STEBBINS AND ALEXANDER LINES

The STEBBING family is of great antiquity in England; the oldest branch resided in Yorkshire and is descended from Sir Thomas STEBBING, baronet.

The family name was, and still is in England, STEBBING. The termination " ing" in the name may be of Saxon origin, and the name may refer to a field or meadow with stubs in it.

There are various forms which the family name took: in the town records of Northampton we can find STEBIN, STEBBING, and especially STEBBINS. In Canada the name was given as STEBEN or STEBENNE. All refer to the same familv.

NOTE: Dates relative to persons and events in New England are given in Old Style(O.S.). The corresponding date in New Style(N.S.) is obtained by adding 10 days until February 28, 1699/1700, and ll days thereafter. The New Style was adopted by England and her colonies only on September 3, 1752.

The first STEBBINS that I have been able to find mention of was William STEBBINS [our # 7296 & 14432], born in 1540. He had a son, Thomas STEBBINS [our #3648 & 7216}, born around 1565. We do not know the name of his wife, but he had two sons:

1) Rowland STEBBINS, [our # 1824 & 3608], born November 5, 1592.

2) Martin STEBBINS, born April 28, 1594.

Rowland STEBBINS I [our #1824 & 3608], was baptized in St. Mary's church, Bocking, Essex County, November 5, 1592. In the same church in Bocking, on November 30, 1618, he married Sarah WHITING [our # 1825 & 3609], born in 1591.

On the last day of April, 1634, Rowland STEBBINS embarked for America aboard the Francis, under Captain John CUTTING, from Ipswich, England. With him were his wife Sarah, their children: Thomas, aged 14; Sarah. aged 11; John, aged 8 [our # 912 &1804], Elizabeth, aged 6. An earlier daughter called Elizabeth had been buried on June 15, 1625. They also had with them Mary WINCHE, aged 15. It is unknown if she was related to STEBBINS.

The group cleared customs only on November 12, 1634. Rowland STEBBINS settled first in Roxbury near Boston. In 1639 he moved to Springfield (settled only 3 years before by William PYNCHON ), where he obtained a land settlement. About 1668 he was one of the pioneers of Northampton, MA. Sarah, his wife of 31 years, died in Springfield on October 4, 1649, at the age of 58. Rowland died in Northampton on December 14, 1671, aged 78.

FIRST GENERATION IN AMERICA

As I just mentioned, Rowland STEBBINS and Sarah had two sons and two daughters:

1) Thomas STEBBINS born in England around 1620. He became a militia lieutenant. InNovember. 1645 he married Hannah WRIGHT, daughter of Deacon Samuel WRIGHT and his wife Margaret. Hannah died on December 16, 1660. On December 14, 1676 at Springfield, Thomas remarried to Abigail BURT. Daughter of Henry and Ulalia BURT and already a double widow (of Francis BALL and of Benjamin MUNN). He was the father of 9 children. On September 24, 1653, he was a witness of the signing of the Indian Deed of Northampton, one year before Northampton began to be settled. He was a witness at the witchcraft slander trial of Sarah Bridgman in Springfield, in August 1656. He was a juryman on March 29, 1659, at Springfield. and again on March 24. l661 at Northampton. He died in Springfield on September 25 (N.S.), 1683.

2) Sarah STEBBINS, born in England around 1623. On July 14, 1639, she married Thomas MERRICK, in Springfield. They had 5 children. Sarah died in Springfield on October 4, 1649, and her husband Thomas died September 7, 1704. in Springfield.

3) John STEBBINS I [our # 912 & 1804], see below.

4) Elizabeth STEBBINS, born in England around 1628. On January 2,

1646/7, in Springfield, she married John CLARK. 'They had four children, and she died in Springfield on October 28, 1700.

John STEBBINS II [our #912 & 1804], was born in England, around 1626. He was in Roxbury in 1651, and in that same year bought a house in Springfield. He was one of the first landowners of Pocumtuck (the original name of Deerfield) but never seems to have resided there. Rather, he settled in Northampton in 1656 and lived at the lower end of Pudding Lane, which is now Hawley Street. He was a large farmer and owned real estate valued between 400 and 500 pounds. His saw mill was within the bounds of Easthampton. I will have more to say about him once I have dealt with his marriages and children.

