Edward Devotion (abt. 1621 - abt. 1685)

The claimed French origin is wrong and the profile will be reworked soon to remove it.

Biography

He was born about 1621 in Larochelle, Charente-Maritim, France.

In 1645 he was a freeman and a single man when he joined the church in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts. ^[1]

Edward Devotion married about 1648 in Roxbury, Suffolk County, Massachusetts to Mary Curtis (1622-1713).

The people in the Muddy River locality shared in the privileges of the first church of Roxbury, Suffolk County, Massachusetts. His children were baptized there, though the town records show they were born somewhat alternately in Roxbury and Boston.

He was buried on 23 (7m) 1685 at Eliot Burying Ground in Roxbury, Suffolk County, Massachusetts. ^{[2] [3]}

He left a last Will which bequeth his estate to his wife Mary, sons John, Edward and Thomas. It only mentioned one daughter by name ...

• "It is my will that my daughter Sarah Griffin shall have twenty pounds."

A codicil also gave five pounds to each of his grandchildren, which, at the time meant the children of four of his sons and daughters.

His widow Mary and son John were executors of his estate when it was in probate court on 27 Oct 1685 and 28 Dec 1685.

Children

1. Mary (Devotion) Davis, b: 20 Feb 1648 Boston, MA; bpt: 25 (12m) 1648/49 = 25 Feb 1648/49; d: 15 Feb 1683
2. Elizabeth Devotion, bpt: 20 (2m) 1651 = 20 Apr 1651; d: 15 Feb 1679; m: Joseph Weld
3. Martha Devotion, b: 13 Mar 1653/54 Roxbury, MA; m: John Ruggles (son of Thomas Ruggles)
4. Hannah Devotion, b: 03?13 Dec 1654; d: 17 Dec 1700; m: John Ruggles (son of Barbara and John Ruggles)
5. Deborah Devotion, bpt: 17 (3m) 1657 = 17 May 1657; d: 1682
6. John Devotion, bpt: 26 (4m) 1659 = 26 Jun 1659; d: c1733; m: 1680 Hannah Pond
7. Sarah Devotion, b: c1665; d: 1732; m: Joseph Griffin
8. Edward #1 Devotion b: c1650
9. Edward #2 Devotion, b: 12 Jul 1663; d: 1666
10. Edward #3 Devotion, b: c1667; d: 07 Nov 1744
11. Thomas Devotion, b: 01 May 1670.

Sources

1. ↑ Pioneers of Massachusetts, a descriptive list, drawn from records of the colonies, towns and churches and other contemporaneous documents (1900); p138 for Edward DEVOTION, planter, a single man, adm. chh. Boston, 22 (1) 1645; May 1645; occ: farmer; res: Muddy River; wife: Mary
2. ↑ Roxbury Church record, Text: "1685-7m 23d father Devotion buried"
3. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #27065418 for Edward Devotion, b: 1621 La Rochelle, Departement de la Charente-Maritime, Poitou-Charentes, France; d: 21 Sep 1685 Brookline, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, USA; buried: Eliot Burying Ground, Roxbury, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA; with gravestone photo

• http://www.surnameguide.com/ruggles/devotion_genealogy.htm

• Edward Devotion House is one of the oldest colonial period structures in its area. It is surrounded by the Edward Devotion school (named after Edward Jr. who left money for public schools in Brookline).

• "Ruggles Family in England and America"

• "Records of Oxford" by Mary DeWitt Freeland & Joel Munsell's Sons of Albany, New York in 1894; including chapters of Nipmuck, Huguenot and English History

• "Samuel Davis of Oxford, Massachusetts and Joseph Davis of Dudley, Massachusetts and Their Descendants" by George L. Davis & published in 1884 by Charles Hamilton of Worcester, Massachusetts

• Edward Devotion in the Roy Family Genealogy

• "John Mayo of Roxbury, Massachusetts 1630-1688" - A Genealogical and Biographical Record of His Descendants; by Chester Garst Mayo & published in 1965 by Charles E. Tuttle Company of Rutland, Vermont, USA

• Ancestral File compiled in 1994 by Family History Library of Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah, USA