| 1. | Rev. Joseph Baxter was born on 4 Jun 1676 in Braintree, Norfolk County, Massachusetts; died on 2 May 1745 in Medfield, Norfolk County, Massachusetts; was buried after 2 May 1745 in Vine Lake Cemetery, Medfield, Norfolk County, Massachusetts. Other Events:
- FamilySearch ID: MVP3-KZF
- FindaGrave Memorial ID: 90968684
- Education: Graduate of Harvard College 1693.
- Alt. Birth: 4 Apr 1676, Braintree, Norfolk County, Massachusetts
Notes:
Ordained minister on 21 Apr 1697 and served as the minister of Medfield, MA from 1697 until his death in 1745.
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William S. Tilden, History of the Town of Medfield Massachusetts - 1650-1886 (Boston; Geo. H. Ellis, Publisher, 141 Franklin Street. 1887 Third Reprinting - 1991), 315-317.
"Rev. Joseph Baxter, second mnister of Medfield, was the son of Lieutenant John Baxter of Braintree, and was born in 1676. He graduated from Harvard College in 1693, at the age of seventeen.
He first preached in Medfield when he was eighteen years old; and though entirely acceptable the people thought best to wait awhile before settling him, on account of his extreme youth. He recieved a call, however, April 26, 1694. As soon as he was twenty-one years of age, he was ordained, April 21, 1697.
In 1696, he bought the homestead of Joseph Bullard on Main Street, opposite the head of Main Street. Judge Sewall, in his Diary, speaks of visiting Medfield in 1697, and says he "viewed Mr. Baxter's house, and the orchard Captain Frary hath given to the ministry, which lies very convenient; a living brook running by it, and through Mr. Baxter's." The orchard had belonged to John Frary, Sen., and was on the spot owned by heirs of Cyrus Stedman. Mr. Baxter's house lot contained ten acres, lying on both sides of the way.
He married Mary Fisk of Braintree, who was recieved to church here in 1701. His salary was £70 for several years. His first wife having died about 1710, he married in 1712 Rebecca Saffin of Bristol, who died the next year. His third wife was Mrs. Mercy Brigham.
He, in common with other wealthy citizens, owned slaves. In 1714, we find that "Mr. Baxter's man Tony" was paid for ringing the bell. In 1717, the salary was advanced to £80; and in 1721, he had a monthly contribution besides. The value of money was depreciating at this period, owning to the large quantities of paper oney that had been issued. In 1725, he had £100.
In 1731, he had from the town a grant of "half an acre of land on the east side of the meeting house to build a house on. This is where the straw-shop now stands. He did not build upon it however, and in 1742 gave a quit-claim to the town.
In 1733, his salary was made £130; in 1738, £60, "new tenor"; in 1741, £180. "old tenor." In 1743, his salary was to be £55, lawful money, or L220, "old tenor." The paper money was growing worse and worse.
Mr. Baxter died of dropsy May 2, 1745, aged sixty nine.
He published the Election Sermon, 1727, sermons to two societies of young men, and sermons, in 1729. He preached the sermon at the dedication of the first meeting-house in Sturbridge, 1733. When Governor Shute proposed to the Indians that a Protestant missionary be sent to them at the eastward, Mr. Baxter's name was mentioned; and he commenced a correspondence with the French Jesuit, Ralle, who was then in those parts. The correspondence was in Latin, and Ralle accused Mr. Baxter of a want of scholarship. The Governor replied that the "main qualification in a missionary to the barbarous Indians was not to be an exact scholar as to the Latin tongue, but to bring them from the power of Satan, who has usurped possession of these parts of the world for many ages, into the kingdom of the Son of God."
His real and personal estate at his death was valued at £1883. Besides land in this town, he owned rights in iron woks at Crack Rock in Stoughton (now Foxboro), iron works in Walpole, half a farm "at a place called Tuesick in the township of Georgetown at the eastward, "part of a right in land lying on Georges River, and an island neat Topsham, "commonly called Baxter's Island."
In his will is the following: "I devise to my beloved wife, Mercy Baxter, twenty pounds a year in bills of the old tenor, so long as she live, besides all the household goods she brought to me, and whatsoever she had by her father, or former husband, or sister; and also my horse and chaise and the tacking belonging to it, and the service of my Negro Slave, Nanny, during my wife's life; and to my Negro Slave I give her freedom at my wife's decease." He afterward adds, "It is my will that upon condition my Negro woman shall not in all things carry and behave herself dutifully and well towards her said mistress, my wife, then she shall not have her freedom; but I give to my wife full power to sell or dispose of her for life at her discretion."
During his ministry, three hundred and seventy-three persons were admitted to the church, two hundred and twenty eight owned the covenant, and one thousand one hundred and seventy-five received baptism."
Catalog of Graves in the Old Section of Vine Lake Cemetery - Medfield, MA (Compiled in 1976), 45. Lot 260, Baxter, Joseph (Rev.), birthdate - 1676; date of death - 1745.
Birth:
Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988
Name: Joseph Baxter
Event Type: Birth
Birth Date: 4 Jun 1676
Birth Place: Braintree, Massachusetts
Father Name: John Baxter
Mother Name: Hannah Baxter
FamilySearch ID:
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/MVP3-KZF
FindaGrave Memorial ID:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/90968684
Died:
Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988
Name: Rev Joseph Baxter
Event Type: Death
Death Date: 2 May 1745
Death Place: Medfield, Massachusetts
Joseph married Mary Fiske on 16 Sep 1697 in Braintree, Norfolk County, Massachusetts. Mary (daughter of Rev. Moses Fiske and Sarah Symmes) was born on 25 Aug 1673 in Braintree, Norfolk County, Massachusetts; died on 29 Mar 1711 in Braintree, Norfolk County, Massachusetts; was buried after 29 Mar 1711 in Vine Lake Cemetery, Medfield, Norfolk County, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Children:
- 2. Captain John Baxter
 was born on 2 May 1708 in Medfield, Norfolk County, Massachusetts; died on 14 Nov 1788 in Medfield, Norfolk County, Massachusetts; was buried after 14 Nov 1788 in Vine Lake Cemetery, Medfield, Norfolk County, Massachusetts.
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Joseph married Rebecca Lee on 26 Jun 1712 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts. Rebecca was born about 1670; died on 4 Dec 1713 in Medfield, Norfolk County, Massachusetts; was buried after 4 Dec 1713 in Vine Lake Cemetery, Medfield, Norfolk County, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Joseph married Mercy Stoddard on 21 Feb 1714/15 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts. Mercy was born in 1684 in Chelmsford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts; died on 21 Oct 1769 in Brimfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts; was buried after 21 Oct 1769 in Vine Lake Cemetery, Medfield, Norfolk County, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
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1676 - 1745 (68 years)