FIRST MARRIAGE OF JOHN STEBBINS I

He married for the first time on May 14, 1646, to Ann [our 913 & 1605], widow of Abraham MUNDEN. and the dauahter of Thomas MUNSON of Hartford. They had 5 children:

A) John STEBBINS II [our # 456 & 902], born in Springfield on January 28, 1647. We will deal with him later.

B) Thomas STEBBINS, born in Springfield on February 24, 1649. He died there April 24, 1650, just a bit more than 1 year old.

C) Anna STEBBINS, born in Springfield on April 10, 1651, and died there on May 6, 1652 or 1653.

D) Edward STEBBINS, born in Springfield July 12, l653, and died there October 14 of the same year.

E) Benoni STEBBINS. born in Springfield, June 23, 1655. In 1676, at Deerfield, he married Mary BROUGHTON, the widow of James BENNET. Mary died at Deerfield on August 2, 1689. Benoni remarried. on March 2, 1691, to Hannah ATKISSON, widow of Joseph EDWARDS. By both marriages he had 8 children. Benoni was killed on February 29, 1704, during the Deerfield massacre. He is one of the ancestors of Father Philip BONVOULOIR, A.A.

Ann (MUNSON), the first wife of John STEBBINS I, died in Springfield in 1656.

SECOND MARRIAGE OF JOHN STEBBINS I

John STEBBINS I remarried, in Northampton, on December 17, 1657, to Abigail BARTLETT, born probably in Hartford CT, the dauahter of Robert and Anne BARTLETT. John and Abigail had 11 children, all born in Northampton, and making JOHN STEBBINS I the father of 16 children:

F) Samuel STEBBINS, born at Northampton on Januarv 21, 1659. On March 14, 1678, he married Mary FRENCH, daughter of John FRENCH and ? KINGSLEY. He deserted her, and on March 12, 1692 married Sarah WILLIAMS, in Rhode Island. On December 27, 1692, Mary FRENCH obtained a divorce on the grounds that her husband had had children by Sarah WILLIAMS.

G) ABIGAIL STEBBINS, born September 6, 1660, at Northampton. Married William PHELPS there on May 30,l678.

H) Thomas STEBBINS, born in Northampton ,on May 6, 1662. On September 26, 1684 he married Elizabeth WRIGHT, daughter of Samuel WRIGHT and Elizabeth BURT.

I) Hannah STEBBINS, born July 8, 1664, in Northampton. She married John SHELTON; son of Isaac SHELTON and Mary WOODFORD on November 15, 1679. She died on Februarv 29, 1704, in the Deerfield massacre. Stout resistance had been made at the house of Captain SHELTON, and Indians shot her through a hole chopped in the door of her house. The door is now on display in the small museum in Deerfield.

J) Marv STEBBINS, born in Northampton on September 10, 1666. Married Thomas STRONG there on November 17. 1683.

K) Sarah STEBBINS. born in Northampton on June 4, 1668. Married there to William SOUTHWELL in 1687.

L) Joseph STEBBINS, born in Northampton, on January 17, 1670. Buried there on June 3, 1681.

M) Deborah STEBBINS, born in Northampton, March 5, 1672. Married first to Beniamin ALVORD. Remarried to Benjamin BURT.

N) Beniamin STEBBINS, baptized May 3, 1674, in Northampton. Married Mary ASHLEY, daughter of David ASHLEY and Hannah GLOVER, on December 21, 1709.

O) Rebecca STEBBINS, baptized February 26, 1676. in Northampton. In 1697 she married Nathaniel STRONG.

P) Thankful STEBBINS. born May 11, 1678, in Northampton. Married Jeriah STRONG on July 18. 1700.

