Joane Kember

Notes:

Came to New England as a widow in 1642, with her son Tristram.

"Rev. John Wilson preached her funeral sermon, and embalmed her memory." [The History of Haverhill, Massachusetts by George Wingate Chase, Haverhill, Massachusetts, 1861]

Joane married Peter Coffin about 1608. Peter (son of Nicholas Coffin and Johan) was born about 1580 in of Brixton, Devon, England; died between 21 Dec 1627 and 13 Mar 1628 in Brixton, Devon, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 2 Oct 1681, Nantucket, New York

Notes:

His date of death has been misstated as 3 Mar 1681 by some otherwise reliable sources, including Mary Lovering Holman (citation details below). Alicia Crane Williams (citation details below) has shown that the Nantucket Court of Sessions proceeding of 29 Nov 1681 called him "deceased, the 3d day of October, 1681", and that his 8 Aug 1682 inventory said that he "departed this life the third day of October, on[e] thousand six hundred eighty one". A lengthy note in Williams's "Resources" section discusses the particular challenges facing anyone attempting to derive accurate dates from early Nantucket vital records.

He was a churchwarden in Brixton, Devon in 1639-40, and a constable in 1641.

"Tristram Coffin, age 32, his widowed mother Joan (Kember) Coffin, about age 58, two sisters, Eunice, age 24 and Mary, about 22, his wife Dionis, also about age 32, and their five children (Peter, 12, Elizabeth, about 11, Tristram, Jr., about 10, James, age 2, and John, probably less than 1), all came to New England from Brixton, co. Devon, England, before 20 or 30 October 1642, when the death of son John was recorded at Haverhill. Tradition states that the Coffins came on the same ship as Robert Clements, with whom Tristram was associated in New England. For about eighteen years the Coffins bounced around from Salisbury to Haverhill, to Newbury, back to Salisbury, to Newbury again and to Salisbury once more. In 1660 Tristram and some of his children settled permanently on Nantucket Island." [Alicia Crane Williams, citation details below]

In New England, he is first seen at Salisbury, then at Haverhill where he was a founder on 15 Nov 1642. In Newbury 1647, Salisbury 1648, Newbury 1649, Salisbury 1654. About 1658 he became interested in the island of Nantucket and formed a company for its purchase, moving there in 1659.

He was chief magistrate of Nantucket, called "governor," from 29 Jun 1671 to an unrecorded date, succeeded by Thomas Macy, and again chief magistrate from 1677 to 1680.

He settled a great deal of his fortune on his offspring well before his death, and a great deal of what remained to him was eaten up by an admiralty court fine imposed on him for having allowed the people of Nantucket to salvage a French castaway without making a proper accounting to the court. The fine, initially £477 14s., esd eventually reduced to £150, but it still left him with very little at the end.

Tristram married Dionis Stevens between 16 Dec 1627 and 18 Jul 1630 in Brixton, Devon, England. Dionis (daughter of Robert Stevens and Dionis) was born before 4 Mar 1610 in Brixton, Devon, England; was christened on 4 Mar 1610 in Brixton, Devon, England; died after 29 Nov 1681 in Nantucket, New York. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Capt. Stephen Greenleaf. Stephen (son of Capt. Edmund Greenleaf and Sarah More) was born before 10 Aug 1628; was christened on 10 Aug 1628 in St. Mary la Tour, Ipswich, Suffolk, England; died on 1 Dec 1690 in off Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He stayed in Newbury when he father removed to Nantucket. Freeman of Newbury, 1668. He was a merchant tailor and deacon of the Newbury church.

Tristram married Judith Greenleaf on 2 Mar 1653 in Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts. Judith (daughter of Capt. Edmund Greenleaf and Sarah More) was born on 2 Sep 1625 in England; was christened on 29 Sep 1626 in St. Margaret, Ipswich, Suffolk, England; died on 15 Dec 1705 in Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 28 Jul 1720, Nantucket, Massachusetts
• Alternate death: 1 Aug 1720, Nantucket, Massachusetts

Notes:

The vital records of Nantucket say he was born 12 Oct 1640, but this is clearly in error. He was a judge of the probate court in Nantucket.

James married Mary Severance on 3 Dec 1663 in Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts. Mary (daughter of John Severance and Abigail Kimball) was born on 5 Aug 1645 in Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts; died between 28 Aug 1692 and 12 Aug 1720. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

From Alison M. Gavin, "A Tale of Two Women: Seventeenth-Century Coffin and Starbuck Matriarchs", citation details below:

Tristram and Dionis's daughter Mary Coffin Starbuck undertook first alone, and later with her eldest son Nathaniel, a number of commercial ventures, including a country store, extensive land trading, and investment in the nascent Nantucket whaling industry. Mary not only knew how to read and write; she also mastered Latin and Greek, and was "well read in the Scriptures." Despite the fact that children growing up in the Bay Colony were required to attend school, Mary's level of education would have been unusual. The ability to read and write classical languages was usually a skill possessed only by young men studying for the ministry at Harvard College. All sources point to Mary being precocious and charismatic.

From Noyes-Gilman Ancestry, citation details below:

She was a remarkable woman, and in the language of a preacher of the day, "The Islanders esteemed her as a judge among them, for little of moment was done without her." She attended town meetings and took part in the debates, usually beginning "my husband thinks" so-and-so, or "my husband and I, having considered the matter, think" so-and-so; in 1701 she became a Quaker, and was distinguished as a teacher.

Mary married Nathaniel Starbuck before 30 Mar 1663. Nathaniel (son of Edward Starbuck and Katherine Reynolds) was born about 1635; died on 6 Aug 1719 in Nantucket, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 13 Oct 1647, Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts

Notes:

He was a blacksmith.

John married Deborah Austin in 1668. Deborah (daughter of Joseph Austin and Sarah Starbuck) died on 4 Apr 1718 in Nantucket, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Stephen married Elizabeth Gerrish on 23 Oct 1676. Elizabeth (daughter of William Gerrish and Joanna Lowell) was born on 20 Sep 1654 in Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts; died on 5 Aug 1712. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Mary married Capt. Joseph Little on 31 Oct 1677 in Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts. Joseph (son of George Little and Alice) was born on 22 Sep 1653 in Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts; died on 6 Sep 1740 in Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts; was buried in Old Hill Burying Ground, Newburyport, Essex, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 19 Sep 1675, Nantucket, New York
• Alternate birth: Abt 1685

Family/Spouse: Jonathan Bunker. Jonathan (son of William Bunker and Mary Macy) was born on 25 Feb 1675 in Nantucket, New York. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She was the first child of European descent born on Nantucket.

Family/Spouse: James Gardner. James (son of Richard Gardner and Sarah Shattuck) was born on 19 May 1664 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts; died on 1 Aug 1723. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Jethro married Dorcas Gayer on 6 Dec 1694. Dorcas (daughter of William Gayer and Dorcas Starbuck) died on 11 Dec 1747. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Thomas Macy. Thomas (son of John Macy and Deborah Gardner) was born about 1687 in Nantucket, New York; died on 16 Mar 1759 in Nantucket, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]