For the Lesson “Deerfield Families”
This page contains information on the following:
- Stebbins Family
- Abigail Stebbins (c. 1687 – 1740)
- Samuel Stebbins (1688 – ?)
- Thankful Stebbins (1691 – 1729 likely)
- Ebenezer Stebbins (1694 – ?)
- Joseph Stebbins (1699 – 1753)
Stebbins Family
From The History of Deerfield, Vol. II, George Sheldon, 1895, pgs. 317 & 318
John, s.[son] of John, b.[born] 1647; carpenter; a sol.[soldier] under Capt. Lothrop and the only man known to have come out whole from the Bloody Brook massacre…He came to Dfd.[Deerfield] at the permanent sett.[settlement] and lived on lot No. 35, where his house was burned and his entire family cap.[captured], Feb. 29, 1704; of them all only himself, wife, and son John are known to have come back…He m. Dorothy, dau.[daughter] John Alexander of Newton; she was alive at Newton, 1733.
Ch.: John, [born] abt.[about] 1685
Abigail, [born] abt.[about] 1687; m.[married] Feb. 3, 1704…’James Denyo’ [Jacques DeNoyon], one of the ‘three Frenchmen from Canada’ in Mr. Williams’s list of captives…Abigail was taken with her husband; their son, Aaron, b.[born] in Canada, Dec. 14, 1704, came back to Dfd.[Deerfield]…was baptized at Montreal…1708, by the name Marguerite
Samuel, [born] Dec. 25, 1688; alive in Canada, 1723
Thankful, [born] Sept. 5, 1691; m.[married] a Frenchman in Canada
Ebenezer, [born] Dec. 5, 1694; in Canada 1723
Joseph, [born] Apr. 12, 1699
From New England Captives Carried to Canada, Vol. I, Emma L. Coleman, 1925, pgs. 118, 123-124
Stebbins, John, and His Family.
They were all captured; not one was killed, probably because John’s daughter, Abigail, had married a Frenchman, Jacques de Noyon, who was of the household.
John was a carpenter and soldier…
Their children were, John, abt.[about] 19; Abigail, abt.[about] 17; Samuel, 16; Thankful, 12; Ebenezer, 9; and Joseph, 4. John, his wife and John, Jr. were redeemed [rescued].
In 1723 John Stebbins died. In his will he wrote: ‘And as to my children in Canada, to wit [who are] 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 apiece and no more…[he went on to say that if Abigail never came home, her son Aaron (Rene), who was living in Deerfield with his grandparents, would get her one eighth share of the land] Aaron received the lands, but Abigail came and tarried [stayed] awhile; long enough to give birth to her thirteenth child and doubtless [most likely] to receive her five shillings.
From History of Deerfield, Vol. I, George Sheldon, 1895, pg. 347
‘John Stebbins, who died in 1723, made provisions in his will for five children then in Canada, provided they returned and remained in New England. Samuel alone returned. Their ages ranged from four to seventeen.
Abigail Stebbins
From New England Captives Carried to Canada, Vol. I, Emma L. Coleman, 1925, pgs. 118-124
Abigail.
Shortly before the massacre on February…Parson Williams married Abigail to ‘James Denyo’ [a Frenchman] about sixteen years her senior…Who were these Frenchmen and why were they in Deerfield?…they might have been of the large number of coureurs de bois, who were the despair of their government. They carried goods and brandy to the Indians exchanging them for furs…In 1710 ‘Marguerite [Abigail] Stebbens, married to Jean de Noyon, sergeant and having children’ was naturalized [made a citizen of Canada]…The family [Jacques’ parents] had moved to Boucherville nine miles down the river from Montreal, and there to his own people Jacques took his young bride.
Abigail’s children:
Jacques Rene, was born on Dec. 26, 1704
Gabrielle [born] in 1705.
Jean-Baptiste, b.[born] 1707, died 1708.
Jean-Baptiste, b.[born] 1708,
Francois, b. [born] 1710,
And in Montreal on ‘Saturday 3 Oct. 1711 was baptized…Dorothee…born the day preceding [Oct. 2]
Marie-Josephte in 1713. She died the next year.
Jacques-Rene
Marie-Charlotte 1716
Marie-Joseph 1718
Marie-Magdalen 1720
Joseph 1724
‘…baptizedby me, undersigned Priest, an English woman, named in her own country Abigail Stebbens, who born at Dearfield in New England Jan 4, 1684…married the 14th February 1704 to Jacques Desnoions…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.’