Returning as I promised above, to John STEBBINS I. I mentioned that in 1651 he bought a house in Springfield. He must have been a public spirited man because in 1654 he was a selectman and served on various committees: land survey (1659), laying out of public highways (166l), building of a new meeting house (1661). He served as juror in 1661, and was chosen bailiff responsible for clearing cattle and swine from public meadows. On April 18, 1661, he signed a covenant organizing the church of Northampton. He was also keeper of the sawmill. the place where he eventually died on March 9, 1679. He was apparently killed by some runaway logs, but the suddenness of his death seemed suspicious to some of his neighbors.

A twelve man jury of inquest rendered a verdict, which, while it did not directly charge witchcraft, showed that they more than half believed it had something to do with his death. Two examinations were of the remains and two reports were made to the court. In the first one, they declared that there was a "warmth and heate in his bodv yt dead persons are not usual to have"; they reported that there were "fewer places upon his breast yt seemed to have been pintched, though the doctor informed ym that in his lifetime there was a swelling between the

Pintches"; his neck was as flexible as that of a living person. Upon his body were found "several hundred of spots" that looked as if "they had been shott with small shott." and when thev were scraped there were holes under them. On the second examination, which must have been made soon after the first one, they found, as would very naturally follow, "the body somewhat more cold yn before, his joints were more limber," and several bruises on different parts of his person. which they had not previously discovered. The jury reported to the County Court in April, and Samuel BARTLETT, brother-in-law to STEBBINS. ,and who seems to have been the witch finder in general for the town, brought in all the testimony he could obtain. This evidence, which cannot be found now, was sent to the Court of Assistants at Boston. but no further action was taken. Undoubtedly the testimony pointed to some suspected person, but no one was named in the records......

After the death of John STEBBINS I on March 9, 1679, his widow, Abigail, remarried on December 28, 1681, to Jedediah STRONG, son of Elder John STRONG. She died on July 15, l689.

SECOND GENERATION IN AMERICA

John STEBBINS II [our #456 & 902], son of John STEBBINS I was born in Springfield. on January 28, 1646/7 and was named after his father. He was a carpenter, and served as a soldier under Captain Lathrop, and under Captain Mosely in 1675-76. He was the only one who escaped unwounded from the Bloody Brook massacre on September 18, 1675. As a company was transporting grain from Deerfield to refugees in Hadley and Hatfield, Indians killed many en route, who were eating wild grapes. This massacre caused Deerfield to be temporarily abandoned, but John II returned there and lived on lot 35. About 1683 he married Dorothy ALEXANDER of Newton, [our # 457 & 903]. She was 22 or 23 years old at the time.

THE ALEXANDER FAMILY

Dorothy ALEXANDER the daughter of John ALEXANDER II [our #914] and his wife Beatrice [our # 915] who was still alive in 1690. John ALEXANDER II was son of John ALEXANDER I [our # 1828] who had come from Scotland to New-England before 1640 and had settled in Windsor, Connecticut. His wife's name is unknown to us, but we know that he had at least two sons. The ALEXANDER line is part of the Scottish clan of MACDONELL of Glengarry.

THE DEERFIELD MASSACRE

It was during the Queen Anne's War (1702-1713) that the so-called Deerfield massacre took place on February 29, 1'704. Within the palisade protecting the village, there were about 290 people, including 20 soldiers sent to defend the village and 3 Canadians. The villagers rashly relied on the deep snow (3 feet) to protect them. But a blizzard had caused snowbanks to pile up almost as high as the palisade; and 200 French and their Indian allies under the command of Sieur HERTEL de ROUVILLE, easily scaled the wall, attacked at dawn and put much of the town to the torch. By eight o'clock all resistance had ceased. When the invaders retreated. they left 49 English dead. and carried oft some 109 prisoners, including John STEBBINS II, his wife Dorothy and their children. The attackers return trip was through the valleys of the Connecticut, the White, the Winooski Rivers, Lake Champlain, and the Richelieu River. At the White River the group split up, and most of them went to Chambly. Althougth most arrived only in mid-April, Jacques De NOYON, Abigail, his wife, and the STEBBINS family arrived by the end of March, and remained under the protection of the HERTEL family.

