John BARBER

                   Historical information included in notes.


John was the third of four children born to his parents in Suffield. His father died when he was two years old and his mother remarried the following year. She probably returned to Springfield, where she had been born and where John may have grown up. He was 21 years old when he sold his share of his deceased father's land in Suffield and by age 24 started buying land in Springfield. His mother died in 1713 and the following year John was married. His marriage record reads: "John Barber of Springfield enters his intention of marriage with Sarah Smith of Suffield on 19 Nov 1714" -- see film #185414. Their first two children were born in Suffield but by 1720 he had moved his family to West Springfield where the proprietors were apportioning land. On 10 May 1720 John was given a lot in the Chickebey or Agawam division -- see New England Historical & Genealogical Register 29:287. The first settlers of Springfield moved to the west side of the Connecticut River between 1654 and 1659 but, since church attendance was compulsory, they were forced to cross the river which was especially treacherous during the spring. For many years they asked the Massachusetts General Court for permission to be incorporated into a new town with their own minister. The Court finally granted their request in 1696, establishing the parish of West Springfield. John probably moved there to obtain free land. His next five children were born in West Springfield between 1720 and 1733. His wife died in 1733, five days after the birth of their seventh child. Two years later he married Mary Noble in Springfield, where his next child was born. He was living in Springfield in 1743 when he sold his share of his grandfather, Obadiah Miller's land. Its not certain when or where he died.Hampshire County Deed Books:B:347 - John buys 20 acres in Springfield adjacent to Days Swamp - 1712B:309 - John buys 5 acres in Springfield from John Holyoke's heirs - 1712D:214 - John sells 30 acres in Springfield called Agawam - 1716D: 82 - John buys 10 acres in Springfield adjoining his own land - 1719D:29 - John buys 7 acres in the new field in Springfield - 1721D:179 - John buys 10 acres + 5 acres near the new field - 1721D:180 - John buys 18 acres in Springfield - 1722D:181 - John mortgages 18 acres + 9 acres in Springfield - 1722D:289 - John sells 18 acres + 3 or more acres in the newfield in Springfield - 1723Hampden County Deed Books:D:325 - John (as junior) sells 25 acres of his deceased father John's land in Suffield - 1709C:214 - John & Sarah of Springfield sell their 50 acre home lot in Suffield - 1716D:421 - John & Sarah of Springfield exchange 7 acres in the newfield with Samuel Badorthal - 1720D:147 - John & his sister sell their grandfather Obadiah Miller's 50 acre alotment in Suffield - 1721E:343 - John & Sarah of Springfield sell 4 tracts of land lying west of the Great River - 172918 acres formerly belonging to Samuel Bliss, deceasedland called Newfield9 acres in tract of land called Newfield5 acres bounded southerly by John Burts landO:356 - John of Springfield sells his share of his grandfather's land in Springfield - 1743