Ebenezer and Thankful were perhaps living with her…Jacques, a soldier, was evidently not a home-maker…
When Rene, the eldest child, was about ten years old he was sent with some Frenchmen and Indians to visit his grandparents in Deerfield, and when the Canadians were ready to go back the child could not be found. Perhaps he preferred his mother’s home, perhaps grandfather Stebbins induced [convinced] him to stay, but stay he did and in New England he founded [started] not only a family but a name, for his was changed…to Aaron Denio.
In 1740, on November 15, Abigail was buried at Boucherville, aged sixty-two.
From The History of Deerfield, Vol I, George Sheldon, 1895, pgs. 343 & 344
She was a daughter of John Stebbins, twenty-six days married to James Denio, or Denieur, one of the ‘three Frenchmen’ of Stephen Williams’s list, when captured. Their son Aaron…became a noted tavern keeper in Greenfield, was prominent in public affairs, and a soldier in later wars.
From notes from historian, Kevin Sweeney, 11/23/99
Jacques DeNoyon [James Denio] was the first Frenchman to visit Lake of the Woods in the Great Lakes. He had a great knowledge of that area, the Indians who lived there and the trade situation there. He was a trader and considered a renegade [one who doesn’t always follow the laws]. He came from Boucherville in Canada. After he was captured in the 1704 attack and returned to Canada, he was made a captain of the French Marines [soldiers], and a letter of praise was written about him by the Canadian Governor. He was probably Catholic to be so well respected. Deerfield’s attackers may have been more interested in getting him back because of his knowledge of the Great Lakes, than in capturing Deerfield’s minister, John Williams.
Samuel Stebbins
From New England Captives Carried to Canada, Vol. I, Emma L. Coleman, 1925, pg. 125
Samuel, b. [born] 1688.
Of him we found no Canadian record, nor is he found in New England. In his father’s will he is said to be in Canada. Stephen Williams, making a list in 1731…marks him as having returned.
Thankful Stebbins
From New England Captives Carried to Canada, Vol. I, Emma L. Coleman, 1925, pgs. 125 & 126
Thankful.
She was twelve years old when captured and was probably bought from her Indian master, at Chambly, by some member of the Hertel family…As Therese Stebens she asks for citizenship [asks to become a citizen of Canada] in 1706.
‘Feb. 4, 1711…married in the…church of Boucherville, Adrien grain,…inhabitant of [lived in] chambly, aged 23 years,…with therese louyse Stebens, aged 21 years
Thankful’s children:
Francoise Therese, born March 1713
Guillaume, born Dec. 28, 1714
Marie-Jeanne, born in 1716
Charlotte, September 1719
Isabelle, baptized Jan. 3, 1722
Antoine, born 1723
Marie Therese, born Feb. 2, 1725
Veronique, born July 4, 1729
Close by Chambly fort, surrounded by a high picket fence, is the ancient burying ground…[in it is a wooden grave marker which says]
Therese Steben
1729
[this is probably the grave of Thankful]
Ebenezer Stebbins
From New England Captives Carried to Canada, Vol. I, Emma L. Coleman, 1925, pgs. 126 & 127
Ebenezer, aged nine.
…lives at Boucherville with his sister Marguerite Stebbens, wife of Jacques Desnoions…He was given the name of Jacques Charles.
Ebenezer, like John Carter, seems to have been inclined to return [thought about returning] to New England for Stoddard wrote ’17th May 1714. We sent two men to Bushervil [Boucherville] and Point de Tramble, who returned the 18th & informed that Eben [Ebenezer] Stebbins and John Castor (who so often pretended that they would go home) were not likely to return’.
Ebenezer, as Jacques-Charles, had been naturalized [became a citizen of Canada] in 1710; and of him we know no more.
Joseph Stebbins
From New England Captives Carried to Canada, Vol. I, Emma L. Coleman, 1925, pgs. 127 & 128
Joseph
He was four…he did marry Marguerite Sanssoucy and lived with her in Chambly…
Joseph’s children:
Joseph, born 1735
Marguerite, born 1737
Francois, born and died 1741
Marie-Suzanne, born 1744, died 1776
Pierre, born 1746
Francois, born 1751
Marie-Anne, born and died 1753
Jean-Baptiste
Joseph died ‘aged 52’ the 23 April, 1753