Of the 109 prisoners, two had escaped the first day, twenty were killed on the route to Canada, and 59 returned to New Encgland before 1731. Among the returnees were John STEBBINS II, his wife Dorothy and John STEBBINS III. But four of his children (Abigail, Thankful, Ebenezer, and Joseph I) decided to remain in Canada. to their father's great chagrin.

Before we continue our genealogical story of the STEBBINS family, it might be interesting to add here the narration of the Massacre given by Rev. John WILLIAMS, pastor of the community, and himself a captive:

"On Tuesday, the 29th of February, 1703/4, not long before the break of day, the enemy came in like a flood upon us; our watch being unfaithful and evil, whose awful effects in a surprise of our fort should bespeak all watchmen to avoid as they would not bring charge of blood upon themselves. They came to my house in the beginning of the onset, and by their violent endeavors to break open the doors and windows with axes and hatchets, awakened me out of sleep; on which I leapt out of bed and running towards the door perceived the enemy making their entrance into the house; I called to awaken two soldiers in the chamber, and returned to my bedside for my arms; the enemy immediately break into the room. I judge the number to be about twenty, with painted faces and hideous exclamations! I reached up my hands to the bed-tester for my pistol, uttering a short petition to God for everlasting mercies to me and mine ... expecting a present passage through the valley of the shadow of death. Taking down my

pistol, I cocked it and put it to the breast of the first Indian that came up; but my pistol missing fire, I was seized by 3 Indians who disarmed me and bound me naked, as I was in my shirt, and so I stood for near the space of an hour; binding me as they told me they would carry me to Quebec. My pistol missing fire was an occasion of my life being preserved. The judgment of God did not slumber long against one of the three which took me, who was a Captain; for by sun-rising he received a mortal shot from my next neighbor's house (Benoni STEBBINS' house). who opposed so great a number of French and Indians as three hundred and yet were no more than seven men in an ungarrisoned house .... The enemy fell to rifling the house, entering in great numbers into every room.... the enemies who entered the house were all of them Indians and Macquas; insulting over me awhile, holding up hatchets over my head, threatening to burn all I had but yet God, beyond expectation, made us in great measure to be pitied for some were so cruel and barbarous as to take and carry to the door two of my children and murder them, as also a Negro woman; yet they gave me liberty to put on my clothes ... and gave liberty to my dear wife to dress herself and our children. About sun an hour high, we were all carried out of the house for a march and saw many of the houses of my neighbors in flames, perceiving the whole fort, one house excepted, to be taken ... Upon my parting of the town, they fired my house and barn. We were carried over the river to the foot of the mountain, about a mile from my house, where we found a great number of our Christian neighbors: men, women, and children, to the number of an hundred, nineteen of whom were afterwards murdered by the way, and two starved to death near Cowass, in a time of great scarcity or famine, the savages underwent there. When we came to the foot of the mountain they took away our shoes, and gave us in the room of them Indian shoes to prepare us for our travel. After this we went up to the mountain and saw the smoke of the fires in the town and beheld the awful desolation of Deerfield. And before we marched any farther, they killed a suckling child of the English. There were slain by the enemy, of the inhabitants of our town, to the number of thirty-eight besides nine of the neighboring towns.

"Whilst we were there, the English beat out a company that remained in the town, and pursued them to the river, killing and wounding many of them; but the body of the army being alarmed, they repulsed these few English that pursued them. I am not able to give you an account of the number of enemy slain, but I observed after this fight no great insulting mirth, as I expected; and saw many wounded persons, and for several days together they buried of their party, and one of chief note among the Macquas. The Governor of Canada told me, his army had that success with the loss of but eleven men: three Frenchmen. one of which was the lieutenant of the army, five Macquas and three Indians."

