Ninth Generation

432. John SACKETT was born about 1632 in Cambridge, MA. He died on 8 April 1719 at the age of 87 in Westfield, Hampden Co., MA.¹⁰⁰ He grew up on his mother's land in Springfield and in 1653 was granted land of his own there. Shortly after his marriage he sold his house and land at Springfield and removed to property he had purhcased at Northampton. He lived there until 1665, when he again sold out and went to a farm bought of Mr. Chapin, near Westfield, on what are now Sackett's Meadows. He was one of the first settlers of Westfield. He build a house and barn, destroyed the the Indians October 27, 1675. He built a mill on the side of a creek that ran into the Westfield River, which caused a law suit from the Deweys, who claimed that the erection of the mill backed up water on their grist mill. He appears to have been a man of considerable character and ability, taking time to serve as selectman of the town.

See Charles H. Weygant, "The Sacketts of America, Their Ancestors, and Descendants, 1630-1907" and "Family History of Southern NY, Vol I," CD 157, p. 42-43. John Sacket, son of Simon Sackett the colonist and Isabel Pearce, was born in Newtown (later Cambridge), Massachusetts, in 16321 and died at the then great age of 87 in Westfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts, on 8 April 1719.1,2 He married first at Northampton, Massachusetts, on 23 November 1659, Abigail Hannum, daughter of William Hannum and Honor Capen.2,3,4,5,6,7 Abigail was born in 16405,8 and baptized at Windsor, Connecticut, on 22 November 1640.5 She died in Westfield on 9 October 1690.2,5,9,10,11,12 He married second in Westfield on 15 January 1690/91, Sarah (Stiles) Stewart, daughter of John Stiles and Rachel (___) Stiles.2,9,13,14,15,16,17
John made his will in Westfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts, on 10 May 1718, naming as beneficiaries his wife Sarah, his son John, his daughters Hannah, Mary and Abigail, his grandson William Sacket,and the unnamed children of his sons William and Samuel. Unusually, he appointed as executor his grandson William, who was still a minor (he was about 18 at the date of the will). The witnesses to the will, who included the testator's grandson Joseph Sackett, referred the matter to the Probate Court which appointed John Sackett, the deceased's eldest son, as administrator of the will until William reached 21. The will was proved in the Probate Court at Springfield on 20 May 1719.
John's date and place of birth
Weygant's statement that John was "so far as known, the first white child born in Newtown" has not been proved, although the date of birth of 1632 is in accord with Riker (Annals of Newtown)18?which Weygant is known to have used as a source?who recorded that John died at the age of 87 in 1719. Anderson in The Great Migration19 gives John's date of birth as "say 1630". Since Anderson assumes the date of migration to have been 1632, he must have assumed that John was born in England. No birth or baptism record has been found in English records, although the absence of such a record could also be explained if his father had been a Church dissident.
Whatever the precise date of John's birth, he would have been a young boy when his father died in 1635 and he would have been brought up by his mother Isabel and her second husband William Bloomfield.
Annals of Newtown
Riker's18 reference to John is brief: "His [Simon the colonist's] sons Simon and John removed in 1653 to Springfield, on the Connecticut River, where they took the oath of fidelity, Mar. 23, 1656. John afterwards removed to Northampton, and thence to Westfield, where he d. in 1719, a. 87. His posterity have been numerous in Westfield and its vicinity, and are also found in western New-York."
History of Springfield
John Sacket appears in the Springfield records when he was granted land at Woronoco in 165820.
He was also listed on 23 December 1659 in the seating plan in the meeting house. John was placed, with others, in the ninth of ten allocated seats, indicating he was at this date fairly low in the Town's pecking order.21
History of Westfield
Lockwood, in his Westfield History22, includes numerous references to John Sacket:
p58. 11 Feb 1667. A town meeting orders that a gate be erected by Sacket's house.
p80. 12 Mar 1667. John Sackett's "five acres over the brooke."
p62. 16 Feb 1669. John Sacket is appointed one of three men to lay out grants of land.
p63. 23 Mar 1669/70. The three men are sacked for neglecting their duties and are replaced.
p72. Sackett's Brook was originally called "Tomhaumucke.
p86/7. Original allotment of land.
p91. In a short biography of John, Lockwood states that John was born in 1632, three years after Simon and Isabel came from England. This implies a migration in 1629.
p101. John is included in a list of settlers who have taken an oath of allegiance to the King.
p217/8. Autumn 1675. John's house and barn are burnt by the Indians.
p226-8. 15 Jan 1675/76. John Sacket, as Constable, writes with details of the expense of maintaining a garrison of soldiers.
p231. 26 Mar 1676. John Sacket is a co-signatory to a document setting out land improvements to be carried out by townsmen.
p179. 17 Aug 1684. John Sacket is a juror in a hearing into the death of Eleezer Weller. The jury finds that death was caused by suicide by hanging.
p183. Autumn 1685. John Sackett is sued for infringing the rights of a neighbour by setting a mill higher up the brook.
Abigail HANNUM and John SACKETT were married on 23 November 1659 in Northampton, Hampshire Co., MA.

433. Abigail HANNUM was born on 22 November 1640 in Hartford, Hartford Co., CT. She died on 9 October 1690 at the age of 49 in Westfield, Hampden Co., MA. She was buried in Mechanic St. Cemetery, Westfield, MA.

Children were: