John Kneeland
Builder, of Boston, where he was born in 1668, son of John Kneeland and his wife Mary, probably Mary Hawkins. He married Mary Green, with whom he had children from 1692, and was probably the father of Rachel Kneeland, who married Samuel Foster.
Life
- 1668Born29 Nov 1668, Boston, Massachusetts
"John of John & Mary Kneeland born Nov. 29" (RC 9). Savage misprints it as 9 Nov.
documentedproven - 1740Died5 Aug 1740
Aged 72 (Kneeland 1897, p. 50). Administration 1740, Suffolk Probate no. 7389 (unread).
Family
- Father
- John Kneelanddocumentedproven
- Mother
- Mary Hawkins
The birth record names his mother Mary; that she was Mary Hawkins is from Torrey.
- Spouse
1 child
Pedigree
Notes
Builder, of Boston. Kneeland 1897 (p. 51): “In some deeds he was described as ‘bricklayer,’ in some, under the more pretentious title of ‘builder.’” Kneeland says he learned the trade from his uncle James Hawkins; his grandfather James Hawkins was also a bricklayer.
He was the father of Samuel Kneeland, the printer, and of John Kneeland (1694-1774), a builder after whom, Kneeland says, Kneeland Street and Kneeland’s Wharf were named (pp. 51-52).
Kneeland (p. 52) says he built the Old South Meeting House, and Mollie repeats it (p. 129). It is not supported: the 1729-30 building was the work of the mason Joshua Blanchard (cornerstone “JB 1729”) to a design by Robert Twelves (Old South Meeting House study report, 2025).
Open questions
- His administration (no. 7389), which may name his daughter Rachel.
Mollie's typescript
Mollie calls him "the builder of Boston," crediting him with the Old South Meeting House (not supported), the Hancock house and the old court house and jail, and says he inherited the family Bible printed in 1576.
John Kneeland (14) eldest son of John (13), was the"builder" of Boston. He built the Old South Metting House ... He also built the John Hancock House, the old Court House and Jail in Boston.
p. 129 →He married Mary Green, granddaughter of Samuel Green the Cambridge printer; Kneeland Street in Boston was named for his son John.
John Kneeland (14) married Mary Green a daughter of Samuel Green Jr. , and granddaughter of Samuel Green the old Cambridge printer
p. 130 →
Checked against the records
- DisprovenJohn Kneeland (b. 1668) built the Old South Meeting House
The Old South Meeting House of 1729-30 was built by the mason Joshua Blanchard (cornerstone "JB 1729") to a design by Robert Twelves (Boston's Old South Meeting House study report). Nothing found supports a Kneeland as its builder.
Read it in the book, p. 129 → - UnlikelyMary Green was a daughter of Samuel Green Jr., the printer's son
Unproven, and the dates are against it: Samuel Green Jr. married in Nov 1685, too late for a daughter who married by 1692. Savage's Mary, born 1669 to the printer Samuel Green Sr., fits better. The printer worked at Cambridge, Massachusetts, not in England, and his great work was the Indian Bible.
Read it in the book, p. 130 →
Connections
- Famous kin
- Samuel Kneeland
Boston printer
Samuel Kneeland is the 6x great-granduncle of the centre of this tree: the brother of her 6x great-grandmother, Rachel Kneeland.
- Samuel Kneeland
- In his ancestry
- 1 notable connection →
Every notable ancestor and famous relative that John's own ancestors lead to, with the lines drawn down to him.
- Small world