The children of John STEBBINS II and Dorothy Alexander were:

1) Abigail STEBBINS, born January 4, 1684, at Deerfield. She was a girl of many names: in documents, she is called Gabrielle until, on May 28, 1708, she was baptized in Montreal under the name of Marguerite. On February 3, 1704 (Old style or February 14, New style) only a few days before the massacre, she married one of the three Canadians who were then living In Deerfield, Jacques DE NOYON, with Rev. John WILLIAMS performing the ceremony. DE NOYON sometimes called DENIO or James DENYO, was from Boucherville in the Province of Quebec. In May 1710, Louis XIV will naturalize her a French citizen. In Canada, Abiqail and Jacques settled in Boucherville, nine miles down the river from Montreal.

Here is a translation of the Catholic baptismal record of Abigail in Montreal: "On Monday, 28 May 1708, was baptized by me, undersigned priest, an Englishwoman, named in her own country Abigail Stebbens, who was born at Deerfield in New England, January 4, 1684 of the marriage of Jean Stebbins inhabitant of that place and of Dorothee Alexander both Protestants, having been baptized by the minister of the place some years after and married the 14th February 1704 to Jacques Desnoions now sergeant in Monsieur de Tonty's Company, came with him to Canada toward the end of the following March and lives with him at Boucherville. Her name of Abigail has been changed to that of Marguerite. Her godfather was the High and Mighty Seigneur Messire Philippe de RIGAULT Marquis de Vaudreuil, Knight of the Military Order of Saint Louis and Governor General of New France_. Her godmother, Demoiselle Marguerite BOUAT, wife of Antoine PASCAUT, royal treasury clerk of the King's revenue in this country, who have signed with me according to the law. Meriel. priest.

Marguerite STEBBEN Vaudreuil

Mgte BOUAT PASCAUD

A great deal has been written about the DE NOYON/STEBBINS couple, but I'll deal with it only briefly here, because most of it is irrelevant to our genealogy, except that maybe the STEBBINS family was not maltreated after their capture because Jacques DE NOYON (DENIO) was a Frenchman.

A TROUBLED MARRIAGE

Jacques DE NOYON had wanderlust. He was what the Canadians called "coureur de bois" (a bushranger), who were the despair of their families and of the government because they traded with the Indians, offering brandy for furs. His travels included trips to the Canadian West: he crossed Lake Superior, entered the Kaministikwia River near present day Fort Williams, explored Dog Lake, and by the Rainy River discovered the "Lake of the Christinaux" now known as Lake of the Woods (as acknowledged on a map published by the National Geographic Society in June 1853). He spent the winter of 1668/9 on the Ouchichig River (Winnipeg).

In 1700 he is in New York where he wrote to Richard COOTE, the Count of Bellomon, who was governor of New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. He promised to trade with merchants at Albany. He says he will go to Albany with 30 young men to trade furs. And he will bring about a dozen sachems of the Ottawa Indians.

Jacques DE NOYON was almost twice as old as Abigail STEBBINS when they married, and to be well received he claimed to be well established and quite wealthy in Canada. He was a liar, as Abiqail soon discovered; and he provided poorly for his wife and family. In July, 1708, the notary Pierre RAIMBAULT, Councillor to the King, presented the following petition to the King's Council:

"Humbly petitioning, Marguerite STEBE, wife of Jacques DE NOYON, English woman, shows that with the consent of her father and mother she had married in her country the said DE NOYON, who was there at the time; upon his assurance that he would give her a large dwelling (un establissement considerable) and that he possessed much property (de grands biens) in this country where she came with him and where, having found nothing not even a house (pas meme un asile pour se retirer) she has been obliged to support her family by the work of her hands; to live at the expense of charitable persons, receiving nothing from her husband and as her work does not suftice to feed her numerous family, she has been advised to purchase land in Boucherville, which is offered at a reasonable price; agreement for payment during a long term being made in her own name which land she hopes to pay for when due (a constitution de rente en son nom particulier laquelle terre elle espere acquitter le jour par la suite) both by her heirs and labors as by the help she hopes for from her parents when it shall have pleased God to give us peace...."

