JOHN PERRIN 1614-1674

[Ancestral Link: Lura Minnie Parker (Stagge), daughter of Minnie May Elmer (Parker), daughter of Mark Alfred Elmer, son of William Elmer, son of Sarah Peak (Elmer), daughter of Lemuel Peake, son of Mehitable Perrin (Peake), daughter of Samuel, son of John Perrin, son of John Perrin.]

Rehoboth Massachusetts

Chelmsford Essex England

Founder of Rehoboth, Massachusetts
John Perrin founded Rehobeth, Massachusetts with the Reverend Samuel Newman.
This is where he is buried.
found on ancestry.com

Early Facts regarding John Perrin
1630s, Rehoboth Massachusetts Colony
This information is taken from a book written by Stanley Ernest Perin, "The John Perrin Family" copyright 1974.

Early history of the town of Rehoboth also known as Seekonk, shows that John Peren was the nineteenth of thirty signers to the compact. In the allotment of homesteads, Perrin drew an 8-acre lot at the northwest corner of the common or "ring of the green" between the lots of George Kendrick on the west and James Clark on the east. This location is now part of the golf course for the Winnamoisett Country Club near 96 Hoyt Avenue, East Providence, Rhode Island.
found on ancestry.com

Arrival of John Perryn to Massachusetts
John came from London on the ship "Safety" arriving on 10 August 1535 at BrainMaster, Massachusetts (south shore of Boston Harbor). He married a girl named Ann who also came over on the same voyage, and they with Samuel Newman and his church, founded the town of Rehoboth.
found on ancestry.com

John Perrin 1614
John Perrin (*OR spelled Perin, Perrine, Peryn Perryn, Perryne)

Birth: 10 March 1613/1614, in Chelmsford Essex, England, (OR London,, England).

Death: 13 September 1674, in Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts, now East Providence, Rhode Island. (OR Chelmsford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.

Burial: 13 September 1674, Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts.

The tombstone of John Perryn, the first of his family in this country in located in Rehoboth.

Father: Thomas Perrin (OR Peryn), born 2 January 1584/1585, in Ashley (OR Askby), de le Fouche, France (OR De Le Fouche, Leicester County, England). French Huguenot family of nobility, emigrated to England after the Edict of Pacification. One of King James I translators of the Bible, (OR born 1550, died 1615.)

Mother: Ann Potter, born about 1585, in De Le Fouche, Leichfield, England.

Another source gives John Perrin's parents as:Father: John Perrin. Mother: Anne Bruneau.

Emigration: August 1635, on the ship "Safety;" Master, John Grant. The "Safety" sailing from London, England, bound for Virginia, included a John Perryn, age 21 (listed on the passenger list). Arrived at Braintree, Massachusetts, 20 August 1635. Also among the list of 141 passengers, (names and ages), on the ship "Safety," which landed at Braintree, Massachusetts, 1635, are several young women named Anna, and it is conjectured one of those is the Hurlbert who married John Perrin. Very little is known of John Perrin, but evidently, he was a man of some prominence in Rehoboth serving on the jury and frequently elected to office. (NEHGR Vol32, 178).1640: Arrived and resided in Braintree until about 1643/1644. 1640/1641: John Perrin is recorded as the father of a daughter, Mary, born 22 February 1640/41, in Braintree, Massachusetts. 1643/1644: Rev. Samuel Newman founded the church at Rehoboth, Massachusetts, (about 1644), at which time John Perrin removed with him to the new parish. This became John and Anna's permanent home and the birthplace of their descendants for many generations. (Rehoboth is now East Providence, Rhode Island.)1643/1644: Under the leadership of Rev. Samuel Newman, with a group of others, laid out and established the town of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, briefly called Seekonk. John Peren was 19th of 30 signers of the Seekonk Compact 3 July 1644. REf: JPF, Vir. VII-540.1665: In the proprietors' records, compiled about 1665, John's estate is valued at 138 pounds. In the allotment of land, John drew an 8 acre lot on the NW corner of the green between George Kendrick on the west and James Clark on the east. Perrin later purchased Clark's lot. 1646: In 1646 John was granted a plot of meadow near Manton's Neck. 1648: Event: Offices held Unknown 26 Apr 1648 Supervisor of Highways. 1666: Event: Offices held Unknown 18 Apr 1666 Constable. Rehoboth, Massachusetts. Advanced money to aid the colony in King Philip's war. (Date unknown.)

Will: 16 June 1674, Rehoboth, (Massachusetts/Rhode Island). Probated: 23 November 1674, Rehoboth, (Rhode Island).

The Will of John Perrin: Plymouth PR III (1), f. 138 Rehoboth, June the 16th 1674. Know all men by these presents that I, John Perren, of the Towne of Rehoboth under this Government of New Plymouth, being of good understanding and memory, doe make this my Last Will and Testament concerning the disposall of what outward estate God hath graciously bestowed mee with. First of all, that all my lawfull debts be discharged. Item, it is my will that my deare wife, Anna Perren, together with my two sonnes, John and Abraham, have the posession for the devision of my whole estate consisting of lands, houseings, and also as they shall mutually agree, that being [illegible word] out to my other children as followeth. Viz, that Anna, my eldest daughter, have twenty pounds seasonably delivered unto her out of my estate [and] alsoe ten acrees of land lying in my Northsyde lott. Item, that Mary, my other daughter, have ten acrees of land in my Northsyd Lott. Item, it is my will theat my wife with my two sonnes have the sole Executorship of this my Will and that John Walker and Mr. Nathaniell Paine be Overseers to offer theire best advice as the condition of my widdow and children may require. This being my true Will according to the date above specifyed I affix my hand and seale. John Perren, Senior (Mark Seal) Attested by Steven Paine, Junior Daniell Smith Deacon Walker and Nathaniel Paine were designated as overseers.

