John PECK (1634 – 1667) was Alex’s 10th Great Grandfather, one of 2,048 in this generation of the Shaw line.

John Peck – Coat of Arms

John Peck was born in 1634 in Hingham, Norfolk, England.  His parents were Joseph PECK and Rebecca CLARKE.  He married Elizabeth HUNTING on 30 Dec 1658 in Rehoboth, Mass.  John died Dec 1667 in Rehoboth, Mass.

Several sources say that Elizabeth Hunting married Joseph Peck who was born  23 Aug 1623 in Hingham, Norfolk, England.  However, 35 is a little late to marry in those days.  John’s cousin Joseph Peck married Alice Heath 12 Sep 1650.  They also state that John/Joseph died 6 Feb 1708 in Rehoboth, Mass and had many more children.  It seems to me that several families are being mixed up, but I’m not sure exactly how.

Elizabeth Hunting was born in May 1634 in Hoxone, Suffolk, England.  Her parents were John HUNTING and Esther SEABORN.  Elizabeth died 9 Dec 1667 in Rehoboth, Mass.

Children of John and Elizabeth:

John moved with his family from Hingham, Massachusetts to Seekonk in 1645. He settled in the southwest part of Seekonk near what is now [1868] known as Luther’s Corners. Seekonk was incorporated in 1812 from the western half of Rehoboth.

Seekonk, Bristol, Mass.

When John was 21 years old, he was fined fifty shillings for making continuous sexual advances toward his family’s maid.  March 6, 1654/55 (GC Presentments by the Grand Inquest, PCR 3:75):

wee present John Pecke, of Rehobeth, for laciviouse carriages and vnchast in attempting the chastitie of his fathers maide seruant, to satisby his fleshly, beastly lust, and that many times for some yeares space, without any intent to marry her, but was alwaies resisted by the mayde, as he confesseth. [Fined fifty shillings.]

John was accepted as a freeman in 1658 and drew his proportion in the meadows on the north side of town. He was chosen one of the townsmen in 1680 and a representative to the General Court in 1700.

Seekonk is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, on the Rhode Island border. It was incorporated in 1812 from the western half of Rehoboth. The population was 13,722 at the 2010 census. Until 1862, the town of Seekonk also included what is now the City of East Providence, Rhode Island. The land in the western half of the town was given to Rhode Island by the United States Supreme Court as part of a longstanding boundary dispute with Massachusetts.

His will reads in part, “1st item. I give and bequeath to my daughter Ester WILMARTH … all that my lot of land in the easterly side of ye grand division…”

Sources:

http://www.genealogyofnewengland.com/b_p.htm

http://webspace.webring.com/people/lu/um_5939/fam00583.htm

http://webspace.webring.com/people/lu/um_5939/fam00587.htm