Jacques, a soldier and trader, was obviously not a homemaker, and since there was no marriage contract, and since by the Quebec law of the time she could hold no property in her own name, she needed the tribunal's empowerment to do so. And here is the affirmative legal answer: "Marguerite STEBE, accepting for herself her heirs and assigns a grant in the seigniory of Boucherville on the slope St. Joseph, of 75 arpents in area (3 x 25), charged with a seignioral rent of 3 livres 15 sous and 3 live hens. Price 200 livres of the country. Made and passed in Boucherville at the rectory the 24 August 1706, present Monsieur de la SAUDRAYE and Monsieur BOUCHER."

Marguerite learned that her father John STEBBINS II had died on December 19, 1724 (0.S.) and on July 6, 1725 (N.S.) she petitioned the Governor General of Canada that she be permitted to visit Deerfield and bring back her oldest son, Rene-Jacques DE NOYON aka Aaron. The permit was valid for three months and her route was determined: the route to Deerfield was to begin from the Fort at Chamb1y, go down the Richelieu River, Lake Champlain, and the Hudson. From Orange (Albany) she was to follow the usual route by the Mohawk Trail to Greenfield and Deerfield. Because she was pregnant at the time, she stayed on in Deerfield and gave birth to a daughter, Marie Anne DE NOYON, February 27, 1726. The child was later baptized in Boucherville. Marguerite (Abiqail,Gabrielle) was buried at Boucherville on November 15, 1740. The record says she was 62; in fact, she was only 56. Her husband, after all his wandering, was also buried in Boucherville on May 12, 1745.

2) John STEBBINS III, born around 1685, in Deerfield. Around 1714, he married Mary __?___ , who died in Deerfield, August 30. 1733, at the age of 37. He remarried at Deerfield, August 25, 1735 to Hannah ALLEN, dauqhter of Edward ALLEN and Mercy PAINTER. He died in Deerfield September 7, 1760.

3) Samuel STEBBINS, born December 25, 1688 in Deerfield. He was still a prisoner in Canada when his father made out his will in 1723. By 1731 he had returned to Deerf ield.

4) Thankful STEBBINS [our # 45l], a daughter, born September 5, 1691 at Deerfield. She was thus about 12 years old when captured, and it seems that she was ransomed by some member of the HERTEL family at Chambly. Her baptism is recorded on one of the first pages of the Chambly parish register, where she is called Louise Theresse [sic] STEBENS. The document, in French, reads thus in translation:

"This 23 of April, 1707, I, Pierre Dublaron officiating in the parish of Chambly, certify that I have administered the rite of baptism to Louise Theresse Stebens, English girl and baptized in England. [this seems faulty as she was born in New Eng1and]. Her godfather and godmother were Monsieur Hertelle Seigneur of Chambly, and Madame de Perygny, wife of the commandant ot the fort of Chambly, in faith of which I have signed."

She was married as Therese Louyse STEBENS, in Chambly, but the record is on the parish register ot Longueil. I have a photocopy of this marriage certificate which I have numbered GD25. In translation it reads thus:

"February 4, 1711, after the publication of the usual banns made at the parish masses in the church of the Holy Family at Boucherville Jan. 25, Feb.lst & 2nd to which no legal impediment has been found, I, the undersigned priest pastor of Boucherville have married in the said parish church of the Holy Family of Boucherville Adrien Grain, alias La Vallee [our # 450], inhabitant of Chambly, aged 23 years and son of the late Charles Grain and Louyse la Fortune ( aka BONNET) living and inhabitant of Chambly with Therese Louyse Stebens, aged 21 (really only 20), daughter of Jan Stebens and of Dorothee Alexandre his wife, inhabitants of Guiervil (sic for Deerf ield) in New England and have given them the nuptial benediction in the presence of Joseph Mailliot, cousin of the groom, of Sieur Jacques de Noyon brother-in-law of the bride, of Sieur Baribault relative of the bride, of Joseph Roberge witness and friend of the groom who have signed with me according to the law."

There are then the signatures of Pere Jan (Could this be the Jan Stebens, John Stebbins mentioned ?), Joseph Mailliot, J Barbot, Robarge, and of R de la Saudraye, priest.

Charles LEGRAIN [our #450] who was also known as Adrien LA VALLE, and was a captain in the militia, with his wife. Louise Therese STEBENNE[our # 451] had as children:

A) Francoise ~Therese LEGRAIN. baptized in March. 1713.