He signed his will with and X. His signature was witnessed by Stephen Paine, Jr. and Daniel Smith.The inventory was taken by Henry and Daniel Smith 23 November 1674. The estate was valued at 375 pounds, 5 shillings and 3 pence. Of this amount 230 pounds was real estate. (Source: (The John Perrin Family of Rehoboth, Perin, Stanley Ernest, Compiler; Gateway Press, Inc. Baltimore, MD, 1974, pp 1-2.)

Marriage 1: Anna (Hannah) Hulbert (OR Hurbert), born about 1614-1616, in Gravesend, England (OR born in Rehoboth, Bristol County, Massachusetts). Daughter of Richard Hulbert, a Hugenot. It is thought, that Anna was also a passenger on the same ship with John Perrin, coming to New England. Widowed, 13 September 1674, Anna outlived her husband by 14 years. She died and was buried 11 March 1688/1689, in Rehoboth.

Married: 1637/1640-1641 in Braintree, Suffolk County, Massachusetts.

Known Children of John Perrin and Anna (Hannah) Hulbert (Hurbert) Perrin:

1. Mary Perrin, 22 February 1640/1641, in Braintree, Suffolk, Massachusetts.

2. John Perrin , Jr. born 10 April 1643/1644, in Braintree, Suffolk, Massachusetts.

3. Anna (or Hannah) Perrin, born 12 July 1645, Rehoboth, Bristol County, Massachusetts.

4. Abraham Perrin born 1 March 1646/1647, in Rehoboth, Bristol County, Massachusetts.

The Perrin Surname

The surname Perrin, Perryn, Perrine, Peroyne, with various other forms of spelling is doubtless of Norman-French origin, and is found on the early records of surnames in England and among the first town records in the New England colonies, 1635-40.

Sources:

1 . Title: Early Rehoboth Families and Events. Author: Richard LeBaron Bowen.

Publication: New England Historical and Genealogical Register (NEHGS) July 1942. Repository: Media: Magazine, p. 257.

2. Title: Mayflower Descendant, Page: Vol. XXXLV, pp.35,36

3. Ref; New England Historical and Genealogical Register (Boston, MA: New England Historical and Genealogical Society). Vol. 32, p. 178 "The Perrin Family" by Dr. William B. Lapham.

4. Edgar J. Bullard, Bullard and Allied Families (Detroit, MI: 1930]. http://www.genealogylibrary.com/], Page: 230.

5. Perin, Glover, Genealogy of the Perrin Family (St. Paul: Pioneer Press Co., 1885);Page: 41.

6. George Chandler,The Chandler Family. The Descendants of William and Annis Chandler who settled in Roxbury, Massachusetts, 1637. (Worcester, Massachusetts: C. Hamilton, 1883)Page: 58.

7. Josephine C. Frost, Ancestors of Benjamin Ferris Blakeney and His wife, Stella Peronne Sabin, Showing Lines of Descent From the Belden, Fenner, Greene, Montague, Northup, Seymour, Waldron and Whipple Families (1926), Page: 168.
found on ancestry.com

The John Perrin Family in America begining 1614.
This is the history of the John Perrin family in America. 380 years, and 14 generations, so far. We do not know for certain where our immigrant ancestor came from, or how he got to America, or when he arrived.

Tradition has it that the name and family were originally French and English. This seems to be on safe ground as the name is still common in France, and French speaking Canada.

The town clerks in Rehoboth, Massachusetts where John first appeared, had trouble in deciding whether to end his name with an M or an N. Part of this confusion was because John did not write and there is only one specimen of his signature. His name appears as Perrin, Perram, Perrim, Perum, and Peren.

This problem could also have been the result of John's pronunciation of these letters. The more nasalization in French, blurs the distinction between these letters. For these reasons, it appears John immigrated from a French speaking place such as Canada.

He might have also come to America from France by way of England and spent several years or generations in England. As did many French immigrants during this period when Protestants were being persecuted in France.

In the history of the Thomas Perrin family of Heron, Connecticut, in 1716 there is a record of a John Perrin born in Leicestershire County, England on 10 March 1614.

We know that John was among the earliest but he was not the only immigrant Perrin. There may have been a dozen before 1700 at various places along the Eastern seaboard and Louisiana.

The established reference point for our family is the birth of a daughter to John Perrin in Braintree, Massachusetts in 1640. Soon thereafter he joined the congregation of Reverend Samuel Newman in settling the place that they came to call Rehoboth, Connecticut. The subsequent history of the family is well supported by the church and vital records.

Many of the Perrin family were in the Revolutionary War. Lemuel Perrin was one of the "minute men" that fired the first shot of the war at the bridge in Lexington after being fired at by the British troops on April 19, 1775. Daniel Perrin was at Yorktown with George Washington when Lord Cornwell surrrendered on October 19, 1781. Captain Timothy Perrin was in the unit that formed after the Montcalm destruction of Fort William Henry. He also was a delegate to the convention to consider the adoption of the Federal Constitution. He voted NO. Edward Perrin was with Grant when Lee surrendered.

Peter Perrin was killed by Indians at Fort #4 in Charleston, New Hampshire in 1746. I have always been told that great grandfather Ben Perrin marched with Sherman to Atlanta and that was in the Iowa 13th Infantry. A Calvin Perrin was present at Appomattax.
found on ancestry.com