Person:John Sackett (1)

Weygant's record of John [Sacket] is as follows:

- pp16-17 "4. JOHN SACKET, 1632 - 1719, son of (1) Simon Sackett and his wife Isabel, was, so far as known, the first white child born in Newtown ** (now Cambridge), Mass. In 1653 he became a resident of Springfield, Mass., receiving from the town commissioners a gift of four pieces of land, agreeable to an ordinance passed to encourage the speedy settlement of that place. On November 23, 1659, he was married to ABIGAIL HANNUM, 1640 - 1690, daughter of WILLIAM HANNUM (colonist), and his wife, HONOR CAPEN, of Dorchester, Windsor and Northampton. A short time after date of his marriage to Abigail Hannum, John Sacket sold his land at Springfield and removed to property he had purchased some fifteen miles up the Connecticut River at Northampton. There he and his family lived until 1665, when he again sold out and moved to a farm purchased of one Chapin near Westfield, on what are now called Sacket's Meadows. Mr. Sacket's removal to Westfield was at the date of the first permanent settlement of that town, and about ten years previous to the commencement of King Philip's Indian wars. There Mr. Sacket built a house and barn, both of which were burned, Oct. 27, 1675, by the Indians, who, at the same time, destroyed a large amount of other property, and drove off his cattle. He rebuilt his house and barn, and also erected a saw mill on a creek which ran through his farm and emptied into the Waronoco (now Westfield) River.

- "The building of a dam on this creek was the occasion of a vexatious lawsuit, brought against him by Thomas, Jedediah and Jonah Dewey, who claimed that by reason of Sacket's saw mill dam the water was backed up on their grist mill. The case was tried at Springfield before a jury, who found for plaintiff, but the court in giving judgment, recited that it was a hard case for the defendant and "therefore ordered that the plaintiffs should, with a hired man and oxen, work with said Sacket 9 days in taking down and removing said dam."

- "At a town meeting held in 1672 at Westfield, John Sacket was chosen a selectman, and as late as 1693 he held the same office.

- "Abigail Hannum Sacket died October 9, 1690, and about a year later John Sacket was married to SARAH, daughter of JOHN STILES and widow of John Stewart of Springfield. He continued to reside on his Westfield farm to the day of his death."

- [Weygant reproduces at pp17-18 a typescript of John Sacket's Will.]

Riker's 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."

Burt, in his History of Springfield, includes several references to John Sacket:

- p250. 10 Jan 1658. Jno Sackat is granted land.
- p126-7. 23 Dec 1659. John Sacket is listed in the seating plan in the meeting house.

Lockwood, in his Westfield History, 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.

1. ↑ Weygant, Charles. The Sacketts of America: their ancestors and descendants, 1630-1907. (Newburgh, N.Y. : Journal Print, 1907).
2. ↑ Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co, 1860-1862).

   
   4:2; SACKET; JOHN 2 of 4; "JOHN, Northampton, had John, b. 1660; William, 1662; Abigail, 1663; Mary, wh. d. 1667; had Hannah, 1669; rem. to Westfield, there had Mary, again, 8 June 1672; Samuel, 18 Oct. 1674; Elizabeth 28 Aug. 1677, wh. d. at 5 yrs. His ho. was burn. by the Ind. 1675; his w. d. 9 Oct. 1690; and he m. 1691, Sarah, ..."
   
   

3. ↑ "Marriages, Births and Deaths in Westfield", in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society)
   Volume 6, July 1852, page 266.

   JOHN SACKET, wife Abigail; chn. Mary, b. June 8, 1672; Samuel, b. Oct. 18, 1674; Elizabeth, b. Aug. 28, 1677, d. June 15, 1682. Abigail, his wife, d. Oct. 9, 1690. He married Sarah Steward, 1691. John Sacket, d Ap. 8, 1719.

4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Find A Grave.

   https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/37604384

5. ↑ Weygant's contention that John was born in Newtown has not been proved. Anderson gives John's date of birth as "say 1630". Since Anderson assumes the date of migration to have been 1632, he assumes, too, that John was born in England.
6. ↑ Weygant has the date of death for John as Oct 8, 1719 (page 14) which appears to be a typo. John's will is dated May 10, 1718 and on page 18 the probate record shows that the will was presented for probate on May 20, 1719. This is well in advance of the October date given by Weygant.