B) Guillaume LEGRAIN, baptized conditionally by a Recollect missionary on December 30, 1714, two days after his birth, probably because he had already had a lay baptism, there not being a resident priest yet in Chambly.

C) Marie-Jeanne LEGRAIN. born in 1716.

D) Charlotte LEGRAIN [our # 225], who was baptized on January 6, 1720. She would marry Jean-Baptiste VIENT (our # 224] on February 5, 1742 at Chambly.

E) Isabelle LEGRAIN, baptized January 3, 1722.

F) Antoine La Vallee (LEGRAIN), "son of Adrien Charles and Louise Theraise Stebenne" was born in 1723.

G) Marie Therese La Va11ee (LEGRAIN). '¹daughter of Charles Lavalle and Marie Therese Steben" was baptized on February 2, 1725. As we can see, the surnames LE GRAIN/LA VALLEE seem to have been used interchangeably.

H) Veronique LEGRAIN, their last child, born or baptized on July 4, 1729. The labors of this last birth were apparently too much for her, because only seven days later, on July 11, 1729, is recorded the burial of the wife of Charles LEGRAIN, Therese Louise STEBENNE.

Returning now to the remaining children of John STEBBINS II and Dorothy ALEXANDER we have:

5) Their fifth child was Ebenezer STEBBINS. who was nine years old when he was captured. He was born in Deerfield. on December 5, 1694. One month after the baptism of his sister Abigail, he too was baptized by Father MERIEL. at Boucherville:

"On Friday, June 29th, 1708, I, the undersigned priest baptized an English boy named in his country Ebenezer Stebbens, who born at Dearfield in New England the ___ 169___ of the marriaae of Jean Stebbens and Dorothee Alexandre both protestants, having been taken 11th Feb. 1704 and brought to Canada, lives at Bouchervi1le with his sister Marguerite Stebbens. wife of Jacques Desnoions, Sergeant of the Company of Tonti. He was given the name of Jacques Charles (after his godfather). His godfather was Jacques Charles de Sabrevoys Esquire Captain of a detachment of marines and his godmother Jeanne Crevier, wife of M. Pierre BOUCHER Seigneur of Boucherville. who have signed with me according to law.

Jeanne CREVIER Meriel, priest de Sabrevoys Denoyons

6) Their sisth child was Joseph Stebbins I [our #228], who is said to have been four years old when he was captured. Emma Lewis Coleman, in the 2nd volume of her New England captives carried to Canada., published in 1925, says that neither his birth nor marriage records have been found, but declares that he married Marie-Marguerite SANSOUCY also known as LANGLOIS [our # 229] and lived with her at Chambly. The Stebbins Genealogy, published by Ralph Stebbins Greeles and Robert Lemuel Greenleem 1904, affirms that Joseph STEBBINS was born April 12, 1699 at Deerfield and died at Chambly April 23, 1753. On November 15.,1734, he married Marie-Marguerite SANSOUCY, mentioned above, daughter of Guillaume SANSOUCY aka GEMME & JAMES LANGLOIS & Catherine LIMOUSIN. The private marriage contract drawn up the same day at Fort St. Louis (Chambly) and was recorded by notary LOISEAU on November 18, 1734. After the death of Joseph STEBBINS his widow remarried to Jean-Baptiste MENARD, on January 25, 1761. It is through the marriage of Joseph STEBBINS I and M. Marguerite SANSOUCY that the STEBENNE name was established in Canada, it being a gallicisation of the original STEBBINS.

