR of the 1652 John and Sara list.
He came from Scotland to Boston by 1657. “Jno Kneeland” is on the list of Boston men who took the oath of allegiance in 1678 (Records of the Suffolk County Court 1671-1680, 2:967).
Children (Boston RC 9): Mary 1659, Hannah 1663, Mary 1666, John 1668, Solomon 1671 and Ruth 1673.
Kneeland 1897 (p. 49) quotes what it calls his “unsigned will, which was dated in 1684 and recorded in the Boston record of wills”: “I give my biggest gun and my cutlass to my eldest son, my best gun and my rapier to my youngest son.” It adds that the will made “an abortive attempt to leave to his brother, Bartholomew, his house and grounds near Sudbury.” No such record has been found, and the same book’s Scottish pedigree is unfounded, so this is unverified.
Savage (3:34) gives him no English or Scottish origin, no father Edward and no brother Bartholomew. Mollie’s pedigree, from S. F. Kneeland (1897), Anderson’s Scottish Nation and Burke’s Landed Gentry (1847), runs through the Clelands of that Ilk to Sir William Wallace, the Somervilles, the Hepburns of Bothwell, Stewart of Blantyre and James V. No record links the Boston Kneelands to the Clelands, and each step fails:
- Alexander Kneland, “Parson O’ Gowie,” and Margaret Wallace: Blind Harry’s uncle at Gowrie is unnamed and not a priest, and Kneeland admits the identification is his own deduction.
- James Kneland, Wallace’s “cusying”: Harry’s Kneland has no forename; one manuscript reads “Cleland.”
- William and Jean Somerville, 1462: garbled from Janet Somerville’s marriage to James, son and heir of William Cleland of that Ilk (Scots Peerage 8:9-11).
- Hepburn of Bonnytoun: no such child of the 1st Earl of Bothwell; the 4th Earl “had no legitimate issue.”
- Capt. John and Mary Dunbar, and John (b. c. 1575) and his mother Mary Dunbar arriving about 1630: no record.
- Mary Stewart, daughter of Walter, 1st Lord Blantyre: he had no daughter Mary; his sister Marion married William Cleland of that Ilk (Scots Peerage 2:81-85). The Blantyre Stewarts descend from Stewart of Dalswinton, not James V.
The 1897 book’s own author wrote: “Personally, I do not stand sponsor for the truth of all this ancestry.”
Open questions
- His origin and parents.
Mollie's typescript
Mollie tells of his unsigned will, which tried to leave his house near Sudbury to a brother and only his guns, cutlass and rapier to his sons; because it was unsigned, his widow and six children inherited everything.
In a will, unsigned, he made a peculiar attempt to deprive his family of their inheritance ... I give my biggest gun and my cutlass to my eldest son, my best gun and my rapier to my youngest son
p. 128 →He was a man of some importance in Boston, a founder of the Scots' Charitable Society in 1657 (Mollie has him born in New England, but he was almost certainly born in Scotland), and married Mary Hawkins.
It is evident that John Kneeland (13) was a man of importance in Boston as his name is often found in connection with public affairs. He was one of the founders of The Scots Charitable Society in 1657
p. 129 →
Checked against the records
- UnlikelyThe Kneelands descend from the Clelands of that Ilk
No record links John Kneeland of Boston to any Cleland family. The pedigree comes from Burke's Landed Gentry (1847) by way of S. F. Kneeland (1897), who wrote: "I do not stand sponsor for the truth of all this ancestry". Some links garble real Cleland marriages: Janet Somerville married James, son of William Cleland of that Ilk (Scots Peerage 8).
Read it in the book, p. 123 → - DisprovenAlexander Kneeland, the "Parson O' Gowie", married Wallace's aunt
Blind Harry sends young Wallace to an unnamed "agyt" uncle at Gowrie, not called a priest, and S. F. Kneeland admits that making him Alexander Kneland was his own deduction. In Harry, Adam Wallace is Wallace's cousin, "ayr off Ricardtoun", and Wallace's own seal of 1297 names his father Alan.
Read it in the book, p. 125 → - UnlikelyJames Kneeland, Wallace's cousin, is named in Blind Harry's poem
Harry's Wallace does name a "Kneland ... ner cusyng to Wallace", and one manuscript reads "Cleland". But Harry gives him no forename: "James", and his place as Alexander's son and a Kneeland ancestor, come from Burke and Anderson. A poem of the 1470s is not a record.
Read it in the book, p. 126 → - UnlikelyJohn and Edward Kneeland came about 1630 with their mother Mary Dunbar
No record of it has been found: not of the voyage, of a brother Edward, or of Mary Dunbar "of Dunbar Castle", who is in no Cleland genealogy. Savage gives John Kneeland of Boston no father and no brother Edward, and his place among "Scottish men" in 1657 suggests he came from Scotland himself.
Read it in the book, p. 128 → - DisprovenJohn Kneeland married Mary Stewart, Lord Blantyre's daughter, of James V's line
Walter Stewart, 1st Lord Blantyre, had sons James, William, Walter and John and daughters Anna and Jean, but no Mary (Scots Peerage 2:83-85). The real link is his sister Marion, who married William Cleland of that Ilk. The Blantyre Stewarts descend from Stewart of Dalswinton, not from James V.
Read it in the book, p. 128 → - DisprovenJohn Kneeland (b. 1632) was born in New England
Almost certainly not. In 1657 he was a founder of the Scots' Charitable Society of Boston, whose members gave "for the relief of ourselves, being Scottish men, or for any of the Scottish nation". His gravestone confirms the dates: "Aged 59 years & 9 days, died ye 11th of Aug. 1691".
Read it in the book, p. 128 → - ProvenJohn Kneeland was a founder of the Scots' Charitable Society in 1657
Confirmed. "John Kneeland" is in the founders' list of 6 Jan 1657, whose subscribers agreed to give "for the relief of ourselves, being Scottish men" (printed 1840). It is the best evidence that he was born in Scotland, not New England.
Read it in the book, p. 129 → - DisprovenJames Kneeland married a granddaughter of Patrick Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell
No "Hepburn of Bonnytoun" is among the 1st Earl of Bothwell's children in the Scots Peerage. Even if the marriage were real, it would be a descent from Patrick, 1st Earl (d. 1508), not from Mary Queen of Scots' husband, and no record ties any of it to the Boston Kneelands.
Read it in the book, p. 131 → - UnlikelyThe Kneelands descend from the 4th Earl of Bothwell
The Scots Peerage says the 4th Earl, husband of Mary Queen of Scots, "had no legitimate issue" and left "one natural son, named William Hepburne". No natural daughter is recorded, and Mollie cites only her own "lost notes".
Read it in the book, p. 132 → - DisprovenEvery ancestor came from Britain except one Dutch woman, Wybra Hanson
Broadly so, but not quite. Philip Delano, an ancestor through the Churchills not in Mollie's book, was baptized in the Walloon church at Leiden in 1603. The one Scot found is John Kneeland, and the Genns came by way of Virginia and Maryland.
Read it in the book, p. 187 →
Connections
- Small world