The children of Joseph STEBBINS I and Marguerite SANSOUCY were:

1) Joseph STEBBINS II [our #114]. He was born November 20, 1735. He married twice: first to Marie Barbe VALLIERES, daughter of Antoine & Suzanne BOULERlSSE, at St. Mathias on November 17, 1760. He remarried on.January 7, 1767 Chambly to Marie-Amable BOMBARDIER [our # 115], dauqhter of Jacques BOMBARDIER [ our # 230] and Francoise THIBAULT [our # 231]. He had a daughter from the first marriage From the second marriage , he-had:

a) Catherine STEBBINS, who married at St. Mathias on January 14, 1787, Joseph PERRON_.

b) Marie-Anne STEBBINS, married at St. Mathias, January 14, 1788 to Joseph MAILLOT.

c) Jean-Baptiste STEBBINS, married at St. Mathias, October 7, 1793 to Marie Genevieve PELLETIER.

d) Marie Susanne STEBBINS, married at St. Mathias, September 19, 1796 to Andre BRAUT.

e) Angelique Stebbins, also known as Josephte [our # 573], born around 1785. She was said to be 17 when she married at St. Mathias de Rouville in Chambly County, on August 16, 1802 to Jean- Baptiste VIEN III [our # 56], son of Jean- Baptiste VIEN II [our#112] and Marie Josepthe DUFAUT [our #113]. See the VIENS line.

The other children of Joseph STEBBINS I and Marguerite SANSSOUCY (LANGLOIS) were:

2) Marguerite, born September 20, 1737. Died 1756.

3) Francois, born March 15, 1741 and died same year.

4) Marie Suzanne, born May 31, 1744; married and died 1776.

5) Louis, who married September 20. 1773

6) Pierre, born July 26, 1746.

7) Francois, born July 12, 1751.

8) Marie Anne, born May 25, 1753 and died same year.

9) Jean-Baptiste, who in 1762 married Josephte MASSE and in 1767

remarried to Marie Claire FONTAINE.

The will of Joseph STEBBINS I is in the Will Book of Hampden County Probate Court, Book 4, page 116. In part, it reads: "And as to my children in Canada, to wit Samuel. Ebenezer, Joseph, Abigail, and Thankful my will is...That each of them have an eighth part of my lands provided they come and live in New England....Those that will not live in New England shall have five shillings and no more...Yet be it forever understood that if my daughter Abigail come not tarry as above said, then Aaron Denieur (for DE NOYON) her son, shall be my heir in her Room and Stead, provided said Aaron continue in this Country then. After my decease and my wife's decease, said Aaron shall enter upon that which should have been his mother's part and possess it until his mother comes, but if she come not and fulfill the above said conditions, and Aaron stays in New Eng1and and doth fulfill them, then the said eighth part of my lands to descend to said Aaron's heirs forever." Aaron did receive these lands, but Abigail came and tarried awhile, long enough to bear her 13th child and doubtless to receive her five shillings.

Genealogical document 009

St. Mathias de Rouvi1le

Comte Chambly

Montreal National Archives

microfilm roll # 333

Mariage

Jean Bte Vient

et

Angelique Stebenne

Le seize aout de l'an mil huit cent deux apres la publication de trois bans de mariage faite aux prones de nos messes paroissiales pendant trois dimanches consecutifs_, le premier₁ huit et quinze du present entre jean Bte vient, majeur, age de trente ans, Journalier dans cette paroisse, fils de feu Jean Bte vient vivant cultivateur de cette paroisse et de Marie Josephte Dufaut d'une part, et Angelique Stebenne, mineur, agee de dix sept ans environ, fille de feu Joseph Stebenne, vivant cultivateur de cette paroisse et de Marie Bombardier d'autre part. Ne s'etant decouvert aucun empechement ni opposition au dit mariage, les parties ayant obtenu de Missre Francois Chevrier grand vicaire dispense du troisieme et au quatrieme degre de parente laquelle est entre nos mains, nous pretre soussigne, du consentement des parens₁ avons recu leur mutuel consentement, do mariage et leur avons donne la benediction nuptiale suivant le rit prescrit par notre mere la Ste Eglise Catholique. apostolique et Romaine et ce en presence de Michel Gilbert ami tenant lieu de pere de Francois Demers ami de l'epoux; et de Jean Bte Stebenne frere tenant lieu de pere, de Simon ?? et Joseph Segin, amis de l'epouse qul n'ont scu signe avoc nous de ce enquis suivant l'ordonnance.

Mi: Gilbert S Robitaille ptre